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Trump Agrees to Reopen Government, Gets Zero for Wall; Grand Jury Indicts Trump Confidant Roger Stone; U.S. and Opposition Crank Up Pressure on Maduro; Britain's Food Safety Inspections Could Be Disrupted; Federal Workers Head Back to Government Jobs; Interview with Lorie McCann, IRS Programmer; CNN Cameras Roll as Stone Is Arrested; Pope Defends Migrants, Takes Aim at Wall Builders; Brazil Dam Collapse; Hollywood's Stunning Transformations. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired January 26, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:00]

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Partial government shutdown is over. The longest in U.S. history. President Trump accused of caving. Democrats giving no money for the border wall he wants. In three weeks, we could be back to square one.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Paycheck stubs with zero dollars on them will change as federal workers head back to their government jobs. I'll talk to one federal worker to see what she will do with her first real paycheck of the year.

HOWELL (voice-over): A major moment in the Russia probe, the man you see here, long-time Trump ally, Roger Stone, ushered out of his house and into a courtroom.

ALLEN (voice-over): And flashing the victory signs.

(CROSSTALK)

HOWELL (voice-over): Indeed.

ALLEN (voice-over): Welcome to viewers around the world and the U.S. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL (voice-over): I'm George Howell. NEWSROOM starts now.

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HOWELL: 4:01 on the U.S. East Coast. Thanks for being with us.

Two major stories to tell you about this hour. First, the 35-day government shutdown, finally, it's over or at least on pause. The U.S. president backing down, reopening federal agencies but getting nothing in return. A Trump adviser calls it, quote, "a humiliating loss" for President Trump.

ALLEN: Also on Friday, Trump's long-time confidant Roger Stone arrested by the FBI at his Florida home. He's been charged with obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering but then re-emerges in public as defiant as ever. We'll have much more on that in a moment.

HOWELL: First, to the White House and the president's sudden about- face. Kaitlan Collins kicks it off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I am very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump backing off his 35-day standoff with Democrats today, announcing a deal to reopen the government temporarily.

TRUMP: In a short while, I will sign a bill to open our government for three weeks, until February 15th.

COLLINS (voice-over): The president's endorsement in the Rose Garden paving the way for Congress to pass spending bills to reopen the government for three weeks. But the deal is seen as a cave to Democrats where the president is forced to pay for a border wall once again.

TRUMP: I am asking Mitch Senate majority leader McConnell to put this on the floor, immediately.

COLLINS (voice-over): Trump implying if he can't come to an agreement with Democrats in the next three weeks, he will invoke a national emergency and bypass Congress.

TRUMP: If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th again or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.

COLLINS (voice-over): The short-term spending bill only includes $1.3 billion for border security and no new funding for the wall, making it a remarkable comedown for a president who declared for weeks he wouldn't waver. But today, he framed it as a win.

TRUMP: This is an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole, beautiful, wonderful nation.

COLLINS (voice-over): The presidential announcement, coming after a White House official says air travel delays that rippled across the nation Friday played a major role in his decision, telling CNN, this is getting worse and worse. He knows this has to end.

And after members of the president's inner circle faced backlash for downplaying the financial hardship of the shutdown, Trump making a point to thank them today.

TRUMP: Many of you have suffered far greater than anyone but your families would know or understand. COLLINS: Now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history didn't yield anything for the president. He didn't get any money for the border wall. He frustrated Republicans on Capitol Hill. He didn't do his base any favors by caving to the Democrats on their demands today and he even took a hit in the polls, as it shows most Americans held him responsible for the shutdown.

Two things to watch in the coming days, one, if the president is going forward with plans to deliver the State of the Union address, which was scheduled for Tuesday and, two, what will his response be to the overwhelmingly negative response --

[04:05:00]

COLLINS: -- so far from his hardline immigration base -- Kaitlin Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Kaitlan, thank you.

The deal the president accepted was not a new deal. Democrats offered it five weeks ago.

