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Paul Manafort Will Not Spend the Rest of His Life in Jail; Disappearance that Left Deep Scars; Hate Begets Hate; Paul Manafort Sentenced To 47 Months In Prison; U.S. General, ISIS Threat Far From Over; North Korea Border Issues And Trade Deficit Haunt Trump; United Kingdom's Messy Divorce; Blackout Leaves Most Of Venezuela In Darkness; U.K. Royals Take Action Against Markle Trolls; Racist Posts Rose After Markle Announced Pregnancy; The Queen Of Instagram; A Wintry Danger, Avalanches Bury Vehicles, Close Roads In Colorado. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 08, 2019 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: From campaign manager to inmate. The man who helped Donald Trump get to the White House is sentenced to prison but only for a fraction of the time prosecutors wanted.
Plus, five years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 it is still considered one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. We talk with the man who wrote a book on why it disappeared and why something like this could happen again.
And later, she is one of the most recognizable faces in the world. But Meghan Markle is the target of racist abuse online and now the royal family is cracking down on it.
These stories are all ahead this hour. Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Our Top story. Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is going to prison not for 25 years as prosecutors wanted, but he will spend at least the next three years behind bars.
Manafort will also have to pay at least $6 million in restitution to the U.S. government.
For more how here is CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Paul Manafort receive 47 months in prison, much lower than the recommendation of prosecutors who would ask the judge for 19 to 24 years. The judge calling the sentencing guidelines out of whack gave Manafort a nearly four-year prison term.
Now Manafort, he spoke briefly telling the judge how prayer and faith have helped him get through this time and asked the judge to be compassionate. He told the judge that the last two years have been the most difficult
years for his family and him. And the judge said that he thought the sentencing recommendation was in fact excessive.
Adding that he believed Manafort lived otherwise blameless life was a good friend and generous person to others before he handed down the sentence.
Now Manafort he is due back in court next week in D.C for a separate case where he's expected to get up to 10 years in prison.
Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Washington.
ALLEN: Manafort's indictment was the first of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigations, but the judge made a point of mentioning that the case had nothing to do with collusion with Russia. And Manafort's attorney reacted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN DOWNING, PAUL MANAFORT'S ATTORNEY: As you heard in court today, Mr. Manafort finally got to speak for himself. He made clear he accepts responsibility for his conduct.
And I think most importantly, what you saw today is the same thing that we had set from day one. There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved in any collusion with any government official from Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: There's been no official reaction from the White House. But counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway speaking to CNN before the sentencing said she thought the prosecutor's recommendations were too harsh.
Well, President Trump is seizing on comments. His former lawyer Michael Cohen made under oath to Congress. Comments an administration official now tell CNN the Justice Department may investigate as perjury. The president cited the U.S. network MSNBC in this tweet. "Cohen's lawyer contradicts Cohen's testimony about never seeking a presidential pardon."
Here's what Cohen said in that testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER DONALD TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: I have never asked for nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: His current lawyer now admits Cohen did ask his attorney at the time to find out if a pardon was possible. But Davis insists Cohen did not lie because he asked while Cohen and Trump were coordinating on their defense. Joining me now to talk about these developments from Venice, Italy. This time Steven Erlanger, chief diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times. Steven, we always appreciate your time. And let's get your reaction.
We've heard plenty of it in the past several hours on Paul Manafort. What do you make of his sentence just 47 months when Mueller's team had recommended 19 to 25?
STEVEN ERLANGER, LONDON BUREAU CHIEF, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, given Manafort's age 19 to 25 would have seen him in the grave many years before it ended. So, I think that does seem a bit harsh but prosecutors do what they do. This judge is an eccentric job. He likes to be censure in his own courtroom and do his own thing.
[03:04:58] And clearly, he felt -- he seem to feel some sympathy for -- for Manafort. But given his age four years minus the time he is already been in jail is a fair amount of time. It won't be any fun and he subject to sentencing on another trial where he could be sentenced up to 10 more years.
So, it's not over yet. And we'll still await to see from what President Trump says if he's not thinking of a pardon, I'd be very much surprised.
ALLEN: Despite the fact that Manafort was convicted of fraud his attorney was quick to point that there was there was no evidence of any collusion with Russia. The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff saying he believes this was a deliberate appeal for a pardon. What do you think about that?
