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Donald Trump to Skip FOX News Debate; Oregon Protest Leader Ammon Bundy Arrested; Search for Dangerous Fugitives Intensifies; Apple Sales Slow; Iran Joins Global Oil Production; Winter in a Syrian Refugee Camp; Remembering a Holocaust Hero. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 27, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, debate night turned fight night. Donald Trump says he'll skip Thursday's Republican debate and hold his own event to help veterans.
SESAY: Several armed occupiers of a U.S. wildlife refuge are now in custody following a bloody highway shootout with police.
VAUSE: The biggest quarterly profit in the U.S. on record but warnings Apple's best days might just be over.
SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
Donald Trump now seems to have started a new war taking on FOX News and anchor Megyn Kelly.
SESAY: Trump refuses to face Kelly in the next GOP debate but FOX insists that she's going to be there. So Trump now says he won't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, FOX is playing games. Yes. FOX is going to make a fortune. I told FOX, you should give money to the Wounded Warriors. I'm not a fan of Megyn Kelly. I think she's a third rate reporter. I think she frankly is not good at what she does. And I think they could do a lot better than Megyn Kelly. And so I'm going to be making a decision with FOX but I probably won't bother doing the debate .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Donald Trump's feud with FOX and Megyn Kelly goes back to the first Republican debate in August. He accused Kelly of being a terrible moderator who asked gotcha questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS MODERATOR: Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, for more on all of this, our senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter is with us now from New York.
Hey, so, Brian, it seems all of this kind of is triggered by a news release by FOX mocking Donald Trump defending Megyn Kelly. That seemed to push Trump over the edge.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The seemed to be the last straw for Trump. Now FOX was responding at something Trump had done earlier in the day. Trump put up an Instagram video where he criticized Megyn Kelly. He took a poll on Twitter, he said, should I go to the GOP debate?
An hour later FOX responded with this. On a tongue-in-cheek statement, a very unusual statement, that actually said, "We learned from a secret back channel the Ayatollah and Putin both intended to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet him if he becomes president. A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to these meetings."
Obviously there, FOX News mocking Trump in an unusual way, basically telling him to grow up and stop leaning on his Twitter followers. That was followed a few hours later by Trump saying he's not going to show up, saying he's going to skip the debate, and basically make FOX suffer. He predicting the FOX's ratings will be lower because he won't be on the stage.
Now no matter what, Megyn Kelly will be on the stage. She is the moderator that Trump is so dissatisfied with, Megyn Kelly saying in the last few hours that, you know, Trump thinks he can control everything but he can't control the media.
VAUSE: Yes, Brian, after that first debate it made headlines, Donald Trump went even further during an interview with CNN's Don Lemon. He made this comment about Megyn Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions and, you know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her -- wherever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, I guess given the history here for FOX, did they really have no other choice but to back Megyn Kelly? STELTER: This certainly had been escalating for months and months and
months and it came to ahead today. And the network is very clear that Kelly has their full support. You know, she's a rising star of FOX, in some ways she's the biggest star on FOX now. And you're right, they had no option but to back her.
This is something that is -- it's unprecedented, it really is, John. You know, we're talking about the GOP frontrunner refusing to show up for the final debate before the Iowa caucuses. In some ways FOX built up Trump but now you might think of him as a monster who's hurting the very creator.
There is a weird and interesting dynamic that's happening here and it's unlike anything we've ever seen in presidential politics but then again we've never had a reality TV star and billionaire businessman run for president in the U.S. before.
VAUSE: Yes. Ain't that the truth? Finally, you know, we've been hearing from Donald Trump saying, you know, these ratings, it's all because of me and he's right, there has been a record turnout.
STELTER: Right.
VAUSE: Record number of people tuning in to watch these networks. I guess we will finally find out now if Trump really is the reason for those numbers, right?
STELTER: Yes. That's a good point. Anywhere between 13 million and 25 million people have watched these GOP debates when Trump is on the stage. In the past maybe three to five or three to eight million voters would turn in. So there's been a huge spike this season.
Now most of that is probably Donald Trump, but it could also be for some of the other candidates. And without Trump on stage on Thursday, we will see exactly how much of an impact he's had.
[01:05:05] Now Trump is saying he'll have a special event on his own on Thursday night. Other networks could presumably go ahead and carry that event as counter-programming to the debate. And that will also be very interesting to see.
In many ways, Trump is like a network programmer or a producer. He is in some ways programming this entire election cycle. He's in charge in a way we haven't seen before. On the other hand, FOX has a lot of power as well. Maybe they'll show an empty podium on Thursday night.
VAUSE: Yes, and very quickly, you know, do we know if he was sort of swayed by Twitter feedback or what his followers were saying to him?
STELTER: Yes.
