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84 Bodies Recovered in Brazil Dam Collapse; Only One Witness Testified in El Chapo's Defense; More Jail Time for South Korean Speed Skating Coach. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 30, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Dogged persistence or pointless optimism?

Britain's Parliament votes to send the prime minister back to Europe to ask for concessions that have been repeatedly denied and will be denied again.

A South Korean court rules a skating coach convicted of assaulting his athletes will spend even longer in jail, quashing his appeal for a lighter sentence.

Plus the Reform Avengers: a group of rappers, owners of professional sporting teams and business men pledging $50 million to help America's poor and minorities reform a justice system that many say is simply unjust.

Welcome to our viewers all around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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VAUSE: Less than two months before the Brexit deadline and British lawmakers have decided now is the time for a new showdown with the E.U.

JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: The ayes to the right, 317. The nos to the left, 301. So the ayes have it. The ayes have it. Unlock.

VAUSE: Parliament rejected the option of a no deal Brexit and approved an amendment to Theresa May's agreement with the E.U. That measure called for the Irish backstop provision to be replaced by alternative arrangements.

If that is done, the majority would then support her exit deal. So the prime minister returns to Brussels to reopen talks on the withdrawal agreement while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

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THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable --

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MAY: -- substantial and sustainable majority in this house for leaving the E.U. with a deal. We will now take this mandate forward and seek to obtain legally binding changes to a withdrawal agreement that deals with concerns on the backstop while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

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VAUSE: A spokesman for the European Council said bluntly, "The withdrawal agreement is not open for negotiation."

For more, CNN reporter Anna Stewart is live this hour in London. And our European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas, is with us in Los Angeles.

But Anna, first to you. Here's what one E.U. diplomat told CNN.

"London has negotiated with itself more than the E.U. The negotiation with the E.U. is over."

So when Theresa May actually heads back to Europe, mandate in hand, she flies on the government Airbus, who does she plan to talk to?

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I felt like I could hear the groan all the way from Brussels last night as Parliament and the U.K. finally thought they got some progress. They don't want a no deal. They do want to send Theresa May back to Brussels.

But who is she going to speak to here?

Straight after this vote, there was a comment from Tusk's spokesperson, the European Council president, saying this is not open for renegotiation. We'll not be reopening a withdrawal agreement.

These are people she needs to convince first and then 27 E.U. member states to reopen this withdrawal agreement as well and she can seek some change they're willing to make.

We heard from the French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday saying as well the exit agreement negotiated between the E.U. and the U.K. is the best possible deal and is not renegotiable.

So here we have it from all sides around Brussels: they're not willing to reopen this. The one thing that Theresa May will be clinging on to here is the fact that nobody, not in London, not in Brussels, wants a no deal Brexit.

However, the slight problem with that, that was her bargaining chip but it became clear last night that Parliament really don't want her to get to that stage. So question is whether or not Brussels calls Theresa May's bluff and just keeps playing for time here.

VAUSE: Dom, with that in mind, the two amendments that passed are both nonbinding and aspirational but we now have this stated objection out there, an official that knew, the Parliament don't want this no deal Brexit. There's actually no practical consequence, it seems, apart from leaving May with an even weaker hand when it comes to dealing with the E.U.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yes, and that was the outcome. It was absolutely remarkable. The withdrawal agreement which she brought back to the European Union to the Parliament suffered the worst defeat in parliamentary history and she is now returning to Brussels and everybody is saying, as they were with the vote in the Parliament, that there's absolutely no way that the European Union is going to make any kind of concessions.

The likelihood that she will then return to Parliament and the two options that we have before, as she said all along, somewhat paradoxically, it is the only deal and the best deal. And when one measures this up against the threat of a no deal, we're still talking about Brexit but ultimately --

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THOMAS: -- this defeat, this bill that suffered the worst defeat in Parliament now looks like the best option in relation to a no deal.