ERLANGER: Well, first going to the court in a wheelchair because of gout seems a bit much. There are pills for gout and maybe he has terrible gout but that seem very much part of the spectacle.
I do think that the defense lawyer claiming he's had nothing to do with Russia it doesn't necessarily mean much. He wasn't tried on collusion with Russia.
I mean, the interesting thing for Manafort for Robert Mueller is less what he did than how Mueller used what Manafort did breaking the law to get him to talk about what he knows, which is his time as Trump's campaign manager and his time in Ukraine and these meetings that which we are old by reporting that Manafort exchange polling information with people working for Russia.
So, that's not what the trial was about. The trial was about clear breaking of the law. It's very interesting President Trump sympathizers so much. He says it's so terrible so sad that someone is tried and convicted and given a life sentence for breaking the law, but there we are
ALLEN: Right. Because the judge indicated, first of all, that he was disappointed Manafort didn't show remorse for his crimes and he said these crimes were very serious. In any way, is this somewhat a victory for Donald Trump. Yes, he wasn't on trial for collusion, but is it also somewhat a setback for Robert Mueller?
ERLANGER: I don't think so. I mean, judges, you know, run their courtrooms. The man was, you know, I mean, did plead guilty. I mean, he is convicted. he will pay a penalty at an advance age. He will lose a lot of money. And so, you know, one can certainly say justice has been done.
I'm not sure it's a victory for one or the other. I mean, the fact that he was convicted and he faces sentencing and another trial those are victories for Robert Mueller and his team, almost by definition. And the fact that Manafort was so close to Trump at least for a time I suppose, you know, must make the White House nervous.
But they knew this was coming and Manafort for the most part because Mueller has already accused him of lying to Mueller about the things that have happened maybe the Trump people feel that Manafort protected the president in some fashion, that obviously we don't yet know.
ALLEN: Well, as you mentioned, there will be another sentencing for Manafort next week, and we'll wait and see what the judge does there.
Steven Erlanger, as always, we appreciate your input. Thank you.
ERLANGER: Thanks, Natalie.
ALLEN: The U.S. House has passed a resolution broadly condemning hate and intolerance, including anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim discrimination. It has been a controversial process that has pitted Democrat against Democrat.
For more about it here is CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To see if it brings us together or tear us as farther apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With tensions high --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would see there's difference of opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: -- Democrats spearheaded a vote today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those favoring a vote by the ayes and nays will rise.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SERFATY: -- that it set off a messy internal family feud. The infighting first sparked by another controversial comment by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. This time slamming pro-Israel groups and politicians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ILHAN OMAR, MINNESOTA: And we'll talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:09:56] SERFATY: That comment which critics say invokes the anti- Semitic depiction of Jews as being disloyal citizens unleashing a massive debate within the Democratic Party over exactly how strongly to reprimand her with the House resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELIOT ENGEL, (D) NEW YORK: I'm not going to sit silent as long as there are people who were yelling out anti-Semitic tropes or anti anything tropes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Speaker Pelosi moving to squash the interparty squabbling today by putting the resolution on the floor for a vote attempting to straddle the line between rebuking Omar and not singling her out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I do not believe that she understood the full weight of the words. I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: The resolution released today just hours before the vote does not name Omar and has been significantly broadened in scope, no longer just condemning anti-Semitism, but now a broader anti-hate resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: Against anti-Semitism, anti-Islamophobia, anti-white supremacy and all the forms that it takes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: This interparty fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR: That was not a question. Thank you for your participation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Highlighting the new dynamic House leadership is facing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D) NEW YORK: And this is to show that we're here to back up bold action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: But a freshman, making it very clear already.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we're not going to back out in saying what we feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: They're doing things their own way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB, (D) MICHIGAN: If we hold impeachment proceedings today, start them today and hold them accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: A challenge to the establishment that leadership is going to have to grapple with in fights ahead.
And the House voted through this resolution on Thursday night. All Democrats were in support of it, including the woman at the center of this controversy, Congressman Ilhan Omar. And 23 Republicans voted against it.
House Democratic leadership of course very eager to move past this controversy that has divided their caucus.
