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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Paul Manafort Gets 3 Years, 11 Months In Prison; Broad Anti- Hate Measure Passes the House; "Simpsons" Episode with Michael Jackson Pulled; 9-Year-Old Girl Helps Design New Curry Shoes. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 08, 2019 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[05:00:00] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm old school. It sounds odd to me.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: And then you get a discount.

BRIGGS: It sounds odd to me. But, yes, I'm sure it will be a huge hit.

DEAN: We'll see.

All right. Well, EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

BRIGGS: Four years in prison, but that's better than expected for Paul Manafort. The one-time Trump campaign chair avoids a virtual life sentence for now. Meanwhile, Democrats are lashing out.

DEAN: A measure condemning hate passes the House with no mention of Ilhan Omar. Can Nancy Pelosi get the Congress back in order?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTOON CHARACTER: I'm Michael Jackson.

It's true. I'm with your father in a mental institution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: A classic "Simpson" episode never aired again. Producers pulled the plug after a disturbing documentary about Michael Jackson.

DEAN: And on this International Women's Day, a basketball star keeps his promise. Steph Curry shoes now available for girls.

Good morning to you, and welcome to EARLY START on this International Women's Day. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Good to have you here.

DEAN: Thanks.

BRIGGS: Happy Friday, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs. It's March 8th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Paul Manafort can officially trade in that ostrich jacket for a jump suit. Never as a four-year sentence though seem so sure. That was the prison term handed down to the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The sentence imposed for defrauding banks and the government and for failing to pay taxes on millions he earned from political consulting in Ukraine.

DEAN: Forty-seven months is the longest sentence stemming from the Mueller probe but it's well short of what was expected, even though as the judge noted Manafort did not express regret for his crimes.

CNN crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, Dave and Jessica.

Paul Manafort received 47 months in prison, much lower than the recommendation of prosecutors who had asked the judge for 19 to 24 years. The judge calling the sentencing guidelines out of whack, gave Manafort a nearly four-year prison term.

Now, Manafort, he spoke briefly, telling the judge how prayer and faith have helped him get through this time and asked the judge to be compassionate. He told the judge that the last two years have been the most difficult years for his family and him.

And the judge said that he thought the sentence and recommendation was in fact excessive, adding that he believed Manafort lived an otherwise blameless life, was a good friend and generous person to others before he handed down the sentence.

Now, Manafort, he is due back in court next week in D.C. for a separate case where he's expected to get up to ten years in prison -- Dave, Jessica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: All right. Thank you, Shimon.

The judge also gave Manafort credit for nine months served which reduces the sentence further. And as Judge T.S. Ellis read the sentence, there was no visible reaction from Manafort nor his wife Kathleen who was watching in the gallery. After the hearing Manafort was wheeled out of the room. His eye seeming blood shot.

Democrats quickly criticized the judge's 47-month sentence is far too short to fit the crime. Remember, many of them are the same Democrats who warned President Trump's attacks on judges threaten the justice system.

DEAN: It is true the sentence was considerably below the sentencing guidelines and many lawyers object that less well known defendants get harsher sentences for lesser crimes, but Judge Ellis argued his sentence was more in line with committing similar crimes, saying: I'm convinced that's a just sentence for that conduct.

BRIGGS: Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats looking to move forward after the house overwhelmingly passes a very broad measure condemning hate. It caps the week of a bitter infighting within the party over how to respond to comments by freshman Representative Ilhan Omar. She linked Jewish money to congressional support for Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: One resolution addressing these forms of hatred not mentions her name because it's not about her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The resolution was revised and expanded repeatedly this week. It wound up covering hatred towards Jews, Muslims, African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Hindu, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community and immigrants.

DEAN: Twenty-three Republicans voted against it, claiming it was too broad. They wanted it focused only on anti-Semitism. And despite voting for the resolution, some Democrats actually agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), NEW YORK: I wish we had had a separate resolution about anti-Semitism. I think we deserved it. I think it was wrong not to have it. I don't think we should mix everything.

No member of Congress should be making anti-Semitic statements. No member of Congress should be saying hurtful things and then not apologizing for them.

REP. TED DEUTCH (D), FLORIDA: Why are we unable to singularly condemn anti-Semitism? If Jews' families were persecuted, or attacked, or killed are talking about how anti-Semitic words can lead at their most hateful and violent extremes, then it's anti-Semitism.

[05:05:07] Now, take my word for it, if you continue to do that, then please understand that an anti-Semite will hear those words as a dog whistle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The week-long debate over the hate resolution overshadowed all other Democratic initiatives like climate change and health care. Those proposals are expected to be rolled out in the coming months.

