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Trump Warns House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Another Tough Week for Theresa May; The Viral Video of the Teenager Standing In Front of a Native American Elder; Witnessing the Super Blood Wolf Moon; Liam Fox Warns Parliament; Zimbabwe Finding Ways to Challenge Government. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 21, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:01] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A seemingly endless battle, President Trump is telling the House speaker to be careful when it comes to negotiating the government's reopening, even as the shutdown stretches into a fifth week, the longest ever in U.S. history.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, it's another tough week of turmoil for the British prime minister as she gets ready to present her plan-b for Brexit. But some of her opponents and even members of her own party are trying to unveil their own plans.

CHURCH: And a stunning sight in the night sky as a super blood Moon makes a rare appearance in some parts of the world.

HOWELL: We got to see that.

CHURCH: We did. And there are pictures to prove it. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Newsroom starts now.

CHURCH: U.S. lawmakers from both parties are scheduled to vote on measures to reopen government this week. But there is little doubt the stalemate will continue.

HOWELL: The bickering, the back and forth that seems to continue with no end in sight. The U.S. president slamming the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she rejected his proposal to democrats to extend temporary protection from deportation to children of undocumented immigrants in exchange for the $5 billion he wants for a border wall.

Senate republican leader Mitch McConnell will send the president's plan to the floor for a vote. House democrats are set to vote on their own measure.

CHURCH: But it is unlikely either measure will become law.

HOWELL: Sara Westwood has details now on what each side is proposing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump on Saturday rolling out what he described as an attempt to break the log jam that has dragged this partial government shutdown on for a month now. The democrats started rejecting the president's proposal before he even announced it. Now, the president's proposed a deal would involve him getting $5.7 billion in funding for his border wall.

In exchange for a three-year renewal of DACA protections for those young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers, as well as a three- year extension of temporary protected status. For the roughly 300,000 people who are facing the expiration of their TPS. House democrats though are saying they won't do any negotiating until the government is reopened to may have their own plan to get the government reopened this week.

They plan to pass a package of six spending bills that will include $1 billion for border security in general, not for the construction of a wall. One thing that democrats and the Trump administration to seem to agree on, however, both proposals do include money for more immigration judges. Now, President Trump on Sunday going on a tweet storm about Speaker Pelosi accusing her of being beholden to her left flank.

And that's why he says she's unable to accept his proposal. Trump also defending his deal against criticism from the far right, with some conservatives accusing him of extending an offer of amnesty. But the bottom line is that this is not a new idea. President Trump trading DACA for wall money, it's something that has been tried and failed before.

And at the moment, it does not appear to have a path forward on Capitol Hill. Sara Westwood, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Richard Johnson is a lecturer in U.S. politics and international relations. He joins us now from Lancaster in England, good to have you with us.

RICHARD JOHNSON, LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Thank you.

CHURCH: So President Trump attacked Nancy Pelosi over the weekend for rejecting his offer to extend protection for children of undocumented immigrants in exchange for getting funding for his border wall. Given all this, what will likely happen, do you think when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sends Mr. Trump plan to the floor for a vote?

JOHNSON: I think that it will probably pass the Senate, but then the key thing is it probably won't pass the House. And similarly, we have seen the House democrats make moves that then Mitch McConnell hasn't taken out in the Senate. And it really seems at the moment that both parties are really playing a sort of game of chicken here.

They're trying to make the situation unbearable, intolerable for key constituents of either side to hope that they get so much pressure from their core supporters that, you know, something has to budge and someone has to move. But at the moment, I don't see the offer that the president made this weekend as really a serious offer to get the democrats to change.

I think it's more of a political move to try and shift blame from the president looking like the unreasonable actor in this to the democrats looking like the unreasonable actors.

[02:05:01] CHURCH: Right. Interestingly, far right conservatives have also criticized President Trump, some suggesting he's offering an amnesty to dreamers. Mr. Trump rejects that. But how do you expect him to respond in the hours ahead to criticism of his offer coming from all sides now?

JOHNSON: I mean I thought he was fairly -- it was a bit ironic actually that the president sent these tweets, claiming that Nancy Pelosi was beholden to her left flank. And, you know, certainly there is a case to be made that Nancy please is much more than sensitive to the left of her party now than she's had to be in the past, because of the dynamics of the Congressional Democratic House Caucus.

