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Trump to Outline Immigration Plan in Address; Trump and Jay Z Spar over Black Jobs; The Trump Presidency; Afghan Army Base Personnel Killed in Attack; Russia Police Arrest and Release Opposition Leader. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 29, 2018 - 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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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A presidential milestone: Donald Trump is set to sell his agenda to an audience of divided lawmakers and Americans.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Another deadly assault in Kabul to tell you about. ISIS claiming responsibility for this one, an attack at a military base.
CHURCH (voice-over): And the music industry's best and brightest pay tribute to the #MeToo movement.
HOWELL (voice-over): We are live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell.
CHURCH (voice-over): And I'm Rosemary Church. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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CHURCH: After a very turbulent year in office, U.S. President Donald Trump is a day away from giving his first State of the Union speech. And one of the big talking points everyone is waiting to hear: his plans for immigration.
HOWELL: Here is the thing, though. Lawmakers from both party, they will be under pressure to reach a deal to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation and they're stressing the need for compromise. CNN's Boris Sanchez has more now from the White House.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: White House officials telling CNN that the president is set to strike an optimistic tone during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
The theme of this speech: building a safer, stronger and prouder America. A source telling CNN that the president is expected to try to reach across the aisle and appeal to people that are not in his base, in part doing that by touting his economic record and the major success that we've seen recently in the U.S. economy; specifically, with the stock market and low unemployment numbers.
The president is then going to shift and talk about infrastructure and ask Congress for $1 trillion to fund his infrastructure plan. The main focus of this speech, though, where all eyes will be, is in the portion where he talks about immigration.
The speech coming at a critical time in the debate for immigration reform. And the president is set to sell his vision to the American people; in exchange for offering a pathway to citizenship for some 2 million undocumented immigrants, the Congress is going to ask Congress for $25 billion to fund his long promised border wall.
And he is also going to ask for major changes to legal immigration. And as of right now, that's where the sticking point is right now between Republicans and Democrats on things like what this White House calls chain migration -- that is the sponsoring of relatives by naturalized immigrants.
Marc Short, the director of legislative affairs for the White House, took to the Sunday morning talk shows to say that the president has offered concessions on offering that pathway to citizenship and that now it's time for Democrats to offer concessions. Listen to more of what Marc Short said.
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MARC SHORT, WHITE HOUSE LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR: I think that the president made enormous appeal and showed enormous leadership in putting forward a plan to resolve the DACA situation, an issue that has plagued our country for decades.
And yet the outcry from Democrats when he went I think further than many people thought he would in providing not just permanent residence but also a pathway to citizenship for roughly 1.8 million people living in this country. And yet so far Democrats continue to cry that they don't want to solve the problem. We're anxious to solve the problem.
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SANCHEZ: Democratic lawmakers have said that proposal from the White House is dead on arrival, in part saying that those changes to legal migration being proposed by the administration are inhumane.
All this as far as the preview for the State of the Union is what's on paper. A White House official telling CNN that the president is expected to speak from the heart.
And as we've seen before, often that can mean him going into tangents and talking about things that are not on paper, that are not on the script, potentially leading to distractions. We'll see exactly what happens on Tuesday night at the State of the Union address -- Boris Sanchez, CNN at the White House.
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HOWELL: Boris, thank you.
The U.S. President Donald Trump is sparring over the black unemployment rate not with a political adversary but with the hip-hop mogul, Jay Z.
CHURCH: Mr. Trump hit back at comments the rapper made during an interview on Van Jones' new show on CNN.
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VAN JONES, CNN HOST: He is somebody who is now saying, look, I'm dropping black unemployment. Black people are doing well under my administration.
Does he have a point that maybe the Democrats have been giving us good lip service but no jobs?
Maybe he is going to say terrible things but put money in our pocket?
Does that make him a good leader?
JAY Z, HIP-HOP MOGUL: No. Because it's not about money at the end of the day. Money doesn't equate to happiness. It doesn't. That's missing the whole point. You treat people like human beings.
