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CNN NEWSROOM

Melting, Freezing Snow Likely in D.C.; Blizzard Left Hundreds Stranded in Pennsylvania; Parts of Asia Face Historic Cold Snap; Egyptian Government Cracks Down on Opposition; Olympics Host Brazil Trying to Calm Fears of Zika Virus; Refugees Respond to Cologne New Year's Eve Attacks; World Food Program App Turns Spare Change into Life-Saving Meals; Clinton, Sanders Ramp Up Battle of Experience Versus Change; Trump Goes After Rivals; Sarah Palin Endorsement of Trump Fodder for Tina Fey. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 25, 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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[02:00:38] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A very big welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and those watching all around the world. It's just me. I'm Errol Barnett, kicking off your week for the next few hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

A mammoth winter storm moved on from the eastern U.S., but officials warn the danger isn't over. Meteorologists say freezing is likely in states that saw snow. The blizzard dumped record snowfalls in six states and left at least 15 people dead.

New York's Central Park saw more than 68 centimeters of snow, its second-highest total in 150 years. See some of the aerial footage here. Long Island Railroad System which sustained significant damage during the storm will reopen some of its tracks on Monday. Now the storm also caused several coastal -- or should say, severe coastal flooding there along the New Jersey shoreline.

Meantime, in Washington, officials are still urging people to stay indoors and, of course, stay off the roads. There are limited airline flights out of the city Monday as crews dig out the runways.

And as CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Grey reports, melting and freezing very likely there. Listen.

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JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In the nation's capital, it could not be more quiet. We have schools closed today. We have city government as well as the federal government offices closed today. And it is going to stay that way, I believe, for the next day or so. D.C. is normally a very busy place, as you know. But all of this snow coming at once has really got the city at a standstill.

We had more than 28 inches of snow around Dulles. Reagan had more than 17. Dulles, second-snowiest storm on record. Reagan, number four. We had plows out all night clearing the streets. But even some of the downtown streets still haven't really had a chance to get plowed. Maybe one lane, but not both. And so that why all the schools are closed today as well as those government offices. It is going to take quite a while. When you have roads in the downtown area that still need to be plowed. Imagine how residential areas look with those streets still a lot of snow there.

We also had a little bit of melting on Sunday. Temperatures above freezing. A lot of sunshine. And so the roads are going to be very, very slick this morning if people try to get out about. So the mayor has urged people to stay indoors, for another day. And unfortunately, looks like we are going to have that same melting and refreezing going on, many nights throughout the week. It may take some time to get D.C. back on its feet.

Back to you.

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BARNETT: All right, Jennifer Gray, bundled up and reporting there.

Now, a little to the north and across Pennsylvania, the blizzard left hundreds stranded on a major highway for almost an entire day. Imagine that. The city of Philadelphia has now ended its snow emergency.

CNN's Sara Ganim has more on the clean-up efforts there in the state.

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SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pennsylvania Turnpike commissioner apologizing after what he calls a tragic situation. Motorists stuck on a seven-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike for almost 24 hours in some cases when tractor trailers jackknifed because of snow and could no longer pass through the roads. Now a review of the situation under way as the clean-up continues across the state. In York, Pennsylvania, officials cleaning up after an airport hangar roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. The state receiving anywhere between 20 and 30 inches in some areas.

Here in Philadelphia, schools remain closed on Monday as city officials continue the clean-up, putting the snow into dump trucks and hauling it to snow melters to get rid of that snow. In the meantime, kids who were cooped up inside all weekend enjoying a release of some of the energy, sliding down the rocky steps here in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, enjoying the aftermath of that snowstorm. The blizzard we now was the fourth-largest on record here in Philadelphia.

Back to you.

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BARNETT: Thank you to Sara Ganim for that report.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us to talk about what comes next. You warned us. You pinpoint it almost perfectly. What's the forecast for the next week? As Monday gets going, people should be concerned with ice.

[02:05:11] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, the ice, its there. What is amazing, the melting is not going to be there fast. Looking at numbers, three days of 50 degree Fahrenheit, 10 Celsius, to melt two inches. This could take weeks if not months. New York, tall buildings, lot of shade. The sun is not going to be interacting with the snow much. A concern.

