Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Pyeongchang Games Get Underway This Week; North Korea Using Berlin Embassy to But Nuclear Parts; Democrats Press Trump to Release Second Memo; Eagles Beat Patriots for First Win in NFL's Title Game; Saturday Attacks Kill Seven Turkish Soldiers; Refugees Risk Deadly Trip Across Lebanese Mountains; Officials Focus on Rail Switch in Deadly Train Crash; Pentagon Unveils New Nuclear Arms Policy; Super Bowl Ads Draw Tepid Reviews. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 05, 2018 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:10] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: We are days away from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea with some high-profile guests set to attend the opening ceremonies.
And U.S. President Trump calls the controversial Republican memo vindication but must now decide about releasing the Democrat side of the story.
And a stunning victory at the Super Bowl -- a perennial odds-on favorite is toppled in the final seconds. We're live in Minneapolis.
Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier coming to you from CNN Headquarters here in Atlanta.
So we know that the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea will be about much more than sports. The moment North Korea decided to send its athletes the game became a major diplomatic event as well.
And consider the symbols. In addition to its athletes North Korea will be sending this man, ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam. It shows the importance that the North is placing on the Games.
Here's another symbol. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will attend the opening ceremony with the father of Otto Warmbier, the U.S. student who died after spending months in a North Korean jail. A Pence aide says that the aim is to remind the world of the North's tyranny.
Paula Hancocks has got us covered from all angles for these games. Paula -- what does it actually mean that North Korea is sending its ceremonial head of state. I mean it's not like they're actually sending their leader, Kim Jong-un.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right -- Cyril. But the fact is that Kim Jong-un does not travel abroad. Since he has taken power, as far as we know, he has never actually left country.
So it's a significant step that they're sending the ceremonial head of state. There are other members of the regime they could have sent but quite frankly most of them are blacklisted or have sanctions against them. So it shows that they are taking this seriously.
Now, I'd like to bring in a very special guest, Ed Hula, founder and editor of "Around the Rings". Ed -- thank you very much for joining us.
ED HULA, FOUNDER AND EDITOR, "AROUND THE RINGS": Pleasure.
HANCOCKS: Let's start with North Korea. And as North and South Korean athletes have walked out together at an opening ceremony before --
HULA: Yes, they have.
HANCOCKS: But this joint women's ice hockey team. I mean how different, how significant is that?
HULA: Well because it's on home turf, because it is a true symbolic representation of what could happen if North Korea and South Korea unified came together. It provides, I guess, some hope some idea for the Koreans looking ahead years to come what might be in this country.
HANCOCKS: Now there are some that are against it. Obviously some are concerned about the South Korean women's ice hockey team. I mean it's obviously a very last-minute decision.
HULA: Right but they've made accommodations that I don't think the North Koreans are going to take the spotlight away for ice time away from the Korean women who have trained so hard to get here. But it is an accommodation to allow, at least symbolically, the representation of North Korea on this team.
Just three players -- like I said I don't know how much ice time they'll get. This afternoon the pairs' figure skaters are also going through some practice as well. I think there will be more attention to the fact that they are North Koreans playing hockey or North Koreans in figure skating than it is the actual athletes or the performance that we're expecting.
HANCOCKS: So we're just a few days away now from the opening ceremony, is the attention now on Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as it wasn't necessarily before?
HULA: That it wasn't a few months ago because ticket sales were kind of in the dump or very slow. The NHL had decided not to send its star players to South Korea to compete, that's always a big draw for sports fans. And the whole idea of tensions between the United States and North Korea over the nuclear -- nuclear weapons just made this place seem very not a good place to visit, a challenge perhaps.
Why would I want to go there? But I'm not sure that any more spectators are coming but certainly the impact of the North Koreans has made a difference has shifted the attention clearly on Pyeongchang, maybe not necessarily on sport but at least on what's happening in the way of peace moves, if you will, between North and South Korea. HANCOCKS: If we can move on to Russia I mean just today the IOC has
declined to invite 15 athletes and coaches who were -- had their appeals upheld by the CAS last week when it comes to anti-doping. What do you make of it? I mean put it into context for us.