VAUSE: Or is this just, you know, Donald Trump as we said in Australia spat out the pacifier? Spat the dummy?
STELTER: You know, actually 60 percent of his Twitter fans told him, go ahead, show up to the debate, 40 percent said not to. He has a remarkable command of social media. He launched this announcement today on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at exactly the same time. He got a lot of feedback including from some people who said you're being a cry baby. Show up to the debate like every other grown man and woman who's going to show up.
But Donald Trump continues to rewrite the book of campaign rules. A lot of these rules are unspoken. You know, they are customs and he's making up all new ones as he goes along.
VAUSE: Yes. It's fun to watch. Brian, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
STELTER: Thanks.
SESAY: Well, Trump went on social media to take another jab at FOX News. In a tweet late Tuesday, he said, quote, "Pathetic attempt by FOX News to try and build up ratings for the GOP debate. Without me, they'd have no ratings."
VAUSE: Does this man ever sleep? If he's not tweeting, he's doing interviews, he's on the phone, he's doing rallies. He is -- he has a lot of stamina.
Meantime, Republican candidate Ted Cruz has warned supporter that if Trump wins the Iowa caucuses, he will likely go on to win the Republican nomination, and Cruz issued a challenge. He wants to face Trump as he put it mano-o-mano.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Apparently Megyn Kelly is really, really scary. If he's unwilling to stand on the debate stage with the other candidates, then I would like to invite Donald right now to engage in a one-on-one debate with me any time between now and the Iowa caucuses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Mike Slater is a conservative commentator and host of the "Mike Slater Radio Show" and he joins us now with more on the Trump debate boycott.
Great to have you with us. So Ted Cruz basically asking for mano-o- mano debate with Trump. The campaign hasn't responded yet . But listen, we all know that in the last couple of weeks, Ted Cruz has been seeking some kind of an opening to launch that lethal strike on Trump standing in Iowa. Has Trump handed that to him on a silver platter?
MIKE SLATER, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST, SLATER RADIO: I love this. I think conservatives have been wanting this for a long time. A good old fashioned Lincoln-Douglas style debate.
VAUSE: Yes. Bring it on.
SESAY: Yes. SLATER: This is it right here. So, first, I think Trump did a power
move by not doing the debate in a couple of days here. Such a power move to say, I don't even need this. I'm so -- I'm so far better than this. Why would I go up on stage with a bunch of people with zero percent? I'm better than that, and you know what, we got more important things to do. We're going to go help our veterans.
I think that plays so well. It's a power move. But then, as you said, Cruz comes back and Trumps them again by saying, fine, you don't have to go there, comes to me, mano-y-mano, 90 minutes, any moderator you want or no moderator at all. And I think --
VAUSE: No rules apply.
SLATER: No rules. I love this.
VAUSE: Bare knuckles.
SLATER: I think it's beautiful.
VAUSE: Bring it open.
SESAY: Very appealing images.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: I will go one further.
SLATER: Yes.
VAUSE: I think it's actually an even better strategy than that because Trump doesn't even turn up to the debate, Cruz is the frontrunner, he gets hammered by everybody else on the stage. Trump gambles that he wins by not even showing up.
SLATER: Yes. Here's what Trump is banking on. No one watches. No one watches because he's going to -- I don't know what he's going to do exactly but maybe there is something at the exact same time, and I bet 98 percent of the American people would rather see Donald Trump do his thing than a bunch of losers, in his word.
VAUSE: Yes.
SLATER: Do their thing. So I think he's banking that no one shows up. I had a chance to talk with Donald Trump a couple of months ago and it was before the CNN debate. Remember he threatened to not do that one, as well.
SESAY: Yes, he did.
SLATER: And we had a conversation about -- I said, I didn't think he should do it. I said, Donald, don't do it. He was very serious, he's like, maybe I shouldn't, maybe I shouldn't, and then he asked his advisers, as opposed to me, some slump, but he asked his advisers, his advisers like, you've got to do it, you've got to do it. And he said, you're right, they are going to think I'm a chicken. They're going to think I'm scared. Something changed in the last two months and he thinks he's going to come out on top.
VAUSE: Because he's won every debate.
SESAY: Yes, he won -- yes, exactly.
SLATER: He can say I've already won the last six, I don't need to do another one.
SESAY: But here's the thing, and I ask this of you. Is he -- for the RNC, this is going to be troubling, right? This is going to be troubling. Once again, he's not towing. The line, once again, he's setting a dangerous precedent.
SLATER: You're right. Taking power away from the establishment. People versus the establishment. That's been his entire campaign. I think he's done two things, two narratives he set up. Strength versus weakness. Right? Everyone is weak. They -- they're low energy. They lack stamina. They are nice. Right? Everything is strong versus weak for him but here is another one, the people versus the establishment and if he can play that angle at the same time, then I think again he'll come out on top of this move.
