paid hefty bribes -- as much as $6 million -- to get their kids into various schools, including yale, stanfordia. the charges include conspiracy to commit mail fraud. tmz is reporting that felicity huffman has been arrested and is in custody. the alleged scam was reportedly unearthed after authorities found a california businessman who ran an operation helping students get into the college of their choice. authorities say the parents would pay the man money and then he would funnel it to a school sat/act administrator or a college athletic coach. the feds say if the money went to a college coach ... the coach would arrange a fake profile that listed the student as an athlete. if the money went to an exam administrator, the administrator would either hire a proctor to take the sat/act or correct the student's answers. huffman is best known for desperate housewives and laughlin is known for her role in full house. (dave)a mainly dry cold front will pass through the bay area today. isolated showers are possible but the main impact will be gusty northerly winds along the coast and in the hills cre

paid hefty bribes -- as much as $6 million -- to get their kids into various schools, including yale, stanford, georgetown and the university of southern california. the charges include conspiracy to commit mail fraud. tmz is reporting that felicity huffman has been arrested and is in custody. the alleged scam was reportedly unearthed after authorities found a california businessman who ran an operation helping students get into the college of their choice. authorities say the parents would pay the man money and then he would <> will pass bay area isolated sho possible but the main impact will be gusty northerly winds along the coast and in the hills creating blustery conditions into this evening. high pressure builds wednesday through the weekend with no major hot spots. bay bridge wb 80 is less then 30 min from the maze to sf. san mateo bridge less then 30 min from 880 to 101. golden gat bridge drive time less than 30 min from 37 to the toll plaza. richmond bridge drive less than 20 min from the toll to 101 ( darya ) a big story this morning. two brothers from northern california were among

families paid exorbitant bribes to secure response for their children in elite colleges including yale, stanford, georgetown, ucla, usc and wake forest. we will get the latest. former vice president joe brydon -- joe biden launches more hints -- drops more hihints that he will soon launch a bid for the white house. >> i appreciate e the enerergy you showed when n i got appear. save it a a little longer.r. i might need it in a few weeks. amy:y: we will speak to andrew cockburn about his latest headline, no joe. first we look at the growing calls for the -- growing calls for the faa to ground the boeing 737 max flights following sunday's crash in ethiopia that killed all 157 people on board. we will spin to long-term consumer advocate and faa critic ralph nader. his grandniece died in the flight. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.n. 50 people were charged tuesday, including hollywood stars felicity huffman and lori loughlin, 13 college coaches, and powerful ceos, for taking part in a scheme where wealthy papants pai

eight colleges are entangled in this bribery scandal including yale, stanford, and the university of southern california. no students were charged with any crime, and in many cases investigators say they had no idea their parents had allegedly broken the law to get them in. >> it's not all right. >> they should study instead of cheating their way into there. >> reporter: students across the country are feeling cheated themselves after a sweeping college admissions bribery scandal came to light yet. >> it kind of hurts when you see someone getting in for not really doing anything. >> reporter: court documents say the scheme was an operation for nearly a decade and involved at least 33 wealthy parents paying $25 million to get their kids into some of the country's most elite schools through falsified test scores or pretending to be student athlete recruits. >> for every is not admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected. >> reporter: at the center of it all, william rick singer, a college admissions consultant who pled guilty to racketeering it, conspirac

parents with fraud after they cheated to get their children into elite american universities like yale stanford and georgetown those just include c.e.o.'s of major companies and hollywood stars it's alleged that they conspired to falsify records and bribe college officials. felicity huffman is one of the well known faces linked to the twenty five million dollars scam together with dozens of others the hollywood actress have been charge over a scheme that helped wealthy americans buy their offspring into elite schools she allegedly paid fifteen thousand dollars to guarantee her daughter scored highly on a college entrance exam prosecutors accuse rich parents of using their wealth to cheat the system 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. the mastermind behind the scheme william rick singer who ran a bogus charity in california. prosecutors say he arranged stand ins to take entrance exams for students one other cases create

