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Twenty Students Dead After Militants Stormed Pakistani University; Amnesty International Accuses Kurdish Forces of Possible War Crimes; El Chapo Back Behind Bars; Massive Winter Storm Could Affect 50 Million Across U.S.; Iowa Voting in Less Than Two Weeks. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 20, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:01]

ERROL BARNETT, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and those of you watching around the world. We're following breaking news out of Pakistan this hour. I am Errol Barnett.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: And I am Rosemary Church. Thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

At least 20 students have been killed in a terror at a university in northwestern Pakistan. Militants attacked the school just a few hours ago, as classes were getting under way. An army spokesman said four of the attackers have been killed and the government troops have retaken control of all school buildings now. But an emergency worker said the operation is still ongoing.

BARNETT: Now, the army says it's clearing the campus block by block trying to determine if any more militants are holed up at this moment. For more on what's been a deadly siege, let's bring in CNN Producer Sophia Saifi, Sofia, the army trying to clear the area block by block. What's the latest information you have on casualties at this stage?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Errol, we know at least 20 students have been killed. There's been a state of emergency declared at all hospitals in the area. As well as the nearby city (Inaudible), there are fears that the death toll is expected to rise. We're getting reports that there are still dead bodies inside the university. But reports are still vague and not confirmed.

The attack started in the morning hours. It's a foggy dense morning, a large campus, we know from the vice chancellor of the university, there were 3,000 students within the campus, and the winter semester has already started. And we also know that there were 600 additional guests who were inside the university for an event to commemorate the namesake of the university itself.

BARNETT: And we're seeing some footage for the first time, just into CNN, as you speak, some of it from hospitals where those who have been injured have been taken, some of that footage from the general area where we can see soldiers and troops out near the campus. We should explain to our viewers, this is still an unfolding, developing, very fluid situation. We're still working to confirm a lot of this information. Sophia, the Taliban attack back in 2014, which in 134 students were killed not too far from where this is happening today, that led the government to enact forceful anti-terror measures, hundreds of suspected militants were killed or arrested, could this be a response to that because there's an uptick in that militant activity in this area in recent weeks.

SAIFI: There has been a hike in military activity in the past couple of days, actually, there's an ongoing operation in the northern part of Pakistan with the border of Afghanistan, and it's an ongoing operation by the Pakistani army. There have always been fears of a backlash. We don't know as you said we don't know who's responsible for this attack. So, yes, there has been -- in the past year, since that attack happened, there has been -- we have seen a decrease in attacks because of the Pakistan government and the military response to that attack, but, again there's been a hike, there have been attacks in the past three days in that region itself, so we don't really know who's responsible for it. What's going on and it's an ongoing situation.

BARNETT: There is more information to gather but at least for now, 20 students have been killed in this horrific attack. Sophia Saifi will continue to get updates from you in the hours ahead.

CHURCH: Voting in the U.S. Presidential primary begins in less than two weeks from now in Iowa, and Donald Trump is deadlocked with his republican rival Ted Cruz.

[03:05:01]

BARNETT: But Trump may have gotten an important boost with conservative voters by getting an endorsement from former vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. She praised Trump for raising the full issues and challenging the status quo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Only one candidate's record of success proves he is the master of the art of the deal, he's beholden to no one but we, the people. He'll let you make America great again. Are you ready for that, Iowa? No more pussy-footing around. Our troops deserve the best. You deserve the best. He's from the private sector, not a politician, can I get a hallelujah?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN (AUDIO GAP)...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- on what a lot of republicans feared about Trump in first place.

CHURCH: Yeah, interesting. Of course, in 2012, Sarah Palin endorsed Ted Cruz for his senate race. Now she's turned her back on him. And on top of this, Iowa's Governor is telling people not to vote for Cruz. Let's listen quickly to what he actually said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: I believe that would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him, and I know he's ahead in the poll. But the only poll that counts is the one that they take on caucus night. This event is an important, significant step to helping educate the voters in this state, and this state is where it all begins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ryan, not a great day for Cruz. What impact is all this likely to have on his Presidential bid?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Governor in Iowa, he's very popular with republicans. He's the longest-serving governor in America right mow. Frankly, what he said today has a bigger impact than Sarah Palin's endorsement of Trump. And I think what the Governor's trying to do is send a message that as bad as Trump is, a Cruz-Trump battle that goes on for a long time might be worse for the republican parties. In other words, one of these guys can't -- you know, shouldn't leave Iowa and go on into New Hampshire and the rest of the states.