[01:10:06] VAUSE: What was interesting about today, though, as compared to this ongoing feud with FOX is that in the past I thought Trump has tried not to criticize Roger Ailes, the chairman of FOX News. He did that today. So can the leading Republican frontrunner be, you know, engaged in this war with the number one conservative media outlet in the country and vice versa?
SLATER: It's fascinating. Trump transcends a lot things. Trump first and foremost is a celebrity. So I was talking to someone the other day. He said his two sons, they're 12 and 16, they love Donald Trump. They support Donald Trump. And I said why? They said because all they know him as is a reality star. First and foremost. And not only a reality star like a goofy reality show but the man. Like the guy who fires people, who makes decisions, who gets things done. That's how they know him.
And I know this sounds goofy and I don't want to throw out like social media the power of it, he has like 10 million Twitter followers. He has more Twitter followers than people who watch FOX News. I think the most watched FOX News show has three or four million viewers. He can contact anyone, just like that, 10 million people like that. He doesn't -- my point is, he doesn't need Roger Ailes as much as other candidates.
VAUSE: OK. It's interesting you have a 16-year-old analysis.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: So --
(CROSSTALK)
SLATER: Yes.
SESAY: Understand.
VAUSE: Yes, I get your point.
SESAY: To big endorsements that he picked up today. Jerry Falwell, Jr. and obviously Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona.
SLATER: Yes.
SESAY: Got to ask you about that Falwell endorsement and how big a blow it is to Ted Cruz who's been banking on evangelicals, especially in Iowa.
SLATER: The evangelicals' support of Donald Trump has been the most fascinating thing to watch for me.
(LAUGHTER)
SLATER: I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Walk into a bar --
SLATER: I mean, it's so strange.
VAUSE: That was a great line by Cruz.
SLATER: Yes, it was.
VAUSE: No traction.
SESAY: Nothing.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE).
SLATER: If you told me a couple of months ago that the guy who really doesn't go -- was going to be beating three deeply spiritual people, Rubio, Cruz, and Carson, who can tell you their testimony and their pivot points and how their lives have changed because of their relationship with Jesus versus the guy who --
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: You're giving us --
SLATER: Yes, he doesn't need to.
SESAY: He doesn't need to.
SLATER: I think that's crazy. One thing I would say to Falwell, and evangelicals, and I'm one of them, strength is very important. I think we want that. Strong is good but you need the humility to balance it out otherwise you're going to get a tyrant. And that's a Christian principle.
VAUSE: Right. SLATER: The life principle, but it's Christian principle. And I wish
the pastors would consider that before they consider Trump. That's all.
VAUSE: OK. Last question on the debate, does Jeb Bush still lose even though Donald Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
SLATER: Not even close. He lost forever ago. Jeb who? Like who is that guy? Here's a great example of strength versus weakness. Another example of narrating everyone is weak. Jeb needs his mommy. Right?
VAUSE: Right. Yes. Yes.
SLATER: You're going to bring your mom along to negotiate with --
VAUSE: ISIS. Things like that. Yes.
SLATER: Exactly. Strength versus weakness, he's done a great job narrating this narrative.
VAUSE: Hey, Mike, it's great speaking with you.
SESAY: Please come back.
VAUSE: You guys are fantastic. Thank you, guys, we'll do it.
SESAY: Thank you.
VAUSE: Cheers.
SESAY: Well, in the Democratic presidential race, Bernie Sanders will have an informal meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama Wednesday. Sanders is making his case to voters in Iowa before Monday's caucuses. He also made his final pitch with the campaign ad urging voters to show up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to lift our vision above the obstacles and place and look to the American horizon, to a nation where every child cannot only dream of going to college but attend one, where quality health care will be a birthright of every citizen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: His rival Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Iowa, meeting with voters, and releasing a new ad which highlights her advocacy for children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter where they are born, no matter to whom they are born, our children's future is shaped. Both by the values of their parents and the policies of their nation. It's time to protect the next generation. Fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A little debate scandal on the Democratic side as well. Sanders' campaign manager telling "New York Times," he will not take part in a proposed debate next month in New Hampshire with Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley. It's scheduled five days before the state's presidential primary but not officially sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee.
SESAY: Time for a quick break now, the leader of the armed protesters who took over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon has been arrested and another protester has been killed. We'll look at how the incident unfolded.
VAUSE: And here in California, the search intensifies for three dangerous inmates. The latest on that manhunt just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:18:44] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. The FBI has arrested several protesters in the U.S. who've occupied a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon for weeks. Another protester, Lavoy Finicum, was killed as law enforcement confronted the group during a traffic stop on Tuesday. Authorities say shots were fired during the arrest but it is not clear who fired first.