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
ALLEN: ISIS fighters in Syria have been surrendering by the hundreds. A senior U.S. general warns though, that's not the same as giving up. In eastern Syria the last sliver of their once sprawling caliphate is under siege and on the brink of collapse.
But U.S. General Joseph Votel says many fighters are still radicalized, still committed to their ideology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment, but the fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over. Recent observations by our men and women on the ground highlight that the ISIS population being evacuated from the remaining vestiges of the caliphate largely remain unrepentant, unbroken and radicalized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: In recent weeks, about 30,000 people have fled the last ISIS stronghold as U.S.-back forces surround it. Many are the wives and children of the ISIS fighters. They will likely end up in displacement camps in the Syrian desert.
Many of the ISIS fighters who surrendered in eastern Syria still believe as I just mentioned, in their ideology that it will prevail. That's only a matter of time.
Our Ben Wedeman spoke with some of them
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In defeat gone is the bravado, the cockiness. In defeat the men of the so-called Islamic state bow their heads and covered their faces. The sharp contrast with the shrill triumphalism of ISIS's early days.
"We couldn't fight anymore, so we surrendered." Ahmed, a Syrian says. In the last few days hundreds of ISIS fighters have surrendered to the U.S.- backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Some have yet to give up.
This video shot Wednesday of the group's last enclave shows men on foot and motorbike moving about in broad daylight. Vanquished ISIS maybe yet Omar, a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Syria hasn't given up.
He concedes defeat today but not tomorrow. "Maybe the Americans rule the world today," he tells me, "but God Almighty promised the Muslims that in the end the world will be ruled by Islam." Their status close to death, not their delusions.
"Despite the war and all the problems imposed upon it, I think the Islamic state was a success," Firhaz (Ph), an Iraqi tells me. "No one gave it the chance to offer anything to the world.
The state where men claim to rule in the name of God, women obeyed is on the brink of extinction. And the children and the women are paying the price caked in dust, dazed and confused, hungry to thirsty.
[03:15:05] Scrambling onto trucks normally used to transport livestock bound to the north, in defeat is their luck.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, eastern Syria.
ALLEN: Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared five years ago with hundreds on board. Next, what we know and what we've learned about the passenger jet that vanished.
Also, ahead here, online trolls targeted the Duchess of Sussex with sexist and racist messages. We'll tell you what the royal family is doing to fight back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: It is one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. Friday marks five years since Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared without a trace. And there are still more questions than answers.
The plane was on his way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board when it vanished. The families of the passengers and crew are still searching for answers so many years later.
Malaysia's prime minister promises to continue trying to find what happened even though the official search is long over. The mystery began March 2014 on the routine flight. Malaysia Airlines flight 370 taking off from Kuala Lumpur headed for Beijing, roughly 40 minutes later the plane appeared to change course and vanished from radar soon after.
The search began almost immediately. Weeks later, Malaysia's prime minister announcing MH370's flight had ended in the southern Indian Ocean. In July 2015, a part of a plane's called the flaperon was found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. It was later confirmed to be from MH 370.
Since then several more pieces of debris possibly from the missing plane have been discovered. The official search for MH 370 came to an end last May, after more than $150 million and countless hours spent there is still no answer to the basic question what happened.
Joining me is CNN safety analyst David Soucie. He's the author of "Malaysia Airlines flight 370: Why it Disappeared and Why It's Only a Matter of Time Before This Happens Again."
[03:20:06] David, we appreciate you joining us.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: Well, five years and this plane has not been found. You've investigated countless crashes in your career. What do you make of this mystery?
SOUCIE: Well, again, there's so much that we don't know, there's way more than we don't know then what we do, but there are a lot of things that we've learned and a lot of things that have been -- that have happened in the last five years to try to prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, I think it just come up short still.
ALLEN: Do you believe that there's one -- the one theory that there was something catastrophic and it calls oxygen depletion?
SOUCIE: I do believe that. I think that the oxygen -- there's been other reports of the Boeing 777 where the oxygen tank underneath the pilot has failed and caused the fire underneath the pilot. And I think that that's definitely one of the top two possibilities in my mind because it's co-located, that oxygen tank is co-located right where all the communications devices are right underneath the pilot in the E&E compartment. ALLEN: Well, there been a handful of small pieces, David, identified as being pieces from MH 370 but no sign of the fuselage. No sign of the people that went down with that plane. What does that say to you?
