but zarif kept asserting that a deal can be made, and we'll take care of this, don't worry.g -- as he spoke to me -- that he spoke more president rouhani and beyond him, for the supreme leader. i also saw, as robin did probably the most visible hardliner associated with the regime who is the editor appointed by the supreme leader khamenei of cay hand which is the very conservative newspaper. i've met him on a previous visit to iran. he's very articulate, very outspoken. and when asked do you think compromise with the west on these nuclear issues as advocated aggressively by zarif and less visibly by rouhani, do you think that's possible? some he said flatly no, i don't. i don't believe in compromise. i don't believe that the islamic republic should compromise its identity. he went beyond that to saying that he thought that zarif the foreign minister had essentially misrepresented the deal that was struck in geneva, the interim six month deal to freeze iran's nuclear capability. he described zarif calling rouhani in the middle of the night from geneva and rouhani writing a le

it might overwhelm zarif as foreign minister, but they are not completely interchangeable. just mention one more interesting thing about rouhani. when i interviewed him when he came for the general assembly, i had the only on the record print interview that he gave. he had a lot of other sessions that were more background. he said in the course of that, i think we can negotiate a nuclear deal within three months. my jaw dropped. it turned out it was quicker than that. the other thing that was fascinating was that i asked him about something he had said during the campaign about how the irgc is too powerful. the security agencies in iran are too powerful and they should pull back. i said, do you still feel this and what can you do about it? thinking that he would not answer. and he did answer, on the record. he said yes, that they are a wonderful organization in many ways, but it should stay out of politics and it should not form relationships with other political groups. and i think, you know, in iran's future, other parts of our society need to blossom. that is really inte

zarif was very open with me about the extent to which he feels under pressure from the revolutionary guard. he said a public fight -- and these are unusual things in a country like iran. second basic point is about sanctions. we often hear and indeed use the phrase "crippling sanctions" to describe the sanctions that have been applied to iran and they're pretty intense as economic sanctions go. robin was smiling when i used the phrase "crippling sanctions" and i think i know why. which is that when you go to tehran this doesn't look like a country just hobbling on his knees about to fall over dead, the way you sometimes get the sense reading our accounts of how we've just driven them to negotiations, you know, practically broken their arms. no, i mean, they are a very resourceful people. they're good at suffering, living with suffering and they've found ways to work around these sanctions. you go to north tehran and talk to a business person and he'll tell you will exactly, down to the number of percentage points and the additional interest rate premium necessary to get financing for

. >> foreign policy zarif and i agreed that the core of the negotiations is to be established by mutual consent of transitional governing body with a full elected powers. >> ban said iranian foreign minister mohamed javad zarif has pledged that his country will play a positive and constructive role in the conference. the peace talks are aimed at resolving the crisis in syria. they're scheduled to begin in switzerland on wednesday. western countries were reluctant to have iran take part in the meeting. it supports the government of syrian president bashar al assad. representatives from syria's government and opposition groups as well as other countries including the u.s., russia and japan, are planning to take part in the conference. >>> the united states official says the u.n. secretary-general must rescind his invitation if iran does not fully accept a 2012 communique detailing syria's political transition process. state department spokesperson jen psaki said that the u.s. views iran's support for the establishment of a transitional governing body in syria as a condition for the invita

more than 50% of iranians have access to internet and rouhani and zarif also on twitter. but a few days ago they have a policy to have more censorship on social media and internet access. how is it fixed with the realistics' policy of rouhani? >> i'm happy to take that i follow both on their twitter accounts and we just posted tweets from the president's account on his speech about freedom in the arts and one of the problems is that president rouhani doesn't have control over that issue and it's one which he's talked about a lot and again, this goes back to the nuclear deal, that they can't do anything else until they get this nuclear deal and they've proved their creds and the rest of the regime has to bend more because the balance of internal power moves more from rouhani's favor. they also don't want to move too quickly because that's what all the newspapers did with everybody in the power structure that created a backlash. most of the numerous were closed and reporters ended up in jail and now that place ow a decade later in social media. -- now that plays out a decad

