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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Russian Investigation: Manafort Sentencing 2.0; FAA Sticks with Embattled Boeing Jet; Celebrities Ensnared in College Admissions Scandal; California Putting Death Penalty on Hold; Fighting in Eastern Syria Intensifying. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 13, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:19] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Paul Manafort could get ten more years in prison today, or is another life sentence in store for the former Trump campaign manager?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. now the only major company where airlines and the government are sticking with the Boeing MAX 8. Turns out pilots raised concerns after the first crash in October.

BRIGGS: Celebrities among dozens caught up an unprecedented college admission scandal, an elaborate scheme of cheating, bribing and lying.

DEAN: And breaking overnight, California putting a moratorium on the death penalty. Gavin Newsom is making that move now.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Jessica Dean.

BRIGGS: Good morning. Good morning to all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. It is Wednesday, March 13, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Also, some major sports news, Odell Beckham Jr. on the move. We'll get there in a moment.

But we start in the nation's capital. Round two, for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort this morning. Seventeen months after his indictment was the first in the Mueller probe, Manafort will learn how long he'll spend in prison. After a sentence last week for financial crimes, a sentence many thought was lenient, the 69-year-old Manafort now faces a judge who revoked his bail and threw him in jail last summer.

More now from CNN's Shimon Prokupecz in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

In just hours, Paul Manafort is back for his final court appearance. Judge Amy Berman Jackson will sentence Paul Manafort for the final time. And she'll sentence him to two criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy for witness tampering. The judge will also potentially consider that he intentionally lied

during his cooperation to investigators, and also when he testified before a grand jury, about his contact with a Russian operative while chairman of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. The lies ultimately led the Mueller team to throw out the cooperation agreement that they had with Manafort.

In all, Paul Manafort can be sentenced up to ten years total for the two crimes. It was just last week that Paul Manafort got nearly four years in prison. How much more will this judge in Washington, D.C. add to that prison sentence?

Dave, Jessica?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Shimon, thank you.

In addition to Manafort, two big days in court this week in the Russia probe, but one for former Manafort deputy Rick Gates on Friday, another for former national security adviser Michael Flynn today. In a court filing on Tuesday, special counsel Robert Mueller revealed Flynn's cooperation with his office is done. But he's not ready for sentencing because he's still cooperating with the Justice Department on a pending criminal case against his former lobbying partner.

BRIGGS: And Roger Stone back in court tomorrow. Judge Amy Berman Jackson was also overseeing the Manafort case is expected to set a trial date for the president's longtime ally. She ruled last week that Stone is already in violation of a gag order.

The latest, though, on that deadly plane crash over the weekend. First, though, on the business front, Boeing's stock fell sharply again as more airlines and entire nations grounded the 737 MAX 8 planes. Shares of the company have fallen more than 11 percent over the past two days. The stock's sharp move down cost the Dow 96 points Tuesday.

Still, the FAA doesn't see a need to pull the MAX 8, despite two crashes that killed hundreds. The agency says, quote: Our review shows no systematic performance issues and provides no basis to order the grounding of the aircraft.

Look at this map. In red, you see where countries or airlines themselves have decided to ground the plane. Overnight, airlines in Russia and Canada stopped their flights. The U.S. now virtually the only industrialized nation to keep the jet in the skies.

CNN's Richard Quest asked Ethiopian Airlines CEO if the MAX 8 should be grounded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Do you think there should be a worldwide grounding of the MAX planes? TEWOLDE GEBREMARIAM, CEO, ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES: I think although we don't know -- we don't yet know the exact cause of the accident and speculation is not helpful in either way, but I think there are questions without answers on the airplane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Also new this morning, documents from a federal database were pilots can report aviation issues anonymously, at least five complaints since the Lion Air crash, some saying the nose pointed down while the plane was on auto pilot during departure.

[04:05:00] President Trump spoke with Boeing CEO Tuesday to "The Washington Post." Dennis Muilenburg argued to keep the planes in the sky. The president is expected to have more meetings today.

But Mr. Trump also tweeted, quote: Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. I don't want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane.

It's unclear why the president isn't calling on the plane to be grounded if he thinks they're too complicated to fly. Despite all this, Wall Street is still backing Boeing. As of Tuesday afternoon, 19 of the 24 analysts following the company had it rated as a buy.

DEAN: Cheat on tests, bribe admissions officers and pretend those payments were for charity. An unprecedented college scheme alleged by prosecutors. Fifty people across six states charged in Operation Varsity Blue.

