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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Prosecutors: If Ahmaud Arbery Were White He Wouldn't Have Been Killed; Judge Says He'll Dismiss Palin's Lawsuit Against The New York Times; "Friends" Re-released In China With Storylines Altered. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 15, 2022 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, they focused on the percentage of students whose earnings 10 years after enrollment were higher than workers with only a high school diploma. Get this -- at 30 percent of the colleges, more than half of the students earned less than high school graduates 10 years into their career.

The best return on investment, the top three schools on the list here from Georgetown are pharmacy colleges. Caltech and MIT also make that list. Maybe not achievable for everybody trying to go to college.

The researchers found that schools that offer certificates or associates degrees have the highest return on investment 10 years out. And these private colleges that have 4-year bachelor's degrees primarily, also a good return on investment.

I'm going to tweet out sort of the link to the 4,500 colleges and universities sortable. If you've got a kid getting ready for school take a close look. Because if you take on too much debt, you take too long to graduate, or you drop out with debt, you find yourself in that category that college isn't worth it.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: That's fascinating. It's so hopeful to see the data.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: And the pharmacies.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: Something super practical, right?

ROMANS: Pharmacy colleges, who knew.

JARRETT: All right. Up next for you, the three men facing federal hate crime charges in Ahmaud Arbery's murder. Could their racist words come back to haunt them in court?

ROMANS: And Justin Trudeau's bold move to clear Canada's trucking blockade.

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[05:35:48]

JARRETT: In Georgia, three white men who chased down and killed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery now on trial for federal hate crimes.

In her opening statement Monday, the prosecutor said the defendants targeted Arbery because he was Black. She says this. Quote, "If Ahmaud Arbery had been White, he would have gone for a job, checked out a cool house under construction, and been home in turn for Sunday supper. Instead, he went out for a job and ended up running for his life."

Arbery's mother sounding confident about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANDA COOPER-JONES, MOTHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: I think that we'll get another victory out of this. I think it's going to be a long, long, hard trial. A whole lot of hard evidence is going to come into play so I've got to be prepared for that each and every day. But I'm grateful that we're here and that we made it this far, and I think we'll get a good victory as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and civil rights attorney Areva Martin. Areva, good morning.

These men --

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, Laura.

JARRETT: These men were already convicted in the state trial, but these are the federal charges and they're different. The prosecutor here, very seasoned. Barbie Bernstein has tried many of these cases -- some hard ones.

What's she going to have to prove?

MARTIN: Well, what she has to prove in this case is that the racial animist that we know these defendants had -- that that racial animist motivated their actions when they chased down, shot, and killed Ahmaud Arbery unlike the state trial where the issue was did they commit this crime and was there justification. In this case, the issue is was race the motivating factor in terms of the actions that they took on that particular day.

JARRETT: So these cases are never easy by my goodness, the prosecution has quite a hand here. They -- she's already told the jury in opening statements about some of the extremely racist language used by these men. I'm not going to repeat it but if you -- if you look at it it's glaring.

Does it surprise you that the defense team appears to be sticking with this whole 'they were just protecting the neighborhood' defense?

MARTIN: Yes. I don't think they have much choice Laura when you look at what's available to them in terms of defense. And you're right -- the prosecution weighed out the horrifically insidious racist language that was used by these three defendants.

And I think what's so glaring about it is they weren't trying to hide their prejudice -- their --

JARRETT: Right.

MARTIN: -- racial animist towards African Americans. They made these statements to co-workers. They made them publicly on Facebook. So these three defendants have a history of expressing their views that African Americans were criminals. Some -- one of the defendants used the term "subhuman."

So, the prosecution has to convince the jurors that that racial animist that these defendants had towards African Americans is what motivated them to jump in that truck, to hunt Mr. Arbery down on that day, and then to eventually shoot and kill him.

JARRETT: Yes. The number of terms that they used and the pattern of it -- that it wasn't just in Arbery's case, I think is striking.

I want to ask you about another case going on right now -- this one in Minneapolis. The prosecution rested on Monday. This is the case against the three officers who were also charged with violating George Floyd's rights. Chauvin was already convicted but these are the other officers on the scene.

Are you surprised that two of them, Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, both now say they are going to testify on their own behalf?

MARTIN: I'm not surprised, Laura. I think they need to testify if they have any chance of getting an acquittal in this case. The evidence that the prosecution presented over three weeks -- about 21 witnesses that were called -- was, again, pretty compelling. And we know Derek Chauvin has already been convicted in this same case.

So these defendants have to somehow be able to convince jurors that they should not be held responsible for George Floyd's murder when we know Derek Chauvin, who didn't take the witness stand, wasn't able to do that with the defense that he put forward.

So I wasn't surprised that they are going to take the stand in their own defense.

JARRETT: Yes. It seems hard to imagine that their defense is going to be anything other than Chauvin did it. He's the one responsible. But we'll see what they say.

Areva Martin, thank you so much for getting up early for us -- appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thanks, Laura. ROMANS: All right.