SOUCIE: Well, it's not surprising to me honestly. Without any kind of in-flight tracking, we're pretty much using a new science with using Doppler the satellite, the radios and the satellites themselves to calculate positions were the aircraft might be. And it's just hard to fathom how large the ocean is even when you have an aircraft of that size to be able to find is truly a needle in a haystack.
ALLEN: Absolutely. There are no definitive answers about what happened. Many questions and the investigation around that the pilot go rogue and bring down the plane. The plane seemed to make a dedicated turn after takeoff away from land. And then you mentioned the size of the Indian Ocean and then it went south into the abyss of this ocean. Does that trajectory give you any concrete information?
SOUCIE: Well, there's two ways to look at that. And I'm honestly torn between the two. The one is that it was intentionally driven there. It was intentionally taken out there. The other is that perhaps there was someone still alive on the airplane who had no control of the aircraft, could had no communications, no way to land the airplane and had no idea what the condition of the aircraft was.
So, one theory is that because it had a failure that this person that was still on the aircraft had turned the aircraft away from population. Remember, at that time it was dark, it was nighttime so all they could see was that there were lights underneath them.
So, turning north and then turning south again would have been the trajectory you would take if you're trying to, I guess hide. But it would also be the trajectory you take if you're trying to prevent any kind of death or destruction in a highly populated areas there in Malaysia and on the northern strait above that.
ALLEN: I've heard today people talk about the fact that this can't happen again because technology has advanced in a way that a plane just can't disappear and we wouldn't be able to find it.
However, your book title says "It's Only a Matter of Time Before This Happens Again." So, what do you mean?
SOUCIE: Well, we talk about the technology that's advanced. Well, the technology they're talking about was available at the time the aircraft disappeared five years ago. It's just that it cost money. And so, we're still faced with the same situation today. It costs money to use that new technology. And there's -- and the airline can choose from various countries no matter which country they're from they get to choose whether they are going to pay that extra money to be continually monitored or not.
And so, a lot of the airlines are choosing not to do that. There's many that have chosen to do that but still there are some that don't. And as long as they don't have that online real-time tracking that it's definitely a possibility that an aircraft could disappear again. ALLEN: And do you think this aircraft will ever be found, David?
SOUCIE: That's a difficult question to answer because I know that the people that are going to be watching this, but I really don't think that that will be. There's already been millions and millions, tens of millions of dollars spent looking for the aircraft.
And I'm very confident as many of the professionals I've worked with are that were looking in the right area. I really believe that the aircraft is in that area still, but there is just no way to search every square inch of that area.
ALLEN: And you know I asked that because you just kind of alluded to the families, David, and you have been involved in so many air disasters, it was just thousands of people that have felt that pain.
[03:25:02] Can you probably appreciate that these families may never have answers?
SOUCIE: You know, I've only investigated two other accidents where there was no trace of the aircraft. Those were when I was in Hawaii and those aircraft were on their route from Hawaii from Oakland, California through Hawaii and then on to o Japan. Those who aircraft disappeared without a trace.
And speaking to those families and those were the only two families that I spoke with, it was the pain is just so much greater on the long-term. I mean it stays with them forever as opposed who, you know, when you'd know what happened to your loved ones, when you know what's happened, you can deal with that and you can grieve it and you can understand, you know, that what happened to them.
In this case you don't. And in those two families I did speak with before this accident that same kind of pain is in the voices and then the faces of the people from MH 370. The pain that I believe won't ever go away. They'll have to live and figure out how to live a new life knowing that their loved ones won't be found.
ALLEN: David Soucie, we really appreciate you joining us. Thank you.
SOUCIE: Thank you.
ALLEN: CNN is marking five years since the disappearance of flight MH 370 with a special report. CNN's Martin Savidge looks back at one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Minutes after the transponders tops the triple seven makes an unexpected turn heading west and way off course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NTSB: That the plane turned immediately after the transponder went off is completely inexplicable and very worrisome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Peter Goelz is a former managing director of the NTSB.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOELZ: We don't know whether this was done voluntarily, whether it was done under duress. We simply have no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: No idea what really happened but Goelz see a red flag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOELZ: It was completely out of the ordinary that there was no distress call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That is a clip from our special. Tune in to see the entire special Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time but Saturday 11 in the morning in Hong Kong for Vanished: The mystery of Malaysia flight 370. That's with Martin Savidge right here only on CNN.