If Donald Trump is going to be someone that's going to be in the race for a long time, so be it, but if they can get Cruz out early, that's what the republican establishment wants right now. And the other thing, to a simple level, it shows you that Ted Cruz, even though he has been in politics for a long time, doesn't have any friends, at least in the class of elected officials both in Washington and out in the states.

CHURCH: It doesn't look that way. And on the other side of politics, the Democrats Bernie Sanders is enjoying a big surge right now. A new poll has him beating Hillary Clinton by 27 points in New Hampshire. What impact is that likely to have? And just how worried is the Clinton camp right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they're not worried, they should be. They should be terrified. Right now, Hillary Clinton is in the position where she's likely to lose Iowa and New Hampshire, and you know a lot of smart democrats have been saying for months now, even if she loses these first two states, well, the contests after that in the south and elsewhere have much different electorates, they're not as lily-white as Iowa and New Hampshire and African-American and Latino voters are very strongly backing Clinton's candidacy.

But if you get in a situation where she loses both of those early states, all bets are off. They have to start hitting Sanders hard and do it now.

[03:10:01]

CHURCH: Yeah, pretty shaky on both sides of the political aisle here, Ryan, many thanks, always a pleasure to speak with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My pleasure. BARNETT: Now, we're finally hearing from some of the Americans who

were released by Iran. They're expressing gratitude for the diplomats who negotiated their release.

CHURCH: Meanwhile, one of those diplomats discussed the frustrating process of getting them out. CNN's Jim Sciutto has their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jason Rezaian in the first video since his release, seen laughing with his wife. Still, Amir Hekmati the first of the freed Americans to speak says their detention only ended after one final night of fear and uncertainty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up until the last second, we were all worried and concerned. We had no telephone or access to any information, a total of almost 2 1/2 days.

SCIUTTO: The American diplomat, who negotiated the Americans' release over 14 months of secret talks, told us the first sign of trouble was when he and his team couldn't locate Rezaian's wife and his mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was actually very concerning so we stopped the whole thing. SCIUTTO: Turns out they were being hold on their own without any

communication in an airport controlled by the military.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said no. The entire thing is off, unless they're on the airplane.

SCIUTTO: You would have killed the deal if Jason's mother and wife weren't on the plane?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's part of the deal, period.

SCIUTTO: And do you think the Iranians at that point were trying to change the terms, what were they trying to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unclear. Lot of people within the Iranian system and the people, who hold the keys to the prison cells, never wanted this to happen.

SCIUTTO: He wasn't convinced that the deal was back on until the Swiss ambassador narrated the scene second by second by telephone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was on the tarmac and described the van approaching the airplane, couldn't see in the windows, and you know the door's opened and one by one he explained that Jason's wife, Jason's mother, Jason, Amir, and Saeed, and that was the key moment for us. I'll never forget his voice in my ear.

SCIUTTO: He says the talks almost fell apart several times, including this moment in October when his public role including only the war on ISIS showed up at nuclear talks in Vienna, but again, hope disappeared. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got back together with my counterparts, they

went back to square one.

SCIUTTO: I have spoken to diplomats involved in negotiations who described the urgency of Americans' cases, including fears that Jason Rezaian faced the prospects the possibility of a death sentence, Jim Sciutto, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We're going to take a very short break here.

But still to come, Amnesty International says Kurdish forces fighting ISIS are also destroying entire villages, and the group says it might amount to war crimes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:19:01]

BARNETT: We are still following breaking news out of northwestern Pakistan, a siege at a university that has left at least 20 students dead. Now, we know that this began a few hours ago at the Bacha Khan University, just as classes were getting under way. The army has retaken all of the buildings there. However, an emergency worker said the operation is still ongoing.

CHURCH: And we're told there are bodies still inside some of those buildings. Officials believe the death toll could rise. So far no one has claimed responsibility for this attack.

All right, we do want to turn to our top story in the United States, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says he's sorry about the crisis in Flint, where drinking water is contaminated with lead. And he is promising to fix it.

