tell my athletic director of the fbi director bernard your, um, as you congratulated me about who rick singer was. and he turned to me and said, oh, we know rick and kind of cut me off from trying to describe who he was, and that made me feel more comfortable about taking donations from mick. all right. we'll continue this conversation a lot more with john vander more after the break, including what you think needs to be done after my car accident, i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, our r inry a attneysys wk hahard i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. call us now and find out what your case could be worth. you u mit bebe sprisised ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ vandemark. he is telling his side of the story and his varsity blues scandal. my apologies for saying the law -- the wrong thing. a lot of people look at this as a rigged game. d

>> it's pointing the finger at this guy rick singer. ng to the parents. but you know who didn't testify in the trial? rick singer. why didn't he testify? because he's a problematic witness for the prosecution. there were a lot of potential areas for the defense to attack him, and they did. they basically said he was a con man. that he suckered them. that he convinced them that this wasn't illegal, that it was his fault, not their fault. now, whether that's going to work or not we'll have to see but that is the heart of the defense here. >> you see me looking at you and i know people at home are feeling the same way. how can it be that he did not do anything wrong? >> right, and so that becomes the question. i think they can't argue they didn't do anything wrong, right? they're basically putting the admissions process on trial. basically saying, look, this is the way it worked, right? people donated money and it helped their kids get into college. that's wrong.crimin? that's going to be the question that the jury is going to have to decid

rick singer, the scandal's alleged mastermind, who is cooperating with investigators, says both men paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their children into prestigious universities by falsely presenting them as recruited athletes. >> the easiest way, as you know, is being a student athlete. athlete gets first priority. >> athlete gets first priority, then a legacy will help and then some additional side door money, or do you have to do all three? >> prosecutors played phone recordings of singer speaking with both men. wilson is trying to secure spots for his twin daughters and jokingly asks for a discount. >> is there a 2 for 1 special for twins? >> singer warns aziz he may have to lie about his child being injured. >> in case they call, you -- >> that we -- would they ask her, rick? >> no, they won't ask her. >> prepare her? >> no. not at all. >> attorneys for wilson and aziz argue there's no proof they agreed to participate in anything illegal and say the men thought they were making legitimate donations to the school. jury deliberations are expected to begin today. if fou

shocked the nation two years ago and it's still being prosecuted today at the center of it all, rick singer, this man, a college admissions counselor the feds say he orchestrated the scam that allowed wealthy parents to buy their kids' way into top schools as part of the deal to cooperate, he recorded some of the conversations with them. the operation ensnared dozens of business executives and celebrities. at least 47 of them havepleade guilty or agreed to do so, including lori loughlin of "full house," felicity huffman of "desperate housewives. loughlin is intensed to two months, huffman got two weeks. a handful of people didn't plead. they're fighting the charges this first trial focuses on two defendants prosecutors today argue the audiotapes caught them red-handed here's cnbc's scott comb. >> reporter: confessed mastermind william rick singer liked to tell parents there were three ways to get their kids into college the front door, with grades and test scores. the backdoor wirkth a big, expensive donation or his way, the side door. >> all of the coaches have, you know, they have guarant

. >> reporter: the prosecution's case was built around rick singer, the college admission counselor wholeaded guilty to paying bribes to school officials. among the most damaging evidence, wiretaps played in court. >> i just want to make sure our stories are together i'm going to safely say that your $300,000 payment was made to our foundation to help underserved kids. >> okay. >> reporter: now awaiting sentencing, tonight both parents face up to 20 years in prison miguel almaguer, nbc news >>> the justice department said tonight it will not pursue civil rights charges against the police officer who shot jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin. the shooting in august 2020 left blake paralyzed from the waist down and sparked days of violent unrest the justice department said there was not evidence to prove that the officer intentionally violated federal criminal civil rights laws. >>> the major showdown tonight over executive privilege between president biden and former president trump who is fighting to withhold records from congress about the january 6th riot kelly o'donnell is at the white