But on the other hand, it sounds like the president has -- within the White House people like Steven Miller, one of his key advisers, who is very close to the more conservative flank of the Republican Party, those people who are very skeptical, those who are very skeptical of immigration. I think that the president is being sort of pulled by them.

And so I think he's had -- even if he was considering giving a more sweeping immigration reform deal, I think he has had to pull back on that.

CHURCH: All right. So when we look at this offer that was made that's being criticized by both sides of politics here. You are saying you don't think it was a serious offer from the president anyway. Given what we are all witnessing at this point, and we are going into the 31st day of this partial government should down. What do you think it would take for someone to blink here and realize that we are coming after the second payday that people go without?

People who are earning 30 to $50,000 a year are not getting their money, which means they are not getting food to put on the table, not getting medicine for their loved ones. They are not able to help their loved ones. It's an impossible situation for those people. When is this going to likely end?

JOHNSON: I think that you could look to the Senate and see if the Senate -- perhaps the president's proposal fails, but perhaps a second attempt through the Senate is a way of striking some sort of compromise position between the president's position and the House's position. But I think that if this really -- if there isn't movement on that, I think Mitch McConnell hasn't really shown a great deal of at least forward leadership on this.

Perhaps a bit behind the scenes, then I think all bets are off, including the possibility that the president does decide that he can't make any agreement through legislation and seek some urgency powers to construct the wall. And in some ways, I think some people just think at this point let the president do that, and then let the courts decide on the constitutionality and legality of that.

CHURCH: Yeah. We'll watch to see what happens in the coming days. Richard Johnson, thank you so much for joining us for bringing us your analysis. Appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HOWELL: We are hearing more about a tense stand off in Washington that went viral.

CHURCH: And you may have seen the video of the teenager standing face-to-face with a Native American elder. Sara Sidner reports the boy says he is being misrepresented in that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We did receive three pages of comments from this young man. His family sent it out, and here is part of what he says. And obviously, with these viral videos there is a lot more it to them. There is always a story that goes along with them that happened before and after something like this happens.

And we have viewed video that gives a better, bigger picture of what happened leading up to that face-off between the student and the Native American elder. Here is what was one part of the statement from the student who was standing there face-to-face, he said because we were being loudly attacked and taunted in public, a student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperons for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group.

Our chaperon gave us permission to use our school chants. Now, he is referring to the nasty things they were hearing, not from the Native American group, but from a group of black men who call themselves The Hebrew Israelites. And we are now going to show you some video of exactly some of the things that they were saying to the students and others.

New video emerges in a store that has gone viral between Catholic school students and a Native American elder named Nathaniel Phillips. Phillips found himself surrounded by students, one staring him down, the others chanting around him. As Phillips says, he was trying to create calm between two groups at odds.

[02:09:54] NATHAN PHILLIPS, NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER/VIETNAM VETERAN: I realized I had put myself in a really dangerous situation, you know? It was like here is a group of people, who were angry at somebody else, and I put myself in front of that. And all of a sudden, I am the one who all that anger and all that wanting to have the freedom to just rip me apart.

SIDNER: This video shows what happened long before Phillips shows up. You can see a group of about five black men who identify as Hebrew Israelites preaching. They start taunting people of all colors, other black visitors, natives, and a Catholic priest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's make America great again, a bunch of child molester (Inaudible).

SIDNER: This is the moment that group becomes aware of the students, some wearing make America great again hats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got these pompous bastards come down here in the middle of a native rally with their dirty ass hat on.

SIDNER: At first, the Catholic school students are there in small numbers, but more and more students begin to gather watching with few weighing in. The small group of men continues taunting them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bunch of incest babies. This is what America -- make American great look likes.

SIDNER: The students begin to react but do not approach the men. The black Israelites continue to condemn the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You worship blasphemy. We got angels that are blessed for us.

SIDNER: Then one of the students takes off his shirt and the group begins chanting. Two minutes later, you hear a drum beat. That is Phillips and another Native American drummer. He says it was an attempt to thwart potential violence. The kids danced to it and some began chanting along with the native song. But for those who think they were enjoying each other's company, Phillips says that is not at all how it felt, especially because of the student standing before him.

PHILLIPS: Fear not for myself, but fear for the next generations. Fear where this country is going. Fear for those youths, fear for their future. Fear for their souls, their spirit. Fear what they are going to do to this country.

SIDNER: Now, in the student's statement, he says that he is now facing fear that he is receiving death threats as is his family. And he talks a little bit more about what happened during that interaction, saying that he never interacted with the protester that he did not speak to him. He says I did not make any hands gestures or other aggressive moves.

To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me. I believe that remaining motionless and calm. I was helping to diffuse the situation. And he goes on to say I harbor no ill will for this person. I respect this person's right to protest and engage in free speech activities. And I support his chanting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial any day of the week.

I believe though, he should rethink his tactics of invading the personal space of others, but that is his choice to make. So you are now hearing the other side of this story. You are hearing from the student who has been at the center of all this, saying that from his perspective he was the one being calm and he was the one that was getting the aggressive threats.

Of course, you also heard from the Native American elder who said he was actually trying it calm the situation down, too. The people who seem to have started all of this are the ones making all those racist threats and screaming at these kids and those who were the Hebrew Israelites.

HOWELL: Sara Sidner with the reporting. Thank you. A story to tell you about that you can see around the world, it is a sight that is rare to see overnight for sky watchers called the Super Blood Wolf Moon created by a total lunar eclipse.

CHURCH: Yeah. And these images were shot earlier from Los Angeles. As you can see, the super Moon was eclipsed by the Earth's shadow, and the sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere helped turn the Moon's color blood red. The phenomenon was also seen in parts of Europe, Africa, and the Americans.

HOWELL: Let's talk more about this now with David Reitzel. David is an astronomical lecturer joining this hour from Los Angeles, pleasure to have you on the show with us, David.

DAVID REITZEL, ASTRONOMICAL LECTURER: Thank you, nice to be here.

HOWELL: So David, tell us more about why the name and what is actually happening to the Moon as we watch it.

REITZEL: Well, what we saw tonight was a total eclipse of the Moon. The Moon moved in to the Earth's shadow, which blocked the direct sunlight from falling onto it. Now, it's known as a Blood Moon because some of the light from the Sun passes through our atmosphere, and actually the blue light gets scattered out. The same reason our sky is blue.

But that red light like all the light from the sunrises and sunsets makes it to the Moon and gives it a reddish hue, which is why we call a Blood Moon. So that's what was going on tonight. And we had a beautiful view of it here in Los Angeles.

HOWELL: That's cool. You could see it there in L.A. Our whole team went outside. I think we have some images to show you. But our CNN team went out to see the Moon for ourselves worth every moment of it here. Though it was freezing cold here in Atlanta, but yeah, you could see the red on the Moon. You could see it right there up in the sky.

[02:15:08] It was amazing to watch. How do people see around the world? How visible is it right now?

REITZEL: Sure, well, right now the Moon has moved out of the deepest part of the shadow, so it's just in the penumbra for about other another half hour or so, 35 minutes. It's very difficult to see that. So there is not too much left to see of the eclipse. Everybody that was on the half of the Earth that could see the Moon tonight got to experience the eclipse. We even got a report from our director, Dr. (Inaudible) who was in the

Norwegian Sea who managed to see it all the way over outside of Norway there. So folks all over the globe were able to see this eclipse.

HOWELL: How rare is this sort of thing to see, and what is the next big event that we can look forward to up in the sky?

REITZEL: Oh, gosh. Well, we won't have another eclipse for more than two years. So I know that. The next big event, gosh, I know there's going to be some meteor showers coming up (Inaudible) should be coming soon I believe. I would have to look it up online and see. But we don't have eclipses coming for quite a while which is why we made a big deal about this one. And really got people together, had a huge crowd on our lawn, and people really celebrated it. So I would have to look on my calendar to see what is up next.

HOWELL: I would imagine it was a little warmer there for you guys to watch in L.A. than here in Atlanta. But it was worth every minute to get out and see this thing. David Reitzel...

(CROSSTALK)

REITZEL: We were a little worried about the clouds but they cleared up. Temperature dropped a little bit. It was nothing like Atlanta for sure, you know? It was well above freezing so it was quite nice.

HOWELL: All right. David Reitzel, we appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.

REITZEL: Oh, you are very welcome. Thank you for speaking with me.

