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Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Resigns Amid Sex Scandal; Super Showdown For Women's Figure Skating Gold; Canada's Serwa Takes Women's Ski Cross Gold; Unified Korean Hockey Players Reflect On Games; Nightmare in Syria; Trump Doubles Down on Arming Teachers; Manafort Faces New Charges. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 23, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:00]

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, diplomatic efforts ramp up to help those trapped in Eastern Ghouta in Syria.

The U.S. president suggests more guns at school. That's the way to avoid the next mass shooting, which will be targeting students.

Australia's deputy prime minister giving up. The scandal and the headlines wouldn't go away so Barnaby Joyce calls it quits.

Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause and this is now the third hour of NEWSROOM L.A.

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VAUSE: We start with what could be a breakthrough at the U.N. Security Council. It is expected to meet in about nine hours to vote on a proposed 30-day cease fire to Syria. The move comes after days of debate. Russia opposes the truce but on Thursday appeared ready maybe to make a deal.

But that same day the U.S. accused the Kremlin of blocking efforts to end the bloodshed. And we should stress, as a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has the power to veto any draft solution. Here is what diplomats from those countries said on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Russia will continue to do everything possible to achieve piece in Syria and to restore stability in the Middle Eastern region.

We call upon our partners to engage in the same, in the spirit of constructive cooperation in engagement with the U.N. rather than continuing to create smoke screens and scaling up support for jihadists and severing the region into many parts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Russian permanent representative also asked we, quote "come up with ways of getting out of this situation." Yet it appears to be intent on blocking any meaningful effort to do so.

The United States is ready to vote on this resolution right here and right now. All of us should be ready. There is no reason to delay. Literally, the minute this meeting ends, this council can take the clearest possible step to help vote for a ceasefire and vote for humanitarian access.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, with all that talk there has been intense bombardment in Eastern Ghouta. The rebel held enclave has been hammered by Syrian and Russian warplanes. On Wednesday the Syrian military dropped leaflets on the area, warning residents to leave and blaming the deaths of thousands of women and children on insurgents.

But activists say warplanes have killed scores of innocent people. Human Rights Watch says more than 400 civilians have been killed in just the past few days.

The Russia and Syrian government say they are targeting terrorists in Eastern Ghouta but there are reports (INAUDIBLE) targets like hospitals. In this video from the Syrian activists you can hear the warplanes on their bombing runs.

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NOUR ADAM, SYRIAN ACTIVIST: Since 24 hours until this bombing they are more than 100 people killed by the Assad government and the Russia warplanes. But they hit every building and every town and every village in Eastern Ghouta.

Right now with the warplanes in the sky in Ghouta, you can hear the sound of those warplanes hit the building and the village in Eastern Ghouta.

Today like -- they are like more than 24 people killed. More than more than 20 people killed by the Russian warplanes in Duma City (ph). And worst of that, the warplanes target the hospital and make many hospital out of service, completely out of service.

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VAUSE: Welcome to our Jomana Karadsheh joins us now live from Amman in Jordan.

So Jomana, what's the latest on the humanitarian crisis inside Ghouta in terms of medical supplies and food and how much longer can they last?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not very long, according to what we hear from the various aid agencies that are really urging the international community to do what it can to reach some sort of agreement, whether in the Security Council or on the sidelines for a cease fire, a truce, at least so they can try and get that much needed humanitarian aid into this area that has been besieged for about five years and to try and evacuate about 700 cases of people who need urgent medical support. As you mentioned it's such a catastrophic --

[02:05:00]

KARADSHEH: -- humanitarian situation in there, John, as described by the U.N. chief. It is hell on Earth for those civilians. About 400,000 people estimated to be trapped inside Eastern Ghouta in the past few days.

There has been this relentless bombing campaign, where they have no safe place to turn to, not even their basements are safe anymore and hospitals, as we've heard from the various medical groups, saying they claim the hospitals are being targeted.

So and they're running out of almost everything. We have heard this from the activists that we have been speaking to -- food, fuel, everything is really scarce in there. And the situation in the hospitals where they have been running out of medical supplies, they've been using expired medications. They've been reusing syringes. It's a really dire situation.

And unfortunately, people see no way out of this, as they are waiting for the international community yet again to act.

VAUSE: Yes. We have been down this road sadly before, Jomana. Thank you for the live report.

There are disturbing new details about the police response to the massacre at a Florida high school last week. The Broward County sheriff says an armed deputy never went into the building during the rampage but waited outside.

The deputy has since resigned. Sheriff Scott Israel described his reaction to seeing this incident on security video.