We will break it down. You thing of Anchorage, Alaska, September 29, 2015, picked up 25.8 inches of snow. Past couple days, New York City has outdone them. Look at Nome, Alaska, beating the seasonal snowfall totals. Take a look at perspective of large area across the northeastern United States. See the area from the pink shading to the deep purple, 360,000 square kilometers. For international viewers watching from Germany, Japan, roughly the size of the land area of those two countries is how much of an area across the United States has seen a foot of snow on the ground. Major airports, several thousand cancellations. You can see why when you see it putting this over a densely populated area of the United States. We came in at number two for New York City, Central Park, just .1 inch shy of the all time snowiest storm there for the city, just shy of the record.

Here go the temperatures. Washington, D.C., up above freezing, 41, Tuesday. Cools off a little. Above freezing. Get up all most to 50. Again, not warm enough for significant melting to take place across Washington and New York, in particular. Reason we touched on this is because you have to keep in mind, with snow, very reflective, so the sun's incoming radiation comes in, bounces off the white surface. A lot of energy is not trapped by the snow but reflected into the upper atmosphere. The snow hangs out for a very long time. In Boston last year, recall, we had snow into May, even June before it all melted. And that's really what is concerning. Now, as snow gets dirty, get pollutants on it, dirt from the roads on there, dark, absorbs more energy, melts more rapidly. At this point, it doesn't look like it will melt quickly. Some overnight temperatures are cold enough to refreeze it into ice. And going to be a travel headache for a while.

BARNETT: Let's say you're here in Georgia, driveway was frozen over, nothing you can do, right?

JAVAHERI: No, there is not much you can do, absolutely. If you can put salt down or something the night before, your best, precaution, yeah.

BARNETT: Our studio cameraman, Jordan, had his driveway iced over. Couldn't get out. Can't say anything. I'm putting him on the spot. Allows people to relax. Going to have to hunker down.

JAVAHERI: Little bit, yeah.

BARNETT: Pedram, thank you. See you soon.

JAVAHERI: Yeah. BARNETT: Appreciate it.

Millions of people in parts of Asia are facing an historic cold snap of their own. This is the view above east China. Check it out, streets there covered in snow. Off the mainland, Hong Kong had its coldest day in 59 years. Out of character for the typically subtropical climate. And the drop in temperatures proved deadly in Taiwan where at least 85 died from hypothermia or heart issues from the conditions. The chill felt all over the continent.

Our Matt Rivers joins us live from Beijing with details on all of this.

Matt, deaths in Taiwan attributed to the cold weather snap are staggering. Why is the number so high for what should be more of a nuisance not something fatal?

MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, this weather is highly unusual in a place like Taiwan that typically has mild temperatures throughout, the winter. You mention that total of 85, at least 85 deaths according to state media attributed in some way to the cold weather. Most of the people reported dead were older age, elderly people. That could have a part in all this.

But the thing to remember here is that Taiwan, most of the houses on the island do not have central heating because simply it doesn't get cold enough there to warrant that kind of infrastructure. Because of that, maybe many people on the island were unprepared. Though the forecast did call for the cold temperatures, many unprepared for the level of cold, the extreme cold that came in over the weekend.

BARNETT: Matt, this weather is forecast to hang around for a few more days, particularly where you are. How is the government handling transit across the country? That can be a big challenge?

[02:09:44] RIVERS: Absolutely, especially this time of year. Here in China, the time of the largest annual human migration, during what's called the Chinese Lunar New Year, millions and millions of Chinese people go home for the holiday season. Lunar New Year, February 8th. People start traveling weeks in advance of that. Travel through February 8th, then after that, coming home. A very busy travel season. What we saw over the weekend, because of the cold weather, especially in the eastern and southern regions of the country with the blizzard-like conditions we saw a travel nightmare. We saw lots and lots of flight delays. We saw train travel get canceled. Even highways were shut down here in China. Often times instead of plowing the highways, they shut them down. That created quite the nightmare over the weekend.

As for the next couple days, the government it's hoping that things will get a little better because while temperatures are supposed to remain cold, we are not going to see the snow, blizzard-like conditions that we saw over the weekend. So because of that, hopefully, while there will still be a lot of people traveling, hopefully, they will be able to move through the cold weather now that there is no snow involved -- Errol? BARNETT: Yeah, just, I guess one more hot spot, cold spot, I want to

mention, there are tens of thousand of people stranded over the weekend at the international airport in South Korea. What do we know about their predicament?