It goes back to the whole thing. You treat me really bad and pay me well.
JONES: Yes.
JAY Z: It's not going lead to happiness. It's going lead to, again, the same thing. Everyone is going to be sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: All right. The president --
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HOWELL: -- later tweeted, quote, "Somebody please inform Jay Z that, because of my policies, black unemployment has just reported to be at the lowest level ever recorded," end quote.
CHURCH: It is true the African American unemployment rate hit a record low of 6.8 percent last month but that's still well above the rate of 3.7 percent for whites.
HOWELL: Also important to point out those trends started well before he took office.
CHURCH: Yes, that's right.
HOWELL: When he is not arguing with musicians, the U.S. president is also weighing in on global affairs. CHURCH: While at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr. Trump sat
down with his long-time ally and personal friend Piers Morgan for an interview.
HOWELL: Their discussion aired Sunday on British broadcaster iTV. The two talked about dealmaking. They talked about the British prime minister Theresa May and they talked about Brexit. Listen.
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PIERS MORGAN, U.K. BROADCASTER: Do you believe that we're in a good position in Britain?
A lot of people are still very nervous, very anxious. But herein the President of the United States saying, hey, there's plenty of good trade coming from me. That's a big deal to people in Britain.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, would it be the way I negotiate?
No, I wouldn't negotiate it the way it was negotiated. But I have a lot of respect for your prime minister. And I think they're doing a job. I think I would have negotiated it differently. I would have had a different attitude.
MORGAN: What would you have done?
TRUMP: I think I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it's supposed to be. And I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out.
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CHURCH: And later, President Trump emphasized that he's a tremendous supporter of the U.K.
Well, for more on this, let's go to Scott Lucas. He is a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham.
Scott, great to have you with us. We will get to that interview in just a moment. But first, let's talk about the upcoming State of the Union speech from the president Tuesday night. This could possibly be the biggest, most important speech of his presidency so far.
And it comes as a critical time for him, as he faces numerous controversial issues of his own making in some instances.
What are you expecting him to say in his first State of the Union address?
And could he perhaps offer a compromise immigration plan?
SCOTT LUCAS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: First of all, what everybody will be watching for is style rather than substance to start off with. What the White House is hoping is that Trump just stays calm. This is a key moment. We face another possible government shutdown on
February the 8th. There is still no Trump budget in view of being presented to Congress. And we have the immigration issue.
But in terms of then projecting calm, what about the supposed deal on immigration?
Well, look, this is not a compromise. Let's be very clear here. What the White House has done is said, OK, we'll protect the 800,000 DREAMers but only if -- and they've attached a whole series of conditions: so $25 billion for the wall; the end to immigrants being able to bring relatives over to the United States, the end to the diversity of visa lottery and sharp, very sharp reductions in immigration and admission of refugees as well as much stricter enforcement not only in border security but in cracking down on undocumented immigrants and deporting them.
Now that's a huge laundry list. What the White House has done is swept aside the bipartisan bill that has been on the table for weeks, the Graham-Durbin deal and said, no, no, no, we don't want this compromise. You either take this or you leave this.
And that's where the tension is going to be.
Can Trump remain calm and present leadership while effectively giving what is an ultimatum tomorrow night?
CHURCH: All right. We'll see Tuesday night.
Let's go back to, at this point, British TV host piers Morgan scored the first international TV interview with President Trump and nearly got an apology out of Mr. Trump for retweeting anti-Muslim videos from a British extremist group back in November after admitting he was unaware of the group's far right politics.
Is that acceptable from the leader of the free world to retweet a group he didn't know anything about?
And should Morgan have followed up on that point and on the presidential apology?
Because it didn't actually come in the end, did it?
LUCAS: Well, I'll leave to it others to decide what is acceptable here. But let's be clear. Donald Trump did not apologize for retweeting those distorted and fake Islamophobic videos. In fact, he defended retweeting those videos, even though he didn't know whether they are actually real or not, by talking about radical Islamic terrorism.