HULA: Well, it's just -- it's kind of a confusing mess. It's unfortunately being handled at the very last minute before the games. So it looks like everybody's making a rush to judgment.
[00:05:02] The IOC a month ago -- more than a month ago decided that there was systematic doping in Russia and indicated no willingness to have Russians come to these games with the establishment of the Russia Olympic athletes from Russia designation.
You know the IOC is still searching for a way to effectively fight doping in sport. This has been a very rough episode for them this week and it's going to make it -- make them look at what they're doing, how they're doing this as they move to the future.
HANCOCKS: Ed Hula -- thank you very much, from "Around the Rings". I'm sure we'll be talking a lot over the next few weeks.
HULA: We look forward to it. Thank you.
HANCOCKS: So as you see, Cyril -- there's a lot to talk about, not necessarily all sports but that it is the Olympics, that often happens. Back to you.
VANIER: All right -- Paula. Paula Hancocks coming to us from Pyeongchang. We'll speak to you next hour.
I want to know Paula -- if there's enough snow for these Winter Olympics because I don't see a whole of snow behind you. We'll get to that next hour. Thanks.
Meanwhile Germany's intelligence agency says North Korea has been acquiring nuclear technology through its embassy in Berlin. Investigators found the purchases were made to support the North's missile and nuclear programs.
The German intelligence chief spoke to CNN affiliate ARD for a documentary that airs on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS-GEORG MAASEN, HEAD OF GERMANY'S DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (through translator): If we find such things we stop it. We cannot guarantee that this can be prevented in all cases.
We've determined that from the North Korean embassy in Berlin weapons procurement took place, in our view, with an eye toward the missile program and in part also the nuclear program.
We have to assume that what North Korea bought for the weapons program is acquired through other markets or through shadow buyers or shadow companies abroad which they then bought in Germany. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: This comes on the heels of a U.N. report that says the North has been violating sanctions by selling banned commodities and earning almost $200 million in the process. Now the last few days in U.S. politics have been consumed by a memo. Now there could be another one. It's been three days since Republicans went public with allegations that the FBI abused its surveillance power during Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
CNN's Boris Sanchez has the latest on the fallout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We heard from several Republican lawmakers, some of them on the House Intelligence Committee contradicting the President outright over the weekend. The President was active on Twitter saying that the Nunes memo vindicates him and proves that the Russia investigation is nothing more than a witch hunt.
On Saturday night, the President also tweeted portions of a "Wall Street Journal" editorial that supposed that there are political actors within the Department of Justice and the FBI.
We also heard from Donald Trump Jr. on Saturday night who was on Fox News saying that the release of the Nunes memo is like sweet revenge for him and his family. Despite that these Republican lawmakers again are contradicting the President saying that the Nunes memo has nothing to do with the Russia investigation and should not prevent Robert Mueller from continuing his work.
I want to play some sound for you now from South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy. Listen to what he had to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The memo has no impact on the Russia probe.
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Not to me, it doesn't. And I was pretty integrally involved in the drafting of it. There is a Russia investigation without the dossier.
So to the extent the memo deals with the dossier and the FISA process, the dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower. The dossier has nothing to do with an e-mail sent by Cambridge Analytica. The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos' meeting in Great Britain. It also doesn't have anything to do with obstruction of justice. So there's going to be a Russia probe even without a dossier.
SANCHEZ: Now, that statement coming from Trey Gowdy is especially significant because even according to Devin Nunes, he's the only Republican on the House Intelligence Committee that has actually seen the raw intelligence, the raw data that led a FISA court judge to allow the FBI to surveil Carter Page.
So if anyone knows the validity of the Nunes memo and its implications on the Russia investigation it would be Trey Gowdy.
Now, Democrats are pushing for the release of the so-called Schiff memo, their rebuttal to the Nunes memo which they say provides more information and more context and contradicts portions of the Nunes memo.
We could see a vote from the House Intelligence Committee as early as Monday for its declassification. What is unclear now is whether the President will allow for that memo to be declassified the way that he did for the Nunes memo.
Boris Sanchez, CNN -- traveling with the President in West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: With me now, Democratic political strategist Mac Zilber, a CNN NEWSROOM regular and Charles Moran, a Republican strategist.