RIVERS: Yeah, they were stranded at a popular tourist island near South Korea. Many people go there. What we are told there by South Korean officials is that the people are now being able to leave that airport. They were stranded there for several days because of the snow and the heavy wind that we saw in that region. There was upwards of 90,000 people that were affected by their flights getting canceled over the past several dates. But we do know that it was just within the last several hours that that particular airport has reopened. So perhaps, some light at the end of the tunnel for the tens of thousand of airline passengers that had their flights canceled over the weekend.

BARNETT: Yeah, pretty incredible weekend. So many where you are.

Matt Rivers, live for us in Beijing. Just past 3:11 in the afternoon there. Matt, thanks.

Still to come, Olympics' host, Brazil, trying to calm fears of the Zika Virus. It has a new plan to keep the virus from spreading when tens of thousands are in Rio for summer games.

Plus, the failed promise of democracy five years after the beginning of Egypt's uprising.

We're just getting started here on CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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[02:16:12] BARNETT: ISIS released a grisly propaganda video. It appears to show nine terrorists responsible for the November Paris attacks. Each of the men gives a so-called final statement, one that claims the Paris attacks were ordered directly by ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Next, the video shows the terrorists beheading and shooting hostages. And it ended with images of Prime Minister David Cameron and a threat that Great Britain may be the next target for ISIS.

Now, after days of fighting, Syrian government forces and their allies have retaken a key province on the Mediterranean. Latakia has been a stronghold of support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. And taking it back from rebels is symbolically and strategically significant. Photographs show Syrian troops inside the village as they entered it on Sunday. It was the final town in the Latakia Province to be retaken by government forces.

As the devastating conflict in Syria rages, world powers are hoping this week to start earnest international talks to end the conflict. But they are mired in controversy and disagreement, as you well know. The U.S. and Russia disagree on which opposition factions will sit at the table. Some groups refuse to even attend until Russia halts its air strikes. Still, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is optimistic the talks will go forward.

Now ongoing political instability has also allowed Islam militants to gain a foothold in Egypt. An ISIS attack killed nine in Cairo last week. The hopes for democracy at the center of Egypt's uprising five years ago have faded with crackdowns on dissent. Amnesty International, in fact, says Egypt is mired in a human rights crisis of, quote, "huge proportions."

Ian Lee reports now from Cairo.

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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arab leaders quake at the site of Tahrir. Millions of Egyptians took to the square, a force for change, demanding a better life.

(SHOUTING)

LEE: That was 18 days in 2011. The masses returned to do it again in 2013. Shortly after, the new government cracked down.

Police arrested Yusuf (ph) during a protest, charged with threatening national security, he says.

We're concealing the university student's identity. He's afraid for his safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They electrocuted me with two wires to the chest and the back. I was screaming in pain. My torturer said the electricity was weak. Plug it into the A/C. The shock sent me and with guys holding me back a few meters.

LEE: Yusuf (ph) languished in prison for over a year.

(on camera): How did you deal with the torture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I cried hard. I felt weak, impotent and crushed. I broke a piece of glass and felt like I wanted to end all this. I wanted to die.

LEE (voice-over): CNN can't verify Yusuf's (ph) story, but Egyptian human rights lawyers say his story is not unique.

UNIDENTIFIED EGYPTIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEY: They use extreme force, violence, torture, violence in prisons and especially in police stations it's gone up, on the rise.

LEE: One report details police abuse in 2015. In it, nearly 500 people died in police custody. 700 cases of torture were documented.

(on camera): In the lead-up to the anniversary of the revolution, activists tell us the government is cracking down on any perceived threats, including making arrests and raiding cultural centers and private homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There say deliberate attempt to send the mess annual to anyone considered protesting that it won't be tolerated this time around.

LEE (voice-over): Egypt's minister of interior defended his tactics were labeled as legal on state TV.

MAGDY ABDEL GHAFFER, EGYPTIAN MINISTER OF INTERIOR (through translation): Questions are being raised now about some practices that violate human rights, well, they are necessary because of the reality we now live in. We are facing a ferocious wave of terrorism that Egypt hasn't witnessed in modern history.

LEE: Among the wave of terrorism, ISIS in Egypt killed over a thousand people including hundreds of civilians.