In the U.S. the summit with Kim Jong-un and President Trump was considered a failure. But in North Korea, well, it's a completely different story. That's coming up here.
Plus, feeling pressure from the White House, the Trump administration lobbies congressional Republicans on one of the president's most important issues.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN "Newsroom". I'm Natalie Allen. Let's update you on out top news this hour. Donald Trump's former campaign chairman will spend the next few years behind bars. A federal judge has sentenced Paul Manafort to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud. Manafort will also have to pay at least $6 million in restitution to the government.
Sources say lawyers for Michael Cohen raised the possibility of a pardon several times with attorneys for Donald Trump. That is at odds with public testimony from the president's former fixer when he said he never asked for and would not accept a pardon.
A top U.S. general warns that defeating ISIS on the battlefield will not end the threat. A top U.S. general said the ISIS ideology remains strong even among fighters who have recently surrendered. He said many are still radicalized.
Donald Trump's White House is scrambling to stop a bad week from becoming a bad month. He is facing push back from Republicans on the so-called national emergency at the Southern Border. As one of questions about the trade deficit and the failed summit with North Korea. Kaitlan Collins has more about it from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. It is a great honor to have the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump in front of the cameras today. But behind the scenes, he is facing setbacks on top priorities and at risk of losing ground in his own party. New reporting from CNN reveals the White House has been pressuring Republican Senators not to bump Trump by voting in favor of a resolution overturning his national emergency declaration.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R) MAINE: I don't believe that the president has that authority under the constitution.
COLLINS: At least four GOP Senators have indicated they'll support the resolution Trump has promised to veto. But White House aides are worried that number could grow and lead to another negative news cycle about Republicans breaking with Trump. In turn, they're warning there could be 2020 election consequences if they defy the president.
S. COLLINS: It is not the job of the executive branch, it is not the job of the judicial branch to appropriate money. It is the job of Congress.
COLLINS: That coming amid fireworks on Capitol Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not cages.
COLLINS: As the Department of Homeland Security Secretary remained defiant while being grilled by Democrats over the administrations immigration policies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Areas of the border facility that are carved out for the safety and protection of those who remain there while they're being processed.
COLLINS: The Commerce Department announcing the nation's trade deficits and goods is at a record high, due in part to the president's tax cut and tariffs. Despite his promise on the campaign trail to narrow that gap.
TRUMP: It is a political and politician made disaster. It doesn't have to be this way. We can turn it around and we can turn it around fast.
COLLINS: And one week after talks fell apart with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, new satellite images show a North Korean missile site that Pyongyang said it was dismantling appears to be operational. Asked about those images today, Trump said it's still too early to tell.
Now sources say the president has been frustrated by what he sees as negative coverage of that second summit with Kim Jong-un and despite the fact they walked away with it with no tangible achievements. His national security advisor, John Bolton said, that the door is still open to a third summit happening. Saying quote, that the president is absolutely open to talking to the North Korean dictator again. Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: In the United States, President Trump's second summit with Kim Jong-un of North Korea was seen as a failure. North Korean propaganda is portraying those talks as a success. Here's our Will Ripley from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Growing questions about North Korea's nuclear and missile program in the wake of last week's failed summit in Vietnam. A South Korean lawmaker tells CNN, spy agency NIS, is tracking the increase movement of transport vehicles around a North Korean missile site. Work is under way to rebuild a launch pad and missile engine test stand at the Sohae satellite launch facility and what sources say may have derailed talks in Hanoi. A secret uranium enrichment plant just outside Pyongyang.
[03:35:03] JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, it is not surprising to me that we see evidence of them continuing with their nuclear and or missile program. That is -- that is the way they generate leverage.
RIPLEY: Analysts say, the North Koreans maybe looking for leverage. After President Trump walked out of his Hanoi summit with Chairman Kim Jong-un, something regular North Koreans will never even know. They'll never see this empty table from a working lunch called off. Never hear these words from President Trump on not reaching a deal.
TRUMP: Sometimes you have to walk.