CHURCH: Good fun. All right, well, British lawmakers want more say over Brexit. But Downing Street warns the way they are trying to get it is a threat to democracy. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's Weather Watch time. I'm Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri following a system that is exiting around the north-eastern United States that would have brought significant snowfalls across portions of interior New England. But as that system moves out just cold air becomes really the main story as the coldest air of the season on essentially the one month anniversary of winter getting underway in the northern hemisphere kind of locks in.

And notice with all of it, significant the snow kind of moving away, but northern tier of the U.S. (Inaudible) working a way into the Canadian Maritimes. That's the bull's-eye of the significant snow. And you see where we start. New York City, yes, easily the coldest high temperature of the season at minus 10, warms up almost 10 degrees the next day.

And essentially, almost 20 degrees come the next couple of days after that with rain showers coming back. So at least a better progression here in to the forecast the next couple of days across the northeastern U.S., Chicago also 10 below, Vancouver, B.C. thanks for tuning, six year forecast remaining dry across that area.

[02:20:04] And Los Angeles may have had plenty of rain. Friend and family across this region are telling me they are ready for sunshine and milder temperatures. And tell you what, they are back to their California ways by the latter portion of the week with sunny skies. And notice the front that brought all the snow to the northeastern U.S. moving out of here quickly over the next couple of days.

Tropics, Savannah, mostly sunny, beautiful perspective, 22 degrees, Nassau, 23, working your way to Kingston a few showers, highs there almost 30 degrees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Israel says it has launched a new round of strikes against Iranian targets in Syria. Syria's ally, Russia, says an airport in southeast Damascus was the target of the strikes. On Twitter, the Israeli military had a map showing several targets around the capital. That also says Iranian forces launched a rocket at the Golan Heights on Sunday.

CHURCH: Russian state media say at least four Syrian soldiers killed in the Israeli strikes. Israel has warned Damascus not to retaliate. But Syria and Russia say Syrian forces shot down Israeli missiles. And this video from Syrian state media was reportedly captured near the border with Lebanon. In Northern Ireland, police suspect the new IRA, a militant group may be responsible for a car bomb that exploded on Saturday.

Four men have been arrested so far. No one was hurt when the bomb blew up in London (Inaudible) also known as dairy. Now police have released video of the powerful explosion.

HOWELL: You can see the car here parked on the street in front of the courthouse when it detonated. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum are slamming the attack as callus and pointless. They say no one in Northern Ireland wants to return to sectarian violence.

CHURCH: Well, another week of Brexit drama kicks off on Monday. That's when British Prime Minister Theresa May will lay out her Brexit plan-b in Parliament. But now, lawmakers are trying to take more control over Brexit negotiations.

HOWELL: And CNN has learned that a growing group of cross party Parliament members planning to introduce legislation that would make it impossible for Britain to leave the E.U. without a trade deal in place. That would mean possibly pushing back the Brexit date beyond March 29th.

CHURCH: U.K. Trade Minister Liam Fox warns Parliament that taking over Brexit would jeopardize democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIAM FOX, BRITISH TRADE MINISTER: You got to leave population and remain Parliament. Parliament has not got the right to hijack the Brexit process, because Parliament said to the people of this country we may get a contract with you. You will make the decision and we will honor it. What we are now getting are some of those who were always absolutely opposed to the results of the referendum, trying to hijack Brexit, and in fact steal the result from the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So let's get some insight now from Matthew Doyle in London. He was the Political Director for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Thank you so much for being with us.

MATTHEW DOYLE, FORMER POLITICAL DIRECTOR FOR TONY BLAIR: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So Prime Minister Theresa May will unveil her Brexit plan-b in Parliament in the coming hours. What do you think will happen? What are your expectations here?

DOYLE: Well, I don't think today we'll actually see what you could call a full plan-b. What you'll see is somewhat of a holding statement from the prime minister as she continues to scramble around to try and patch a deal together that will get support, not least from her own conservative colleagues, ahead of the votes in eight days time on the 29th of January.

And so the period we are in now is really a week of what's going to be intense testing of what possible compromise could be found by Parliament to insure that there is the agreement that everybody says they want.

CHURCH: Right. And, of course, as we just reported, CNN has learned that a group of cross-party lawmakers plans to introduce legislation making it impossible for Britain to leave the E.U. without a trade deal in place. So what do you know about that? And how do you think that's likely to work? And is there a shifting of alliances going on right now as we speak?

