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Captain of USA Women's Hockey Team Says Trump's Joke Distasteful; Dems Demand Deposition of Clinton Be Opened to Press; New Questions About Death of Blind Refugee; Hillary Clinton's Deposition Resumes After Photo From Closed-Door Interview Gets Posted Online; Hillary Clinton Testifying in Congressional Epstein Probe; Mourners Honor Rev. Jesse Jackson; Robert Garcia Says We Want to Know Where the Missing Files Are. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 26, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST AND USA TODAY SPORTS COLUMNIST: Yeah, without a doubt. The women supported the men. The men supported the women. Something, again, when -- I will tell you this, Brianna, when I was -- I've covered the Olympics, as you know, for a long time.

1992 Albertville Winter Olympics is when the International Olympic Committee voted to bring women's hockey into the Olympics six years later in Nagano in '98. So this is 1992, the decision is made and a lot of my male sports writer friends and sports editors laughed. Laughed out loud at the thought that women's hockey would be a sport in the Olympics.

It was obviously not a positive laugh, it was a negative situation. Look where we are now. The respect that this women's hockey team has and the backlash against the president's call and some of the laughter, even as some of the men did say two for two and you heard one, absolutely, they should be there.

The respect that women are getting now is such a market change from what we saw a generation or two ago. That's the positive in the midst of this craziness.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right. Christine Brennan, thank you so much for the chat. Really appreciate it. And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: On again, after a brief pause, the deposition of Hillary Clinton by the House Oversight Committee resumes. The former secretary of state facing questions about Jeffrey Epstein. Democrats now say, let the press into the room to see for themselves.

The death of a nearly-blind refugee in Buffalo, New York leads to sharp criticism and more questions for the Border Patrol agents who dropped him off alone miles away from his home at a coffee shop.

And we have good news for anyone looking to buy a home, which could be even better news for anyone trying to sell one. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We begin with Breaking News in the House Oversight Committee's deposition ongoing of Hillary Clinton. Moments ago, a source tells CNN that Republican lawmaker, Nancy Mace asked the former secretary of state a number of questions related to her husband, of course, the former President Bill Clinton, including regarding his contact with what Congresswoman Mace apparently described as young women.

The source says Secretary Clinton refused to speculate about things she was not present for. We should note, Bill Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing relating to the late sex offender and law enforcement has never raised any allegations against him. The new details are coming after Clinton's testimony was briefly paused. One of her advisers came out and explained to reporters this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK MERRILL, HILLARY CLINTON SPOKESPERSON: The hearing just went off the record for a moment because it seems, as some of you may have seen, that there were some there were some photographs shared on social media, which is against chamber rules that were read at the top of the meeting.

So, the hearing has been paused briefly while they figure out where the photo came from and why possibly members of Congress are violating House rules. So we'll keep you updated. We just wanted to share what's happening inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Here's the photo in question posted by a conservative podcaster, Benny Johnson. He said the photo was provided to him by Republican Congresswoman, Lauren Boebert. With me now is Sarah Fitzpatrick. She's a Staff Writer for The Atlantic and an investigative reporter who's covered Epstein extensively, also knew Epstein accuser, the late Virginia Giuffre.

I mean, you've covered this very closely. I'm just curious, this testimony today, do you see Hillary Clinton's testimony as key to this investigation?

SARAH FITZPATRICK, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I think it is key in a political sense, not necessarily in a material law enforcement sense. Look, she -- Ghislaine Maxwell attended their daughter's wedding. It is a clear relationship that did exist to some extent. Hillary, though, has not had as extensive contact with them.

But I think the key point here is, the reason that we know that this story is exploding, why this story is happening now is because for a very long time, Democrats did not pursue this.

SCIUTTO: Right.

FITZPATRICK: -- including under the Biden Justice Department, which had access to all of these files this entire time. The reason that didn't happen was out of concern about, or I think perhaps a kind of loyalty or concern that they didn't want to draw attention to the Clintons' relationship. There are four others --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Do you think the Clintons were the reason?

FITZPATRICK: I think there's a large range, and you see it in the documents, of Democratic donors. But the Clintons have always been kind of the Republican rallying cry. And so, I think by sitting down and doing this testimony, they are trying to kind of end that at the very beginning and set the precedent for that Donald Trump may have to.