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SHERIFF SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: Devastated, sick to my stomach. There are no words. I mean, these families lost their children. We lost coaches. I've been to the funerals, I've been to the homes where they sit and shiver. I've been to the vigils. It's just -- there are no words.

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VAUSE: The news comes as President Trump doubles down on arming teachers to prevent school shootings. He also supports tougher background checks and raising the legal age for buying a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think a concealed permit for having teachers, and letting people know that there are people in the building with a gun.

You won't have, in my opinion you won't have these shootings because these people are cowards. They're not going to walk into a school if 20 percent of the teachers have guns. It may be 10 percent or maybe 40 percent.

And what I'd recommend doing is the people that do carry, we give them a bonus. We give them a little bit of a bonus. So practically for free you have now made the school into a hardened target.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me here now in Los Angeles, CNN political commentator Joe Trippi and KABC talk radio host John Phillips.

Good to have you both.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: So reading, writing and rifles is where it's going.

John, seriously, in a public school system, where teachers don't have enough textbooks they don't have enough pens or pencils or basic supplies, the federal government will suddenly find close to a billion dollars to arm a million or so teachers and they don't even want it for the most part.

JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The fact of the matter is it's unfortunate. But the reality of the situation is that a lot of soft targets in today's day and age are going to have to become hard targets.

We saw it at airports where you had pilots who had to go through very extensive training and carry guns on planes. They can also carry it with them through the airplane terminal. I think that's something that we certainly should look at for schools and other soft targets.

We had a situation here yesterday or two days ago, at a high school in Whittier, where there was a threat made against a school. And you had the guard there, who was unarmed, who leapt into duty and did everything that he was supposed to do. And fortunately that was thwarted.

As we saw in Florida, sometimes things don't work like a Swiss clock. You had FBI missing obvious signs, you had the local police missing obviously signs, you had the school security guard who was there, who didn't do what he was supposed to do. Sometimes it can be the last line of defense in an unfortunate situation.

VAUSE: Joe, before you respond, I just want to -- the president obviously likes the idea, the NRA really loves this idea. But that seems that's it. Listen to this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To arm, like to arm any teacher?

They're there to teach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't need guns in the hands of teachers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe teachers should be armed. I believe teachers should teach.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: The notion that my kids are going to school with teachers that are armed with a weapon is not something that, quite frankly, I'm comfortable with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Joe, there could be a lot of evidence that some teachers want them for the most part.

JOE TRIPPI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, teachers don't want it. Senator Rubio, senator from Florida, you know, Little Rubio, I guess, the way the president --

VAUSE: Little Marco.

TRIPPI: -- Little Marco doesn't want them. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The billion dollars that it would take. And again, the teachers don't want them. And they are there to teach.

[02:10:00]

TRIPPI: So I think this is just a nonstarter. I don't think this is going to go anywhere.

VAUSE: And, John, at the same time, the president wants to arm the teachers or some of the teachers. And he is opposed to active shooter drills because he doesn't want to give, you know, the children the negative news that there could be shooters one day will be in the school.

PHILLIPS: We're going to have to rethink the way we handle security not just at schools but at shopping malls, at -- we certainly have at baseball stadiums, sporting stadiums. You can't go to a baseball game now and Major League Baseball without going through a metal detector. It's a sad reality.

But in a free society where you have people who are able to do these things, you have to take every precaution you can to make sure that the tragedy that we saw doesn't happen again.

VAUSE: Drills are part of that.

TRIPPI: I actually think the most significant thing was the president's willingness to move the age to 21. That is some movement, at least in the right direction, I think, from him.

VAUSE: And with that, that move is not supported by the NRA.

TRIPPI: Right.

VAUSE: But you know, as you said, this is progress. And Donald Trump believes that he could probably win over the NRA on this measure. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't think I'll be going up against them. I really think the NRA wants to do what's right. They're very close to me. I'm very close to them. They're very, very great people. They love this country. They're patriots. The NRA wants to do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joe, in recent memory can you recall the NRA ever supporting a measure which would restrict the access to guns in this country as opposed to making it easier?

TRIPPI: No. They never have. But I do think this is something the president -- I agree with him. I think he can do this. He has a real ability now to lead. I mean to actually take some of the people that will support him, that will do, you know, follow him, even sort of against ideas that they didn't like before.

He can move. He's moved the parties, moved them in the --

VAUSE: -- Nixon to China moment.

TRIPPI: Yes, and I think this is when he could actually make significant progress on just moving that age would be you know, look, I don't think it's enough. But for the president to move that way is something --

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VAUSE: It would break the deadlock we've seen for the last 20 years essentially.