zarif is a different kind of leader for iran.nding in iran's positions, particularly when we were speaking about the nuclear deal, saying in effect that the white house is exaggerating houj iran gave up. >> the white house version, both under playing the concessions and over plays iranian commitment. and i'm not interested in that. i'm simply saying, why don't we all stick to what we agreed? why do we need to produce different texts? >> explain then to our viewers what's different in terms of iran's commitment to what you agreed to and what the white house says you agreed to. >> well, the terminology is different. the white house tries to portray it as basically a dismantling of iran's nuclear program. that is the word that they use time and again. and i under you to read the entire text. if you find a single, a single word that even closely resembles dismantling or could be defined as that in the entire text, then i will take back my comment. >> reporter: in response to doctor zarif's comments, the white house said they expect t

zarif obviously has read the text. why can't the american public know what is in the text? >> reporter: that's right. as have members of congress. but jay carney has said it's the iaea that will be watching iran's dealings with the agreement and compliance with the agreement that there are certain technical aspects of the final -- or interim deal that they would like to keep confidential. the white house is saying that is why they are keeping that text not public at this point. it's best kept confidential for the moment, wolf. >> why not just keep those technical points confidential but release everything else? >> reporter: now, they have, wolf, released summaries of the deal and that's been put out to reporters. we've talked about that over the last couple of weeks. the average text of the deal, it's their preference because of what they say the iaea would like to see happen, that those text remain confidential. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. >>> and fareed zakaria is joining us from davos, switzerland, after a conversation with president rouhani. it gets to the sensitiv

zarif, however, says that it is not true that iran has agreed to dismantle centrifuges, has agreed to reduce to 5% the amount of enriched uranium. he said "we never agreed to that." so you're here and you can tell me whether they agree that or not. >> you know, i watched the interview of minister zarif very carefully and i think it's being sensationalized in the united states in a negative way when in fact it was a positive statement. >> rose: how is it sensationalized? >> let me explain. he complained about some terms which are being used by the united states in order to discredit you which are not actually used in the document. but he said at the same time let's not engage in that. let's not engage in that argument. let us implement the agreement to reach. this is what he said. >> rose: but how can you implement an agreement you've reached if you differ over the agreement you reach? >> no, no, the difference is on both sides, of course. they try to embellish their achievement. so the american officials sometimes use term which is the iranians i understand are not happy about because

and we're back with the foreign minister mohammad javad zarif foreign minister today you're in russia and there is a lot of talk about iran and russia negotiating oil for a good straight deal worth one point five billion dollars a month and this is something america isn't too keen on a spokesperson for the united states and said that it could trigger a possible sanctions can you confirm that this agreement is being negotiated in moscow today. any agreement between governments. i'm here to discuss various issues primarily regional problems our nuclear issue and cooperation between iran and russia that expands in all areas you don't and russia are two neighbors. historical ties we've had traditional ties. will be conducted as far as the governments of the two countries are concerned in accordance with our international obligations in accordance with international law in accordance with the framework that we have agreed. and it is only for the two neighbors to decide how they will conduct their operations but but what will happen between economic entities in the two countries is somethin

government i negotiated with the current iranian foreign minister mohammad zarif over afghanistan we negotiated with the iranians with the russians very effectively to deal with the taliban in afghanistan so there's a real track record of the united states being able to work with with iran and with russia on a really difficult problem it doesn't make sense that the united states doesn't want to solicit and work with solicit iran's participation and work with iran on this issue except that iran america's so-called allies particularly in saudi arabia and others in the gulf don't really want to see that iran's participation there because they don't want to be able to consolidate his authority in his country well let's look at the practical sort of this what kind of bring to the podium so-to speak. iran brings not only a deep longstanding relationship with the sitting government in syria the government of bashar al assad but it also brings an ability to work with countries around around syria as well it has a very good solid relationship with the current government in iraq the iranian fo