But Yusuf (ph) sees the government's tactics as counterproductive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The government gives the terrorist organizations a kiss of life. The youth join these groups as a result of the government oppression and terror. They don't give the young people a way to vent their anger.

LEE: Five years on, for many, the hope of Tahrir has been replaced by despair.

Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.

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[02:20:38] BARNETT: Pregnant women are being urged by health officials to delay travel to Brazil and other countries because of a dangerous virus. Now Rio is taking action to stop the Zika Virus before it hosts the Summer Olympics in six months. Full details on that after this.

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BARNETT: Welcome back. With the Rio Olympics coming up later this year, officials are trying to calm fears over a fast-spreading illness. This Zika Virus spread by mosquitoes and infected more than a million in Brazil. It's also been linked to a severe and sometimes deadly birth defect.

Shasta Darlington has more on what authorities will be doing to keep the virus in check when tens of thousands of visitors arrive from around the world for the games.

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[02:24:57] SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With concerns growing over the Zika Virus and the Olympic games six months away, officials are taking steps to minimize risks. Leading up to the games and during the Olympic Games and Paralympics Games they will be inspecting all venues on a daily basis to make sure there isn't standing water. That's important because that's the breeding ground for mosquitoes that transmit the virus. They're quick to point out, Rio de Janeiro hasn't been the focal point of the Zika Virus or the birth defects that have been linked to it. That's been more in the northeast of the country. They're also hopeful that with the games coming in August, that the winter, the dryer cooler months here in Brazil that will also help minimize risks.

This has been a very serious issue here in Brazil. While the Zika Virus cropped up in the first half of last year and didn't initially set off any alarm bells because it is such a mild virus, a few months later when doctors noticed there was a huge spike in birth defects, something called Microcephaly, when babies born with small craniums and developmental use often leading to early death, they quickly determined there was a link between the two. And just to give you an idea, since the Zika Virus was detected, nearly 4,000 babies have been born with this Microcephaly in Brazil. That's 140, 150, in an average year. People are taking this seriously. So people are taking it very seriously. They're fumigating in the northeast. They're already checking for stagnant water and they say they will step up all efforts as we get closer to the games.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

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BARNETT: In a matter of hours, the Democratic rivals have one more chance to make their case face to face one week before the first voting in the U.S. presidential race. We'll preview Monday night's Iowa town hall.

And an app from the World Food Program turns you spare change into life-saving meals. Find out how easy it is to make a real difference when CNN NEWSROOM returns.

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[02:30:18] BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. Hoping your day or evening is going well.

Here is an update on the top stories we are following for you right now.

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BARNETT: Now Thai and Malaysian officials looking into a large piece of metal debris that washed ashore off the coast of Thailand. A fisherman found it Friday in the Pak Phanang District. The debris hasn't been identified yet but some officials say it could be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 while others say it doesn't even look like it is from a plane.

Our Saima Mohsin explains.

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SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The team and I have just arrived in Pak Phanang. It is dark. We want to give you a first look at the debris that washed ashore. It was floating close to the shore. Local fishermen brought it in.

Let me give you a closer look at this. Now, there is wiring. If we follow it, all the way around, you can just see how large this piece is. We think it is roughly around three meters wide, at least 2.5 meters tall, taller at the other end. Kind of look a conical shape, less wide at the bottom than at the top. I want to show you these. These are incredibly important. They're barnacles. Now, these are obviously growing from the scene. Now when I covered the discovery of the flapperon that we now know to have belonged from the plane, thousand of miles away on Reunion Island, oceanic experts told me they can give a lot of information, how long has the piece been in the water, and potentially where exactly in the ocean, does it come from or has it been to.

Now, what else are they looking for? They're looking for numbers. We haven't seen serial numbers. There are a number of different numbers on this 323. Let me bring you down here. 307, 308. There are circular pieces. A lot of nuts and bolts. These are also important. Let me bring you down here and show you these rivets. Now, experts tell me that rivets are used on a Boeing 777, the same aircraft as MH- 370, but only inside of the frame, not on the external side of the fuselage.

Now, some experts are debating whether this even belongs to another type of aircraft. Many are saying it could well be from a rocket. But that, of course, is for experts to determine.

The director general of the Civil Aviation Authority in Malaysia tells me he is sending a team of four people here. They will travel down to southern Thailand at first light, joined by air accident investigators from the Thai Civil Aviation Authorities and air investigators from the Royal Thai Air Force.

