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Theresa May's Brexit Deal Rejected By U.K. Lawmakers; Wealthy Parents, Coaches Accused In Massive Fraud; Join The Fight Against Modern-Day Slavery On March 14; Nairobi's Impoverished Children Find Hope In Ballet. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired March 13, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to joining us from all around the world, your next two hours of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get started.
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CHURCH (voice-over): Our CNN team in Eastern Syria is witnessing some of the heaviest fighting yet as the end appears to be nearing on the last remaining ISIS fighters.
Sixteen days to go until Brexit. And Britain is even deeper in crisis after Parliament deals another blow to Theresa May's exit plan.
Plus, more countries and airlines are refusing to put Boeing 737 MAX 8 in the air amid safety concerns. Why the U.S. is refusing to do the same.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
CHURCH: We begin with this breaking news out of Eastern Syria: after 24 hours of intense shelling, ISIS is on the verge of losing Baghouz, the last town under its control; 3,000 jihadi fighters have surrendered to U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces there.
CNN international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us from Eastern Syria with the latest on this battle.
Ben, what is happening right now as this battle apparently approaches a possible end?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, it is relatively quiet, we are hearing some machine gunfire over to my right. But no airstrikes or artillery mortar bombardment at the moment.
But overnight it was intense. What makes it different from the previous two nights is that it went all night long with airstrikes as well as the bombardments. There have been attempts by jihadi fighters to counterattack. I understand that they were able to retake two positions that were held by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
They have been using suicide car bombs, at least five overnight so far. So it has been rough going. But it does appear that there is a determination by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to bring this battle to an end.
This is the third time an attempt has been launched to liberate this territory. As you mentioned, 3,000 people, mostly jihadis but also their families, women and children have surrendered within the last 24 hours.
Clearly there are still some inside who have no intention of surrendering. It appears that they are and probably will be, fighting to the death.
CHURCH: Ben, while this battle will eventually come to a close, the same can't be said for ISIS itself.
What impact will this have on the terror organization, do you think?
WEDEMAN: I think the organization has already transitioned into the next phase, the next phase being a return to its origins, its roots as a terrorist insurgency in Iraq and now, of course, in parts of Syria.
What we have seen in the last 40 days that we have been in Syria, is a series of terrorist attacks by jihadis using suicide car bombs and ambushes, suicide bombers in areas far from here, well inside territories controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The same is ongoing in Iraq as well. Of course, the fact that we have been covering the surrender of hundreds of these fighters, as well as their families, they have lost their caliphate. They are no longer free, so to speak.
But they are now spread into various parts of Syria and Iraq. They carry the flame, so to speak, a rather dark and putrid flame, of ISIS in their hearts. That is the real struggle, to try to bring an end to the terrorist insurgency but somehow get these people to discard ISIS' ideology and go back --
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WEDEMAN: -- to normal life. And that is going to be the long term challenge, beyond, well beyond the battle that is raging behind me.
CHURCH: Indeed. Ben, you have been there watching all of this play out. Do take care. Ben Wedeman in eastern Syria, along with producer Kareem Khadder, photojournalist Scott McWhinnie and team member Adam Dobie (ph).
British prime minister Theresa May, has been handed another major Brexit defeat. Lawmakers on Tuesday again rejected her deal with E.U. leaders.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes to the right, 242. The nos to the left, 391.
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CHURCH: Parliament will vote again in the next hours, this time on whether to back a no deal Brexit. If that fails, another vote is set for Thursday on whether to delay the March 29th Brexit deadline.
The prime minister, battling a sore throat, struggled to speak after the latest loss. She got little sympathy from the opposition.
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THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm passionate about delivering the result of the referendum. But I equally passionately believe that the best way to do that is to leave in an orderly way, with a deal. And I still believe that there is a majority in the house for that course of action.
JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY: The government has been defeated again by an enormous majority. And they must now accept their deal, their proposal. The one that the prime minister has put is clearly dead and does not have the support of this house.
And quite clearly, no deal must be taken off the table. We've said that before and we'll say that again. But it does mean the house has got to come together with a proposal that could be negotiated.
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CHURCH: The E.U. is taking in the latest rejection from London, plotting its next move. The European Parliament's Brexit coordinator tweeted out this image and hinted that Europe was ready to take the U.K. back.
He wrote, "Brexit was about taking back control. Instead, the U.K. spiraled out of control. Only cross-party cooperation putting country first can end this mess. If this happens, we will fully engage."
