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Trump Defends AG Pam Bondi Amid MAGA Split Over Epstein Case Handling; Trump Speaks To Reporters After Returning From FIFA Final In New Jersey; Trump On Putin: "He Talks Nice And Then He Bombs Everybody In The Evening;" Netanyahu Says Hamas Is Blocking Ceasefire Deal For Gaza, "Alligator Alcatraz" Migrant Jail Sparks Outrage. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 13, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:47]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

President Trump throwing his full support behind Attorney General Pam Bondi as many in MAGA world threaten to revolt. The president went to the FIFA Club World Cup today in New Jersey, bringing Bondi along in his box at the stadium. The attorney general has come under fire over a recent Justice Department memo that concluded accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had no client list.

CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is joining us now live from the White House.

And Kevin, deputy FBI director Dan Bongino is reportedly considering stepping down over this memo. There is this crack between some people in the president's orbit, but he is standing staunchly behind Pam Bondi.

What are you expecting tomorrow and how is this playing out behind the scenes?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the big question for tomorrow is whether Dan Bongino shows up to his job as the deputy FBI director. This visual of the president standing alongside Bondi there at the FIFA World Cup Final I think is very intentional, very sort of pointed as the president tries to make the case to his supporters that he is standing very much behind his attorney general in all of this, as he tries to sort of stem what has become a political crisis for him.

His base is splintering over this issue of Jeffrey Epstein after the Justice Department last week put out a memo essentially saying case closed and also debunking some of these theories that had been floating around in the conservative atmosphere for the last several years, including saying that Jeffrey Epstein did die by suicide, he wasn't killed, and saying that there was no so-called client list, which has led to an enormous amount of anger directed towards Pam Bondi as the person who released this memo.

Now President Trump last night put out a tweet or a Truth Social saying that he stood behind his attorney general, saying that she's doing a fantastic job, but also encouraging his supporters to essentially move on from the Epstein matter, saying not to waste their time and energy on this and saying that Epstein, who we should note Donald Trump socialized with in an earlier life, is a guy who never dies.

And so, clearly, the president trying to tamp down on that furor. But it's not at all clear that that social media post did the job. His supporters, still very upset about all of this, including Dan Bongino, who as a podcaster before he joined the FBI, was one of the people who was fanning some of these conspiracy theories about Epstein. He hasn't actually shown up to his job since sort of an explosive meeting in the West Wing last week, where he was accused of planting negative stories about Bondi.

Now, the question really is whether he'll show up to work tomorrow, although we should note that Bongino has said in the past he isn't particularly thrilled about this job. He's talked sort of wistfully about that lucrative career he had before taking this post.

The other person who's caught up in all this is the FBI director Kash Patel. And I think that there are some supporters of Bongino who had maybe hoped that he would threaten to resign as well, but he is in fact doing the exact opposite. He wrote on social media that he would continue to stay in the job, "for as long as Trump calls on me," Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you for walking us through that. We really appreciate it.

Let's turn now to our CNN political commentators, David Urban and Paul Begala.

Good to have you both here with us.

David, I want to start first with you. This is interesting because it is -- it is causing this divide within Donald Trump's supporters. And I don't -- I don't think any reasonable person thinks that the MAGA faithful are ever going to abandon Donald Trump, but they are certainly pitting these different factions against one another and forcing the president to make a choice in Pam Bondi to publicly support her. How do you read this moment?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Jess, I think, as Kevin points out, the choice is clear. Pam Bondi was invited to the World Cup box with the president. Dan Bongino wasn't. Dan Bongino wasn't mentioned in the president's Truth Social post.

[19:05:01]

I think when the musical chairs stop, the person without a chair would be Dan Bongino in this situation. But look, what Bongino and others in the base are asking for is not unreasonable. They want to know if there's any there, there. It's been -- this has been lingering for years now. And it is a part of MAGA world, right, the belief that there's a two-tier system of justice that protects the powerful and the rich and the wealthy, and it doesn't do the same for the rest of the people.