At the same time, as you know, he retweeted those videos while having no idea that this was a far right group in Britain. So this is a stunning combination of a lack of knowledge along with the defense of spreading inflammatory material.
You know, whether Morgan should have pressed him, look, this wasn't a hard interview. This was a chat between friends. But again, let's be clear. Morgan's attempted headline, this was apology, absolutely not. It was exactly the opposite --
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LUCAS: -- from the president.
CHURCH: Yes, Morgan initially said he had got an apology out of the president; that certainly was not the case.
So Donald Trump versus Jay Z. The two sparred Sunday over black jobs numbers, President Trump taking credit for low black unemployment figures.
They are lower, aren't they?
But is he right that it's due to his policies?
LUCAS: Well, black unemployment has been declining since 2010. So it reduced coming out of the recession for seven years of the Obama administration. Now after one year, Trump is saying that all the gains are due to him.
You know, economically, that actually doesn't work that way because you a lag between any new Trump policies and the effects they have. But, of course, he's playing to an audience here who might not know the details.
I think Jay Z's wider point is important and that is what he was saying is, look, this isn't just simply about a job. It isn't about a paycheck. This is about respect as well. And what he was arguing is, even if you give me a job, with the language that Trump has presented against people of color, with what he said about white supremacists -- or rather his failure to deal with white supremacists last August -- with his criticism not only of African Americans but Hispanic Americans and other minority groups, it's that question of -- that we are part of the American community.
And we are part because you treat us respectfully, not simply because we might be able to work 20, 30, 40 hours a week.
CHURCH: Scott Lucas, we thank you for your analysis. Appreciate it.
And you can watch Donald Trump's address to Congress and the American people, his first State of the Union address right here on CNN. Coverage begins at 8:00 pm Tuesday in New York. That's 9:00 am Wednesday in Hong Kong.
HOWELL: We are tracking developments out of Afghanistan, a developing story. At least five Afghan army personnel were killed. This when militants attacked the military base near Kabul. An official says the assault is now over. And at least four attackers are dead.
CHURCH: ISIS claims it's responsible for the assault on the Afghan military but says it targeted a military academy and not the base. The assault comes after a Saturday bombing killed more than 100 people in Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that earlier attack.
HOWELL: Let's bring in journalist Bilal Sarwary (ph) live in Kabul this hour.
Good to have you with us to talk more about what we know at this point. We're talking a security breach at a military installation.
How significant is that with regard to this attack that's being claimed by ISIS?
BILAL SARWARY (PH), JOURNALIST: I think it's very significant. It's clearly aimed at discouraging more Afghans from joining the Afghan National Security Forces. The militants also want to really create another front, a deadly front by targeting major cities.
Remember, these soldiers were not killed on the front line in Helmand, in Kandahar or in the Eastern (INAUDIBLE) of Nangarhar, where there are very bloody battles every day. They were killed right here in Kabul.
The people of Kabul, the people of Afghanistan are demanding the resignation of security ministers. They're demanding better security. And yesterday, we heard from the minister of interior defense and head of the Afghan intelligence services, all very adamant, saying that they were good at their job and that Afghanistan was on the path to success and that there were at least 20 terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.
So, depending who you talk to, there is a different definition of security. But for Afghanistan, it is bleeding. Afghanistan has been attacked over the last two weeks or so. You've had attacks in Jalalabad, here in Kabul with those complex attacks and in the south of the country as well.
There is a serious concern that how they can these fighters bring rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and suicide jackets when Kabul has been placed on a high state of security alert. Today is a public holiday here in Kabul. So the streets are empty. People have stayed at home.
And we have seen some visible signs of an increase in security. This morning when I was driving to work, I saw armored Humvees in a few places on the streets in Kabul.
For the time being, every intelligence and security breach continues to cost the people of Afghanistan with their lives, the military forces. And in the long run, these attacks will also actually have a very negative impact on Afghan trade.
