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CNN NEWSROOM

Jacob Zuma Resist to Step Down; Russia's Meddling Still a Hoax to Trump; Netanyahu Confident with his Position; Emergency Landing After United Jet Loses Engine Cover; Netanyahu Denies Corruption Allegations; South African President Zuma Defies Party's Demand To Resign; Oxfam Whistleblower Details Culture Of Sexual Abuse; Protecting Foreign Workers; North Korea Athletes In Spotlight At Games; North Korean Skaters Qualify For Long Program. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 14, 2018 - 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] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: All eyes on the Union Building in South Africa as the nation waits to see if President Jacob Zuma will speak amid calls for him to step down.

President Trump still isn't buying that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. Will a unanimously warning from the heads of all six U.S. intelligence agency change his mind.

Plus, a murder in Kuwait leads to as many 10,000 Filipino workers returning home. More later on President Duterte's offer to those overseas workers.

Hello and welcome to our workers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.

A major change in South African politics is nearing. President Jacob Zuma may soon be force to step down. A Teflon president as he's called, has clanged to power for nearly nine years despite hundreds of corruption allegations and numerous attempts to force him out of office.

But on Tuesday, his party demanded his resignation and denied his request for transition period of three to six months. The opposition is calling for a no confidence vote in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN STEENHUISEN, CHIEF WHIP, DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE: The longer this decision continues the weaker it's making Mr. Ramaphosa look. It's time now for parliament to step in and do what the Constitution expects of us to do. If the country and this own party has lost confidence in the president.

NYIKO FLOYD SHIVAMBU, CHIEF WHIP, SOUTH AFRICAN PARLIAMENT: South Africa cannot be held at ransom by eloquent president who doesn't want to respect even in his own organization. He has failing to respect the laws of South Africa. He has been failing to respect the Constitution, and now we have elevated that he doesn't even respect his own organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, CNN's David McKenzie is following this story from Pretoria. He joins us now live. So, David, South Africa's finance minister seems sure that Jacob Zuma will resign Wednesday. But so far he is standing firm. What are you hearing?

DAVID MCKENZIE, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, the Finance Minister Gigaba went on CNN and gave a deadline that was pretty much the only official who did such because we've just had communication from the presidency that no official communication is being released. The question is will Jacob Zuma gave some kind of formal address or address the media, will he resign or will he dig in.

It's believed that he's in the Union Building behind meat this hour. Now the South African public wants to know will he leave after so many years of scandal.

Also dramatic developments this morning, in elite suburb in Johannesburg where South Africa's elite crime fighting unit, the Hawks raided the compound of the Gupta's, a wealthy Indian business family that has very close links to President Zuma and his family.

That's a sure sign that the political tide here is turning. Many wanted those raids to happen years ago, but it is a very symbolic moment of pressure that is piling on the president from all sides including the ANC itself and opposition as you heard there.

But no indication when or if Jacob Zuma will resign or he will force this to go to parliament. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Of course, if Zuma does refuse to quit he will face that no confidence vote in parliament. How soon might we see that happen and how soon might we see the departure of Zuma? Because as you mention it seems to be building towards that, doesn't it?

MCKENZIE: Well, it does appear to be building towards that and Jacob Zuma has little room to maneuver, but historically he's used that room to maneuver, to maneuver out of trouble.

There been numerous instances over the years including court cases, criminal cases and in fact, the highest court in the land saying he breached the Constitution. Still he didn't resign at that point.

So the question is, will he rarely stick with precedent here and that ANC's own Constitution and leave because they officially asked him to do so or will he bring some kind of reason why he should stay or stay a little bit longer.

The ANC yesterday saying that he had asked for three to six months more in office. It's clear that he's trying to use every kind of angle to stay in his position despite a lack of public confidence and anger within the opposition and certainly being the ANC turning their back on him. Rosemary. [03:04:59] CHURCH: Our David McKenzie there in Pteroria just after 10 in the morning as we wait to see if Jacob Zuma does indeed speak, and in the midst of calls for him to step down. We'll keep an eye on that. Thanks so much, David.

Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is denying any wrongdoing into corruption cases.

