Cooper versus Blago; Weinstein Trial
ALLEN: The prime minister of Lesotho was a no show for his court date Friday, where he was expected to be charged with the murder of his former wife.</s>HOWELL: The former first lady was killed in 2017, two days before the prime minister's inauguration. His current wife has already been charged for allegedly ordering to kill -- ordering the killing, rather, and is on bail.</s>ALLEN: His office says he went to South Africa because of a medical emergency and will appear in court after his health improves. But a senior aide told the CNN the prime minister had been healthy just the night before and was surprised he did not appear.</s>HOWELL: The former governor of the state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was recently pardoned by the U.S. president Trump. He was convicted of a string of charges, including wire fraud, attempted extortion and conspiracy to solicit bribes.</s>ALLEN: The commutation of his prison sentence has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans in Illinois familiar with his record. Blagojevich sat down with our Anderson Cooper earlier to plead his case for clemency.</s>ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: I am a political prisoner. I was put in prison for practicing -- I am a political prisoner. I was put in prison for practicing politics --</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Wait a minute. You're a political prisoner? Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner. Political prisoners have no undue process and are unjustly jailed, you had a jury convict you. You had appeals courts looked at your sentencing and you even try -- you even appealed to the Supreme Court twice and they refused to hear you. So you're hardly a political prisoner.</s>BLAGOJEVICH: Well, first of all, Nelson Mandela went before a court. He was convicted in a court of law. I had --</s>COOPER: By a racist segregationist -- right, by a racist apartheid government.</s>BLAGOJEVICH: That's correct.</s>COOPER: And not a jury of his peers.</s>BLAGOJEVICH: But if you were to ask him -- I bet if you were to ask Nelson Mandela whether he thought the process was fair back in the early '60s in South Africa, he would say what I'm saying today -- I didn't know how corrupt the criminal justice system was until it did it to me and that was a wake-up call. Having said that, I want to say one thing about me as governor -- when the cases came to me and I was given files about people who were seeking clemency or pardons, I acted appropriately.</s>COOPER: Actually, no, they sat on your desk and that's why you were sued. I mean, that is the case.</s>BLAGOJEVICH: But I did clemencies and I did pardons. I didn't do nearly enough. It wasn't a priority. I would acknowledge that. I didn't go to the office every day doing that. Instead I was giving health care to all the children, free public transportation to our seniors and to the disabled.</s>COOPER: Actually, you were holding up money to hospitals in order to get campaign contributions but what, listen, Governor --</s>BLAGOJEVICH: See, that's -- that's a business lie. They got $8 million from me and I was sent to prison --</s>COOPER: They got it after you had left. They got it after you had left.</s>BLAGOJEVICH: I promised -- I ordered it before that happened and it did -- they got it while I was governor. That is not factual.</s>COOPER: OK. Governor Blagojevich, I do wish you the best. I really am glad for your family that you're out and</s>I -- BLAGOJEVICH: I don't know -- by the way, you were asking me questions. I'm sorry, Anderson. I appreciate you having me on. Yes.</s>COOPER: But just honestly, I just -- look, I have no problem with you getting out. I think, you know, the president can commute whoever he wants. I just think -- I wish you're besmirching prosecutors who actually -- who are no longer in government. But you know, prosecutors are important in our system and you were going after the very basis of our justice system which has plenty of problems. But you know, part of the thing is you got out, you do have an obligation to at least admit what you did wrong and you refuse to do that and you're creating a whole new alternate universe of facts and that may be big in politics today but it's still frankly just bullshit. We got to leave it there.</s>HOWELL: Anderson Cooper's interview earlier with Rod Blagojevich.</s>ALLEN: And we'll leave it there.</s>ALLEN: The judge is ordering the jury in the Harvey Weinstein trial to keep deliberating. This comes after the jury sent a note suggesting they may be deadlocked on the two most serious charges.</s>HOWELL: The movie producer has pleaded not guilty to first degree criminal sexual act, first degree rape, third degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. Deliberations are set to resume on Monday morning. Police in the U.S. state of Idaho want to question the mother of two missing children, who was arrested in Hawaii on Friday. Lori Vallow appeared in court after being arrested on multiple charges, including felony child desertion.</s>ALLEN: This is a bizarre case if you've been following it. Authorities in Idaho have been investigating the disappearance of her two children. They haven't been seen in five months. Since then, their mother remarried and fled to Hawaii with her new husband where they have been vacationing. Ashley Nagaoka from CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now has more.</s>JUSTIN KOLLAR, KAUAI PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: If ever there was a case suitable -- you know, our office does not request this on a regular basis, that a person be denied bail -- this is the case that's appropriate for that.</s>ASHLEY NAGAOKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): After spending the night in a cell block and wearing the clothes she was arrested in yesterday, 46-year-old Lori Vallow stood in silence as Judge Kathleen Watanabe read the list of charges, which included two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, as well as resisting or obstructing officers. Vallow's kids, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow, mysteriously disappeared in September. Her attorney, Dan Hempee (ph), requested the judge reduce her bail to $10,000, arguing that Vallow has a home on Kauai, is not a flight risk and not a danger to the public.</s>DAN HEMPEE (PH), VALLOW ATTORNEY: There is no life in prison or death penalty in this case. So she has a right to bail.</s>NAGAOKA (voice-over): He also wanted cameras banned from the courtroom because of heavy media coverage.</s>HEMPEE (PH): Seems like it was maybe a made for media event at taxpayer expense.</s>QUESTION: Can you tell us something about the children's welfare and if they're OK and if they're still alive?</s>NAGAOKA (voice-over): Vallow's new husband, Chad Daybell, showed up to the hearing to support his wife and ignored questions from the media. The couple has been living on Kauai since early December. Daybell has not been arrested.</s>TODD RAYBUCK, KAUAI POLICE CHIEF: We have not received any order that Chad Daybell is part of the investigation or at this time necessarily under arrest. We have no local charges or concerns that there's criminal activity that's occurred here on -- in Hawaii or on Kauai.</s>NAGAOKA (voice-over): The case has caused quite the commotion in this close-knit community, drawing supporters of the missing kids; 17-year- old Laila Waldman said she attended high school with Tylee Ryan when Tylee lived on Kauai.</s>LAILA WALDMAN, TYLEE RYAN'S CLASSMATE: I felt really sad because, at 17 years old, you have your whole life ahead of you.</s>NAGAOKA (voice-over): Waldman's mother says she can't imagine what she would do if her children were missing.</s>LISA LUCAS, LAILA'S MOTHER: I would be crying all day. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. And I would just be devastated. And I would be doing everything I possibly could to find my kids.</s>HOWELL: Just a note here, that CNN has made several attempts to reach out to Lori Vallow's attorney. But we haven't received a response.</s>ALLEN: Well, coming up, the Trump administration is planning to expand its travel ban. And a common theme is emerging. We look at how the new White House policy is affecting even the most successful of immigrants.