DOYLE: So there are a number of different initiatives of which that is one that that are being led by different groups of backbench members of Parliament. Many of whom are, as you say, operating across cross-party lines. Because I think the one thing that there is a definite agreement on is that that the price of leaving the European Union on the 29th of March of this year, without there being a deal in place, is one that is just too high a price to pay.

[02:25:14] And ultimately, I don't think Parliament will be reckless enough to allow that to happen. The problem is to stop it happening, there needs to be an alternative plan in place. And that is why you are seeing all of these ad hoc groupings sort of scrambling around at the moment to try and work out what that might be.

CHURCH: And do you think they have the numbers to support that basically to avoid a no-deal exit crashing out of the E.U.?

DOYLE: Well, if there was a straight up and down vote on do you want to leave with no deal, then yes. The prospect of leaving with no deal would be defeated. However, it's not as simple as that. To stop no deal happening, there needs to be an alternative plan that people can get around instead. Because the default at the moment is that we leave on March the 29th.

Now, there is an opportunity -- there is the chance that what you could see is just the can being kicked down the road again by people trying to look to an extension of the Article 50 process, i.e. move that deadline beyond March 29th, but the European Union has made it very clear that it's not willing to agree to that extension if essentially it is, just because of the U.K. trying to negotiate.

It will really only do that if it thinks there is a genuine chance of a change in the U.K.'s position, for example, an extension precipitated by a general election or the calls for there to be a another referendum.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, time is running out. So for these lawmakers to come up with another plan, they again have to get enough numbers supporting that. And that's not what we have seen so far when it comes to some sort of alternative. What are you learning behind the scenes about what is happening with that, and what this next plan is likely to look like?

DOYLE: You are absolutely right. If you look around the Parliament, what you can see is there is no faction that has a majority. And that's why you are seeing increased talk of having to be a different way of breaking the political deadlock, i.e. taking the decision out of the hands of Parliament and giving it back to people through a second referendum.

And for me, from where I sit at the moment from the MP's that I talked to, there -- it just seems that there is no deal that Parliament can come up with. And so therefore, we are in the situation where I believe I think it's going to go back to the public for a final say vote.

CHURCH: Yeah. A lot of resistance to that as well, of course, the trade minister not happy at all. And Matthew Doyle, thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate it.

HOWELL: Still ahead here on Newsroom. People in Zimbabwe are trying to find new ways to challenge the government, the latest on protests there and a live report from the region ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:28] HOWELL: Welcome back to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm George Howell.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. We want to check the headlines for you this hour. U.S. President Donald Trump attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for rejecting his offer to end the shutdown. Mr. Trump's plan would extend deportation protection for the children of undocumented immigrants for three years and he wouldn't push to remove millions of others in exchange for his border wall funding.

HOWELL: Hero services were held Sunday for victims of Mexico's deadly hype pipeline explosion. The death toll from Friday's blast now standing at 85 people who lost their lives. At least 58 people were injured from it. Officials say the accident happened as people were trying to steal fuel from the pipeline.

CHURCH: Police say 60,000 people gathered outside the great parliament Sunday. They are furious about the renaming of a neighboring country as Northern Macedonia. The Greek parliament is expected to vote on the name change in the coming days. Police were seen using tear gas as some demonstrators hurled projectiles outside parliament.

HOWELL: The U.S. President says that tremendous progress has been made ahead of his second summit with Kim Jong-un.

CHURCH: Yes. Mr. Trump tweeted that on Sunday along with details of his meeting with North Korea's nuclear negotiating, Mr. Trump and Kim Jong-un first met last June in Singapore. The summit is scheduled for late February, but the location and precise date have not yet been announced.

HOWELL: And, now to Seoul, South Korea with our Paula Hancocks with the reporting. Paula, it comes down to the question here the difference between words and pleasantries and actual substance. Is there a sense that there could be real progress on the table leading up to this summit?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, certainly, if you hear what the Trump administration is saying they are very positive about what has been happening and suddenly the U.S. President was very positive about this second summit saying that he and Kim Jong-un are definitely looking forward to it. But if you speak to long-term North Korean observers, there are concerns. This is basically because after the Singapore Summit back in June of last year, they believe that very little was accomplished.

The declaration was vague. It talked about working towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And, so certainly, there are concerns as to how much can be gained from the U.S. point of view when it comes to trying to nail down North Korea's denuclearization efforts. In fact, even the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence last week said that so far there have been no concrete signs that they are moving towards denuclearization.