Our Oren Liebermann explains what the leader was accused of and the political risk he is facing right now.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The criminal investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are a fight for the very legacy of the Israeli leader. That man who won four elections the country's second longest-serving prime minister now facing a police statement that there is evidence to indict him on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust into separate investigations, known as case 1,000 and case 2000.

In case 1000, police say Netanyahu received hundreds of thousands of dollars from overseas businessmen in the form of gifts, cigars, champagne, and jewelry. In case 2000, police say Netanyahu bartered for better coverage in an Israeli daily newspaper in exchange for hampering a competing paper.

Netanyahu has denied all the allegations against him, saying there will end in nothing. He said he will not step down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I think about the good of the country not for personal reasons or for the press but only for the country and nothing will stop them from doing this. Not even the acts against me. And believe me, they are never ending, and therefore today isn't any different from any other days which I've been through in the past 20 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: The pressure on Netanyahu has grown. He's been questioned by investigators seven times in the ongoing probe. His former Chief of Staff Ari Harow turned states witness, providing evidence in the criminal investigations. Deflecting blame for prime minister's list of targets has grown. The media, the police, the attorney general, the courts, and the left.

He accuses them of trying to beat him through investigations since he says they can't beat him in the election. Netanyahu has been in this position before in his first term in the late 90s, police s recommended an indictment against him but the attorney general decided there wasn't enough evidence.

The investigation was dropped, an outcome Netanyahu predicts will happen again.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem. CHURCH: And our Ian Lee joins us now live from Jerusalem. So, Ian, Benjamin Netanyahu not surprisingly denying corruption allegations against him. So, what happens next?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's really two paths for, Rosemary. First you have to look at the legal path. This is now up to the attorney general to decide whether or not there is not enough evidence to move forward with an indictment, and so this could continue or it could end if the attorney general says there's just not enough evidence.

Then it goes to the court system. And this could take up take years to find a verdict, they could go all the way up to the high court. And once that decision is passed if he's found guilty, then he will be forced to step down and could also face up to 10 years in prison according to some legal experts.

But also you have the political pressure that we've been seeing on the prime minister. He, last night, gave a very defiant speech with Israelis glued to their televisions to see what he had to say. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): These recommendations have no position in a democratic rule. I'm not saying it with defiance, I'm saying it to emphasize a basic rule in our democracy.

Israel is a democratic law based nation and according to the law it is not the police that decides, only the legal bodies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Rosemary, the prime minister has a large base of support right now. And he's been able to rally his supporters against this saying as Oren said in his package that they believe that this is a coup. It could be in the ballot boxes and they are going to try to go to the police.

But there is pressure building on the prime minister. The opposition obviously coming out and telling him to step down, Netanyahu's coalition partner so far saying they are going to stick with him. But if you see this is opinion poll. These opinion polls uses, based a start to a road, then you could see some of those coalition partners breaking ranks. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Ian, he is putting on a brave face. How likely is it though that Netanyahu can survive this?

LEE: Well, he says he's not going to step down. He's been very defiant about that and saying he's going to continue being prime minister. He looks forward to the next elections. He told CNN's Fareed Zakaria at Davos that next year he's going to be with him again talking about Israel.

[03:09:55] So, he's, again, very defiant about this, but there is this pressure building on and precedent. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert also steps down or stepped down because of corruption charges. He was later found guilty and served months -- 16 months in prison of a 27-month sentence.

So, while Netanyahu is trying to be defiant there is -- it is going to be more difficult for him to stay in power as this goes if the attorney general does move forward with this indictment.

CHURCH: Our Ian Lee watching the story from Jerusalem where it is just after 10 in the morning. We thank you very much.

Well, the U.S. secretary of state is in the Middle East right now. In fact, but he's not making a stop in Israel. Rex Tillerson is in Jordan where he will be meeting with the country's foreign minister and with King Abdullah in just a few hours.

Now they may discuss the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

CNN's senior diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kosinski is in Amman, Jordan and she joins us now live. Good to see you, Michelle. So why is Rex Tillerson not stopping in Israel this trip and has he said anything about the corruption allegations against Netanyahu.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: He has not. That's a great question, though. I mean, the fact that he's not stopping in Israel in this trip that's a very obvious question, it really took off on Twitter in the last few days.