participate and play a constructive role toward a political settlement in syria their foreign minister zarif radio raiding iran's principle position in favor of a political transition in syria you know democratic free elections and so forth so i don't think iran will walk away given the fact that syria strategy. and the civil war in syria are serious ramifications in terms of regional instability affecting iran's national security calculus so i think that iran is interested and keen on accepting the invitation sent by the un secretary general which to my understanding was sent without any precondition and that has been confirmed by the deputy foreign minister mr yon who said that iran was not invited to geneva a wonderful it's sort of illogical to impose on iran setting conditions for participating in round one of the geneva conference given the fact that we're really dealing with two conferences in one and even mr rove has stated that the first run is pretty much symbolic with the participation of some forty countries and hopefully iran will be included as well so in my opinion the syrian o

and we're back with the dogs foreign minister mohammad javad zarif foreign minister today you're in russia and there is a lot of talk about iran and russia negotiating at all for a good straight deal worth one point five billion dollars a month and this is something america isn't too keen on a spokesperson for the united states and said that it could trigger a possible sanctions can you confirm that this agreement is being negotiated in moscow today not negotiating any agreement between governments. i'm here to discuss various issues primarily regional problems of nuclear issue and cooperation between iran and russia that six pounds in all the areas you don't rush to neighbors and we have had historical ties moved had. additional toys and our toys will be conducted as far as the governments of the two countries are concerned in accordance with our international obligations in accordance with international law in accordance with it with the framework said we have agreed. and it is only for the two neighbors to decide how they will conduct their operations but but what will happen between ec

minister in moscow on friday following the meeting with his russian counterpart iranian foreign minister zarif set down with sophie shevardnadze to discuss the future of syria and he says if the opposition really wants to replace president asad they will have a chance to face him and the ballot box later this year it seems that there is a great deal of insecurity among those people who are setting conditions for even negotiations this should happen and that should happen this should be the outcome of the negotiations should be the outcome of the negotiations if the people have confidence. in that ability to attract the syrian people if they believe they do present the bishes of the syrian population then they should be ready to go through the ballot box why do they need to set preconditions and it's all put onto the site at the end of the day no country other the syrian people can decide what will happen in syria and if they try to impose their riches on the syrian people sooner or later they'll see the fate of that process. when leaked files from the us national security agency revealed that

friday all right our party's pasko out there in moscow for us thank you now iran's foreign minister zarif is with our sophie shevardnadze right now on her talk so sophie and co we can cross live to them right now. sophia over to you. yes highly and say yes we're here and the president hotel in the heart of moscow with iran's foreign minister mohammad. foreign minister it's really great to have the on our program today good to be with you so you just came back from damascus you've spoken to president bashar assad have you talked about and see concrete have you come up with any concrete solutions. you have i just come from the middle east basically i was in not only in syria over there was in lebanon i was in jordan i was in iraq and i see a common thread among everybody speak to that is the concern they have about the spread of whalen's spread of extremism and the sectarian tension that is brewing in the region and the need to contain it now the heart of syria but there is no guarantee that if we do not take of the situation in syria a lot spread now we see the consequences of the conflict

government in syria monkee moon says that he was given assurance by iranian foreign minister mohammad javad zarif that he respects the un's position on the civil war in syria but saudi arabian officials argue that iran should not be able to participate in the talks since its troops are on the ground helping syrian president bashar al assad now that of a taishan was withdrawn the west western backed syrian opposition said that they will take part in the talks meanwhile assad has announced his intentions to run for reelection later this year this could be yet another hitch in a very sensitive negotiation process that is currently underway while negotiators attempt to broker peace talks your opinions european supporters of the syrian opposition or the so-called jihad wannabes are heading to the country to take up arms an estimated eleven thousand europeans have reportedly headed to syria to participate in the fighting are teases sarah for has more. traveling to syria. and according to one expert the now part of the largest european islamist foreign fighting contingent in recent times. at least eleve