VAUSE: The group's leader, Ammon Bundy, is among those facing charges related to illegal occupation of that wildlife refuge. They have been protesting U.S. federal land policies. They believe they're illegal and unconstitutional.
SESAY: Well, let's bring in Steve Moore for his take on the story. He's a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired advisory special agent with the FBI.
Steve, always good to have you with us.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CANDIDATE: Good to be here. Thanks.
SESAY: Let me ask you this, a highway shootout? Is this a carefully laid plan that went awry or how was this supposed to go down?
MOORE: This was a carefully laid plan that went just the way it was planned. What was not planned but was taken into account is that they might resist with firearms. That's why you had the SWAT team do it and didn't send the Boy Scouts to do it. You expected that they might do this and if somebody were to resist, if somebody were not to comply, then they were going to have this happen and that's what happened.
VAUSE: These guys were headed to a community meeting about 70 miles away.
MOORE: Right.
[01:20:02] VAUSE: This has also been reported as a meeting with authorities. Were they lured out of the refuge? This is all part of what happened or were they -- were the authorities watching and waiting and then they made their move?
MOORE: You cannot -- this is a felony car stop. This is something that's planned. This is where you get the roads blocked on --
SESAY: Something you've done many times.
MOORE: I've done several times, yes. And what you need to do is have just a little bit of warning for this. So they could have had as little as half an hour warning and yes, could they have lured him out? Yes. They might have done that. It depends on what this meeting really was for.
VAUSE: Right.
SESAY: You have done these felony car stops.
MOORE: Yes.
SESAY: A number of times. And they haven't been shots fired in the times you've participated. The fact that shots were fired here, what does that say to you?
MOORE: When we went in with a felony car stop, one of the things that we want to impart, one of the things we want to communicate with these people, when you have 15, 20 guns pointed at you, that any kind of resistance is futile. And that keeps people safe. Because they say, you know, I have no chance.
VAUSE: Overwhelming force.
MOORE: If they thought they had a chance, they'd try it. This guy knew he was against overwhelming force and apparently did not comply or fired at them.
VAUSE: OK. So the leader of this group is now arrested. There is still some protesters holed up in that building. How long before they fold now that the leader has been arrested and this has happened?
MOORE: I think it's not going to be long. This, I believe, was pushed by the Oregon governor criticizing the United States government meaning the FBI for not ending this. So I think what happened at that point is the FBI said, you know what, we have got to do this now. So I think the guys who are still in that building are -- know that if they leave the building they do so at their own risk and they will be arrested also.
SESAY: So do you foresee them giving up voluntarily or -- I mean, giving up or the FBI storming the refuge? I mean, how do you see it?
MOORE: The FBI is not going to storm the refuge. I --
SESAY: That doesn't change now that they've taken the leaders?
MOORE: No, no. Especially after they've had one person willing to die for it, and make no mistake, he wasn't resisting. He was killing himself. That was suicide. So I think you might have another one of those, but that's still not going to change the fact the bureau is not going to go in there. They have no desire to have a blood bath.
VAUSE: Yes.
SESAY: Steve Moore, always good to have you.
VAUSE: Thank you for breaking it down.
MOORE: Thank you.
SESAY: Thank you. Yes, absolutely.
VAUSE: Good explanation.
MOORE: Appreciate it.
VAUSE: Well, authorities are ramping up efforts to find three dangerous inmates who escaped from a jail right here in California.
SESAY: They're also offering more reward money hoping the public can help.
CNN's Gary Tuchman has the latest for us.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Isha, the search for three inmates who escaped from this jail behind me is intensifying. And there are many people here in Southern California who are on edge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Three men accused of horrifying crimes. Vietnamese gang member Jonathan Tieu charged with murder and attempted murder, Bac Duong, also with Vietnamese gang affiliations charged with attempted murder, and the likely ringleader of the trio, Hossein Nayeri, charged with torture and kidnapping, allegedly blowtorching a marijuana dispensary owner and cutting off his genitals. The victim survived.
All three were awaiting trial but are now on the loose after escaping from the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, California.
JEFF HALLOCK, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The inmates cut through half-inch steel bars to facilitate their escape. The information and evidence also suggest that the inmates cut their way to the -- cut their way through the plumbing tunnels and ultimately gained access to an unsecure area of the roof. TUCHMAN (on camera): That unsecured area of the roof is about 80 feet
above the ground. You can see right now sheriff's deputies on the roof behind the barbed wire. That's the barbed wire the inmates cut right next to the building. They tethered bed sheets together and then rappelled to the ground. And when they got here, they took off.