OK. The NRA came out all guns blazing -- forgive me for saying that. This was on Thursday, the first public response to the school shooting in Florida.

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WAYNE LAPIERRE, PRESIDENT, NRA: As we've learned in recent months, even the FBI is not free of its own corruption and its own unethical agents. Look and I know you probably all share this sentiment. And I get people telling me from coast to coast.

And they shake their heads when he they say it process. I can understand a few bad apples in an organization as large as the FBI. But what's hard to understand is why no one at the FBI stood up and called B.S. on its rogue leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: John, this is an organization which the FBI is reportedly investigating for receiving millions of dollars of money from Russia, which was then funneled to the Trump campaign. You know -- and what Wayne LaPierre is saying there, it sounded like it was out of the first chapter of Donald Trump's playbook.

PHILLIPS: In this particular case, the case of the Florida shooting, the FBI certainly dropped the ball. We've heard this so much as admitted by the FBI itself, by a lot of people who used to work in the organization, who consider themselves to be big supporters of them.

But to go back to what the president suggested in terms of gun control, I think that the NRA is going to have to get on board with that. Because the president will be able to cobble together the votes.

Not only is that good for a lot of Republicans who are running in purple states or blue states, it's good for a lot of Democrats who are representing red states, who are up for election this time, including 10 of them in states that Trump won.

If the Democrats take a strident position on gun control and force people like Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin to sign onto that, it's political suicide for them. What the president could do is extend an olive branch to them and get some sort of consensus to put a majority together.

VAUSE: Joe, I just want to get to what Wayne LaPierre was saying. This attack on the FBI, I mean, it sounded dangerous in a way.

TRIPPI: No, this is something I think is dangerous. It's again it's out of the Trump playbook, it's trying to distract from other things, sort of push off the FBI and destroy the credibility of the FBI and of the Mueller investigation.

And this is a group that may very well be under investigation like many of the people around Trump. Again, it's out of that play book. It's not a big surprise that he would say this. But in the end, I think it's very, very dangerous to where the country's headed right now.

VAUSE: I was surprised that he actually took it that far. But OK, we're almost out of time.

So do you remember when Paul Manafort actually proudly told everyone that he wasn't getting paid to be Donald Trump's campaign manager -- or chairman, rather?

Not so because there is this --

[02:15:00]

VAUSE: -- new indictment from Robert Mueller, the special counsel, in the Russia investigation and it shows that, along with his business partner, Rick Gates, Manafort was being paid before, during and after the election. But here is the real substance of the new indictment.

Prosecutors described a scheme in which the two long-time business partners allegedly laundered $30 million, failed to pay taxes for almost 10 years and used real estate they owned to fraudulently secure more than $20 million in loans. John, Paul Manafort's lawyer says he is innocent. But this is now all

being seen as Mueller upping the pressure on Gates, upping it to then turn on Manafort and then alternately Manafort to turn on Trump.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Still nothing to with Russian collusion. More of the same. Similar charges to what they charged Manafort with the first time. I don't think a lot of people are surprised that Manafort didn't fill out the right forms or pay his taxes and has vulnerabilities there.

But it doesn't go to the heart of what he is supposed to be investigating.

VAUSE: But, Joe, if you look at the charges here, Manafort is, what, 70 years old.

TRIPPI: Yes, he is spending the rest of his life in prison.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: If there is a guilty verdict.

TRIPPI: -- if there is a guilty verdict there. I think this is -- it is a bunch of stuff about Russia right now. And Manafort and Gates may have deep insights into that, that may implicate the president or people around him, certainly his relatives. And so I don't think -- I think to, again, I think this sort of repetition, that there is no collusion, there's no evidence of collusion, you know, I'm prepared to sit back with what's coming out.

VAUSE: See what happens.

TRIPPI: And to wait and see what happens there before I proclaim that.

VAUSE: And obviously if nothing else, Mueller is playing hardball.

Joe and John, good to see you both.

TRIPPI: Good to be with you.

VAUSE: Well, still to come here, the Australian government reeling from a sex scandal and now the deputy prime minister is giving up his post. We'll have the details in a moment.

And two of President Trump's children are on very two different high- profile international trips right now. We'll tell you where they are and why a lot of people are paying attention.

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VAUSE: Australia's deputy prime minister is giving up that role after admitting to an affair with a former staffer. Barnaby Joyce will resign as the leader of the national party. Earlier this month he confessed he was living with his former media adviser and they are also expecting a child.

Joyce says he hopes the resignation will end the media coverage of the scandal.