For the latest, CNN's Hadas Gold is live outside 10 Downing Street in London.
Hadas, not surprisingly, lawmakers rejected Theresa May's so-called new and improved Brexit deal.
How did that all play out?
What can we expect from the no-deal Brexit vote coming up in just a few hours from now?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it was another stunning feet for Theresa May. The second time it was voted down. Slight improvement from her previous defeat, this time it was only 149 votes. This came after her own attorney general came out and said that his legal analysis of her improvements that she sought with the E.U. in that Strasbourg last-minute dash on Monday did not fully get rid of the risk, relating to that backstop, whether there be a permanent backstop between Northern Ireland, which will stay part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, which will be part of the European Union.
That seemed to be the nail on the coffin for her deal; 75 members of her own Conservative Party voted against her deal. You could hear it in her voice, she could barely speak when she came to speak to the House of Commons. But she still seemed resolute.
I have to note, in any other normal administration, a prime minister would resign just after a defeat just once. But to have it cover a signature move be defeated now twice, in just a few months, is really stunning. But we keep going.
Tonight there will be a vote on that possible no-deal scenario, whether members of Parliament want to take that off the table. If they do, then tomorrow that will be another vote on the possibility of asking the European Union to extend the deadline of when they are supposed to leave the E.U.
That was originally supposed to be March 29th, coming up in just two weeks. They will want to extend that.
But the question is, for how long would that be extended?
Would the European Union accept that?
And then what would be the extension for?
European Union leaders want to know. They say if you are going to ask for an extension, have a reason. Because so far it doesn't seem like there is any path forward members of Parliament to all come together, voting on something that they can all agree on that they can then present to the E.U. that would actually work out.
So I have to say that the possibility of a-no deal scenario, the possibility of crashing out, the possibility of a general election, the possibility of Theresa May no longer being prime minister in the next few months, all those possibilities have increased significantly.
CHURCH: Indeed. Of course the E.U. wants a solution to come from London. They seem incapable of doing that. Now Prime Minister May says she wants to instruct her own party's lawmakers on --
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CHURCH: -- how to vote as would normally happen.
What does that signal?
GOLD: It signals a prime minister who has lost a bit of control on her own party. Not telling your members how to vote, that is an unusual move. She said yesterday that she struggled with that decision.
It's clear that she really doesn't have control of her party but she does say that they will win that no deal scenario tonight. Then it's a question of what happens. It's a question of what happens to Theresa May as prime minister. CHURCH: Indeed a big question, Hadas Gold bringing this up to date on the latest from Britain.
Well, the string of Brexit setbacks is fueling calls by lawmakers for a second referendum. Some communities who voted for Brexit may also be having second thoughts. But not Whitby, engage. CNN's Phil Black speaks to fishermen who can't wait to leave the E.U.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On English's blustery northeast coast, the spectacular ruins of Whitby Abbey crown the cliffs overlooking the town's harbor. Whitby's immense breakwalls long sheltered fishing boats from the power of the North Sea.
The harbor is surprisingly quiet. This is a proud fishing town that just doesn't do a lot of fishing anymore.
RICHARD BREWER, FISHERMAN: You should see Whitby now. Just a shadow of one's self.
BLACK (voice-over): The Harborside Tea Shed is where lifelong fishermen like Richard Brewer gather to chat, tell stories and grumble about their number one enemy, the European Union.
BREWER: We're just disgusted with how the fishing industry are treated over there over the years.
BLACK (voice-over): It's a common view here, blaming E.U. imposed quotas for almost wiping out Whitby's fleet.
BLACK: What has being a member of the European Union meant for this town, your industry?
JAMES COLES, FISHERMAN: It's absolutely decimated the archer (ph) coast. We used to have a 20-strong fleet here. Each boat had 4-5 men going to sea.
BLACK (voice-over): It's why so many voted for Brexit. And they want it to happen as soon as possible, regardless of the prime minister's failed efforts to get a deal through Parliament.
COLES: We want a really good deal but detect more fish in our waters. We want a no deal and everybody out and then we still detect when it comes to fish in our waters.
BREWER: If we got a no deal, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
BLACK (voice-over): Up the hill, we find more of Whitby's living history. Barry Brown's great-great grandfather started smoking herring here 147 years ago. Barry's an optimistic Brexiteer and a pragmatic supporter of Theresa May's efforts.
