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More Jail Time for South Korean Speed Skating Coach; Sex Coach Says Russian Agents Tried to Silence Her; Rappers, Sports Teams Owners Launch Prison Reform Movement; the Dangers of Manipulating Video for "Deepfakes". Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 30, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Wherever you're watching around the world, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause, this is CNN NEWSROOM. In the hour ahead, finally agreement of British lawmakers on Brexit. A majority voting in favor of new negotiations with the E.U. The only catch, Europeans have made it abundantly clear the time for talking is long past.
The world according to Donald Trump is a very different place to the world according to his intelligence chiefs disagreeing on the threat posed by North Korea, ISIS, Iran, Russia and climate change.
And we have this just seen on the verge of a coup. Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro says he's ready to sit down and talk with the opposition.
In less than two months before Brexit becomes a reality, British Prime Minister Theresa May will once again travel the tired worn path from London to Brussels capped in hand in what she says is a parliamentary mandate to demand a better deal from the E.U. On Tuesday, the U.K. Parliament passed two amendments to her Brexit deal, one rejected at no deal exit and called for the Irish backstop provision to be replaced.
Parliament then told the Prime Minister to reopen talks at the E.U. but that's something E.U. leaders say just is not an option.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: It is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable -- substantial and sustainable majority in this house for leaving the E.U. with a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For more, CNN Reporter Anna Stewart is live for us this hour in London. Anna, you know, that's great with what they did in Parliament on Tuesday in London and they had this agreement and they decided on all sorts of things. The only problem is the Europeans don't care. So what happens now?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, Theresa May goes back to Brussels but she does so, John, with a mandate with something that Parliament has actually agreed. Now, this may seem small fry but this is a big deal for us. We finally got Parliament voting for something not just against something. And as a result, I can tell you, the newspapers have just arrived and it's been seen as a victory.
We have The Times, May unites Tories behind fresh talks with Brussels. That's her party. They've been very divided over this. Backstop From The Brink from The Sun. And the Daily Mail, Theresa's Triumph. So it is being seen as victory. There were many cheers in Parliament last night. But as you said, (INAUDIBLE) groans from Brussels because as ever they continue to say the withdrawal agreement is not going to be reopened. There is no room for renegotiation there which is what Theresa May wants to do.
That won't come as a surprise for the Prime Minister. She herself at the last E.U. Summit told the world this isn't just the best deal, this is the only deal. There is no more renegotiating to be done here. So it's not like she's going to Brussels with false hope. She may well come back from it completely empty-handed. But she will do so having at least tried to deliver what Parliament wants.
There is more support here. And then you got to think about what happens next. So the next meaningful vote on the Brexit deal, whatever she comes back with which obviously it could be very much like Plan A and Plan B which was much like Plan A and Plan C could be to, John. The vote is likely to be on February 14th, Valentine's Day. Not so appropriate for a divorce agreement and it may not pass. And then they'll have to decide what to do next.
Do they ask the E.U. for an extension? Do they hold indicative votes a way that Parliament can show different types of Brexit what has the most support? All the options frankly are still on the table. The only difference is the Prime Minister has more support now at home.
VAUSE: Yes. And I think I speak for everyone when I say make it stop. Thank you. Thank you for being with us at this early hour. Let's go to Los Angeles now with CNN's European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas.
Dominic, he's a little more from the Prime Minister with her unique style of wildly overblown optimism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAY: There is limited appetite for such a change in the E.U. and negotiating, it will not be easy. But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this house has made it clear what it needs to approve of withdrawal agreements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Here's part of a statement by the President of the E.U. Council. The withdrawal agreement is and it remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement and the withdrawal agreement is open for renegotiation. It would seem the E.U. position is way be a little bit of you know, there's no appetite for change. It's way beyond that.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: It is. It's way beyond that. They've spent two and a half years negotiating it in good faith with Theresa May. 27 European Union countries have signed off on this. She herself returned to the United Kingdom to face a meaningful vote in which she made it unambiguously clear that this was the best deal and the only deal. That particular deal suffered with the meaningful vote, the worst defeat in parliamentary history.