(Voice-over): Authorities believe someone helped the inmates get access to the tools they used to cut through the steel bars and barbed wire. They do not know if that person or persons worked inside the jail.
This grainy video captured by a camera on the roof of the jail shows flashlights they used as they were escaping sometime before dawn on Friday. They were last seen during a 5:00 a.m. physical body count and weren't discovered missing until the next body count on Friday night.
Sandra Hutchens is the Orange County sheriff.
(On camera): What it looks like is they had about a 16-hour head start.
SANDRA HUTCHENS, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF: Right. That's what it looks like today.
TUCHMAN: And will that not be allowed to happen in the future that you can go that long without spotting someone?
HUTCHENS: That will not be allowed to happen in the future, I can tell you that.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But in the present, authorities have their work cut out for them. No sign of the inmates as of yet and with a 16-hour head start, the inmates could be anywhere.
In Orange County's Little Saigon neighborhood there is fear because authorities think the two Vietnamese men could be hiding out here.
(On camera): Have you ever seen these two guys in the community before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.
TUCHMAN: The authorities are saying these guys may be here in this community. Does that scare you?
[01:25:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But authorities admit they don't have any solid leads where the men are hiding out. Hossein Nayeri is scheduled for trial next month in that brutal kidnapping and torture case. His lawyer says his client wasn't there when the attack happened. And he says he hasn't heard from Nayeri since the escape.
(On camera): But if he did reach out to you, what would you advise him? SALVATORE CIULLA, HOSSEIN NAYERI'S ATTORNEY: Well, I think I would
have to advise him to come in. I couldn't advise him to stay out there. It's just not -- it's too dangerous for him, it's dangerous for everybody else.
TUCHMAN: So would you tell him this is stupid what he did, because it is?
CIULLA: Well, it's against the law. I can't advice him to commit a crime.
TUCHMAN: But you think this is stupid, right?
CIULLA: You know, the odds of getting away totally are so remote that it probably is not a very smart move.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): If and when these inmates are caught, escape charges at the very least will be added to their wrap sheets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: The city where this jail is located, Santa Ana, is the county sheet of Orange County and there are many cameras in the area. Authorities are going through those cameras to see what they might be able to learn about the escape.
We should tell you that a large reward is being offered. Anyone whose information helps lead to the capture of these three people will get $200,000 -- John, Isha.
VAUSE: And our thanks to Gary Tuchman for that report.
A short break. When we come back, Apple reported the biggest quarterly profit ever in U.S. history. But the tech company says its era of unprecedented sales growth may be coming to an end.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:04] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Coming up to 10:30 here on the West Coast. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
(HEADLINES)
VAUSE: Apple has posted the figures quarterly profit ever in U.S. history. The tech company reported nearly $76 billion in revenue more than $18 billion in profit, both up by two percent.
SESAY: Apple growth will slow with iPhone sales barely beating last years numbers. Apple predicts sales in the current quarter will fall for the first time in 13 years.
VAUSE: Fritz Tepper, a writer at TechCruch joins us now with more on Apple's report. I'd like to say thank you for getting the memo about exactly the coat to be wearing.
SESAY: Yeah, we appreciate the red.
VAUSE: Well done, excellent, well done on that one.
FITZ TEPPER, WRITER, TECHCRUNCH: Thank you so much for having me.
VAUSE: Hey, great to see you. Hey, look, it's a strange day isn't it, when the company posted the biggest quarterly profit in the U.S history. Well, there's trouble isn't there. This isn't so great, something's going on.
TEPPER: It's interesting and it's the only Apple that could only happen to Apple.
So, what happens is that, number one Apple, they're kind of matching year ago quarters earnings. You know, they made 75 billion, 76 billion both times and iPhones sales are flat from last Christmas quarter which is OK. But I mean it shows that, you know, growth is slowing down. This is an explosive company that has been growing tremendously year over and, you know, it's time for that to slow down. And I think that's scaring people. They don't really understand it.
SESAY: Well the iPhone is the Apple's main engine for growth. So, the question is if the slow -- if the sales are slowing down, what does that mean to Apple's future.
TEPPER: So, Tim Cook said for the first time ever the next quarters, iPhone sales will be lower than that the year before quarter. And what I think it means is that, you know, the Apple can live up the iPhone anymore. The other issue is Apple released the new iPhone basically every two years. They really -- it's a little increment every year, but mainly every two years. And the statistics that really astonish me is that Tim Cook said that 60 percent of people who bought the iPhone 5 have not yet upgraded over the past two year, which means for the huge potential for growth when Apple changes the phone.
VAUSE: Who's eating Apples lunch here?
TEPPER: You know, people not buying the new basically, these people aren't buying Samsung, they're not buying androids, you know, they ...
VAUSE: Oh, this is a buying period.