Not a chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARNABY JOYCE, AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: It's absolutely important. It's incredibly important that this be a circuit breaker not just for the parliament but more importantly that it be a circuit broker for Vicki, it be a circuit broker for my unborn child, it be a circuit breaker for my daughters and it be a circuit breaker for Nat.

It's got to stop. This has got to stop. And it's not fair on them. It's just completely and utterly unwarranted, the sort of --

[02:20:00]

JOYCE: -- observation that's happened. On a humorous side, I think it's got to stop for the poor buggers who are parked outside my house every day. I think it's got to stop for them as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Caroline Marcus joins us now. She is with Sky News Australia. And we find her in the great city of Armidale in Northern New South Wales.

Caroline, OK, Joyce thinks that by resigning it will put all of this to one side. That may be true but if nothing else, this will be a break for the government, which has been hammered by this scandal for weeks.

CAROLINE MARCUS, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA: Hi, John, yes, it will be a little bit of a break. But parliament is sitting here in Australia next week. And we have what is called senate estimate hearings, which are going through a lot of the questions that have been hounding deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce over the last few weeks since the scandal broke.

It's been just over two weeks since it was revealed that the second most powerful man in Australia, Barnaby Joyce, is having a child with his former media adviser and that baby is due in April. That staffer had been with him for some time in his offices in Canberra, in our capital.

And that affair had been conducted when she was working for him. It began then. It was after this was revealed, John, that other stories came out about this affair, including that this staffer question had been moved from one office to another to another within the same party, raising questions about how the taxpayer money was being used to find jobs for her within government, to avoid her having to work directly with her lover.

Now what's also brought Barnaby Joyce into disrepute is he is a famous conservative politician in this country. He has campaigned on family values. He quite famously stood in opposition to same-sex marriage when that was being debated and voted on last year here in Australia.

So he has been portrayed as something of a hypocrite for having betrayed his own wife and four daughters by conducting this affair. But now the scrutiny really is on him and how he has used that taxpayer funding.

It's also been revealed he has been living rent free here in Armidale, thanks to the generosity of a friend of his, who is a local businessman and donor to the party. It will be interesting to see how things go forward from here.

The national party which he has led and resigned from today are in a coalition government with the prime minister's party, the Liberal Party of Australia. They need to work together in order to make the government wheels turn.

So we'll find out Monday who gets elected as the new leader of the Nationals Party and we'll go forward, lead Australia with our prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

VAUSE: Yes, not to forget that he also threatened to euthanize Pistol and Boo, Johnny Depp's dogs, which I think is probably his greatest international claim to fame.

Caroline, thank you. Be careful of whoever is shouting off to the side there in Armidale. You never know.

OK. Now to a segment called where in the world are President Trump's children?

The answers: Ivanka just landed in South Korea. She's representing the United States at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. She'll also meet with President Moon Jae-in and she will keep us guessing if she could in fact give a cold shoulder to the North Korean delegation, just like the vice president.

Donald Trump Jr. continues his business trip in India. The company line is it's all for the Trump Organization. But the Trump is being touted as all business. So even though some critics say he is there profiting from his father's presidency.

Paula Hancocks is following Ivanka's trip in PyeongChang. And CNN's Nikhil Kumar has more details on Donald Trump Jr.'s business trip in India.

But, Paula, first to you. Ivanka Trump, she will be meeting with the South Korean president. They are expected to hold these talks or at least meet.

Will they be substantive talks?

And if the opportunity comes up, is she in a position to hold negotiations with the North Koreans?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, what we hear officially is that the Blue House, the presidential office here, is not going to try and facilitate talks between North Korea and the United States.

As you say, though, Ivanka Trump will be having a banquet dinner with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea this Friday night. And so certainly you would expect that North Korea is going to come up. Of course, they don't give an agenda for these kind of banquets.

But it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall, just as with the U.S. vice president Mike Pence. Clearly they would have been talking about the same issue as well. Although with the U.S. vice president there was no overlap between the North Koreans and the United States.

There was no acknowledgement from either side. In fact, Mr. Pence --

[02:25:00]

HANCOCKS: -- felt the need to try and defend the reason he didn't stand when the joint Korean team walked into the stadium during the opening ceremony.

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MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For all those in the media who think I should have stood and cheered with the North Koreans, I say the United States of America doesn't stand with murderous dictatorships.

We stand up to murderous dictatorships. And we will keep standing strong until North Korea stops threatening our country, our allies or until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missiles once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: It will be interesting to see what happens at the closing ceremony, having spoken to some of the South Korean athletes. We know they will be coming in, in the unified Korea outfit, marching alongside the South Korean athletes. Very interesting to see whether or not Ivanka Trump stands for them although, given what Mr. Pence said there, you would imagine probably not -- John.