So this is going to be the key for many observers and of course for critics that what will they agree at this meeting. It's clear that North Korea would like some sanctions relief. They would like the easing of some of these sanctions. And of course, we have heard up until now from the U.S. President that he's not going to do that until there is complete verifiable denuclearization. But of course it's very difficult to know exactly what will come out of this summit because it's not two leaders who deal with working level talks beforehand and have everything set out really before they walk into the room together. They're both very much top-down leaders who will decide things at

least from Mr. Trump's point of view once he's in the room.

HOWELL: You mentioned CVID complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization, the question here, Paula, is there any tangible proof that North Korea is taking steps towards that goal?

[02:35:09] HANCOCKS: There is proof really of the opposite, George. We've been heard U.S. military intelligence assessments that they are continuing to develop the technologies. We even heard from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo an admission that they have been developing and creating more fissile material. Now, of course, the North Koreans didn't agree at the Singapore Summit to stop that indefinitely that that wasn't in the declaration, so that specifics means that they're not actually working against the declaration itself, of course, against the spirit of the Singapore Summit.

But it has been widely accepted that North Korea is moving forward with its programs, although, it hasn't been doing missile and nuclear testing. Just recently the Pentagon had their missile review saying that North Korea still is a, "Extraordinary threat to the United States." Now, of course, that's consistent with what intelligence assessments have been in recent months. It's not consistent though with what the U.S. President Donald Trump has been saying.

HOWELL: Paula Hancocks with the reporting. Again, thank you for that.

CHURCH: Well, activists are calling on Zimbabweans to stay home and not go to work after a bloody government crackdown. The unrest was inspired last week after authorities said fuel prices would spike by 150 percent. President Emmerson Mnangagwa says it was meant to ease fuel shortages.

HOWELL: Since then security forces have shot at least five people dead and wounded dozens of others. The president was meant to be at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. He now says that he will skip that event given these protests.

CHURCH: And for more we want to go to CNN's David McKenzie who joins us live from Johannesburg. So David, what all are you learning about this? What's going on?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that Emmerson Mnangagwa is rushing back home because of this political crisis in Zimbabwe. He had this to say on Twitter that in light of the economic situation, I'll be returning home. Now, that's only part of the picture. The economic situation is dire. But the political situation, human rights groups say that the situation just for people on the ground has been horrendous.

Up to 12 people been killed by security forces according to a variety of human rights groups in the last few days in Zimbabwe. You had those protest that was sparked by this massive fuel increase announced by the president right before he left the country to try garner some business deals for the ailing economy. More than 500 people have been arrested, held without bail. Human rights groups again saying that this is a clear sign that the security forces are not willing to respect human rights in that country.

And the optimism that might have followed the ouster of Robert Mugabe is certainly turning into a dread that this is just more of the same in Zimbabwe as people struggle to feed their families, and have to deal with military, and other security forces moving through the streets. And it seems at times randomly arresting and beating people, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And so, David, what is the president's likely next move on this?

MCKENZIE: Well, he faces difficulty within his ruling party, and, of course, anger on the streets in Zimbabwe. The approach by the authorities up to this point has been a heavy handed one, putting military back on the streets, manning check points, arresting people. This is not working for the government because the anger is extremely deep and in key economic centers. It must be said though today this morning (INAUDIBLE) there were signs of normality on the streets people heading back to work.

But they've still have shutdown social media including WhatsApp and other messaging services presumably to try and stop people organizing to protest. The government has even (INAUDIBLE) blamed rogue elements from -- for stealing army uniforms and striking out at protesters something that has been meet with widespread ridicule. So the strategy doesn't seem to be coming together to stop this discontent and at the meantime just nothing really, no strategy economically seems to be picking this country up off the floor, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. We will continue to watch this story. Our David McKenzie bringing us that update from Johannesburg on the unrest in Zimbabwe, many thanks.

HOWELL: China calls it counterterrorism, but others call it cultural genocide. We hear from survivors of China's campaign targeting Muslims ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:43:07] HOWELL: We have an update now to the sudden and at times unexplained disappearances of members of the Muslim minority group in China, the Uighurs. The U.S. says possibly more than two million people have been detained in internment camps in the past year and a half alone.

