can't find you anywhere! don't settle for u-verse. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. standing in the latest national polls. the republican presidential candidates debate for the final time before the iowa caucuses. we take a look at the night's winners and losers. >> but guess who wasn't there? donald trump. he skipped the debate. but it didn't take long for his name to come up. and the world health organization sounds the alarm about the zika virus. why they're warning it could spread at an explosive rate. hello and welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. these stories ahead this hour.

i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. very good day to you. we start in the u.s. state of iowa, just three days from now voters will hold the first presidential caucuses. thursday night was their last chance to see the republican candidates go head to head on the stage. >> donald trump, as you might have heard, was not there. he held his own event, a fund-raiser for veterans to compete with the fox news debate. he says the network apologized to him late thursday and asked him to take part in the debate. but trump says he had to stand up for himself after being treated unfairly. >> i didn't want to be here, i have to be honest. i wanted to be about five minutes away, and i've enjoyed that. i've enjoyed that. all the online polls said i've done very well with the debates, and i've had a kick with it.

but you have to stick up for your rights. when you're treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights. [ applause ] you have to do it. >> let's begin by clearing what this campaign is about. it's not about donald trump. he is an entertaining guy. he the greatest show on earth. this is about the greatest country in the world and a president who has sift mat klee destroyed many of the things that made america special. >> the candidates traded blows over immigration, government surveillance, and the washington establishment. here's a look at the highlights. >> i'm a maniac. and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. and, ben, you're a terrible surgeon. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way -- [ laughter ] >> i kind of miss donald trump. >> i kind of miss donald trump.

he was a teddy bear it me. i wish he was there. >> the bulk collection of your phone data didn't stop one terrorist attack. i don't think you have to give up your liberty for a false sense of security. when we look at this bulk collection even the court declared it to be illegal. if we want to collect the records of terrorists, let's do it the old fashion way, let's use the fourth amendment. let's put a name on a warrant and ask a judge for it. let's respect the history of our country. john adams said we fought a war for independence because we wanted to fight against generalized warrants. let's don't forget that. >> governor bush -- >> chris, i was mentioned in that question. >> no, your name wasn't mentioned. i think -- >> sir -- >> i think -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> it's not my question you get a chance to respond to, it's his answer. >> your question was, you have

disagreed -- >> you don't get 30 seconds to respond to me. sir, i know you like to argue about the rules, but we're going to conduct the debate. >> chris, i would note that the last four questions have been, rand, please attack ted, chris, please attack ted, jeb, please attack ted. [ crowd booing ] >> it is a debate, sir. >> well, no, no, a debate is a policy issue. but i will say this, gosh, if you guys ask one more mean question, i may have to leave the stage. >> dr. carson, this week a female muslim who served in the u.s. air force asked hillary clinton a question. do you think the gop messaging on muslims has stoked the flames of bias on thises the democrats suggest and how would you answer this veteran?

>> i don't know about the gop messaging, but can i tell you about my messaging. we need to stop allowing political correctness to stop dictating our policies. teddy roosevelt said we are a nation of immigrants. as such, everybody is welcome from any race, any religion, if they want to be americans, if they want to accept our values and our laws. if not, they can stay where they are. >> governor bush, do you agree senator rubio has not reversed himself on his immigration policy. >> i'm confused, because he was the conspore of the gang of eight bill that required a bunch of thresholds that allowed for citizenship over an extended period of time. that's a fact. he asked me to support that. i supported him, because i think people, when you're elected, you need to do things.

he led the charge to finally fix this immigration problem that's existed now for 30 years. then he cut and run because it wasn't popular amongst conservatives. here's what i believe, and i wrote a book about this called "immigration wars." you can get it for $2.99 on amazon. it's not a best seller. it's affordable for everybody. >> it's interesting that jeb mentioned the book. because you used to support a path to citizenship. >> so did you. >> you wrote a book where you changed your position from a path of citizenship to legalization. the bottom line is this -- we are not going to be able to do anything on this issue until we first bring illegal immigration under control. >> if america does not seem like a welcoming place for immigrant entrepreneurs l the american economy suffer? >> dr. carson, that one's for you. >> oh, great. >> i watched the video of

