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Interview with Rep. Dave Min (D-CA): Clintons to be Deposed in House Oversight's Epstein Investigation; Trump Accuser's Interviews with FBI Missing from Epstein Files; U.S.-Iran Talks in Geneva Amid U.S. Military Buildup in Middle East; Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales Accused of Affair with Staffer Who Took Own Life. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired February 26, 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]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the initial day of that Savannah Guthrie video and the million dollar reward announcement that FBI officials told us that that caused a surge of about 750 credible tips into the FBI tip line. We've reached out to the FBI again about whether or not those numbers continue to increase. They would not give us specifics on the number of credible tips that are coming in, just simply say that so far since this investigation started the FBI tip lines received about 23,000 tips in all.

But still here at the bottom line is this far into the investigation we still do not know where Nancy Guthrie is and no clear indication about whether or not investigators are any closer to identifying a suspect or a person of interest.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Former Secretary of State, former first lady, set to be deposed today in the House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Hillary Clinton says she's never even met him. So what questions is she about to face?

And refusing to resign, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez is not bending to mounting pressure for him to leave office over allegations he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. Her husband is now speaking to CNN.

And scary moments on a Connecticut highway. New video of former WWE leading man Vince McMahon crashing his car at 100 miles per hour.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are standing by to see the beginning of a notable moment in legal and political history. Today, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sits for a deposition with the House Oversight Committee. They are investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Tomorrow, former President Bill Clinton does. And that's historic for a former president to sit before a congressional committee like that. The Clintons resisted at first and only agreed to testify after the committee voted to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Secretary Clinton says she never even met Jeffrey Epstein. Now, Bill Clinton is a different matter. He flew in Epstein's private plane at least 16 times, according to a CNN review, and the two appeared in multiple photos together.

The Republican chair of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, has been clear the Clintons are not accused of any wrongdoing. He says the committee just has a lot of questions.

With us now is Congressman Dave Min, a Democrat from California. He is on the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, just first off, what do you think of the arguments for getting testimony from Secretary Clinton when she says she never met Jeffrey Epstein?

REP. DAVE MIN (D-CA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: First, thanks for having me on, John. Yes, I'm a little curious as to why we called in Secretary Clinton because her name's not in the Epstein files, as far as I'm aware, not in any kind of meaningful way. Bill Clinton, I think there's a case to be made because he is in the Epstein files, and I don't know exactly what Chair Comer's agenda is.

It does look partisan, and one of the points I've made is, let's bring in everybody. Let's bring in Bill Clinton, but let's also bring in RFK and Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, and yes, Donald Trump as well, because his name is all over the Epstein files. But we should be trying to seek answers from anyone whose name is in there as a notable figure, anyone who is potentially a co-conspirator.

But we're only, it appears, going after Democrats right now, and I think that's why a lot of folks feel like this investigation is partisan.

BERMAN: What specifically do you want to know from former President Clinton?

MIN: Look, I think we want to know, like everybody in America, why were you in the Epstein files? I think he visited the island. What was the nature of that?

Why were you associating with these folks? And we want to hear good answers as to, you know, if he is actually cleared of any wrongdoing, we want to know, you know, some kind of plausible explanation as to what he was doing. But I think we deserve answers.

His name is in the Epstein files. But again, I want to emphasize that every single person who is meaningfully mentioned in the Epstein files, including the current President of the United States, we should be calling them as well, and this should not just go after a handful of Donald Trump's enemies. It should go after everyone, and I'll just say that, you know, a number of us stood in a room with the survivors, like 12 survivors, and we made a promise to them to try to get the truth no matter who it implicated.

And so if it's Democrats, if it's Republicans, I don't care. We have to go after everybody. But right now, it does appear that this committee is focused on a handful of Donald Trump's critics or enemies.

BERMAN: It is unprecedented for a former president to sit before Congress in a deposition like this. That happens tomorrow with Bill Clinton. I want to turn the focus to these documents that were apparently not released with the Department of Justice, big release, their big release, what they called a big release of the Epstein files.

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Three interviews related to a woman who told agents that Jeffrey Epstein had repeatedly abused her starting when she was underage and about 13 years old, and that President Trump, who was then a citizen, had also sexually assaulted her. These were interviews apparently conducted in 2019. This witness said these events had happened years and years before.

Just to be clear, just because a witness does say that doesn't mean it happened. But these documents weren't turned over. How satisfied are you with the Department of Justice justification of that, which is to say, oh, we've been told they're there, now we'll go look for them and maybe turn them over?