VAUSE: There is always the intrigue, especially at this year's Winter Games. Paula, thank you.

Nikhil, to you, this speech which Donald Trump Jr. is set to deliver in a couple of hours was originally called "Reshaping indo-Pacific Ties." It sounded like some kind of foreign policy address, which was one of the big criticisms of this trip.

Apparently it's now called a fireside chat. So that would be an indication that maybe some of the criticism has had an impact. NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John. The title has changed. Until yesterday, the official agenda put out by the conference organizers said, as you said, you know, it talked about a talk about Indo-Pacific ties, which, as you say, sounded like foreign policy.

Now in a few hours we are told that he is instead going to be having a fireside chat at the fireside chat with Donald Trump Jr. And it's going to take place at the hotel you can see right behind me. That's the venue.

So that was one of the criticisms and the other criticism the trip has generated and concern that it has generated is that even here, Donald Trump Jr. has been here pretty much all week. He arrived on Tuesday, he came to Delhi.

Since then he has been all over the place. He was in the eastern city of Calcutta. He as we say in Pune near Mumbai, nearest the national capital. Then he was in Mumbai itself; he is back in Delhi today and he has been promoting the Trump business. This is the largest international market for the Trump Organization.

They have licensed their name to five projects. And tonight after the summit, after he speaks at the summit, he is going to a dinner which was advertised before he arrived with these massive four-page ads in India, which said, book your property in the Trump project over here and get invited to this dinner with Trump Jr., which has generated a lot of criticism and concern about whether the people who are, in fact, booking these apartments, these condos, are doing it because they want to meet Donald Trump and Trump Jr., I should say, and through that get access to the Trump White House -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, this has been the criticism for quite some time, the closeness between the family and the business. And there is no firewall between it. And I guess at the moment it's like water off a duck's back for the Trump family. Nikhil, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., he is a survivor of the Florida high school shooting. He is not he is not a paid actor. How that conspiracy theory became a viral video and how it slipped through all the safety protocols on YouTube.

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[02:30:50] VAUSE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour. The U.N. Security Council will meets in the coming oust of both on a cease fire resolution for Syria. The deals would allow for a 30-day truce, to allow both the military aide and medical evacuations. News of the vote comes amid an intense bombing campaign in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

A sex scandal has led to the resignation of Australia's deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce recently admitted to an affair with a former staffer who is now pregnant. Joyce says he will step down as well as leader of the national party. But he will remains a member of Parliament.

The Broward County Sheriff says an armed deputy waited outside during last week's school shooting in Florida. The guard has resigned. Police also say officers who responded to the shooting were watching security footage on a 20-minute delay because someone had actually rewound the video.

YouTube has apologized after it was used as a platform to spread conspiracy theories about the Florida school shooting. But there's one video in particular which seems to have taken the tech giant by surprise. It claims David Hogg, an outspoken student leader of the Never Again Movement was in fact a paid actor. This is just simply no true.

Even so it quickly rose to the top trending spot before being removed before violating YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying. This effort to smear the students and survivors of the Stoneman Douglas School shooting began on Monday with far right Web sites posting a vial mix of rumor innuendo and outright lies. But YouTube video about Hogg raises news concerns about the social networks and our ability to stop the spread of fake news. For more, CNN's Hadas Gold is with us from Washington. Hadas, good to see you.

HADAS GOLD, CNN REPORTER: Hi, John. Great to be with you.

VAUSE: OK. Let's start with the statement to CNN from YouTube. This video shouldn't never have appeared in trending because the video contained footage from authoritative news source, our system misclassified it. That news source (INAUDIBLE) it came from the CBS station here in Los Angeles. It was an older interview with David. And in some ways, this seems to highlights to need to humanize for human judgment as supposed to, you know, our computer's algorithms to sort out what is fake and what is not.

GOLD: That is the exact issue that we have here and that they are using computerized algorithms to do the work that maybe human should be doing. YouTube doesn't have a group of people who are sitting around and checking the trending bars and checking the search results for any sort of possible conspiracy theories that are arising. They are more reactive if things get flagged to them, if it starts becoming part of the news, then they take it down.

But this incident is raising a lot of questions now for how they should react to this in the future and maybe there should be a sort of SWAT team of humans who when there's a big news event such as this horrific shooting they're just keeping an eye on it because for a whiles and I was testing this out.

If you typed in David Hogg's name to YouTube's search bar, let's say you were looking for an interview he did, the first few results were these conspiracy videos. And that's something that this social media and internet platforms are coming ahead to right now because they're starting to also get the eyes of government regulators looking at them and saying maybe we should start getting more involved in this process. VAUSE: Yes. That's sort of been the constant sort of threat I guess

hanging over all of the big tech companies. The New York Times actually looked closely on how all of this happened. Here is part of their reporting. Unlike the other unhinged clips that have garnered significant attention on YouTube in the recent past, the video of the Parkland survivor originated with neither a conspiracy orientated media organization like Infowars, nor one of the popular YouTubers who created or catered rather, to far right subcultures and fringe political factions. Instead it was posted to the infrequently updated account run by Mike M. I guess which meant it did not raise any red flags and was -- I guess almost like a back door into the YouTube system.

GOLD: Exactly. I mean, what -- people are so used to hearing that the sites like an Infowars or Gateway Pundit are the source of some of these videos, these conspiracy theories.

[02:35:06] But as we've known now for years, anybody's video, anybody can sort of become famous or trending on any of these platforms. And that's clearly what happened here. And so it might have raised some red flags in the traditional sense.

But, you know, if one person makes a video after a big news event and kind of captures really quickly what's going on as this person clearly did with the student who became very well-known, then you reach this sort of interesting balance that these platforms need to strike between people who are expressing themselves on these platforms, which is obviously a big part of these platform success, it's how it's open to everybody but then also making sure that the truth is still goes out there.

And maybe as people are discussing this, people who are discussing this should be this human teams that maybe don't have to delete the entire video but just make sure that it's not the top of tending, that it's not the top result in the search results that people when they're searching just for a legitimate information, they're actually finding it.

VAUSE: We saw this back in Sandy Hook, there was this great conspiracy theory put out that, you know, it was a basically all staged so the government could crackdown on, you know, people who are owning guns and that kind of stuff. And the big social networks, they have promised to try and stop, you know, this part of this conspiracy theories. But at the end of day, there remains a tension between cracking down on fake news content and there's also a business at the same time which has a business model of making money from getting people to watch. And people watch this kind of stuff.

GOLD: And that's exactly right. I mean, if you look at the viewership numbers on some of these videos, there are hundreds of thousands of viewers. And if you put an ad on to that, that's how these platforms make their money. But this is something that people are clearly asking for. And at some point, as these tech platforms has said themselves that their whole business model is really based off of the trust of the users, that users trust them to get them good information. And if they start losing that trust and they start losing their business.

VAUSE: Yes. Yes, exactly, because this has been -- this has been going on not just this we saw, you know, in the 2016 election and continues to go on. And, you know, some would say really need to get a handle on relatively soon because the clock is ticking all over this. But Hadas, good to see you. Thanks so much.

GOLD: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Well, a quick break here. And then part of the appeal of Cuba, the street filled with colorful classic cars from the 50s. But many Cubans, they prefer something a little less cool.

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VAUSE: CNN is partnering with young people all around the world for a student-led day of action against modern day slavery. The second annual My Freedom Day will be March 14th. And you can take part. We've been asking people what freedom means to them, including some stars from the Winter Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom means a lot. I think everyone should have this freedom to do what motivate them and to do what you like and that's the most important thing in my life. I like to follow my dreams and do my things and -- yes, to just try to do things I like and I think that's the most important thing in life and follow your dreams and don't look back.

[02:40:07] NATHAN CHEN, U.S FIGURE SKATER: Freedom means being able to be who you are whenever, wherever, say whatever you would like. And just truly be yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We want to hear what freedom means to you. Post a photo or video to social media using the #MyFreedomDay.

OK. It may be a Cold War relic back in Cuba. A lot of car is king of the road. CNN's Patrick Oppmamm discovers the lasting legacy of soviet engineering.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba is famous for its vintage American cars. Classic Chevys and Chryslers that tourists love to pose in front of. But this island is also home to one of the world's largest collections of old Russian cars. Ladas, Volgas and Maskoviches, aging soviet arrow work horse that drive like tractors and have all the style of a tin can but are still kept running in a country in short supply of transportation. And there are Cubans who said they actually prefer the Russian cars and meet up for friendly races to show off the superiority of soviet engineering.

These are the cars that the current generation were born with. Says the head of a local club for Russian car aficionados. These are the cars they learned to repair and how to drive. Many of the Russian cars are decades older than their drivers. These cars are a reminder of when Cuba was aligned with the Soviet Union and socialism was supposed to be the bright future for this island. Many of the cars were given as rewards for the most faithful supporters of the revolution who have since passed them on to their children and grandchildren. For as long as they can keep them running. It's like they're part of the family Ernesto says. Like your grandfather, still there alive but you're not sure how much longer.