the college coaches they're accused of bribing.eg the co are some of the nation's most elite, yale, stanford, ucla, eight in all. the fbsays they unwittingly admitted students with inflated test scores or phony athletic records paid for by their parents. >> this is a case where they flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense to cheat the systems so they could set their children up for success with the best education money could buy.ng >> reporter: ahose charged, "full house" actress lori loughlin, "desperate housewives" starelicity huffman, and top ceos and lawyers. at the centeof the scam is william sier, who ran a college prep business. >> getting into the right college will set the trajectory for the rest of your son or daughter's life. >> reporter: he pleaded guilty today, admitting that parents paid him a total of $25 million to get students admitted as etes, many never having played a sport. hi photoshopped the faceof their children on to faces of actual athletes and got samples of a student's handwriting. singer then bribed coaches at ol the s who put the applicants into their designat

here's nbc's pete williams. >> reporter: some of the most elite, yale, stanford, ucl, eight in all. the fbi said the unwittingly students with inflated test scores paid for by their parents. >> this is a case where they flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense to cheat the system so they could set their children up for success with the best education money could buy. >> reporter: among those charged, full house actress lori loughlin, desperate housewives star huffman and top c.e.o.s and lawyers. at the center of the scam is william singer, who ran a college prep business. >> getting into the right college will set the trajectory for the rest of your son or daughter's life. >> reporter: he pleaded guilty admitting parents paid him a total of $25 million to get students admitted as athletes, many having never played a edhe faces of their children onto pictures of actual athletes and got samples of a student's handwriting. singer then bribed coaches at the schools who put the applicants into their designated admissions slots. prosecutors say the former yale women's soccer coach was pa

with flawed after they cheated to get their children into a lead american universities including yale stanford and georgetown those charge include major c.e.o.'s of top companies and hollywood actresses felicity huffman and lori loughlin they allegedly conspired to falsify records and bribed college officials to influence the admissions process. it's to australia now where a court has sentenced cardinal george pell a former close advisor to pope francis to six years in prison he was found guilty of molesting two choir boys in the cathedral how's the most senior among leading clergymen to be convicted of child sex abuse. he used to be one of the most powerful men in the austrian catholic church but now george pell has fallen from grace sentenced to six years in prison the form of that he can trust be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life. pelz case is just one of many that have rocked the church in recent months. last week french cardinal philip was convicted of covering up for a priest who serially abused boys he was given a six month suspended sentence and in february another

stanford, yale, ucla, usc, university of san diego. ut austin. wake forest. some of the biggest schools in the country, not an enormous number of students. i've been trying to add up the total number of students that are in the main indictment, and it's a dozen, maybe two dozen or so. but there's more that we're learning about now as more court documents are coming out. and in 23 minutes we'll get more details about what it was. it's significant in the sense that it involves some high paying people, actors, ceos, people with a lot of dough who could try to bribe their way in for their kids to get into these schools. >> we haven't heard from attorneys or reps for any of these folks. we expect to hear more at the news conference. talk penalties here, especially for the man who seems to be at the center of this. >> an honest services fraud count in violation of the federal law carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250 million. there may be a second charge of conspiracy to violate those same laws. that's typically a five year penalty. the guidelin

wealthy parents accused of paying bribes to get their kids into yale and stanford.g leader pleading guilty and several coaches have been fired. will anyone go to jail? >>> is he ready to run? former vice president, joe biden is teasing a presidential bid. what he told crowds and mary bruce when asked if he's running for president. >>> blockbuster bill. an electric company slapped a man with a $38 million bill. how does that happen to anyone living in a 600,000 square feet home or 600 square foot home. >>> watch his feet. they are moving fast to break a record. a teenager trying to break his own world record solving a rubik's cube with his feet. kenneth can't even do it with his hands. it's wednesday, march 13th. >>> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> you want me to -- you want me to -- right now. you want me to -- >> put your shoe back on. >> you want to call me out on everyone. that's the first time my feet have been on national television. that's how we are going to start this morning. >> that's the last morning you see kenneth here. thank you