TEPPER: They're not just buying the new phone, and it's because, you know, the iPhones look like this for the last two years and no one cares but change a bit inside. They want a new looking phone. In fact if Apple -- if Apple changes every year, you know, people would buy it. So, I think that's issue for them right now.
SESAY: And then we know that the Mac is down as well, I mean, they're having promos, is beyond the iPhone though.
TEPPER: It is, and what people need to understand is that Apple is becoming, you know, reliable, sustainable company. They're not a growth company anymore. You know, they're issuing a dividend every quarter, they're doing buybacks, they're becoming a Microsoft, they're becoming a reliable company, not a company that's going to grow 20 percent every year. And that's a good thing because companies can't grow 20 percent every year forever. I mean, we still have the Enron it's just not possible.
VAUSE: But one thing which kept Apple's numbers up was the growth in China. They have a good, good sales growth in China. But is that the strategy here, go find new your costumers in these emerging markets, head off to South of America, India, China, to try and basically make up for lack of sales in places like the United States. Or do they go the other way. They start saying, "OK, it's time to develop new technology." I mean, that really brought out anything good for awhile, I mean, you know ...
SESAY: Before the Apple watch came out.
VAUSE: Well, so am I.
SESAY: I mean I ...
VAUSE: I mean seriously.
SESAY: Yes, but that's not the point, they did actually innovate and create something to the point.
VAUSE: Even if it was lying. But you see maybe ...
TEPPER: I know what you're saying, and listen ...
VAUSE: I like to go to reality or so.
TEPPER: So, two thirds of Apple's sales come from outside U.S. the plan has always been to leverage that. Unfortunately the past 12 months have been awful internationally. And then Cook even said, that instead of 2 percent this quarter, it would have been 8 percent if not for F.X., you know, foreign exchange numbers.
SESAY: Foreign exchange numbers.
TEPPER: Exactly. So, Apple's going to need a plan B. They're not going to be able to rely on China, Hong Kong, they're going to need, you know, new growth. So, hopefully that's innovation, we'll see.
SESAY: Did I give any info into whether innovation will go, such as via but to virtual reality?
TEPPER: So, today, Tim Cook for the first time was, you know, kind of excited about they are. He said that's interesting, he said, it's not as bad, and he said it's just promise. But typical Apple, you know, we're not going to know it until the day they're ready to release it, and that's kind of frustrating.
VAUSE: So, you know, why iPhone sales are slow, because it's no longer "cooked", because I got my first one last year.
VAUSE: I gave up my Blackberry for an iPhone first time ever. SESAY: Yeah.
[01:35:00] VAUSE: And that now, it's really uncool.
SESAY: Yeah, he really killed it.
TEPPER: But hopefully they'll change it in a few months.
SESAY: And you'll be lagging behind, don't worry about it.
VAUSE: But I think I killed it. Fritz ...
SESAY: Appreciate it thank you.
TEPPER: Thank you so much for having me.
SESAY: Thank you for following the memo, about the red.
VAUSE: Yeah, it looks great.
Our Republican debate, OK. Oil prices are back every $30 a barrel, investors Asia-Pacific region have a mixed reactions that this comes on the heels of a rough trading day on Tuesday. Trading has ended in Sydney and Tokyo.
Let's look at the numbers there. The Australian ASX 200 down by 1.20 percent. Shanghai Composite pulled back from some lower there. It's now down by 1.30 percent, and of course Hongkong, up there a positive (inaudible) rise by 1.5 percent, and Hang Seng up by almost two and three quarters. Also that's the Nikkei by 2 and 3 quarter percent rather.
SESAY: And while all despite the low prices, Iran continues to open new refining facilities in a bid to boast oil production.
VAUSE: CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on the expansion of the country's biggest gas field, which is also, the biggest in the world.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Even from far way, the flames mark the location of Iran's most ambitious gas project. The Assaluyeh complex already has several working refineries. This one was opened only two week ago. Maintenance workers make sure everything is functioning.
SIAVASH VAHIDI, MAINTENANCE ENGINEER: Just a minor problem, you know, not major problem, for example a changing the gaskets and some repairing activities on the ...
PLEITGEN: The Assaluyeh Complex services the Pars south gas field which lies on the Persian Gulf. Pars South is the biggest gas field in the world with around 1,800 trillion cubit feet of reserves.
Despite the low international oil and gas prices Iran is moving ahead with the development of its facility. It's not just going to be refineries there's also going to be several port and petrochemical companies, making these one of the biggest complexes of its kind in the world.
Construction is in full swing at several other refinereries site in the complex. Sanctions against Iran to held the project up, but they never stopped the development says the project director of one facility.