Afghan investors will not be really willing to invest in Kabul at a time when unemployment is a very serious issue. At the center of this, you also have the issue of corruption --
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SARWARY (PH): -- and incompetence. So you hear these days more and more people in Kabul telling you that, when they leave their home in the morning, they say goodbye to their family members, they're really not certain that they may come back home alive.
And this is 18 years after billions of dollars. This is 18 years after blood and treasure had been invested in Afghanistan. So the expectation obviously is that at least these mistakes should not be repeated and that Kabul should be secure.
HOWELL: Well, just the other day, we were talking about a similar breach of security, this ambulance that was packed with explosives, getting past a checkpoint. That attack claimed by the Taliban.
And before that, another attack at the Intercontinental Hotel about a week before, that claimed by the Taliban.
Is there a sense and is there a concern that this could be a horse race between these two groups, between ISIS and the Taliban, to make a statement?
SARWARY (PH): Well, we have seen both groups fight against each other in some cases. In other cases at a very local level we have seen a marriage of convenience when both sides have really joined hands against the Afghan government, most recently in the Korengal (ph) Valley in the eastern province of Kunar, both the Taliban and the Islamic State as well as the timber mafia really all work together to attack a key highway linking the eastern city of Jalalabad with the capital of Kunar province in Asadabad.
I think the most complex part of this conflict these days for counterterrorism officials is to really distinguish who is behind which attack. Sometimes you actually hear both groups releasing statements, both are saying that we have carried out this attack.
And I think all of this can only mean that Afghanistan and its international allies have a very bloody battle on several fronts.
HOWELL: So on Saturday, there is the day of mourning. And, again, we're dealing with seeing another attack. Bilal Sarwary (ph), thank you very much for your time. We'll stay in touch with you for more details.
CHURCH: Don't vote: that is the message Russia's main opposition leader is sending to his supporters. Coming up, what happened when they took to the streets to spread those words.
HOWELL: Plus, in Paris, the River Seine flooded some parts of that city over the weekend. Yet life is going on as normal for many people there. We look at the forecast as CNN NEWSROOM pushes on.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
In Russia, police there focus their attention on opposition leader Alexei Navalny, detaining him right there on the street.
CHURCH: He was participating in one of the dozens of protests he organized. The opposition wants Russians to boycott the presidential election coming up in March. Navalny has since been let out of jail pending a court hearing. And Matthew Chance takes an exclusive look at the man at the center of this fight.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian police quickly swooped in on the opposition leader, fighting through his supporters, to drag Alexei Navalny away from the nationwide protests he'd organized.
He now faces another span in a Russian jail, an occupational hazard, he told me ahead of the protests, when standing up to the Kremlin.
CHANCE: As the leading opposition figure in Russia, you have been harassed. You get regular visits from the authorities, the police, the other inspectors. You've been insulted widely. And, of course, you've been attacked.
How concerned are you, in a country like this, where opposition figures have been killed in the past?
How concerned are you about your own safety and security?
ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): I'm a reasonable man. I ran my election campaign for 12 months. And out of these months, I spent two in prison. So I have a clear understanding of what this regime can do. But I'm not afraid and I'm not going to give up on what I want to do. I won't give up on my country.
CHANCE (voice-over): And it seems there are many Russians on his side. In towns and cities across this vast country, Navalny's anti- corruption movement says thousands turned out to support his call for a boycott in the March presidential elections, in which President Putin, already 18 years in power, is expected to be returned.
NAVALNY (through translator): The Putin regime is built on corruption. And Putin himself is the most corrupt. His family is directly involved in corruption. According to official data, over 20 percent of our population lives below the poverty line. And people link the obvious.
Why are we so poor?
Because they steal so much.
CHANCE: Regardless of the popularity of that issue, you have been prevented from standing in these forthcoming presidential elections.
Do you think that Vladimir Putin is genuinely concerned or fearful of you as a political opponent?
NAVALNY (through translator): He is scared of all real competition. We see in these elections that he only allowed those to run who do not even resist, do not even do any campaigning.
