Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Jeffrey Epstein, From Wealthy Financier to Accused Sex Trafficker; Tech Firms Unveil Newest Innovations at Annual Conference; Grandmother Convicted in January 6 Capitol Attack Reports to Prison; Aaron Rodgers Refuses to Apologize for Linking Kimmel to Epstein. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired January 10, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories this hour.
Attorneys for Donald Trump face tough questions from a federal appeals court as they claim the former president can't be prosecuted for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election.
And right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day after meeting with Israel's Prime Minister and War Cabinet.
NOBILO: A newly unsealed deposition of the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein shows he refused to answer dozens of questions about his relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. The deposition was part of the fifth round of hundreds of documents from a lawsuit connected to Epstein that was released on Tuesday.
CNN's Jean Casarez has more now on Epstein's meteoric rise in the financial world and his spectacular fall from grace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Much of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's life remains a mystery. From how he accumulated his multimillion-dollar fortune to how he developed ties to incredibly influential people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you please give us your name?
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER: Jeffrey Epstein.
CASAREZ (voice-over): From former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, actor Kevin Spacey, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, magician David Copperfield, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and even Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Epstein associated with an elite circle.
He owned lavish properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida, New Mexico, Paris and a private island in the Caribbean, according to court filings. He also owned at least 15 vehicles and had access to two private jets.
Born in Brooklyn to working class parents, he actually never received a college degree. But that didn't stop him from getting a job teaching mathematics at the prestigious Dalton School in New York City. It was there he tutored the daughter of Bear Stearns chairman Alan Greenberg and wound up getting a job at the investment bank. There he met billionaire Leslie Wexner, who ran L Brands and Victoria's Secret. And Epstein not only became his money advisor, but was given power of attorney over finances. In the 80s, Epstein began operating his own money management firms.
In the early 90s, Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, would become Epstein's lifelong companion. For years, the pair would host billionaires, politicians, and celebrities. But in 2005, Epstein was accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex and was criminally charged in 2006. Epstein was charged with Florida state prostitution crimes. He pleaded guilty in 2008, served 13 months in a jail work release program and registered as a sex offender.
Despite his criminal conviction, Epstein and Maxwell continued to mingle with the rich and famous and continued to recruit young girls for massages, a code word for sexual services, according to court documents.
But 11 years later, Epstein's legal troubles caught up with him again. Wexner wrote that Epstein, quote, misappropriated vast sums of money from Wexner and his family more than a decade ago. Over 46 million dollars, according to "The Wall Street Journal."
[04:35:00]
And in July 2019, a federal indictment charged Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
GEOFFREY BERMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Epstein is alleged to have abused dozens of victims by causing them to engage in sex acts with him at his mansion in New York and at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
CASAREZ (voice-over): While awaiting trial in New York, Epstein died by suicide, denying justice for his victims, and leaving so many questions forever unanswered.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Some of the biggest tech companies are unveiling their newest innovations and high-priced gadgets at this year's Consumer Electronics Show going on now in Las Vegas.
FOSTER: Organizers estimate about 60 percent of the Fortune 500 companies will be there, setting the stage for deal making and shaping the biggest tech trends of the year. Anna, of course, is there. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's one of the biggest trade shows in the world. 130,000 attendees are expected to come here to see us in Las Vegas. They may only see the insides of the conference hall, but that's OK, because look. Thanks to SK Telecom, you can actually see the Las Vegas sphere in slightly smaller form within the conference center.
Now, there have been so many big announcements at CES in the first day.
From NVIDIA, new chips for PC computers. This is to enable better AI capability. From Honda, the launch of a new series of electric vehicles, the Honda Zero, ultra lightweight. Its very space age will be available from 2026.
And perhaps the most entertaining moment, actually, from a Sony executive who managed to drive a prototype car partnered with Honda onto a stage using a PlayStation console. Plenty of gimmicks. I hope dearly that is not the future of driving.
Sony actually also unveiled a mixed reality headset that's expected to be available later this year. No price tag on that.
Which brings me perhaps to one of the biggest tech announcements of the week by a company that isn't even here. Apple, with a Vision Pro expected now to go on sale with pre-orders this month. Goes on sale February the 2nd in the U.S., retailing at $3,500.
Now, quite aside from all the big announcements, of course, plenty of gadgets and gizmos. Robotics, wearable tech, everything has a bit of AI in it, it feels this year.
So, we'll be playing with all of that. So, check in with us.
I'm Anna Stewart at CES in Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Coming up, why a convicted January 6th rioter believes Donald Trump will pardon her if he's elected. We hear from so-called Pink Hat Lady about what she does and does not regret about that day.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: It's been three years and a few days since the violent insurrection in Washington and some of the people who stormed the capital that day are facing hefty prison sentences.