Of course, it is incredibly important not to speculate. The family members of the -- and the loved ones of those on board flight MH-370 -- 239 people went missing two years ago, eighth of March 2014 -- won't want ambiguity. They want certainty. It will be a long night of waiting for them.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Pak Phanang, on the eastern coast of Southern Thailand.

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[02:34:57] BARNETT: In the wake of the massive influx of migrants and refugees into Europe, European ministers are set to meet Monday to consider emergency measures that would extend border patrols.

In the past year, Germany has become home to more than a million asylum seekers, but as our Atika Shubert is about to show us, attacks on women in Cologne has deepened fears of a backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police have described what happened at the Cologne train station on New Year's Eve as a new dimension of crime by a mob of North African men.

(SHOUTING)

SHUBERT: German federal police used an Arabic term.

He says, "This is a new phenomenon for Germany and we're very concerned about this. We know this phenomenon from Egypt, mass sexual assault happening in large crowds," he says. "It is not a game, and anybody who commit assaults like this must be arrested and brought to police regardless, anyone, whether German nationals or refugees."

This is exactly what Mustafa Caretta (ph), a 48-year-old Syrian refugee, had feared would happen.

"Some people were waiting for something like this to happen," he tells us. "Something that puts refugees in a bad light. But we will do our best to prove to others that most refugees are not bad."

Mustafa (ph) and his family were among the one million asylum seekers who came to Germany in the last year. Initially, Germany publicly welcomed refugees, but national polls now show Germans dissatisfied with Chancellor Angela Merkel's policies. 70 percent now believe more crime is coming.

Nabela Hamdi (ph), a Kurdish refugee, introduced us to Mustafa (ph) and his family to understand how the New Year's Eve assaults and backlash will impact refugees.

Mustafa's (ph) son-in-law believes the assaults were less about culture and more about the disrespect of the law and order brought with them.

"There is no law in places like Syria," he says. "Some who came to Germany grew up like this and do not want to know anything in this new place, but refugees must realize that there are laws in Germany and must abide by the laws. Everybody has rights here but also responsibilities."

The assaults have galvanized anti-immigration groups. Attack on refugees and migrants have also increased, but Mustafa's (ph) son, Yusuf (ph), is not afraid.

"I'm not afraid, definitely not," he says. "Because the people I met within the last four months I've seen in Germany were good people, full of respect."

Small groups of refugees have come to leave messages and lay flowers at the Cologne train station, but even Hamdi (ph), the refugee coordinator, admits it will take time.

"I'm a very positive person," he says. "I think we have reduced peoples' prejudices against refugees. But I can understand people who feel, well, if you invite someone to your home, offer to take care of them and then this person betrays you, what is natural to be sad and very disappointed."

Time to rebuild trust between residents and refugees who are here to stay."

Atika Shubert, CNN, Cologne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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BARNETT: You will want to stay tuned all week. CNN is bringing Europe's migrant crisis into sharp focus. As you know, for months, we have been following the paths of thousand of people, many fleeing war in Syria. At first, countries like Austria extended a warm welcome. But a harsh winter finds attitudes cooling, and we are seeing evidence of a backlash.

Next hour, Arwa Damon will report on a controversial vote in Denmark. That measure could result in officials seizing some refugee's possessions to offset the cost of caring for them.

We'll follow the debate in Norway where deportations are a contentious issue and you'll hear from Syrian refugees in Jordan languishing in limbo. That's a focus on Europe's migrant crisis today and all this week only on CNN International.

Syria's civil war has created a desperate humanitarian situation with hundreds of thousands at risk of starving to death. Earlier this month, the United Nations said it received credible reports of people dying of starvation in places like Madaya. The Syrian government has since allowed aid convoys into media, and two other towns.

But refugees have a new hope. The World Food Program is supporting an app that gives you a chance to help as well. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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SEBASTIAN STRICKER, CEO, SHARE THE MEAL: I want to start with good news. We, all of us, are ending global hunger. Not so good news, one in nine people don't have enough to eat.

My name is Sebastian Stricker, and I am part of the team that created Share the Meal to address this problem.

We've built a smart phone app, Share the Meal, to fight global hunger. Think of the situation, you are having dinner, lunch, with your smart phone with you and you may be reading the news or e-mails. Now there is a button. If you press that, you share your meal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:25] BARNETT: Pretty straight forward there.