After the you fall of the Soviet Union, Cubans assumed no more Russian cars were coming their way. But in January, the Cuban government imported 320 new Ladas to serve as taxis. The first Russian cars brought the island in 12 years and a flashy version of the Lada, the Cubans weren't familiar with. Not everyone is impressed.

They look like cars with technology that are light and fast he says, but they won't last as long as these cars do. And if nothing else, Cuba's original Russian cars have shown they can withstand the test of time. Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.

VAUSE: OK. And amazing end and a heartwarming end with terrifying ordeal in Egypt. Police noticed a little boy was dangling from the third floor of building. The boy was at a party accidentally fell through a window. So officers scrambled to get some fabric try and catch him but instead the five-year-old fell into one of the policeman's arms, amazingly the child wasn't hurt. The policeman was OK as well, and the little boy back with his mom. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is next live from Pyeongchang. You're watching CNN.

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[02:45:10] AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, thanks for joining us. Welcome along to WORLD SPORT, and day 14 of the Winter Olympics with me, Amanda Davies. So, where we have just two days to go until the closing ceremony here in Pyeongchang. Today was always going to have to go something to beat yesterday. But, for the much-anticipated battle for figure skating gold has more than lived up to the hype.

Two young Russians who share the same coach going head to head for one Olympic gold. No one else had been given a chance in the build-up. Alina Zagitova, a 15 year old who set a new world record in her free skate, up against her 18 year old compatriot, Evgenia Medvedeva, a two-time world and European champion.

As a long wait, while the rest of the player perform, it was Zagitova who went first. Dressed in red as predicted, she performed her jumps and moves with technical difficulty in the second half of the program, hoping to get more points. Say it wasn't perfect though, but it did produce a score just shy of her personal best. And it was enough to lift her into the gold medal position. Interestingly, she looked a little bit disappoint at her score. But maybe that was because she knew what was to come.

Medvedeva, then, took to the ice and put in a near perfect performance. In some people's eyes better than what had come before, but the scores came in and amid what sounded like shock and something of a stunned silence really in the arena. Medvedeva was given exactly the same score in her free skate as her rival but missed on gold because of the short programs scores.

So, it is 15 year old, Alina Zagitova, with gold at her first Winter Olympics. 18 year old Medvedeva with silver and Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond, taking Bronze. And a little bit earlier on, I asked our CNN Contributor Christine Brennan, who was watching if the right woman won?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST (via telephone): Obviously, both Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva had a tremendous performances today. As did Kaetlyn Osmond, and from Canada, 22 years old. Great jump, great speed on the ice, is deserving bronze medalist.

But I would have had it the other way. I would have had Medvedeva, two-time world champ, 18 years old. I think she -- I would be at her first, and I went up at head, Zagitova, second. I believe that Medvedeva had the more complete program. It is not just about jumps, it's also about the artistry and it's about the placements of the jumps.

And as you know, we have talked about this. Zagitova was backloading that program, all the jumps in the final two minutes. She got a lot of points for it, but I don't think that was a complete program. I don't think it was the beautiful well-balanced program that you would expect frankly, of an Olympic gold medalist.

And so, I said, Medvedeva would have been in number one in my book. Obviously, it was so close. 1.31 points between the two training partners. And once again, figure skating chooses the jumper over the artist. We saw it 20 years ago in Nagano, Michelle Kwan being upset by Tara Lipinski. It happened again here today. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that, but it was a bit of an upset. I think, again, the skating community thought Medvedeva might have it with her beautiful performance today. But her 15 year old counterpart, compatriot, and countrywoman, Zagitova did win the gold and obviously, it's a message for the sport, keep jumping.

DAVIES: Now, that was Christine Brennan, a little bit earlier on Zagitova, with the gold medal, the first gold of these games for the Olympic athletes from Russia. The team's 14th medal overall. And there may will be another opportunity for another this weekend.

The OAR have just begun their men's ice hockey semifinal against the Czech Republic. There many people's favorites for the gold with Canada see it as the greatest rivals. It is still scoreless so far, very early on in that game. Canada taking on Germany in the other semifinal later this evening.

Well, the International Olympic Committee is set to decide this weekend whether or not they lift the ban on the Russian team for the closing ceremony and allow them to march under their own flag with their own uniforms. But two Russians who won't be there, the mixed doubles curling pair of Alexander Krushelnitzky and his wife, Anastasia. They have here returned home to Saint Petersburg in Russia. Having been stripped to their bronze medal, following Alexander's failed drug test from meldonium. The World Curling Federation continue to investigate the case.