It's just absolutely extraordinary that we have gone around in a full circle here. We were hoping to get greater clarity out of these different amendments today and it's actually quite remarkable that the leader of the House of Commons chose seven of them.

And out of it we're really no better off than we were yesterday and ultimately we know Theresa May is going to be wasting her time going after Brussels.

VAUSE: Let's put some spin on this. The best possible spin for Theresa May, could you argue that finally at least the British Parliament has agreed on something?

And by Theresa May talking to other parties, there is a consensus of sorts and she has this unity within her own party.

It's not all bad, maybe?

THOMAS: Well, no. I think ultimately it is because of the nature of what it is. It has to do with the Irish backstop. It has to do -- and we have to understand that, for the European Union, this is not just -- 27 countries have signed off on this. The integrity of the European Union is at stake here.

And in the same way that they would insist on there being a hard border, which is not something that they want to protect their integrity, the U.K. is also arguing that they don't want Northern Ireland to be treated differently.

The European Union negotiated in good faith; 27 countries signed off on this. And there's no incentive for them to reopen this binding, legally binding withdrawal agreement at this particular juncture and to, therefore, compromise their own situation and circumstances here.

VAUSE: You know, Anna, it seems the best way to sum up May's strategy here is if you don't ask, you don't get. She has asked repeatedly and has been told repeatedly, no, over and over and over again.

So where is the line here which divides dogged persistence and insanity?

STRAW: She is doing what Parliament is telling her frankly. I was just looking back. Two months ago, November, she was at the E.U. summit. Listen to what she said.

She said, I think people think somehow there's another negotiation to be done here. That is not the case. This is the best possible deal. This is the only possible deal.

So she knows exactly what she is dealing with here. The one good thing is she is going back to Brussels, possibly on a slightly fruitless task, which she knows. But she is going with the unity of her party and with Parliament backing her.

And if they see her doggedly trying to get this, perhaps she gets more support. Perhaps, eventually, this deal will get more support in Parliament. That can be the only hope here or, of course, the E.U. suddenly rips it up and says, all right. Let's start all over again. But surely she's going to need more time to do that.

VAUSE: So, Dominic, as you see it, over the next couple of weeks, because there's now less than two months before this deadline approaches, what are we looking at here for the next couple of days and the next couple of weeks?

THOMAS: The clock is running out. And ultimately, for the hardcore Brexiteers, the ultimate goal is Brexit. And right now the only sure thing is, if nothing happens, we end up at the 29th of March with Brexit happening.

Let's not forget, the Parliament did vote to trigger Article 50 and did agree that this was going to be -- this was taking place. So unless anything else happens, this is what we end up with.

I find it hard to believe that we will go down this road without there being an action and I think the Parliament is playing with fire. And as we get closer to the date, the possibility of getting into some kind of discussion and negotiation about an extension will come about.

But at this particular stage, she has prioritized keeping her party together. We know that a deal lies to the center and some kind of compromise over a customs union and so on and so forth.

But as far as the Brexiteers are concerned, the number one goal is getting out of the European Union. And if that means crashing out, so be it, they win.

VAUSE: At least Theresa May has something to keep her busy. Dominic, thank you.

And Anna as well, there in London.

Appreciate you both being with us.

And you'll be with us again next hour.

Thank you.

U.S. intelligence chiefs have revealed a troubling pattern when it comes to Donald Trump's perception of the world. They gave their worldwide threat assessment to lawmakers on Tuesday. In many cases directly contradicting how President Trump sees the world.

Take North Korea. The president has been talking about the progress he has had with leader Kim Jong-un but the head of the U.S. national intelligence sees it this way.

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DAN COATS, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.

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VAUSE: How about ISIS?

On Planet Trump, the group has been largely defeated. But details reform the terrorists are still plotting attacks.

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COATS: While ISIS is nearing territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria, the group has returned to its guerilla warfare roots while continuing to plot attacks and direct its supporters worldwide. ISIS is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters --

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COATS: -- in Iraq and Syria.