HAMID REZA MEDHAVI, PROJECT DIRECTOR: We found solutions for each problem we faced regarding the sanctions. But you can see that in five years, a bit more than five years, we have built this big plant. This is a $4.5 billion project.
PLEITGEN: Now that most sanctions have been lifted, those in charge of the mega complex want to accelerate construction, even though the managing director says, he will continue to rely mostly on Iranian suppliers.
ALI AKBAR SHABANPOUR, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PORT OIL AND GAS: We've got even more than 65 percent more or less above the 70 percent of the, you know, the material budget of the Iranian manufacturing. Iranian did local manufacturing for example, cables for the valves, for the vessel, for the tank, even for the machine.
PLEITGEN: Iran is poised to become one of the biggest exporters of oil and gas in the world, now that most of the sanctions against Tehran have been lifted. The Pars South gas field and this mega refining complex are key to the country's future hydrocarbon strategy.
Fred Pleitgen CNN, Assaluyeh, Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: A scholarship program in South Africa is under the fire. We'll look at why students must take a virginity test to keep their funding.
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[01:41:45] SESAY: Hello every one, Amnesty International is condemning Denmark's action on migrants as a dismal race to the bottom. Danish lawmakers approve measures to will allow seizure of migrants assets to cover the expenses and delay in family reunification.
VAUSE: Critics say the true intent is to discourage all asylum seekers from if they're trying to reach Denmark. So far it is the latest sign of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe, Switzerland and Germany vote similar policies.
SESAY: Well, for refugees, the uncertainty of what the future will bring is made worse by cold and harsh winters. Some cling to the hope of a better life in Europe.
VAUSE: And also dream of returning to their home someday. Jomana Karadsheh met with Syrian families enduring another winter in Jordan's Zaatri camp.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's cold, it's grim and it's unforgiving. This is winter in Jordan Zaatri refugee camp. The Amari (ph) family has lived through three winters here.
For them, the season means time for traditions from home. They sing their song for Syria.
"Syria don't forget us, we will return hope is still alive," they sing, but these are just words. The Amari's don't think that they'll ever see Syria again.
18-year-old Athia (ph) would like to go to Europe or Canada. Living here is not a life. It's an existence she says.
Mustah (ph) and his wife say they won't risk their children's lives to reach Europe. Instead, they will wait to be resettled by the United Nations.
ANDREW HARPER, UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE, JORDAN: The Syrians don't want on this story to go to Europe. The Syrians will return back to the villages, their towns, their homes, but Europe is an alien concept for them. They're scared. And for them to put their lives at risk, to put their children, children's lives at risk to make this perilous journey, won't it be far better to provide the support both countries like Jordan, Lebanon and, Turkey to help these countries do what they want to do which is to provide the protection.
KARADSHEH: Around 80 thousand Syrians live here in Zaatri. This refugee camp over the past three years has evolved into a city of sorts with markets, restaurants and schools. There are weddings that take place here daily and 50 to 60 babies are born here every week.
This camp is the only home nine-months old Farah (ph) has ever known when her father Abudiah (ph), and his family fled, they thought it would be for few months that was in 2012.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Of course we expect and hope to return even if doesn't happen until this baby turns 16, we will continue to hope, he says.
With no ending fight the conflict back home, people old and young can only wonder, how many more winters like this they'll have to endure.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Zaatri Refugee Camp, Jordan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: That's awful conditions. Turn in to Africa now, and a new scholarship program in South Africa is stirring up controversy because it requires recipients to remain virgins.
David McKenzie has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are some of Thubelihle final days at home. Spending time with her granny and young sister before she heads to the city for college.
[01:45:08] An accomplished student, Thube won a government scholarship, one of the main requirements that she remain a virgin.
THUBELIHLE, SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT: We are keeping away from boys.
MCKENZIE: To stay with the program, she must submit to virginity test during her college vacation. If she fails the test, she loses her funding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have children, you see. And I am 18- years-old. I must study hard to change and then conquer the world.
MCKENZIE: Thube is known as a "maiden" in Zulu culture, where virginity-testing is common practice.
Here in rural Kwazulu Natal, tradition rules. But rights advocates we called say this scholarship is invasive and sexist.
MCKENZIE: You say it's discriminating because it's based on someone being a virgin.
AVU BALOYI, COMMISSION ON GENDER AND EQUALITY: What about those who are not virgins? There are better ways of getting an education.
DUDU MAZIBUKO, MAYOR UTHUKELA DISTRICT: I just need to support them.
MCKENZIE: Mayor Dudu Mazibuko thought up the virgin-only scholarships. She was a teen mother herself.
MAZIBUKO: We have tried many ways to keep down this teenage pregnancy and the infection of HIV and AIDS.
MCKENZIE: And nothing is working.
MAZIBUKO: Nothing is working.