Now, she's looking to go back to the European Union in the same way that the Parliament had previously said that they would not support that withdrawal agreement. She's going to go back to the European Union and ironically potentially return to Parliament with that particular deal saying to them we have a choice here now between a no deal or my deal. And in relation to the other, it is true it is the best deal that's currently there.
The big question and I think that that was what was interesting in the indicative vote today in determining whether really it was a victory, you know, or a defeat for her is that at least the five amendments that in theory they defeated, one of them contained the possibility of an extension and of delaying this decision way beyond the March 29th deadline. And one could argue that no matter what happens now, we're heading down that road with two months to go to the day before we hit that March deadline.
[01:05:57: VAUSE: You look at what happened in Parliament and it always seems would you say rather that the outcome here suggests that you know, the British lawmakers are almost in denial about the Brexit of process and who's holding all the cards and it's not Britain.
THOMAS: Yes. Well, yes. I mean, I've actually been holding the cards all along which is so extraordinary is one particular branch of the Conservative Party. And for then, the ultimate goal, the life- defining goal for many of the political careers and ambitions of some of these politicians is to extricate the U.K. from the European Union. And as things go now, that is precisely what we're going to end up with. And for them, whether it's a negotiated deal or not doesn't really matter. They're just happy to leave the European Union.
What's so interesting is that Theresa May, in order to keep the Conservative Party together has been working and dealing with them when in fact some kind of deal could have been made potentially in the middle that would have involved a greater discussion around the Customs Union and so on and so forth. And as we head down the road and get closer and closer we're going to be back in Parliament with more discussions, more potential amendments to see what happens when we get nearer to that particular moment when we really you know, face that moment.
And it's important also to remember that it is the Parliament after all that supported the triggering of Article 50 in the first place. And so we've known all along that we were going to get to that ultimate time, the ultimate moment. And I think that the European Union now has had it with the U.K. This has been going on for before the Brexit years and all the way through this now, and there's not much else they can do unless they sacrifice and compromise their own integrity.
VAUSE: You know, the Conservative M.P. Oliver Letwin when he reportedly said, I have passed carry what the deal is that we have, I will vote for it. It's a safe bet he's not the only one who's reached that point. So is there some worth in May strategy here of just trying to weigh everyone down, drag this thing out, and hopefully you know, get her way before the deadline. Basically, she's playing this game of chicken.
THOMAS: Yes. Well, ultimately for -- you know, she would argue that you know, ideally, she would prefer to have her a deal in place or the slightly softer Brexit than what the Brexiters would go for. But ultimately from the moment at which she took over which itself was so extraordinary because she had been a Remainer, when she took over from David Cameron, her goal has been to deliver Brexit. And you could argue that is the only thing that the Conservative Party has been -- has been focusing on during this entire period. And so that would be a victory for them.
And somewhat ironically, you know, once again the Labour Party you know, has been so ambiguous and torn over this whole debate that once this deal -- and if Brexit actually happens, it is the Conservative Party that is going to be held responsible for all the dramatic post- Brexit consequences and outcomes that come along. And that may be right there and the ultimate punishment that they get and suffer for this victory.
VAUSE: It is incredible to think that we are now at this point in the Brexit deal what 2 1/2 years since that referendum. It's quite a situation.
THOMAS: I'm not even --
VAUSE: You know, we haven't have Brexit yet.
THOMAS: I'm not even in the post. We haven't -- even if we get to Brexit --
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: -- about what the deal will look like.
VAUSE: Dom, thank you. Dominic Thomas there in Los Angeles.
THOMAS: Thanks.
VAUSE: We have this just in relating Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro may be ready to talk telling Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti he's willing to meet with the opposition in the presence of international mediators. Maduro was reelected last year but the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries don't recognize him as the legitimate president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA: Please do not allow Vietnam in Latin America. If the United States intends to intervene, they will have a Vietnam but worse than they can imagine. Let's not allow violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Venezuela is bracing for another day of mass demonstrations against Maduro. U.N. believes at least 40 people have been killed in the recent unrest. Meantime, Venezuela's attorney general has opened an investigation into National Assembly leader Juan Guaido who declared himself president last week. The country's Supreme Court has frozen his bank accounts and restricted his travel.