in this bleak situation there are voices of san itty, like mohammed zarif. last month the seleka came into his hospital, murdering at least 10 people. is abdel-karim zakaria afraid to come to work? >> translation: being human is natural that i'm afraid. being a muslim could cause problems here, but i'm a health worker by profession. that is the job i chose. i help people in distress. >> the government has not paid abdel-karim zakaria or his staff for months. the hospital functions because of help from the aid group save the children. it's guarded around the clock by afghan peacekeepers. pity the people of this country where the sick lay in fear of attack. >> now to a report about a dozen female photographers who listed the veil on the arab world. their work is shown in an exhibit called "she who tells a story," kilmeny duchardt discovered the images give a provocative and surprising glimpse of an unknown world. >> on the surface the bedroom looks like a teenage girl's room in the u.s. that's the point. this teenager's room is outside the lebanese capital of

let's listen to iranian foreign minister mohammad javad zarif. >> translation: these parties will regret the efforts undertaken to have the participation of iran to find a solution and end to the syrian crisis >> any chance this will happen because the foreign minister in britain said unless they agreed that bashar al-assad had to go, they shouldn't be there. >> it's an interesting question. iran is calling the west's bluff. the u.s. says "we want to change and have bashar al-assad out. iran is all in. they are sending huge amounts of weapons. moscow has done the same thing. they are backing bashar al-assad more aggressively than the u.s. likely iran will not go to the peace conference and there will not be an agreement out of geneva ii. >> iran is becoming a serious player. is that what they are negotiating for. they are causing problems in yemen, bahrain, is that why they want a seat at the table because they want to extend their influence. >> since 1979 united states and the european allies, to a lesser extent, sought to exclude iran, and they forced itself to the table. there's no sh

mohammed zarif cysts through a pile of scraps that were once a large tent. in the could have been worth $5,000 if it wasn't in pieces, he said. baffled that something so valuable could be destroyed. >> what is there in by doing that. if they gave yus those thinks functioning. they are making things worth much to be $10,000. the military doesn't want to pay anything that will would be useful for bomb match making. the bates housed thousands of soldiers. much of what was like a small town is now being sold to local traders it ends up in scrap yards like this on the edge of the city. they say they would have preferred to have intact equipment not stuff that has been destroyed. buying and selling scrap has become a multi-million dollar enter prize here in kandahar, employing thousands of local people. it's work for us. others are less forgiving. if they were thinking about afghanistan, they leave these things functioning so a poor person could use them. there are shoes coming from there with holes in them. >> locals here sort through the remnant did of objects m

mohammed zarif shifts through a pile of scraps that was once a large tent. >> this could have been worth $5,000 if it was not in pieces, baffled that something to valuable had been destroyed much >> translation: what is the point in doing that. if they were functioning, we could use them. they are making something worth $1,000 into $10. they could be a treasure, but they break into pieces and send it to us. >> the military doesn't want to pass on anything useful for bomb making. the kandahar base housed thousands of soldiers, much of what was like a small town is sold to local traders, and end up in scrap yards like this on the edge of the city. >> many complain they prefer to have intact equipment and not stuff that has been destroyed, the industry of buying and selling scrap from foreign military basis is a multi million dollar one in kandahar, employing thousands of local people. >> translation: i move stuff from here to there and live my life and feed 10 members of my family. it works or us. >> others are less forgiving. >> if they were thinking about afghanistan, they leave the thin

not so much for minister zarif and rou hanny. that will be the key question.ely we're right to follow the negotiations forward and hopefully the obama administration can succeed. and we'll see once the deal is made whether it's acceptable or not in tehran. >> lee hamilton, your former colleagues in congress are threatening to impose sanctions that would kick in six months from now if iran is cheating or doesn't fully comply. and the president saying he would veto it because it would be a deal breaker, it could prompt iran to walk away. what role do you think congress should play in these ensuing months? >> i do not think congress should try to interfere with the negotiations. these negotiations are complex. there are a lot of moving parts to it. congress really does not know all of those moving parts. you cannot have 535 negotiators of an agreement. you have to leave that to the president, the congress obviously ought to exercise oversight, ought to keep themselves very well informed. but you cannot pass legislation with the specificity that it requires withou