ALLEN: U.S. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they were relieved the crisis has been resolved in the short term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.), HOUSE SPEAKER: Disagreement in policy should never be a reason to shut down government, really shouldn't, especially, again, for a period of time that has an impact on the paychecks. And I'm sad it has taken this long. I'm glad that we have come to a conclusion today as to how we go forward in the next three weeks.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Hopefully now the president has learned his lesson. We cannot, cannot ever hold American workers hostage again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: But the president's base is furious with him. This from Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator. She tweeted, "Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush. As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp to ever serve as President of the United States."

ALLEN: One word on that for our guest, ouch. Natasha Lindstaedt joins us from Cardiff, Wales. She's a professor of government at the University of Essex.

Good to see you and thanks for being with us. Yes, he's getting it from Ann Coulter on the Right, he lost out to Nancy Pelosi on the Left.

Was this one of the worst days for President Trump?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: It was a terrible day. I mean, he tried to frame it as positively as he could, saying they were going to be negotiating. He didn't really ever admit any sort of defeat.

Then he tried to spend the last, you know, 75 percent of his speech distracting people about what just happened in talking about the need for the wall and all the different immigration issues that the country was facing, issues with women and children, people coming in with diseases. But ultimately, he caved.

This is going to go down as the most pointless shutdown in U.S. history. It took 35 days. It probably cost the U.S. economy well over the $6 billion he wanted for the wall. It caused all kind of duress and strain to 800,000 federal workers. And it was on the cusp of causing a catastrophe in the aviation industry, with airports and airplanes severely affected by the shutdown.

You know, he comes out of it and he gets nothing. The major headlines in all the news stories is nothing was given to the wall.

ALLEN: Is the president weakened now?

LINDSTAEDT: He's been severely weakened for some time now. His approval ratings are at an all-time low, 37 percent. There's 17 ongoing investigations on the heels of this recent indictment of his close associate, Roger Stone.

Everyone agrees, that -- well, not totally everybody but the polls seem to indicate most people feel he is to blame for the shutdown. His base seems to be shrinking. He's getting attacked from the Republicans, with the quote by Ann Coulter shaming him for giving into this.

It's clear the big winner in this is Nancy Pelosi. She didn't have very high favorable ratings before she took over the House. She's been proven to be a strong contender, facing Trump head-on, telling him he can't do the State of the Union address, saying she's not going to negotiate until he opens up the government, saying you are not going to get anything for the wall. And yet she won.

ALLEN: Yes, she did. She beat him at his own game, really. She showed him moxie for sure. Now we have the three weeks ahead. Mr. Trump says this will be temporary.

Is there pressure on the Democrats to give up something for border security?

Are they shifting toward caring more about immigration issues because of this?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, for the Democrats, they really have the leverage. If you saw with the recent vote, there were six Republicans who had been on the Democratic side and were just fed up with the government shutdown and for spending all this time, wasted time, negotiating over a wall.

The Democrats are more united than ever. The Republicans are sort of split. So with this, you have the Democrats much stronger in their negotiation. Maybe they will be able to give a little. But I think it's going to come in the form of repairing the existing wall in place, not really in the form of providing major --

[04:10:00]

LINDSTAEDT: -- sacrifice to the Republicans.

ALLEN: It will be interesting to watch and to hear his delayed State of the Union speech when that happens. Perhaps we'll talk with you after that. Natasha Lindstaedt, we appreciate your insight, thank you.

LINDSTAEDT: Thank you.

HOWELL: Another story to tell you about, the U.S. grand jury indicted one of Donald Trump's closest advisers, Roger Stone.

ALLEN: The charges stem from contact he may have had with WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, when WikiLeaks released hacked Democratic emails. For more on this story, here is Sara Murray in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roger Stone reveling today in the post-arrest limelight, after his initial appearance before a judge in Florida.

ROGER STONE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: As I have always said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

MURRAY: But only after the pre-dawn raid Stone hoped to avoid. FBI agent swarmed Stone's Fort Lauderdale home, arresting President Trump's longtime political adviser and friend, searching Stone's homes in Florida and New York.

STONE: They terrorized my wife, my dogs.

MURRAY: Hours later, Stone vowed to fight the charges against him.

STONE: I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court.