And I think that people in MAGA-verse believe that Jeffrey Epstein had a lot of very wealthy clients and rich and powerful people who are being protected by the deep state, and that just rubs against them. And they want to -- they want to have transparency. This is about accountability, not about Jeffrey Epstein.

DEAN: And yet, Paul, the president really wants it to go away. He said that in that Cabinet meeting, he was appalled that we were -- that he was being asked about it. But he's also really stoked the fire on this and talked about it on the campaign trail.

I want to play a clip from the former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, who was on ABC this morning. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: He benefited directly from it. He fueled it. He encouraged it, and he certainly didn't stop it. So, you know, part of what bothers me in this context is that Donald Trump gets a pass. No, it wasn't him. It was somebody else.

He took these people who were doing exactly what you just said and put them in charge of the people on the front line of protecting the American people from crime and terrorism and counterintelligence operations. He encouraged this. And by putting them in those positions, he supported the work they were doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, Paul, I'm curious what your take on this is, and also, if the president, because of what Chris Christie laid out there, can he effectively make this go away, convince these people to say, don't look here, we're moving on, don't pay attention to this?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He can, Jess. I mean, It's Sunday, right? Our scripture reading is from the Prophet Hosea. Ye hath sown the wind, and ye shall reap the whirlwind. Right? Donald Trump, Dan Bongino, Pam Bondi, they all sowed this wind, and now they're reaping the whirlwind.

I think Urban, as tragically he usually does, makes a really good point that powerful people are being protected here. And they're being protected by Donald Trump. Let's face it, OK? This president has a much tighter control over the Justice Department than any president in modern history. If he wanted those files released, they'd be released. Period. He released a bunch of stuff on the JFK assassination, good for him.

He could release these. He promised he would. Who is he protecting and why? And I'm not a conspiracy buff, OK? I doubt Elon Musk knows what he's talking about when he says Mr. Trump himself is on that client list. I doubt that's true. I think Musk was just trying to hurt Donald Trump politically. But I want to hear a plausible explanation why Donald Trump and his team, who all campaigned on releasing this information, are not releasing it.

URBAN: Yes. And Paul makes a good -- Paul makes a good point there, Jess. It begs the question, right? Why is it not being released? You know, there is a conspiracy theory line that goes that he was, you know, Jeffrey Epstein was working for either a foreign intelligence agency or our own intelligence agency gathering compromising information on certain people. And if we can't release it because it's classified or contains, you know, graphic sexual images of underage, you know, girls and minors and things, then the American public should be told that.

DEAN: Yes. And so, Paul, what happens now?

BEGALA: Well, Donald Trump needs to release these documents. He controls them. He has them. Maybe they're in his bathroom at Mar-a- Lago with all the other classified documents. I don't know. But he's got them. He needs to release him. It'll go away tomorrow. It'll go away tomorrow. And God willing, there will be accountability. You know, with Epstein's death, a lot of victims didn't get the accountability, the justice that they deserve.

I've seen -- I haven't followed this as closely as some. I've seen news accounts. It's like a thousand children were abused in this system. If that's true, even if it's one, there needs to be accountability. I -- Ghislaine Maxwell, who aided and abetted Mr. Epstein is in jail but I think that's about it and I -- there's got to be more accountability for those kids who were victimized.

DEAN: And so -- yes, go ahead, David. No, go ahead.

URBAN: I was just going to say, you know, Jess, and interestingly, this all kind of occurs today, you know, on the one year anniversary, you know, of the -- of the Trump assassination attempt on Donald Trump's life by this -- by this kid in western Pennsylvania. And if I was the MAGA verse, I'd be really up in arms about why don't we know any more about that, right? There's so many unanswered questions about the attempted on, you know, President Trump's life from that day that remain unanswered.

I mean, it is incredible the things to focus on if I -- if I was a really, if I cared about this president like I do, I would be up in arms about that. If I was at Turning Point USA, I'd be jumping up and down demanding answers on that shooter. And why don't we know more and his social media posts and her social media activity.