CHANCE (voice-over): And Alexei Navalny is certainly not one of those chosen Kremlin-friendly candidates. Official opinion polls suggest his support is at barely 2 percent. But in the tightly controlled world of Russian politics, dominated by Vladimir Putin, no other opposition figure can rally so many on the streets -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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HOWELL: Now to the City of Light. Paris dealing with a lot of water, on flood alert after heavy rain caused the River Seine to burst its banks.
CHURCH: The water levels were expected to peak at around 6 meters on Sunday. The flooding has disrupted train services, shut down tourist riverboats and forced parts of --
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CHURCH: -- The Louvre museum to close.
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HOWELL: Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, CNN is getting exclusive access inside the civil war that is taking place in Yemen. Next, we take you to the front lines of the battlefield. You'll meet some of the victims of this conflict.
CHURCH: Plus an Iranian American jailed in Iran is let out for four days. Why his family says, if he goes back to prison, it will be a death sentence. We're back with that in just a moment.
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[02:31:09] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coast to coast across the United States and live around the world this hour. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is -- good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church. We want to check the headlines for you this hour. Donald Trump is a day away from a pivotal moment in his presidency. He will deliver his first State of the Union Address Tuesday night. A White House official say the big focus will be the administration immigration plan.
HOWELL: At least five Afghan army personnel are dead. This after an attack on a base near Kabul. An official says four of the attackers are dead and the assault is over. ISIS claims it is responsible for an attack on an Afghan -- on the Afghan military. All of this comes after a bombing that killed more than 100 people on Saturday.
CHURCH: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is free after police detained him Sunday. He was arrested during an anti-Kremlin protest Sunday. A long-time critic of President Putin called for the protest to boycott March's presidential election which he says is rigged.
HOWELL: Politics of center stage at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards took place in New York on Sunday. One of the biggest of the moments of the night was Kesha's emotional performance one of her song called Praying. She paid tribute to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement. This campaigns against sexual misconduct, gender, and equality.
CHURCH: We turn to Yemen now. The Prime Minister there is accusing southern Separatists of attempting a coup. Government forces and the Separatists group clashed on Sunday in the port City of Aden. At least 18 people were killed.
HOWELL: Some context here though, both groups used to be on the same side. They fought together against the Houthi rebels but now the Separatists accused the Saudi-backed government of corruption and want to remove it from power. Let's bring in CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson following the story this hour live in Abu Dhabi. It's good to have you with us, Nic. What more can you tell us about this conflict that played out between these two groups that were once allies against the Houthis?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They may yet become allies again. This is a tension that has been simmering, there was a sense in the southern city -- port City of Aden that the southern Separatists had been the one to let the fight against the Houthis and al Qaeda that drove them out of the town restore some stability only to see the government of President Hadi come in, establish itself there as a -- as a defector capital as the Houthi rebels have the capital Sana. And there was a sense of feeling we were there just weeks ago, there was a sense of feeling an aid in them. The new government wasn't paying those salaries of the people in the, you know, in the port city there of Aden.
There was a sense that the government who sort of come in after the southern Separatists have done all the hard work. These are -- these are very long and ancient animosities between the north and the south, the Separatists and this government, the Separatists and other governments that are playing out again -- playing out at the moment. And partly because the economy in the country is so stretched. People feel that the -- that the government is trying to reestablish itself, it's not being fair and balance. That's sort of some of the background but we were given the first access to international journalist by the Saudi-led coalition to get a view of what's happening across the whole country.
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ROBERTSON: This is tactical flying just feet above the dessert banking around hills close to the Saudi-Yemeni border. We're in Saudi military Black Hawk helicopters, we're flying Ma'rib in Yemen. It's about 100 miles east of the (INAUDIBLE)
[05:35:00] The Saudi has lead a coalition backing the internationally recognized Yemeni government against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels (INAUDIBLE) and criticized the civilians casualties. Apache gunships ride shotgun for protection. We are the first western journalist the Saudi government who's taking into Yemen and promised transparency. We travel high in the mountains, visit the Yemeni government frontlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just stay down.