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VAUSE: When it comes to the nuclear agreement with Iran, Donald Trump argued that a deal could never prevent a nuclear bomb. That's in his world. In the real world, intelligence officials say not only is Iran abiding by the deal, there's no indication that the country's actually developing a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GINA HASPEL, CIA DIRECTOR: Yes. They are making some preparations that would increase their ability to take a step back if they make that decision. So at the moment, technically, they're in compliance.

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VAUSE: Then how about the issue of Russia and U.S. elections?

Well, the intelligence chiefs say the Russians targeted last year's midterm elections and will likely use new tactics with the 2020 elections. Donald Trump still doubts whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Of course, there is the 400-pound blogger in his mother's basement, whom he liked to blame. And that in defiance of the assessment of every top intelligence official.

Now Mr. Trump, the U.S. international community takes climate change seriously. They say it's a fix, could fuel competition for resources, economic distress and social discontent in the years ahead.

Trade talks between the U.S. and China will resume in the coming hours with tensions building on both sides. China's top trade negotiator is in Washington with two days of critical meetings, with a deadline to reach an agreement now just over a month away.

But hanging over those talks, U.S. charges filed against Huawei alleging the Chinese telecom company tried to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile and violated sanctions on Iran. The U.S. says Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou played a key role in doing business with Iran.

She was in Vancouver as Canada waives a request from the U.S. for her extradition.

Like now to Beijing and CNN's Steven Jiang.

You clearly -- this -- tensions between the United States over Huawei and Meng Wanzhou, this is one of the complicating factors when it comes to those trade negotiations. But it seems they're trying to keep them separate, even though they won't be.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: That's right. It's going to be very difficult for them to separate them completely. There's several strands here as we mentioned.

As for Ms. Meng, her court appearance on Tuesday was rather brief but now we have learned from the Canadian authorities, as you alluded to, that the U.S. filed a formal request for her extradition. So the legal battle has really just begun for real and that process could drag on for months, if not longer.

And so we're not really anywhere near the end of that saga. But as for the trade talks, now these indictments, the U.S. announced on Monday, the timing of that was interesting because it happened just hours before the arrival at D.C. at the Chinese trade delegation. Some say that was a hawkish message to China from the White House

ahead of the crucial talks. But in terms of the Chinese response, it's been relatively measured. They mentioned no serious consequences or potential retaliations as they have done to the Canadians in the past.

People are saying that's a sign that the leadership's eagerness not to derail these talks before they even start, mindful of the very markedly slowing economy here. As for the talks themselves, that's also related to the indictments because the indictments really show an increasing consensus within the U.S. government on a number of issues, including the danger of using Chinese technologies, including the increasingly serious theft of U.S. trade secrets by China's companies like Huawei.

So these authority issues that the two sides will have to discuss and work it out. That's why despite the progress cited by both sides after the last run here in Beijing, U.S. officials are still saying they're miles and miles away from reaching a final deal.

VAUSE: OK, Steven, thank you, Steven Jiang live for us in Beijing.

Well, protests against the embattled Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, are expected in the day ahead. The country's attorney general has opened an investigation into the self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaido.

There's been court has frozen his bank accounts and him from leaving the country. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton has warned there will be serious consequences for anyone who tries to harm Guaido.

U.S. diplomats, including the vice president, Mike Pence met with Guaido's envoy Tuesday about the next steps in supporting Venezuela's democratic transition. That's a day after the White House hit Venezuela's state-owned oil company with tough new sanctions in an effort to starve Maduro's regime of cash.

Still to come here on CNN, why some rappers and sports team owners are coming together, joining forces to reform what they say is a broken justice system in the U.S.

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VAUSE: What will they say years from now about the U.S. justice system?

Justice, it seems, depends on skin color and social class, a justice system which has seen millions placed in mass incarceration, in many cases private prisons run by publicly-traded companies.

The two biggest in the U.S. are Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group. They have a combined revenue of more than $2 billion.