[19:10:04]

He had no posts. He has no footprint. He was a ghost. It's an incredible thing that we don't really know answers to. And so there's so much more out there than Epstein that I'd be focused on. But, you know, it is what it is. And now we have to unwind it.

DEAN: But, David, if the buck stops with the president, then why isn't he making these decisions to get answers on this?

URBAN: Yes. You know, Jessica, exactly. And that begs the question, right? Is there something more there? Is there a classified information that was, you know, was being run by Mossad and we can't let it -- you know, it would be embarrassing to the U.S.?

DEAN: Just to be clear, we don't know. We're not saying that. Yes.

URBAN: No, no, that's what I'm saying. No, I'm just -- this is all just, you know, theory, hypothetical.

DEAN: Speculation. Yes.

URBAN: This is stuff that's been circulating in some of these corners. And the reason that we don't -- we're not going to say is because it's embarrassing, U.S. intelligence, the deep state, they were -- they were, you know, duped by this. They didn't know or they were complicit in it. Right? And so there's a lot of those type things going on. And look, maybe there's some truth to it. I don't know.

I do not know why the president and the administration has not released it. They've done so on these UAPs, you know, previous UFOs on unidentified aerial phenomena. They released tons and tons of documents. They did a huge document dump on the JFK stuff. And so I think, you know, accountability, accessibility, transparency should be what we strive for in this particular case as well.

DEAN: Paul, just more broadly, you know, kind of zooming out here, you have this issue where really his MAGA base feels betrayed that he's not releasing these documents that he had promised to do. And then you start to kind of zoom out and see some of the other choices that he's been making lately, including but not limited to agreeing to send -- to sell arms to NATO countries to give to Ukraine.

He's just -- there are different, he's choosing a different way that is aligned with more traditional Republican versus some of the MAGA base. Do you -- have you seen that at all? And what do you -- what do you think about some of these choices he's making that do break with that core base that supported him for a long time?

BEGALA: It's a betrayal. I mean, if I had to pick a message for Democrats, it would be betrayal. A lot of good people voted for Donald Trump. OK? I hate when my side just bangs on Trump. There are not 75 million bad people in America. I disagree with them, but they're good people. And they voted for Mr. Trump and they're not getting what they voted for. None of them, none of them.

Here's what they vote -- I mean, they voted to cut the cost of groceries, gas and rent and to secure the border. OK? Border crossings have stopped to almost nothing. But they didn't vote to deport grandmothers instead of gang bangers. They didn't vote to cut cancer research and Alzheimer's. They didn't vote to kick 14 million people off Medicaid. He won the votes of Medicaid patients. He won their votes. And he's stabbing him in the back. And I think Democrats ought to go through issue by issue.

You know, Urban, you know this, but Urban is a veteran. He served our country honorably. He's a graduate of the military academy. His brother and sister veterans voted for Trump. And they're getting hammered. He's firing thousands and thousands of VA workers, many of whom themselves are veterans.

So I think Democrats ought to go at this and say, look, you're a good person. I understand why you voted for Trump, but he's not cutting the cost of groceries, gas and rent. And he's in fact increasing the cost of your electricity, of your health care, and doing away with a whole lot of benefits that you've earned, whether it's Medicaid or veterans. And I think that's a target rich environment for Democrats.

URBAN: Paul is a great strategist, Jess. That's why he's a great strategist. Great campaign, had many victories, especially in my home state of Pennsylvania, had some really notable victories. But unfortunately, Paul, your party is mired in a quagmire of Mamdanism, right? You're kind of stuck in a place you don't want to be, and you can't talk about those things that you want to talk about because your candidates are talking about other things.

So, you know, good on you. You're going to -- you're going to have to push a big rock up a hill this campaign season for you.

DEAN: I do want to --

BEGALA: I will note.

DEAN: Go ahead. Go ahead.

BEGALA: The Democrats, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, is a moderate blue dog. She defeated the far- left in her primary. She's ahead by 20 points in the latest poll. Last governor's race, the Democrat in New Jersey only won by two.