SCIUTTO: Now, I spoke earlier with a lawyer for 11 of the Epstein victims who said he sees the Clinton testimony as a new distraction, in effect a reverse of what you're describing under Democrats, is that Republicans want to now draw attention away from some of their own who might have been revealed to have associations and, of course, the questions about documents relating to Trump that have not been released.

[14:05:00]

Do you see the same thing happening now, just in reverse?

FITZPATRICK: Look, I think a distraction is going to be a momentary distraction, because what will happen is, they can no longer go out and say, oh, we haven't heard from the Clintons. They can no longer make accusations about them. You know, this is under oath. This is a legal deposition. The Clintons have been preparing for this very, very carefully.

SCIUTTO: And they're both lawyers themselves.

FITZPATRICK: They're both lawyers themselves.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

FITZPATRICK: So I think that it is a distraction, but it ultimately will kind of move the conversation in a different direction.

SCIUTTO: As you've been watching this, given how closely you have reported on this for more than a decade and knew quite well one of the principal victims of this, and you looked at how the consequences for those overseas, I mean, you look at the former Prince Andrew, you look at the former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S., granted in both those instances, those were about business relationships with Epstein as opposed to personal ones. Is there an imbalance as to the consequences?

FITZPATRICK: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

FITZPATRICK: There's an incredible imbalance. And it's really telling. You know, I had someone say to me recently, well, you know, there's nothing in these files. There's no smoking gun. And someone very, very close to the White House, a Republican strategist said to me, this is -- there are a thousand smoking guns in this thing.

And so, I think the thing that we're seeing here is we're seeing other criminal investigative authorities take this seriously, whereas we're seeing the American authorities apparently take no new action whatsoever. And I think that's really critical because sex trafficking is a very difficult crime to prosecute.

That's why it's able to continue for a very long time, especially in this case. But these documents do indicate that there were a large network of people who had very clear knowledge that they were willing to text about or put an email that Jeffrey Epstein was interested in young girls. And we see that throughout. And especially from people who live right here in the United States.

SCIUTTO: And I imagine, one of the bigger questions will be about the sweetheart deal, right? About why he was given, in effect, trumped down charges right at the time and what that revealed about early efforts to keep this under wraps.

FITZPATRICK: Absolutely. I mean, there are -- I've spoken to multiple sources in law enforcement who are explicitly told that they could not follow certain investigative avenues once it got to the federal level, once it was by the FBI. So it is a story that has been mishandled for decades and with tragic consequences.

SCIUTTO: And listen, we should note again that a lot of the victims followed that initial sweetheart deal. So you can imagine, had he faced genuine justice at the time, how much suffering might have been avoided. Sarah Fitzpatrick, thanks so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Today, CNN has new reporting about botched redactions in the Epstein Files. Our analysis finds that for nearly a month, the Justice Department failed to take down more than a dozen images that should have been redacted. CNN Senior Reporter, Marshall Cohen is with us now. And Marshall, you led this reporting. Tell us what you found.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Brianna, we've known for a while about redaction problems in the Epstein Files, right? But, this is much more widespread than we thought. So, we worked with an A.I. company called Visual Layer to examine more than 100,000 images that the DOJ posted to its Epstein Files website.

And we found more than a dozen photos that should have been redacted, but weren't, and remained on the public DOJ site for nearly a month. Now, I'm going to show you some of these pictures in a moment, but keep in mind, CNN blurred the versions that you're about to see, but they were available fully unredacted on the DOJ site for weeks. And I will start with pictures of a young girl who was kissing Jeffrey Epstein on the cheek.

Remember, this was unredacted on the site. There were also non-sexual, but unredacted images of other children and toddlers who are obviously minors and should have been protected. And there were also several pictures of passports and driver's licenses that revealed private data like I.D. numbers, addresses, and dates of birth. CNN asked the DOJ about these images on Monday, and by Tuesday, they were all taken down and replaced with properly redacted versions. Brianna, let me read for you a statement that we got from a DOJ spokesperson. This is what they said, quote, "Our team is working around the clock to address any victim concerns, additional redactions of personally identifiable information, as well as any files that require further redactions under the act." Brianna?

KEILAR: So, we're even hearing about explicit photos that DOJ posted online. Tell us about that.