And the State Department had not planned on it for this trip. Their take is these conversations happen all (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).

CHURCH: -- Jordan where it is 10.15 in the morning.

We'll take a very short break here, but still to come, the U.S. intelligence chiefs unanimously agree Russia is already meddling in the 2018 midterm elections. What they say President Trump is doing about it. That's next.

Plus, new rumblings about a shakeup in the White House. We will see what the future might hold for Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Back in just a moment.

[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: This just in to CNN. Shaun White's gold medal win in the men's halfpipe at the Olympic Games is bringing renewed attention to sexual harassment allegations against the American snowboarder.

A female former member of his rock band accused White of sexually harassing her and of sending her sexually explicit images. She reached an undisclosed settlement with White back in May of 2017.

At his conference after his halfpipe win White call the allegations gossip. He said he didn't think it would tarnish his Olympic legacy. Well, the U.S. midterm elections at just nine months away and the country's intelligence chiefs have a very strong warning. Russia is already meddling in the process. They say they are working hard to fight the interference, but they are not getting help from President Trump.

Multiple sources say he remained unconvinced that Russia interfered in the 2016 votes.

CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider reports.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A unanimous warning from the heads of all six U.S. intelligence agencies Russia is at it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES CIA DIRECTOR: Yes, we have seen Russian activity and intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with Director Pompeo's assessment about the likelihood of the 2018 occurrences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not going to change or stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is not going to change nor it is going to stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we have not seen any evidence of any significant change from last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with Director Pompeo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As do I.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The intelligence chiefs also stand by last year's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There should be no doubt that Russia perceive that its past effort is successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: But despite this the president has repeatedly called the entire Russia investigation a hoax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For 11 months they've this phony cloud over this administration over our government and has hurt our government. It does hurt our government. It's a democrat hoax. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Prompting members of the Senate intelligence committee to ask the intelligence chiefs to push back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGUS KING, (I) UNITED STATES SENATOR: I just wish you all could persuade the president as a matter of national security to separate these two issues. The collusion issue is over here, unresolved. We'll get to the bottom of that.

But there is no doubt as you all have testified today, and it would -- we cannot confront this threat, which is a serious one with the whole of government response when the leader of the government continues to deny that it exists.

MARK WARNER, (D) UNITED STATES SENATOR: The president inconveniently continues to deny the threat posed by Russia. He didn't increase sanctions on Russia when he had a chance to do so. He hasn't even tweeted a single concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The Russia investigation is ongoing in three separate congressional committees plus the special counsel's office.

[03:20:00] And when the FBI director was asked if the Bureau would ever share information from any of the probes with the president, Christopher Wray was clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FBI: I'm not going to discuss the investigation in question with the president or much less provide information from that investigation to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Wray publicly clash with the president about making the republican memo public and now nearly two weeks later, Wray continues to question the rationale behind the release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WRAY: We had done and continue to have now grave concerns about the accuracy of the memorandum because of omissions we provided thousands of documents that were very sensitive and lots and lots of briefings and it's very hard for anybody to distill all that down to three and a half pages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Wray also contradicted the president's previous claims that the bureau is in tatters and said morale remain strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WRAY: I'd like to think that our folks are pretty sturdy. I'm a big believer in the idea that the FBI speaks through its work, through its cases, through the victims it protects. And I encourage our folks not to get too hung up on what I consider to be the nice on TV and the social media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: CNN's political analyst Ryan Lizza joins us now from New York to talk more about this. Good to see you.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

CHURCH: So we now have confirmation from all six U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia is indeed a threat to the U.S. midterm elections. But President Trump still rejects that notion. When the leader of the free world does not believe his own intelligence agencies on matters of national security how vulnerable does that leave the country?

LIZZA: Well, it leaves the country quite vulnerable because we have a disconnect between the person in charge of the executive branch and whose job it is to tell the CIA and other intelligence agencies what to do in response to this threat. And those senior intelligence professionals who were all up on Capitol Hill and all agreed that Russia has never stops meddling in American politics and that they'll continue to do so in the midterms.