URBAN: Well, that's because New Jersey is a purple state now, Paul.

BEGALA: That's right. The Democrat only won by two last time. Trump only lost by five. It's actually a very purple state now. Virginia where I live, the last governor's race, the Republican won. We have Glenn Youngkin, a Republican governor. The Democrat Abigail Spanberger, another moderate blue dog, CIA background, law enforcement background, she's ahead by 17. So it's actually the moderate wing of my party that's dominant, in control, where the all the energy is.

OK. So a bunch of very lovely people in Brooklyn nominated some guy I never heard of. That's great. That's their problem. The real Democrats in America are in the center, and they're going to win a landslide in Virginia and New Jersey, and then in the next midterms next year.

URBAN: Yes, Paul, you're right. Those are the ones that are going to win. The people that look like Republicans are going to win in those elections, right?

DEAN: But isn't this -- OK.

BEGALA: I don't know what a Republican looks like anymore. I mean, I have no idea.

DEAN: But, David, I mean, look, what Paul is trying to illustrate right now, Paul, I think is what the Democratic Party is grappling with, which is -- which is how do you sell to the American people, you know, which direction is the Democratic Party going to go?

[19:15:12]

It is a big tent party. And it covers a wide spectrum of beliefs. I believe, David, that Republicans want it to all be Zohran Mamdani and they want to run against him in the upcoming elections. But it sounds like the challenge for Democrats, Paul, is to make the message that there are moderates in the party as well.

BEGALA: And the moderates are where the energy is. The moderates are dominant. I respect Mr. Mamdani's victory, he ran a great campaign. It helped that he had a disgraced opponent in Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, who had to resign. But he got 45 percent or so of the vote, Mamdani did, with a 30 percent turnout. OK, do the math. That's 13 percent of New York City Democrats.

There's about 450,000 people. It's about the size of Tulsa, Oklahoma. OK, Tulsa, Oklahoma, doesn't define a Republican party. New York City shouldn't define the Democrats. Again, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. By the way, we just won the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, a state Trump carried. Susan Crawford won that by 11 points, despite Mr. Musk back when he liked Trump putting millions of dollars into the conservative candidate there.

Democrats are winning everywhere, even though, as Urban rightly points out, we're directionless, rudderless and leaderless, and yet we're winning.

URBAN: But Paul -- but Paul, as you know, and Jess, you know this, too, Mamdani is going to dominate the news cycles. He lives in the biggest media market in the United States. The paper record is there. You know, every media outlet has huge presence. And so whether, Paul, you like it or not, Mamdani is going to dominate. He will be the -- he will be the foil for Republicans in the midterms, as well as probably the upcoming presidential race.

And listen, he's a very talented guy. He really is tapped in. He's found where the energy is. You know, I disagree with you, Paul, I think the energy from the Democratic base is in, you know, in some of those, you know, kitchen table issues like rent and wages in New York City, right? People, they have to work several jobs. They can't afford their rent. And so I think he tapped into it. He's incredibly telegenic.

He's really polished. He's a very -- he's a very capable, you know, political athlete. And I think he's going to be out front for quite some time, much to -- much to your chagrin.

DEAN: David and Paul, I would love to keep going. This has been a really fun segment, I really would. Unfortunately, they're telling me we have to go, but thanks to both of you for spending your Sunday evening with us.

URBAN: Thanks, Jess. Thanks, Paul.

BEGALA: Thank you. It's great to see you. DEAN: See you soon.

BEGALA: It's great to see Urban, too, I love the guy.

DEAN: Yes. Good to see all of you.

BEGALA: Despite his politics.

DEAN: All right brand new alerts lighting up the Texas radar tonight with new flood threats causing evacuations and forcing search crews to take a break. Plus, new reporting tonight about "Alligator Alcatraz." The Florida detention facility that's quickly becoming a new battleground in the Trump's immigration crackdown.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:34]

DEAN: Welcome back. President Trump just landing back after his trip to New Jersey. Let's listen in to what he's saying.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Business in our country. Not a fair deal. So the European Union is talking to us. They want to open up their country. I would say Japan to a much lesser extent in terms of opening up their country. Japan, as you know, and we're very close to Japan, but they sell us millions and millions of cars a year. We sell them no cars because they won't accept our cars.