BRIGGS: The Trump administration considering a move that would reveal the actual cost of your health care for the first time. It would require hospitals, doctors and other providers to publicly disclose the secretly negotiated prices they arrange with insurance companies. The idea here, put more decision-making power in the hands of the patients, posting rates so consumers can shop around could lower co- pays and/or deductibles.

DEAN: The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking public comment, but that request has been largely overlooked because it was buried in a 700-page draft regulation released last month improving patient access to electronic health records. Now, this move is likely to meet fierce opposition and possible legal challenges from doctors, hospitals and insurers.

BRIGGS: Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper officially launching his presidential campaign in Denver. He's casting himself as a pragmatic leader, but he also appealed to the party base with progressive positions like universal health care and closing tax loopholes used by corporations and the wealthy. Hickenlooper says beating President Trump is essential but that's not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-CO), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our country stopped making progress when we hunkered down on opposite sides of the continental divides, red versus blue, rich and poor, urban and rural. It's time to end this American crisis of division.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Well, you can scratch one name off the list for 2020. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, he told advisers his listening tours in early primary states helped him think he wasn't fully committed to a long shot primary campaign.

Also, we have this programming note for you. Not one, not two, but three CNN town halls Sunday night live from South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Former Congressman John Delaney at 7:00; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard at 8:00, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 9:00.

Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate Sunday night starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

BRIGGS: All right. Big night.

Cameras in the Supreme Court? Well, not anytime soon. According to Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan, the two appeared before House lawmakers Thursday. Video from inside the court is something members of Congress and public interest groups long advocated. Both judges say the topic hasn't been discussed in recent years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELENA KAGAN, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: If seeing it came at the expense of the way the institution functioned, that would be a very bad bargain.

SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Lawyers would find it irresistible to try to put in a little sound bite. That would detract from the value of the arguments in the decision-making process.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: The Supreme Court has put links to audio recordings on its website end of each week's hearings.

It looks like the economy will turn in a strong month of job growth in February even amid concerns of a potential slowdown. The Labor Department will turn in numbers for the last month at 8:30 a.m. Economists forecast employers added another 185,000 jobs while the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.9 percent. And that would be the lowest number since last September.

Economists also estimate that hourly earnings rose 3.3 percent. That's in line with wage growth over the last several months of 2018, which turned in the fastest pace of growth since the Great Recession. Despite a drop-off in home sales, business investment and consumer spending, employers added an average of 234,000 jobs every month over the past year.

DEAN: A Texas jury convicted a woman for sex trafficking, but the judge asked them to reconsider. You won't believe why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:12] BRIGGS: Five-thirteen Eastern Time.

An all-time classic "Simpson" episode featuring Michael Jackson voice is pulled from circulation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTOON CHARACTER: Hello? Who is this?

CARTOON CHARACTER: I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?

CARTOON CHARACTER: I'm Michael Jackson.

CARTOON CHARACTER: The Michael Jackson? No way!

CARTOON CHARACTER: It's true. I'm with your father in a mental institution.

CARTOON CHARACTER: And is Elvis with you?

CARTOON CHARACTER: Could be. It's a big hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Classic indeed. That 1991 "Simpson" episode, Jackson voiced a character who's in that mental institution with Homer Simpson.

DEAN: Producers James Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean decided to pull the episode after watching the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland" which details graphic sexual abuse allegations against the late pop star. Producer called it a "treasured episode," but said there are a lot of great memories we have wrapped up in that one and this certainly doesn't allow them to remain. BRIGGS: A suspect in the fatal shooting of an Illinois sheriff's

deputy now in custody after an hours-long standoff with police. Deputy Jacob Keltner, a 13-year veteran of the McHenry County sheriff's office, was gunned down serving a warrant at a hotel where the suspect was staying. The suspect, Floyd Brown, was arrested after a standoff. That followed a police chase on an Interstate through Illinois. Police say he crashed his car and barricaded himself in the vehicle several hours. He will face a state and federal murder charge.

DEAN: God wanted to acquit a woman charged with sex trafficking. That's what a Texas judge actually told a jury. Now, that judge has been publicly warned by the state's judicial commission.

In January of last year, Judge Jack Robison was presiding over the trial of Gloria Ramiro Perez.

[05:15:00] He walked into the jury room end of deliberations and told jurors he had been praying about the case and said God informed him the defendant was innocent. He then asked the jurors to reverse their guilty verdict. Well, they refused.

Robison told the judicial panel he'd been under extreme stress and doctors say he'd been suffering from a mental condition, but that it was temporary. The sex trafficking case was eventually ruled a mistrial.