NOBILO: One woman whose pink hat helped her stand out in the angry crowd is leaving behind children and grandchildren. But her sorrow about that doesn't translate into full remorse about the riot. She spoke to CNN's Donie O'Sullivan before heading to prison. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How do you feel when you watch this?
RACHEL POWELL, CONVICTED JANUARY 6TH RIOTER: You know, I think I am more numb when I look at this stuff. It's like surreal to me. I mean, look how angry I looked.
O'SULLIVAN: You'd admit this is a bad look.
POWELL: Totally. You know how dumb I feel when I look at this picture like, oh my goodness.
O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Rachel Powell also known as the Pink Hat Lady is about to begin a five-year prison sentence for her role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
She's a mom of eight and grandmother of six, and she spent most of the last three years under home detention in rural Pennsylvania.
POWELL: Is this what you expected from an insurrectionist? A terrorist? How do I have time to plan an insurrection when my life is busy like this? Making pie, raising babies.
O'SULLIVAN: Why did you decide to go to DC on January 6th?
POWELL: Well, how often does a president ask you to come to a rally? It doesn't happen.
O'SULLIVAN: At some point, this goes from peaceful protest to you having an ice axe in your hand, breaking a window, trying to get in to the Capitol. How did that happen?
POWELL: It got violent and it was violent for a while and I'm completely in pain. And --
O'SULLIVAN: Because you had been hit.
POWELL: Oh, man, I've been hit with a baton. I've been grabbed and thrown. I've been sprayed. I mean, my whole body was on fire. I don't think there was rational thinking in my head at that point.
And I didn't have an ice axe, that passed through the crowd. Somebody put it in my hands. And it was only in my hands long enough to take out that window pane, and yet, I've been charged with a deadly weapon.
O'SULLIVAN: Somebody give you the ice axe?
POWELL: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: Who?
POWELL: I don't know.
O'SULLIVAN: You don't remember. POWELL: I don't know who they were. I don't know where it came from. I don't know where it went.
O'SULLIVAN: I grew up, and I guess you probably did too of being told, you know, if a police officer tells you to do something, you should probably do it. That didn't happen that day. Of course, the police were telling you guys to go away.
POWELL: They never actually told us to go away. I never had an officer look at me and say you need to leave or I'm going to arrest you.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Footage like this have Rachel seen here in the fur-hooded coasts pushing against the police line, and messages she posted on social media condoning violence ahead of January 6 were used by prosecutors to argue that Rachel wasn't just a peaceful protester who got caught up in the chaos of the day.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you regret that day?
POWELL: I regret -- I have a lot of remorse for ruining my family's life. I mean, in one day, I destroyed everything, for really, for nothing. I don't have remorse for attending protests. I don't have remorse for speaking out and saying that I believe that the election is stolen.
I do have remorse for breaking a window and destroying my whole family's life and for thinking irrationally, and not realizing like why don't you just sit down at this protest.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): A federal judge convicted Rachel on nine counts, including destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.
POWELL: I'm sorry, it's like my last weekend before I go in, but I'm like, I love my children so much. And so, it's like the last thing that they can take from me. That'll be the hard part. And I don't deserve this and my kids don't deserve it. Like have we not been through enough. Like that's the last thing that we have to lose is each other.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Prosecutors said Rachel showed nothing but contempt for the court and legal system.
[04:45:00]
O'SULLIVAN: You said, you know, that you feel dumb, set up.
POWELL: Yep.
O'SULLIVAN: Duped.
POWELL: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: Why do you feel duped?
POWELL: With January 6th? I cannot prove it was a setup. But I feel like what if it was.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Rachel isn't alone. A quarter of Americans believe the conspiracy theory the January 6 attack was instigated by the FBI.
O'SULLIVAN: People watching this might say, well, if you were duped by Trump and everybody around him and the election wasn't really stolen and you buying into this has kind of ruined your life. Do you ever feel a bit pissed off at Trump?
POWELL: No, absolutely not. I don't. I've had problems with this election process for years and years. Fifteen years ago, if there would have been protests about election fraud, I would have gone to those because our whole country and everything about our lives is determined by voting.
O'SULLIVAN: Surely, in the last three years, being locked in here, have you ever had a moment where you're like, you know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Biden actually won the election. Maybe I'm the conspiracy theorist.
POWELL: No, not at all.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): She is due to spend the next few years behind bars, but she believes one man could change that.
POWELL: So, this hat says "Rachel, We Love You, Trump." My -- three of my sons they met Trump and you can actually see them one of the times here. Trump was very encouraging to them. He's made it clear he's going to pardon us.