And they won't accept much of our agriculture either. So -- but they're all changing their ways very, very rapidly. South Korea wants to make a deal other than tariffs. Right now, as you know, they're paying substantial tariff. But they want to make a difference.

So some of these deals maybe I'll change them and maybe I won't. But our country is making a lot of money, a lot of money for the first time in a long time in decades. And that's the way it should be. We have a country that's, and I said it the other day to you people. We have a country that was dead. It was dead. It was a goner. One year ago. And now we have the hottest country in the world. OK. Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) about $40 billion that would go to illegal benefits. What does that mean to the bottom line that we're taking away a lot of the fraud and abuse to illegals?

TRUMP: We're getting rid of a lot of waste, fraud and abuse. One of the reasons I think that you'll see the numbers start to be very good for the country, but I think more than anything else, we have tariffs coming in and the -- will be hundreds of billions of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Regarding on Gaza, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Gaza, we are talking and hopefully we're going to get that straightened out over the next week. Let's see what happens. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Governor Gavin Newsom is fighting, Gavin Newsom

is fighting to keep the men and women sports. He's fighting with Bondi, McMahon. As a father, as a husband, does he hate women? Why does he want men and women sports so badly?

TRUMP: No, I don't know if he hates women. But look, he thinks it's good politically. I guess. He's just saying Gavin Newsom wants to keep men in women's sports. Nobody understands it. Very few. I say it's a 3 percent issue. You know, they say it's 80-20? It's not 80-20. I think it's 97-three.

Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So Rosie O'Donnell she went on Chris Cuomo show recently. She blames you for the fact that she's overweight, depressed and drunk.

[19:25:04]

What do you say to that? Do you think PBS is going to have her be a guest in (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: I don't know about Rosie. I watched Rosie, Rosie is a mess. She's a mess. But she left our country, which is a good thing. Not a bad thing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On NATO, can you give to us about the details of --

TRUMP: Yes. Yes, well, I'm going to have a meeting with the secretary- general who's coming in tomorrow, but we basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military. They're going to pay us 100 percent for them. And that's the way we want it. And we've been trying to get that -- I don't think Biden ever asked for it.

We're in for about $350 billion. Europe is in for $100 billion. That's a lot of money, 100. But they should be in actually for more than us. So as we send equipment, they're going to reimburse us for that equipment. Doesn't that sound good? That's the way it should have been a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: I haven't agreed on the number yet, but they're going to have some because they do need protection. But the European Union is paying for it. We're not paying anything for it. But we will send it. It will be business for us and we will send them Patriots, which they desperately need because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening. So there's a little bit of a problem there. And I don't like it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) your deputy FBI director --

TRUMP: Oh, I think so. I did, I spoke to him today. Dan Bongino, very good guy. I've known him a long time. I've done a show many, many times. And he sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he's in good shape.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I was going to ask you, on this one year anniversary of Butler, what was going through your mind this morning, Mr. President, as you woke up to start this new day?

TRUMP: Will you repeat that question?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On this one year anniversary of Butler, what was going through your mind this morning when you woke up? I know that you're praising God you're alive. But a lot of people want to know how you're taking this day on this one-year anniversary?

TRUMP: God was protecting me. Maybe because God wanted to see our country do better or do really well. Make America great again. But God was protecting me, Brian. I'll tell you, it's, the more you think about it, the more you see it. But no, I just -- I don't like to think about it much. You know, I have a job to do, so I don't like to think about it much. It's a little bit of a dangerous profession being president. But I really don't like to think about it too much. I think you're better off not thinking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you were able to accomplish 20 promises so far.

TRUMP: Yes, and I think we've more than delivered. Thank you for saying that. But, you know, we made a lot of promises and we've actually given a lot more promises than we even made. And you add on that a tremendous success with the strike that we had, getting rid of nuclear weapons in Iran. That was a big, big strike. And, you know, when the pilots came to my office, they were there, as you know, with some of the other people having to do with that strike.

And they said something very interesting. They said, you know, we've been practicing this for 22 years, but no president had the guts to tell us to do it. But this has been on our minds for many, many years. And we did it. And I would say from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, that attack was a 15.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What do you think about this new bill that's going to basically eliminate no capital gains tax on home sales to be able to free up the money people who've owned a house for a long time can't afford to pay the capital gains?

TRUMP: Yes, well, we're looking at that. And it's going to be -- it could be a very big positive. I don't think, for you, because you make so much money. It doesn't matter. But I think -- I think it's going to be a great, you know, a great incentive for a lot of people that really need money.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Between that and Jerome Powell stepping down, that could really boost home sales.

TRUMP: Well, I think if Jerome Powell stepped down, it would be a great thing. I don't know that he's going to, but he should. Jerome Powell has been very bad for our country. We should have the lowest interest rate on earth and we don't. He just refuses to do it. And yet he's spending $2.5 billion dollars rebuilding the Fed, the Federal Reserve building. And I don't know what he knows about building, but you talk about cost overruns.

So he got this approved and he started the work during the Biden administration. And he doesn't look like the kind of guy frankly that wants to spend $2.5 billion. And it's very interesting because out of 71 economists, one person, me, and then one other person, I think, from Wharton, got it right and the others were all wrong in terms of the success of our country this quickly. We have no inflation. We have cash flowing in. It was me and somebody else.

Then I can tell you I don't need 5,000 people working for me behind the scenes, like Jerome Powell, to tell him what he should say once a month because they got it wrong. The Fed got it wrong, I call him too late, he's always too late.

[19:30:12]

Every point cost us $360 billion. Think of that and we should be three points. That's almost a trillion dollars, approximately a trillion dollars less. We should be -- just with the signing of a piece of paper. So, we'll see what happens. I mean, you're telling me he's going to quit. I hope he quits. I don't know if he's going to quit, but he should quit because he's been very bad for the country.

REPORTER: Are you going to be announcing sanctions on Russia tomorrow?

TRUMP: We're going to see what we will see tomorrow, okay. We have the Secretary General. As you know, Europe has announced sanctions, but I am very disappointed with President Putin. I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. And he'll talk so beautifully and then bomb people at night. We don't like that. Thank you everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And that was President Donald Trump there at Joint Base Andrews, returning back on his way to the White House from his weekend in New Jersey. A couple of top lines there. He ended talking once again about Vladimir Putin and he had said earlier in his words that Putin talks nice and bombs everyone in the evening. He said he doesn't like it. He's very disappointed and then he reiterated the news. We do know which is he will be meeting with the Secretary of NATO tomorrow as they talk about what how to move forward with Ukraine and Russia and also about this plan that they've put together.

The President just talking about it there that they will be selling these weapons to NATO countries, who will then be sending them into Ukraine and supporting Ukraine. We also heard him talk about Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, who has, according to our reporting, pondered quitting over the Epstein memo. And the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, how she's handled this, that they won't be releasing any more documents.

He said that he talked to Bongino today and that in President Trump's word, he was in good shape. And he also took another swipe at the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell. He continues to amp up those attacks on Jerome Powell, whom he appointed to run the Fed and said he should step down, that he hopes he quits. I want to bring in Kevin Liptak from the White House.

Kevin, the President, as he often does when he takes questions like this, answering a number of questions on a number of issues. What stood out to you as we look ahead to this week and this promise also that he's going to have a very big announcement on Russia coming up tomorrow?

LIPTAK: Yes, and the President making it out to be an announcement about those patriot missile systems that in his telling, will be sold to European countries. Those European countries then will transfer them onward to Ukraine. And I think it's just notable this continuing frustration that you hear from the President towards the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, essentially accusing him of duplicity. He's using less profane words than he did last week when he accused Putin of peddling BS. He used the full word, but of using BS and then going on to bomb Ukraine.