BRIGGS: Among them, actress Felicity Huffman seen here in federal court and actress Lori Loughlin, famous for their roles in "Desperate Housewives" and "Full House". The allegations have generations of fans upset or just perplexed. The cooperating witness who helped bring them down, the very man who helped the rich and famous pull it off, Rick Singer.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is in Boston with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Jessica, the mastermind behind this elaborate scheme also cooperated with authorities in their year-long investigation. He actually left the courthouse after pleading guilty to four federal charges and didn't say a word. He could serve up to 65 years in prison.

Now quickly, let me describe how this scheme would operate, according to authorities. They say the parents would pay Singer to help their kids get into elite universities and colleges across the country by one of two avenues -- either academically or through athletics.

If it was academic, he would ask a -- he would hire someone to basically change test scores or to have someone take a test for students with those SATs or ACTs in order to get them enrolled -- admitted, rather, into colleges and universities.

If they went the athletic route, Singer would bribe coaches of athletic teams and get these students admitted through that route as a potential athlete, even if that student never played the sport that they were allegedly being recruited by.

So it was an elaborate scheme which was a case-by-case basis, depending on who Singer was helping out.

Now, we have two names, of course, that everybody has been talking about. That is Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Both of them, according to authorities, took different routes.

In Felicity Huffman's case, attorneys for the DOJ say that she paid $15,000 to get her daughter's test scores altered. In the case of Loughlin, authorities say that her and her husband paid $500,000 to get her two daughters admitted to USC on the crew team when they never even rowed for a crew.

So again, just elaborate schemes that not only include those two actresses, but we're talking about CEOs of major companies, fashion designers, and a lot of people charged in this case that was dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. More people are pleading guilty, we're expecting -- and it's possible that more arrests could come down the line.

And as far as universities and how they're responding, essentially, they are distancing themselves from this. And again, no universities have been charged in this case -- Dave and Jessica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Thank you, Brynn.

Say it ain't so, Aunt Becky.

CNN learning Beto O'Rourke is ready to jump into the 2020 Democratic race for president. Sources say the former Texas congressman plans to announce his candidacy later this week. O'Rourke travels to Iowa on Thursday for a three-day trip ending with an event Saturday in Dubuque.

Run, Joe, run. Team Biden expects the former vice president to make a final decision on his 2020 plans imminently, with the formal announcement as soon as April. Biden teased after taking the stage of a firefighter's conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I appreciate the energy you showed when I got up here. Save it a little longer. I might need it in a few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Oh, he's in. Biden and O'Rourke entering the field. We bring a centrist point of view into a race largely veering to the left.

DEAN: Breaking overnight, California Gavin Newsom just hours from imposing a moratorium on the state's death penalty. That means an instant temporary reprieve for 737 inmates, the largest death row population in the nation. The executive order will not change any current convictions or sentences. And it will not lead to the release of any prisoners currently on death row.

[05:10:03] BRIGGS: California's executions were halted in 2006 when a condemned inmate challenged the state's protocol for lethal injections. In a speech later today, Governor Newsom is expected to highlight the racial disparity in sentencing. Six in 10 prisoners on California's death row are people of color. Newsom will also cite the cost of enforcing the death penalty and a number of innocent people who have been wrongly sentenced to death.

DEAN: An El Salvadorian man who ICE placed under detainers nine times over six years has now been arrested in California for murder. A DNA match obtained Monday tagged Carlos Eduardo Arevalo for the killing of 59-year-old Bambi Larson. Arevalo had been arrested at least nine times previously for various offenses.

ICE asked law enforcement in Southern California and the South Bay Area to hold him so steps could be taken to deport him. But the "San Francisco Chronicle" reports that local agencies ignored all of the ICE detainers. The case once against raises questions about local sanctuary policies across California.

BRIGGS: All right. Coming up, British lawmakers facing a Brexit deadline with no answers. Is a no deal exit the only way to leave the E.U.? We're live at 10 Downing Street with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:24] BRIGGS: How exactly the U.K. exits the European Union? Well, it's anybody's guess at this point. And the Brits have just two weeks to figure it all out.

Prime Minister Theresa May suffering another humiliating defeat in parliament. Lawmakers voting down her Brexit deal 391 to 242. So, what in the world happens now?

Hadas Gold is joining us live from 10 Downing Street in London.

Hadas, good morning to you.

At what point does a second referendum become a legitimate reality?

HADAS GOLD, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, after last night, Dave, the possibility of a second referendum definitely went up. It's still not as large as some people would hope.

Now, what happened last night was Theresa May lost the second attempt to get her Brexit deal, despite getting some last minute assurances from the European Union. Seventy-five of her own party members voted against her deal. What happens next is tonight, there will be a vote whether or not to

take the no-deal scenario off the table. What does that mean? It means that in two weeks, as you said, Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. But with this vote today, members of parliament are saying that without a deal, they don't want to be quite. That would then mean that they have to probably get an extension from the European Union for that deadline.

