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Deputy Attorney General Signals No New Charges Related to Epstein; House to Vote on Whether to Hold Clintons in Contempt; Disagreements Over DHS Funding Threaten Spending Package; Bomb Cyclone Buries North Carolina in Biggest Snowfall in Decades; MAGA Loyalists View AI Industry with Suspicion Amid Trump's Push. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 02, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. She looked amazing. Amazing.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: So good. Lisa Respers France --

FRANCE: Yes.

SIDNER: So do you, my girl. It's so good to see you.

FRANCE: As do you. Good to see you too, my love. Thank you.

SIDNER: Talk soon.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

The DOJ drops three million new Epstein documents. The details deeply disturbing. But the DOJ says there's nothing they can use to prosecute anyone. We'll take a look at some of the explosive revelations in the latest release.

In very red Texas this morning, a major warning for Republicans ahead of the midterms, losing not one but two special elections over the weekend.

And a massive snowstorm burying North Carolina. And the frigid cold, well, it's not going away.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, a huge number of the so-called Epstein files have now been released and at least one person is not happy with how some people are talking about it all. That person happens to be the president of the United States who lashed out at Grammy host Trevor Noah for a joke he made overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, GRAMMY AWARDS: That is a Grammy that every artist wants, almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense. I mean, because Epstein's island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton. So, oh, I told you it's my last year.

What are you going to do about it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The president responded. He wrote, quote, I can't speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island nor anywhere close. And then he threatened to sue Noah for defamation for plenty of dollars.

The Justice Department released more than three million pages of files from the Epstein investigation. The Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, signaled none of it will lead to any additional charges or any additional investigations or prosecutions from the Justice Department, at least for now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's a lot of correspondence. There's a lot of e-mails. There's a lot of photographs.

There's a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him. But that doesn't allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody. The attorney general wants that more than anything, but that doesn't mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that doesn't -- that isn't there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House this morning. What are you hearing from inside the Trump administration a couple of days into this release?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, of course, this is something that the Trump administration continues to try and not want to talk about. And we saw them, you know, issue a statement defending the president, arguing that so much of what was released or contained in this more than 3 million documents that were shared and released by the Justice Department, arguing that so much of it is uncorroborated tips that were sent in. And we heard Blanche, as well, mentioned that when talking with Dana Bash yesterday, as well as arguing that, again, despite the disturbing nature of so much of these, of what was in these materials, that they do not believe that there will be an ongoing criminal investigation.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: It's not about President Trump. It's around -- it's about a ton of people.

Multiple, multiple, multiple people that that were, quote, in the Epstein files. And what I think folks will see when they review the materials we released, is that there have been hundreds of calls made to the FBI where allegations are made by either anonymous individuals or people who are very quickly determined to not be credible, whether it's the nature of what they're saying or the fact they won't provide any information or corroboration. And that's part of the Epstein files.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, this is partly why there was so much hesitancy over the last year or so to actually release these. Of course, remember, this took a law being passed by Congress in order to force the Trump administration's hand to actually release these files. The Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, but also others within the Justice Department and here in this building behind me at the White House, arguing that because so many of what is in these materials are allegations, they didn't want this to be made public.

Now we are seeing it. But one of the things that is so striking about that interview that Blanche did with Dana yesterday is this idea that they are not looking to have any other prosecutions based on the Epstein files. And Bash had actually asked Blanche, you know, what if there is more materials or that come forward from the public, if the public gives more information now that they've seen these files?

And he continued to argue that based on the review that the Justice Department has done, they do not anticipate that. And I will say that is very different from what we are hearing or what we heard from the attorney general, Pam Bondi.

[08:05:07]

I remember -- remind you that just two and a half months ago, President Trump had directed essentially Pam Bondi to look into Democrats, people like the former president, Bill Clinton or the former Treasury secretary, Larry Summers, to look into what they've done and potentially bring criminal charges against them as part of a criminal investigation. And essentially, Bondi said, yes, they will do that. And so we are getting mixed signals here now from the top people at the Justice Department.

I should note as well, just bringing up Clinton this week, we are expected to see the House setting up a contempt vote for the former president, Bill Clinton, as well as the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, for not coming forward and testifying. There's a lot of people in Congress as well, including Republicans, saying that if they are going to be ultimately voted to be held in contempt, Bondi should, too, because they have not been releasing the files as quickly as the law that Congress passed has stated they needed to do -- John.

BERMAN: Still more to come on this. Alayna Treene at the White House this morning. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sure seems that way, John. And so joining us right now to talk more about this is Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief for the Boston Globe. It's good to see you, Jackie.

The House now expected to vote this week to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for failing to testify as they were laying out. Some Democrats on House oversight voted in favor of this move. What is that going to look like when it gets to the full House?

And what do you make of it?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: You know, one of the things we are expecting is there will be other Democrats that potentially vote to hold Bill Clinton in contempt, potentially Hillary Clinton. And this is one of the reasons is when you look at what Ayanna Pressley said after her vote, for example, Congresswoman from the Boston area, she said that anyone named in these in these files should cooperate with the committee regardless of party. And you had Stephen Lynch also say similar things.

I think nine Democrats voted to in that case to vote -- voted for Bill Clinton. When we get to the larger House floor, there isn't a lot of love for the Clintons, particularly among younger Democrats. They don't have those connections that potentially some of the older Democrats do.

And so you would expect that there would be they will join some of their Republican colleagues here. That doesn't mean that they don't think that potentially the president, Pam Bondi, others should be also held to account here. But that isn't including them from from voting for the Clintons.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's as Jamie Raskin kind of put it, like he'll support anyone also who's named in this to come speak. It clears the way for them to be able to say, we also want Pam Bondi. We also want -- you know, like who else they want to come.

Ghislaine Maxwell --

KUCINICH: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- to come and speak on all this stuff. The deputy attorney general out and about yesterday, making pretty clear that nothing that has come out in this massive batch of documents is going to lead to any charges against anybody. And then you have Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, ahead of the Pam Bondi hearing, asking the Justice Department to make arrangements so they can view the full files unredacted.

Ro Khanna, Tom Massey, who kind of really led this charge from the beginning, saying that they now want a meeting with Todd Blanche because they want to see more. I mean, so this is or is definitely not over.

KUCINICH: One of the interesting things about the last couple of months is it's become clear, despite what the president said on the campaign trail, that anything that that Congress wants from the administration when it comes to the Epstein files is going to have to be forced. So I think you're right. I think there will be more action.

There's going to be more requests from Congress. And they're not letting this go, particularly as you do have these survivors who've made it very clear that they are not satisfied with what the administration or what Congress has done at this point. BOLDUAN: Yes, so true. At the very same time, Jackie, we've got another partial government shutdown on our hands. It's now beginning to unfold.

The FAA saw one one alert --

KUCINICH: That David has to fly.

BOLDUAN: That's why -- I love you.

The FAA now says that 10,000 employees, FAA employees are going to be furloughed if this shutdown continues. It's part of their contingency plan that they have put together. Mike Johnson this weekend saying that he's optimistic the shutdown can end by tomorrow, I think is kind of how he put it.

Then the Democratic leader, though, suggesting that they're going to have to figure it out for themselves. Who knows what that means when they go back, you know, to the Senate when these negotiations unfold? Because Hakeem Jeffries is making clear, he said it on the show to me last week, that they are demanding changes when it comes to DHS and ICE in order to get Democrats on board.

Where is the momentum here? And how similar or not is this one from the last shutdown, do you think?

KUCINICH: So this is a partial shutdown. And what they what -- the first thing they need to do is to pass these other -- to get these five bills and agree to what Chuck Schumer negotiated in the Senate. That's step one for Mike Johnson.

[08:10:00]

Step two is negotiating this DHS funding bill, which is really going to be a tough sell, particularly for Republicans and Democrats. So Democrats really feel like they have the momentum here because they know the public is not happy with some of the actions that ICE has taken, particularly in recent weeks. So we'll have to see how this plays out.

We've seen Democrats really hold firm. We saw this in the ACA situation, how far they'll push this. They have two weeks once this passes to to negotiate this. We'll see if that -- if they end up having to kick in another two weeks and another two weeks after that, et cetera, et cetera.

BOLDUAN: Yes. But the momentum is different because they did -- they have passed other other pieces of funding for the government. So there is -- it will be interesting to see how that pressure does mountain build as this negotiation kicks off.

Let's see. It's good to see you, Jackie. Thank you so much.

KUCINICH: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Sara. SIDNER: All right. Ahead this morning. There is snow on the beach in South Carolina. That's not normal. The Carolinas seeing the biggest snowfall in decades. That story is coming up.

Plus, court documents revealing new details about the man accused of killing his ex-wife and her new husband inside their Ohio home.

And a heroic moment caught on camera officers rushing in to save an unconscious toddler.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, North Carolina is grappling with the aftermath of a monster winter storm that touched every corner of that state. North Carolina Governor Josh Stein says snow fell in all 100 counties of his state. Some cities recorded record breaking snowfall not seen there in decades.

State officials are urging residents, if you can, just stay home after the storm is said to have caused more than a thousand collisions on the road, which has now led to two deaths. Joining me now is Chris Chadwick. He is the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in Carteret County in North Carolina.

First of all, thank you for doing this. I know you are freezing. It is unusual the amount of snow that you all are getting.

Can you give me a sense of what is happening right now? How are things?

CHRIS CHADWICK, CHAIRMAN, CARTERET COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: Well, things are very cold, about 22 degrees here, with a wind chill of about 11. We had an unprecedented snowstorm with probably 12 to 14 inches of snow with drifts of three to four feet. We haven't seen anything like this since 1989.

SIDNER: That's crazy when you consider it. There's a lot of people that live in the northeast and are used to these sort of big snowstorms. You all are not.

Do you have the equipment and the salt and, you know, all the different things that are needed to clear out the streets quickly?

CHADWICK: We do not, but there is no county roads in Carteret County. All roads are state roads. And we have our excellent partners with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, specifically our district engineer, Gordy Eure, does a fabulous job.

They've had snowplows running throughout the night for major roads, Highway 70 and some other roads. Once they finish those roads, they will work on the secondary roads, but they've called in plows from all over the state, along with Humvee-style vehicles for some high snow areas if they need to aid in any rescue or any incidents like that.

SIDNER: How would you describe, when you looked out the window as this storm came through, how would you describe what you saw?

CHADWICK: It was pretty impressive. You know that last snowstorm was in 1989. I was a senior in high school.

This is the closest thing we've had to it since then. Banks of snow, some places three foot deep, but everything was covered in snow. It was a dry, powdery snow, so fortunately we didn't lose power, so that was a blessing.

SIDNER: A real blessing, especially when folks are not used to those kind of temperatures there in North Carolina, at least not sustained. We're seeing some of the pictures from Charlotte, and it looks absolutely beautiful, but it is treacherous. We've been seeing all of these accidents that have happened.

What are you hearing from residents, and what are you telling them about what to do in the next couple of days?

CHADWICK: Well, the main thing, they're plowing the roads, and that gets most of the snow off, but overnight the temperatures go so cold, below freezing, that you create a black ice type situation. So, we're urging everybody to stay off the road, and everybody likes to get around and play in it with the four-wheelers and pickup trucks, but when the sun goes down, the temperature drops back, and it refreezes, so it can be very dangerous situations the next morning when people are headed to work. So, just wait until after daylight, and let the sun warm it up a little bit, and make out the best you can.

SIDNER: Have you heard of anybody who's injured, or had any kind of incidents in your county?

CHADWICK: We haven't heard of anything in Carteret County. We did have some sporadic power loss, a few homes here and there. I think all that's been restored, and it wasn't off for that long a time, so everything's going real well here.

We have an excellent emergency management team with Billy Mathis and Billy Murphy with our public works department, clearing off snow around the courthouse and getting things hopefully ready to open back up in the next day or so.

[08:20:00]

SIDNER: Well, I learned that you and I are both children of the 80s, Chris, and so hopefully this is the last time you have to deal with a storm this big, but it is pretty there.

It's just pretty when you're inside looking out. Chris Chadwick, I do thank you. I appreciate you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: New CNN reporting today on the president's AI push and the rift that it's now creating among his allies.

And everyone's favorite -- maybe debatable -- weather-predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil just this morning now says six more weeks of winter is in our future. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So as artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of almost every aspect of all of our lives.

[08:25:00]

And also is leading to bigger and bigger questions of what is the federal government going to do about it. There is now news CNN reporting today. That AI is also creating a new rift in the MAGA movement.

CNN's Steve Contorno has this new reporting and joins us right now. Steve, what are you learning?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Kate, all throughout 2025 we saw Trump's new tech allies and some of the vanguards of his MAGA movement often at odds over how much leeway and power he was ceding to these tech companies over AI. And we are learning that those tensions came to a head during a November meeting in Vice President J.D. Vance's office. Where there was what I was told was a very frank conversation between White House AI czar David Sacks and Mike Davis. A long time legal advisor to the president who has also been a vocal tech skeptic. And this was over this effort by Donald Trump to override basically all 50 states on their AI regulations.

Sacks was helping to push that through Congress. And Davis was leading the fight to kill it. And he was successful a number of times.

And this created a bunch of problems for Sacks and Trump's agenda last year. And really, it's reflective overall of what we are seeing from the populist right within Trump's movement. People like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson have been very vocally against how much power Trump is giving to these tech companies.

And it's reflective of a changing views overall by the general population. Take a look at this poll last year of U.S. adults. Just 10 percent are more excited than concerned about the prospect for AI.

More than 50 percent are more concerned than excited. That's actually up from 37 percent five years ago. So you are seeing the country really growing more and more concerned about what AI is going to do.

And it's being reflected more and more in our politics. Communities on the left and the right are blocking data centers. We are seeing governors, including Republicans like Ron DeSantis, standing up to AI companies.

We are seeing more and more politicians, Democrats and Republicans, criticizing and blaming AI for high power bills. And all this is going to continue to come to a head in 2026 because now the ball moves to Congress's court. And we are already seeing some Republicans willing to push back against the president and say maybe we need to do a little bit more to reign in tech. And siding more and more with the populist wing in his movement. Now, Trump did end 2025 by signing an executive order that is supposed

to override states' existing AI regulations. We'll have to see if courts go along with it. But take a look at what Steve Bannon had to say about that.

"We're going to fight like hell. So don't think that anyone is placated."

Kate.

BOLDUAN: We will see what that fight like hell looks like from here on out. It's good to see you, Steve. Thanks so much for the reporting -- John.

BERMAN: All right. They put the president's name on the Kennedy Center. Acts disappeared.

Ticket sales plummeted. Now overnight, the president announced he's going to shut it all down for two years of reconstruction. Is this about a fix-up or sour grapes?

And the legendary Luther Vandross passed away more than 20 years ago. Imagine the shock then to all as Cher announced him as a winner at the Grammys overnight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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