The President, clearly making his case that Ukraine continues to require American assistance and American defensive weapons. But laying out this scheme that will sort of insulate him from accusations that he's going against his campaign promises by sending more aid to Ukraine, using these European countries as essentially a conduit to get those weapons that, he says, Kyiv very much needs to the ground to the Ukrainians to help defend themselves.

Notably, he did stop short of saying that he would support new sanctions on Russia. We just heard earlier today from the senators -- bipartisan group of senators who are proposing this package of sanctions that would essentially put new punishment on Moscow. The President not going as far as saying that he would support that quite yet, but clearly very frustrated with his counterpart in the Kremlin.

And then on Dan Bongino, I think very interesting that the President said he spoke to him today. He said that Bongino sounded terrific. He said he was in good shape. He recalled the many times that he had appeared on Dan Bongino's podcast, essentially making clear in the public that Bongino is still sort of with him in a sense. But I will note that we haven't heard from Bongino himself just yet. This is all in President Trump's telling as he tries to quell this political crisis, this splintering of his MAGA base. He says things are essentially fine with his deputy FBI director, but I think we will need to wait to hear from Bongino himself to make sure that that is actually true.

DEAN: Yes, we will. All right, Kevin Liptak from the White House, thank you so much for that reporting.

We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:19] DEAN: Talks over a possible ceasefire in Gaza appear to be at an impasse at the moment. But tonight, President Trump's Middle East envoy says he remains hopeful. Steve Witkoff confirming he's meeting today with Qatari negotiators and Egyptian official familiar with the talks, tells CNN, though, that they have stalled, saying Israel is adding new demands.

We are joined now by Michael Allen. He served as a senior National Security advisor and special assistant to President George W. Bush. Michael, thanks so much for being here with us, really appreciate it. Israel and Hamas trading blame here over why these talks have stalled. But one of the key sticking points is the lines to which IDF forces will withdraw in Gaza. And that has been a sticking point for many months now. How do they begin to bridge these gaps, or is this just impossible?

[19:40:07]

MICHAEL ALLEN, FORMER SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: It's really difficult to do. I think when you boil it all down, what the real impasse is, is that Hamas only has the leverage of the hostages. And if they give those hostages up, they feel like Netanyahu will come after them. And what therefore, they want out of Netanyahu is for him to forswear further use of force within Gaza. And Netanyahu, that's his red line. He says. He must go in and complete the destruction of Hamas.

So when we talk about where the IDF will be stationed. What land within Gaza will the IDF continue to hold to Hamas that looks like the IDF and Netanyahu are creeping up on them to try and destroy them. And so, they pause and they don't enter this ceasefire, which might lead to the release of numerous Israeli hostages.

DEAN: Yes and Steve Witkoff said, in his words, he's hopeful and Trump just told reporters just a few moments ago he thinks maybe a deal could happen this week. Knowing what you just laid out, do you think that's a fair assessment of the situation right now?

ALLEN: Well, it's hard to say without being having more detail, but it doesn't really seem in the offing right now. Just because they are at loggerheads on this primary issue of the security and future of Gaza. I think the thing that's lacking from the Israeli point of view is, is if they had some alternative to Hamas that might somehow govern or be a competitor to Hamas within the Gaza Strip.

That may give Netanyahu some flexibility. Some strength to say, you know what, I can give a little bit on security because it may not be as that Hamas will then dominate the Gaza Strip. But in the absence of some other security force, some other Arab pr Palestinian Security Force, I think, we kind of continue dancing around the core issues here.

We may get to a ceasefire at some point, but I don't think it's going to be the complete and final deal that so many people are after.

DEAN: Yes and look, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington meeting with the President last week. A lot of people had had eyes on that, that meeting, those various meetings and the week -- at large, just to see how it would go that it was -- they could be a very pivotal week. How do you think that all played out?