A federal judge says he will dismiss former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's lawsuit The New York Times, but only after the jury that's deliberating the case right now returns a verdict. Now, the judge said the decision is likely to be appealed, so future courts should have the benefit of the verdict to consider.

[05:40:04]

Now, the reason he's dismissing this case, Palin's lawyers did not prove a 2017 New York Times editorial was written with malice. The opinion piece that was later corrected falsely suggested a link between the crosshairs on the congressional map used by Palin's political action committee in a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona -- the one that killed six people and injured Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

And I wanted --

JARRETT: This is fascinating.

ROMANS: I wanted to ask lawyer Laura here -- I mean, why would you have a sitting jury deliberating and the judge saying I'm going to dismiss this case anyway?

JARRETT: This is highly, highly unusual. Usually, if you cannot prove your case at such a basic level, you dismiss the case before it even goes to a jury.

In this case, this judge actually tried that before and was overruled on appeal. And so, he's, I guess, having some lessons learned from that -- maybe a little bit of heartburn. And so he's saying I know this is going to go up on appeal again, so this time we might as well have the benefit of the jury's decision for the Court of Appeals to consider. But it is still highly, highly unusual.

And although the jurors are not supposed to be watching TV and they're not supposed to be reading about --

ROMANS: There's not supposed to -- do they know?

JARRETT: -- the case -- if they know, what do they do with that?

ROMANS: Does that change their (INAUDIBLE), right.

JARRETT: They're not supposed to but we'll see.

ROMANS: That's fascinating.

All right. Next, why some companies on Wall Street don't necessarily hate all that inflation that's hurting Americans on Main Street.

JARRETT: And the storyline from a 90s sitcom apparently too real for TV in China.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:45:24]

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.

Looking at markets around the world, it looks like Asian shares have closed mixed here. Europe has opened higher with a nice pop in Paris and Frankfurt. And on Wall Street, stock index futures also leaning up here.

It's a bounce back after a down day yesterday. These tensions between Russia and Ukraine still the main storyline. The Dow dropped about half a percentage point Monday after -- half a percent after the U.S. said it would close its embassy in Kyiv. The broader S&P 500 also fell. The Nasdaq basically flat.

Investors are concerned about a war in Europe beyond the obvious human cost and disruption. Russia is the world's second-largest producer of oil. U.S. crude prices currently at a 7-year high. Cutting off supply could send prices higher just as inflation remains red-hot.

More inflation news today. January's Producer Price Index is out this morning. That's what companies pay. This is factory-level inflation. In December, that index rose at the fastest annual pace ever recorded.

So, America is on inflation watch while some of American's biggest companies are passing higher costs on to consumers and raking in big profits at the same time. Tyson, Chipotle, Starbucks, just some of the companies raising rising but also posting enviable profits for shareholders. Of course, it's drawn the ire of progressives who say America doesn't have an inflation problem; it's got a corporate greed problem.

Here is Sen. Bernie Sanders. He singled out Chipotle. He said, "...blaming the rising cost of a burrito on a minimum wage worker who got 50 cent pay raise. That's not inflation. That's price gouging."

And economist Robert Reich -- he zeroed in on Starbucks. He said, "Starbucks is raising prices again, blaming supply chain issues and labor costs. Meanwhile, the CEO's compensation rose. Don't be fooled. This is about corporate greed. It always is."

Let's bring in CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar. You know, when you see companies raising prices but also buying back shares, right, and raising the pay for the CEO but talking about the labor costs for their -- for their hourly workers, you can see why it stirs up that -- the progressives who say capitalism doesn't work for everybody.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST, GLOBAL BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES (via Webex by Cisco): Listen, 100 percent. And you touched on food, meat packing. These are areas where there's been a real growth in corporate concentration in the last 40 years.

We've had an economy Christine -- and you know this -- we've talked about this -- that really rewards cheaper goods. You know, helping people to get cheap stuff -- cheap TVs, cheap food.

But that means lower wages. That means more concentration, bigger companies. That gives them more power.

So in times like this, you start to get these accusations of hey, are companies behind some of this inflation themselves?

ROMANS: You know, it seems to me when you listen to these earnings conference calls, the CEOs are complaining about higher prices as a factor they're dealing with. But they seem to be doing just fine, Rana. They're passing the cost on to consumers and consumers are still -- they're still buying.

FOROOHAR: Well, right. And that's going to be very interesting on when does the rubber hit the road. How much more can consumers take? I mean, average consumers are, in recent months, paying about $300 more per month in costs for just basic things. And at some point, people just aren't going to be able to afford more.

And I do think that the pressure on these CEOs is going to continue to increase, particularly if they're doing things like share buybacks, which you mentioned -- which, frankly, are just an artificial way to inflate the share prices that many of these CEOs get paid in.

I think that we're going to see a lot of pressure from people like Sanders and others to say hey, what are they investing in for Main Street? Is -- you know, is Wall Street doing anything for Main Street?