And from Russia's perspective it's quite good news. I mean, what they learned in 2016 was it's a very, you know, low cost, high impact way to affect things in the United States is to use social media, these various propaganda channels to have an impact on American politics.

And when you have a disconnect with Donald Trump the president who calls it all hoax and the intelligence chiefs were looking to the president for guidance, that is a bad situation in terms of defending the United States from this threat.

CHURCH: So it begs the question, why do you think Mr. Trump remained unconvinced that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election and that it also poses this threat to the 2018 midterm elections. Why is he so resistant to that intelligence?

LIZZA: Because he believes, you know, rightly or wrongly, wrongly, in my view that this issue is only a partisan issue that is used to discredit his victory and that feeds also into the potential criminal liability he is exposed to from the Russia investigation.

And I think he believes that conceding that Russia in any way, had an impact on the election that it meddled means that the Russians effectively helped elect him and that it makes his presidency itself illegitimate.

CHURCH: We also heard from FBI Director Christopher Wray at that hearing on Tuesday where he directly contradicted the timeline offered by the White House on the security background check of Rob Porter and the alleged domestic abuse allegations against him.

LIZZA: Yes.

CHURCH: Now press secretary Sarah Sanders scrambled to set the record straight while chief of staff John Kelly insisted that everything was done right. Now we are hearing this chatter about Kelly being increasingly isolated. What are you hearing about that, just how vulnerable is he? Will he stay in the job?

LIZZA: Well, it's a good question and you know, there's a lot of chatter overnight about this and but no, definitive word from the White House that Kelly is leaving. What you saw in Tuesday's White House breathing was a little bit unusual because Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary basically said over and over that she's giving the best information, the information that she has on this issue and that she has access to.

[03:24:56] If you read between the lines what she was saying is she doesn't know what happened and that she doesn't have access to the answers to the questions everyone is asking in terms of how the White House dealt with Rob Porter once they knew about these allegations of domestic violence.

And so, what you're seeing is this very factionalized White House. The different factions were stepping forward sort of try to wash their hands of any guilt on this issue. You have Sarah Sanders saying look, I just don't know the story.

You have some people internally who don't like Kelly for other reasons leaking to the press saying it was all his fault and he's on his way out. You even have some Trump advisory on the outside the White House doing that. And so, you're seeing the effects of the White House is internally divided and it runs into a major scandal like this, it's very, very hard to get everyone on the same page with a single story.

CHURCH: It doesn't help that the president himself is he's pretty much aligned himself with John Kelly on this --

LIZZA: Yes.

CHURCH: -- in the sense that he hasn't really come out and said anything in support of the victims and in essence, we're seeing even the female members of this White House very much turn on the victims here. What does that tell us about how things are going there?

LIZZA: Yes. I mean, the two points here. One district, to go back to what you were saying about the FBI contradicting the White House. That is another example of why it's not so great through a White House to be at war with its own FBI because that FBI has absolutely no incentive to sort of help you from a P.R. point of view when you go through something like this.

And then on that question about Trump's reluctance to talk about this issue in the obvious, sympathetic way that any president, we talk about domestic violence, you know, I think it's actually similar to the Russia story where he believes that giving any credibility to accusers somehow comes back to him because he's been accused, and he believes the allegations against him well, not obviously abuse but other harassment allegations. He believes they're all untrue.

And I think that that he makes everything very personal. And I think he thinks that giving any voice to victims in this case somehow strengthens the arguments of his own accusers.

Now, of course, that's, you know, that's just not the case. You can talk about due process and fairness and fairness to people who are accused of something without being dismissive of credible allegations where there is quite a bit of evidence as there is in this case.

CHURCH: Ryan Lizza, we appreciate your analysis as always. Thanks so much for being with us.

LIZZA: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here, but coming up, an Oxfam whistleblower said the allegations of sexual crimes in Haiti and Chad are just the tip of the iceberg.

We're back with that in just a moment.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:35] CHURCH: A warm welcome back to have you as joining us from all around the world. I am Rosemary Church, I want to update you now on the main stories we are following this hour. United Airlines plane made a safe emergency landing in Hawaii after part of an engine cover blew off over the Pacific, one passenger called the scariest flight of her life, the plane was later taken to a hangar. The emergency did not affect airport operations.