senator cruz. i watched the video of senator rubio. i heard what they said. this is why you need to send someone from outside of washington to washington. i feel like -- [ applause ] i feel like i need -- i feel like i node a washington-to-english dictionary converter. i mean, i heard what they both said. i saw it on the video. this is what makes a difference when you're a governor. you can change your mind, it's legal in this country to change your mind. but when you're a governor, you have to admit it. you can't hide behind parliamentary tricks. stop the washington bull and let's get things done! >> so all the candidates were there except donald trump. but there were still plenty of fireworks. hilary rosen and ben gave us their take a short time ago. >> i think donald trump is definitely going to get a lot of

media attention. i'm not just so sure it's the media attention you want in iowa. iowa voters are very educated, smart voters. they converse with one another. and i think he may have overplayed his hand here. lit be interesting to see what happens. another thing about iowa voters, they like to mess with pollsters. we saw that haste time when santorum came from a huge from behind victory there. and also with mike huckabee. so i wouldn't be surprised if the poll numbers are wrong going into this big caucus. >> hillary, the same question for you. were voters going between two different video feeds, seeing donald trump on one and then the other republican candidates on the other, who won the night? >> look, donald trump has been brilliant this last week. he just knows how to take the media attention away from every

other candidate. and i think that he clearly won the attention factor tonight. look, he went and did an event with almost 1,000 people and raised millions of dollars for veterans. and instead, the other republican candidates went on stage and mostly attacked each other, didn't really attack him. probably the big loser of the night was ted cruz, because he's been closest to toppling donald trump in these iowa caucuses, and yet tonight, he was the victim of attacks from virtually every other candidate on this stage because he did actually show up. >> we will hear more of that interview later in this hour from ben ferguson and hilary rosen. you can hear what the candidates had to say on amnesty for undocumented immigrants. so plenty to hear about what happened at this debate. the u.s. president barack obama is standing by his party, saying what he believes is

obvious that a democrat will win the presidency. listen. >> obviously, it is election season. the press has been focused on debates and divisions that they can drum up within the primary. and within our party. i'm not worried, though, about this party staying united. the other side may have some stuff to work out. but our trajectory is clear. and everyone scouring my every word to find some deeper meaning to see if i'm trying to put my finger on the scales, so let me simplify things. tonight, i have an announcement to make about the presidential race. democrats will win in november and we will have a democratic president succeeding me. >> later this hour, we will hear from the democratic candidates about what they thought about the debate. by the way, mr. obama has not officially endorsed a candidate for president. coming next here on "cnn newsroom," we'll take you to a

town in northern syria liberated from isis and we'll show you what they left behind. plus, a grim outlook for a virus that may be linked to terrible birth defects. we'll head to brazil, considered ground zero of this outbreak. and new concerns over what some call north korea's latest nuclear test. we'll explain a shift in opinion over key test data. we'll have a live report.

it is now unlikely peace talks to end the syrian war will start on friday. the main opposition group invited to negotiate threatens to boycott unless the regime stops bombing and allows humanitarian aid. >> for months now, we've seen millions of syrians fleeing that war. but some people are taking a very dangerous trip from beirut into the city that is now the headquarters of isis, raqqah. our nick paton walsh reports the passengers know they are buying a ticket with no return. >> reporter: central beirut bus station, and this is what travelers call a one-way ticket to death. the bus to raqqah, the syrian

city isis call their capital. they've sold nine tickets for the 24-hour trip, through the regime held capital of damascus and onwards. yet nobody wants to show their face. apart from this man, the manager, because he's not actually going. he explains the rules. >> translator: a woman that's not dressed right will be sent to islamic training. she needs a male relative to escort her. men need to leave their beards grow long with mustaches trimmed. trousers should not be tight and a certain height over shoes. but isis realize when people travel they can't always lack li -- look like that, so it's okay. >> reporter: it is remarkable that a bus still goes from beirut to raqqah, but this is what it looks like on the return journey, absolutely empty. those getting on board do not expect to come back. tonight's cargo is on its final

journey. a man who died of a heart attack we're told headed to his hometown for a family funeral. sadness of this loss here, but also nervous last cigarettes. not because of the trip ahead where fighter jets often fly low, but because smoking and music are banned under isis' medieval rules. nicotine fingers will later be soaked in perfume, racy pictures deleted from phones. snipers, air strikes on the way, their matter of fact world. >> translator: a plane might strike some distance from the bus. it's normal. no one can pin down where the sniper fire comes from. that's when the passengers get afraid. >> reporter: tonight, they don't have the paperwork to take the body out of lebanon. we learn that the bus did leave 24 hours later. one man telling us, raqqah used to be his heaven. but isis, the war, poverty, and

even the trash, have now made it hell. nick paton walsh, cnn, beirut. the international community agrees there must be a peaceful resolution to the syrian conflict. but there is disagreement over which groups will be allowed to negotiate. the syrian kurdish group known as the pyd, is furious they were reportedly left out. the kurds have been crucial in the fight against isis in northern syria. >> and in a cnn exclusive, our reporter visited a town under kurdish control and shows you what isis militants left behind. >> reporter: kurdish fighters are now in control of the town of al hawl. but the shadow of isis still looms large. the militants left here in a hurry. isis documents litter the floor of the islamic courthouse. further up the road, kurdish fighters showed us a hastily

abandoned bomb factory. one room is stacked with land mines and crudely fashioned homemade bombs. [ speaking foreign language ] in another building, barrels packed with explosives are still ready to be detonated. all of these are filled with hundreds of pounds of tnt, he says. they load seven or eight of them onto a truck and make a suicide track. they can cause us massive devastation. these stockpiles just a tiny fraction of the munitions scattered all over syria. the battle for al hawl didn't last long. coalition air power saw to that. this town was liberated nearly two months ago, but when isis fled, so did all of the arab residents and the streets here are still completely deserted.

kurdi they left behind shuttered shops and empty schools, an ominous sign of the deep mistrust that haunts every corner of this country. clarissa ward, cnn, syria. in northern greece, more than 1,000 migrants are waiting to cross into macedonia and western europe but fear their journey might get harder than ever before after the eu warned greece to do a better job controlling boarders. the living conditions for refugees are getting worse by the minute. >> i think the situation is going to get tougher, because we do not have the facility and the ability to host people, and if they stay at the camp, which is very -- probably because they're not going to have anywhere else to go, they're going to have to suffer once again because of the

cold, once again because we are not shurt if we're going to have enough food. and since we have also young kids and families mainly, i don't think that the conditions are going to be good for them. >> sweden is considering using charter flights to deport migrants whose asylum applications are denied. that according to the country's interior ministry. sweden received more than 150,000 migrants in 2015, one of the highest proportions per capita in the eu. and its rejection rate is in line with that of other eu states. the world health organization says we could see up to 4 million new cases of the zika virus outbreak in the coming here and plan to host emergency talks on monday to deal with it. >> zika may be linked to terrible birth defects. cnn's shasta darlington is in brazil, which is considered ground zero of this outbreak.

>> reporter: while the rest of the world is waking up to the crisis and trying to figure out how it's linked to all these birth defects, here in brazil this is the reality they're living. we're here at this hospital and here they've turned this area into a triage center where they're receiving babies with microcephaly every day. over here, we'll talk to one of the patients, a little newborn baby. so we've just talked to the mother, she's bringing her newborn in for the first time to test for microcephaly, because he does have a small head. because he was premature, she's very hopeful and so are the doctors that she's small all over, that he doesn't really have a small head that will lead to brain damage and

developmental problems. these are the first tests, but they're hopeful the outcome will be positive. doctors are scrambling to put together the early stimulation program and the physical therapy that babies with this condition need. also, the counseling, the psychological counseling for families and because there's no vaccine, there's no cure. brazil is also trying to combat the mosquito that transmits this virus. the problem is, according to health officials, 1.5 million people may have already been affected. so what we're seeing is a lot of very panicked, expectant mothers. shasta darlington, cnn, brazil. >> so coming into question now, el nino. it's claimed for many things, but now that's a question whether this year's rapidly worsening zika virus, the

outbreak could that be related to it? >> is it related to the weather? derek vandam has been looking into that for us and the answer could be yes. >> that's right. natalie, george, added to the list of things we can blame on el nino, this time we have the increased risk with bush fires in australia, fire dangers in indonesia, mudslides and landslide threats in southern california due to heavy rain. and this time we've got the spread of the zika virus. now, what do mosquitos require? what do they like? well, warm temperatures and lots of water. well, guess what? that's what the correlation between the biologists who have been studying the mosquito-born illness and the scientists who have seen this correlation between that strong el nino event we're having across the world, particularly across south america, where shasta darlington was just talking about brazil.

we've seen our above average temperatures. this is typically what we would experience this time of the year when we have such a strong el nino season taking place. remember that thousands of people being displaced because of the heavy rain events that have occurred in paraguay, ecuador and colombia just within the past few months. so if we look at temperatures across south america, you can see that they have been well above average for much of brazil, as well as the coastal areas of ecuador as well as peru. so the warm temperatures and the rainfall has been a concern, as well. remember that a typical life span of a mosquito can last between 7 to 30 days. it has to go through three stages within an aquatic cycle. the egg, larvae and pupa cycle, all occurring within water.