. >> reporter: prosecutors say the men paid a combined $1.5 million to rick singer, a college admissionsltant, and the mastermind behind an eight-year scheme where he helped children from wealthy families get into prestigious schools. >> john wilson and gamal abdelaziz used fraud and bribery to get what they wanted. what they did was an affront. >> reporter: dozens of parents and college officials have been charged. 48 people have either pleaded or plan to plead guilty, including stars lori loughlin and felicity huffman, who both spent a short time in prison. wilson paid singer $220,000 to get his son into u.s.c., and $1 million for his twin daughters to attend harvard and stanford. abdelaziz gave $300,000 to get his daughter into u.s.c. as a basketball recruit, even though she didn't make her varsity team in high school. prosecutors played f.b.i. wiretap calls during the trial to show how abdelaziz and singer conspired together. >> so i just want to make sure our stories are together. i'm going to essentially say that your $300,000 payment was made to our foundation to help underserved

the ringleader of the scheme rick singer now cooperating. >> i can send him your $500,000 that you wired into my account, to secure the spot for one of your girls. >> reporter: actresses lori loughlin and felicity huffman among more than four dozen other parents and coaches pleading guilty in the scandal. many already serving time in prison. >> if they pled guilty, they likely would have been facing three to six months. now they're facing the real possibility of three to six years. >> reporter: and david, wilson and abdelaziz are to be sentence in the february. their attorneys say they'll appeal this verdict. >> trevor, thank you. tonight, the justice department says it will not pursue civil rights charges against the police officer who shot jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin, partially paralyzing him. tonight, the reason why, and here's our chief justice correspondent, pierre thomas now. >> reporter: tonight, the justice department announcing it will not prosecute the officer who shot and paralyzed jacob blake. an incident which sparked riots that rocked the town of kenosha, wisconsin, i

it appears to show wilson soliciting rick singer for help in getting his twins admitted into collegethe first priority. >> some additional side door money or if you have to do all three. >> is there a two for one special? reggie: in another video he said to lie and tell the college's daughter is injured. they say there is no proof the college -- the clients agreed to participate in anything illegal. they thought they were making legitimate donations to the school. thousands of other parents charged have accepted plea deals. kumasi: many don't understand how complicated our immigration laws and processes could be if -- unless you are living it. jovina: we could all clearly see the crisis unfolding at our southern border. here's a preview on my special report that airs tonight. >> this is my only son. jovina: this was the moment i met the family in 2019. beaming as their son tj moved into his freshman dorm at uc berkeley. the family has lived in america since 2013 and now has hit a major snag. with the u.s. immigration system. >> it is very difficult. i tried to keep myself positive. j

he says he was contacted by rick's singer, the admissions counselor at the center of the scandal.led rig to justice, how the college admissions scandal ruined an innocent man's life. i talked with him and asked he -- how he could say he is innocent. >> i was innocent going into this. it was not something -- and even the judge that sentenced me recognized -- this was rick pushing this on me. this was not me searching this out. one of the big reasons i wrote the book is i want it to be a warning for my colleagues, or anybody in a big corporation to look at the bigger perspective. even if you have innocent intentions, you could be caught up in something bad. kristen: he is currently coaching youth sailing and working at an engineering firm. it is interesting, he thinks one of the fixes is for coaches to just coach and not worry about having to raise funds. larry: it is a problem. especially if you have nonrevenue producing sports, sometimes the burden is on them to make sure their programs can survive. although at stanford, they have the money to do whatever they want. kristen: a lot

her attorney told cnn, quote, rick singer is a known liar.ent informant can or should be believed. they are just two of dozens of parents involved in the scandal, including felicity huffman and laura laughlin who pleaded guilty and served short prison sentences. they are facing 20 years in prison now for their involve the. >> wilson and abdel aziz used fraud and bribery to get what they wanted. what they did was a an affront to hard-working students and parents. >> a lawyer for abdel aziz suggested he will appeal the jury's verdict in this case. unclear if wilson will do the same. the two face sentencing early next year. >> my eyes were popping out of my head. i can't believe they said those things out loud. stanford has to let in some sailors. oh, my goodness. all right, laura, thank you for that. humanity. "new day" continues right now. >>> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. it is wednesday, october 13th. and i am brianna keilar with john berman on this "new day". some breaking news. the united states is

varsity blues, newly released phone calls reveal the man behind the 2019 college admissions scandal rick singere with some parents who paid to get their kids into college. a prosecutor's entered audio from more than a dozen phone calls and meetings between two parents, john wilson and gamal del aziz. >> i really do appreciate it. i come off as a little direct, but -- >> no, you can be direct because this is about -- >> trying to get to the bottom of it quickly. if there is a way to get her, we need to get her on testing. she is not a good test taker and at $75,000, you're telling me you can get that done? >> consider that a done deal with us. >> i agree, totally agree. >> >> what has happened is all the wealthy families figured out if i get my kid tested and they get extended time they can do better on the test. most of these kids don't even have issues, but they're getting time. the playing field is not fair. >> no, it's not. to be honest, it feels a little weird. >> i know it does, i know it does. but once she gets the score and we have choices, you're going to be saying, okay, i'll take all