BARRY BROWN, FORTUNE'S KIPPERS: I think she's done all right, to be fair. She's tried her best. It mayn't be to everyone's liking. But it's completely to my liking. We've to come somewhere, to middle ground somewhere.
BLACK (voice-over): But this part of England isn't just about fish and there are people here who fear Brexit will bring more pain.
Tattoo lover Chris Warrior (ph) says Brexit uncertainty has already triggered redundancies at the local plastic company where he works.
BLACK: You worried?
CHRIS WARRIOR (PH), TATTOO LOVER: I am, personally, I am. So I'll probably be one of the next ones if anyone else goes. That's me. I'm worried.
BLACK (voice-over): Some people in Whitby ask, what would James Cook make of all this?
The town's most famous resident, one of Britain's greatest maritime explorers, was the first to chart much of the Pacific Ocean, including New Zealand and parts of Australia. Celebrated world-changing achievements that somehow seem far less challenging than solving the mysteries and contradictions at the heart of Brexit -- Phil Black, CNN, Whitby, Northeast England.
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CHURCH: It is now easier to list the countries that are still flying the Boeing 737 MAX 8 than those that are not. Only the U.S. and Canada still have those planes in the air. The same model involved in Sunday's deadly crash in Ethiopia and the Lion Air crash back in October.
Many other countries have grounded the MAX 8 or the whole 737 fleet until investigators can figure out why two of Boeing's best selling planes have dropped out of the sky in less than five months.
By CNN's calculations, more than 50 percent of Boeing's MAX fleet is grounded worldwide. Boeing meantime says, safety is Boeing's number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of the MAX.
We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets.
Meantime, the investigation continues into what caused the crash in Ethiopia. Our David McKenzie reports.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's happening now is extraordinarily difficult, painstaking and sensitive work. This international and local team of --
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MCKENZIE: -- investigators are moving shoulder to shoulder, stepping gingerly over the debris field of this Boeing crash, picking up anything that could provide evidence or closure for the families.
And every time someone finds something significant, they raise their hand, they stop, they bring someone over, potentially get an international expert in there to try to secure this evidence. This is the critical work that's needed to be done to find out just what happened in this crash.
They've taken away the audios, the flight recorders. Investigators I've spoken to say they believe the plane came at a very vertical trajectory, slamming into this hillside and creating a very deep but quite narrow crater.
Now they want to, with work like this, collaborating with many nationalities, including British, American, Israeli and, of course, the Ethiopians here, trying to find out just what happened to this brand new plane -- David McKenzie, CNN, outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about all this is CNN transportation analyst and a former Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo.
Always great to have you on the show.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Thank you, good to be with you.
CHURCH: Now of course, the big question we'll want answers is just how safe is the Boeing 737 Max in the wake of these two crashes within five months of each other and now a number of countries across the globe have grounded their fleets in an abundance of caution until they know what happened except the United States and Canada.
He has worked to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal had to say about that.
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BLUMENTHAL: Every one of these planes should be grounded right away. They are accidents waiting to happen. I had to advice my family members to switch airlines, because these planes are unsafe at any speed right now.
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CHURCH: Is he right?
Should they be grounded in the United States until we learn more about why these two planes crash?
SCHIAVO: Yes, absolutely, because this situation is really unprecedented for Boeing and others and the FAA to insist that they are still safe when two have gone down in six months. In the second one, they're saying they don't know why. To say a plane
as safe after it had two unprecedented crashes of brand new planes. One is still a mystery, is completely ludicrous.
And the reason is, of course, the FAA defers mildly to Boeing, not just in this and all things and certifying planes and repairs in Texas, because Boeing basically outguns the FAA. They have far more expertise in the FAA is has become pretty much a toothless tiger.
CHURCH: Interesting, I do want to read out the statement from the acting FAA administrator, Daniel K. Elwell.
He says this, our review shows no systematic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft. In the course of our urgent review of data on the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, if any issues affecting the continued airworthiness of the aircraft are identified. The FAA will take immediate and appropriate action.
So the FAA says this there's no basis to order the grounding of this aircraft.
Does that make sense to you get what we know so far?
Does it also much comfort in what a lot of American passengers are saying, why is that all this other countries are being so careful and cautious for their passengers but that's not happening here in the United States?
SCHIAVO: Well, I think the FAA statement was laughable.
But, you know, the administrators have to say what, you know, what they think is the thing that their constituents wants to hear and in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration considers its clients or its customers to be the airlines and they had been vehemently opposed to the grounding as has Boeing.