BARNETT: Snyder is asking state lawmakers to approve $28 million to help address this crisis. He says he will release his emails about the city's water supply from the last two years to provide accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: Government failed you. Federal, state, and local leaders by breaking the trust you placed in us. You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops here with me. Most of all, you deserve to know the truth and I have a responsibility to tell the truth. The truth about what we have done and what we'll do to overcome this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: There's so much outrage over this, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the Michigan capitol on Tuesday. Some want him arrested, in fact. Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama met with Flint's mayor, Karen Weaver pledging his support. CHURCH: The crisis started in 2014 when the city switched its water

supplier from Lake Huron to the Flint River. An estimated 500 people claim they're suffering from health issues. And researchers say the effects on children and the unborn could last for many years to come.

BARNETT: Joining me now to talk about Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and the water crisis in Flint is Curt Guyette from the American Civil Liberty's Union of Michigan. He is an investigative journalist who really broke this story wide open. Curt, thank you for joining us here on CNN today, you're the only investigative journalist on staff at ACLU nationwide. First, why is Flint, Michigan, an important to investigate for the organization?

[03:24:01]

CURT GUYETTE, MICHIGAN ACLU: I was hired to investigate issues surrounding Michigan emergency manager law, which is the most extreme law in the United States. It allows the Governor to appoint so-called emergency managers who are given complete control over the operations of cities, school districts, counties that are deemed by the state to be in financial distress. Taking away the power of duly elected officials and putting it into the hands of one person that's accountable only to the Governor.

BARNETT: And this is place that's economically distressed. You talked to so many people, getting their stories on what they have been experienced with this brown, unsafe toxic water. Tell me some of the most shocking things that you have found.

GUYETTE: Well, the biggest thing that's affecting people and touching them the most is what happened to children when they're exposed to elevated levels of lead and -- which they have been exposed to since April of '14 when the state in a move to save money switched Flint from the Detroit system that had been providing clean, safe water for 50 years and started using the very polluted, highly corrosive Flint River to supply the town with its drinking water.

BARNETT: You were seeing some of the samples. You helped gather hundreds of them. You pushed officials for answers. They were dodging this issue. You also exposed an Environmental Protection Agency memo last year which acknowledged something was in fact wrong. Let me just read you a statement that the EPA released a short time ago as it relates to all of this. "The situation in Flint, a large system from purchasing treated water to untreated water is highly unusual. EPA's ability to oversee Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's management of that situation was impacted by failures and resistance at the state and local levels to work with us in a forthright, transparent and proactive manner, consistent with the seriousness of the risks to public health." What was the reason behind this government's screw-up? Was it just to save $100 a day? That sounds outrageous.

GUYETTE: No, it goes back to the emergency law I referenced. Because that decision was so disastrous and then it was the state in the form of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which was charged with overseeing the city and making sure that the city conducted lead tests properly, there were no independent checks and balances. It was all strings lead back to the Governor, it was his people who were doing this. It was his people that were covering up for the mistakes made by the other Governor's people.

It gets to the heart of the problem with this law. Eliminates necessary checks and balances and just consolidates power in one place and in this case, it's the Governor's office.

BARNETT: And Governor Rick Snyder did address the state on Tuesday. I am just wondering how much resistance and skepticism you're still facing, because this past year has been an uphill battle. And the Governor hasn't necessarily acknowledged everything you wished he did.

GUYETTE: Correct. As a matter of fact, every step along the way their tactics were to deny and attack the people who were trying to bring the truth to light. They attacked the EPA when they leaked the memo that really exposed all of this. They attacked and tried to discredit Professor Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech, a hero in Washington, D.C., where he helped expose the problem of lead in their water. And they attacked a pediatrician at a Flint medical center, who after we conducted our own test in conjunction with Dr. Edwards and showed unacceptably high levels of lead in the water.

She did her own tests to determine that the levels of lead in the blood of Flint children doubled after the switch to the river. The Governor's office tried to attack her credibility and integrity as well.

BARNETT: Let me just jump in -- we have just a few seconds left. You do have Secretary of State Hillary Clinton running for the democratic nomination for President, mentioning this issue in the most recent democratic debate, where do you go from here?