ROBERTSON: We're keeping low here because we've been told the Houthis down in the valley might be able to see us. And the victims of this three-year-long war. Take this now. He's showing, this is a gun track, you used to drive this gun truck? This is you, the driver?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where? Yes.
ROBERTSON: Visit with child soldiers in rehab suffering PTSD.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad to be meet you.
ROBERTSON: Question Yemen's leaders. How is the situation here in Aden? Well, the Houthis the Prime Minister told me are now doing is they are printing their own money with the help of Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no government, my friend. We have no government. We have -- we have only lame government.
ROBERTSON: In question, the people about those same leaders. We met the Prime Minister yesterday in this office from the other side of city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) he is liar.
ROBERTSON: What are looking at here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTSON: And meet Yemenis who despite everything still have hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want education, we want to have jobs.
ROBERTSON: Understanding the war here with everyone's going through is a little like peeling an onion, layer after layer. We want to peel back those layers for you, expose the war and the struggle to survive. He says the Houthis uses picture of him taking his son to be buried, they say that his son was holding a coalition airstrike. He says that wasn't true. So many voices, so many stories. And so few have been heard before.
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ROBERTSON: Now, some of those people you can see us meeting with that were had told us they had been fighting with the southern Separatists and they were dissatisfied with the -- with the government, the Prime Minister who you saw I was interviewing there, I have to say that his location is a very, very secure location. That's what we understand from the -- from the shooting and the fighting that went -- that happened over the weekend. That he is secure, that he's building it secure but what he has said is that, you know, if the southern Separatists were to overthrow his government and that would certainly throw the coalition to reestablish peace and security and stability in Yemen, we heard into a big question.
HOWELL: Images of pain, conflict, anger, hope, resilience, all coming together there, Nic. Thank you for the story and the insight and your time there in Yemen.
CHURCH: Well, Iranian officials have given an 81-year old prisoner of four-day release.
HOWELL: That's right. Baquer Namazi, an Iranian-American is serving 10 years in prison for espionage. His family says that if he's sent back to prison it will be a death sentence for him. Elise Labott has more.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Iranian-American Baquer Namazi who's been in prison in Iran since February 2016 has been discharged by an Iranian hospital and granted a four-day leave by the Iranian government. Namazi is a father of American businessman Siamak Namazi who's been detained in Iran since October 2015. And father and son were sentenced at year later to 10 years imprisonment for collaborating with the foreign government. Now the 81-year-old was rushed to the hospital on January 15th after a severe drop in his blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, this is the fourth time he's been transferred to the hospital in the last year while being prisoned in Iran.
He underwent emergency heart surgery in September to have a pacemaker installed. And Amazi has been held in Iran's notorious Evin prison. Senior administration officials tell CNN that Trump administration is working at "the highest levels to make this release permanent." A top United Nations officials including Secretary General Antonio Guterres are also appealing directly to the Iranian government to send Amazi home to the U.S. to be with his family. In a statement State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert, welcome Namazi's release given his deteriorating health but given the fact it was temporary, Nauert continued "we call for the immediate and full release of the Namazi family including his son's Siamak as well as other Americans unjustly held by the Iranian government.
[02:40:03] Now, the Trump administration has redoubled efforts to secure Namazi's released after the death of Otto Warmbier after 16 months captivity in North Korea. In September at the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump called on Iran to free all Americans in detention. State Department officials tell CNN that under Secretary Tom Shannon had raised the health of Baquer Namazi with his Iranian counterpart and the sidelines by meeting in December in Vienna discussing implementation of the Iranian nuclear agreement. Now on Sunday, Namazi's son, Babak said a return to prison would be life- threatening for his father and begged the Iranian government to show compassion and grant his father a permanent release before everyone faces an irreversible tragedy. Elise Labott, CNN Washington.