Charles -- the Republicans got to tell the general public what they don't like about the FBI surveillance. Should the Democrats now get a right of rebuttal?
[00:10:04] CHARLES MORAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thanks for having me on tonight.
What we saw in the memo was the fact that an American citizen had his rights to privacy violently trampled on. The FISA memo, you know, the FISA court procedure that the Nunes memo went through in detail showed that the chain of command was broken down. And that the Democrats continued attempts to link Donald Trump into any kind of malfeasance with Russian obstruction in this election. It's just not something that's accurate or it's not something that's factual.
Like Trey Gowdy said this investigation is going to continue. So I don't necessarily think that there is a right of, you know, Congressman Schiff or Democrats on the committee to have to refute or rebut anything because it's actually quite clear what's going on and where the breakdown was.
VANIER: Charles -- I'm sorry but as a journalist there's one thing that's certain is that not much here is clear. We do not know the full picture. The FBI says this is not accurate. The Democrats have another reading of it. If anything is certain is that there is the clarity is lacking.
Who had his right to privacy trampled on?
MORAN: President Trump. And there is actually a very good article that came out this weekend talking about the Woods procedures that when the FBI needs to go to get a FISA warrant before you go to that FISA court they actually have to show explicit detailed evidence for --
VANIER: Charles -- President Trump wasn't spied on.
(CROSSTALK)
VANIER: At was Carter Page former Trump associate who was spied on.
MORAN: It was -- we have a procedure here in place that has to show if we are going violate an American citizen's right to privacy there has got to be explicit evidence.
(CROSSTALK) VANIER: Ok. But I just want to be clear the citizen we're talking
about is not President Trump. It's Carter Page.
MORAN: Once again we have a procedure here where the political agenda within the FBI and unfortunately their hierarchy American civil rights were trampled on.
VANIER: Ok. But you made it sound like the President's right to privacy was not respected. We're actually talking about somebody else. I think our viewers need to know that. Mac.
MAC ZILBER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes. So first of all let's talk about -- when we're saying that the FBI has a partisan agenda these were professional prosecutors. Most of them happen to be registered Republicans, though it shouldn't matter, presenting a whole lot of evidence and we don't know what we presented to judges primarily appointed by a Republican Supreme Court justices again -- in the case of the FISA courts.
According to Adam Schiff and those who have seen some of this intelligence did actually disclose the fact that the Steele dossier had a political leaning, did actually disclose the things this partisan secret memo claims were not disclosed to the courts.
And frankly, I think that we should release this Democratic memo but regardless of whether it debunks the claims in this memo or not, this three-and-a half page memo is not all that convincing as a reason to not believe that this investigation should go further.
Trey Gowdy himself said the memo has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos, with Michael Flynn, with Donald Trump, Jr., with a host of other friends that this investigation is following. This is about Carter Page, who I think we all agree has been a kind of ancillary character to this whole thing was being investigated since 2013 long before he joined the Trump campaign.
VANIER: Charles -- just to be clear, as a Republican strategist would you advise House Republicans and the President to release the Democrats' memo or not?
MORAN: I don't necessarily think that adding a Democrat-slant to this memo is going to do anything --
VANIER: So the Republicans get to release theirs but not the Democrats.
MORAN: I mean the redaction process has to go through and again President Trump makes that decision. He's the commander-in-chief. He made the decision. I think that if Congressman Schiff wants to call President Trump and explain to him why he thinks that his memo contains additional information he has all the right to do that instead of just cross talking in the media.
But, you know, when it comes down to the line we have a situation where the information that was presented clearly shows the partisan leaning here.
And Trey Gowdy did enunciate this correctly. There are a lot of different facets to this investigation. The investigation will continue. But continuing to associate President Trump with the ancillary actions of the Russian government to try to disrupt information in this election is a false corollary.