What about a drug war which has lasted a generation but waged almost entirely on poor people of color, who once released face the collateral consequences of serving time losing the right to vote or denied a driver's license or decreased access to basic social services like housing or food stamps.

Rapper Meek Mill has been a high-profile poster child for the racial bias which seems to be part of the DNA of the justice system. For the past 10 years he's been in and out of prison for a variety of charges and probation violation.

"Rolling Stone" reports he spent $30 million in legal fees. In 2017 because of his long criminal record, a Philadelphia judge sentenced him to up to four years in a medium security prison mostly for minor violations including popping a wheelie on his motorcycle and not wearing a helmet.

That was an absurdity too far for Mill's friend, Michael Rubin, a billionaire businessman and co-owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. And from that moment the Reform Alliance was born.

Michael Rubin, Meek Mill and a diverse group of wealthy business executives, owners of sports teams and entertainers dedicated to changing a system which continues to defy serious reform.

And Michael Rubin joins us now from New York. And we also have Van Jones with us in Los Angeles.

So good to see you both. Thanks for coming in.

MICHAEL RUBIN, OWNER, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: Thanks for having us.

VAUSE: OK. Michael, fill in some of the blanks between November 2017 and that jail sentencing and the event last week which saw the official launch of the self-described Reform Avengers group.

RUBIN: Yes. For me November 6, 2017 was a life changing event. Sitting in that courtroom to watch one of my closest friends being sent to prison for absolutely no reason and watching a probation officer and district attorney both recommend no sentence and then watching the judge sentence him to two to four years which is something I never believed could have happened.

It was completely surreal. I just didn't believe it could actually happen. And as soon as that happened, I said to Meek, I will not stop and Jay-Z said I will not stop until we get you out of prison.

And for me what happened was I thought this was a one-off problem for Meek. But what I realized was this was a gigantic issue that I was completely unaware of. And as soon as the original arresting officer came forward and said, Meek didn't actually point the gun which is what he was charged of 12 years ago. And then we still couldn't get him out of prison when we realized that (INAUDIBLE) wasn't even guilty. And then he was sent back to prison multiple times for never committing a new crime.

That's what we said, as soon as you get out of prison, we've got to help fix this for everybody else. And that's what led us to start the Reform Alliance and we're very excited about that.

VAUSE: And then, you know, there's no shortage of data which shows the racial discrimination --

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VAUSE: -- within the justice system.

Back in 2016, for example, the Sentencing Project found blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for drug offenses. Others they put that number at six times. And 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug possession. This is despite the evidence that whites and blacks use drugs at roughly the same rate.

You know, numbers go on and on and on. You know, this is the end result of not just a generation of discrimination but generations.

Where do you even start to try and effect change here?

Where do you spend the $50 million Michael and his friends have chipped in?

VAN JONES, CNN HOST: What we're going to do is actually start smart. If you look at the six million-plus people who are caught up in the criminal justice system 2 million are locked up but there are 4 million that are caught up on probation and parole.

And even the way that you started the segment, now he's gone to prison multiple times. You would think that Meek Mill was out there being a carjacker and doing terrible stuff. He had one phony charge against him when he was 19 and then there was no new crime ever committed.

These are non-crime, technical violations -- showing up late for a meeting or popping a wheelie -- and then you're being sent back to prison.

And not just him. What happens to you when you're 50 minutes late for a meeting with your probation officer and he or she said you go back to prison now for a year. You lose your job. You lose your home. You lose your kids for no new crime.

This is happenings to millions of people. So the revolving door that everybody talks about, the form it takes is a punitive dysfunctional probation and parole system.

And so Mike Rubin and Meek Mill said let's fix that. And so I'm the CEO to bring all these superstars together to get this done. Once you break this revolving door instead of having a trapdoor, you have a spring board to real help you're going to see a dramatic reduction in the number of people who stay stuck in the system.

VAUSE: You know, the reality TV star Kim Kardashian -- she's been dubbed the princess of prison reform. She's helped with clemency for a number of inmates. This week, she went to the California state capital of Sacramento. There's a push underway to let parolees actually vote.

She tweeted about the trip. She received overwhelming praise and encouragement for the most part. There's one or two snarky comments.

Kevin McCarthy also tweeted -- he received just a couple of comments that are mostly negative, you know, like this one.

"Photo op, anyone who supports this mess does not deserve my respect. Why the hell would anyone support reform?"

There was this one, "Why would you do this?

Why should criminals vote?

So Michael to you, why does it take someone like a Kim Kardashian to try and win over America? For someone like you put this really on the map, you know this sort of high profile endorsement to try and actually effect change?

Because it seems that there is a lot of resistance out there to take out the celebrity status or, you know, fix what is essentially a broken system?

RUBIN: Yes. I think it is sad to acknowledge this. But I think when you're someone who is in the system or you're somebody who comes from, you know, a minority, I think it is hard for people to believe them and that's completely wrong and it's offensive.

But I think when you've got people who come from a different background and they come out and show how wrong this is, I think it adds credibility.

You know, great example of that -- I remember when I took Robert Kraft to prison to go visit me. And Robert walked out of there just completely changed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing because it was so offensive to see this great individual he's known for a while stuck in prison for not committing any crime.

And I think when Robert Kraft went out and spoke, when I spoke, when some of the other people came and spoke on Meek's behalf, it helped to really bring awareness to the issue. And I think one of the big objectives we have is to really educate people.

I never believed before November 6 of 2017 that you went to jail if you didn't commit a crime. I didn't know somebody like Meek could go to prison multiple times. I didn't believe they could go to prison for a day if you don't commit a crime.

VAUSE: I want to play a clip from a documentary which was released a few years ago. It's called "13th" as in the 13th Amendment. And the few words which say slavery would no longer exist except for punishment for crime.

The filmmaker Ava DuVernay makes the argument that the U.S. prison system is actually a continuation of slavery.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you got out of that was a rapid transition to a mythology of black criminality.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- beast that needed to be controlled.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You better believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It became virtually impossible for a politician to run and appear soft on crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kinds of (INAUDIBLE) bitter-cold super predators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Millions of dollars will be allocated for prison and jail facilities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three strikes and you are out.

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VAUSE: OK. So Van, you know, what you're trying to do here when you say justice reform -- it's a lot bigger than just the prison system and the court system and sentencing. This goes to the very core, the very DNA of what this country is about.

JONES: Well, you know, this country has always been about two things that don't really go together. You have the founding reality which, you know, does have to do with slavery, has to do with, you know, stolen land from Native Americans, et cetera. But never forget you also have that founding dream of, you know, equality before the law. And the founding dream that, you know, all of us are created equal.

And those two ideas have been -- the founding reality ugly and unequal. The founding dream --

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JONES: -- about equality. And every generation, we've got to close the gap between those two ideas on the side of justice.

And so we're not the first generation to do it. We're not the last. But this is that great freedom movement for our generation. You have that freedom movement for women, for African Americans, for LGBTQ. We have a whole subcategory of people now that are being unfairly treated, put in prison for stuff that kinds are doing on Ivy League campuses every day. People do it in yacht clubs every day. It's wrong. And you now have a great freedom movement building in the country to do something about it.

RUBIN: The great thing, people are focused on this now. As Van mentioned, there's 4.5 million people on probation and parole. We could cut that number down in half and still keep neighborhoods equally safe.

So our goal, getting a million people out of the system over the next five years, I think it's really ambitious from one perspective but from another perspective. I think we need to do better than that. And there's such a big opportunity (ph) to see everyone coming together to work on this.

VAUSE: Yes. Not locking people up for crimes they will not commit. It actually saves money and makes people safer. You know, it's a good argument you guys have on your side. I wish you both the best of luck.

Thanks for being with us.

RUBIN: Thanks so much.

JONES: Thank you.

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VAUSE: And to learn more about the push for change in the prison system that Michael and Van are helping to lead, visit the group's website online at reformalliance.com. You can also follow them on social media @reform.

Well, the FBI has closed its investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history without finding a clear motive for the gunman; 58 people were killed when Stephen Paddock opened fire on a Las Vegas concert in October 2017.

The report notes Paddock was similar in ways to other mass shooters, a desire to die by suicide with no obvious grievance.

Decades of Olympic glory hid a horrific crime in South Korea. Athletes abused by their coaches and forced into silence but now a court has decided to make an example of one of the abusers. Details in a moment.

And the polar vortex bring a deep freeze to much of the United States. Bone-chilling subzero temperatures in places nowhere on Earth is there anywhere colder. The frigid forecast.

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VAUSE: Welcome back. These are the headlines this hour.

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[00:30:00] CNN's Paula Hancocks live this hour for us, in Seoul. So, Paula, the

prosecution apparently originally wanted two years prison time for this coach (INAUDIBLE) 10 months, it's been up to 18 months. Is the reaction there that this is now an adequate punishment for the coach or are people still demanding, you know, a tougher sentence?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have spoken to the lawyer of the victim, Shim Suk-hee, the two-time Olympic gold medallist. And clearly, they would have liked the full two years. But they say they appreciate the fact that the sentencing has increased.

The fact it's gone from 10 months to 18 months, and the court itself pointed out that it believe the previous sentence was too lenient, was inappropriate.

So, this is really a sign, as they said, as well to other coaches, other athletes, that this kind of behavior will not be accepted. But this is the case, a very well-known high-profile skater that has really opened the flood gates for other victims of this kind of physical abuse and in some cases, sexual abuse to come forward and point out what is happening within the industry.

Now, there has been many people apologizing, the head of the Korea Sport and Olympic Association. President Moon Jae-in has become involved as well, saying this is a real sense of Korean shame hidden and sporting glory.

So, what we're seeing now is a real concerted effort to try and find out exactly how far and how widespread this kind of abuse is. John.

VAUSE: OK. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks there, with an update on that court trial, which of course, the story has a long way to go yet, thank you, Paula.

Millions of Americans would be better off in parts of Antarctica, at least, they would be warmer this week, as the coldest air in a generation starts blowing across parts of the United States. More than 200 million people will see temperatures drop below freezing in the coming days.

Officials are warning people to limit their time-outside. It's so bad. So bad, the U.S. postal service is suspending delivery in 10 states. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with more on this. You know, this is what wind chill factors of minus 70?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: It's incredible, yes. And you know, John, when you're talking about this cold, it's really important to note that most people have never felt anything remotely similar to this and often in fact, when you get to minus 20, minus 30, extremely cold.

But for a lot of people, for a minute or two, it's actually somewhat fun. You know, the experience going outside, throwing boiling water in the air, and seeing their breath in the air that is suspended for as much as 10 or 15 minutes before it's disrupted, and all of those elements are fun.

But once you get to minus 40, minus 50, nothing about them is fun, not even for one minute. In fact, Alaska pipeline workers have talked about experiencing such temperatures, which by the way, 54 below Celsius in Northern Minnesota on Tuesday, is minus 65 Fahrenheit, saying this such temperatures, you need insulated clothing to be outside even for a period of one minute.

And we're talking about scientifically designed clothing, insulated from your hat, to your mittens, to your jackets, and these articles of clothing cost several thousand dollars just to be able to protect you, again, for any sort of exposure before hypothermia sets in.

So, it's certainly a serious situation when you're talking about the severity of this particular event right now across the upper Midwestern United States and really going to hang out with us for at least a couple more days here. Minus 30 to minus 55 wind chills in degrees Celsius, which again, pushes up to close to minus 70 Fahrenheit, into Northern Minnesota and on onto parts of Chicago.