CHURCH: And we will take commercial break. But coming up, the Grammy Awards featured politics, surprises, and music Sunday night. So, who went home with the most trophies? We will tell you when we come back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the enormous statue of Ramesses II known as Ramesses The Great has been moved to a new permanent location in Egypt.
HOWELL: And it took almost as much ingenuity to move the 3,000-year- old monument as it did who actually who build the thing. CNN's has details for us.
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ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: An 83-ton statue of Ramesses II considered one of ancient Egypt's greatest rulers has been moved to a new home. Escorted by a marching band, a mounted military guard, and much funfair. The 3200-year-old granite statue was transported 400 meters in a specially built cage to the Grand Egyptian Museum. Ramesses II also known as Ramesses The Great ruled ancient Egypt from 1279 to 1213 B.C.
[02:45:06] He is known for conquering large areas of Nubia and what is now Sudan and Syria and for building on a colossal scale. This is the fourth and (INAUDIBLE) final moved the statue has made in its long history. It was moved once in the 13th century B.C. and not again until 1954 when Egypt's President ordered that it be brought to Cairo.
It stood outside Cairo's main train station until 2006, when the government moved it to a temporary location in Giza, fearing that auto emissions would damaging the granite. Its new home is Egypt's massive Grand Egyptian Museum. A 650,000 sq. for facility that is still under construction. The museum is intended to reignite the country's tourism sector. Damage by years of violent instability.
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ZAHI HAWASS, FORMER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ANTIQUITIES AFFAIRS: This event is going to be the most important cultural event the world. Because it will tell the world about the Grand Museum, it will tell the people that it's of the safe condiment of us.
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ASHER: Ramses now stand as the ancient to the museum, waiting to welcome tourist through its doors. Zain Asher, CNN, New York.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, with you for CNN "WEATHER WATCH" right now. The Northwestern United States, the Southeastern United States, the trouble spots before us weather is concern here for some showers but generally across really the heart of the U.S.
Could it be looking at prior conditions, very cool temps in place? And of course, February, just around the bend here. So, not unusual to see this is typically the third week of January until the first week of February is the coldest time of year across North America, is climatologically speaking.
So, two below for a high temp in Chicago, not that unusual. 15 below in Winnipeg, notice the wet weather pushing in around parts of British Columbia, into Washington and Orient States get used to this. We're back for another atmosphere river pattern. With that means, you look at the moisture source derived right there from area down toward the tropics.
So, you work where towards the Hawaiian Islands could be a pineapple express in the words. Meaning, tremendous rainfall. Once again in stories be going towards the latter half of the upcoming week.
Santa Ana is in full effect across Southern California. Winds approaching 100 kilometers per hour, that's certainly a concern especially when you look at the fire weather threat. As well as be get this offshore component that builds. So, any sort of active fires or (INAUDIBLE) fires are ignited, certainly would not be a good set up for that sort of a weather pattern.
Upper 20s on the tropics, very cool. Headed for as cool as you have get. 27 in Havana with some thunderstorms in store. We'll leave you with conditions a little further toward the South.
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[02:50:08] HOWELL: So, if you watch the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, fair to say music and politics went hand and hand. Stars arrived at the red carpet holding or wearing a white rose. White rose, a show of solidarity for the MeToo and the Times Up movement.
This campaign against sexual misconduct and against gender inequality. Singer and actress Janelle Monae was the first to address the movement in an impassioned speech. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANELLE MONAE, RECORDING ARTIST: We offer you two words, Time's up. We say time's up for pay inequality, time's up for discrimination, time's up for harassment of any kind, and time's up for the abuse of power. Because you see, it's not just going on in Hollywood, it's not just going on in Washington, its right here in our industry as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Then came an emotional performance by singer, Kesha.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KESHA ROSE SEBERT, SINGER, ACTRESS: I hope you're somewhere praying, praying. I hope your soul is changing -- (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Kesha, shown live on the MeToo movement with her song, Praying. She was joined on stage as you saw there with the other female artist including Camila Cabello, who took the opportunity after that performance to give a speech about immigration while introducing
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMILA CABELLO, SINGER, SONGWRITER, AMERICAN-CUBAN: Tonight, in this room full of music's dreamers, we remember that this country was built by dreamers, for dreamers, chasing the American dream. Just like dreams, these kids can't be forgotten and are worth fighting for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: By the end of the night, the biggest winner was Bruno Mars, who took home including Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year.