CHURCH: Yes. China denies the accusations and says it is fighting Islamist I extremism. Ivan Watson met with Uighurs in the U.S. who are missing parents, siblings, and children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of love in this apartment in Virginia between a mother and her children. But something, someone actually, is missing here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

WATSON: In 2015, ethnic Uighur (INAUDIBLE) then a citizen of China gave birth to triplets in Egypt where she'd been living and working.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is me.

Uighurs: And barely a month later, she flew home with them to Xinjiang, a region of Western China. At the airport, she says Chinese police detained her and took away her babies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked her, where is my baby? Please give me my baby then he --

WATSON: Taped your mouth?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

WATSON: (INAUDIBLE) says police jailed and interrogated for the next three months. The day of her released, she went to the children's hospital (INAUDIBLE) to see her infants.

MIHRIGUL TURSUN, FORMER UYGHUR DETAINEE, XINJIANG: When I come hospital, doctors say, OK, my baby can go outside hospital? He say, yes, he die. I loved him. What die? He say, your son die yesterday morning, 6:00. I don't believe it. And I scream, why you kill my son? And they say, if you scream I call police. Stop. Be quiet. And he gave me my baby, so cold. I say, why he die? What happened? He say, we make operation and then he cannot strong, so he die.

[02:45:09] WATSON: CNN reached out for comment from Urumqi Children's Hospital but did not receive a response.

The surviving siblings have scars on their necks. A CNN medical expert says that suggests they like their deceased brother, received intravenous tubes for nutrition at a time they should have been breastfeeding.

Mihrigul, says her son's death was just the beginning of a three-year nightmare during which she was jailed two more times and tortured.

TURSUN: They asked a question. When I say I don't know, they start bit me so hard.

WATSON: During the second imprisonment, she says she was put in a crowded cell with 50 other women. All ethnic Uyghurs from her hometown in Cherchen.

TURSUN: Someone is my doctor, someone is my medium school teacher, someone our neighbor. All people, 80 percent I know. The U.S. government alleges this is part of a much larger frightening pattern.

SCOTT BUSBY, UNITED STATES DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Since April 2017 Chinese authorities have indefinitely detained, at least, 800,000 and possibly more than 2 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minorities in internment camps. WATSON: Beijing has gone from denying these alleged mass detentions to saying prisoners are getting vocational training. Authorities recently took some diplomats and journalists on a carefully supervised tour of some of these facilities. Some detainees' told journalists the camps re-educate them.

XIERAILI, UYGHUR IN CAMP (through translation): All of us found that we have something wrong with ourselves. And luckily enough, the Communist Party and the government offered this kind of school to us for free.

WATSON: The climate of fear in Xinjiang can be felt halfway around the world.

ARFAT AERIKEN, REFUGEE UYGHUR: I lost contact with my family in 2017. And I just --

WATSON: So, that was the last time you heard your mother's voice?

AERIKEN: Yes.

WATSON: And your father.

AERIKEN: Yes.

WATSON: 21-year-old, Arfat Aeriken, came to the U.S. three years ago to get a university education. But gradually, his parents stopped sending tuition money and stopped calling him. Then, last September, Arfat made this desperate appeal on YouTube.

AERIKEN: I have confirmed that my father sentence at the nine-year prison and my mom is in concentration camps.

WATSON: If both of your parents are detained, who's taking care of your 10-year-old brother?

AERIKEN: I don't know.

WATSON: If you could say something to your parents right now, what would you say?

AERIKEN: I hope that they're just alive.

WATSON: Afraid to go home, Arfat has since been granted asylum in the U.S. Many Uyghur students are similarly stranded here.

SEAN ROBERTS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: They're terrified because they don't know what to do. They don't necessarily want to declare asylum in the United States because that reflects badly on their family. But they've also beginning messages from the region that they shouldn't come back because they will definitely be put in one of these internment camps.

WATSON: During her incarceration, Mihrigul Tursun claims she saw fellow prisoners die in detention.

TURSUN: In this same one room, nine women die, I see. So, so much people die, have torture like this, I will become crazy.

WATSON: The Chinese government denounces criticism of each human rights record. Saying, these preventative counterterrorism measures protect more people from being devoured by extremism.

Mihrigul and her children are now in the U.S. going through the asylum process. But it's not easy. 3-year-old Moez has suffers chronic asthma attacks and Mihrigul can't afford a pediatrician.