VANIER: All right. Surely the best way --
(CROSSTALK)
VANIER: -- to not make this partisan is to have both sides -- give both sides an opportunity to air their views and the way they see the facts.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: Adam Schiff has that opportunity. Adam Schiff -- what
(CROSSTALK)
ZILBER: It was blocked by the Republicans.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: What Devin Nunes did -- what Devin Nunes did in changing the final edits he actually responded to the Democrats and the FBI when there was a few more tweaks made. So Congressman Nunes actually has listed and taken input from the FBI and from the Democrat minority on the committee to make any changes needed.
VANIER: All right. Let me just get back to Mac. And by the way, we both know that Adam Schiff does not have the power to release the memo otherwise he would have done so. He needs Republican support to do that. He was blocked by Nunes.
[00:15:04] Mac -- listen to what Don, Jr. said this weekend when asked his reaction to the publication of the Republican memo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF DONALD TRUMP: There is a little bit of sweet revenge in it for me and certainly probably the family in the sense that if they wouldn't have done this, this stuff would be going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're right.
TRUMP, JR.: This would be going on at the highest levels of government. They'd be continuing to do it to my father trying to undermine his actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: So Mac -- as a Democrat, do you want sweet revenge now against the Republican memo? Revenge against the revenge?
ZILBER: Don Jr. is the gift that keeps on giving but this is not about revenge and this is not about Democrats and Republicans. This is about we have a law enforcement process that is being carried out by a very respected prosecutor in Bob Mueller.
Let's let him carry out his process and stop smearing everybody who's involved in the investigation. Stop putting out rumors that we're going to fire people who have the ability to fire him so that we can get rid of him. Let's let him investigate.
If Donald Trump is innocent then he probably shouldn't be spending all this time smearing the good name of all the people who are just trying to find out the truth on this who are professional career law enforcement agents.
VANIER: All right. Mac, Charles -- I have to thank you both, by the way. And I should have done that at the very beginning be you're coming to us just hours after the end of the Super Bowl. That shows commitment to your craft. So thank you -- both of you.
ZILBER: Go, Eagles.
MORAN: Thank you.
VANIER: Now, if you are a pro football fan I apologize because you might not have cared about everything we've said until now. And you might care about only one thing the NFL's Super Bowl.
A new champion was crowned just a short while ago. The Philadelphia Eagles win their first Super Bowl ever and they did it in style slaying Tom Brady's New England Patriots.
Andy Scholes is in Minneapolis where the action was. Andy -- the Eagles have been waiting a long time for this moment.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Yes. They certainly have -- Cyril.
This is their first-ever Super Bowl championship. And what a game Super Bowl LII was between the Patriots and the Eagles. I mean this was just an old-fashioned shootout one of the best we've ever seen in NFL history.
The Eagles land for nearly the entire game. Tom Brady though brought them back. But then Nick Foles, the backup quarterback answering with this touchdown here in the fourth quarter. That put the Eagles up for good.
The Patriots and Brady did have one last chance. Brady with a Hail Mary but it would end up falling incomplete and Brady fails to win his record sixth Super Bowl. The Eagles escape with the win, 41 to 33. And Nick Foles, the guy who never expected to be starting this game as quarterback for the team is now forever going to be a hero in the city of Philadelphia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK FOLES, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: The big thing that helped me was knowing that I didn't have to be Superman. I have amazing teammates, amazing coaches around me and all I had to do was just go play as hard as I could and play for one another, play for those guys.
And you know, not look at the scoreboard. Not look at the time. Just go out there and play. Don't worry about it. And, you know, came away with the victory.
TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: I mean losing sucks but that's part of it. You know, you show up and you try to win and sometimes you lose -- that's the way it goes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Now, a number of records falling in Super Bowl VII and some eye-popping ones we can show you. There were more yards in this game -- 1,151 than any other game in NFL history. That was the most yards ever offensively in any game ever.
Also Nick Foles, the quarterback for the Eagles is the first player ever in Super Bowl in Super Bowl history to pass for and catch a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
And Tom Brady -- I mean what could you say about him? He played his heart out in this game. He's the first quarterback in Super Bowl history, regular season or play-offs to throw from more than 500 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and lose the game. So your heart still kind of goes out to Tom Brady for his effort and the Patriots still unable to come out with a win.
But here are some pictures from the city of Philadelphia as fans are all in the streets celebrating the win. Of course, they've been waiting a very long time for this.
This is live pictures of Philadelphia right now -- thousands of fans taking to the streets to celebrate their first ever Super Bowl championship. And Cyril -- I imagine those fans are going to be out there throughout the night.
VANIER: Yes. And I imagine, Andy that they are not alone. Walking through the NEWSROOM today like people have just seen the New England Patriots win and win and win and win some more. Everybody was the Eagles -- everybody I spoke to here. Apart from Greg -- our director.
Now, no Super Bowl Andy -- no Super Bowl debrief is complete with out our thoughtful analysis of the half-time show. I want to play just one part of that performance. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SUPER BOWL HALF-TIME SHOW)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:20:01] VANIER: A tribute there to Minneapolis native, Prince. What did people think -- Andy?
SCHOLES: You know what -- all of us sitting around there watching it live inside the stadium were pretty impressed with Justin Timberlake. I mean he played all of his big hits and he was all over the place.
I was the most impressed with -- at the end of his performance, that he actually went in to the stand and sang around fans, took a couple of selfies with the kid that was right next to him. So I was pretty impressed with Justin Timberlake.
But then you know, you look online and on social media and their reviews were kind of mixed. So I guess you can't ever make everyone happy.
VANIER: No, especially not on Twitter.
Andy -- thank you very much. We appreciate the debrief -- thanks.
SCHOLES: All right.
VANIER: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM refugees face a freezing death to escape the war in Syria. We report near the Lebanese border after the break.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's time to talk weather across the Americas. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
And the big story is the arctic air across the Midwestern United States -- the cold air filtering in across the southeastern U.S. And there is some snow pushing through with it as well. Very short-lived small duration event there but places such as Chicago certainly could see some disruption going into early Monday and eventually into Tuesday as well.
Notice the accumulation is minimal but still disruptions possible out of a major hub like O'Hare across Chicago or even Midway as well. But notice the cold air wants to linger across the northern states. The southern half of the country really begins to moderate out the next several days.
So the forecast there is rather nice -- 11 in Atlanta, looking at temps at around 2 in New York City. Different story there across Chicago, highs at minus 8 with evening snow showers in store.
Notice it wants to stay cold for another day or so and then we finally see a little bit of a break there especially through midweek. New York City up at 6 degrees with dry conditions expected as we go in towards say Tuesday and Wednesday.
How about into the Caribbean we go. Kingston, Jamaica upper 20s; Belize City looking at 28 with some showers possible maybe in the afternoon hours across that region. The warm spot here would be Panama at 31 degrees; Lima a beautiful day, some clouds working their way through the region but 23 or so to the breeze is what we're looking at; and of course, the heat of summer in Santiago up to 31; looking at (INAUDIBLE) coming in at the 20s. Even Rio Gallego is to the upper teens.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VANIER: Turkey's prime minister has a message for his NATO allies -- ignore the criticism against the Turkish offensive on Kurdish fighters in Syria. This comes after seven Turkish soldiers were killed Saturday.
It was the deadliest day yet for Turkish troops in what they call Operation Olive Branch. Five of the soldiers died when a missile blew up a tank near Afrin.
[00:25:02] The Kurdish YPG says this here is the video of the attack however CNN cannot independently confirm that. Turkey sees the YPG as terrorists. Making things more complicated, the YPG have been a key U.S. ally against ISIS.
Turkey's president has this warning for whoever is supplying them with weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECAP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): Regardless who delivered that rocket system it seems that they are walking hand in hand with terrorists and we will share it with all the world when it is confirmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: Also in Syria, Russia is ramping up attacks on Idlib after the loss of one of its warplanes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says several people were killed on Sunday. A volunteer rescue group says airstrikes even hit a hospital.
Russia says it killed more than 30 militants since the death of a Russian pilot whose plane was shot down on Saturday.
Given this level of violence, it's no surprise that many refugees are desperate to flee the conflict in Syria. Some risk their lives crossing into Lebanon.