MURRAY: The indictment against Stone describes how he coordinated with senior Trump campaign officials to seek out stolen Democratic e- mails from WikiLeaks that could damage Hillary Clinton's campaign and then he bragged about his contacts with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

STONE: I actually have communicated with Assange. MURRAY: According to the indictment, Stone spoke to senior Trump campaign officials about WikiLeaks and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton campaign.

Stone was contacted by senior Trump campaign officials to inquire about future releases by WikiLeaks. Prosecutors also allege a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases. It's unclear who delivered those instructions and which officials Stone was in touch with about WikiLeaks.

At least one of them was Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and chief executive of the Trump campaign. But Stone was not charged with conspiracy. He faces one count of obstruction and five counts of making false statements, both related to his alleged lies before the House Intelligence Committee.

STONE: Any error I made in my testimony would be both immaterial and without intent.

MURRAY: He also faces one count of trying to tamper with testimony from New York radio host Randy Credico, at one point even threatening to steal Credico's dog.

Stone has claimed Credico was his back channel to WikiLeaks, which Credico denies. According to the indictment, Stone told Credico: "Stonewall it, plead the Fifth, anything to save the plan," amid references to Richard Nixon and a character in the "Godfather" movies.

A longtime political operative, Stone encouraged Trump to run for president and served as an adviser in the early months of Trump's presidential campaign. Today, Stone doubled down on his loyalty pledge.

STONE: There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president.

MURRAY: Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: To put all this into focus, let's bring in Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and also a contributor to "The Washington Post," joining us this hour.

Thank you for your time.

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thanks for having me.

HOWELL: After making a statement today when he left the courthouse, Roger Stone spoke to my colleague, Chris Cuomo, today. He's not known for being shy after publicly speaking out on camera. He explained to Chris how he feels about the charges he now faces. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STONE: Well, first of all, I always said that there could be some process crime.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Yes.

STONE: There's still no evidence whatsoever that I had advanced knowledge of the topic and subject or the source of the WikiLeaks disclosures.

I never received any of the WikiLeaks disclosures, I never communicated with Assange or WikiLeaks other than the limited communication on Twitter, direct message which I gave to the House Intelligence Committee last September, I guess it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Stone denies any of the guilt in these charges. Given the case prosecutors have built against him and from your expert opinion, how serious is this for him and what does it mean for the man he once advised?

LITMAN: It's pretty serious and it's probably going to get more serious. What he calls a process crime is a series of lies to congressional committees who were investigating the supremely grave topic of --

[04:15:00]

LITMAN: -- whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. This is not a stray or immaterial misstatement to an FBI agent.

But the indictment, in addition, really implicates Stone in conduct involving the coordination and even the instigation of the release of the hacked emails that Russia obtained and then passed through to Julian Assange.

In other words, I think Mueller has begun to lay a predicate for so- called substantive crimes involving effort on Stone's part to really influence the election. He's now suggesting there's a total wall, everything stops there between him and the campaign.

Maybe. But we know he was in regular communication with the president himself during the campaign and there have been searches that Mueller executed today at two different places that are likely to reveal a lot of email traffic.

He wasn't shy at the time about boasting to others; a different tune than he's now gave to Chris Cuomo.

HOWELL: To that point, we did hear the White House press secretary come out and say it has nothing to do with the president or the White House but interesting to hear how interconnected Stone is to the president from the mouth of a man who once headed the campaign as a campaign adviser and is now a convicted felon. Let's listen to Paul Manafort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Even after Roger stopped being a principal political adviser to Trump, he continued to be an important adviser and is to this day.

Roger's relationship with Trump has been so interconnected it's hard to define what's Roger and what's Donald; while it'll be clearly a Trump presidency, I think it's influenced by a Stone philosophy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: What do you make of their relationship and what it means to have Roger Stone facing charges for lying, tampering and obstruction?

LITMAN: I think it puts it at the threshold of grave jeopardy for Trump. For starters, there's a paragraph in the indictment, paragraph 12, which says Steve Bannon, another person who has cooperated with Mueller, was ordered -- an exquisite use of the passive voice -- was ordered to have Stone get some of these emails.

Well, who is in a position to order a guy like Steve Bannon?

I can only think of one person. So that's an obvious, ominous threat to Trump in a concrete way.

But more generally, it is just clear, as Manafort says, that they were extremely close all through the campaign. Doesn't stand to reason that Stone, having basically secured this coup of great emails, great dirty tricks, would somehow have stood silent to the campaign and to the president. Seems implausible to me.

HOWELL: Harry Litman, we appreciate your time and perspective.

LITMAN: Thank you, George.

HOWELL: In Venezuela, no end in sight for the political crisis happening there. Thousands of protesters caught in the crossfire as two leaders continue their fight for the presidency.

ALLEN: Plus how Brexit is threatening critical food safety inspections in Britain.

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[04:20:00]

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ALLEN: Welcome back.

The political crisis in Venezuela continues as two men fight for the presidency. HOWELL: We saw both leaders take to the podium on Friday, each defending their claims. You see the sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as he slammed efforts by the U.S. to push him out of office. He said he's willing to sit and have talks with the opposition to resolve the political crisis.

In the meantime, opposition leader Juan Guaido called on the nation's military to work with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN GUAIDO, INTERIM PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): If they dare to seize power again, the president is the only legitimate institution that assumed the authority of the constitution. I ask you to keep us on the path peacefully and nonviolently but with much force in every street and corner of Venezuela, demanding what belongs to us for freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: According to the U.N., at least 20 people have been killed in protests this week. Many people are still on the streets there. The U.N. Security Council meeting is set for Saturday.

HOWELL: Now to the United Kingdom and Brexit. It's threatening to complicate nearly everything, including the way Britain produces food, including meat.

ALLEN: Farms rely on veterinarians and inspectors to keep the animals and the food supply safe but it could become a lot harder come March 29th. We learn about it from Nina dos Santos from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): Simon Maitland (ph) welcoming this veterinarian to his dairy farm for a house call to certify the health and condition of the 300 cattle here.

He is a big part of the food chain with meat and dairy products to kitchen tables. And Brexit uncertainty is now part of this food chain as well. The U.K. has a shortage of vets. This one is from Portugal.

RUI D'OREY BRANCO, WESTPOINT FARM VETS: We currently are looking for veterinarian mutpretsis (ph) and the -- all the applicants that we had were non-U.K. We had Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, German. But we didn't have one single U.K. veterinarian applying for the job.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The U.K.'s leading veterinary body estimates that 95 percent of vets in the meat industry come from the E.U. The group is also warning that a no-deal Brexit would make matters worse, affecting public health and animal welfare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-eight percent of my staff are --

[04:25:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- non-U.K. in origin. If in the outcome of a no deal Brexit, we will not have access to such individuals. Then immediately we would face a crisis within two months of individuals not being able to come into the country.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Mariana, who is also Portuguese, is a vet who certifies meat in abattoirs for an E.U. law for that crucial last stage before human consumption.

JOHN AWOYEMI, AGRO FOODS: This is where (INAUDIBLE) because this is where they finish products. What you see on your table comes out at this exact point and without the vet being there, I can't guarantee the quality of your product.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The government says the rules about having vets in abattoirs will not change after Brexit. But there are still other concerns.

MARIANA SANTOS, EVILE & JONES: The cost of living might increase, which will obviously make it harder to live here.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Any disruption in the food chain would delay the supply of meat to shops and consumers.

DOS SANTOS: And this is the end of the food chain, here on this butcher's counter in London. All the meats, from the lamb cutlets to the calves' liver have been through a rigorous inspection process, from the farm to the abattoir. And from here, they'll be supplied to fine restaurants and family dinner tables in compliance with E.U. rules that could change after Brexit.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The health of livestock also depends on the supply of vaccines. And the majority of vaccines needed for livestock come from the E.U. Animal health officials say that this is also a public health issue and guaranteeing supply is a must.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have everything ready for (INAUDIBLE).

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Simon is already worried about medicines and vaccines for next winter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether or not that will be available for next winter.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): He is looking forward, though, to the English summer, when his pastures are filled with grazing cattle, a summer that, hopefully, will also be one without any more Brexit uncertainty -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: 800,000 U.S. government workers finally get to go back to paying jobs. Coming up, my conversation with one furloughed worker who's relieved to get paid again and also feeling anxious about the possible second shutdown.