O'SULLIVAN: There's a lot riding on this election.
POWELL: Totally.
O'SULLIVAN: For the country, but also personally for you.
POWELL: Oh, man, for me, it's huge. For me, it's like life or death. And it's huge.
O'SULLIVAN: If Trump wins, you could get out of prison.
POWELL: Correct. I will get out of prison.
O'SULLIVAN: And what makes Rachel's story all the more incredible is she didn't even vote for Trump in 2016. She says it was with COVID and lockdowns and restrictions on movement during 2020 that she became particularly politically engaged. And, of course, that journey brought her to the Capitol on January 6th, where she was found guilty on nine counts for her role in the January 6th attack. She began her prison sentence in a federal prison in West Virginia on Tuesday. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: The man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory about the insurrection has been sentenced to one year of probation for his actions that day.
James Ray Epps never entered the Capitol on January 6th, but says his goal was to get as many people into the central rotunda as possible to send lawmakers a message.
FOSTER: Prosecutors say Epps attempted to de-escalate conflicts between rioters and police multiple times, but he still claims Antifa members posing as Trump supporters were responsible for the violence and property damage that day.
A full slate of action in the NBA and for the Memphis Grizzlies. Ja Morant, no problem, he wasn't there. Highlights are next.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Welcome back. In the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies are proving they know how to take care of business without all-star Ja Morant. They cruised to victory over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday, 120-103.
Desmond Bane led Memphis with 32 points. Kyrie Irving scored 33 for Dallas.
On to one of my hometowns, Orlando, where the Minnesota Timberwolves held on to first place in the Western Conference. Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 28 points for Minnesota. The Timberwolves led by 30 points at half. Final score there, Minnesota, 113, Orlando, 92.
FOSTER: NFL star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a famous anti-vaxxer, has refused to apologize to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after baselessly suggesting that Kimmel was an associate of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. CNN's Brian Todd explains what led up to this dispute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The NFL's best-known conspiracy theorist doubles down.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Tuesday refused to apologize to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for publicly suggesting, without any support, that Kimmel might be named in documents identifying associates of the late, accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel has not been named in any Epstein documents.
On Tuesday on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers not only didn't apologize, he denied even implying that Kimmel was in the Epstein documents.
AARON RODGERS, NEW YORK JETS QUARTERBACK: As long as he understands what I actually said and that I'm not accusing him of being on a list. I'm not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence. That's ridiculous.
TODD (voice-over): But here is what Rodgers said last week about the Epstein documents. RODGERS: A lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, are really hoping
that doesn't --
TODD (voice-over): To which Kimmel issued a vehement denial, threatened to sue Rodgers, and on Monday night, skewered him on his ABC show.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Aaron got two As on his report card. They were both in the word Aaron, OK?
TODD (voice-over): And Kimmel felt he needed to again counter Rodgers' initial insinuation about him being in the Epstein documents.
KIMMEL: Of course, my name wasn't on it and isn't on it and won't ever be on. I don't know Jeffrey Epstein. I've never met Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not on a list. I was not on a plane or an island or anything ever.
[04:55:00]
TODD (voice-over): On Tuesday, Rodgers also described the backstory of an ongoing feud, saying Kimmel had mocked him as an Epstein documents conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer.
RODGERS: He comes out and says that I'm an overly concussed wacko.
TODD (voice-over): The host, Pat McAfee, on Tuesday, allowed Rodgers to deliver another five minutes of vaccine denialism without a fact check. This adds to a years-long list of controversies Rodgers has created for himself, not only going off on conspiracy theories about the COVID vaccine, but also once more, about being vaccinated himself.
RODGERS: Yeah, I've been immunized.
TODD (voice-over): Rodgers later admitted he'd not been vaccinated, that he considered himself immunized by holistic medicine. He blamed others for the brushback he'd received.
RODGERS: I realize I'm in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now.
TODD (voice-over): One analyst says the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player, one of the most famous athletes on the planet, has a following that makes his remarks even more consequential.
DAVE ZIRIN, HOST, EDGE OF SPORTS TV: All of these things together turn Aaron Rodgers into somebody who's actually kind of dangerous in our society. Not dangerous in a cool way, but dangerous in a way that actually hurts our ability to collectively grapple with the problems that face us.
TODD (voice-over): He suggested the media is trying to cancel him, saying that's the, quote, game plan of the media. A spokesperson for ESPN, which televises the Pat McAfee show, declined to comment to CNN about Rodgers' remarks.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.
NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo. "EARLY START" is up next right here on CNN. We'll see you tomorrow.
[05:00:00]