mohammed zarif cysts through a pile of scraps that were once a large tent.s could have been worth $5,000 if it wasn't in pieces, he said. baffled something so valuable could be destroyed. >> what is there in by doing that? they are making something worth $1,000 into $10. we know that these things could be a treasurer for afghanistan but they break it into pieces and send it to us. >> the u.s. military says it doesn't want to pass on anything that could be useful for bomb making. the kandahar base housed thousands of soldiers. much of what was like a small town is now being sold to local traders. it ends up in scrap yards like this on the edge of the city. >> although many here complain they would have preferred to have intact equipment are not suffered being destroyed. the industry is buying and selling parts. [ing thousands of local people. >> i just moved stuff from here to there. with my life and feed 10 members of my family. it's work for us. >> others are less forgiving. if they were thinking about afghanistan, they leave these things functioning so a p

white house said in response to those comments from the foreign minister, morn minister mohamed javad zarif. they are not surprised doing just that. so both sides are needing to convince their own audiences to let this deal go forward, wolf. >> athena, thanks so much. thinking of ashleigh banfield in new york following another story we're watching right now. wlast going on? >> we've been following the breaking news of the arrest of justin bieber, a 19-year-old sensation. and now he's appearing via video uplink for a bond hearing in front of a judge in miami circuit court. let's listen in. >> mr. prez, okay. state. >> judge -- >> your honor, we agree with that. >> okay. what would the standard bond be? >> on the count resisting without violence $1,000. on the count driving without a driver's license -- >> on the expired d.o.? >> $500. >> $500. >> $500, your honor. >> so the total bond would be $2,500, broken down $1,000 resisting without violence, $1,000 for the dui and $500 for the expired driver's license. is there anything else before me involving mr. bieber? >> no, your honor, but thank

zarif, made the news here.remember his comments saying that iran is dismabt willing no part of its nuclear program under its deal. and when i spoke to iranians, they say he got it exactly right. we're not giving up our nuclear program under this. they support their leaders very hard line on that issue. >> we have been hearing those chants, "death to america," from iranians over these many, many years, going back to the late '70s. are you still hearing that now, or are folks reacting a little bit more positively to the possibility of an improved u.s./iranian relationship? >> reporter: well, i'll tell you, wolf, the contrast is really sharp. we went to friday prayers at the main mosque here, and i went with my producer, jen rizzo, you know her. and when an iranian woman found out she was american, she came up to her and gave her a hug and a kiss. i got a very warm reception, as well, from people. they shook my hand. they smiled. they said "welcome to iran." but there is still a lot of very hard emotion here. and

i do not have a comment on prime -- on foreign minister zarif's visit. obviously he has been part of the nuclear negotiations. more on iran? anything else on iran? ok, lucas. then i will go back to you on iran. >> they have said they will continue to enrich beyond 20% until the january 20 deadline. is that in keeping with the spirit of the negotiations and the temporary deal? >> the current status of iran's nuclear program -- including specifically its nuclear program and the reactor -- regardless of what they do between now and then, they will halt production of 20% enriched uranium. they will start to dilute half of the 20% enriched uranium and convert the rest to a form not suitable for further enrichment. at the end of the six months, they will have completed the dilution of 20% enriched uranium or conversion to oxide by the end of the six months. regardless what they do between now and then, if at the end of six months if they are faithful to their commitment, they will have completed the dilution of their 20% stockpile of enriched uranium. >> do yo

on both sides, i think the cooler heads involved in these negotiations, the foreign minister zavad zarifnow it's a standard talking point, not new in the negotiations. that said, just like in the states, you mentioned the lawmakers in the u.s. who are opposed to this deal. they latch on to comments they hear from iran. and it is certainly true that the hardliners in the negotiations latch on to comments in the u.s. i don't want to overestimate the -- overemphasize the importance of it. but listen, this is a political place. they have just as much distrust going in that direction as we have coming in this direction. so it's the kind of thing that the opponents would use as ammunition. >> certainly will. all right. jim sciutto on the ground, one of the few western reporters there in iran right now. he'll have more coming up in the situation room, as well. >>> meanwhile, president obama gets ready for that high-stakes address to the nation. he's hoping his state of the union address will help him get back on track after a very difficult year. more details when we come back. this is for you.

. >> the white house responded with a senior administration official calling zarif's comments spin intendedhome in iran. >>> new this morning, the nsa's phone surveillance program is being called illegal and a serious threat to civil liberties. an independent federal privacy watchdog in a new report set to be released today says the spy program should be shut down. the report was obtained by "the new york times," says the collection of bulk telephone data lacks a viable legal foundation. >>> meantime, nsa leaker edward snowden will open up today online. he is going to answer questions in a virtual town hall. these questions can be submitted via twitter with the hashtag #asksnowden, and his responses will be posted on the website freesnowden.is, meaning he will only have to answer the questions that he actually wants to answer. >>> all right, the clock is ticking this morning toward another debt ceiling deadline. treasury secretary jack lew now says the government will exhaust its ability to borrow money by late february, meaning democrats and republicans in congress will have to work togeth

it's also because the people who are negotiating for iran, president rouhani and foreign minister zarif, are very good negotiators. understand the west, understand the limits of what we can give. and aren't going to make unrealistic demands. on our side, john kerry has proved to be a remarkable secretary of state. tackling very tough missions and accomplishing a series of things that people thought were impossible. for example, getting rid of syria's chemical weapons stockpile. something people considered impossible and the beginning of september. it will happen by the end of this month. one of the largest remaining stockpiles in the world of chemical weapons is being boxed up, shipped out of syria by february 1. and an amazing deal. john kerry is now in charge of a very able state department team. they have driven a very good bargain. i also but this is going to happen because that's what the other nations of the world wants. and you see a united nations that is united, a u.n. security council that is unity and purpose to history tells us when it is united, very few countries can but i

switzerland, right now, where only minutes ago you wrapped up an interview with the iranian foreign minister zarif. tell us about this nuclear deal and what you heard from the iranian foreign minister. >> reporter: well, let me tell you, wolf, i was able to speak with him for about 40 minutes. he's comfortable, confident, quick request a smile but also unbending in iran's positions, particularly when it comes to the nuclear deal. he's saying in effect that the white house has been exaggerating how much iran give up. here's what he said about what iran is doing and is not doing as part of the nuclear agreement. >> the white house version both underplays the concessions and overplays iranian commitment. and i'm not interested in that. i'm simply saying why don't we all stick to what we need? why do we need to produce different techs? >> reporter: explain, then, to our viewers, what's different in terms of iran's commitment to what you agreed to and what the white house says you agreed to? >> well, the terminology is different. the white house tries to portray it as basically a dismantling of iran's

zarif was unequivocal. you heard that the u.s.groups. do you think that's helpful? >> no, i do not thing a war can be stopped by more arms. >> reporter: with midnight nearing, in came a call from his wife. >> it st my wife. >> reporter: i knew it. it was time to go home. as we left, he took us to the state room where he receives visiting foreign diplomats. i asked him if he can imagine seeing john kerry in ta room some day. he said, you know, i can imagine it, but the human imagination is a remarkable thing. frankly, in his words, we're not there yet. i think u.s. diplomats would say the same thing. but this interim deal is a step. but as you and i know they've got a long way to go. >> jim sciutto in tehran with that exclusive reporting. we'll check back with you tomorrow, jim, thanks very much. >>> other news we're following. the director of national intelligence here in washington is out with disturbing information about the spread of al qaeda. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what did he say? >> wo

you spoke with the foreign minister in a big interview with zarif.t's been the reaction on the ground there? how are they playing at home? >> reporter: well, i'll tell you his comments to cnn, they maid -- made the news here. he told them that iran is not dismantling anything and that it's reversible at any time. the reaction here, very positive. iranians feel that that's true and that that position is the right position. we went to friday prayer this morning. we were asking people there about this. they said, you know, our leaders are doing the right thing. they were happy -- very happen toy to hear those words. >> i think that kpemp fies the pressures that we hear a lot with this. both countries, when dealing with the external and internal pressures often. >> let's turn to sports now. when you think about the best rivalries in sports history, that's a big question. you got the yank keys and the sox. on let's bring in andy scholes with this morning's bleacher report. didn't look like much of an epic rival rivalry. >> yeah, it doesn't. this morning i