parents paid singer $25 million in total to guarantee admission to elite schools, including yale, georgetown, stanford, university of southern california, the university of texas, ucla, and wake forest. >> investigators say the institutions did not know of the scams, some including yale and stanford have taken action against indicted coaches. >> we believe everyone charged here today had a role in fostering corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for students trying to get into the schools the right way, through hard work, good grades and community service. >> this investigation is far from approximate -- over. could be more to come. bret. >> bret: more on this with the panel trump administration point person on the crisis in venezuela blaming nicolas maduro for decision to bring home american diplomats working in caracas. expansion of the crisis in venezuela comes as president run intoes major resistance at home over the administration's budget plan. chief white house correspondent john roberts has the latest. >> a lot to talk about tonight. start with venezuela and new concerns ton

this scandal centers around some of our y'coun most elite universities, yale, stanford, ucla, eight in all, including georgetown. >> we're working for you tonight with team coverage. shomari stone is hearing from local students furious over this news as they get ready to aly for college. >> first, leon harris explains how shism worked and who is going down for it. leon? >> jim and doreen, the schools involved unwittingly admitteho students w wealthy parents paid seone to inflate their test scores and create phony athletic records. that man isilliam singer. he pleaded guilty today to bribing tester ssors to let someone else take a student's mission exam. as contributioned to a charity he ran and even wrote it off on their taxes lori laughlin of "full house" fame and "desperate housewives" star felicity huffman. huffman is out of jail tonight on $250,000 bond. we asked nbc's justice correspondent pete illiams why none of the students who benefitted are being charged. >> reporter: a few of these students may not have known what their parents were doing, especially if they were ones involv

prosecutors claim the scheme targeted top—flight institutions including yale, stanford, and georgetown hour to answer an allegation that she was part of a giant scheme to get children into america's top universities. she is accused of paying more than $11,000 to get her daughter into a top university through the scheme which helped children cheat at exams and roped in coaches, who are coaching athletics at those universities to get other children in on athletic scholarships. this involves more than 30 other parents, some of them famous stars, some of rich business people. the prosecutor bringing this case that it was wealth and privilege that ran through this list are now more than 12 coaches on list as well. this is a complex case that will take a long time, the court process is only just will take a long time, the court process is onlyjust begun. —— has only. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. and quickly reminded that mean news, cardinal george pell has been sentenced to six years in jail in australia for child sexual offences. he i

prosecutors claim the scheme targeted top—flight institutions including yale, stanford, and georgetownte professor of sociology at hunter college in new york. i asked if she was surprised by the scale of cheating in this case? yes, i am surprised at the scale. there had been cheating scandals before but they were minor, so much about foreign students being able to access sat tests, but this is more than just cheating on the exam, it is bribery to a different scale, photo shopped pictures, things that i have never heard of. things i think most people had never heard of. we should say that these allegations at the moment. what you understand may have been going on here? i think it is parents who desperately wanted their children to get into college, a kind of scaling up what they wanted to do or how they were going to get their kids into college and being able to access resources are legally to get their kids into college is what's going on. and it has to be says there are many ways to skin this test, and there? specifically what i think is going on in what people should point out, and w

with fraud after they cheated to get their children into elite american universities including yale stanford and georgetown those charges include c.e.o.'s of major companies and the hollywood actresses felicity huffman and lori loughlin they allegedly conspired to falsify records and bribe college officials to influence the admissions process. an australian court has sentenced cardinal george powell a former close advisor to pope francis to six years in prison for child sex abuse the vatican's former finance minister was found guilty of molesting two choir boys twenty eight years ago he is the most senior catholic cleric to be sentenced for child sex abuse. let's bring in our religious affairs correspondent martin got the story hi martin as you said most senior member of the clergy to be charged with historical child sex abuse how significant is this is very significant but the story has been very significant from the very moment that the vatican the pope in particular allowed him to return to australia to freeze charges those were the terms in which it was put back then i mean you said he's

allegedly paid as much as six million dollars to get their children to sort after schools including yale stanford and the university of south california students there are angry. missions process is set up the way that it is and to know that there are people who are just scamming their way and it is really upsetting maybe some people don't have money and that's why they're not here. operation positive lose the f.b.i. investigation is the not just college admission fraud scam on earth in u.s. history so far different things like hoffman are now being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud authorities say they'll continue to investigate until all of those involved can be found take a close look at this what they don't report. how did the scheme work and how did it come to light. he is the alleged mastermind behind this whole conspiracy and so he in twenty five he set up the nonprofit key worldwide foundation according to their own websites they are there to provide guidance and courage and opportunity to disadvantaged students around the world and reality parents would pay bribes to this foundatio