But they're beyond the bureaucratic political mess that this has created and questions about Theresa May, whether she can even stay as prime minister. There are real people and businesses affected by this. Everyone is looking at the two-week deadline of March 29 thinking that's when they leave.

There are questions about taxes, of tariffs, of imports. There's people who are worried about food getting through the borders, there's farmers worried about whether they can get their imports. There's automakers with last-minute imports on their part.

People have been stockpiling for some time. People are very worried about what is happened. Businesses have moved millions and millions of dollars into the European Union, out of fears of this no deal Brexit. And still, I've been around the country. I've talked to people who have voted both to leave and to remain, and all of them, I have to say, just want the politicians to give them some sort of clarity, give them some sort of plan.

But so far, we have no idea what's going to happen next. And neither do the people behind me in 10 Downing Street, Dave.

BRIGGS: Anybody's guess. And what a mess it is. Hadas Gold live for us at 10 Downing, thank you.

DEAN: Happening now, fighting in the Eastern Syria intensifying as U.S.-backed forces attempt to drive ISIS out of its last remaining enclave.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live on the front lines for us with an exclusive look -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. Well, we've been in this position for three nights. But last night, the bombardment, the artillery and mortar bombardment and air strike was more intense that we've seen so far. It went on all night long.

And what is left is -- there, you just heard mortar strike there. It's wreckage. It's a junk yard back there. And it has been pummeled for hours by the U.S.-led coalition, as well as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

It was a hard battle overnight. We understand that ISIS actually counterattacked at one point, taking two positions. They were held by the SDF overnight. They used at least five suicide car bombs as well to try and stop the troops from advancing.

But they have advanced. We were able to see that open ground behind me, some of the SDF troops walking around in open ground where they haven't been before. There has been some fire back in our direction, but by and large, it appears that the resistance is starting to break.

Overnight, we heard that within the last 24 hours, that 3,000 people, including ISIS jihadists and their families have surrendered. Those who are left inside this tiny last enclave that is all that is left of the so-called Islamic State appear to be the ones who are ready to fight to the death -- Jessica.

DEAN: Ben Wedeman in Syria for us, incredible reporting -- thank you.

BRIGGS: Boy, it sure is. Some brave reporting there.

Cardinal George Pell sentenced for six years in prison for what an Australia judge called the callous assault of two choir boys in the 1990s. Pell is the most senior Vatican official to date to be convicted of sex abuse. The jury found the 77-year-old guilty back in December.

But reporting on a trial and the verdict were suppressed by the court.

[04:20:02] After the sentencing, Pell's surviving victims said in the statement it was hard to take comfort in the outcome. He said, quote, doing my best to hold myself and my family together.

ROMANS: Why isn't one New Jersey man getting thousands of birthday wishes? Well, that could be the reason. We'll explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Flyers with Nazi swastikas found inside a California school, the same school where a Holocaust survivor spoke to Newport harbor high school students who recently posted anti-Semitic photos during a party. Police are called to the school Sunday morning.

[05:25:01] While putting up Nazi flyers is not a crime, an investigation has been launched. Max Drakeford is a senior at Newport High, his grandmother survived the Holocaust. And he calls the latest incident super disheartening and says the flyer send a message that we aren't welcome at our own school.

BRIGGS: Some major moves from both New York NFL teams. The New York Giants agreed to send star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns. The Giants will get first and third round picks from Cleveland, in the upcoming draft along with safety Jabrill Peppers.

Meantime, ESPN reports free agent running back Le'Veon Bell plans to sign with the New York Jets. The deal reportedly for four years, $52.5 million, $35 million guaranteed. Bell was the most coveted this season, he sat out the entire 2018 season after failing to agree on a contract with the Steelers.

DEAN: So, who is the most popular in New Jersey? It might be this guy because of this billboard. Chris Perry getting thousands of billboard wishes, thanks to his sons who bought the billboard as a prank for dad's 62nd birthday.

The giant sign went up last week. You can see it on the way to Atlantic City casinos. Shockingly, within minutes, Perry began to receive messages. When CNN attempted to reach Perry, well, his voice mail was full.

Would you call him?

BRIGGS: Oh, I was just dialing.

DEAN: Would you text him?

BRIGGS: See if he answers before 4:30 a.m.? That is not cool, man.

All right. Ahead, the former campaign chairman set to be sentenced again. Paul Manafort could get ten more years as we await the Mueller report.

DEAN: And it turns out pilots raised concerns about the Boeing MAX 8 after a crash in October. The U.S. now the only major country where the plane is still flying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END