But the statement is so ludicrous, because they've already said, they don't know why the second one went down and yet they're pronouncing it safe. So you know, this is simply an oxymoron. I mean you can't say, oh, this plane went down and killed a lot of people. We don't know why it went down but fate, because nothing's has been proven yet. It's just completely backwards.
CHURCH: So let's get back to these two crashes that involve the Boeing 737 Max 8. There were many similarities in those two accidents and some differences, of course.
With your extensive aviation knowledge, what do you think went wrong?
Now we were not learning a lot extra but as you say this is a problem when you're looking at the same -- the same plane being involved in an accident like this.
SCHIAVO: Right. Well, of course, the first one is already known.
[02:20:00] SCHIAVO: The instruments weren't agreeing in the plane interpreted that as being a situation in which this nose lowering capability should kick in and the pilots haven't seen it before and didn't know how to turn it off. How basically didn't know what was happening.
Well, in the second one, there's conflicting reports about what happened but we know it's the same space of flight as the Lion Air crash, the Ethiopian crash on take-off.
Air traffic control has reported that they reported flight control problem which right away goes to the instruments in the cockpit and the control, the computer control mechanism. So we know that similarity was going the same speed. It was approximately in the same phase of the flight and like the other one fell from the sky.
There is a difference though, this one seems to have come down in a very precipitous, a very sharp angle, the crater is very dramatic but contained. So you know it came down pretty close to vertically.
So there's a bit of a difference there and also the first plane did a lot of porpoising; in other words, the nose -- nose up, nose down, nose up, nose down as the pilot spot it, this one had only one nose up, nose down incident.
CHURCH: So how can this be fixed?
Is it something that needs to be done to the plane, the software or is this the training of the pilots or a combination of the two?
SCHIAVO: No, the training of pilots was supposedly all accomplished after Lion Air, so the two days after the second crash and then the FAA issued additional orders to Boeing and said, Boeing, you have to make changes to this computer programming and you have to do it by April.
So already we know the Federal Aviation Administration has said the pilot training fix did not work and it's not acceptable.
But they've also said that the computer changes on this flight computer are going to be to limit this nose down responsive the plane is going to take, it's not going to eliminate it but it's going to put some stop on it, so the plane can't put its nose down and fly into the ground. That's still not a fix, that's an improvement.
CHURCH: Right. All right, Mary Schiavo, very unnerving hopefully this can all be figured out and we'll see what happens in terms of the possible grounding of those planes in the United States and Canada, we'll watch, thank you so much.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
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CHURCH: We will take a short break here. Coming up, the most senior Vatican official ever convicted of child sex abuse learns his fate. The sentence for George Pell next on CNN NEWSROOM. Plus two actresses are among the dozens of elites charged in a college
admissions scam. The stunning and illegal steps they were accused of taking to get their kids into top colleges. We will have that in just a moment.
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CHURCH: A judge in Melbourne, Australia, has sentenced disgraced cardinal George Pell to six years in prison for child sexual abuse. The former Vatican treasurer could be out on parole in less than four years but he will have to register as a sex offender. He was convicted in December of abusing two 13-year-old choirboys back in the late 1990s.
CNN's Anna Coren is following all the developments. She joins us now live.
Anna, talk to us about how this all played out in course when his sentence was read out.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rosemary, George Pell sat there expressionless and motionless while chief judge Peter Kidd read out his sentence. His remarks were televised live across Australia. This was to be transparent and open, considering how high profile this case is.
He's obviously the top Catholic official in Australia. But up until last month, he was number three at the Vatican, an adviser to the pope. This is a man who came from Victoria, made his way all the way up to the Vatican. It is quite extraordinary, such a fall from grace.
But he sat there, emotionless, he has been sentenced to six years jail time, nonparole three years and eight months. As you say he is eligible for parole in 2022. George Pell will turn 81 years of age.
The judge did mention in his remarks that, because of his deteriorating health, that he could very well die in jail. That is a possible scenario that plays out. That was obviously a factor in the sentence. Some survivor groups saw this as being quite a lenient sentence, considering the crimes that he had been convicted of, five counts of child sexual abuse.
As for the father of the deceased choirboy, he was there. We can't identify him for legal reasons but he said that he received a life sentence because his son is dead. His son committed suicide, died of an accidental overdose back in 2014 from a heroin overdose.
He said Pell he should have received much longer than six years so he was quite disappointed.