GUYETTE: Well, there are two things, number one is to do everything humanly possible to make sure the people of Flint, once again, get clean, safe drinking water. The other thing is to determine who is responsible for this disaster, who's responsible for the poisoning of the children and bring them to justice.

BARNETT: Something we'll continue to follow closely and thanks to you for bringing the spotlight on this issue, Curt Guyette, investigative reporter with the ACLU, thanks for your time.

GUYETTE: Thank you.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break. But we'll have more on our breaking news story, the siege at a university in northwestern Pakistan that's left at least 20 students dead. A live report when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:31:01]

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. We're following breaking news this hour. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. Let's update you on the developing story out of Pakistan. At least 20 students are dead in the northwestern part of the country after militants stormed Bacha Khan University just as classes were getting under way early in the morning. A local official tells us that the operation is still ongoing and he expects the death toll to rise.

CHURCH: And for more on this breaking news story, we want to go to Alexandra Field who's in New Delhi. Alexandra, of course, as we've been reporting, we know at least 20 students have been killed in this deadly attack and we understand that this is still an ongoing operation. What details do you have on this attack?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it's certainly too soon to have any of the authorities getting their full hands around this situation. What we know at this point, some of the reports that we're actually hearing from students inside the university, harrowing stories, really, one student saying that he watched as his professor was struck by a bullet at the same time, the professor was telling people to stay inside and take cover. This happened this morning when an explosion was heard at the front gate of the university.

And there were number of reports of shots being fired inside. Again, officials connected to the school, saying, at least 20 people were killed. All four attackers were killed after security forces took up positions on top of the building. They say at least two of the attackers were killed by sniper fire. We know from school administrators that there were at least 3,000 students on campus, this campus is in the northwestern portion of Pakistan.

There were also some 600 on guests on campus, there for a special ceremony to commemorate Bacha Khan who is the namesake of the university. What's not clear at the point is whether or not there were more than four attackers. We only know that the military that four attackers have been killed and also there's a question of who will take responsibility and at this point, Rosemary, it's still too soon to determine who's responsible for the attack on this school this morning.

CHURCH: As you say, we don't know how many attackers were involved. We know this ongoing. As you mentioned, no claim of responsibility at this time, at least, but who do authorities believe maybe behind this?

FIELD: No claim that we can verify at this point and certainly, there's some caution that needs to be taken here. First and foremost, we know that security forces are doing this block by block sweep of the campus. What's important before determining who's behind this is to determining whether or not any attackers remain on campus. It's not far from Peshawar that deadly attack on a school back in 2014 where more than 130 people were killed. It's important for authorities to determine who's behind this.

First, it's the safety of the students to remain on campus. Number one top of mind is figuring out if any terrorists or any more gunmen remain on campus. CHURCH: So disturbing when soft targets like schools and universities

are attacked like this, Alexandra Field keeping us up to date on this situation out of Pakistan. Many thanks to you

BARNETT: Certainly, a lot happening in the world right now, government and business leaders are gathering at the Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

[03:36:01]

CHURCH: This week's event will focus heavily on technology, but some of the big meetings in the coming hours include the Iranian foreign minister on the next steps of his country. The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde will speak on the transformation of finance, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will discuss global economics.

BARNETT: Now Amnesty International is accusing of Kurdish forces in northern Iraq of possible war crimes, a new report from the Human Rights Organization said that Peshmerga forces have deliberately destroyed entire villages and areas recaptured from ISIS.

CHURCH: Satellite images show evidence of the widespread damage. The group says thousands of homes were blown up and burned down and some even bulldozed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see the tracks of the bulldozers. And the pattern of destruction on the houses, these houses haven't been blown up, they have been hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Amnesty says tens of thousands of Arab civilians have fled their homes, forced to live in makeshift camps and that they're barred from returning home.

CHURCH: Secretary General of Amnesty International joins us now live from Davos, Switzerland. Thank you, sir, for talking with us. Just how convincing is the evidence that Kurdish fighters are responsible for possible war crimes committed in northern Iraq after they reclaimed cities from ISIS?

SALI SHETTY, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY GENERAL: Well, Amnesty International's research has done is by our own staff on the ground, talking to witnesses, talking to victims, so it's a very rigorous piece of research on the ground. It's also corroborated by the satellite imagery. The Islamic state, as we know, the Kurdish fighters are one of the few people on the ground who managed to resist the Islamic state. Unfortunately, what we found now the Kurdish forces themselves, the militias themselves involved in war crimes.