prosecutors claim the scheme targeted top—flight institutions including yale, stanford, and georgetownils yes, felicity huffman and her husband arrived here at court in los angeles in the last hour to answer an allegation that she was part of a giant scheme to get children into america's top universities. she is accused of paying more than $11,000 to get her daughter into a top university through this scheme, which helped children cheat at exams and roped in coaches who were coaching athletics at those universities to get other children in on athletic scholarships. this involves more than 30 other parents, some of them famous stars, some of them rich businesspeople. the prosecutor bringing this case said that it was wealth and privilege that it was wealth and privilege that ran through this list, and there were more than 12 coaches on there were more than 12 coaches on the list as well. this is a complex case that will take a long time. the court process has onlyjust begun. you have been watching newsday. i'm mike embley in london. nice to have you on newsday, mike, and i'm rico hizon

allegedly paid as much as six million dollars to get the children to sort after schools including yale stanford and the university of south california students there are angry emissions process the way that it is and to know that there's people who are just scamming their way and it's really upsetting maybe some people don't have money and that's why they're not here and they're better than all of us. do we. dubbed operation positive blues the f.b.i. investigation is the largest college admission from scam on birth in u.s. history so far different things like hoffman are now being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud authorities say they'll continue to investigate until all of those involved can be found. to take a close look at this what they don't report. how did the scheme work and how did it come to light. he is the alleged mastermind behind this whole conspiracy and so he in twenty five he set up the nonprofit key worldwide foundation according to their own websites they are there to provide guidance and courage mins and opportunity to disadvantaged students around the world and reality

parents with fraud after they cheated to get their children into elite american universities like yale stanford georgetown those charges include c.e.o.'s of major companies and hollywood actresses felicity huffman and lori loughlin illegibly conspired to falsify records and bribe college officials to influence admissions. almost zero in court has sentenced cardinal george pell a former close advisor to pope francis to six years in prison for child sex abuse the vatican's former finance minister was found guilty of molesting two choir boys in a cathedral that he's the most senior catholic cleric to be sentenced for child abuse fell was convicted in december last year but it gagging order prevented media from reporting on the case until february when the prosecution decided not to go ahead with a second shot trial on other charges. but joining us now from sydney is correspondent roger maynard who's been covering this story for us good morning roger what's been the reaction to the six year son's handed down to cardinal pell. yes brian clearly a dark and momentous day but the catholic church here a

right at a fair shot to getting into some of the most elite universities in this country such as yale, stanfordnd georgetown. we believe everyone charged here today had a role in fostering a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for students trying to get into these schools the right way through hard work, good grades and community service. unfortunately, what many students didn't know was that the odds had already been stacked against them by corrupt practices including but not limited to bribery, falsification of athletic profiles and near perfect s.a.t. and a.c.t. scores that were fraudulently obtained when in realty they were far from perfect. make no mistake, this is not a case where parents were acting in the best tropical stointeres children. this is a case where they flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense to cheat the system so they can set their children up for success with the best education money can buy literally. some spent anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million for guaranteed admission. their actions were without a doubt insidious, selfish and sha

georgetown, yale, stanford, the university of texas, usc and ucla.am singer pleading guilty to taking $25 million using some for bribes, and pocketing the rest. >> make no mistake, this is not a case where parents were acting in the best interests of their children. this is a case where they flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense, to cheat the system. >> get, this the feds adding the investigation continues. more people could be charged. back to you. steve: all right, todd. thank you very much. i think it does go back to 2011. and apparently the feds got wind of this when they were doing another undercover operation, suddenly, wait a minute, people are essentially buying their way into colleges? let's face it, if you have ever tried to get your kids in college you know that you would do anything you could possibly do but that involves having them retake the test again or community service or. brian: tutor. steve: doing a better job with their college essay. who knew for 15 to $75,000 this was possible. ainsley: every student who got in through thi

prosecutors claim the scheme targeted top—flight institutions including yale, stanford, and georgetownt can you tell us about this? yes, felicity huffman and her husband arrived here at court in los angeles in the last hour to answer an allegation she was part of a giant scheme to get children into america's top universities. she is accused of paying more than $111 thousand to help get people through exams and to get other children in on athletic scholarships. this involves more than 30 parents, some rich people. there are more than 12 coaches on the list as well. this is a complex case that will take a long time. the court process has only just begun. thank you. in venezuela, the prosecutor—general says he's asked the supreme court to open an investigation into the opposition leader, juan guaido, for alleged involvement in the sabotage of the country's power grid. venezuela has been been suffering major power cuts since thursday last week. that's also led to water shortages across the country. our correspondent will grant is live in caracas. it has been another chaotic day in venuzuel

yale, stanford? >> we'll find ute how pervasive this is but in my experience as a college administrator for 14 years there was nothing remotely like this happening to anyone's college. yes, parents who were wealthy were able to purchase more opportunity and access for their kids from k-12 into college and life beyond. and all of us, parents, want to do what's right for our kids. there comes a point when you cross the line when your behavior is patently unethical, even perhaps criminal and i think that's what we are facing right now. these parents have completely crossed the line. and i think that it is going to prompt a deep thoughtful investigation into college admissions. frankly, the ethics behind the entire operation. how do we have -- that has to be examined. >> i was condition go you. one of the things that stood out was this whole, if it's true, thinking that your child is a star athlete. i hope that's not true but if it is, it is disgraceful. with a does stanford do differently in. >> they ha

. >> operation varsity blues is all anyone is talking about, georgetown, yale, stanford, university ofexas, ucla, the fbi describing it as a sham that strikes at the college admissions process was the biggest name so far felicity huffman who met with a confidential witness who said he could control an sat testing center and arrange for someone to proctor her daughter's test and correct it. lori laughlin talking about her daughter going to college. >> i'm in complete denial because when i think about it too much it will make me cry. >> the full house star at her husband and her husband, accused of paying $500,000 in bribes for their daughters to be recruits at usc even though they never did before. a total of 50 people including non-coaches and one high-ranking athletic administrator indicted, the man epicenter william singer pleading guilty in federal court charged with taking $25 million, testing officials and pocketing the rest. >> this is not a case where parents were acting in the best interests of their children. they are sparing no expense, and they could set their children up th

we have seen accusations that in int parents have paid rides order to get their kids into yale, stanfordgetown. some of those accusing celebrities like lori locklin. this is a major focus in the u.s. amanda: yeah, this will just be so upsetting. playing field. the people doing the bribing already have money and power that they were using that to give their children an unfair advantage beyond that which they are ready have i having money and power is not going to sit well with many. shery: yeah, we have to see how this investigation unfolds. suffice it to say that it is a sweeping criminal conspiracy. gtv go on the bloomberg is where you can get our chart. live from toronto and new york, this is bloomberg. ♪ rg. ♪ >> i'm mark crumpton with first word news. a key has investigator is siding saidnancy pelosi who democrats should not pursue impeachment against president trump unless there is overwhelming and bipartisan support for doing so. her comments to the washington post angered liberals including new lawmakers who helped flip the chamber to the democrats. adam schiff spoke today at a fo

the suspects paying bribes to get their kids into elite colleges including yale, stanford, georgetowniefing on this at the bottom of the hour. we'll bring that to you and bring more to you as it comes in. fox news alert from venezuela. the u.s. pulling all diplomatic staff out of our embassy as a political and humanitarian crisis there intensifies. welcome back to "america's newsroom." i'm sandra smith. >> bill: good morning. hour three. i'm doing great. i'm bill hemmer. opposition leader juan guaido considering foreign military help as the country hopes with the violent protests, food shortages and widespread power outages as washington blasts countries still supporting the maduro regime. >> cuba is the true imperialist power in venezuela. the cuban government provides political cover for maduro and his henchman so they may stay in power, russia, too, has created this crisis, it, too, for its own reasons is thwarting the venezuelan's people democratic hopes and dreams. >> bill: mike pompeo there, strong words. john roberts picks up coverage from north lawn. let's begin with you. >> g