CHURCH: That was a tragic outcome. Anna Coren, thank you so much for your report on that. We appreciate it, live from Hong Kong.
Another no vote by British lawmakers is driving cause for a new Brexit referendum. We will see if Brexiteers are having second thoughts. That is coming up.
Plus the push for impeachment. Why U.S. Democrats are divided on whether to take strong action against President Trump.
And later:
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ANDREW LELLING, U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS: The parents charged today, despite already being able to give their children every legitimate advantage in the college admissions game, instead chose to corrupt and illegally manipulate the system for their benefit.
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CHURCH: Two stunning allegations about what two actresses among other wealthy parents were willing to do to get their children into college. Back with that in just a moment.
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[02:30:24] CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom, I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. It appears that the end maybe closing in on ISIS in Syria. After 24 hours of intense shelling, ISIS is on the verge of losing Baghouz, the last town under its control. 3,000 jihadi fighters have surrendered to U.S-Backed Syrian Democratic Forces there.
U.S. aviation officials say there is no basis to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, even though many countries around the world are doing so as a precautionary measure. This aircraft is under scrutiny since it has been involved in two deadly plane crashes in the past five months. Boeing says they value safety and has full confidence in its jet.
British lawmakers have handed another defeat to Prime Minister Theresa May and her Brexit deal. On Tuesday they voted down the latest agreement, 391 to 242. The coming hours will see another vote on whether to pursue a no deal Brexit. The deadline for leaving the E.U. is still March 29th. Well, as Parliament debated Tuesday, pro and anti-Brexit factions rallied outside. The Brexit chaos is driving cause for a second referendum.
But die hard Brexiteers are unfazed. Here's what people in both camps say in London.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very pleased with the results because it means that we are one step towards either revocation or a second referendum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We voted to leave, 17.4 million won the vote, this is an absolute farce in this so called houses, the democracy and we need change.
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CHURCH: We're also hearing more from E.U. leaders. The Union's Chief Brexit negotiator tweeted this. The E.U. has done everything it can to help get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line. The impasse can only be solved in the U.K. Our no-deal preparations are now more important than ever before. A full analysis, Steven Erlanger joins us now live from Brussels. He is the New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent.
Good to see you again. We've chatted about this just did it 24 hours ago in fact, and of course no one is surprised by this outcome, another defeat for Prime Minister Theresa May. So, what do you expect will happen when lawmakers vote on a no-deal Brexit in the coming hours?
STEVE ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I think they will vote against a no deal. But that doesn't answer the question of what kind of deal. And then, the next day, they are supposed to vote, assuming they passed that, they have no deal on whether to ask the European Union for an extension of Article 50 so they do not crash out on March 29th.
Now that's all very fine and good but the European Union has to agree to that and has to agree to how long an extension, whether an extension should be given at all, when Britain is in such a mess or confusion about what it wants and if it's a long extension that would probably mean having European elections in Britain in May which seems as Jean-Claude Juncker said, a kind of joke of history for a country that wants to leave.
So, really, Theresa May, has -- we've said this before, she's completely lost control of the process. Some people in her cabinet still believe they can get a third vote before March 29th. But it is more and more likely that Parliament will try to take control of the process. The problem is, Parliament can't agree on what it wants after two years. So it's very hard to know what's going to happen.
CHURCH: Why can't they agree to what they want after two years? It's been such a long time. As you say, the no-deal Brexit vote will likely fail. They'll go on then and vote for a delay, presumably if the E.U. give them that extra time. They are going to have to come up with some kind of solution and they haven't in the last two years. It doesn't appear that they are anywhere near that. Why are they at this juncture?
ERLANGER: Well, I think that's a very important question and a very interesting one, because normally the British Parliament court system works by opposition.
[02:35:04] You know, you have the ruling party and you have an opposition party and on most issues they disagree, that's the whole point. But what you have on Brexit is a ruling party which doesn't have a clear majority, which is deeply divided in itself. So there's no majority inside the ruling party for any particular outcome. And then you have a labor party which is also divided amongst itself.
Where some people are from constituencies that voted to leave, many young people voted for labor, particularly in the big cities want to stay. The labor leadership has also failed to come up with a coherent cross party answer to this problem. So, Parliament is really not only divided now between Tories and Labor but it's divided within each party. And it makes a very, very difficult in this system built on opposition to create a real consensus without very strong leadership from the two party leaders and that has not happened.
CHURCH: So, let's look down the path once we get beyond to these votes. So, we heard earlier in a report we brought to our viewers, there was one gentleman on the street talking about a second referendum. That doesn't seem viable anymore, does it? Because they can't be sure there's going to be any different outcome, although a lot of Brits would say that they didn't really know what they were voting on at the time, but -- so that we put aside, but what about the possibility of another election? What could happen there? What would be the scenario then?
ERLANGER: Well, it would be very interesting because if Parliament really is blocked, I mean, part of the difficulty is that the Torie Party tried to throw out Theresa May not too long ago and failed when the real Brexit win. So, she cannot be thrown out by her party, but her cabinet could possibly come to her and say, you should resign, let's have a new election. As big a mess as they're in, the Tories are still ahead of labor which is in a bigger mess in the polls.
So, the temptation to have a new election must be strong. The problem is, the last time Theresa May tried that and she is a very bad candidate, she lost the majority. So, I think they'd be a lot of nervousness. She doesn't want a general election. The parliament is a bit locked, the chances of a referendum, a Second Referendum as you say, I think are pretty narrow. So, much to me the most likely is that Parliament will come together somehow with an extension and move toward a softer Brexit.
A Brexit that brings Britain closer to the European Union than the hardline Brexiteers want. And the risk for the hardline Brexiteers they -- is that Parliament in
the end will never agree, they will have to have an election or a referendum and they may lose Brexit altogether. But truly right now, you know, there's everything to play for and I think no one really knows what's going to happen beyond the next two days which as we think will happen.
Parliament will vote against a no-deal, but a no-deal is still the default option if they can't agree on a deal or an extension. And that extension is in the gift of the European Union. And the European Union wants to know why Britons wants an extension and what it is going to do with it. And that's -- it brings us right back to the central problem.
CHURCH: Simply bewildering, is it not? Steven Erlanger, thank you so much for your analysis. We appreciate it.
ERLANGER: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is taking aim at his home state after a new investigation into his organization launched. He called the State and Governor, Andrew Cuomo, presidential harasses and added, no wonder people are fleeing the state in record numbers. They New York Attorney General Office subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for records on loans, mortgages and lines of credit extended to Trump.
The hotel properties and the golf course, the subpoena also asks for records on Mr. Trump's failed bid to buy an NFL team. The inquiry appears to stem from the Congressional testimony of the Presidents former attorney.
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MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I'm giving to the committee today, three years of Mr. Trump's personal financial statements, from 2011, 2012 and 2013, which he gave to Deutsche Bank to inquire about a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills and to Forbes. These are exhibits 1-A, 1-B and 1-C to my testimony.
[02:40:05] ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: To your knowledge, did the President ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
COHEN: Yes.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Who else knows that the President did this?
COHEN: Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: And where with the committee find more information on this? Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?
COHEN: Yes. And you'd find it at the Trump Org.
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CHURCH: Well, Cohen's Congressional testimony fueled some Democrats calls to go forward with impeachment proceedings. But the House Speaker's statement against the move on underscore's a divide within the party. CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju has more.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You will continue to push for impeachment, right?
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D), MICHIGAN: I am beginning the investigation.
RAJU: A split today among House Democrats on whether to pursue a presidential impeachment.
REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I think we have to be clear that this is not the end goal of this caucus.
RAJU: Michigan freshman Rashida Tlaib, who made waves on her first day in Congress by saying.
TLAIB: We're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the mother (BLEEP).
RAJU: Now, she and several other rank-and-file Democrats pushing to move ahead with impeachment. After Speaker Nancy Pelosi said impeaching Trump just isn't worth it. Ask if she agree with Pelosi. Freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I know a lot of members in the caucus have a different opinion, but that's why we caucus.
RAJU: Do you have a different opinion?
OCASIO- CORTERZ: I happened too, yes.
RAJU: The House Judiciary Chairman does agree with Pelosi, who told CNN that impeachment is not completely off the table.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Assuming I'm not shutting the door, we have to know all the facts, we don't know all the facts. Once we know all the facts then we'll have to make judgments.
RAJU: Today, other Democrats said they sided with Pelosi, yet they believe Trump has committed impeachable offences.
COHEN: My personal position is that he is a blight on the American society, the American government, the American nation and humanity.
RAJU: That he should be impeached?
COHEN: Well, I think he's done things that are certainly worthy of looking into an impeachment.
RAJU: Pelosi and other top Democrats are concerned that impeaching the President would be time consuming and politically dangerous exercise. And potentially unsuccessful since the Republican's controlled Senate is unlikely to convict the President.
REP. KAREN BASS (D) CALIFORNIA: Talking about it now is a major distraction, but I don't believe that she should completely close the door.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If the evidence isn't sufficient to win by partisan support for this. Putting the country through a failed impeachment is not a good idea.
RAJU: As on Tuesday, why she did not wait until the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller was released. Pelosi told CNN, I've said from day one that I think impeachment is divisive. The top House Republican offering rare praise for Pelosi.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I think Nancy Pelosi is smart to say that there shouldn't be any impeachment.
RAJU: But others are skeptical.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Because I think Nancy Pelosi is clearly already starting to lose control of her party. I think we're seeing that on a lot of the things that have taken place over the last couple weeks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And that was Manu Raju reporting there. As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he's not in favor of impeachment but he does say current evidence shows the President should be indicted when he leaves office. Schiff appointed to the case against Michael Cohen and which the government said individual one directed and coordinated a campaign towards his game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHIFF: From the indictment in the Southern District of New York. That identifies individual one as having directed uncoordinated campaign fraud scheme. In which the department urged that Michael Cohen be sent to jail, that it's very difficult to make the argument that the person who was directed and was coordinated to go to jail but the person who did the directing and did coordinating should not. I don't think that's a supportable position.
So I think that militates very strongly in favor of indicting the President when he is out of office. If the Southern District in New York has the evidence to prove the case against individual one, Michael Cohen identified as the President.
(END VIDE CLIP)
CHURCH: Current Justice Department guidelines prevent the indictment of a sitting president. Coming up next. A college admissions scandal of epic proportions.
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ANDREW LELLING, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS: Fake test course, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Hollywood celebrities, wealthy executives, college coaches, academic administrators, all among dozens of people accuse in a massive scheme to get students into elite universities. We'll be back with that in just a moment.
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[02:47:28] CHURCH: Wealthy parents buying their children's way into elite U.S. colleges is nothing new. It usually takes the form of funding a building, and it's not illegal. But prosecutors in Boston outlined a brazen scheme Tuesday. The largest fraud of its kind ever prosecuted. Two actresses are among the parents accused of paying $6-1/2 million to get their kids into college. Brynn Gingras has the details.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Huffman and actress Lori Loughlin, best known for her role as Aunt Becky on Full House.
LORI LOUGHLIN, AMERICAN ACTRESS: Then you'll pop in and get a pelvic ultrasound, and then it's off to the worst.
GINGRAS: Among dozens, charged in the cheating scam helping to get students into a string of prestigious universities.
LELLING: 50 people nationwide two SAT or ACT exam administrators, one exam proctor, one college administrator, nine coaches at elite schools, and 33 parents.
GINGRAS: According to prosecutors, the center of the scheme is prep organization, The Key, founded by William Singer. He has pleaded guilty to four charges including money laundering and obstruction of justice.
LELLING: Between roughly 2011 and 2018, wealthy parents paid Singer about $25 million in total to guarantee their children's admission to elite schools.
GINGRAS: The scheme involved two kinds of fraud. Parents paying a college prep organization to help their children cheat on SAT or ACT exams and others paying to allegedly bribe college coaches to help admit the students as athletes regardless of their athletic skill.
LELLING: Singer helped parents take staged photographs of their children engaged in particular sports.
GINGRAS: Lori Loughlin and her husband fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
OLIVIA JADE GIANNULLI, DAUGHTER OF LORI LOUGHLIN: Hello, everybody --
GINGRAS: For allegedly paying more than $500,000 in bribes to get both of their daughters admitted to USC. Getting them on the rowing team, a sport which neither of them has ever participated in. Their daughters have not been charged.
An e-mail written by Giannulli in the complaint reads in part, "I wanted to thank you again for your great work with our older daughter. She is very excited and both Lori and I are very appreciative of your efforts and end result."
Their daughter, though, seemingly making light of going to college in this YouTube video posted in August. O.J. GIANNULLI: But I'm going to go in and talk to my deans and everyone and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying. I don't really care about school.
[02:50:05] LELLING: The parents charge today, despite already being able to give their children every legitimate advantage in the college admissions game. Instead, chose to corrupt and illegally manipulate the system for their benefit.