COHEN: Yes, it's disturbing. We found more than 100 sexually explicit photos that the DOJ posted on its Epstein Files website last month. Now, they took these down pretty quickly and some of them were replaced with redacted versions, which is what I'm about to show you on your screen.

There were dozens of photos showing what appeared to be two naked teenagers on a beach. There were also multiple uncensored nude selfies and at least one image showing Epstein with an undressed female.

[14:10:00]

Now, we spoke to legal experts and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse. Everyone is stunned that photos like these made it through the DOJ review, especially because top officials were adamant that they redacted every single woman in the Epstein Files, period.

The advocates said that this situation will almost certainly re- traumatize the victims. Even though the DOJ did take down the explicit photos pretty quickly, we all know, Brianna, that once something is on the internet, it's almost impossible to truly wipe it away.

KEILAR: Yeah, totally. Marshall, thank you so much. Really important reporting.

Still to come, an investigation is underway after a nearly-blind refugee is found dead days after he was dropped off at a coffee shop by immigration officers.

Plus, we take you to Chicago where memorial services honoring civil rights pioneer, Jesse Jackson begin today. And then later, the Department of Veterans Affairs changes their tune about a new rule that would have cut benefits for veterans. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:54]

SCIUTTO: The mayor of Buffalo, New York is expressing outrage after a nearly-blind refugee was found dead days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off alone without notifying his family. Buffalo Police say the body of 56-year-old Nurul Amin Shah Alam was located February 19th, five days after agents left him at a coffee shop, which they say he requested. Shah Alam was originally from Myanmar. Mayor Sean Ryan said, quote, "A vulnerable man, nearly blind and unable to speak English, was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location. That decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane."

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now. She's been covering this. So, the medical examiner is saying the death was not a homicide. What do we know about where he was left, under what conditions, and what are family members saying?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a lot of questions about the period in time in which he was dropped off and then five days later found dead. And that is part of the investigation that local officials are calling for. But I do think we need to backtrack here a little bit into how this whole situation began.

This was an individual who spoke very little English. He's 56-years- old. He was a refugee who came to the United States in 2024. Now, what we know is that he spent much of the previous year in custody. He was in the county jail awaiting criminal charges that eventually were resolved in a misdemeanor plea deal.

Those criminal charges stem, the family said, from a misunderstanding. When he was out for a walk, he was using a curtain rod as a walking stick and he got lost and wandered into private property. He didn't understand the officer's commands and he dropped the rod. He was then arrested. I'm paraphrasing here from what the family has shared with Reuters. He was released from jail last week after someone posted bond.

We don't know who posted bond, but that period is important because that was a period in which the county told U.S. Border Patrol that they were going to discharge him. And this was someone who had an immigration detainer against him. That means U.S. Border Patrol came to pick him up.

However, when they did that, they also realized that he wasn't eligible for removal because he is -- was a refugee. And in a statement, they describe what happened thereafter. This is from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

They said, quote, "Our agents confirmed that Mr. Shah Alam entered the U.S. as a refugee on December 24, 2024 and was not amenable to removal. Border Patrol agents offered Mr. Alam a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station. He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance."

I am also told from a federal law enforcement official, because, again, this is someone who didn't speak very good English or very little English, that the Border Patrol agents communicated with him through a translator program. That's how he was able to tell them where he wanted to be dropped off and where he was eventually left.

SCIUTTO: Translator program?

ALVAREZ: A translator program, like a digital program.

SCIUTTO: Right.

ALVAREZ: I'm also told that he was offered the opportunity to make a phone call and declined to do that. So, that is what I'm hearing from my sources. All of this, of course, is likely to be part of the investigation because the family was not notified that he was released. It's unclear if they were even notified when he was transferred into federal custody.

So, of course, the family has a lot of questions there. And to your point, the medical examiner has done an autopsy. They found this was health related and it was -- they have ruled out exposure and homicide. So certainly, how -- what happened over those five days is a big question.

SCIUTTO: Well, let me ask you this, based on your understanding of the law and procedure here --

ALVAREZ: Yeah.

SCIUTTO: -- did CBP do all they needed to do after they released him?

ALVAREZ: So, protocol typically is that they would release someone from the station. So say they brought someone into custody, they realized that they weren't eligible for removal and they could just release him from that station. That's why they're calling this a courtesy ride, because they opted to transport this individual to where he said he wanted to be dropped off, according to a source that I spoke with. Otherwise, they would transfer them to another federal agency or a local agency.

[14:20:00]

This -- again, part of the issue seems to be what is it that the locals were telling the federal authorities --

SCIUTTO: Right.

ALVAREZ: -- and vice versa? And where was there potential confusion as to where this individual should be? But he did. A bond was posted, so he no longer had to be in the jail. Again, for all of these reasons, the local officials are calling for an investigation into what exactly transpired.

SCIUTTO: Wonder why didn't reach the family, right?

ALVAREZ: Right. (inaudible).

SCIUTTO: Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much. Just after the break, we're going to head to Chicago, where mourners are honoring the life of the late Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Plus, we just got an update out of Switzerland where the U.S. and Iran are currently engaged in nuclear talks. President Trump is threatening, as you'll remember, military action against Iran, if the two nations do not reach a deal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:28]

KEILAR: Happening now. Mourners are paying final respects to Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the last titans of the civil rights era. And actually, we are going to revisit this in just a moment.

But let's go to Chappaqua, where Democrats are now speaking after the Hillary Clinton deposition.

REP. ROBERT GARCIA, (D-CA) RANKING MEMBER, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: -- make some brief statements as well, my colleagues, and then perhaps a question or two, and then we're going to get back to the deposition. As a reminder, this deposition has now gone on for about two hours, two hours plus, two-and-a-half hours. And so that will -- it will continue throughout the day.

And so, I'm going to be also respectful of not being specific. But I do have -- we do have some overall statements to make. And a lot of this obviously ties into what the secretary has already put out herself in her opening statement.

I just want to begin by just clarifying and putting emphasis on something that's very important, and it's something the secretary herself has said. Secretary Clinton never met Jeffrey Epstein. She never visited the island. She never flew on his plane. She also had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crime. So, zero knowledge of any wrongdoing. And you've also all heard that directly from her.

Secretary Clinton is also completely cooperating with the deposition and the committee, and is answering questions in full faith and in good faith.

What is not acceptable is Oversight Republicans breaking their own Committee rules that they established with the secretary and her team, which you've all reported and you've seen by releasing photos, not acceptable. And it was gracious of the secretary and her team to continue the deposition.

What we also want to say at this very moment is it's becoming more clear every single day, is the questions continue to build around this DOJ and the White House and the focus of the majority. We want to understand right now where the missing FBI files are. These are files that accuse the president of the United States about serious, serious accusations around sexual abuse and the fact that they're not in the files and have been, apparently, either removed or discarded is incredibly concerning.

And so, we're calling on Attorney General, Pam Bondi to immediately release those files. And lastly, I want to also add that this committee has now set a new precedent about talking to presidents and former presidents, and we're demanding immediately that we ask President Trump to testify in front of our committee and be deposed in front of Oversight Republicans and Democrats, and that should happen immediately. He is the person that appears almost more than anyone else in the committee, and it needs to happen right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, do you distinguish at all between the president and a former president and a sitting president? I mean, is there something in there? Because they will say, wait a minute, we know what the court ruled on his immunity.

GARCIA: We should depose the person that is mentioned in the Epstein Files almost more than any other person next to Ghislaine Maxwell, and that's Donald Trump. We're going to have a couple of comments, and then we're going to -- go ahead.

I'm going to answer a couple of questions.

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM, (D-VA): Thank you. House Republicans need to get serious about this investigation. I understand now fully why Secretary Clinton wanted to make this deposition and her hearing public, because the reality is we are talking to the wrong person today. Who we should be talking to instead are people who are actually mentioned in the files, people who have made misleading statements about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier today, Chairman Comer mentioned being open to talking to Secretary Lutnick. Well, let's get him in. Let's talk to Secretary Lutnick instead. Let's talk to someone who is neighbors with Jeffrey Epstein, who actually associated with Jeffrey Epstein, not someone who had never, ever met Jeffrey Epstein to their knowledge. And so, let's try to talk about people who will help us with our investigation. And let's release the 2.5 million files so we can know who else to talk to and so we can do right by the victims and actually bring justice. Thank you.

REP. YASSAMIN ANSARI, (D-AZ): Thank you. I'm Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari representing Arizona's 3rd District. I am extremely, extremely appalled by the Republican chairman's behavior --