HOWELL: Plus CNN was there when the FBI arrested Roger Stone. We'll have more on that ahead. Stay with us.

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[04:30:00]

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HOWELL: Welcome back to viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen.

(HEADLINES)

ALLEN: Joining me now is Lorie McCann, an IRS programmer, a furloughed federal worker during the shutdown.

Welcome to you, Lorie.

LORIE MCCANN, IRS PROGRAMMER: Thank you so much.

ALLEN: First question, of course, when I learned the government was reopening, I sensed a collective sigh of relief across the country from people who've suffered. Share your reaction with all of us.

MCCANN: Oh, my gosh. I was actually in a group text and also talking to a few people and it's just a sigh of relief. Oh, my gosh. I'm so grateful, so grateful, that the shutdown has ended and we can go back to work, serving the American people.

ALLEN: That's wonderful.

Do you know when you will see your pay and what are things you will be taking care of that you had to neglect?

MCCANN: We don't know yet. I'm the president of NCU Chapter 10. That is something that our national NCU is working with the Internal Revenue Service to make sure we are paid as soon as possible. I will be catching up on some bills, that's for sure.

ALLEN: I can understand that. We have heard so many different kinds of stories from people. To get an appreciation of this and how it can affect people in so many ways. You have not been to work, how do you feel now that you are going back to your job?

MCCANN: I feel really good. I'm anxious to get back and get back to work. You know, you miss your co-workers. You actually spend more time with them than your family.

ALLEN: That's true. I know it makes you appreciate your job now that you get to go back to it.

The president announced it was a temporary opening, not to throw anxiety on your happy feeling right now. Might that weigh on you trying to wait and see if this will be

permanent or not?

MCCANN: Absolutely. You know, I'm hopeful that, within the next 21 days that the agencies will be fully funded for, you know, the remainder of the fiscal year. Other than that, we'll be back in this same horrific position. The uncertainty was so stressful that I just cannot imagine going through that again in three weeks.

ALLEN: Right. I can understand that.

What is the message that you would like leaders in Washington, perhaps, to hear as far as how much this tactic, shutting down government, hurts American citizens?

MCCANN: It hurts American citizens. It hurts not only the workers, the federal employees, who took an oath. We took an oath, you know, all of us, when we came on our jobs to serve the American people.

It hurt us. It hurt us tremendously. It also, there was a trickle- down effect. You know, we didn't have our paychecks. We weren't --

[04:35:00]

MCCANN: -- able to spend like we normally would in the economy. It affected small businesses.

I don't know. I'm fearful that we'll see a lot of retirements because people will say, you know, they will say that I don't want to sit here and go through this again. Then all of your knowledge will go out the door.

So I would like them to know that we are not just federal employees, we're fellow Americans and we were hurting and that we just don't want to go through that again.

ALLEN: Right. Understand that. Well put. We really appreciate you. Good luck being back on your job. I would imagine, it's never fun to pay bills but this time it might feel pretty good to pay bills.

MCCANN: Oh, my God. I pulled them all out this evening, the ones I have to pay so I can get ready.

ALLEN: We wish you well with that and wish you well back at your job. Thanks so much for your time, Lorie McCann for us.

MCCANN: Thank you.

HOWELL: It's good just to hear the relief in her voice. You would imagine so many others.

ALLEN: My goodness, yes. They are probably happy to pay their bills.

HOWELL: Here is the thing, though. Some people, several weeks without pay, it did result in consequences, some serious consequences. Some people may have been evicted or had things that are hard to fix. So it's unfortunate.

Well, of course, we are also following the story of a long-time Trump adviser, Roger Stone. He was arrested before sunrise Friday morning and CNN was there when it happened.

ALLEN: Our chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, spoke earlier about that with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Even President Trump called this out and said on Twitter, who alerted CNN to be there?

Right-wing websites, there's been a conspiracy theory about this today suggesting that Robert Mueller tipped us off.

Give me a break. We all know Robert Mueller does not leak. Journalists tried. They don't give information.