exam and the second part of this, bribing university athletic administrators including those at yale, stanford to facilitate admission of the students under the guys that they were athletes when they were not. just really quickly, i want to point this out, aunt becky from full house and her husband were both charged, they alleged paid bribes of half a million dollars to basically have two daughters designated as members of the crew team to get them into the university of southern california, hoffman and her husband who is not named defendant, paid $15,000 to work with admission's consultant to get one daughter to let her cheat on the sat, so many parents to the story but i think everybody has the right to be absolutely furious, $25 million is the total, begs the question, how much more of this goes on and who gets charged next. maria: incredibly, i know parents will do anything about their kids. dagen: larry loffman, one of them was already a social media star, millions of youtube followers, youtube video of her -- i just want to party in college. somebody asked a question, they were like, she

million to get their kids into some of the country's most elite schools, including georgetown, stanford and yale. through falsified test scores, or pretending to be student athlete recruits. the master mind is william singer of newport beach who pled guilty today to crimes including conspiracy and racketeering and became an equipping witness, turning in kleins like desperate housewives actress, felicity huffman. and netflix fuller house actress lori loughlin. huffman allegedly paid $16,000 to singer to boost her daughter's sat score. >> to have someone take the exam for their child or to correct their child's answers afterward. >> reporter: the most elaborate part of the scheme involved bribing at least nine college coaches to use recruitment slots for kids who had no intention of playing college sports. some even photoshopped their children into real athletes. fraud prosecutors say loughlin allegedly paid half a million dollars in bribes to get her daughters into usc as members of the crew team. even though they didn't row. >>> stanford's longtime staling coach was charged in the scheme and ple

. >> reporter: this is all anyone is talking about, big-time schools targeted, yale, stanford, university of texas, usc, ucla to name a few. the fbi describing it as a sham that strikes at the core of the college admissions process, the biggest name so far felicity huffman of desperate housewives flame met with the confidential witness who said he could control and s a t test and arrange for someone to proctor her daughter's test and corrected. lori laughlin, check this clip, talking about her daughter going to college. >> i'm in complete denial. when i think of it too much it will make me cry. i got to stop. >> reporter: that is unfortunate. the fool house star and her husband accused of paying $500,000 in bribes for them to be recruits at usc. they never rode before. a total of 50 people including non-coaches and one high-ranking catholic administrator indicted, and the man at the center, william singer, pleading guilty charged with taking $25 million using some of it to bribe coaches and testing officials and pocketing the rest. >> make no mistake, this is not a case where parents were

the schools all responded, usc, yale, stanford, georgetown, they have written statements saying they're. some let go of coaches. the big question remains were qualified students disqualified because of these wealthy children and their parents? story of wealth, fame, influence. it only continues to unravel. back to you guys. melissa: i love the person from pcg impact fund, supposed to be social impact, every dollar is used most effectively narrowing the gap in progress towards economic inclusion. connell: crazy. melissa: this is one of his pitches on the fund. amazing. reporter: known for ethical investing. melissa: sure he is. connell. connell: we have analysis with mcgregor crowley knows about this. ivywise college admissions counselor. former mit director of selection was a member of harvard medical school admissions committee. you know kind of inside and outside of it, whether it is helping students get into elite university or working in admissions department of a unique university. a lot of people have been surprised by this whoa, have you, is there anything about this that surpris

million dollars in total to guarantee their children's admission to elite schools including yale georgetown stanford the university of southern california the university of texas none of the targeted universities have been accused of breaking the law and assault the students weren't aware of what their parents were doing in a statement the university of southern california said we will be implementing significant process and training enhanced meant to prevent anything like this from ever happening again investigators say the scheme amounts to deception and fraud on a massive scale with one official stating that for every student admitted through fraud an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected and he gallacher al-jazeera. right it's time for the sports news that his piece of thing thank you very much we start with some shots just into us of the nadine's a dame turning up for work on day one of the second stint as manager of rail madrid this was a mandy's coaching team arriving at rails training complex on a wednesday morning the frenchman was reappointed on monday just ten months after le