GINGRAS: Huffman is also charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Allegedly paying $15,000 to Singer's organization. In a phone conversation recorded as part of the investigation, Huffman says, "We're going to do like we did with my older daughter." The cooperating witness responds, "OK, So -- cooperating witness two, will take it with her and for her at Igor's place at the West Hollywood test center."
According to the complaint, Huffman discussed the plan as late as last month. But did not go through with this game for her younger daughter. Prosecutors are calling the scam, Operation Varsity Blues and includes Georgetown, Stanford, UCLA, USC, University of Texas at Austin, Yale University, and several prominent Boston institutions.
LELLING: We're not talking about donating a building so that a school is more likely to take your son or daughter. We're talking about deception and fraud. Fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: Authorities say they seized $5.2 million from that sham nonprofit that Singer created. Now, its two things are important to note. Authority say, in some cases these students knew that their parents were taking part in this scheme, in other cases, they didn't know. Either way, no students were charged in connection to this case.
But authorities having ruled out that more arrests could be coming in the future. Another thing to point out is that universities all have been sort of responding in comments. Of course, distancing themselves from this, expressing real disappointment, and also important to note that no universities or colleges have been charged in connection with this case, either. Brynn Gingras, CNN, in Boston.
CHURCH: Simply shameful. We will take a very short break here. We'll have more for you on the other side. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: CNN is partnering with young people worldwide for a day of action against modern-day slavery. That's tomorrow March 14th. And we are asking them, what makes you feel free? Well, here are some of the answers from students at Poland Technical College.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom is something like a possibility to do all what I want to do. I can go to school, and there are some new interesting friends. I can develop my passions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom is the equality of people of all nations, and ages, and skin colors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Tell the world what makes you feel free. Share your story using the #My Freedom Day. Well, as students around the world get ready to mark My Freedom Day. We want you to meet some children who live in Kibera on the outskirts of Nairobi. Their families are poor, so, there's a lot they don't have.
But now, these kids are finding a unique way to express their freedom through ballet. Farai Sevenzo has the story.
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FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Kibera one of Nairobi's largest slums. In times of political turmoil is also one of Nairobi's flashpoints. A new political piece is now in Kenya. But Kibera still has a high unemployment. And kids here long for much more than that label of poverty.
If dangerous for adults, what are these streets like for children? A shoemaker is putting the final touches to shoes that means so much to some kids here. They are the tools for a brand new way to balance their lives.
[02:55:17] MIKE WAMAYA, FOUNDER, PROJECT ELIMU: The ballet shoes are uniquely designed to give children freedom in times of dancing.
SEVENZO: 32-year-old Mike Wamaya, grew up in Kibera and studied dance in Europe. He says he wanted to instill dancers discipline to Kibera's kids. And in 2017, Project Elimu was born. Elimu is a Swahili word meaning educate. And that education goes beyond the classroom to places like this.
WAMAYA: If you teach this children on this trend that kids have, the potential that are they in children, but the perception of the world around about Kibera is on negativity in terms of crime, in terms of prostitution. And so, we try and teach to this children the power of their beauty, the power of their voice.
SEVENZO: 13-year-old Valery Auma, join the ballet project five years ago.
VALERY AUMA, BALLET DANCER, PROJECT ELIMU, KIBERA: When I started doing ballet, I was so shy. Even I couldn't stand in front of people. But the time I danced ballet for the first year, the second year I was so confident.
SEVENZO: Kibera is a -- is a difficult place to live, right? AUMA: Yes, but you have to experience the life because we are not -- our mind is not for Kibera, here is where we are, but soon, we will going to higher places.
SEVENZO: 10-year-old Abdul, join the project just five months ago.
ABDUL, BALLET DANCER, PROJECT ELIMU, KIBERA: Freedom is going to the mosque from Kibera and dancing at the same time. My heart is always full of joy.
SEVENZO: Witnessing this, there is no doubt in the sense of joy these youngsters are feeling. The combination of the pupil's constant practice is here and their performance. Everyone has come to show off the ballet moves they've learned. Even the shoemaker has come to see what his shoes can do.
Projects like these are even more remarkable for their lack of government funding. The freedom of the dancing arts has come to some of Nairobi's most disadvantaged kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I danced ballet because there's a saying that goes: without ballet, your life -- your life is invisible and you're pointless. The performance of today was fantastic. It was so fantastic because we were so many, so many children, and many of people are watching us.
SEVENZO: Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Kibera, Nairobi Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The power of dance right there. Thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Do stay with us.
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