Venezuela's military generals may be the ones who decide how this crisis ends. So far they're supporting Nicolas Maduro. But a number of defectives say the rank-and-file won't change. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now from neighboring Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:10:13] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hunger often explodes as rage on Venezuela streets. But it's not ousted Maduro's government as the military generals have their backs. The Defense Minister tweeted his soldiers would die for the government. Yes, while the rank-and-file expressed support in videos like this. They tell us they're suffering like everyone else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Spanish)
WALSH: Some Venezuelan officers have even defected and outside the country have appealed on T.V. for a military uprising. But their supporters haven't reached critical mass. And now they tell us they want the White House to arm them.
As Venezuelan soldiers, we're making a request to the U.S., he says, the support us in logistical terms with communication, with weapons, so we can realize Venezuelan freedom.
We're not saying we need only U.S. support but also from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, all of brother countries that are against this dictatorship.
They show me the WhatSapp groups plotting rebellion they hope to reach thousands of soldiers but they also rejected any possible military intervention by U.S. forces themselves.
We don't want a foreign government invading our country, he says. If we need an incursion, it has to be by the Venezuelan soldiers who really want to free Venezuela. Our unifying all those military groups working towards freedom to create a really big one that can be decisive.
The appeal for U.S. help comes after military uprisings have seen little success so far. This group of soldiers in Caracas over a week ago staged a rebellion and that was short-lived and ended in their reported arrest. In a basement car park in Caracas I meet a serving soldier afraid to be identified as he spoke of the chance of an uprising.
There are soldiers in every unit, he says, that are willing to rise up in arms. They're preparing themselves and learning from past mistakes. They're waiting for the right moment so they can hit even harder so people feel it. A few units, the missing weapons and ammunition too taken for this purpose. The past operations have failed because the high-ranking officers were against it. They control every area still. And if uprising happens, it's swiftly neutralized.
But he's heard messages to rise up from defectors and says they do inspire. It's a very positive message he says because somehow they give us hope. They are outside Venezuela but feed our soul and inspire us.
Get in the army for now as elsewhere in Venezuela. It's a handful of elite keeping down many pull over. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here, contradicting the commander in chief. Donald Trump's Intelligence Chiefs break with him publicly directly refuting pretty much everything the U.S. President has said about the United States and their -- what they should fear most. Also next, she's a self-described sex coach for hire who also claimed to have evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia. So what does she claimed to have now? An exclusive interview in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:59] VAUSE: One after another, U.S. intelligence chief stood with a reality check for their boss, on President Donald Trump on critical national security issues.
This comes as the president faces sagging poll numbers and the release of yet another tell-all book. CNN's Jim Acosta has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The nation's top intelligence chiefs delivered sobering warnings on global threats to the U.S. contradicting President Trump at nearly every turn. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told lawmakers, the terror group ISIS remains a potent threat.
DAN COATS, UNITED STATES DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Remaining pockets of ISIS and opposition fighters will continue, we agree, we assess, to stoke violence. ISIS is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.
ACOSTA: The reality-based assessment stood in stark contrast with the president's rosier claims.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have won against ISIS. We've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. ACOSTA: Coasts also seem to differ with the president on North Korea. Six months after Mr. Trump tweeted that there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea, Coats told Congress that's not quite the case. That reality check coming just weeks before the president is set to meet once again with Dictator Kim Jong-un.
COATS: 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.
ACOSTA: On Russian interference in U.S. elections, FBI Director Chris Wray, said Moscow has yet to curb its behavior. Inspiring other countries to follow the Kremlin's lead.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Not only if the Russians continued to do it in 2018, but we've seen indication that they're continuing to adapt their model and that other countries are taking a very interested eye in that approach.
ACOSTA: Don't tell the president who sided with Vladimir Putin on that question last July.
TRUMP: I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.
ACOSTA: The president is also meeting resistance from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who warned the White House its plans to pull U.S. troops out of Syria in Afghanistan could backfire.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We're not the world's policeman, but we are the leader of the free world.
ACOSTA: Part of the problem for the president, his sagging poll numbers with 56 percent of registered voters in a Washington Post, ABC News poll saying, they will definitely not vote for Mr. Trump. And one in three Republican and GOP leaning voters wishing the party would pick another candidate.
The president's political team is advising him to hold his ground on his border wall even as a former Trump Organization official told CNN, not to expect the art of the deal to save the day before another government shutdown next month.
BARBARA RES, FORMER EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: There's no documentation that says, Donald Trump is a great deal maker. He's made good deal, he's made bad deal. He's caved more often than I can tell you.
ACOSTA: Former White House aide, Cliff Sim, says in his new book that Mr. Trump has a tendency to exaggerate.
CLIFF SIMS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS AIDE: When you're around the president, everything seems bigger, everything seems grander, you know, and that could be there -- could be good things about that. But there's also kind of this, this atmosphere that gets created that's extremely cutthroat.
ACOSTA: The president appears to have had enough of White House tell- alls. Tweeting about Sims that, "He pretended to be an insider when, in fact, he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is a mess.
SIMS: There it is.
ACOSTA: And the Trump campaign sounds like it's ready to throw the book at its former aide, with one top campaign official tweeting the campaign is preparing to file a lawsuit against Cliff Sims for violating that non-disclosure agreement. But that seems to be the least of the president's problems as his own top intelligence officials are telling Congress, and really, the rest of the world that they simply don't see the world the same way their boss does. Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein. Ron, good to see you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening, John.
VAUSE: Yes, this evening, one of those notable moments when fact- based Republicans started pushing back against the president and the fantasy world he lives in. Was this just simply -- is it -- is it just simple case of your safety in numbers, or is there more to this? Why now?
[01:20:16] BROWNSTEIN: Well, I haven't struck all the way through that the intelligence officials and his own government generally have been more willing to stand up to him than the Republican elected officials who theoretically answer to a different constituency. You know, and we have seen before Director Coats.
And even Director Haspel on the -- on the -- on the Saudi Arabian murder -- the Khashoggi murder. Being -- I think, generally speaking, more willing today was extraordinary though even with that kind of predicate. To see the leaders of -- you know, the full panoply of American intelligence services offer such a, a different vision of the world. Not only in co-mission, not only differing from the president on issues where he has -- you know, stake out a stand on Russia, on North Korea, on Iran.
But perhaps, even more strikingly than any of that not echoing. His claim that we are facing a national security crisis on the southern border, in some ways what they didn't say was more striking than anything they did say.
VAUSE: Yes, but this push isn't just from the intelligence community. We had the Senate Leader Republican Mitch McConnell introducing a measure which calls for U.S. troops to remain in Syria and Afghanistan. Listen to this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: My amendment would acknowledge the point, in fact, that al-Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates in Syria and Afghanistan continue to pose a serious threat to us here at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, McConnell, didn't mention Trump by name. He didn't mention to you that surprise announcement from the president to withdraw troops from Syria, and possibly Afghanistan. But -- you know, the message seemed pretty clear.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, no, look, you know, I think -- I think we've seen over these two years greater willingness. Republicans in Congress that distanced themselves from the President on foreign policy than on domestic policy. I mean, McConnell making these comments today are striking -- even more striking has been his willingness to -- you know, go along with a government shutdown for 35 days over a border wall that 40 percent of the country -- roughly the low 40's supports.
And I do think this is a -- in general, because, because Trump, so departs from the internationalist tradition that has been ascendant in Republican Party really since Dwight Eisenhower beat Robert Taft in 1952.
They have been more willing to break from him on that. But even there, I mean the willingness to impose consequences is still limited. I mean, after all, they did not overturn the relaxation of the sanctions, you know, recently. And so, the rhetorically --there's no question though. They are more comfortable creating distance on foreign than on domestic policy.
VAUSE: OK, OK, I can't even though that example, even on climate change. On Monday, the president said (INAUDIBLE) sarcastic tweet. Referencing the plunging winter temperatures across the U.S. He finished with a snarky question. "What the hell is going on with Global Warming? Please come back fast, we need you."
Therefore, a very blunt response from no other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
VAUSE: "Winter storms don't prove that Global Warming isn't happening." Full stop, question mark, done. And always turn -- and almost every turn is being challenged.
I'm just wondering, is there a critical mass here? Is this like I said -- like I said earlier, is there safety in numbers that this now reaches the point where -- you know, Donald Trump repeatedly and constantly gets challenged. And where does it leave his base? You know, those who are more than happy to follow him down the rabbit hole, convinced that everything Donald Trump says is fake and anything to contrary. I think as he says is real actually. Anything to the contrary is, in fact, fake news.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. It's a terrific question, and I think the Dem has not fully broken. And again, NOAA, it continues the pattern of what I'm talking about which is that people within the own -- within the executive branch speaking truth to power in a way that we don't see out of the legislature.
I mean, there is no Republican -- and there's no Republican in the Senate who is willing to break from him on the abandonment of any efforts to combat climate change.
I back that piece on cnn.com today about a new study that showed that of the 20 states that can expect the most economic damage from climate change, 16 are won by Trump. Trump won counties are facing greater economic damage from climate change than Clinton won counties, and Republican-held see this greater damage than Democratic-held see this. And yet, on all those fronts more -- you know, kind of more deference to this posture.
There is though, I mean, there is evidence and it was -- it was striking in the ABC Washington Post poll today. You know, roughly a third of Republican is looting 40 percent of college-educated Republicans, saying they wanted a different candidate than Trump.
That doesn't mean that somebody could beat him in the primary. But if you're thinking about coastal states with a lot of white-collar Republicans, moderate Republicans, younger Republicans, New England, the West Coast. There is an opportunity, there is an opening in the primary for someone to kind of underscore the extent to which he is driving away voters that have traditionally been part of the Republican coalition. That's the price of the gains he has been giving them among blue-collar, evangelical and rural whites.
[01:25:02] VAUSE: Paging Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney, yes.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. What --
VAUSE: I want to move on here -- so we go?
BROWNSTEIN: And Howard Schultz, you know is --
VAUSE: OK.
BROWNSTEIN: Is going in the other direction and, you know, with creating more opportunity for Trump who has shown no ability to really get approval about 45 percent. And a third party candidate who makes it more possible to win at 45 percent.
VAUSE: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: It's hard to imagine how that doesn't have Trump, no matter what Howard Schultz says about not wanting to contribute to that outcome.
VAUSE: Democrats out rule please throughout the year, the Starbucks guy trying to get into the race. We'll finish over the longtime associate Roger Stone, he's pleaded not guilty to seven counts including lying to Congress, obstruction, witness tampering. Then, we ought to do an interview with the alt-right web site Breitbart, and he had a warning for the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER STONE, FORMER POLITICAL ADVISER TO DONALD TRUMP: This isn't about me, Alex, it's about the president.
ALEX MARLOW, EDITOR IN CHIEF, BREITBART NEWS: Yes.
STONE: They're coming for him. And they want to silence me because I see the big picture. I lived in 1974, I worked for Richard Nixon, I saw that takedown, it was very, very similar. The president needs to wake up. This is a speeding bullet heading for his head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Stone was 19 years old during Watergate. But anyway --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
VAUSE: The president here has followed the familiar pattern trying to distance himself from Stone. A few days ago, he tweeted, "Roger stone didn't even work for me anywhere near the election."
Can you really make that argument now that -- you know, Stone is being swept off as part of the Russia investigation. How much of a risk to Stone now present to the president, as far as, you know, Mueller's investigation into collusion.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, you have -- you know, you have intonations in the - in the filing against him. As well as from others involved like Jerome Corsi. That the connection between Stone and WikiLeaks was to the point where he was hoping to influence the timing of their releases.
To offset, for example, the access Hollywood tape that came out in October 2016. You know, with the president's comments about women. And so, this is despite what the president wants to say, this is the kind -- I think this is what most Americans would have in mind when they think about whether there was collusion certainly between the campaign and WikiLeaks.
I mean, obviously, WikiLeaks was involved in its own collusion with the Russian government. So, it's kind of one step removed. But nonetheless, this is exactly what I think people -- you know, have been asking whether occurred. And Stone now, it may be that Mueller can prove this without Stone, and Stone as a witness is a -- you know, very dicey proposition given that -- you know, he's on his long history of telling things that weren't true.
But his testimony and maybe even more important the testimony of those around him or trying not to go to jail could be an important part of helping us understand in the end exactly what links existed if any, and how they functioned. VAUSE: Yes, we're out of time Ron, but it's an interesting defense is turn hairs, which is basically, I'm full of it, don't believe me, you can't trust me. Good to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
VAUSE: Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, still to come here, decades of Olympic glory, hid. And horrific crime in South Korea athletes abused by their coaches and forced into silence. Now, a court has decided to make an example of one of the abuses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:27] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tells the Russia Today (ph) news agency Rio Novosti he's ready for talks with the opposition in the presence of international mediators. This comes as another day of mass protests were planned. Opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself president and is urging people to rise up against Maduro.
The British parliament has passed two amendments to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. They rejected no deal exit and called for the Irish backstop provision to be replaced.
That means the Prime minister is to reopen talks with the E.U. But the European leaders say, they're not renegotiating anything.
U.S. intelligence chiefs have directly contradicted President Donald Trump on critical national security issues. They say North Korea won't give up its weapons, ISIS is still finding thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria. The chiefs also warned that Russia will likely target the 2020 U.S. elections.
A South Korean court is sending a stern warning to the country's sporting community by increasing prison time for a former speed skating coach. Cho Jae-beom will now serve 18 months in jail instead of 10 months after he's found guilty of striking a two-time Olympic champion who also accuses him of sexual abuse, an accusation he denies. This case nonetheless has led to a wave of similar allegations which are now also under investigation.
CNN's Paula Hancocks live once again in Seoul for us.
Paula -- you know, the only thing I should (INAUDIBLE) were pretty serious. Repeatedly hitting the victim since she was young with his fist and his feet. It doesn't seem entirely surprising that the 10- month verdict was overruled and increased.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, certainly the expectation here is that -- that that appeal was going to -- to fall on deaf ears. The defendant himself was saying that -- that he didn't believe that he deserved to have ten months in prison justifying according to the court this physical assault as a way to try and improve the performance of athletes which really points to a much wider issue here.
The fact that this physical assault may actually be far more widespread and certainly with one victim that came and talked to us about this, it does appear to be more widespread.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice over): This former speed skater says she was beaten by her coach from the age of 11. She wants to hide her identity for fear of retaliation. She claims physical and verbal assaults were a regular part of training and her female coach beat her once week.
"I used to get called into my coach's room," she says, "where he used to hit me a skate blade sleeve 10 or 20 times."
(on camera): How does the coach have so much control over an athlete here?
"There's a small and powerful clique," she says. "If I criticized my coach, my career as a skater is over. If I accuse my coach of crimes, I won't be accepted to a university or professional team. That's how it works."
At age 15 training with a new male coach, she says physical abuse changed to sexual harassment.
"He kept kissing hugging me on the cheek and close to my lips," she says. "Hugging me all the time because I felt he was doing it to everyone and I was young. I didn't tell anybody. Even now I felt humiliated."
She was inspired by this woman to break her silence -- Shim Suk-hee, a gold medalist and a household name in South Korea. Her coach seen here is serving time in prison for physically assaulting her.
Shim now says she was repeatedly raped by Cho Jae-Beom since the age of 17. Cho is being questioned by police but denies the new allegations.
Outside the court last month, she told reporters she hoped no one else would be victimized as she has been in sports saying the violence must end. A national star comes forward. People in power have no choice but to take notice.
President Moon Jae-in has spoken of the Korean shame hidden in the sporting glory. The head of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee has apologized. There are calls for his resignation.
One lawmaker is working with a skating support group to fight for the victims. "The Solidarity for Young Skaters," she says, "has identified six cases of sexual assault including Shim's case. The victims are afraid of retaliation and worried about whether they can continue to compete after going public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Now as you can imagine John, there have been a flurry of investigations that have been launched following this revelation from Shim Suk-hee. We know that National Human Rights Commission here in Korea is launching a year-long investigation.
[01:35:02] They're going to survey all 130,000 athletes and student athletes in the country to try and figure out how widespread this problem is. We already know that it goes beyond skating potentially as there have already been allegations of abuse in both judo and taekwondo -- John.
VAUSE: Paula -- thank you. Paula Hancocks there, live in Seoul with the details on what is not a story -- which is a story which is not going to end anytime soon. Thanks -- Paula.
To Russia now and the self-styled sex coach who claimed to have information about the Kremlin's ties to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. She sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN even though she claims Russian agents had warned her to keep quiet.
Matthew Chance reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is remarkable this self-styled sex coach is still willing to talk. But 11 months in a Thai jail that she describes as hell has made Nastya Rybka even more convinced of the value of publicity.
(on camera): Do you regret making those claims that you made about the evidence you said you had of Russia and the Trump campaign colluding? Do you regret that?
ANASTASIA VASHUKEVICH, SELF-PROCLAIMED SEX COACH: I think it saved my life. How can I regret about that? Because if journalists not come at the time and that story not come to newspapers, maybe I will -- I will die now.
CHANCE (voice-over): These were the images that got her into trouble -- her and a Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin on his yacht in 2016. There was another figure photographed too, a Russian deputy prime minister sparking allegations this was a secret meeting to pass on Trump campaign briefing.
(on camera): Mr. Deripaska, does Manafort owe you millions of dollars when he was the head of the Trump campaign?
(voice-over): The oligarch had already been offered private briefings by his former business associate and Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort. Manafort now behind bars, convicted of financial crimes in the special counsel's Russian investigation.
Meanwhile in Thailand, the sex coach promised even more details.
(on camera): You said "I'm ready to give you all the missing puzzle pieces, videos and audio, regarding the connections of our respected lawmakers with Trump, Manafort and the rest." Why did you say that?
VASHUKEVICH: After that, I was almost one year in the prison, for me really enough. I understand mostly of your question is about Oleg Deripaska, about connection of America and something like that, but I cannot answer. You should understand me.
CHANCE (voice-over): This was the welcome waiting for the 28-year-old when she finally returned to Moscow earlier this month, forced into a wheelchair and dragged away, terrified. All the evidence she once had she told me was confiscated. And once behind Russian bars, she was given a stark warning before being unexpectedly released.
VASHUKEVICH: I have some talk when I was in jail, in Russian jail.
CHANCE (on camera): Yes.
VASHUKEVICH: And they explained me very, very clear what should I do, what should I say and what should I -- shouldn't I say, something like that.
CHANCE: Who explained that to you?
VASHUKEVICH: Russian agents.
CHANCE: What did they say to you?
VASHUKEVICH: They said to me, don't touch Oleg Deripaska anymore.
CHANCE (voice-over): "Don't touch him", she added, "or risk replacing that Thai prison with a cell in Russia."
Matthew Chance, CNN -- Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Snow squalls, white house and downright frigid conditions. Parts of the United States are about to find out what bone-chilling actually really is. Details on a polar blast that's going to put previous record on ice.
[01:38:57] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Millions of Americans would actually be (INAUDIBLE) living in parts of Antarctica this week. More than 200 million people would see temperatures fall way below freezing in the coming days. Officials say time outside should be limited and the U.S. Postal Service is suspending delivery in ten states. It's that bad. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with more on this. You know, when the Postal Service says, "I'm cold, we're done" you know it is pretty tough out there.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Got to rug up, right. I remember you telling me once, that's a term you guys use in Australia -- rug up.
VAUSE: Rug it up. Yes.
JAVAHERI: Absolutely. This is the pattern for that, you know. When you're talking 20 below, 30 below, that's one thing. You can certainly layer up for those sort of pattern and temperatures. But when you get to 40, 50, in some cases 60 below zero Celsius pushing in excess of 70 below zero Celsius in portions of the Midwest. Now, we're talking about really nothing you have in your closet no matter how many layers you put on will do much for you.
You would need scientifically designed clothing and multiple layers of that from boots, all the way up to your mitten and also gloves and hats and such to be able to kind of protect yourself from these extreme elements.
And we're talking about 54 below zero in northern Minnesota. That is minus 65 Fahrenheit. That was the wind chill measured across that region. And this sort of a pattern expected to continue for at least another, we'll say, 36 to 48 hours. And we do have wind chills even at this hour in the city of Chicago at minus 37 degrees.
And certainly schools have been closed across this region because of the dangers of the outdoors for any extended period. And notice, upwards of nearly 30 records expected to be set on Wednesday. Another nearly 40 records expected to be set not just from the Midwest but even into the northeast going in towards Thursday morning.
And the pattern, as you look at the morning forecast temperatures, the single lowest temp potentially in the city of Chicago in its recorded history is expected over the next few hours.
And notice, it warms up dramatically back to what is normal for this time of year. But before we get there it's certainly going to feel the brunt of this. And then we actually climb up above what is average for this time of year. So we go from the minus 30 range in Chicago to above say 7 or 8 degrees come Sunday into Monday -- John.
So a rapid warming trend at least once we get through these next couple of days.
VAUSE: It's so cold in Chicago it's affected the supply of deep dish pizza. That's how cold it is.
JAVAHERI: That's pretty cold, yes.
VAUSE: That's pretty cold. Thanks -- Pedram.
JAVAHERI: Yes. 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.
[01:45:05] 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 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 affect 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 two million are locked up, but there are four 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 McCarty 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 film maker Ava DuVernay makes the argument that the U.S. prison system is actually a continuation of slavery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:50:02] 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 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.
VAUSE: Well the FBI has closed its investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history without finding a clear motive. 58 people were killed when Stephen Paddock opened fire on a Las Vegas concert October 2017.
The (INAUDIBLE) was similar in ways to other mass shooters that decide to die by suicide for no obvious reasons.
When seeing is no longer believing. The new technology set to escalate information warfare to a whole new level of deception. Deepfakes they're called. We'll have more when CNN NEWSROOM returns after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Tech giant Apple says revenue fell 5 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The first time sales have dropped during a holiday quarter since the year 2000. The decline was driven by a dip in iPhone sales, a big dip down 15 percent compared to last year.
But there's some good news for investors. Apple chief Tim Cook, told Reuters that trade tensions between the U.S. and China were easing which helped lift Apple shares in after-hours trade.
Information warfare is set to escalate beyond anything we've ever seen with new technology manipulating video by using artificial intelligence.
Jake Tapper reports the results are called deepfakes. To put it in simple terms, think PhotoShop on steroids.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats offered a very real warning about media manipulation.
DAN COATS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It poses a major threat to the United States.
TAPPER: Former President Barack Obama appeared to share a similar concern last year.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our enemies can make it look like at anyone as saying anything at any point in time.
TAPPER: Both men cautioning that those enemies cans use technology to --
COATS: -- create new and unforeseen challenges to our health, economy and security.
[01:55:02] TAPPER: Coats' message is real.
OBAMA: This is a dangerous time.
TAPPER: But former president Barack Obama's message was not real. BuzzFeed published altered video voiced by the actor and director George (INAUDIBLE) to show how easy it is to be convinced by so-called deepfake videos.
JEFF M. SMITH, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MEDIA FORENSICS, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: This is actually my face slapped on to his face. So it's a deepfake of me and my student Reed.
TAPPER: Jeff Smith from the University of Colorado Center for Media Forensics says the artificial intelligence technology that used to create realistic video such as these is becoming more advanced and more accessible.
In the future, maybe five to ten years, the technology will be in your pocket and with the flick of a button, you can become a deepfake.
TRUMP: The fake news media back there --
TAPPER: In an environment where real reporting is already being vilified, the potential national security risks of deepfake media cannot be understated, experts say. The Department of Defense has commissioned researchers nationwide to help develop digital defense strategies.
SENATOR BEN SASSE (R), NEBRASKA: Are we organized in a way that we could possibly respond fast enough to a catastrophic deepfakes attack?
COATS: We cannot rely on status quo where we are now. We're the best in the world and we have to stay the best in the world. But we've got real competitors. And technology is giving them the opportunity to shorten that gap very, very significantly.
HANY FARID, GITIGAL FORENSICS EXPERT: Here's the nightmare situation for me -- a video of Donald Trump saying I have just launched nuclear weapons against North Korea, goes viral online.
TAPPER: CNN business report Donnie O'Sullivan spoke with Hany Farid who is researching deepfakes at U.C. Berkeley and at Dartmouth.
FARID: 60 seconds later, we have a global nuclear meltdown. I don't think that's likely, by the way. But I don't think it is out of the question and that should scare us.
TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM -- the real one.
I'm John Vause. Stay with us. There's a lot more news here on CNN right after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A message from Maduro -- the embattled Venezuelan president reportedly says he's ready to meet with the opposition.
END