Denmark's Prince Henrik has died peacefully in his sleep with his wife and two sons by his side. He was diagnosed last year with dementia and has spent the past few weeks in hospital for pneumonia when doctors found a benign tumor in his lung. Prince Henrik made no secret for years of his disappointment that his world title never change from Prince Consort when his wife became queen. He said made them feel inferior and he did not wish to be buried next to her.

Italy's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied any wrongdoing into corruption cases. On Tuesdays Israeli police said they have sufficient evidence to indict him on criminal charges, he is accused of fraud, bribery and breach of trust, Israel's Attorney General will ultimately decide whether or not to formally charge Mr. Netanyahu.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma could face a no-confidence vote in the coming days. If he does not step down, his party demand his resignation Tuesday, but for now Zuma is standing firm and refusing to go. He faces hundreds of corruption allegations all of which he denies.

And CNN Money correspondent Eleni Giokos joins us now from Johannesburg with more on this Leni, we are still awaiting the possible departure of Jacob Zuma for now he's holding firm. Is his resignation the answer to all South Africa's problem and how long could all this drag on for?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN MONEY AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary I mean we got President Jacob Zuma holding on to power at this point in time. Beside the fact that the ANC says the urgent recall and that's on Jacobs Zuma, you may need to make a decision eminently from what we understand he tried to negotiate some time was trying to buy some time so who knows how long this will go on fullback. It could had been go to parliament where President Zuma would be facing a motion of no- confidence, that would be the second option for the ANC, but importantly all South Africa's problem will go away.

The ANC problems go away. I spoke to political analyst Becky a little earlier today and of course he is also former president top wing, Becky's brother, he was saying that this has to go to Parliament's that President Jacob Zuma should be impeached and should be given a chance to defend himself in parliaments and that should be the right way for it, as opposed to being just recalls. So this is the views of people on the ground that if the ANC has to take us to Parliament, it could drag on for a little longer and of course the ANC would have to act swiftly.

On the question on way that this is going to solve the ANC's problems or even South Africa's problems be seen as a local currency rebounding since the appointments of Solana Plaza at the ANC president. A lot of concerns are that the ANC still very much divided, economic problems are a big problem as well. And of course structural issues will remain down the line.

CHURCH: And Eleni I want to talk about that because Ramaphosa is waiting in the wings. So once Jacob Zuma is out of office however long it takes what will Ramaphosa's main challenges been. Can he get the economy back on track? One of the biggest problems there?

GIOKOS: Absolutely, you got unemployment that has risen, you got GDP that has come under pressure through the years. South Africa face few recession on the GP coming under pressure and also got money that he does have money to spend on your budget as well as course that is the biggest problem that still Ramaphosa is going to say, he is going an uphill battle, he is going to tie and change people in key positions on key ministerial positions, he also going to have to try and create assessments towards South Africa. Remember that the country right now, its bonds are rated as junk by two credit rating agencies. It is a lot of work that needs to be done. It's more than just leadership change, but a lot of work on the ground.

[03:35:14] CHURCH: All right. Eleni Giokos joining us there from Johannesburg with some background and some analysis and we will see what happens as we await to possibly hear from my Jacob Zuma in the next few minutes, possibly hours. Many thanks to you Eleni.

Well whistleblower suggests the sexual abuse allegations against Oxfam stops in Haiti and Chad. Just the tip of the iceberg. The former manager with the aid agency describes a culture of sexual abuse among some of Oxfam workers, including allegations of women being force to have sex in exchange for aid. The charity says it regrets not acting on those claims sooner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The majority to the thousands of Oxfam staff around the world are saving lines on helping people who are fleeing, giving food and water in the most difficult places, insults done in Chad, in Yemen, In Iraq they are risking their lives every hour. And this is good work that will continue to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Erin McLaughlin joins us now live from London. Erin have been huge ramifications. As a result of this and now we hear actress Minnie driver pulled by the Oxfam scandal and she's counting ties with the charity, talks us about what she had to say about that and whether other celebrities are likely to follow suit.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right Rosemary, many driver, good will hunting, fame has been an Oxfam ambassador for the past 20 years, now announcing that she cutting ties with the aid organization, saying that she was horrified at some of the allegations being levied Oxfam, adding an statement that she's not going to let me quote abhorrent mistakes of a troubling organization stop her from working with good people and the eight sectors. She is the first celebrity cut to cut ties with Oxfam unclear if other celebrities will follow suit, but on what is becoming apparent that this is a problem and there are concerns not just about Oxfam Rosemary, but also about to the aid chapter as a whole.