this person, rick singer, he ran organizations that would make introductions to coaches at various schools pay what prosecutors say was a bribe to singer and then would pay coaches to bring children of famous orwell they parents on on to the team, and in some cases it was not a way to play that sport, and it was a way to get them into the university of their choice. you remember the two most famous individuals who got tied up in this was felicity huff, and lockman. they were able to play taped conversations between the parents and springer in court, and that was pretty damning evidence and led to these guilty convictions here today. >> tom winter, thank you very much for that update. appreciate it, tom, as always. >>> if you were to take out your phone and start scrolling through facebook or twitter, you probably know you would come across a lot of misinformation there, things that are false about things important, covid, vaccines, elections, you name it. if you are feeling that way, you are not alone. 95% of americans identified misinformation as a problem. where is the bad information co

prosecutors argued the au audiotapes caught them red-handed >> reporter: confessed mastermind william rick singero tell parents there were three ways to get their kids in college. the front door with grades and test scores, the back door with a big expensive donation, or his way, the side door >> all of the coaches have guaranteed spots >> reporter: in wire tap recordings played for the first time, he argued that he can get the student admitted as a recruited athlete, even if they never played the sport which is what businessman john wilson wondered about when he spoke to singer in 2019. >> what if they could do something? >> not a problem, singer says. >> but at the end of the day, by the side door, i may be able to go to the sailing coach. >> he got people through the side door. prosecutors say that's fraud and the money was bribery. he thought the whole thing was a aboveboard executive damal adiz asked about the tax implications for the 300,000 he paid to get his daughter into usc as a basketball player. >> when i do my taxes, should i mark this as a charity or not? >> reporter: he contends he

the course of the trial prosecutors playing audio from recorded phone calls between the men and rick singercheme who prosecutors say arranged to get the students into some of the most competitive schools in the country using what he called the side door. >> i can send him your $500,000 that you wired into my account to secure the spot for one of your girls. >> reporter: dozens of other parents charged in the scandal have pleaded guilty. actresses felicity huffman and lori loughlin along with her husband, fashion powerhouse massimo massimo giannulli also serving prison time and no parent would took a plea deal was sentenced to more than nine months. >> this was a huge gamble for these defendants to take the case to trial because if they pled guilty, they likely would have been facing three to six months. now they're facing the real possibility of three to six years. >> wilson and abdelaziz set to be sentenced in february. their attorneys say they will appeal this verdict and more trials are on the way in this case. three coaches next month and three other parents in january. gio? >> yes, so

rick and lauren. >> it was really cool to be around someone who had been something very similar to myself, losing an arm, still being able to smile. >> reporter: lauren as singerm heal physically and emotionally since the day they met 20 years ago. they run the nonprofit raven drum foundation. >> we collaborate with nonprofits to facilitate healing with programs, concerts. >> reporter: a veteran of head trauma and ptsd, both rick still grapples with. >> he didn't know he had ptsd. that was something he was really struggling with. you know, it's something that we work on all the time. to help build his resiliency. >> ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to welcome, to induct into the hall of fame def leppard! > reporter: in 2019, when def leppard was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame, lead singer joe elliot paid tribute to rick's resilience. >> rick has a life-changing accident. he survived it and came out the other side stronger. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: a minute-longstanding ovation by rock royalty. lauren in the crowd. both overwhelmed by emotion. >> if you could go back into the hospital room and tell the 21-year-old version of you

>> reporter: singer warns aziz he may have to lie about his child being injured. >> in case they call, you would -- >> would they ask her, rick? >> they won't ask her. >> no. not at all. >> reporter: attornys say there's no proof they participated in anything alegal. they thought they were making legitimate donations to the school. jury deliberations begin today. if convicted, both men face up to 20 years in prison. >>> a powerful moment on the field, as women's soccer resumed. two teams paused the game to honor two former players, who accused a prominent coach of sexual misconduct. six minutes into the game, they gathered in a circle and locked arms in a show of solidarity. and the fans cheered them on. >>> in baseball, a wild one. the dodgers won last night's wild card game, thanks to one swing from chris taylor. his walkoff home run beat the cardinals 3-1. the dodgers face the giants next. >>> coming up, big news about bozo the clown. bozo the clown. >>> ahead, william shatner's there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults