coming up here, the u.s. attorney general's new actions that could help donald trump's friends and allies. evacuation. the coronavirus outbreak has put hundreds in quarantine on a cruise ship, but they could soon be heading home. we'll tell you about that deal and a deal with the taliban, the u.s. says that it has reached an agreement to reduce violence in afghanistan. welcome to our viewers he here in the united states and all around the world coming to you live from atlanta, i'm natalie allen. "newsroom" starts right now.

thank you again geagain for joi. william barr is facing harsh scrutiny over whether he handles cases involving president trump and his allies based on justice or politics. and there is word the attorney general has ordered the reexamine nation of several high profile cases near and dear to the president. jim acosta reports from the white house. >> reporter: the president is finding that his convicted associates have friends in key places as william barr has called on prosecutors to review the case of michael flynn who plead guilty of lying to the fbi. mr. trump has repeatedly

complained about the justice department's handling of flynn and also the trial of roger stone who now faces a lighter sentence after barr intervened in that case. >> he is a good person. and what they did to him is very unfair in my opinion. and what they did to general flynn is very unfair in my opinion. >> reporter: still the president isn't getting everything he wants out of the justice department. white house official said mr. trump was angry when he learned federal prosecutors won't pursue charges against andrew mccabe who faced accusations of m misleading investigators about conversations with the press. >> like all mens, i've been greatly concerned by what i've seen take place in the white house and in the department of justice. >> reporter: but the president is brushing off the attorney general's claim in an interview with abc that he hasn't been requested, quote, to do anything in a criminal case asserting this doesn't mean that i do not have as president the legal right to do so. i do.

but i've so far chosen not to. >> to have public statements and tweets made about the department, about people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job. >> reporter: a sentiment echoed by some top republicans. >> the president made a great choice when he picked bill barr and i think the president should listen to his advice. >> reporter: but democrats aren't buying it, suspecting that barr is looking for more cover to carry out the president's wishes. >> what the tattorney general i really saying, i know what the president wants and i'm doing exactly what the president wants, i just wish that he wouldn't tweet about it. >> reporter: it is worth recalling what michael cohen once told congress, that mr. trump rarely gives you had

direct orders. >> he doesn't give you orders. he speaks in code and i understand the code. are the and as f >> reporter: and the president is now admitting that he sent rudy giuliani to ukraine to dig up dirt on joe biden. >> was it strange to send rudy giuliani to ukraine, your personal lawyer? are you serious you did that? >> not at all. rudy was a great crime fighter. you know that maybe better than anybody. >> reporter: something he denied last year. >> no, i didn't direct him. but he is a warrior. rudy is a warrior. rudy went -- >> reporter: all in all trump advisers seem to be on a win streak as he continues this apparent revenge tour. as one adviser put to me, if mr. trump drank champagne, he'd be sipping some this weekend. jim acosta, cnn, the white house. back to that high profile case of president trump's long time adviser roger stone, he is again requesting a new trial.

this comes despite a judge denying a previous request. earlier this week, attorney general barr stepped in and overruled prosecutor sentencing recommendation which led all four career prosecutors on the case to quit. stone is to be sentenced thursday on charges of obstruction, witness tampering and providing false statements to congress. let's talk about these developments with our guest, natasha lindstaedt, professor of government. good to see you. good morning. it has been quite a week of government in washington, has it not. a whirlwind week at the department of justice. we saw the a.g. saying he can't do his job if the president tweets about cases, but then it appears that he is listening to the president. what are you making of these developments? >> it has been very interesting. i think i thought for a moment when barr made this interview where he said that he really can't do his job, that maybe he

genuinely felt this. but there have been seaeeen ske that feel this is all just theater and this enables barr to continue do what trump wants him do, which is to sbrfr in these cases. we've seen this happen with the roger stone case, with michael flynn case, that the president feels like he has to have a say over what the justice department is doing and they are changing their mind, this is unprecedented. really incredible that these kinds of things are happening. and i think that in order for him to -- barr i should say to pursue these types of investigations, investigating into what happened with michael flynn, changing the sentence recommendations for michael flynn, changing the sentence recommendations for roger stone, he can't continue to do this out in the open with trump tweeting the way he has been. it has been really disruptive. and so for skeptics, they feel he had to do this interview to

pacify critics who feel the justice department has no credit ability at the moment and then that enables him to continue do trump's work for him. >> right. is this undermining the work of the justice department and is president trump trying to in effect undo the mueller investigation? >> that's what it seems like. and i really think that we have a real crisis here with the ruled of law. which means that everybody should be treated equally under the law. no one is above the law and there shouldn't be political interference into judicial decisions. but we're seeing that the justice department is changing its mind on things, where at one point you had the attorney's office of the district of clum bhee he columbia seem to agree on the sentencing for roger stone and then they changed their mind and that is what led to the prosecutors withdrawing from the case because they can't do their jobs when there is this much political interference going on. and it is really eroding at our democratic institutions. so it is incredibly concerning

that this continues to happen. and it really will require congress to get involved at some point to check what the judiciary is doing in complying so heavily with the president. >> and that is interesting because i was just about to ask you about democrats, they are calling for an emergency investigation and they are saying that the attorney general should lose his job. you know, it goes right back to the polarization of the parties in washington to hear republicans say it, attorney general barr is the best thing since sliced bread, democrats saying he is the worst ever. >> right. and democrats haven't criticized tornados gener attorneys johnson & johnson in t general near this in the past. but barr has done things starting with the way that he

ent rupt enter runted the mueller report. and he said that anything has to be approved by barr himself. and then he also placed a close ally in to the position of the attorney's office at the district of columbia. and this on top of all the political interference going on into the case of michael flynn and the case of roger stone, all of this adds up to a real problem for the democrats and it really should be a problem for anyone who cares about the rule of law. >> we appreciate your insights. this is a story that is unfolding. thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. lawyer michael avenatti, remember him? well, he faces years in prison after a new york jury found him guilty of trying to extort one of the biggest brands in sport,

nike. avenatti rose to fame by representing porn star stormy daniels in a lawsuit against president trump. cnn's polo sandoval has more about it. >> reporter: throughout the trial, prosecutors described his actions as an old nagsed take done fashioned takedown. he told nike that he would hold a press conference and say that the company illegally paid amateur badge plsketball player. after about 13 hours of deliberations, a federal jury in manhattan on friday found avenatti guilty on all three counts of his indictment and that includes attempted extorti extortion, wire fraud. the government said avenatti also betrayed his clients a youth basketball coach by advocating for money for himself instead of for his client. avenatti could be seen doing a

sign of the cross before the verdicts were head and then hugged and thanked one of his lawyers before being led out of the courtroom. his sentencing is scheduled to happen in june, though his attorney saying that he will appeal. >> avenatti is avenatti. he is a strong guy. and obviously he's disappointed, but he's a fighter. so thank you all. >> reporter: avenatti best known for representing stormy daniels in her lawsuit against president trump, he had been in custody since mid-january when a judge found that he violated the terms of his pretrial release and ordered him in custody. avenatti also still faces two more trials, one here in new york for allegedly stealing proceeds from stormy daniels's book and the other for fraud in california. he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. polo cnn, new york. and there is a stunning development concerning the quarantined cruise ship in gentlemanen p

japan, about 400 americans on board are being told that they can leave on sunday. but there is a big catch. we'll tell you about it here. plus seven days of nonviolence in afghanistan. is it possible? we'll lay out the details of a new deal between the united states and the taliban. $9.95 at my age?

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hundreds of americans stuck aboard that quarantined cruise ship in japan could be coming home earlier than expected. we've now learned the u.s. is preparing a charter flight sunday for about 400 americans still on that ship right there. they and other passengers have been confined to their rooms for 11 days. and even though their evacuation is voluntary, there are some vaf yot caveats. fix they will be quarantined in the u.s. for another 14 days. and if they choose not to leave the ship on sunday, the u.s. embassy warns that they won't be allowed back into the u.s. for an unconfined period of time. let's bring in matt rivers. he is in yokohama covering this story from the start and talking to people on this ship. are you getting reaction now to

these options that they will have, matt? >> reporter: yeah, i think most people are certainly going to take the american government up on that option, especially because it is news we just learned about the disembark indication of the rest of the ship. let me start with the americans. interestinglyof the ship. let me start with the americans. interestingly the state department has not confirmed that it was happening, but a passenger on board sent us a letter that the letter lays out the plan for the americans to send the plane to tokyo on sunday evening, people who want to get on that plane will leave the ship, get on a bus, go to the plane, fly back and do that 14 day quarantine period in one of two different american air force bases in california and san antonio. if they choose to stay, though, that is when things would get interesting. what we also learned from the captain of the ship in an announcement that this

quarantine period imposed by japanese authorities scheduled to end on february 19, that will go further and here is why. starting on february 18th, so that is tuesday of this week, what is going to happen is that they will begin japanese authorities testing all of the remaining passengers on board the ship, but they can only test so many people per day. and those tests take three days to come back. so if these passengers are tested on the 18th, the earliest they could get off is the 21st and we know that not everyone can get tested on the 18th. so that is the procedure facing all the other nationalities that are on board this ship of which there are thousands of people, that quarantine period that was supposed to end on the 19th, now at the earlier for people will end on the 21st. and how long it could go after that we're not sure. >> there are some avenues for this to end, but it is still as you had say complicated for sure. matt rivers for us as always, thank you for bringing us the latest. the coronavirus outbreak is

giving all of us a crash course in how these diseases can spread and what can be done to counter them. as lucy calearned, that is leavg some questioning the crisis. >> reporter: u.s. officials are frustrated with a lack of information and data, but some americans under quarantine in the u.s. want more transparency from their own government. fears and frustrations are growing among americans. at the miramar air station near san diego, evacuees from wuhan increasingly worried after two were diagnosed with the virus. now in isolation at a nearby moment, but not before spending time among the healthy evacuees. jake sob wi jake wilson is worried about infection.

>> we're all coming from the epicenter so we wanted to get tested because in case of the people that were within our facility that are walking around with us, going to meals with us, not wearing face masks with us, were infected and they had a reason to hide their symptoms, they could potentially be transmitting the virus to us within the quarantine facility. >> reporter: he and other evacuees sent this petition to the cdc demanding critical changes including pre-having ge delivered to their rooms. the top request, for all evacuees to be tested for the virus for now denied, the cdc saying it is not necessary. >> our biggest concern, the first thing that we've asked for on the petition, the ability to be voluntarily tested for the coronavirus is still like fell on deaf ears. >> reporter: a cdc spokesman told cnn several changes have

been made to many of the procedures to address these concerns. we're doing what we can to make everyone as comfortable as possible. for jacob, that is not enough. >> i've felt very troubled by the cdc's response and i feel some of the lack of precautions that they had taken from the very beginning of arrival have puts at risk. >> that doesn't make you feel he ve very safe? >> no, and i think a lot of people here don't feel safe as well. >> reporter: meanwhile wuhan reporting a record spike in the number of deaths, reporting to war time measures barring citizens from leaving their homes. beijing revealing for the first time more than 1700 frontline medics are in-fenktsed with the virus. short on medical supplies, they are creating protective gear out of garbage bags. american officials are frustrated with the lack of reliable data. there are only 15 confirmed cases in the u.s. so far, but

that number could glow. >> rig degr grow. >> right now the risk is low, but viruses don't respect borders. >> reporter: we're learning that five american cities will give testing patients with flu-like symptoms for the drone. the c didmentdc says this is to determine whether it is spreading across communities in the u.s. and you can get instant continuous updates on the virus on our website, cnn.com. next here, a step toward peace in afghanistan. the u.s. and taliban have found some common ground. the specific ways we could see a reduction of violence in america's longest war, we'll talk about that. also, president trump is diverting billions of dollars to his border wall. we'll tell you why even some republican lawmakers want to stop it. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪

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welcome back to our viewers. we appreciate you watching "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. attorney general william barr has ordered a reexamination of several high profile cases, including that of president trump's former national security adviser michael flynn. he pleaded guilty in 2017 of lying to the fbi and currently awaits sentencing. attorney michael avenatti faces years in prison after a

new york jury found him guilty of trying to export nike for more than $20 million. avenatti rose to fame by representing porn star stormy daniels in a lawsuit against donald trump. hundreds of americans aboard a quarantined cruise ship in jpan could soon be coming home. the u.s. government plans to fly them back on a voluntary basis on sunday. they will still face a 14 day quarantine once back in the u.s. but the u.s. embassy warns if they choose to remain on the ship, they won't be allowed back in the u.s. for an undefined period of time. the u.s. and taliban say that they will both scale back the violence in afghanistan, a possible step toward peace. the agreement calls for a seven day reduction in violence. the u.s. military afghan leaders and the taliban will have a channel to discuss issues. a u.s. official says the

agreement is very specific about bombs and rocket attacks. the seven day reduction will take place, quote, very soon according to that official. let's get more about it now from munich where world leaders are hae attending the annual security conference there. vivian, it looks like progress, but a lot riding on a week long pause in violence and of course the taliban have to keep up their end of the deal. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. so we know that in a matter of days essentially they will kick off what is a seven day cease fire to see if there is goodwill on both side, reduction in violence, that will ultimately if done properly lead to a peace deal. this is something that president trump has been talking about since he took office essentially. all part of a plan to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan, something that he has promised even during his campaign. but obviously every single

effort to do that thus far has failed because of the recurring streams of violence that take place in afghanistan. and so at this point officials are saying it is progress just that they have agreed to agree. a couple of weeks ago, it was not looking good. efforts to bring the taliban to the table have collapsed last year when an attack in kabul actually killed a u.s. soldier and president trump put a stop to the talks. so definitely progress, but again as you say, so much riding on to see if both sides can commit to the stop in violence. >> absolutely. and vivian, you are at the munich security conference of course. what have been some of the major themes being discussed so far? >> reporter: so secretary of state mike pompeo and secretary of defense mark esper just wrapped up their speeches and they both touched upon the two main themes of this conference. the actual theme of the munich security forum is this idea that the world is turning away from

the west. westlessness. mike pompeo actually rejected that notion. he said that the swes winniwestg and will continue to win if they work together. he called upon european allies to stay together in terms of nato and other multilateral organizations. something that we don't hear a lot from president trump himself who has rejected a lot of that premise. he was also responding to g germany's president who said that the american first post really doesn't work in this day and age, that that is not realistic and rejected that notion. and the other theme that secretary esper touched upon and a lot of other officials are talking about is china with regard to huawei and the 5g network. the u.s. continuing to try to pressure european allies to ban the use of you huawei. they say that the chinese government essentially uses it as a tool for spying. and so they are really trying to get countries like the uk and germany on board with them to

really pressure china and ban huawei from doing their 5g networks. >> we'll see it that happens. vivian, thanks so much. the trump administration is diverting close to $4 billion from pentagon funds to pay for his border wall. congress had specifically appropriated that money to buy military equipment, so as barbara starr reports, the move is not sitting well with lawmakers, even some from his own party. >> it is pretty impressive. >> reporter: president trump showing off the progress of building his border wall. >> right now we have 122 miles of wall that has been built. >> reporter: the latest plan to help pay for it is to divert nearly $4 billion of pentagon spending, much of it from weapons programs to keep going with one of the president's most controversial priorities. the new funding proposal is

facing a buzz saw of bipartisan congressional opposition. the ranking republican on the house armed services committee says the funding shift is unconstitutional. >> the constitution says it is congress' role to raise and maintain, provide for armies and navys and other military forces. what has happened here is they didn't get congress' approval. they just moved money around. >> reporter: and even as lawmakers say border security is important -- >> so are the priorities of providing what our troops need to fight and win america's wars. >> reporter: the money is coming out of critical programs such as the advanced f 35 fighter jet and the armed program both considered vital to war fighting. >> i would say border security is national security and national security is our mission. the action we took is legal. >> reporter: and some of the dollars being put into dod's drug interdiction fund to help

justify building the wall by stopping drug smuggling. but one former homeland security official says not so fast. >> a wall is a stationery object that is easy to defeat. and traffickers will use boats, aircraft, they will use anything. so a wall is ineffective to stopping illegal drugs coming into the united states. >> reporter: now, when the president talks about building a wall, of course most of the work that has been done has pain upgrading and improving existing barriers. but with a total price tag of $11 billion for the entire project, there is a lot of worry now that the president sees the pentagon as the cash register to pay for it all. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. we're now one week away from the nevada neff caucuses and democratic presidential candidates are rallying voters. joe biden is redeploying his

campaign staffers to nevada and south carolina with hopes of regaining momentum. and the nevada neff state democratic party is rolling out a new reporting system tryingto avoid the vote reporting chaos that of course happened in iowa. and for weeks, former new york mayor michael bloomberg has been able to stay away from the primary fray, but now an audio clip has resurfaced of bloomberg showing support for the controversial stop and frisk policy in new york. candidates are taking the opportunity to lash out. >> reporter: as michael bloomberg rises in polls, his sp past is drawing fresh skrut ful scrutiny. he apologized against for the stop and frisk policy. >> what i can do is learn from my mistakes. >> reporter: the city policy allowed police to stop and search anyone for weapons

discriminately targeting people of color, a policy bloomberg assumed as heard in recently resurfaced comments from 2015. >> i defended it looking back for too long. because i didn't understand then the unintended pain it was causing to young black and brown families and their kids. >> reporter: his democratic rivals say his words are not enough. >> i think at the end of the day when people, a, learn about mr. bloomberg's record of stop and frisk in new york city, i think that will change some minds. >> reporter: older bloomberg comments also roaring back. in 2008, he appeared to defend red lining, a discriminatory housing practice that denied loans and assistance to people in low income neighborhoods. >> probably all started back when there was a lot of pressure on banks to make loans to

everyone. >> reporter: bloomberg seemed to suggest that ending red lining led to the financial crisis. >> and then congress got involved, local elected officials as well, said that is not fair, these people should be able to get credit. and once you started pushing in that direction, banks started making more and more loans where the credit of the person buying the house wasn't as good as you would like. >> reporter: his campaign put out a statement after those comments came to light saying by saying something bad, the financial crisis, followed something good, which is the fight against red lining that he was part of as mayor. his democratic rivals pounced. >> that crisis would not have been averted if the banks had been able to be bigger racists. and anyone who thinks that should not be the leader of our party.

next here, the syrian regime steps up its campaign, and hundreds of thousands of syrian families, why the bombing campaign isn't the only threat facing them. and also ahead here, a giant iceberg the size of a major american city breaks off of antarctica. what it tells us about our changing world. hi! we're glad you came in, what's on your mind?

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we turn now to the ongoing fighting this syria. the u.n. says more 800,000 people have daen beebeen displn syrian government is stepping up its campaign to take the last province with an intense air campaign and massive troop

movements. for those fleeing, freezing temperatures are making their suffering even worse. arwa damon shows us. >> reporter: there are make shift camps like this that you find throughout these rolling hills that are very close to the border with turkey because this is where people think that they might be able to find some sort of refuge. 800,000 people have been on the move since december. but when it comes to safety, there is nowhere inside syria that is actually guaranteed. this is a family who we met earlier. we've been speaking to them. they just arrived here last night and they say that they are not entirely sure that they will come -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: the bombing is

still very close to us here. it is very hard. there is no proper heating. the kids don't even have proper shoes, warmth, the ground. she's been burning what she can here. coal, wood, at times even rubber when she's had to. one of her kids is actually sick back there. [ speaking foreign language ] she has a fever. it was because of the cold temperatures. the temperatures here can drop below freezing. and this is a big issue for a lot of these families. we spoke to a family whose baby died from the cold, that is what the doctors had told the mother. she was in complete shock when we spoke to her. and like this family, so many others that we're talking to say

they are not entirely sure that even this is going to be safe. she was telling us earlier that sometimes she wishes that they were all dead so that they didn't have to live like this. and she was saying that their life right now is a matter of being stuck between trying to find somewhere safe to live and somehow escape the bombing. arwa damon, cnn, idlib province. idlib is one of the strategic keys to the conflict, it is the last area in syria held by the rebels. it stands in the middle of many syrian government assets. but there is another reason bashar al assad's government wants it back. a key highway runs right through idlib, the route from allepo to deaamascus also links jordan to syria. syrian forces took control of this highway.

and there is a russian air base nearby. russia of course an ally of the syrian assad government. michael more ran an is a le at the university of denver. thanks so much for coming on, michael. >> very glad do it. thank you. >> and first up, what do we know about what syrian and russian troops are doing, are they acting with impunity targeting civilians as well ass reb the r hold up in idlib? >> what the situation in syria is right now, the filling of a vacuum. for several years, going back really to the initial deployment of u.s. special forces there, there was a check on unrestrained movements into areas that were being held by someone other than the syrian government. the decision to essentially let

the turks take over in the areas where thekurds previously held sway, and then the decision to essentially wink and nod at anything that the russians do has allowed them to do -- you know, fill this vacuum that was once a really important, you know, projection of american influence in that region. >> i was going to ask you about that because this follows the announcement of significant withdrawal of u.s. troops. to what degree does the u.s. have a presence and what role can it play in terms of deescalation? >> reporter: the u.s. has the ability to strike into syria and will pretty much retain that even if they don't have troops there.u.s. has this incredible ability to strike at long distance in almost anyplace. but that doesn't give you the ability to project influence in those regions. and this is really the point of

everything that has happened in the last six months. the russians have a strategic goal and that is to show that they are essentially the most important power in the region. a position really for decades that was the preserve of the united states. that is no longer true. it is not that the united states has lost the ability do that, it is that this particular administration has demonstrated no political will to do it. and to be quite fair, the american public is less and less interested in supporting these kinds of roles around the world. and that is basically given a green light to the russians to give the green light to the syrians saying go ahead and retake territory, whatever tactics you need, go for it. >> so then we're poised to see direct conflict between nato ally turkey and not only syria but russia as well? >> you know, there is a bit of a

dance going on between the russians and the turks. the syrians and russians are very much in sync. iranians and syrians are allies. the turks and the syrians were once very close. in fact erdogan and assad actually vacationed together. they had a family vacation before the -- >> how things have changed. >> yes. fell out pretty seriously. and the russians have now essentially begun to prize turkey away from nato. so turkey has become very dependent on russian for all sorts of reasons, not just for weaponry which has become an issue between the u.s. and turkey, but also for energy supplies because the u.s. has shut down iranian oil supplies and that was a major source of oil for the turks. and so the russians have stepped in. and so the turks are being prized away from nato in a very interesting way. and in a strategic sense, you

know, the russians are playing chess very well. the u.s. doesn't seem to want to play. >> we really appreciate your expertise. michael moran, thanks for coming on. >> thanks very much. scientists have been watching a massive iceberg deep in the southern hemisphere, it sheared off a glacier in antarctica. ahead, what it means for our warming planet. let's get down to business. the business of family time... ...and downtime. ...and you time. ...and forgetting what time it is...altogether. modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because when your business is making time, our business is you. get the lowest price guaranteed on all choice hotels when you book direct at choicehotels.com. - do that are degrading?ideo tapes, film reels, or photos, legacybox professionally converts them to dvds, thumb drive, or the cloud.

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we have olympic news. japan is getting ready for the summer games. crowds gathered to watch a rehearsal for the torch relay. nice to talk about july when this is february. organizers say everything remains on track despite the outbreak of the coronavirus. the international olympic committee says it has been advised by the world health organization that there is no need to cancel or move the games at this time. one of the worldest richest and most successful soccer teams is facing a ban from a big tournament, the manchester city has been banned from the

european champions league for two years. friday's announcement stunned man city fans, uefa, the governing body, says there were serious breaches of its regulations by the english club. the ban will cover the 2021 and 2022 seasons. the club was also fined more than $32 million. man city says they are disappointed by the ruling and will appeal. the late kobe bryant is headlining the list of finalists for the basketball hall of fame. he played all of his so 20 seasons with the lakers and is this the first year he is eligible for the recall of faha. the inductees will be announced in april. bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed in the hole copter crash a few weeks ago. derek van dam is with us now. a heat wave has struck a

notoriously frigid locations. >> and interesting what is happening on the coldest continent antarctica. we had its this week similar to that of san diego. granted it is summer, but just extraordinary to see temperatures like this. it has never been recorded this warm. and let's take you there. these are images coming from the northern peninsula, closest to the southern tip of south america. but this is the one of the fastest warming places on earth, 5.4 degrees fahrenheit in just the last 50 years. what a disturbing trend. heat waves here leaving part of the continent without snow and this is impacting some of the penguin colonies that are on the decline specifically chin trapped penguins. and they have seen a massive reduction within that area. so let's talk about the heat wave that is occurring. takeantarctica.

and again, south america just to our north. we recorded a temperature of 65 degrees farenheit. and sunday of this week, 69.3 degrees. the previous record was 63.5. so we're eclipsing these daytime highs, record high temperatures in antarctica, the coldest place on the plan either by tet by th. and happened twice in a period of seven days. the pine island delay are sure, th glacier has had some implications due to the heat wave and it is captured here. you can see the massive iceberg which by the way is roughly the size of the city of atlanta. it broke off just a couple of days ago and now floating openly across the open ocean. and this is just one of the tell tail signs, fingerprints of climate change especially when we're coming off the warmest january globally on record.

and so now the new january record of 2.50 degrees, a disturbing trend to say the least. this is the 44th consecutive january with temperatures above the 20th century average. so this is having implications on all types of locations across the world including europe, asia and australia, second warmest january is on record for those specific continents. but when you talk globally, it was a record and the arctic sea ice and antarctic sea ice are being reduced as well. five top warmest years on record all within the past five years. so again more and more and more signs. tough to be a tiskeptic these occasions. >> and yet the u.s. president is a denier. all right. another hour ahead. thanks for watching "cnn newsroom." we'll be right back. amazon prime video is on xfinity x1.

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we're backing up a week of chaos in the justice department with yet another story of controversy. our sources say that the attorney general is calling for a closer look into michael flynn's case. that's coming up here this hour. also, americans stranded by the coronavirus could get as early as this weekend. we're live near the cruise ship that has been their prison for almost two weeks. and called up in a seamlessly endless war in syria. a look at life for hundred of thousands of civilns