At this hour, it feels like 45 below in Northern Minnesota, it feels like 35 below in Chicago. In fact, some of the planes that were cancelled, flights that were cancelled out of Chicago and parts of the Midwestern U.S. were because of the de-icing material that was being sprayed onto the airplanes themselves, with freezing on contact.

And, in fact, some of the trucks reporting their fuel lines were beginning to gel up because of how extremely cold it was, outside. So, really important to note, when you're feeling and trying to kind of relate to the extreme nature of this cold, it's unlike anything that most people have felt, especially when you get to the 40 and 50 below.

It's because it is significantly colder than the 20s and 30 belows, and often kind of make that analogy when we talk about the summer heat. Say, 40 degree Celsius, extremely hot, but once you get to 55, even 60 degrees Celsius, it's an entirely different story, and the separation is quite great as well.

But, you notice, upwards of almost 40 records to be set from the Midwestern United States, all the way towards the Northeastern U.S. Some of these records will be all-time records that are going to be set over the next couple of days, and in Chicago, dropping down to 31 below zero in the coldest time of the year.

[00:35:16] That would be the coldest temperature ever observed at any point, in over 120 years of recordkeeping, but what's impressive about all of this is, mild returns back in the forecast and actually shifts north, as we approach this weekend.

So, a dramatic warming trend after setting potentially the coldest afternoon and the coldest morning in recorded history in Chicago. We go above average by a wide shot come Saturday and Sunday. In fact, seven to eight degrees is the forecast for Sunday into Monday, to start off February. Zero is the average high.

So you see how quickly things return back to above normal here, even on the coldest of places there, John.

VAUSE: You know what's interesting? We told you about the President tweeting out about the winter storm and, you know, where's global warming gone? We need it. Well, you know, the National Weather Service, though, has replied to that basically saying, which (INAUDIBLE) you know, winter storms do not have a -- are not indicative of global warming.

It was pretty straight and blunt. So, they're on the case. Thanks, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: It was well said, yes.

VAUSE: OK. Well, let's take a break. When we come back, Apple posting sales numbers from the holiday quarter and things didn't really go that well. How the centerpiece of Apple sales may be going sour, details in a moment.

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is the 100 Club, our look at companies that are 100 years old or older.

Justine Fletcher runs the archives of the Coca-Cola Company, overseeing a 193,000 items, worth an estimated $100 million. It all began in Atlanta, in 1886, when a pharmacist named John Pemberton created a flavored syrup initially intended as medicine.

JUSTINE FLETCHER, DIRECTOR OF ARCHIVES, COCA-COLA: Coca-Cola was the only drink that this company made from 1886 to 1955. It wasn't until we got to vending. So, now you have consumers going to a vending machine who wanted something more than a Coca-Cola. So, introduced Fanta in 1955, Sprite in 1961, and then our first low calorie drink in 1963, Tab.

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VAUSE: Tech giant Apples says its revenue fell five percent from the same quarter, a year ago. The first time its sales have dropped during the holiday quarter since 2000. The decline was driven by a dip in iPhone sales which fell 15 percent from last year.

But there is some positive news here. In an interview with Reuters, the Apple chief said trade tensions between the United States and China (INAUDIBLE) that helped lift Apple shares in after hours' trade. Technology Marketing Consultant, Scott Perry, joins us now with more on all of this. Good to have you with us, Scott. OK (INAUDIBLE) essentially, it's that for Apple, at least, there is life beyond the iPhone.

SCOTT PERRY, TECHNOLOGY MARKETING CONSULTANT, SPERRY MEDIA: Well, you know, iPhone sales are slowing and they're trying to make up for it in the service's sector. But even with services growing, you know, to $11 billion this past quarter, they're only expecting the services to grow bit by bit, but not enough to make up for that short fall.

I know people are asking if Apple will ever regain that trillion- dollar market cap again, and that's hard to say just because the hardware sales are falling. People are holding on to their phones a lot longer and, you know, there's just nothing exciting in the pipeline coming down to make people go out and buy more, to the point where it's going to go into that valuation again.