Families have been pushed out. You can't have this kind of collective punishment, devastation, where people are now living in desperate situation in camps. We are asking the Kurdish government and the Kurdish forces to completely stop this unlawful destruction of homes, of livelihood of people. We're also calling on the U.S. and the coalition forces to put pressure on the Kurdish militias to stop this kind of human rights violations.

CHURCH: Understood, sir. But the Kurdish fighters say its need for security. To bring in who have aided and abetted is.

SHETTY: You can't attack innocent civilians and destroy their homes. There is -- from all of the evidence we have seen there's no military necessity in this case to punish tens of thousands of people in the area. The international law is clear, you can't attack civilians in this way.

CHURCH: How does this level of mass destruction proves that it's a war crime, isn't this what happens when areas are seized back from ISIS. What ISIS has done itself across the region? What is your responsible to that, really, when the problem is so extensive like this.

SHETTY: But these are the places where ordinary communities, civilians used to live, they have gone into places where the war happened a year, 18 months ago. They have gone into these communities and systematically destroyed the houses. Destroying the homes, dwelling places is unacceptable by any international humanity and legal standards.

CHURCH: Sir, finally, what has happened to the tens of thousands of Arab residents that have been forced to flee their homes?

[03:41:01]

SHETTY: So our staff on the ground have spent time talking to these people who are living in desperate conditions in camps that are totally ill equipped, which obviously is going to breed further extremist violence, which is why we're calling on the international community, the U.S. and coalition partners to stop this violence that's happening. You're asking me if it's a war crime. We're calling on all of the parties to actually investigate it, to stop it, but also to do a proper investigation as to what is going on the ground.

CHURCH: All right, Secretary of Amnesty International, Sali Shetty joining us there from Davos in Switzerland, many thanks to you.

And CNN is reaching out to Kurdish officials for comment on this but we haven't yet received a response.

BARNETT: Europe's financial markets are seeing red today, two percent losses on many of the indices. Let's take a live look as trading has been under way for less than an hour and early in the trading day, you see London's FTSE down more than 2.5 percent, Paris CAC down 3 percent as well. And the Zurich SMI down 2.5 percent right now.

CHURCH: A powerful blast of winter weather is on the way for millions of people in the United States. We'll find out who's at risk when we check in our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. That's still to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: More now on the breaking news we have been following from Pakistan, at least 20 students are dead after a siege at the Bacha Khan University near the Afghanistan border. It started just a few hours ago as classes were getting under way.

BARNETT: Now, at this stage, it's not clear how many attackers were at the school, but security forces say they have killed at least four of them. We also understand two of them were hit with sniper fire. Now, there's been no claim of responsibility so far, officials telling us that this is still an ongoing situation. So stay tuned for updates in the hours ahead

A U.S. Navy Seal who helped kill Osama Bin Laden reportedly kept an unauthorized picture of his corpse. The report comes from the website the Intercept. CNN's not been able to independently confirm the details of this.

CHURCH: The website says Matthew Bissonnette turned over computer hard drive with the picture to U.S. investigators. The U.S. has tried to keep photos of Bin Laden's corpse from going public fearing they could trigger a backlash.

[03:46:01]

BARNETT: No we're getting a first look at picture of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman behind bars in a Mexican prison. Take a look there. The notorious drug lord was recaptured earlier this month after he escaped from a maximum security prison last year. Guard dogs have been trained to pick up his scent specifically, as one of the extreme measures authorities are taking to make sure he doesn't break out again.

CHURCH: A massive winter storm with the potential to affect more than 50 million people across the United States is brewing at this hour, and our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now from the international weather center with more details on this, 50 million, that's extraordinary. Who won't be affected then?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, ams METEOROLOGIST: Philadelphia, Baltimore, out towards New York and certainly Boston would see the potential for impressive snows. It's an El Nino season, typically spells warmer conditions across the United States. An incredible amount of snowfall that could come down here could make it an impressive event. On Friday night into Saturday, model implications have put a storm system off the eastern seaboard. If it goes north, we have heavy snowfall across southern New England.