One day, she tells me, she'll tell her surviving children the Chinese government killed their brother. Ivan Watson, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Ivan, thank you. CNN did reach out the regional authorities several times for comment on this story. And at this point, has not received a response.

CHURCH: Yes. Well, parts of the U.S. digging out from a fierce winter storm. Coming up in just a moment, we will take a look at which parts of the country got hit the worst. And if there's more on the way, we're back in just a moment.

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[02:51:36] PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your CNN "WORLD SPORT" Headlines. The L.A. Rams heading to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2001 after winning a thrilling and at times controversial contest Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Next month in Atlanta, they'll face the New England Patriots who outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs. The game would go to overtime. But that's when star quarterback Tom Brady drove the pants down the field to score a sudden-death touchdown. This, the third year now in a row, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl.

Meantime, the U.S. Open Champion Noemi Osaka has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Osaka once again losing the first set but hit back to win the next two against the Latvian player, Anastasija Sevastova.

The world number four saying afterwards, she's been inspired by the exploits of fellow youngsters on the men's side, Frances Tiafoe, Stefano Tsitsipas, who shot Roger Federer on Sunday.

An American skier, Mikaela Shiffrin putting on a clinic once again in a super-G race this weekend. The 23-year-old has now won 11 World Cup races this season. And is, on course, to beat the Vreni Schneider's all-time record of 14. A record which has stood for 30 years. Shiffrin's career total now standing at 54 wins this past week. And compare to Lindsey Vonn, admitting it won't be too long before she passes her own record of 82.

That's a look at your CNN "WORLD SPORT" Headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.

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CHURCH: Well, the fierce storm that's blowing through the Northern U.S. has brought heavy snow and ice in addition to strong winds. This is the State of Maine, where roads are covered, making travel treacherous and keeping the snow plows busy.

HOWELL: Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is at the International Weather Center with the latest on the situation. Pedram?

JAVAHERI: Yes, guys. You know, the storm system is finally on the move but it really left behind quite a bit of damage when it comes to the amount of snow that came down and also how cold the air mass is back behind us.

In fact, about 74 million people now dealing with wind chill advisories that are running to as cold as 40 degrees below zero across the eastern portion there, of the Adirondacks, the Catskills and work your way towards the Midwest. Even at this hour, seeing wind chills 10, 15, 20, below zero in a few spots.

I want to show you the perspective. Pretty impressive setup here from as far south is Northern Florida, sitting right at the freezing mark with the wind chills. Atlanta at 15 degrees, Nashville at 10, and work your way towards the North, almost 20 below zero. What it feels like in Detroit at this hour.

And to Boston, minus 10, and to New York City, minus seven. How cold it feels outside when you factor in the blustery winds in place. And, of course, climatologically, we are in the dead of winter the third week of January as you transition from there.

And so, the first couple of weeks of February that is typically when the United States sees its coldest temperatures and really much of North America, as well. So, we are there and the storm system didn't help out here with it leaving behind significant snow. In fact, accumulation is generally going from about 6 to 18 inches.

We've had a few isolated areas across the higher elevations of New York that had as much as 26 inches of snow come down in the past couple of days. And cancellations exceeded over 1,600 in the past 24 hours. Delays across the U.S. 4,000. Boston, Newark, Chicago and JFK in New York City among the most disrupted airports with all this weather that, that was in place.

So, that was the weather there into the Midwest also picking up, at least, a foot of snowfall which altogether not unusual for this time of year. But you take a look, even into the afternoon, the wind chills into the heart of the afternoon still struggling to get above zero degrees in places like New York or Boston or even Syracuse.

And that cold air, the Arctic air is still there through at least the middle of the week. So, we think all of that snow is not going anywhere anytime soon. Beyond that, we see conditions want to warm up just a little bit going in towards this weekend.

And in fact, temperatures from New York, 14 for high on Monday afternoon up to 44 degrees by Wednesday before the bottom drops out yet again going in through this upcoming weekend. And this secondary bout of colder air also looks like it has more staying power guys.

So, if this sticks around a little bit longer, we're talking about this approaching even Super Bowl Sunday with cold air continuing for much of the Eastern U.S. for an extended period after this week.

[02:55:58] HOWELL: Goody. Yes.

CHURCH: Wow. We don't like the look of those temperatures at all.

HOWELL: Pedram. All right, thank you. And thank you so much for being with us this hour for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. We'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment you are watching CNN, Do stay with us.

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