CHURCH: And the show wouldn't be complete, of course, without first, James Corden, taking a jab at U.S. President Donald Trump. In a skit, you see he, he held mock auditions for this spoken word album for Michael Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury Inside the Trump White House. But it was one surprise appearance that really got the crowd going.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump did not --
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF UNITED STATES: He had a long time fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's. Nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre- made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it, you got it. That's the woman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, music journalist and musician David Sinclair, joins us now from London via Skype. Thanks so much for being with us.
So, Bruno Mars won seven trophies including all the big ones, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year. But the night appear to belong to Kendrick Lamar, who not only took home five trophies but also open the Grammys with a commentary on racial issues in the U.S. and earned a standing ovation to his performance. Was he the man of the moment or did that belong to Bruno Mars?
DAVID SINCLAIR, MUSIC JOURNALIST AND MUSICIAN: Well, it's a good question, Rosemary. I think that the -- you know, the idea that your charging just the Song of the Year this day is probably, slightly, as the date now. And I think, as much as anything it's also the narrative of the year.
And in that sense, Kendrick Lamar absolutely swept the board. He was the man of the moment in terms of what he was saying and how he was saying it. And the opening sequence -- I think that he gave of his -- some medley of extract from his album.
It was really, really powerful in terms of -- you know, anyone he thought that were tuning into just shall we say a music show and enlighten (INAUDIBLE) show, some sort with this quickly this abuse.
CHURCH: And what was some of the -- of a powerful music moments do you think that stood out to you, and what will people be talking about in -- as a hit?
SINCLAIR: Well, I think as you mentioned in your introduction like Kesha performance of Prayer was a pretty intense emotional moment in the show. She, of course -- she went through a terrible period of a -- she was in a big dispute with her former producer who she accuse of sexual assault, and all sorts of things that sideline her whole career, but that's at three years. So, coming back from that, obviously much stronger than ever, it was a very big moment and I think that was captured, that was captured very well.
I saw U2 outside on a barge, outside the Statue of Liberty. They look a bit colder, uncomfortable to me. I mean, Paulo was wondering around with a megaphone which seems to be his way. I'm not sure that was quite such a success. l rather enjoyed the James Corden with sting and shaggy on the New York underground.
CHURCH: Yes, you're getting ahead of me because I did -- I did want to talk about James Corden and one thing he particularly did. Because U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley took issue with the skit that had various stars reading from Michael Wolff's controversial tell-all book Fire and Fury, including a surprise appearance from Hillary Clinton.
Haley has said, this was trash and ruined the show. What at the audience think though?
SINCLAIR: Well, I think the audience at the Grammy is obviously was delighted. I think they found it all -- you know, I mean, I think they knew what they were getting into when they went to it. But of course, you have to be a little bit careful because there's a big crowd out there that like music that don't necessarily agree with all of that.
And when you saw the same thing in Britain when Margaret (INAUDIBLE), there was a big feeling that all the music industry ups in united in opposition to her and her policies. I think you' got much the same thing going on with Trump now in America.
But of course, Margaret Thatcher got re-elected, and so, you know, you have to be a little bit careful about alienating some people or while it's obviously you're fighting the good fight and taking your message to the people in the other sense.
CHURCH: Yes, it certainly counts on. (INAUDIBLE) whose injecting politics into shows like this but David Sinclair, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it. SINCLAIR: My pleasure.
HOWELL: And thank you for being with us here on CNN NEWSROOM, I'm George Howell.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church, CNN NEWSROOM continues after this very short break. Don't go anyway.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