RIPLEY: Instead, regular North Koreans see this, a carefully edited state TV documentary from comrade Kim's triumphant rival on a bulletproof train to huge crowds lining the streets for a glimpse of his motorcade. Even the moment President Trump called a friendly walk, as far as most North Koreans know, it was.
But sources tell CNN, Kim's team made a last ditch attempt to strike a deal with the U.S. Offering to dismantle their entire Yongbyon nuclear complex in exchange for partial lifting of sanctions just before Trump walkout.
North Korea's vice foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, later issued this sharp warning. That the U.S. missed a once in a thousand year opportunity and her chairman may have lost the will to negotiate. A message sources say came directly from Kim himself. But you've never know any of it watching North Korean TV, despite the summits abrupt and humiliating end.
And even as the Trump administration warns of more sanctions, if North Korea fails to denuclearize, they are also leaving the door open for a third summit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president is obviously open to talking again. We will see when that -- that might be scheduled or what -- how it would work out, but he thinks the deal is there, if North Korea is prepared to look at the big picture.
RIPLEY: A big picture the U.S. says must not include provocative or threatening behavior. Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The United Kingdom has given diplomatic protection to a British Iranian woman imprisoned in Iran. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was arrested at the Tehran airport in 2016, charged and later convicted of spying. The U.K. Foreign Office says Iran has violated international law with the trial lacking due process and also by refusing her medical care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY HUNT, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: My decision is an important diplomatic step which signals to Tehran that its behavior is totally wrong. It is unlikely to be a magic wand that leads to an overnight results, but it demonstrates to the whole world that Nazanin is innocent and the U.K. will not stand by when one of its citizens is treated so unjustly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Nazanin was sentenced to five years in jail and accused of working with organizations allegedly plotting to overthrow the regime. Her employer the Thompson Reuters Foundation rejects those allegations.
Britain's Prime Minister is scrambling to save her Brexit deal ahead of a critical vote next week. She said if the E.U. doesn't give ground on the Irish backstop, she can't get her deal pass parliament and all will face a new -- excuse me -- a no deal Brexit. The backstop is a provision designed to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. But critics fear that will keep Britain bound by E.U. rules. As negotiations carry into the weekend, the U.K.'s foreign secretary said he had hopes for a break through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Now there are very exhaustive discussions on both sides to try to find a way to achieve that. I think there is goodwill on both sides. I think both side want to try to find a way through this. And obviously we're hoping for that success to happen this weekend in time for the vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: British and European negotiators are feeling the pressure. Britain is due to leave the E.U. March 29th, that's just a few more weeks.
A widespread power outage has left much of crisis stricken Venezuela in the dark. The government blamed it on sabotage at the main hydropower station which provides 70 percent of the country's energy. Black outs are common in Venezuela, but one this size is rare. President Nicolas Maduro accuses his political adversaries of creating
the problem. But critics including the U.S. Secretary of State, blamed incompetence and corruption for the failing power grid.
The Duchess of Sussex is under attack on social media.
[03:40:00] And the British royal family has had enough. Their plan to stop the racist and sexist comments against Meghan Markle. That story is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Today marks International Women's Day in much of the world, celebrating achievements and demanding equality. And it is a public holiday in several countries.
This is Spain where a few hundred women wearing purple banged pots in pans in a protest calling for gender equality. Some said women fear for their safety when they're out at night. Others railed against discrimination in the workplace.
But the Australian Prime Minister has provoked outrage on social media this International Women's Day in an address marking the day. Scott Morrison said gender equality is not about pitting girls against boys, but then he said, Australians want to see women rise, but they don't want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse. He went on to say we're not about setting Australians against each other trying to push some down to lift others up.
Well the British royal family is fighting back against racist online trolls targeting Meghan Markle. Abusive posts about the duchess have become more common ever since she announced her pregnancy. But the palace hopes its increase in social media staff can address what is going on. Our Max Foster has this.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the most talked about women of our time. A fashion icon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The winner this evening is Claire (inaudible).
FOSTER: And role model. Earning her this image from pop royalty. The Duchess of Sussex bringing something completely new from the very top of the British establishment. Yet from the moment their relationship became public, Prince Harry and former American actress, Meghan Markle detected racial and sexist undertones in parts of the press.
There was the references to the duchess's rich and exotic DNA. How her family had gone from cotton slaves to royalty. On this piece suggesting the Los Angeles native was almost straight out of Compton, a reference to a song by NWA.