Joining me to talk about the Share the Meal app is the man you just saw, CEO Sebastian Stricker, joining us live from London.

Sebastian, thank you for your time today and joining us.

Since last year, when we first interviewed you, Share the Meal successfully fed Syrian refugee children at one camp in Jordan. Now I understand, based on the success, you'll replicate the effort for expectant new mothers in Syria. There are additional challenges, whether an ongoing civil war. What have you learned the first time around? How are you planning on making this effort work this time around?

STRICKER: Yes, first of all, thank you very much for having me again. When we spoke the last time, about two months ago, we just started providing food to 20,000 Syrian children in refugee champs in north of Jordan. Since then so many people joined the community, they downloaded the app, Google Play, at the store. Shared so many meals, we are able to provide food to all the children for a year.

We are moving on, to help in another place in Syria. We are targeting, pregnant women and their babies and are providing vital nutrition for them. We again hope the Share the Meal community helps them to provide them with the food that they need for a year again.

BARNETT: People will see this and think a no brainer. Those who want to do something to help those in need, but they might be suspicious. What do you say to those watching and they may feel skeptical that 50 cents, I understand is the average people could pay, the 50 cents person would pay would really make a difference. How do you convince people that it gets to the people in need? Explain how a 50 cent click become is a meal for someone?

STRICKER: Yeah, absolutely. I think we are all touched, your audience, and our team in Berlin and Munich and Rome, we are touched by pictures, videos, we see on CNN of the children starving, most recently in the context of Madaya. I think a couple straight forward points, in regards to effectiveness and efficiency, the United Nations food program has administrative overhead of 10 percent. 90 percent of the funds that people provide actually go into the operations to feed and provide food to the beneficiaries we are trying to target. In regards to 50 cents, or 40 Euro cents, respective currency where the users are, it is important to understand this is obviously an average. Some cases it will be a bit more expensive. In other cases it will be cheaper. Some people are suffering from severe hunger. Others are suffering from maybe not as severe, moderate hunger. But it is the total. It also includes the monitoring. We need to make sure that the food reaches the Beneficiaries and has intended affect. And, what I think is important, the app never touches the money but then goes to the United Nations World Food Program, which then organizes the distribution through these control mechanisms.

BARNETT: Before you launched this app, you worked in various capacity with the World Food Program. I'm wondering how much challenge it was to get a large, national behemoth, that is the U.N.'s World Food Program, to innovate like this, because it takes a lot of coordination on many different levels. STRICKER: Every year, hunger is decreasing. Fewer and fewer are

suffering from hunger within the United Nations system. There is this group of people that are very much thinking about how we can accelerate the progress. The United Nations World Food Program has an innovation division and an innovation accelerator in Munich. That's what the people are thinking about and how to accelerate the progress of reducing hunger, how to end hunger until 2030, which is our big goal. And I think the United Nations has very much understood that we need to innovate. And I believe personally that they're doing an amazing job. And I believe there will be amazing things coming out of this innovation division but also the innovation accelerator in Munich.

[02:44:04] BARNETT: It is that belief that has you working hard and so many people downloading Share the Meal app.

Folks, head to SharetheMeal.org or head to the app store or various devices.

Appreciate you coming in, speaking to us, CEO, Sebastian Stricker. Best of luck. Thank you for your time.

Still to come for you on CNN NEWSROOM, days before the caucuses, Bernie Sanders fights claims of inexperience as Hillary Clinton appeals for support. You will hear from both of them next.

And launching a music career with social media and word of mouth. Details on that coming up.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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BARNETT: Democratic presidential contenders in the United States are making their case to voters as Iowa caucuses approach. Bernie Sanders fought back against suggestions he is inexperienced while Hillary Clinton acknowledged some voters are still making up their minds.

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[02:49:57] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But it really reminds me very much of what happened here in Iowa eight years ago. Remember that eight years ago, Obama was being attacked. He was unrealistic. His ideas were high in the sky. He did not have the experience that was needed. But you know what? People of Iowa saw through those attacks then, and they're going to see through those attacks again.

(APPLAUSE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I know some of you are still shopping.

(LAUGHTER) I like to shop, too.