VAUSE: So, what you're looking at here is essentially -- despite what Tim Cook and, you know, and the other executives maybe saying, there still isn't really in place what looks to be a viable strategy to shift this company away from the, you know, the hardware, the making of the iPhones to, you know, to the services sector.

Because, you know, the revenue for the iPhone is just so massive and Apple is just so dependent upon it. The other sectors just can't take up that flack; at least, they don't have a plan for that yet.

[00:40:09] PERRY: Yes, right. I mean, as I was saying, the services revenue for this quarter was $11 billion. They're expecting it to reach $14 billion per quarter by 2020. By comparison, iPhone revenue is $52 billion in the fourth quarter.

So, that's a huge short fall to make up, or at least, a huge gap to make up between those two areas. Now, the services division is growing, I mean, between iTunes, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, the app store, Apple News. It is a real bust, in fact, in all of their services division. They had combined users of 360 million, which they're projecting by 2020 to be 400 -- to be about $500 million by 2020.

But still, that number is a large space to make up even if they grow to a more robust offering with their T.V. services. Even if they, you know, offer a lot more in Apple Pay, which still has a long way to grow and could, but you're still talking about the massive margins from the hardware division in the iPhone, which was their -- you know, their premiere device.

VAUSE: In the short term, though, it seems that the strategy now from Tim Cook, to try and get -- you know, it's basically a realization of the fact that, you know, people aren't going out and spending, you know, $1,000 on a new iPhone every 12 months because they just going to have it, God, who would have thunk it.

So, now they're looking at this new pricing model. I guess that, you know, we just think that's a smart move right now, and what would that new pricing model look like?

PERRY: Well, you know, they're selling us on these instalment plans for your phones, which is pretty crazy to think that you'd be treating the phone as you would a leased vehicle. And now, granted you're only paying $30.00 or $40.00 or $50.00 a month to price that phone --

But it's still $1,000 for a device that used to only cost $600, and even 5 or 10 years ago, felt like it didn't cost anything at all because it was subsidized by the carriers. Now, all of a sudden, there's not an immediate need to go rushing out to get the new phone because there aren't any like big features to the phone that make it a must have. And then once you actually put a case on the phone itself, you can't tell one model from the other, so really, there's no cache to having the newest, greatest phone.

I mean, you can definitely tell certain pieces of how the photographs turn out. But overall, is it really worth it to pay $1,000 for a brand new phone versus paying your bills.

VAUSE: Yes. I mean, yes, that's the thing. I mean, and you lose them. I know I lose them. Anyway, I will stop. Sorry. I went up and after I was afraid, basically, you know, there was this rally because, you know, Tim Cook convinced investors that things aren't so bad.

Also, you've got this high level U.S.-China trade talks beginning on Wednesday. You know, if Beijing and Washington can work out a deal, in the roles of near future, what will actually mean for Apple, I mean, will that help boost it towards that trillion-dollar status again?

PERRY: Not really. Just because, you know -- because the trade deal works out, I mean, it's not like any tariff talk is actually raised the actual cost of the device itself, yet. Maybe it'll make things a little bit better in China, so people feel a lot more comfortable buying the iPhone. But, it's not like all of a sudden because a trade deal has worked out, that, you know, sales are going to go through the roof at that point.

So, no, that's not going to be the big panacea to get them back to that level again, but anything they can do to actually address the trade issues, worldwide, from macroeconomic issue -- from macroeconomic standpoint, will help everybody.

But you also have to take into effect, you know, we also had 800,000 American workers who didn't get paid for an entire month, so if they had bought any services or product from Apple, they had to delay that to February or beyond.

VAUSE: Scott, we're out of time. Good to have you with us, thank you.

PERRY: Hey, thanks, John.

VAUSE: Cheers. And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. "WORLD SPORT" is next.

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