CNN's Ben Wedeman went to get their stories and his report, like the harsh reality it depicts contains graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mishan (ph) tries to distract his three-year-old daughter Sada (ph) recovering in a Lebanese hospital. Sada is all he all he has left. The rest of his family -- his wife Minal (ph) and five-year-old daughter Heba (ph) froze to death along with 15 other Syrians while crossing the mountains into Lebanon in a snow storm at night.
Mishan has been working in Lebanon for the last two and a half years.
"They were dropped off by a car on the Syrian side", he says and were supposed to walk for half an hour into Lebanon and then be picked up by another car. It was dark, it was snowing and the smugglers abandoned them.
Mishan shows me on his phone pictures he downloaded of his wife as she was found, cradling their daughter Heba. His mother and his brother's family all frozen to death.
Sada has just come out of an operation on her frost-bitten face. She doesn't know her mother, sister, and grandmother are dead.
We went back to the mountain side where they died. They were just a few minutes walk from the nearest house.
The snows have now melted but this is the spot where the bodies were found -- there are still rubber gloves here used by those who took the bodies away. This is a valley frequently used by Syrians trying to sneak into Lebanon. And their deaths here underscore just how desperate they are to reach safe ground.
It's safer in Lebanon but life for the nearly on million Syrians who have fled here is hard, e Ever harder in winter in these makeshift camps.
But Han's wife Fatima (ph) is ill. Sickness is but one of the perils in their leaky, cold shelter; vermin another.
There's everything here, says Bathan (ph), "things I've never seen before -- rats, mice, everything."
Mona (ph) crossed into Lebanon with her son. Her husband went missing five years ago.
"We were afraid," she recalls. We walked for four days over the mountains after paying $700 to smugglers.
Some have returned to Syria but others continue to come says Mike Bruce of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
MIKE BRUCE, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: Walking across the mountains and taking days across the mountains in the middle of winter are a testament to the fact that Syria is not safe. Until Syria' safe, until there's a lasting peace people should not be going back to Syria.
WEDEMAN: And in this cold, wet and bleak existence, the day when Syria's safe again seems an eternity away.
Ben Wedeman, CNN -- near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: A deadline is fast-approaching and a deal on DACA, the U.S. program that protects undocumented immigrants brought in as children, is looking unlikely. We'll see where the immigration talks stand after the break.
[00:29:19] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VANIER,(voice-over): Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Great to have you with us. I'm Cyril Vanier. Let's look at your headlines quickly.
(HEADLINES)
VANIER: Officials in the U.S. are investigating another deadly train crash, this one in South Carolina. The train engineer and a conductor were killed and 116 people were injured early on Sunday. Amtrak Train 91 crashed into a freight train as it was traveling from New York to Miami. As CNN's Kaylee Hartung reports, investigators now have a clue as what may have caused this crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The chairman of the NTSB brought out a whiteboard to diagram the fatal mistake that led to this crash. As he explained it, a switch on the track was locked with a padlock in the wrong direction, diverting that Amtrak passenger train from the main track onto a siding track and squarely into the freight train.
Now, NTSB investigators have to figure out why -- why that switch was left locked in the wrong position when the trains like Amtrak train 91 travels along that path every day. This is a question that the CSX Corporation will have to try to help some answer.
CSX is the railroad group that owns, operates and maintains the stretch --
[00:35:00]
HARTUNG: -- of track where this crash occurred. So they are responsible for the signaling, the switching and the dispatching in the area.
CSX offered out a statement with their condolences to the families of the two victims of this crash, the Conductor and engineer of that train.
While they did that, they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing of their own other than to say they would be cooperating fully with the NTSB investigation.
Another key piece of evidence in this investigation, that would be a forward-facing camera on the Amtrak train that the investigators already have being analyzed in a lab in D.C.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: The clock is once again ticking on a funding bill for the U.S. government and an against to protect young undocumented immigrants. Aides say the House will vote on another temporary spending measure this week to give lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on immigration.
About 700,000 so-called DREAMers, people who came to the U.S. illegally as children, are at risk of deportation when DACA ends on March 5th.