way in for their children to attend some of america's best known and most competitive schools yale, stanforducla, usc, university of san diego, ut austin, georgetown, for example. eight of them in all including yale where prosecutors say one set of parents paid $1.2 million to get their child into yale who otherwise couldn't have gotten in but getting them in on phony athletic profiles and the man at the center of this, they say, william singer of newport beach, california, had a college preparation course and they say ultimately, he took $25 million in bribes from parents to have him phony up academic credentials for their children, sometimes photo shopping the faces of their children on to pictures of actual student athletes to get into these schools. he pleaded guilty today. he was not charged along with a group of coaches and university officials. 12 in all they say now the justice department says the schools themselves were victims, that they, for the most part, did not know this was going on did not know that their coaches were putting these children that otherwise didn't qualify into

georgetown, stanford, wake forest university, ucla, yale, accused of recruiting athletes regardless ofetic ability. being assisted, given access that the rest of us can't have. and you say, how serious is this case against these people? >> this is stunning, isn't it? it seems that these people think what they can do is escape of the criminal justice system by having access to a bagman really may be, unbeknownst to them, forms the center spoke of a conspiracy real where each individual spoke around that whl defendants pray they may not necessarily know each other, but apparently they might all know the same bagman. under federal criminal law, harris, the conspiracy alone, the agreement to get involved in this mess, that alone is enough to trickle trigger federal cril liability in the threat of merely one year in jail. i think it may be much more. even if it's just one year, in terms of these white-collar cases, that is a sufficient deterrent to keep anybody else might be thinking about remotely doing something similar from doing just what these people have been charged with. >> harris:

accused of allegedly paying bribes up to $6 million to get their kids into elite schools including yale, stanfordgeorgetown. no harvard so far. crucial vote for brexit. the uk has had nearly three years to figure out how to break from the european union. it all has come down to the wire. connell: as it usually does. back to the markets first, with the dow ending in the red. wig winners, unitedhealth, apple, home depot. gerri willis on floor of new york stock exchange. one of those days where boeing again was really a focus for the dow, gerri. >> it is all about ba, a steady drip, drip of negative news for the stock. at 3:00 p.m. we found the eu was grounding 737 maxs as you announced earlier. boeing announced they would upgrade or fix their software that controls the flight control system on the highly controversial planes that have been implicated in the crash of the ethiopian plane over the weekend this stock is down on top after downdraft of 5.3% yesterday. american airlines down 2% and change. ual down 2% and change. southwest, ticker luv, down as well. all the major u.s. airlines still using

about $25 million total to gurantee their children's admissions elite schools including yale, georgetown, stanford, usc, university of texas, ucla and wake forest." singer started the college counseling business in sacramento, where he lived for decades before moving to newport beach.former neighbors of his throughout sacramento did not want to go on camera tuesday. singer's foundation, the key worldwide, has a sacramento-based telephone number... which went unanswered when we tried calling.((nats the mail box belonging to rick singer is full)) (ashley)singer's lawyer is sacramento defense attorney donald heller, who isn't commenting on the case. the case. (vicki) and we have continuing coverage of this story on our website. there you will find the criminal complaint-- that includes a list of all the bay area parents who have been charged. it's all on kron-4-dot-com. (grant) another big story we're following takes us to the south bay where san jose police have made some startling revelations about an arrest in connection with a murder investigation.(vicki) kron four's rob fladeboe is live at polic

about $25 million total to gurantee their children's admissions elite schools including yale, georgetown, stanford, usc, university of texas, ucla and wake forest." singer started the college counseling business in sacramento, where he lived for decades before moving to newport beach.former neighbors of his throughout sacramento did not want to go on camera tuesday. singer's foundation, the key worldwide, has a sacramento-based telephone number... which went unanswered when we tried calling.((nats the mail box belonging to rick singer is full)) (ken) that was ashley zavala reporting. and tonight there are a lot of questions about why parents would put their ... and their children's... reputations at risk to carry out these kinds of scams. earlier today.... call state east bay co-director of sports and social justice matthew atencio spoke to "kron on" about the immense pressure felt by parents to give their children any advantage they can. (ken) you can see more interviews like this on our new app-- kron-on. it is the bay area's only live, local news streaming... 24/7 commercial- free service. down