The secretary for the Department of international development. Penny Mordaunt will be in Sweden today. She is expected to be speaking at a conference for aid organization and there she is expected to issue a stark warning to the aid sector as a whole that the eight sector needs to have appropriate as safeguarding measures in place they need appropriate reporting mechanisms in place for serious cases offenses and that they need moral leadership at the top of the organization and without that, the U.K. will cut its funding the similar message that she delivered in person in a crisis meeting with Oxfam representatives earlier in the week, but there is this sense that this isn't just about Oxfam that this is a larger problem.

A Mordaunt predecessor Priti Patel. I was talking saying that this was the tip of the iceberg. Saying during her time at secretary international development for the U.K. She was very concerned about the culture of denial that she said with sector wide Rosemary.

CHURCH: Incredible story and the ramifications continue, Erin McLaughlin covering that from London where it is just 8:30 in the morning. Thank you. We will take a short break. President Rodrigo Duterte wants Filipino workers to get out of Kuwait. The reason just ahead.

Plus how could farm workers be protected, I will talk to a guest from international label organization. We are back in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:41:10] CHURCH: Welcome back everyone I want to turn back now to news report earlier this hour. U.S. gold-medalist Shaun White, the American snowboarder is dismissing as gossip, reviewed attention to sexual harassment allegations against him. Christine Brennan attended wise news conference and joins us now with more details and Christine talk to us about this came up in the news conference and the how White responded to this?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Rosemary there were eight questions. We think that the gator nine questions in this news conference almost all of them were about sports, however the second question that Shaun White received was one about the #metoo allegations. Let's give a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAUN WHITE, U.S. GOLD MEDALIST: You know I am here to talk about the Olympics not gossip so but I don't think so. I am who I am and I am proud of who I am, my friends you know love me and the events since then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN: You know that answer was very interesting. I mean Shaun White has had several hours Rosemary to prepare for this. He knows the story is bubbled back to the service in a very big way here at these games and for him to be so seemingly unprepared to answer or answer in that kind of flip way really surprised me. And a lot of the other journalists who were in the room.

CHURCH: And Christine, what do we know about the sexual allegations against Shaun White?

BRENNAN: We do know that he actually admitted to some very lewd and sexually suggestive and potentially harassing text messages to the drummer in his band, he settled with her. There was a settlement and this is back a couple of years ago and for those who have followed snowboarding and Shaun White. They say they know the story, but for many, many people, myself included. This was news to me when I saw a couple tweets late. I did spend were the ones who are actually starting to talk about it and there also are allegations that Shaun White is denied by allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, not just text such as inappropriate text messages so there's quite a bit there and as I said it's a story that just kind of bubble to the surface in the last few hours.

CHURCH: And Christine what impact this is likely going to have on Shaun White's Olympic legacy?

BRENNAN: It is interesting because he just one not only his third gold-medal Rosemary but the 100th gold-medal for the United States and Winter Olympic history. So this should be a very historic moment and they tried to steer that press conference to questions about snowboarding and about Shaun White but the mood in the room and the mood in the press center and at all of us talking about this. I don't know it's a good question it. I think the question will this will play out over the next few hours, maybe into the next day or so in the United States.

The #metoo movement is incredibly strong and what Shaun White has done, obviously admitted to some cases, allegations and others is very similar to some of the others who have, men who have fallen over the last few months. I am not in the business of predicting the future, but I still think it's an important story to have a conversation about that's why I wrote about it and I do think it's something it's very valuable as a culture that we discussed.