MIN: Not satisfied at all. I think at this point we are concerned, many of us, that they are obstructing justice. And I'll just point out that it's not just three memos. It's a number of other memos, charging memos, things like that related to that same incident.

Three million documents, about 50 percent of the documents in the possession of the DOJ have not been turned over. And you may remember back last year that there were reports that after Pam Bondi had told Donald Trump that he was in the Epstein files, that a lot of DOJ attorneys were assigned to go actually scrub the files of any mentions of Donald Trump.

I don't know if that's true or not, but there were media reports to that extent. The fact that when we go in, Donald Trump's name is repeatedly redacted unnecessarily, that there appear to be not just a few, but probably a lot of documents relating to Donald Trump that are not being produced to us. It all suggests a cover up.

And this is part of a bigger problem that under Pam Bondi, the entire Department of Justice has become so politicized. It looks like Donald Trump's law firm. And remember earlier last week, they put that giant banner with Donald Trump's mugshot over the Department of Justice.

For a brief period, it looks like Donald Trump's hotel and not the Department of Justice, not the most powerful and important law enforcement agency in the world. This is supposed to be nonpartisan. It's supposed to apply the rule of law no matter where it goes.

Instead, it looks like it's trying to protect Donald Trump and his closest allies.

BERMAN: You said it suggests a cover up withholding these documents or not releasing these documents where a woman accused then citizen Donald Trump of wrongdoing. What action can you or might you take? What questions do you have that you might look into about why these documents were not released?

MIN: Well, we want to get all the documents. So first of all, we want to get all the Epstein files. And that is what the law requires.

So the Massie, Khanna bill that we passed last year, that Donald Trump signed into law under a lot of pressure after he first called this a hoax. You may remember he signed the law. It requires them to turn over everything.

And what we've seen is, again, 50 percent, three million documents have not been produced to us. So at this point, I think we need to keep pushing. Hopefully, Chair Comer will try to assert congressional priorities.

And also at this point, I think that Pam Bondi, the attorney general, needs to go. She is not supposed to be Donald Trump's personal lawyer. She's going after his critics, whether it's people like Adam Schiff or Letitia James or James Comey.

She is acting in ways that are unbecoming the office. I think she's breaking the law. And that is why I support her impeachment, because nothing else seems to be working at this point.

And she needs to be gone from that office.

BERMAN: Congressman Dave Min from California. Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Right now, the U.S. and Iran are back at the negotiating table, sitting down for nuclear talks and what could possibly be the last chance for diplomacy to win out.

A new CNN reporting on the Justice Department leaving, as was being discussed just now, dozens of nude photos and passports unredacted from the Epstein files posted online for weeks. What are they going to do about it?

And agents ousted. Why the FBI director is firing personnel linked to an investigation into the president.

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BOLDUAN: Possibly the last hope for diplomacy. The United States sitting down with Iran this morning for a third round of talks over its nuclear program. President Trump, all the while, continues to threaten military strikes and military action if Iran does not bend to his demands. And this morning, we are learning more about what the U.S. is asking for in these talks. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U.S. wants Iran's three main nuclear sites dismantled and that all the remaining enriched uranium be delivered to the United States.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live in Geneva following this. This is where the talks are taking place. What are you hearing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kate. Well, the talks went on for about, I would say, about three hours earlier this morning here in Geneva. We saw the American convoy, which presumably had Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in it, leave here about 45 minutes ago.

From what we're learning from the Omanis who are mediating these talks, they say that there's a break in the talks. There's going to be consultations that both sides are going to do, and then they're going to come back here later today to continue their negotiations. Of course, we know that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in the meantime, will also be speaking to the Ukrainians about trying to stop the war in Ukraine, but will then return to these high-stakes talks here about the conflict with Iran.

And first of all, about that new right in the Wall Street Journal, that certainly is something that we've heard before, that apparently the U.S. does want the Iranians to shutter their three main nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

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But at the same time, the big question is going to be, what about Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities? The Iranians say they have an inherent right to enrich uranium. The U.S. says they want them to stop altogether.

The big question here is going to be whether or not the two sides are going to be able to find some sort of compromise where both sides can save face. And both sides say that this is what President Trump has called an equitable deal. The Iranians, for their part, say that they also want sanctions relief on a major scale if they are going to go into any deal with the United States. They say all of this needs to have some benefits for them as well.

And of course, all this playing out, as we very well know, as the military situation in the Middle East continues to escalate, obviously, more U.S. forces arriving in that region. And the Iranians saying that if they are attacked, they are going to strike back in a massive way. There was one senior Iranian official, Kate, that I spoke to earlier today, and he said quote, "He hopes that wisdom will prevail." Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot at stake right now, that's for sure. Fred, thank you so much. Let's see what happens when these talks pick back up today.

Ahead for us, the Republican congressman and the growing calls for him to resign. Tony Gonzalez is not bending to that pressure right now, but he is still facing allegations he had an affair with a former staffer who then took her own life. This morning, we are hearing from that woman's husband.

And a deadly confrontation off the shores of Cuba. Cuban troops killing 4 people on a boat registered to the United States. Cuba accusing the boat of trying to infiltrate the island.

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BERMAN: New developments today for Congressman Tony Gonzalez, the Texas Republican accused of having an affair with a member of his staff, sending her lewd messages before she took her own life. The husband of Regina Santos-Aviles spoke to CNN overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN AVILES, HUSBAND OF EX-STAFFER INVOLVED IN ALLEGED AFFAIR: You know, the guy's a predator. You know, he's continuing to lie to the American people. He's bold faced lied about it, you know, about everything.

And to say that the facts are going to come out. I would bet that he does not want me to release all of the messages that show how gross of a man he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Congressman Gonzalez has denied that he had an affair with Santos Aviles and has said he is being blackmailed. He refuses for now to resign and faces a difficult primary challenge next week.

With us now, Andrew Desiderio, senior congressional reporter at Punchbowl News. And Andrew, if I'm not mistaken, you were the first reporter to confront the congressman with the allegations of this affair, which we should note, things like that are actually prohibited by the rules of Congress. You're not allowed to have relationships with members of your own staff.

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Yes, exactly. The office that handles this on Capitol Hill, it's basically an ethics office that's independent from Congress, but funded by Congress, had been looking into this since even before I asked him on stage at the Texas Tribune Festival back in November about all of this. We're in a situation now where we are less than 60 days before an election, that being, of course, his primary on March 3rd.

So the organization, the ethics office, has a rule saying that there can't be any public referrals made when you are within 60 days of an election just out of concern of potential interference in that election. But this is the same primary opponent that Tony Gonzalez had two years ago in 2024, and he just narrowly won that primary.

Now it's a very red district. You know, whoever ends up being the Republican nominee will probably end up winning that race in the general election. But the more immediate concern for House Republicans right now is, of course, that razor-thin majority that they have and making sure that, you know, obviously, they can actually pass legislation.

And if you have someone like Tony Gonzalez who ends up resigning, and then there has to be a period of time before a special election to fill a seat, et cetera, et cetera, I mean, you're talking about not just a one-vote margin for Speaker Mike Johnson, but really a less- than-one-vote margin and handing control of the House of Representatives over to someone like Thomas Massie, for example.

BERMAN: So this is why. You did a good job just explaining there why House Speaker Mike Johnson has called the allegations against Gonzalez alarming and detestable. But for now says he's leaving this up to the voters in Texas who will vote in this primary next Tuesday.

But -- there's a but here. Say Gonzalez does lose this primary. He's still in office until January.

And we just heard from the husband of the staffer who says there's more text messages that he could release. Already Republicans, Republicans some, are calling for him to resign. One can imagine the drumbeat could get even louder over the next several months.

That's a long time to be in office if people are calling for you to resign.

DESIDERIO: Exactly. And then on the flip side, you have some of Gonzalez's fellow Texas Republicans, like Congressman Troy Nehls, for example, who is outright dismissing these allegations and saying it doesn't matter how bad the allegations are, are, you know, the Republican majority is more important than whatever Tony Gonzalez might have done as it relates to this alleged misconduct, which is quite an extraordinary statement to make.

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But it really is a reflection of how House Republicans feel right now about how just really difficult it is for them to get anything done on Capitol Hill, to the point where they are basically willing to justify alleged indiscretions like this just simply to maintain political power.

BERMAN: Andrew Desiderio, big fans of your work at Punchbowl. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Wrestling legend Vince McMahon losing control and crashing his Bentley while going more than 100 miles per hour.

Plus, the clock is ticking as Anthropic faces a deadline and ultimatum from the Pentagon to remove all guardrails from its AI tech or else.

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