[03:45:00] The authors of this stories deny racism, but the couple saw underlying prejudice which they articulated with this Palace's statement from 2016, calling out the racial undertones of comment pieces and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web ask comments.
Regular members of the royal press in fact will tell you, is that they're just doing their job, reporting the news without prejudice. And they're to do far more positive stories about Meghan than negative. The problem they say is when digital news sites pick up on their first-hand reporting and then sensationalize it.
The typical example is the ongoing narrative that the Duchess of Sussex is at war with her sister in law, the Duchess of Cambridge. This is based on just one report with the respected newspaper that Meghan made Kate cry at a bride's maid dress fitting just before last year's wedding. And even that story is disputed by the palace. The two women have endured constant comparison.
YOMI ADEGOKE, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Essentially Kate is no deviation of the (inaudible). She is very much a (inaudible) British girl next door.
FOSTER: Where Kate now celebrated for wearing an off the shoulder dress, Meghan is accused of breaking royal protocol. When Meghan wears dark nail polished, she breaks royal protocol again with vulgar fashion moves. The comparisons are as awkward for Kate as they are for Meghan.
ADEGOKE: She is very much what you envision when you think of the white princess and you know, frankly, she's white. Where someone like Meghan is very much a deviation. She's foreign, not just by being American, but she's got black heritage, she is divorcee. She's just a very different type of person and somebody that I don't think your average British member of the public thinks of when they think of the word duchess or royal family at all.
FOSTER: A CNN royal source accepts the duchess's best friends. They may not hang out or call each other. But they are friendly and they text. Stories about a rift are just click bait, the source adds. But it is that click bait that online trolls are linking to and using against Meghan.
On Twitter, we investigated the most commonly used anti-Meghan hashtags from the beginning of January to the middle of February. In total, we analyzed 5204 tweets and discovered 20 accounts were behind 70 percent of the posts. Their profile description typically contains Meghan related hashtags, like Megxit, but also political hashtags, such as Brexit, and MAGA, Make America Great Again. We don't know how many people are behind the accounts. And we found no evidence of a coordinated right-wing campaign against the Duchess, but --
PATRICK HERMANSSON, HOPE NOT HATE: Meghan Markle fits in to this bigger idea of a West and the U.K. in decline. And here it's symbolize by Meghan that corrupted the old institution of the Buckingham palace.
FOSTER: CNN has been told, the trolling escalated when the Duchess announced her pregnancy. That was at the beginning of a high-profile tour of Australia. Palace start of having to spend more time deleting comments on their social media platforms, also blocking accounts and reporting abuses.
ADEGOKE: There's definitely sort of an unspoken sort of interest in what the baby will look like. You know, there's been a lot of talk on Twitter, not just from racist, but also from people that are very pro- Meghan about recessive genes, about whether the baby will have an afro, whether they do have its mother's nose, there's always kind of coded conversations happening about what the baby will look like. And it sound sort of really horrible to think, but a lot of people have sort of -- have offered up the idea that the blacker the baby looks the worse its treatment will be.
FOSTER: Our royal source tells us they even had to pre-block the n word on Instagram, plus, emojis of knives and guns. It was celebrated as the wedding the United Britain and cemented the American alliance, but it also exposed division with a small group of haters are trying to exploit. The royal family are determined to stop them about platform. Max Foster, CNN, Windsor Castle.
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ALLEN: Let's certainly hope it is a small group of haters. Queen Elizabeth, she's 92, but that is not letting her age stop her from connecting with the British public. 43 years ago she said her first e-mail. Let's look at her other tech first. On Thursday, the queen posted to Instagram for the first time. It happened on the visit to London science museum. She shared a letter sent by a 19th century computer pioneer. It passed 90,000 likes, Thursday morning and is now over 200,000.
Five years ago, she tweeted for the first time at the same place, the science museum. It went out to more than 700,000 followers. Her majesty joined Facebook in 2010, but users, of course, couldn't friend her, it's amore of a page where you follow the royals. Give a thumbs up when you like something.
[03:50:16] According to the telegraph, the page received 40,000 likes within its first hour.