million dollars in total to guarantee their children's admission to elite schools including yale georgetown stanford university of southern california the university of texas none of the targeted universities have been accused of breaking the law and assault the students weren't aware of what their parents were doing in a statement the university of southern california said we will be implementing significant process and training enhanced meant to prevent anything like this from ever happening again investigators say the scheme amounts to deception and fraud on a massive scale with one official stating that for every student admitted through fraud an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected and he gallacher al-jazeera. thank you through some of the headlines here now to syria now britain's parliament has rejected prime minister's reason mase breaks the deal for a second time it plunges the u.k. deeper into crisis with just seventeen days before it's due to leave the european union peace will now get a vote whether the country should leave without a deal. a former vatican treasurer has been

this problem, it's not about making the playing field of the college, college admissions to yale and stanfordking places like yale and stanford effectively irrelevant by creating free, high-quality abundant public higher education that every kid can go to. and the high-quality k through 12 education that people need in order to get into those schools and thrive at those schools. >> william, thank you for your book and your contribution to our discussion. william, the book is called excellent sheep. >> how about the ultimate confidence in your kid? that's what these parents should say, i'm going to decide your outcome. >> crazy story. >>> all right, president trump keeps pushing for a border wall to keep immigrants out of the country, but new numbers show immigrants are critical to economic gro economic growth. we're going to break down what markets depend on them. you're watching "velshi & ruhle" on msnbc. it has a unique guard between the blades. that's designed to reduce irritation during the shave. because we believe all men deserve a razor just for them. the best a man can get. gillette.

the colleges are some of the nation's most elite, yale, stanford, ucla, eight in all.bi says they unwittingly admitted students with phony athletic records paid for by their parents. >> this is a case where they flaunted their wealth, to cheat the system so they can set their children up for success with the best education money could buy. >> reporter: among those charged, "full house" actress lori laughlin, "debt sampras housewife" star felicity huffman. at the center of the scam is william singer who ran a college prep business. >> setting your son up for college will set a trajectory for life. >> he admitted students as athletes, he photo shopped their faces on to pictures of sample athletes and got a sample of the hand writing. he bribed coaches at the school to put the applicants into their designated admission slots. the i don't rememberer yale soccer coach was paid $400,000 to admit a student he knew didn't play competitive proctor and paid a proctor to get better scores. the fbi says some parents spent as much as $6.5 million for guaranteed admission of their c

now this sca centers around eight elite universities including yale, stanford and georgetown. court duments say parents paid college prep business owner william singer millions to get their kids into top colleges an. universiti among them, tv actresses lori yofflin from "full house" and dt desperate housewives star" felicima hu during a press conference yesterday, federal prosecutors broke down the c differentmes that singer is charged with. o was to cheat on the s.a.t. or a.c.t. and the other was to use his connections with division i coaches a use bribes to get these parent's kids into school with fake athletic credentials. >> now singer apparently photo shopped the faces of his client's children on to aual athlete's pictures and paid coaches to put their children in their designated admission spots. >>> prosecutors also say singer bribed a former georgetown coach. georgetown university former tennis cch ismong those indicted. gordon ernst was the head men's and men's coach at georgetown for 12 seasons. we talked to a local girl tryinr to work to get the best score she can.

million dollars to bribe coaches and administrators to get their kids into elite colleges like yale, stanford and a host of others. the schools themselves have not been charged or implicatemplica. judge map p napolitano is with us. is this the tip of the iceberg? >> the government says it is the tip of the iceberg and is continuing to investigate. government also indicated that it expects to flip people, that is to approach certain defendants saying you are charged with 20 years, we can get that reduced to 2 or 3 if you will tell us what you know about who else may be involved. i will tell you, that the government reached back the maximum time period the statute allows it to reach back which is ten years so some of the students have already graduated from these institutions and gone on to other aspects of their professional lives. >> judge, you know, we're talking here about the legal issues. when we hear the term pay to play, we know that's often been the ethic in higher ed, if you get the big donation, your child has the extra chance of getting into the institution. at what point do those k