If the southern trajectory verifies, slower to move, as that happens the heaviest snows would come along the mid-Atlantic region. Wait until you see the numbers across this region. Philly and New York, you would see moderate snowfall beyond that, even lesser amounts to Boston Friday night into Saturday. The winds incredible as well, you take a look at this. When it comes to getting snowfall, winds over 35 miles per hour at least for three hours, that's the definition of a blizzard. This could extend for more than three hours. Visibilities would be

reduced. Not talking about the western plains, this is the most densely populated area of the U.S. Friday into Saturday around the northeastern United States, and of course, want to show you how this all plays out. When you bring the globe down, you look at a system of such magnitude. This is classic north eastern in the works. The winds come out of the north and east and of course, you have significant storm surge.

Very similar to what you see across New South Wales and Queensland. You have lows that develop. This particular event, you let the flakes fly, look at this, you bring down the potential of 26 inches, more than two feet around the nation's capital. New York City could get around 10 inches. You get the theme. Boston gets less, five inches of snowfall. In a season that's very warm and dry. You look at the record books. The nation's capital some of the longest living records for historic snowstorms.

When you look at 28 inches -- that would put you in top three greatest snowfalls in the nation's capital's history there, the European model brings down 17 inches for the region. Top five in the record books. Any way you slice it, this looks like it could have significant implication on travel if not if the large-scale infrastructure with the amount of snow that could come down from Friday into Saturday.

And of course, just a few weeks ago, temperatures were record hot across this part of the United States. Incredible snows.

BARNETT: We'll get soaked here in the south as this storm moves through, so, there's at will of moisture out there these days.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

CHURCH: Thank you, Pedram.

BARNETT: Now, a Japanese man has recognized as the world's oldest living man has died at the age of 112.

CHURCH: Yasutaro Koide was born in Japan just months before the Wright brothers' first powered flight back in 1903. He used to work as a Tailor. A French woman is recognized by Guinness as the oldest person on record. She died at the age of 122. That was back in 1997.

BARNETT: Incredible. But now, a family from Brazil believes their relative who they claim is 131 years old should officially hold that title. He certainly looks like he's up there. They says his I.D. card shows he was born in 1884. Wow.

CHURCH: Unbelievable.

[03:51:01]

BARNETT: They come for the economics but they stay for the yodeling.

CNN's Richard Quest gets a singing lesson from the experts in Davos, Switzerland. You know you want to hear this after this short break on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: We have an update for you now on the breaking news out of Pakistan, the death toll has risen to 21, 21 people have been killed during this attack on Bacha Khan University in the northwestern part of the country. We'll continue to gather more information as to who was behind this attack in the hours ahead here on CNN.

CHURCH: And we have this for you, Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx is being called a hero after he and another person pulled a driver out of his burning truck on Monday night.

BARNETT: This is an incredible story. Police say Bret Kyle was speeding while driving drunk and crashed in front of Foxx's California mansion, Foxx met with Kyle's father who thanked him for saving his son's life. Foxx said anyone would have done it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: As I am getting him out, help me get you out because I don't want to have to leave you. I don't look at it as heroic, but I just had to do something and it all just worked out, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: While he is alive it's not all good news for the driver, police have charged him with drunken driving and he was hospitalized with injuries from that crash.

BARNETT: Business and government leaders are in Switzerland, where the hills -- with the sounds of economics and yodeling.

CHURCH: Yodeling. Handling the global economy of course, and so does making music in this alpine community, Richard Quest reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yodeling, the music of the mountain.

The true sound of music -- well, there's more to yodeling. Here in Davos, the yodel experts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some new yodelers that just started last year, maybe, and some that have been together for more than 30 years.

QUEST: Yodeling is an integral part of alpine tradition, passed down through the generations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Way back in the past, the farms being on the Alps, down in the valley, by the voice, how they were singing to their wives, to their families, they could tell if he's ok.

QUEST: To get that authentic yodeling sound, you need sharp changes in pitch. And if that sounds simple, let an amateur have a go. The difficulty with yodeling, you mustn't meander slowly up to that top note. You jump right to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:56:01]

BARNETT: The yodels of Richard Quest.

CHURCH: Yes, having some fun there. Thank you so much for watching CNN. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. Do stay with CNN as the news continues.

[04:00:00]