Instead, CNN was able to be there at the right place, at the right time, thanks, as you said, a combination of skill and luck. There were a number of clues. They were kind of hidden in plain sight that CNN reporters noticed over the past week. Clues about Mueller's office being busy today. Things being moved around on schedules.

We had known that in the past, other indictments had come down on Fridays. So as a result, CNN decided to send a crew to Ft. Lauderdale overnight, basically, in order to be ready just in case something happened this morning at Stone's house.

The crew arrived on 5:00 am. They saw the FBI pull up around 6:00 am. And I think we're all the better for it, Wolf, because it's useful, it's helpful that we can all see how this happens. You see how serious it was to see all these FBI agents arriving.

And it's also remarkable how this story links to the day's other big news about the shutdown.

These FBI agents, they were working without pay when they showed up at Stone's door and you know who came up with the idea of the wall in the first place, the idea of this thought experiment, we're going to build a wall?

It was Roger Stone. Three year -- four years ago, he suggested it to Trump. He's taking credit for it.

And as a result, we saw a shutdown, now it's over today. But it's remarkable, it's amazing how these two stories, Stone and the shutdown, are actually linked.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Yes. The president came out, President Trump, as Pope Francis continued his trip to Panama, with a speech defending migrants.

HOWELL: But as CNN's Rosa Flores reports, the pontiff also appeared to take a thinly veiled shot at the U.S. president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis has used just about every speech at World Youth Day in Panama to defend migrants and speak out against the wall, in essence, inserting himself into the controversy that has the U.S. government in a shutdown.

On Wednesday, when President Trump tweeted his new slogan, quote, "build a wall and crime will fall," the pope told an Italian journalist on the papal plane who asked him about the wall that, quote, "Fear makes us crazy."

Then the pope expanded on Thursday about this theory, about fear, creating division and creating a you versus them, a good versus bad and explained that the reasons for this forced migration are very real, things like violence, poverty, drug trafficking. And this fear is in people's imaginations and then asks you to take a side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, PONTIFF, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): We know the father of lies, the devil, prefers a divided community. The builders are bridges and builders of walls. Those builders of walls sow fear and look to divide people.

What do you want to be?

Builders or bridges?

What do you want to be?

Builders or bridges?

[04:40:00]

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): You learned well, I like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Beyond the creation of an actual wall, Pope Francis warned against division and fear creating an invisible wall that he says makes people think that marginalizing others will solve their problems -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Panama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Rosa, thank you.

Buried in mud: a dam collapses in Brazil. Rescues are underway. But here is the thing, the death toll is expected to climb much higher. We'll have the latest for you.

ALLEN: Plus, it's already cold in parts of the U.S. Wait until you hear how much colder it is going to get. We are not there, George, that's the good news. Ivan Cabrera has that coming up. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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HOWELL: Welcome back. A sad ending to a story that has captivated Spain for nearly two weeks now.

Rescue workers found and recovered the body of a missing toddler just a few hours ago. The 2-year-old boy had fallen down an open well on January 13th.

ALLEN: Emergency teams and miners worked around the clock to reach him but the well was more than 360 feet deep. That's more than 100 meters, extremely narrow and blocked up with soil. That's a tough one to read right there.

HOWELL: It is.

Part of a town in Brazil swallowed by mud and sludge. Now we are getting new reports at least 200 people are missing after a dam at an iron ore mine burst.

ALLEN: The death toll is seven but is expected to be much higher. Still nearly 300 people have been rescued. Cyril Vanier has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A rescue worker struggles to pull a woman to safety. She's trapped in a thick deep sludge, barely able to hold herself up. Finally --

[04:45:00]

VANIER (voice-over): -- with some help, she's lifted onto a helicopter, covered in mud, appearing exhausted.

She's one of those rescued in a deadly disaster that is submerging homes, roads, cars, buses and people.

It began when a mining dam burst early Friday afternoon near Brazil's southeastern city of Brumadinho. Serve flooding followed, sending huge rivers of mud rushing over the city, trapping scores of people. Dozens of rescue workers have been deployed to try and free them, fighting against the dense mud.

