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Interview with Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA): Bill Clinton Testifies in House Epstein Probe; New Video Shows 2025 Arrest of Nearly Blind Refugee Found Dead; New Polling Data on President Trump and Republicans Approval Rating. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 27, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... Who either aren't vaccinated or haven't received both recommended doses.

Also, President Trump is allowed to move forward with his sprawling ballroom project, at least for now. A federal judge has rejected an attempt from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to block construction.

But in his ruling, the judge laid out a roadmap for a different and potentially more promising legal approach the trust could take. Hours after that ruling, the trust confirmed it would bring a new challenge.

And finally, we're hearing from one of the hero movers who helped save a little girl. This crew was at a Phoenix gas station on Sunday when they spotted a woman with a missing toddler who was the subject of an amber alert. The men of Camelback Moving then moved their truck to block the woman's vehicle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, that's her.

RALPH VOLLMERT, FOREMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really?

RALPH VOLLMERT, FOREMAN: I don't necessarily consider myself a hero. As you said, we're all fathers. We all have children of our own.

So we're just looking out for the child and making sure she got home safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN affiliate KTVK reports that police soon arrived on the scene, taking the suspect into custody. Fortunately, the child was not harmed.

We're following developments out of Chappaqua, New York, where former President Bill Clinton is answering questions today as part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. One of the lawmakers taking part in the deposition will join us in just minutes.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The breaking news, former President Bill Clinton is now in his third hour of closed-door testimony before members of the House Oversight Committee. He's the most high-profile person to be deposed under oath as part of the panel's Jeffrey Epstein investigation. The proceedings are taking place in Chappaqua, New York.

Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam is a member of the House Oversight Committee, and he joins us now from Chappaqua. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. I was just speaking with an attorney for Maria Farmer who put in that first complaint about Jeffrey Epstein back in 1996 during the Clinton administration.

Of course, it went to the DOJ, but James Comer has said that Epstein visited the White House 17 times during that administration. Epstein was also an unindicted co-conspirator in a prosecution of a Ponzi scheme by DOJ. Has any of this been discussed, questioned in this deposition?

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Without getting into details about specific questions, generally, we went in with a plan to ask him about not only the flight records where he's using Jeffrey Epstein's plane or the pictures where he was in the files but also details about things like that and what happened during his presidency.

KEILAR: And did you find his answers sufficient, clarifying? Did they shed light on those questions you asked?

SUBRAMANYAM: In general, he has been very cooperative. He's given long answers to many questions.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Well, not in general, in specific to the one we were just discussing.

SUBRAMANYAM: Well, I can't get into specifics right now because the deposition is still going on. What we do want is for the transcript of the deposition to be released as soon as possible so that people can see the answers to all of the questions.

KEILAR: And as well, there's this discrepancy about whether he visited the island. Virginia Giuffre, when she was alive, said she saw him there. Steve Scully, an employee of Jeffrey Epstein's on Little St. James Island, said he saw him there. Doug Band, a top former advisor -- a very close advisor to the president, said that President Clinton had gone there. Have you asked about that? SUBRAMANYAM: In general, we went in with a plan to ask about that and did plan to ask about that today. I think once the transcripts are released and we can get into specific questions, certainly people will see his answers to those questions. Again, he's been very cooperative.

He hasn't taken the Fifth Amendment. He hasn't skirted questions. He's answered everything he remembers and has done his best to remember.

KEILAR: So Congressman Comer came out and said that Ranking Member Garcia had asked Clinton about whether they should be talking to President Trump. And that President Clinton basically said, that's up to you, but that Trump had never really given him a reason. They discussed it and hadn't said that he was involved in anything with Epstein.

I am paraphrasing, by the way. I just want to be clear on that. Garcia said, you know, he took issue with that characterization.

And Congressman Frost tweeted that President Clinton brought up a conversation he had with Trump in New York City about Epstein. President Clinton said that Trump told him that he had a falling out with Epstein due to a land dispute. This directly refutes Trump's claims about why he fell out over Epstein.

So while I respect that you're saying we'll have to wait for the transcript, Congressman Frost is talking specifically about what happened here. Can you talk about your understanding of what Frost is saying here that this directly refutes Trump's claims?

SUBRAMANYAM: Right.

[15:40:00]

Since Chairman Comer did bring that up, I can specifically address that, which is basically President Clinton was asked about -- well he brought up the fact that he spoke with President Trump at a golf event. And President Trump had told him that he and Epstein had had a falling out.

And it was because of a land dispute. It wasn't because of what Epstein was doing to girls who were working at Mar-a-Lago. So it absolutely does dispute something that President Trump has said.

I think Congressman Comer -- Chairman Comer had mentioned that President Clinton cleared or absolved President Trump of anything, but that's not true. The reality is, all President Clinton said was that of all the things he heard from President Trump himself, nothing he heard would indicate that President Trump was involved in wrongdoing. Again, the transcripts will come out, but I can't confirm that that's what was said.