BRIGGS: Police in Boulder, Colorado, launching an internal investigation after an officer pulled a gun on a black man collecting trash on his own property.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take your hand off your gun!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're on my property with a gun in your hand like you're going to shoot me because I'm picking up trash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's picking up trash and you have your hand on your gun? Go home!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: A witness recorded that video. It shows the officer confronting a man who was holding a bucket and a metal trash grabber in the front yard of his townhouse complex. The officer thought the tool was a weapon and called for backup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- came on to my property with your weapons drawn threatening me at the place that I (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sleep. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about that? (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What to do. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to shoot me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No one's going to shoot you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to tase me, arrest me and beat the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of me like every other -- no. Don't tell me what to do. Get off my property. Get off my property.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking your name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off my property.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Boulder police in a statement say the man was uncooperative and unwilling to put down a blunt object. They say officers took no further action once it was determined the man had a legal right to be on the property. The officer at the center of the incident who has not been identified has been placed on administrative leave.

DEAN: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk security clearance reportedly under review by the Pentagon. According to Bloomberg, it comes after he smoked marijuana during an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast last September.

SpaceX has a range of government contracts including a deal to launch a secretive spy satellite. The company is also overseeing the first- ever mission of its crew Dragon capsule that's designed to carry astronauts into space. The spacecraft is scheduled to return home today from its historic mission to the International Space Station.

BRIGGS: OK. A New Jersey man, won a $273 million mega jackpot, $273 million, can thank a stranger for his good fortune. Mike Weirsky said he bought the winning ticket last week at a convenience store in Phillipsburg but he became distracted by his phone and he left the tickets behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL J. WEIRSKY, LOTTERY WINNER: When I put the tickets down, to put my money away and did something with my phone and just walked away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Weirsky returned to the store last Friday before the drawing. It turns out a Good Samaritan found the tickets and left them there for him. Mike has been unemployed for 15 years, he and his wife just divorced last October.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEIRSKY: Just called me today and told me she's taking me back to court.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Well, he also told reporters he plans to buy a new pickup truck and his mother a new car and remodel her home. Generous.

BRIGGS: Was he joking about his ex-wife?

DEAN: Looked pretty serious. Well, at least I can afford the lawyers.

BRIGGS: She was just -- marriage counseling was their option.

All right. Ahead, the first Japanese players to win a grand slam. Naomi Osaka says her latest honor is a bit surreal.

Andy Scholes has that story in the "Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:06] BRIGGS: Today is International Women's Day and NBA star Steph Curry marking that occasion by making good on a promise he made to a young girl.

Andy Scholes has that story in the "Bleacher Report."

Good morning, my friend.

BRIGGS: Hey, good morning, Dave.

You know, Steph Curry's signature shoe, available for boys for years now. Thanks to 9-year-old Riley Morrison, they are now available for girls as well. Riley wrote to Curry last fall, she asked, why his signature shoes were only sold in boys' sizes? Well, Curry responded telling her he would do something about it and today the Curry 6 "United We Win" shoe by Under Armour is making its debut.

The new shoes will be a blend of purple and deep orchid and also have a sock liner that Riley helped design with two girls playing basketball with the words "Be Fearless" and "Girl Power."

Yesterday, Curry surprised Riley with her own pair of United We Win shoes. Proceeds will go towards a scholarship, the Curry Family Foundation and Under Armour created for college-bound students in the Bay Area.

All right. Check this out. Naomi Osaka, number one tennis player in the world, is getting her own Barbie doll. The reigning U.S. Open and Australian Open champ is one of a group of powerful and inspiring women who are part of Barbie's Sheroes initiative.

Osaka told "People" magazine that she played Barbies and it's a surreal experience to have one that looked just like her. The 21- year-old also tweeted: Honored to be selected as a Barbie role model to help inspire the next generation of girls.

All right. It was Senior Night at Central Florida last night and a special night, because 7'6" center Tacko Fall's mom and brother made the trip from Senegal to watch him play. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TACKO FALL, UCF PLAYER: I haven't seen her in seven years and she never saw me play before.

[05:25:00] Her and my brother are here. We haven't been together so long, I felt like I was dreaming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Fall is joking, he was much shorter the last time he saw his mom seven years ago when he left home as a 16-year-old. I bet he was. Cool that his mom and brother got to be there and his mom cheering him on as he led UCF to a win over 20th ranked Cincinnati.

I wonder when little brother will hit that growth spurt? Looked almost a full two feet shorter. I bet coaches were thinking, want to stay and work on some basketball while here?

BRIGGS: Safe bet recruited soon if not already.

Andy Scholes, thank you, my friend.

SCHOLES: All right.

BRIGGS: Jess, over to you. What's coming up?

DEAN: All right. Thanks, guys.

Democrats are lashing out after a four-year prison sentence for the president's former campaign chief. He avoids some virtual life sentence for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Four years in prison but better than expected for Paul Manafort. The one-time Trump campaign chairman avoids a virtual life sentence for now.

END