MCKENZIE: In this part of South Africa, the odds are stacked against students' finishing school, especially girls. So-called "sugar daddies" prey on poor young girls, exchanging money for sex. When girls get pregnant, they drop out.
MAZIBUKO: Young girls are vulnerable. They can't refuse to have sex with an older person. They cannot even instruct an old man to wear a condom.
MCKENZIE: South Africa's main opposition party has lodged a complaint against Mazibuko's program with the country's human rights commission.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tell them it's no worry. It's my choice.
MCKENZIE: Thube says the virgin scholarship is her choice, her only chance to get into college. David McKenzie, CNN, South Africa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll take a break here on CNN. When we come back, special ceremony for American soldier captured by Nazi during World War II, we are live in Jerusalem with story of heroism during the Holocaust.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIDIED MALE: Tom can you get me off the hook?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For old time sake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't do it, Sally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: That was legendary actor Abe Vigoda in his breakout role of Sal Tessio in the Godfather film with co-star Robert Duvall. Vigoda died Tuesday at the age of 94. So the veteran New York stage actor before getting the call from Francis Ford Coppola about the part. Vigoda also start in the hit America T.V. show Barney Miller.
VAUSE: American soldier is being recognized by Israel on this international Holocaust remembrance day for heroically saving Jewish during World War II. U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roddie had meant to refuse to allow his Nazi captors to separate and kill the Jewish soldiers out of POW camp. The Israel posthumously honored Edmonds last year for his bravery.
SESAY: Oren Liebermann is live in Jerusalem for us with more on the story. And Oren, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds performed an incredible act of bravery yet it was a secret he took to his grave.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John and Isha, it was a secret he never shared with his family and to him it was simply a matter of doing what was required for his men and his country. His son would ask him, "Dad tell me about your experiences during the war" but for years for decades even he kept it to himself for whatever reason, his son says he was perhaps too humble seeing in some simply as his duty, not only to protect his men but to defend his country here is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds is only been Europe a few days when he was captured by the Nazis at the prisoner of war camp he was tested in a confrontation with Nazi doctrine. The German commander ordered Edmonds to separate out his Jewish soldiers. Edmonds a Christian refused. And the next morning his 1,200 American soldiers stood together. 70 years later one of those Jewish soldiers Lester Tanner recounts the defiance against the German commander.
LESTER TANNER, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: And he says to Edmonds you can't all be Jewish. Someone said we're all Jews here. And this German major angry takes out his Luger points it at Edmonds head and said you will order your Jewish-American soldiers to step forward or I will shoot you right now.
LIEBERMANN: Edmonds stood his ground and the camp commander stormed off. He had saved his men. Within months the war was over and Edmonds was home. He never shared the story before he passed away in 1985 not even with his son.
CHRIS EDMONDS, SON OF RODDIE EDMONDS: I've asked him from time to time as I got older to teenager and the college age kid. "Dad, tell me about your army experience?" "Son there's just some things I'd rather not talk about."
LIEBERMANN: Chris Edmonds discovered his father story in a 2008 New York Times article.
EDMONDS: When you look at your dad as a hero but I never knew he had a cape hanging in his closet. And he did.
LIEBERMANN: Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds is the first American soldier honored as righteous among the nation's non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Edmonds awarded the recondition he never sought. His war which started in defeat on a battlefield ended in victory for his men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: It was incredible listening to Lester Tanner the World War II veteran in that story when I got to speak with him. He will be there for the commemoration ceremony as well as a number of other soldiers who Edmonds saved on that day Isha?
SESAY: And honoring over the ceremony, honoring while the Edmonds will also be attended by a very, very special guest.
[01:55:03] LIEBERMANN: Absolutely President Barack Obama will for the first time commemorate international Holocaust state at the Israeli embassy. He is the key note speaker honoring Roddie Edmonds and his service his decision on that day to save his Jewish-American soldiers.
So, I spoke with Chris Edmonds, Roddie Edmonds son who is very much looking forward to seeing the president speaking in honor of his father.
SESAY: Yeah. Well, sure he is. Oren Liebermann joining us there from Jerusalem appreciate it Oren, thank you so much. VAUSE: It is and he is also remarkable on this day, the sirens will go off across Israel and they go for too long minutes and they're going to pull along side of the road. They swap (ph) they get out of their cars and a bunch will stand there and they think and they remember exactly what happened and it is haunting and it is moving and it is something that, you know, but you being there and seeing that experience that you never forget.
SESAY: Yeah.
VAUSE: So it's a difficult time for a lot of people.
SESAY: Yeah, he certainly is. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause, throughout U.S. in North America. "AMANPOUR" is up next. And everyone else, the news continues with Errol Barnett right after this.
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