KEILAR: So when will we expect a transcript? Are we expecting video? Do you have any concerns about the video?

When will we see that of Secretary Clinton and of former President Clinton? SUBRAMANYAM: Well, what we wanted was a public deposition or a public hearing, and the majority actually denied that. And so we would like to see the transcripts released immediately, unedited, and they're full. But we don't know why this couldn't have been public in the first place.

I think that would have helped with transparency, and the American people would have been able to see that Clinton's answer all of these questions.

KEILAR: All right. Congressman Subramanyam, thank you so much for being with us. We'll obviously be waiting to see what all --

SUBRAMANYAM: Thank you.

KEILAR: -- we get our eyes on when it comes to this deposition with Bill Clinton. Appreciate it -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: There are more questions now about the death of a nearly blind refugee in Buffalo who was dropped off alone at a closed coffee shop by Border Patrol agents. The 56-year-old man spoke little English and had been missing since February 19th. An investigation is now underway into the days leading up to when he was found deceased Tuesday night.

All of this happening as the police body cam video showing his arrest in February of last year has been released. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is here to walk us through the new details on this video. Priscilla, what have you learned?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to talk to the video, which is playing here, this is when he was brought into custody in February of 2025 when he was arrested. Now, this encounter with police officers, the families say, came or stemmed from a misunderstanding, which is to say that, as you mentioned, he spoke very little English, he was nearly blind as a 56-year-old refugee, and he had been walking with two curtain rods as walking sticks. He accidentally wandered into private property when he was trying to communicate with the police officers and waving around those curtain rods.

He did not understand what the officers were telling him, and that is what led to what you're seeing here. Now, all of this led to him being in the county jail. He spent much of the previous year in custody, he was facing criminal charges, and it was ultimately resolved with a misdemeanor plea deal.

This is important because that is what ultimately led to him being discharged on February 19th from the county jail. But in that moment, he was transferred over to the custody of U.S. Border Patrol because he had an immigration detainer against him. However, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they learned upon having him in custody that he did not -- he was a refugee. He was here legally in the country, he arrived in December of 2024, therefore he was not eligible for removal. He had no reason to be in federal custody.

And that is when, according to CBP, these agents took him to a coffee shop. According to sources I've spoken with, that is where he said he wanted to go. They had communicated with him through a translator program. They dropped him off there around 8 p.m. in the evening, and then he was reported missing from then on, and his body was found five days later.

Here's what we have learned since this story broke. Number one, he was dropped off after the coffee shop had closed. So there has been some pushback here, especially from local officials. The Department of Homeland Security said he was left at a warm location, which would be true if the doors were open, but this coffee shop had been closed, and it was cold that evening, and he again was found five days later.

It's still very unclear, Boris, what happened during that time. The family had no notification that he was sent and transferred to federal custody, and yesterday they had his funeral. So certainly a lot of questions still unanswered, but local officials are launching those investigations to find out what exactly unfolded.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we hope they get answered soon. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for that.

Coming up, we go to the front lines of President Trump's immigration crackdown to see the impact it's having on local communities. Stay with us.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: From the economy to immigration, more and more polling data shows worrying numbers for President Trump and Republicans. CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, is with us now.

Harry, how have Americans felt about how the president is doing so far?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, I think it's so important to note when you look at Trump's net approval rating, it's been negative in the recent polling, but it just hasn't been the recent polling. Look at this. Look at how long his approval rating has been negative.

It's been nearly a year. We're talking over 345 days in the red. And with independence, it's even been worse.

I mean, overall, his net approval rating has been between minus 10 and minus 20 points in the past few polls if you take an average of them. But if you look among independents, he's been floating at about minus 30 points. Oftentimes, the numbers with independents have been absolutely awful.

And I'm just not quite sure how an administration can be politically alive when you have numbers that are that poor.

SANCHEZ: How about on the issue of the economy?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So why did Donald Trump get reelected back in 2024? Right?

It was the economy, right, James Carville? It's the economy, stupid, although I'm with a smarty pants right here in Sanchez. I know I'm so kind.

If you look, if you look at his net approval rating on the economy, look how long it's been negative for -- over 365 days it's been negative.

[15:50:00]

It's been negative for over a year. So on the issue that he was so strong on in term number one, the issue that got him reelected to the White House, the American people have turned against him. And that is a big reason why, of course, they have turned against him overall.

And of course, his numbers on inflation have been even worse than on the economy. And of course, inflation sunk the Joe Biden presidency. And it looks like it's sinking the Donald Trump.

ENTEN: SANCHEZ: That is stunning in part because Americans feel like affordability continues to be a problem.

ENTEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He also got elected not only on fighting inflation and that key issue of the economy, but also on immigration and closing the southern border. How does that data look?

ENTEN: You know, when Donald Trump first came down that escalator, right, all the way back in 2015, it feels like a lifetime ago. And in some ways, it was, you know, it was almost 11 years ago at this point.

Immigration, immigration, immigration. And what's so interesting here is the American people have turned against him on immigration as well. And in my opinion, it is all linked back to the ICE protests.

And of course, ICE going into these big cities, because take a look here. How long has this net approval been negative on immigration? Look at that.

Since the Los Angeles ICE protest, that was the inflection point. That was the turning point. And now he's been negative.

Get this -- for a very, very long period of time. It's been over 200 days at this point.

SANCHEZ: So over 200 days on immigration over a year on the economy. How does this look going into this year's midterm per the prediction markets?

ENTEN: OK. So I think what's so important to note here is the House, right? The House, the House, the House.

And this to me gives the entire game away. If you look at the Kalshi prediction market at this point, what we see is, look at this. We see that the Democrats are overwhelmingly favored to take back the U.S. House of Representatives. It has been right about four and five odds, four and five chance for a long period of time. And that's not much of a surprise when Donald Trump is as unpopular as he is, that of course there's going to be suffering down ballot for Republicans. And here's the other thing that I will note.

It's not just the House that's in trouble. It's the Senate as well. And that to me is so interesting because this entire time you look at that map, you say, OK, you know, Republicans, a lot of these seats, Democrats need to win.

They're in Republican states. But in fact, it turns out, according to Kalshi, we're dealing with right now, Democrats chances on the rise about two and five.

SANCHEZ: We'll see what that might mean for Trump's -- the second half of his second term. Harry Enten, thanks so much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A new episode of the "WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" examines how federal immigration tactics are impacting communities across the country.

SANCHEZ: In "IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, A YEAR OF ENFORCEMENT," CNN anchor and correspondent Omar Jimenez speaks with people who say they're now living in fear because of ICE. Omar joins us live now with the details. So Omar, you traveled to LA, Chicago, Minneapolis.

Talk to us about what you found regarding the impact this crackdown is having on those communities.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, we really took the time over these past few months to try and document what was happening in these cities. And when you list those out in particular, Los Angeles was really where a lot of this sort of began. And then as those operations didn't end, but sort of pared down a little bit, that's when Chicago and Operation Midway Blitz began to take the scene. And there was a little bit more of escalation there.

And then from Chicago, there were cities in between. But Minneapolis was really when all of those tensions and the tactics that we had seen in many ways tested in other cities really culminated. And obviously, there were violent -- there was violence at times. Two American citizens were killed. It really seemed to be the culmination of, again, all of this tension that had been building in many of these cities.

And the byproduct of that is that many of these communities, whether they have legal status or not, were living in fear just over the possibility of being caught up in one of these operations. Now, I mentioned Chicago. And part of what we tried to do with this particular hour was there was a lot of body camera video available out of this city in particular.

So we wanted to sort of show people and bring them into what some of these operations were like. Here's one in particular.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): This is body camera video of immigration enforcement agents speeding through a Southside Chicago neighborhood.

One agent says he's going to perform a pit maneuver, a move to immobilize a vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised, driver's not certified. Tell 'em.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to PIT him ... F*chit, bro. F*ck it.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The agents are the white SUV pursuing the red vehicle in front of them. Agents said they were pursuing two suspected undocumented immigrants who they claimed hit one of their agents vehicles.

They chase at least one of the suspects on foot to a nearby store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the f*ck out of here!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you Nazi mother f*ckers doing here in my mother f*cking neighborhood!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, stay back!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a gun in the store?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They assaulted an agent, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a gun out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see your hands! Turn around! Turn around!

JIMENEZ (voice-over): They arrest the person they were chasing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Call the police!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are not the police!

Let's go. Get up!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And that was the nature of how some of these operations unfolded in some of these cities. Now, look, as part of this, you know, we saw how the impacts of these in American cities, but another part of this is we wanted to see how these tactics were actually translating, how potentially migrants were seeing some of this and whether it factored into deterrence in coming to the United States since last year was really the first year that net migration, the United States has a negative one, so more people left than actually made it into the country.

So we went to the Mexico-Guatemala border to talk to some of the folks down there. It's a typical sort of thruway from Central America up into the United States, and some of them had seen videos on TikTok of some of those ICE tactics. So it's all stuff that we get into.

We really try to hit this from a number of different angles.

KEILAR: Yes, really interesting. They see it. They're paying attention.

[16:00:00]

Omar Jimenez, thank you so much. And this is going to be fascinating. Be sure to watch "IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, A YEAR OF ENFORCEMENT."

This airs on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" this Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern, and the next day on the CNN app.

SANCHEZ: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END