scientists and biologists look at the stagnant water that forms at your house, my house, in places like untreated pools. also rainwater that pools up in your yard, that can be an area that thrives for mosquito development. that's not the only regions in your house that are concerns for this. clogged gutters, overturned boats, even birdbaths can be a potential breeding ground for mosquitos that spread this zika virus. so if we look back to south america and the strong el nino event, you can see the heavy rain that's spread across much of south america and to see this coinciding with a strong el nino event, doctors and biologists are putting these two together. and hopefully we can get a handle on this outbreak. >> derek, thank you very much. you're watching "cnn

newsroom." still ahead, the topic of immigration drew the sharpest attacks at this latest republican presidential debate. still ahead, who won that issue? we talk with our political commentators to get their perspective. the democrats are having a behind the scenes debate of their own. you'll find out how it could change the face of the new hampshire primary. it's all ahead here.

welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. the debate went on but no donald trump. still, there were fireworks. seven of the republican presidential candidates met thursday night in des moines, iowa, just a few days before monday's caucuses.

ted cruz, who is polling very well in that state, seemed to draw a lot of fire from his rivals. >> and donald trump, well, he was just five minutes away, holding a fund-raiser from u.s. veterans. he decided to skip the debate over a feud with fox news and moderator megyn kelly. late thursday, his campaign released a list of 22 organizations that will share the $6 million raised by his event. a prison teacher is one of ten people arrested in connection with a jailbreak. she is believed to have helped the ringleader escape. investigators say the three inmates are still together and may be living out of this stolen van. in mexico, fire ripped through a high rise condominium

thursday night. a gas leaked ignited the roof at the entrance. the fire is now out and no injuries have been reported. immigration and amnesty have been two very big, important topics in the u.s. presidential election so far. in an interview with cnn on board his plane thursday, donald trump attacked republican ted cruz. >> now, ted was totally in favor of amnesty. ted didn't want to build a wall. all of a sudden he's saying he wants to build a wall. i'm the only one that wanted to build a wall. ted was very weak on immigration. just to go a step further, if i didn't bring up illegal immigration, it never would have been a subject. you wouldn't be asking me that quell right now. we are going to have boarders. we are going to have a wall. mexico is going to pay for that wall. everyone smiles when i say that, but the reason they'll pay is simple. because they make a fortune with our country. a fortune with trade and other

things coming across that border, that very porous border. so we'll have a border and a country again. >> turning to the debate, the candidates also traded barbs over giving amnesty to undocumented immigrants. cruz defended his record, while accusing marco rubio of standing with the democrats. >> when i ran in texas, i told the people of texas if you elect me, i will lead the fight against amnesty. we both made the identical promises. when we came to washington, we made a different choice. marko made the choice to go the direction of the major donors to support amnesty because he thought it was politically advantageous. >> rand paul called cruz's statement insulting for claiming everyone was for amnesty except for him. fox news played a montage of rubio sound bites and the florida senator seemed to struggle while listening to

them. >> i spoke with hilary rosen and ben ferguson about rubio being put on the spot there. listen. >> i wanted to get your take very quickly on this. marco rubio was shown video of prior interviews where he seemed to support amnesty but now saying he doesn't support amnesty. and then mr. bush chiming in on that, as well. was that a critical moment against mr. rubio or for mr. bush? both are looking to get voters. >> it's a critical moment for anybody on stage dealing with that. i just wish they would have been using these video montages in the last six debates, because donald trump's montage would have been incredible if you people would been able to see what he's said in the past about issues compared to what he's claiming he believes now. that may have been the best move for donald trump not to be there tonight as he dodged that bullet. for rubio and cruz, i don't think there's going to be anything new per se for the voters.

most people have seen them hashing out this amnesty issue, the gang of eight issue, this vote in the senate issue. we've heard about it and chris christie has laughed saying if any of you guys are bored to death right now, then welcome to my world. and vote for me. so i don't think it's going to hurt either one of them too much when it comes to voters. i do think it's interesting to see how a video was brought into the debate. i wish it was used for every candidate to show them their own words in the past. but remember, megyn kelly got in trouble because she quoted donald trump that's why he didn't show up tonight. if they played a montage of donald trump, he may have just stormed off the stage any way. >> what was the moment that stood out to you and this idea that donald trump skipped it, given there were video montages that could have been mashed up showing the many different comments he's made through this cycle. >> look, i thought the whole evening was shameful when it

came to the issue of immigration and amnesty, and i'm embarrassed for these republican candidates who, you know, having grown up in the united states of america, the land of opportunity, what they are trying to do is outbid each other on who can be more hostile toward immigrants. >> thank you both so much for taking time to talk to us about this debate night. >> thanks for having us. >> so the republicans had their night, but as for the democrats running for president, hillary clinton took to twitter to weigh in on that debate and said this. donald trump isn't on stage at the gop debate, but you can bet the same backwards ideas and out of touch rhetoric will be out in force. >> fellow democratic candidate bernie sanders spent his evening campaigning in iowa. the democratic presidential candidates are in a feud of their own at the moment over whether to add another debate to the roster. >> reporter: it's not just

republicans, democrats are locked in their own debate over debates. >> she can't just dictate the rules of the game. >> reporter: she would be hillary clinton. who wants to add a new debate in new hampshire where she's running well behind bernie sanders. >> now, you know, she's falling behind in new hampshire and wants to change the rules. but we are willing to say if she's willing to do a number of debates later on, all right. >> reporter: and if not, you won't be there in new hampshire next week? >> that's right. >> reporter: clinton told wolf this. >> first thing's first, we have to agree that we're going to debate in new hampshire, both the governor and i have agreed and we're waiting for the senator to decide to join us. >> reporter: still unclear if that breaks the impasse. >> i'm urging publicly that we do this debate next week in new hampshire and then i said i'm more than happy for us to start scheduling additional debates. >> reporter: the bottom line, this democratic race has no

quick end in sight. four days until the iowa caucuses open their race for the white house, sanders and clinton are in a fierce fight. >> i'm not just shouting slogans and engaging in rhetoric. >> reporter: clinton says her rival would be unable to achieve his goals of universal health care or work with republicans to break gridlock. >> i fear it would lead to gridlock, not action. >> reporter: she says she wants real action, not gridlock. she says you'll bring more gridlock to washington. >> not at all, quite the contrary. we have too much gridlock right now. the idea that i can't work with republicans with nonsense. >> reporter: former president clinton focused on the other side today. >> you cannot be lured by the politics of division and distraction. >> reporter: but democrats have their own fight. sanders exploded in fury when a reporter said some clinton allies were concerned his

campaign could recruit out of state voters to iowa. >> i don't want my honesty to be impugned. this is a lie, absolute lie, okay? we'll win or lose, but we'll do it honestly. and i really dislike people suggesting we're going to bring in students from out of state who are going to purger themselves. >> reporter: sanders did release a medical report from his doctor saying the 74-year-old senator was in very good health. you say you're in very good health. how do you feel? >> i feel good. thank god i am in very good health. >> reporter: this democratic race is likely to continue for a good, long while. he says he will do a debate next week only if secretary clinton agrees to more debates in march, april, and may. it looks like this democratic primary fight will continue into the spring. you're watching "cnn newsroom." still ahead, there are new

concerns over what north korea called its latest nuclear test. we'll have details ahead.

the year of the monkey on the chinese calendar is set to begin february 8. and it's a tradition for millions to head home and celebrate the lunar new year. >> it's the world's largest annual human migration. it usually begins right before the new year and lasts about 40 days. sounds good to me. and it may be time to heed the forecast for your investments. the hong kong brokerage cfla create the tongue and cheek financial forecast each lunar new year. no one paid much attention when it began in '92 until investors

realized it was accurate. this year it predicts the hang sang will take off, hit a roadblock and recover. china has indicted a canadian man for spying. kevin garrett and his wife ran a cafe in northeast china. canada says it has discussed the case with the chinese government and will be monitoring developments. the couple's children called the arrests ridiculous. we're learning more about north korea's claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. u.s. officials say careful analysis shows the north may have tried to test components of a hydrogen bomb earlier this month. this is a shift from earlier when the white house said the test was "not consistent with the hydrogen bomb." let's bring in paula hancocks.

she has more on this developing story. paula? >> reporter: natalie, it's certainly an interesting development. the u.s. official now saying that it is possible that there was an element, a component of a hydrogen bomb. obviously different from what they were saying in the first place. now, the reason they believe this now is they were trying to take air samples, as were china, japan, south korea, and they were inconclusive, which is what we've been hearing from neighboring countries. so they looked at the seismic data, according to this u.s. official and found out the test took place more than twice the depth than they previously thought. this would be consistent with what you would need for a hydrogen bomb test. but the u.s. official said they still don't believe that it was a full hydrogen bomb. they believe maybe north korea thought it was, but only certain

elements were hydrogen related. so certainly a new development and comes just a day after a u.s. official tells cnn that they believe that north korea may be preparing for another rocket launch or another launching another satellite into space. >> something to watch out for. meantime, paula, in retaliation, we saw the south blasting propaganda across the dmz from those giant loud speakers. is that still going on? >> reporter: that's still going on, yes. this is along the border, along the heavily fortified border. the loud speakers broadcast music and anti-regime messages, effectively trying to tell the people of north korea that your government is lying to you, and that regime in north korea is always angered by these broadcasts. they themselves, we understand, have similar broadcasts, or at least they have loud speakers on their side of the border, which

has tried to counter what they're hearing from the south. of course, we've had the sanctions discussion, which is ongoing at this point. washington is trying to encourage beijing to agree to stronger sanctions on north korea because of the nuclear test. south korea and japan would certainly agree with that. but at this point beijing appears to favor less strong sanctions. so that is the next thing we will hopefully be hearing from the united nations, when that will be going through. natalie? >> paula there for us in seoul, thank you, paula. friday marks the final day for the outgoing president in m myanmar. >> the new democratically elected government will take over next week. >> translator: may the new government and the parliament bring peace and development to our country.

may all the people be healthy and live peacefully. may all ethnic groups succeed in building up the federal union of myanmar without problems. i would like to say goodbye to all. >> after decades of oppressive military rule, myanmar's pro-democracy party won a land mark victory in november. >> it's led by aung san suu kyi. she's barred from becoming president, but i remember during the runup to that election, she said maybe there's a position above the president. >> we'll let you know. next here in "cnn newsroom," iran's car industry struggled while the country was under strict sanctions, but now automakers are getting back up to speed. we'll have a report from iran. e parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply.

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what did i tell you! >> ah, the delorean. you remember that. it was sent to the year 2015 in the movie "back to the future." and now that car is making a comeback. >> "back to the future" lives on and on. the company not related to the original manufacturer will start building and selling deloreans next year. but the $100,000 price tag will not include a flux capacitor. >> about 300 deloreans will be assembled in texas, where the company's ceo says he has enough parts to build about one car a week. >> only care about the cup holder myself. well, iran's car industry is revving up for new business now

that sanctions are being lift t>> reporter: this is one of the largest car suppliers in the islamic republic. they're proud sanctions never stopped their production and believe their products can compete with any radiators in the world. nasr has been working here 12 years, but says he's never been more optimistic. we're so happy about the nuclear agreement, he says, and i think it will not only be good for us, it will be good for them, as well. the sanctions forced iran radiator to source most of its raw material from inside the country. the boss believes the company will be able to buy such goods from all over the world, making production much cheaper and more importantly, they will also be able to sell their radiators globally. phone companies are interested in us for two reasons, he says, quality wise, we can compete

with them, but our prices are much lower. so yes, there is a lot of interest from abroad. but in total, iran's auto industry suffered from international sanctions. old manufacturing machines led to quality problems that tehran hopes foreign investment will fix. the french auto giant announced a $435 million contract to return production to iran. only one of many big business deals inked during president rohani's visit to europe. iran will also purchase 100 airbus jets. the message is clear, iran is open for business. >> translator: we have gathered here to say that france is once again ready to get involved in economic and developmental activities in iran, with new energy and greater motivation within the framework of the policies pursued by the government. and we are here to welcome all business leaders to get involved

in iran. >> reporter: the folks here feel they are ready to compete on the international markets and are hoping the many new business deals between iran and the west will soon also lead to more demand for their products. fred pleitgen, cnn, tehran. the co-founder of microsoft could be facing a $600,000 fine after one of his yachts destroyed part of a coral reef. authorities are investigating whether the yacht is responsible for damaging more than 1,000 square meters of reef with its anchor chain. >> that had to hurt. oh, my goodness. now the billionaire was not on board at the time, but the incident comes just five months after allen pledged to support a new research project designed to stabilize and restore coral reefs. he may be even giving more money now to the kamans. thank you for watching.

>> for viewers in the united states, "early start" is next. for other viewers around the world, "cnn newsroom" continues in just a moment. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. . .

republicans running for president facing off on the debate stage, but the frontrunner not there. donald trump at his own event a few miles away. so who made the best case to undecided voters in iowa? welcome to "early start." i'm boris sanchez. >> i'm christine romans.