Canada's dominance in the women ski cross continues, they won gold their third straight games, thanks to Kelsey Serwa. (INAUDIBLE) may Brittany Phelan took silver. They've been high hopes for reigning champion Marielle Thompson on her come back from injury, but when the race started, her dreams for the medal defense were over in about 10 seconds. It was a credential packed final field, but so produced the comfortable win in the end. Pulling away from Phelan to go one better on her silver medal in Sochi, four years ago.

That Canada's 10th gold of the games putting them just one behind Norway and Germany. Or just one place I should say, behind Norway and Germany who have 13. As for totals medals, Norway still ahead with 35 in total for these games. That actually only predicted a total of 30. So, great going for them. Stay with us and WORLD SPORT will be right back.

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[02:52:43] DAVIES: Welcome back to WORLD SPORT, and Pyeongchang, we're just two days away from the closing ceremony where once again there'll be a lot of focus on the (INAUDIBLE) delegations from North and South Korea, who marched at the opening ceremony under the unified flag.

The women's hockey team created history here as the first ever unified Korean team to take part at the Olympics. But they build-up with less than ideal with 12 North Korean players joining forces with the existing score of 23 from South Korea, causing language issues and very late team strategy changes. They failed to win the game, conceded 28 goals and scored just two. So, what did the players make of it? I spoke to two of the original South Korean team a little bit earlier on.

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RANDI GRIFFIN, UNIFIED KOREAN HOCKEY PLAYER: When we first found out there was just a lot of uncertainty, and we've been preparing for so long that it's very easy to let that uncertainty kind of spiral into like worst-case scenarios. And so, we were worried about it, but then, I think once the North Korean players arrived and we saw that -- you know, they're just people, they're hockey players and they're girls like us. And we started getting to know them and we just became a hockey team again.

DAVIES: What has been the biggest challenge? A lot has been made of the language barriers. But is that -- has that been the biggest challenge for you guys? Do you want to answer that one as the translator?

JO SU-SIE, UNIFIED KOREAN HOCKEY PLAYER: OK, with Sara, our coach was speaking in English. And I had to translate in Korean for like Korean players. And I have to -- I had to translate from Korean to North Korean, because like they are not used to any English.

DAVIES: And what is the view of your family of the unified team? Have they agreed with it as an idea?

JO SU-SIE, UNIFIED KOREAN HOCKEY PLAYER: Yes, first -- at first, it was very difficult for us, me, and our team to accept that, like suggestion, having two countries come together is really like good for politics and relationship.

GRIFFIN: I know that my grandfather was not happy about it and didn't really like the idea of what he saw as North Koreans high jacking the spotlight of our team in the Olympics. And didn't have great feelings towards the cheerleaders, and that sort of thing. But, I think, once the game started and he was just watching hockey, he was proud of me and proud of our team. And maybe just thought that was a little bit weird.

[02:55:18] DAVIES: What did you think of the cheerleaders?

GRIFFIN: I've never seen anything like the cheerleaders at a sporting event.

DAVIES: Neither have we.

GRIFFIN: You know, they were very interesting. Sometimes it was hard, you know, when you're on the ice are trying to just focus on the game, and just you with on the ice. But sometimes I'm kind of like, you know, like what's going on up there?

It was interesting, and I think, probably the weirdest thing about it was that they try of had their own routine that seem like they had nothing to do with what was really happening on the ice. And usually, at a hockey game, the fans are kind of responding to what's happening -- you know, and we could be losing 8-0 to Swiss and they're so like, "we are winning like we are great." And so, like, OK. So, yes, it was just a little bit of a strange different experience, but, yes, I guess it was interesting.

DAVIES: So, would you like to see the unified team continue moving forward?

GRIFFIN: For this Olympics, I think, we were able to make the best of it and get through it because we knew this is just two weeks. And that's a very different thing than talking about like a three or four- year plan. And certainly, it wouldn't make a lot of sense I don't think for our team to continue training at a South Korean team for four years, and then, have them show up two weeks before again like that's not really unified at all. That's just adding a few North Korean players at the last minute to the roster. So, I think, there's just a lot of details that would have to be worked out, and I haven't heard any kind of details. So, it's hard to say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIES: Very interesting, the girls afterwards saying they quite like the idea of staying in touch with some of the North Korean players but they're not sure how they would be able to do that. According to the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, the North and South Korea are going to hold talks next Tuesday about the possible participation of North Korea at next month's Paralympics. We will, of course, get you any more details on that as -- and when we get them both for now.

That's it, from me and the team for this edition of WORLD SPORT live from Pyeongchang. Thanks for watching, goodbye.

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