CHURCH: It is a cultural shift and these sorts of incidents certainly send out a message to all men and the young man around the world to what is acceptable and what is not. Christine Brennan, thank you so much for joining us in shedding more light on that story, we appreciated it.

[03:45:00] Thousands of Filipino workers in Kuwait may take our President Rodrigo Duterte's offer for a free flight home, he has banned citizens from employment there after a domestic worker was found dead in her employer's home. CNN Lynda Kinkade has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CONNECT THE WORLD: They flooded in to the Manila airport amid crowds and cameras, some covering their faces. As many as 10,000 Filipinos workers in Kuwait are expected back in their home country after the Philippines government offered free flight to its domestic workers.

President Rodrigo has ordered a ban on the employment overseas foreign workers in Kuwait after abuse as well as the death of several women, including 29-year-old domestic helper Joanna Demafelis. Her body was found in a freezer in her employer's apartment. Authorities say she could have been there for more than a year. President Duterte has bound to support the workers upon their return.

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES: I want total ban and they can come here we will have to support them.

What do you mean subsidize them, you come home. And I will sell my soul to the devil to look for money so that you can come home and live comfortably here.

KINKADE: CNN ask the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister about Duterte's ban and he condemns it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): This escalation will not serve the interest of either Kuwait or the Philippines. The only solution is to cooperate and collaborate on details of the very sad unfortunate event that happened.

KINKADE: Claire of the international labor organization also took issue with Duterte's plan. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This will prevent Kuwaiti's government from

seeking domestic workers from other countries of origin. So it is not a long term solution, it won't replace the measures they should be taken in the countries destination.

KINKADE: The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry says that there were 276,000 Filipino workers in the country in January. According to the Philippine statistical authority. There were 2.2 million Filipinos overseas working in 2016. An overwhelming 57 percent located in the Middle East, 6.4 percent in Kuwait. Linda Kincaid CNN.

(END VIDEO)

CHURCH: And Anna Olsen joins me now from Bangkok Thailand, she is a technical officer with the international labor organization. Thank you so much for joining us. The details of the story are shocking when you when you see the death of this young woman, talk to us about how extensive this abuse of these domestic workers is? Not just in Kuwait but across the world.

ANNA OLSEN, TECHNICAL OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION: I think you are right that it is a global part, we know that domestic workers work in terrible condition in many countries in the world suffering from (inaudible), abuse, exploitation, and force labor and in her case eve death.

CHURCH: Are there any solution here when we see how the Philippines leader is responding to this. He is pulling the workers out, is that the answer or is there another solution, some sort for of way to measure and ensure that police that this domestic helpers are kept safe.

OLSEN: Well what we need to do is ensure domestic work is recognized at work and minimum standard in place for domestic workers where ever in, including migrants domestic workers who work far away from home.

So in 2011 the ILO, International labor Organization put in place, the convention number one (inaudible) on the domestic workers which outline some of the standard and encourages all of the country to recognize both international labor of domestic workers. So that would be a start to recognize the individuals as workers and to ensure that I have safety and security in their workplace like everybody else.

CHURCH: And the problem is of course, once said these young women anonymously young women go into the various homes across the globe in a number of countries. There is no way of knowing how they're being treated. Whether they're being given adequate facilities to live day to day whether they are working eight hours a day, or a 18 hours a day so that is the difficulty here is not keeping tabs on what happens to all of these women, were talking millions of women going to various homes across the globe.

OLSEN: yes it is a huge problem, one in 13 (inaudible) women across the world as domestic workers and they are working on a workplace that is isolated and hard to get to. So for labors inspection, the traditional inspection as we know observation management to ensure that they are not suffering is extremely difficult.

[03:50:13] CHURCH: And what are some of the abuse that this young women face?

OLSEN: Sadly we see almost the full (inaudible) of abuses, we see wage theft, under payments, excessive working hours, death bondage, restriction of movement particularly in certain countries with holding od I.D. and document or passport to ensure the workers don't leave, exploited in work places, sexual harassment, rape unfortunately (inaudible).