Mining giant Vale, that manages the collapsed dam, apologized for the disaster. The CEO asked for forgiveness from those affected. Sadly, this tragedy is not the first of the country's largest mining company or for this region of Brazil.

Company officials claimed Vale has made an immense effort to improve its dams after a similar collapse in 2015; 19 people were killed and officials called it the worst environmental disaster in the country's history. But Vale's CEO worries the outcome of Friday's disaster could be even worse.

FABIO SCHVARTSMAN, CEO, VALE S.A. (through translator): This time it's a human tragedy because we're likely talking about a large quantity of victims. We don't know how many there are but we know it will be a large number. And the environmental damage will possibly be smaller this time.

VANIER (voice-over): The country's newly elected president also cautioned he hopes the worst has not happened, announcing plans to fly over the region on Saturday, he says all possible measures are now in place to control the scale of the catastrophe, with officials working to limit the destruction and rescuers racing against time to save those they can -- Cyril Vanier, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: What a terrible issue to deal with.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ALLEN: Actor Christian Bale looks just like the character he plays in "Vice." That would be Dick Cheney, the former vice president. We'll tell you how that --

[04:50:00]

ALLEN: -- unbelievable transformation might lead to big wins during Hollywood's awards season.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ALLEN: Hollywood awards season is in full swing. While there's no award for best transformation, maybe there should be.

HOWELL: There should be. Look, some actors are unrecognizable in certain movies and it seems Hollywood loves to reward them for that. Our Stephanie Elam has this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(VIDEO CLIP, "VICE")

CHRISTIAN BALE, ACTOR, "DICK CHENEY": We can make this work.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Actors portraying real-life people often snag votes in the politics of awards season.

RAMI MALEK, ACTOR: It's a long way from "Mr. Robot," where I wear one thing every single day.

ELAM (voice-over): Stunning transformations can lead to big wins.

ADAM MCKAY, DIRECTOR, "VICE": He's not playing Dick Cheney. He summoned Dick Cheney.

(VIDEO CLIP, "VICE")

ELAM (voice-over): So far, Christian Bale as Dick Cheney has earned Golden Globe and Critics' Choice wins.

MCKAY: The weight gain was one thing. I knew he was doing that. But it was when the makeup lined up with the character work, with the weight gain that I had the hair stand up on my arm.

ELAM (voice-over): At the SAG Awards, Bale's toughest --

[04:55:00]

ELAM (voice-over): -- competition may be another transformer: Rami Malek, who already won a Golden Globe for his turn as Freddy Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

MALEK: It's tricky, when you set out to play Freddy Mercury, you think, how am I ever going to fill those shoes?

ELAM (voice-over): From the eyes and nose to the teeth --

(VIDEO CLIP, "THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING")

ELAM (voice-over): -- Malek had help from the same makeup artist who turned Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne into Stephen Hawking.

PATRICIA ARQUETTE, ACTOR: As an actress, I think women often don't get to do that.

ELAM (voice-over): Patricia Arquette is nearly unrecognizable as a prison worker in the TV miniseries, "Escape at Dannemora" based on a real-live prison escape and love triangle in upstate New York.

ARQUETTE: To have a chance to explore a character who doesn't have your typical Hollywood body and is a sexual person and is not apologetic about it, that is more authentic.

ELAM (voice-over): But when the cameras stopped rolling, the actors have another tough job...

BALE: You go to bed hungry and you are miserable. That's what it is. That's how you lose weight.

ELAM (voice-over): -- transforming back to themselves -- Stephanie Elam, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Stephanie, thank you.

It's that time of year, the biggest human migration on the planet is officially underway.

ALLEN: That would be in China, gearing up for its Lunar New Year's spring festival. It's estimated people will take 3 billion trips as they head home to celebrate.

HOWELL: This year, the new year falls on February 5th and ushers in the Year of the Pig.

ALLEN: When dealing with such mind-boggling numbers, you need a serious sense of organization.

HOWELL: Like the Chinese school principal behind the shuffle dance. More than 700 students dancing at once. The principal says he was looking for an idea to make his students exercise more. I think he got that going there.

ALLEN: I think it worked.

The top stories are just ahead. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell, more news after the break. Stay with us.