(LAUGHTER)

I hope during the course of this afternoon, we can convince some of you to talk to my volunteers and organizers on the way out and sign up. Sign a Commit to Caucus card, sign to do some of the shifts of work that we need to really gear up for the caucus next Monday.

But I don't want you to see me and decide. I want to tell you why, why the stakes in this election are so high and we have to start to move toward nominating and electing a president and commander-in-chief who will continue the progress we have made, make sure it is not ripped away, forcing us to once again be disappointed.

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BARNETT: One week before the state of Iowa casts ballots in the nation's first caucus, the Democratic candidates go face to face with voters there and do it here. CNN's Chris Cuomo moderates the Democratic presidential town hall with Martin O'Malley, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. That's Tuesday at 2:00 a.m. for those in London, 3:00 a.m. central European time.

Stay tuned next hour when I speak with CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin, about how the candidates are selling themselves to voters.

Now, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is leading the latest Iowa polls. But while his rivals go after voters, the Republican front- runner is going after them.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump on Sunday delivering his typical stump speech in Iowa with eight days before the Iowa caucuses. Before heading to the rally, he did attend church services Sunday morning, important in Iowa, where evangelical voters are key part of the primary electorate. He attended service for an hour then headed over here where he did remark upon the fact that he attended the services, talked how during the services they were discussing humility, and wondering whether that was directed at him.

Of course, also Donald Trump hitting his rivals, talking about Ted Cruz, being backed by oil money, and talking about his position on phasing out the ethanol mandate. Talking about how that would be unfavorable for the economy in Iowa.

And, of course, going after Jeb Bush as he typically does. He talked about how Jeb Bush should get out of the race.

And a week out from Iowa caucuses, it still remains to be seen whether Donald Trump can turn out his supporters in the droves that are needed for him to secure a victory next Monday. But of course, he has a strong team in place here in Iowa. They have been pretty hush-hush about the strategy that they're using to make sure that they get that victory. And they are relying on a lot of first-time caucus voters. So it remains to be seen if they can actually turn the people out. But they're putting in their best effort. A week from now, we will have the results.

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BARNETT: Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump last week caught quite a bit of attention -- I'm sure you noticed -- not the least because many found her speech, well, rather strange. But that's just fodder for American actress, Tina Fey, who has taken on Palin many times before. Not even a snowstorm could stop her from parodying Palin again.

Our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, looks at Fey's latest late-night bit.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: The blizzard could not stop "Saturday Night Live." Broadway shut down last night. But NBC kept the show going. Not surprisingly, Tina Fey was back, playing Sarah Palin, mocking that endorsement earlier in the week.

Here are, depending on what you think, the highlights or low lights from the open.

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TINA FEY, COMEDIAN: I'm here because we Americans are struggling. So many of us have lost our jobs at the factory or reality shows about Alaska --

(LAUGHTER)

And we have seen our own children targeted by the police for no reason other than they have committed some crimes.

(LAUGHTER)

We turn on the news every morning, and are shocked to see we are not even on it because we have been replaced by immigrants like Geraldo Riviera.

(LAUGHTER)

I am here for all you teachers and teamsters, you farmers and charmers, whether you are a mom, or two broke girls, or three men and a baby --

(LAUGHTER)

-- or a rock 'n' roller, holy roller, pushing stroller, pro bowler with an abscess molar. (LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: She is a firecracker.

(LAUGHTER)

She is a real pistol. She's crazy, isn't she?

(LAUGHTER)

FEY: Thank you, Iowa. And God bless some of the United States of America.

(LAUGHTER)

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[02:55:30] STELTER: What you think about the liberal tendencies of the SNL writers, they were touching on something with that last line, the "God bless part of the U.S." It gets to how polarized the country sometimes seems to be.

Now, if you like Democrats getting skewered, you might like SNL two weeks from now. Last night, the show announced Larry David will host on February 6th. People have loved or maybe hated his impersonation of Bernie Sanders. So the show will have ample opportunity to poke fun at Sanders right after the Iowa caucuses.

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BARNETT: Brian, thanks very much.

We should note that some of what Tina Fey said was written comedic material. About half of the skit was what Sarah Palin actually said. I don't think is as funny.

Thank you so much for joining me this hour, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett.

Remember, you can always connect with me on Twitter. Keep it funny if you like.

I'm back next hour with live reports from Denmark, China, Egypt and more. Grab some tea. Stay with me.

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