As part of a DACA deal, President Trump wants beefed-up border security, including a wall, the end of the diversity visa lottery program and an end to chain migration. That's to say visas for immigrants' parents and siblings. On Friday he blamed Democrats for putting a deal at risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really am not happy with the way it's going from the standpoint of the Democrats' negotiating. DACA is something that should absolutely be easy to do. And I don't think the Democrats want to take care of the DACA recipients. I don't think they want to take care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: One Democratic leader predicts that there won't be a DACA deal this week but he remains optimistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-ILL.), DEMOCRATIC WHIP: There's not likely to be a DACA deal, though we're working every single day, on telephone calls and person-to-person, to reach this bipartisan agreement. I think we're making real progress.
I want to salute the moderates in both the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the Senate. They have really been a positive voice. Democrats and Republicans, sitting in the same room, working to try to solve this problem.
I don't see a government shutdown coming but I do see a promise by Senator McConnell to finally bring this critical issue, that affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in America, finally bringing it to a full debate in the Senate.
That's what we were looking for when there was a shutdown. We have achieved that goal. We're moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: And China is accusing the U.S. of presumptuous speculation about its military buildup and is urging Washington to drop its, quote, "Cold War mentality." Beijing is reacting to Friday's Pentagon announcement that it's expanding its nuclear capabilities in order to deter other nations.
Russia views the plan as confrontational. Defense Secretary James Mattis said the policy is, quote, "looking reality in the eye." Our Barbara Starr has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While President Trump navigates the political minefield of the Russia investigation...
TRUMP: There's been no collusion, there's been no crime.
STARR (voice-over): -- the Pentagon and State Department unveiled the toughest line yet against Vladimir Putin's military in a report on nuclear threats and the Trump administration's solutions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russia has increased its reliance on nuclear weapons and its capabilities and it's, as we pointed out, building a large and diverse nuclear arsenal.
STARR (voice-over): The Pentagon detailing 2,000 Russian nuclear capable weapons that could hit Europe, including missiles, bombs (ph), depth charges and torpedoes. And for the first time confirming Russia is developing an underwater drone that can potentially travel thousands of miles and strike the U.S. coastline.
Russia, just one heading for Defense Secretary James Mattis, as he begins the second year on the job. The U.S. nuclear deterrent also aimed at North Korea, which, the report says, may now only be months away from the capability to strike the U.S. with nuclear armed missiles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If North Korea would, in a hypothetical, launch a ballistic missile tipped with a nuclear weapon at the United States that we intercepted, it's not the sort of thing that we would say, oh, well, that's the end of the story.
STARR (voice-over): Because of current tensions, the Pentagon may delay a routine test of a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile until after the Olympics, CNN has learned. Along with the Joint Chiefs, job number one for Mattis is to convince President Trump to not conduct a limited strike against North Korea, hoping sanctions work before a missile is fielded.
Job number two: Mattis still has to have credible military options to back up the diplomatic effort.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: He's got to present it in a way that leads up, that manages his boss so that his boss, who has never seen combat, unlike General Dunford and Secretary Mattis, he has never experienced the kind of conflict they have seen.
They have got to -- [00:40:00]
HERTLING: -- make him understand the catastrophic consequences of making a decision on the use of military force.
STARR: Critics say all of this lowers the threshold for President Trump to decide to use nuclear weapons. But advocates say, in today's world, this strong deterrence is necessary against America's adversaries -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: There are two reasons to watch the Super Bowl: the actual game and the ads. We've already told you about the game. We've got the ads covered -- after the break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VANIER: The global stage of the Super Bowl is just irresistible to big-dollar advertisers. Every year they spend millions to reach the game's massive audience. But reviews for this year's ads are a bit tepid. Some critics wished for more humor, more edginess.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER (voice-over): Here's a quick look at some that got attention: a combo Doritos and Mountain Dew Ice ad had "Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage in a "Fire and Ice" rap battle with Morgan Freeman.
They lip-synched to Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott.
And that was car manufacturer Dodge. They got swift criticism online for using a Martin Luther King Jr. speech in a truck ad. The manager of the King estate actually said that the overall message of the ad embodied King's message of greatness being achieved by serving others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: That's it from us. I yield the floor to Vince Cellini in "WORLD SPORT," who's going to have all your Super Bowl coverage just next.
