Up First from NPR - OJ's Cultural Legacy, Ukraine's Mobilization Law, Ohtani's Ex-Translator Charged

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

We look back at the complicated life and legacy O.J. Simpson leaves behind after he died yesterday from cancer. More than two years into its full scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's war of attrition in Ukraine appears to be succeeding in ways its military superiority has not. And the Justice Department charges baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter with $16 million of bank fraud.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by James Hider, Nick Spicer, Rose Friedman, Ravenna Koenig, Lisa Thomson and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Nina Kravinsky. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

O.J. Simpson was a football icon, movie star, and at the center of the so-called trial of the century. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit. He died yesterday. We'll remember the complicated life and legacy he leaves. I'm Leila Faldil, that's A. Martinez, and this is A First from NPR News. Russia tried to conquer Kyiv with military might. That didn't work. But its war of attrition is exhausting Ukrainian troops. Now Ukraine's government is preparing to draft hundreds of thousands more military-age men. And the Justice Department charges baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter with bank fraud,

$16 million worth, all to pay off gambling debts. Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case. How do prosecutors say all that money got stolen? Stay with us. We'll give you all the news you need to start your day. Now, Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future.

Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. It feels like the passing of O.J. Simpson closed a chapter in Los Angeles history, one, though, that still leaves a sense that there is still a lot that will never be resolved. His family announced yesterday that he died of cancer. Last century, he was a famous and infamous figure as an athlete, an actor, and murder suspect. Here to look back at his cultural legacy is NPR's Manolita Alvarco, who reported on the Simpson saga in the 1990s. Manolita, before the freeway chase, before the so-called trial of the century,

O.J. was already famous in so many ways. That's right, A. You know, O.J. Simpson started off as a star football player at USC, earning a Heisman Trophy. Then he went on to be a running back in the NFL and a sports commentator. He was handsome and with a famously great smile. And after his football career in Hollywood, ate him up. He starred in commercials, sprinting through airports. He was in the TV series Roots. And he had parts in movies like The Towering Inferno and The Naked Gun comedies.

Police! Throw down your guns! Audiences loved him, and that's why it was so shocking what came next. Yeah, he seemed like someone that would be everyone's friend. Now, that next is becoming the number one suspect in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. That was 1994. Manali, you covered that story for NPR. I mean, it was just a huge deal. It was. It was huge. And listeners may remember, you probably remember, after Simpson became a wanted man, he went missing and then he emerged as a passenger in a white Ford Bronco on the freeways of Los Angeles, getting chased by police. 95 million people were transfixed by the slow car chase that was broadcast live on

national television. Here's a clip from a CNN special with Eric Spillman from KTLA. People have pulled over, many of them carrying signs reading things like, save the juice, go OJ. People are literally cheering him on. You know, some people saw Simpson as a sort of folk hero on the run. And as a reporter, I don't think I had a cell phone then, but I followed the helicopters to his mansion where a crowd of people had gathered, some with kids on their shoulders,

to see what would happen next. Simpson sat in his car in the driveway, pointing a gun to his head, and he eventually surrendered. Yeah, O.J.'s friend Al Cowlings was driving the white Ford Bronco. O.J. was in the back the whole time. Right.

And then there was his murder trial the following year, which was another huge media moment. Yeah, it was called the trial of the century. And it felt like the whole country was glued to the TV to watch it unfold live. Everyone involved became a pop culture icon. The judge, the prosecutors, and Simpson's lawyers, including Robert Kardashian, father to the now famous Kardashian family. Also, his showy attorney, Johnny Cochran. He famously asked Simpson to try wearing one's bloody gloves found at the crime scene. Here's Cochran in his closing argument. It makes no sense. It doesn't fit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.

And they did acquit, Manalita. The reaction to that moment was very telling. It was huge all over the country, and it was somewhat divided along racial lines. I interviewed some liberal white Angelenos who were outraged. Here's a retired Hollywood accountant named Al. NPR agreed at the time not to use his last name. This trial was a big fraud as far as I'm concerned. The guy is as guilty as sin. You know, but reaction was more complicated for black Angelenos I spoke to.

Some told me that whether or not Simpson killed his ex-wife, they felt that for once justice was on the side of an African-American man. Here's a clip from Al Humphreys, a former sheriff's deputy. We said, wow, at least a black guy got away sometimes because there's a lot of people, a lot of dead black folks that nobody ever went to jail for. Well, Malita, O.J. lived nearly 30 more years after all that. How relevant was he the rest of his life? Well, you know, after his civil trial, he sort of faded away from the public for a while. He served nine years in a Las Vegas prison for an armed robbery and kidnapping at a hotel.

And the last time I saw O.J. Simpson in person, he was signing autographs at a horror film convention at a suburban strip mall. And I thought that might be the last we heard from him. But in 2016, there was a highly acclaimed TV miniseries about his trial and a documentary about him that won an Oscar. O.J. Simpson remained a fascinating and a complicated figure. Yeah, quite the sad saga all around. That's NPR's Manalit Del Barco in Los Angeles. Manalit, thanks.

Thank you. Russia's war of attrition in Ukraine appears to be succeeding in ways its military superiority has not. More than two years into its full-scale invasion, Russian troops are now on the offensive and Ukrainian soldiers are exhausted. So after months of deliberation, Ukraine's parliament has adopted a law to mobilize hundreds of thousands of new soldiers. NPR's Ukraine correspondent Joanna Kakissis joins us now. Joanna, it can't be good for a country trying to win a war that they would need more troops as soon as possible. Yes, that's right. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in this war. Tens of thousands more have been injured. Russia has more resources, four times the population. And it's trying to win by wearing down the Ukrainian

military. You know, some Ukrainian troops have been on the front line for months, up to two years. And to make matters worse, the Ukrainians don't have enough artillery shells to fight back or air defense missiles to protect themselves. The Russians are also dropping these guided bombs from fighter jets that are just destroying Ukrainian defenses. And Ukrainian leaders think that this new conscription law will help turn that around. How would it do that? So, A, the law lays the groundwork to draft more military age men. They would be required at all times to carry draft registration documents, so conscripts would be easier to find. If they don't, they could lose privileges like they would be banned from driving,

and lawmakers are also considering imposing fines for draft dodgers in a separate bill. All right, so those are the stakes. Any carrots here? Yeah, the law also offers incentives to men who volunteer for service. For example, they can get certificates to buy a car or put down mortgage payments on a house. And in one controversial move, the bill also would allow convicts to serve in return for a suspended sentence. Previously, convicts were banned from military service. Now, you've mentioned how exhausted Ukrainian troops are from their very long deployments. Does this law address that issue?

No, though lawmakers are considering a separate law about that. And, you know, long deployments with no end, that is what people seem to be most upset about when we speak with them. Families of soldiers are concerned that they're fighting for so long, and like I said, for two years without a real break, that some of these soldiers are forced to fight with injuries. What are those families saying? Our producer Polina Litvinova spoke to Katerina Ampilohova. She's a college student. Katerina talked about her godfather, who's been stationed near the Russian border.

He was hospitalized after getting hurt in action and told he can't convalesce for more than two months. She's saying he's expected to return to where he was stationed at the border, even if he doesn't entirely recover from his wounds. It does not matter if he's healed because they need him on the front line. So those are the families. What about the young men who could maybe be drafted? Yeah, we also spoke with Denis Monasterny, who will turn 25 in four months. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently signed another law that lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25. Denis told us that he's ready to serve, but that he too worries about whether he will ever

get a break. He said, there seems to be no end to this war. And it's incredibly hard to be on the front line all the time for months at a time with no end. Joanne, quickly, the draft age in Ukraine is 25. Why are younger men Ukraine exempted? Ukraine doesn't have many of them. You know, Ukraine has a very low birth rate, drastic declines in birth rates since the USSR's collapse. And if Ukraine recruits a lot of young men, it risks decimating an entire generation. That's NPR's Joanna Kakisic. Thanks. You're welcome. Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter and close friend is due in court today after being charged with bank fraud. Federal prosecutors say Ipe Mizuhara stole more than $16 million from Otani's bank account, all because he had run up massive gambling debt.

LA's reporter Yusra Farhazan was at the news conference in downtown Los Angeles, where prosecutors announced the charges yesterday. So tell us more about these charges. I mean, bank fraud is pretty serious stuff. Right. Bank fraud is a felony offense that can carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Federal prosecutors say Mizuhara illegally transferred money

from Otani's bank account to bookies. They say he began gambling back in 2021, placing bets on sports, but not on baseball. Right. But then he began losing all that money. Yes. And according to the complaint, they say to pay off his debt, Mizuhara siphoned off more than $16 million from Ohtani's account. They also believe he spent about $325,000 of Ohtani's money on baseball cards purchased through websites like eBay and whatnot. Now, Otani and Mizuhara were friends, but how did Mizuhara get access to his account? Because I'm not sharing my account with my friends.

So when Otani moved to America from Japan to play professional baseball, he could not speak English. And prosecutors say that Mizuhara acted as his translator, but also his de facto manager. They say that Mizuhara helped Otani set up a bank account and that he later used that information to change the phone number and email address associated with the account. That's how they say he gained access to it. Here's one of the prosecutors, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. We've obtained recordings of telephone calls in which Mitsuhara spoke with bank employees, lied to them about being Mr. Otani, gave personal biographical information for Mr. Otani in order to impersonate him, and thereby convinced the bank to approve large wire transfers of large amounts of money to the bookmakers. Estrada also said that Mizuhara blocked Otani's professional advisors, including his agent, accountant, and financial advisor, from gaining access to the account. None of them speak Japanese.

We did reach out to Mizuhara's attorney for comment, and he declined. All right, so now for a big key part in this. What did Otani know or didn't know about all this? Well, Otani has said publicly he was shocked by Mizuhara's actions and had nothing to do with them. And U.S. Attorney Estrada said yesterday that Otani is a victim in this case. I want to be clear that Mr. Otani has cooperated fully and completely in this investigation. He's not only spoken to investigators, he's provided access to his digital devices, to his personal information to ensure that justice

was done in this case. Estrada says that they've gone through years of communication between Otani and Mizuhara and that they haven't found any evidence that he knew about or was involved in Mizuhara's gambling. Major League Baseball had initially said they'd launched a probe into the gambling incident, but after Thursday's announcement, they said they'd wait until the criminal case is complete. Okay, and Mizuhara is supposed to surrender at the courthouse later today, right? Yes, it's supposed to be a brief hearing. The U.S. Attorney's Office says he won't be asked to enter a plea to the bank fraud charge. Then they anticipate he'd be released on bond.

That's LAS reporter Yusra Farzan. Thank you very much. Thank you. And that's a first for Friday, April 12th. I'm Ami Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldin. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR with their take on O.J. Simpson. His murder trial became not only about one man and two victims, but the entire country. Listen to Consider This. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rose Friedman, James Heider, Rabenna Koenig, Lisa Thompson, and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Nina Kravinsky.

We got engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. And don't forget, Up First drops on Saturdays, too. Join Scott Simon and Aisha Roscoe right here in this feed. And join us again here on Monday with all the news you need to start the week.