Well, brutal winter weather still bearing down on the U.S. as avalanches in Colorado close highways and some states face dangerously cold temps. Derek will be (inaudible) with the story next.
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ALLEN: CNN is partnering with young people worldwide for a student- led day of action against modern day slavery that is March 14th. And we're asking you what makes you feel free? Here's what the founders of the International Charity and Educational Partner We Movement told us about that.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we have the ability to help others achieve their freedom. (Inaudible) the fundamental right of the children. The right to voice as a great change. We're sovereign 12,000 young people in that right to create a world without slavery, without trafficking, without child labor. Every child has a right to be free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me my freedom is about education. And we're celebrating the importance of education. There's millions of young people around the world who had never set foot in a classroom. Majority are girls. They were celebrated with weighed to (inaudible).
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ALLEN: That is a good one, education certainly leads to freedom, doesn't it? Tell the world what makes you feel free, share your story using the #myfreedomday.
Extreme winter weather in the U.S. is causing dangerous problems in the West. In Colorado look at this. An avalanche buried four vehicles near the Copper Mountain ski resort. Authorities say no one was injured. This avalanche dumped 15 feet of snow on the road and is about 300 feet wide.
Transportation officials had to close a number of highways, because of multiple avalanches. Our Derek Van Dam is following the story for us closely. Now, Derek, also this is a week that many schools are out for spring break and people and families hit the slopes.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And people travel across some of those major interstates throughout Colorado, Interstate 70 in particular. And unfortunately, we had so many avalanches within the past few weeks because of the multiple snow storms that have impacted the region. So much snow that the Colorado Department of Transportation goes out and does avalanche mitigation control in areas where they know hazards from avalanches could occur.
So, this is interstate 70 in Summit County where some of the largest ski resorts are located. That is a mitigated avalanche control from the Department of Transportation. So the reason they do that is to prevent avalanche from occurring when cars are actually traveling across the roadways. Obviously they block the roadways. But it took them about four hours to clear the roads.
Now, avalanches, it is incredible. They can travel up to 120 kilometers per hour within five seconds of being triggered and the greatest risk for an avalanche is actually within that 24-hour period after a significant snow fall.
In Colorado for instance we had several of these events where 12 inches or more of snow have fallen. We've got the steep mountainside, the snow cover, the fresh snow and the weak layers and some sort of trigger sometimes that can be either a skier or a snowboarder for instance.
[03:55:06] Now, talking about these weak layers with multiple storms layering up. We often have weak snow pack on top of stronger snow pack on top of weaker snow pack. Basically, unstable snow packs layering the Colorado basin. And that is created this high avalanche risk. And unfortunately those layers collapsed and cause avalanches.
Now, the snowfall across the entire state of Colorado and much of the Western U.S. well above average, about 120 percent average -- 127 percent of average to date and there's still several weeks of snow to come. The slope angle were avalanche is typically occurs between 25 to 55 degrees. But it's really those weak layers of snowfall that are so susceptible to slab avalanches is what they call it.
Now, in terms of avalanche fatalities, in the United States alone, each winter, we see about 30 fatalities, worldwide, that number climbs to 150. So, this is a serious problem with more snow in the forecast, it looks like the avalanche problems will continue over the Western U.S., but that is not our only concern with this. Check this out in the Deep South, we have a potential for severe storms, once again this weekend. We focus our attention on Mississippi for chances of tornados on Saturday, back to you.
ALLEN: All right. Thank you Derek, for coming back. That time of year too for tornados. Thanks.
VAN DAM: Yes.
ALLEN: We have a feat in space to share with you. It happened just this past hour. The unmanned crew Dragon Capsule undocked from the International Space Station. There it goes. It's now heading back to earth and set to splash down about five hours from now. Space X designed the capsule to carry people. Its goal is to once again send astronauts into space from U.S. soil, possibly as soon as July. We'll continue to follow its progress until splashdown.
Remember those voice from Thailand trapped in a cave for nearly three weeks last year, their story is coming to Netflix. The streaming service has signed a deal with a company representing the boys. The football team was exploring the cave with their coach when flood waters trapped them deep inside. They were rescued after 18 days. The boys and their coach will donate 15 percent of what they make to help the government deal with any future disasters.
And that is CNN "Newsroom." Thanks so much for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. The news continues next with Max Foster in London. You're watching CNN.
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