ROMANS: Is the Biden administration doing anything for Main Street? We know there have been these moves using sort of the levers of government to try to take on this concentration, as you point out, in some of these industries. Tell us about that.

FOROOHAR: Yes, absolutely. Antitrust action has been a big platform issue for the Biden administration. We've seen new appointments at the FTC in Lina Khan, who is very big on monopoly issues. Jonathan Kanter at the DOJ; Tim Wu, a Columbia professor who is big into antitrust and is an adviser to the White House.

So you're seeing in many areas of government this push towards hey, we need an even playing field. You know, capitalism has to work for everybody, as you were saying. It can't just work for big companies. It has to work for smaller companies, mid-sized companies, communities, workers. That is a big part of this "Work Not Wealth" slogan that you've seen the administration have for some time now.

[05:50:07]

And I think that's only going to heat up before the midterms. I know they'd like to see a really big win in monopoly issues before the midterms.

ROMANS: Yes. Companies -- their mandate is to return value to their shareholders, right -- the people who put their own money in the company to grow. And currently, right now, the big winners has been -- in the pandemic has been shareholders, right? I mean, it really has been.

FOROOHAR: Well, it has been but shareholder capitalism is coming under fire, too. People want to see stakeholder capitalism.

ROMANS: Yes.

FOROOHAR: It's not just about consumers and companies; it's about workers. It's about all of us.

ROMANS: Sure.

Rana Foroohar, thank you so much. Nice to see you.

FOROOHAR: You, too.

JARRETT: All right.

Just a few hours from now, the women's figure skating competition takes center stage at the Winter Olympics, even with all of the drama off the ice.

Coy Wire has a preview in this morning's Bleacher Report live from China for us. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Laura.

Fifteen-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee, the biggest story of the women's individual event, if not these games, right now -- allowed to compete despite having tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the games. We'll continue to follow that story.

But in addition to that, some incredible stories to highlight.

Three American women competing in this event, headlined by reigning U.S. Nationals champ Mariah Bell. Twenty-five years old, she's set to become the oldest individual female figure skater to compete for Team USA in nearly 100 years, Laura.

Mariah sat down with us and she sets out to prove that age ain't nothing but a number -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH BELL, USA OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATER: There's kind of this stigma in skating, and probably a lot of things, that you can only do it up to a certain age or, you know, it's kind of your time to move on or whatever. If you're dedicated to something and you have a dream there's no time limit. There's no expiration date on that. And if you want to put in the work, it doesn't matter what age you are. You can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: And we were there for the women's freeski slopestyle final today -- the highly anticipated second event for San Francisco's 18- year-old phenom Eileen Gu, competing for her mother's homeland, China -- already having snagged a gold here. Gu put down another solid performance, enough to add silver to her medal haul. Big cheers from a big crowd, especially when she flashed a big smile and held heart hands above her head.

She still has another opportunity to add a third medal via freeski halfpipe competition yet to come.

And America's superstar Mikaela Shiffrin missing medals in her first four events here. She finishes 18th in her first-ever Olympic downhill competition. She called her performance solid, specializing in technical events with less speed. This was a promising finish for Mikaela and should build confidence heading into the alpine combined event where she will be among the favorites. She said today that she'll try to turn down the thinking a bit and just bring a little more instinct.

Finally, snowboarder Nick Baumgartner receiving a hero's welcome from his hometown in Michigan's Upper Peninsula after winning Olympic gold. Students let out of school early so they could attend the parade. The 40-year-old always kept his positive attitude and determination to win his first gold medal, even working in construction while training for these games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK BAUMGARTNER, SNOWBOARD GOLD MEDALIST: I have never sacrificed or worked as hard as I did this off-season, and I did that for a reason. I know I'm running out of chances and I wanted so bad to bring this back and share it with the people who have been behind me and supported me. And, you guys, we did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis -- they won gold in mixed snowboard cross. And for perspective here, there was a 20-year-old on the medal stand with Baumgartner and Jacobellis. Baumgartner has a 17- year-old son and he said he's going to be taking his gold medal to his high school graduation. So, incredible stuff.

ROMANS: That's so great.

WIRE: Inspiring story.

ROMANS: Love those stories.

WIRE: Yes.

JARRETT: Thanks, Coy.

ROMANS: Thanks for bringing --

JARRETT: First came "Fight Club," now "Friends."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Theme song from "Friends."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Some fans are outraged over scenes they say are censored now in China, like this one where Ross tells his parents what happened to his marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SCHWIMMER, ACTOR, "FRIENDS": I realize you guys have been wondering what exactly happened between Carol and me and so -- well, here's the deal. Carol's a lesbian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: That scene was edited to lose the lesbian reference -- a key plot point. "Friends" was streamed uncensored in China until 2018, but it was re-released with edits this week as part of a new crackdown on content. Yikes.

ROMANS: All right.

JARRETT: That just missed the whole point of it --

ROMANS: Totally.

JARRETT: -- but --

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:37]