CHURCH: It is a horrible list and be interesting to see what is done in the aftermath of this incident between Kuwait and the Philippines, we will continue to follow the story of course Anna Olsen thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

OLSEN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Let us take another break here, but still to come, for the North Korean Olympic athletes. The pay skaters, carve a page in winter games history look at what set them apart we will be back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: North Korean athletes are back in the spotlight after winter games the pair's skaters build a warm welcome when they took to the ice. They are the only athletes to compete under the North Korean flag and the only North Koreans to qualify the games on merit and the unified women's hockey team is facing Japan. They've lost two games so far to Switzerland and Sweden.

Our Paula Hancocks is outside the ice arena joins us now with the very latest. I know Paula, it's very windy there, everyone being told to stay indoors so we will keep it brief so that you can get back indoors, right so let us start with the unified Korean women's hockey team, and the pressure on them. Saturday was intense when they lost, but it's all about diplomacy is it, so how are they getting along and how's it looking for them going forward?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary just in the last few minutes they actually scored, so it's 9-1 to Japan. They are still trailing Japan. This is the first goal that they have the have scored in Olympics so the crowd went up (inaudible) when they scored that goal there. Of course the North Korea cheerleaders today that dressed in the in the unified Korea outfit rather the North Korean outfit.

They were cheering very loudly and it really seems so -- most people in the audience are actually cheering for them that you must feel sorry for the Japanese team, because they seem to be able to compete when it comes to noise, but that is a great sense of goodwill towards this team at least inside the stadium. Obviously there are critics outside that that they do not agree with is even happening. I have when he noticed that he protested. I recently saw that in the early days of the Olympics some South Koreans didn't believe that the North should be able to come to the Olympics. Even after having not given anything up in order to be invited here. Certainly there is a great deal of goodwill towards this team inside and it is becoming a little bit more of a nail by tonight. It is a bit closer to one to Japan, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well we will keep an eye on that game for sure and still on the subject of diplomacy.

[03:55:00] What about the North Korean figure skaters a lot of pressure and attention on them as well? How did they go with their debut and how they handling all of this?

HANCOCKS: Well it would be a meant to mind pressure on the pair, but they had they dealt with it incredibly well this morning. We note that said that they are now 11 to 22. They had a career best performance by all accounts that are ahead of South Korea there ahead of the United States, Japan, so they really have exceeded expectations. When you do consider the amount of pressure on them. It say it's quite remarkable. They are of course the only two who did qualify for the Olympics. The other North Korean athletes who are involved here in Pyeongchang were just given a wildcard entry so certainly they would be very pleased with the way things went today. Rosemary.

CHURCH: I'm sure Paula Hancocks joining us there from the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang were it is nearly 6:00 in the evening. Many thanks. Let us turn to our meteorologist now, Pedram Javaheri is also following the highs and lows of Pyeongchang and he joins us from the international weather center and of course as we saw there, very high winds forcing people indoors, Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely and I think this is the final night for that Rosemary. We will see the conditions really improved at the sunset in the next couple of hours, we have some eventually disrupted by this as well. The passage of a front and you got to keep in mind, winds are purely a product of the difference in pressure between the area of high pressure and the area of low pressure, the area of low pressure (inaudible) by high pressure try to build back behind it.

And with that said, you look at the terrain across this region, 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula is covered by mountain ranges so you put that in place with the passage of the front, of course you are going to have a strong pressure rating, gusty winds across some of this mountaintops, of course the Alpine events really take a brunt of this as well.

But when you look at this and get up to the higher elevations. There is little friction to be dealt with as well so no buildings or no trees to slow the winds down essentially getting a straight line winds coming down the mountain slope, in fact they can increase the wind speed by compression as they come down the mountain slopes so you really exacerbating the issue at hand and you know this wind even at this hour, right around 25 to 35 km/h and then got up to 60 or more kilometers per hour so we think beyond today the wind will begin to die down. You notice it really clears up here for the next couple of days,

potentially even warms up Rosemary as well in fact the forecast over the next couple of days takes the afternoon above the freezing mark so maybe one less later for some of our reporters in the field for the next couple of days.

CHURCH: That is something. Thanks so much Pedram appreciated it and thank you for your company this hour, I am Rosemary Church. The news continues with Hannah Vaughn Jones in London. Have a great day.

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