ALLEN: Well, I think Netanyahu was definitely taking a bit of a victory lap here in Washington. He went up to the Congress. He had to sit down with the President. He told the President that he had nominated him for a Nobel Peace prize, of course. But I think what he was looking for was additional strength on the Israeli scene and embraced by President Trump to stand with him so that Netanyahu might be able to stand alone and say to the Israeli people, I'm trying to get a deal with Hamas but they aren't letting me.

And so far, Trump hasn't seemed to say, at least in public, come on, Netanyahu, you've got to give more. I think he's probably saying that behind the scenes. Because I know at the end of the day, Trump is impatient and wants Gaza to come to some settlement. But I do think that Netanyahu is trying to see through all of this.

I've also heard, however, that we need to put more pressure on Hamas. They are dragging their feet a bit. They are always raising additional issues. That might be considered minor and dilatory, if you will. So, there's a lot going into these complicated negotiations.

DEAN: And do you see any way in which the U.S. can put additional pressure on the parties?

ALLEN: I do if the President were to begin to say in public and generally speaking, I don't think it's a great idea to try and hotbox the Israelis into a corner. But I think if he were able to say just, hey in public a little bit, Netanyahu, you've had tremendous success against Iran. You've had tremendous success against Hezbollah. You virtually smashed Hamas. Now, I think you can lean a little forward. Now, you have all this new political capital to spend. You have greater standing amongst the Israeli people.

So, therefore, Netanyahu, might be able to go out further on a limb and strike some sort of deal because he wouldn't have to worry about the right wing of his coalition government collapsing, necessarily. But that is what we have to calculate. That's what he, Netanyahu, has to calculate his own political survival while he tries to find sort of a great security solution for the Israeli state. So, it's very, very complicated. I don't know -- I don't have a lot of confidence that we're on the verge of any sort of breakthrough this week or soon.

DEAN: All right, Michael Allen, thanks for your time. We really appreciate it.

ALLEN: Thank you for having me.

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DEAN: There is new (AUDIO GAP) in "Alligator Alcatraz," the controversial facility in the Florida Everglades. Reporting from the "Miami Herald" and "Tampa Bay Times" says hundreds of immigrants who are facing detention there have no criminal convictions or pending charges in the U.S. The newspaper additionally reports 747 migrants are either being detained at the facility or are set to be transferred there.

CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us now with more. What else have you discovered, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, you may remember that when President Donald Trump toured the migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades earlier this month, he said that it would very soon house some of the most menacing migrants. He said some of the most vicious people on the planet.

But a new report published Sunday suggests that may not be the case. Hundreds of immigrants with no criminal charges in the United States are being held at Alligator Alcatraz, according to this investigation by the "Miami Herald" and the "Tampa Bay Times," which obtained records about the migrants being held there.

According to the report, there are more than 250 people who are listed as having only immigration violations, but no criminal convictions who are being held together with those accused and convicted of crimes. The report, Jessica, says only a third of the detainees have criminal convictions, with charges that range from attempted murder to illegal reentry into the United States, as well as traffic violations.

The information comes from a list of more than 700 migrants who are either already being held at the facility or are scheduled to be transferred there. And for the first time since the facility opened earlier this month, Florida elected officials and members of Congress had access to the migrant detention center on Saturday, including Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who called the facility an "internment camp" and described it as appalling.

But in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" with Dana Bash, a White House border czar, Tom Homan dismissed the claims, suggesting the Democratic lawmakers complaints about conditions at Alligator Alcatraz are politically motivated -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Rafael, thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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DEAN: The new CNN original series "Billionaire Boys Club" goes inside the shocking story of a 1980s social and investment club that, despite its alluring facade was filled with greed, fraud and even murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a huge fuss on the other side of the restaurant, and it was the guys from the BBC.

They were young, they were dressed in suits that looked like they came out of the pages of "Vogue." They acted like hundred dollar bills with napkins. It didn't matter the rich and famous were there. It was all about these guys.

They really seemed to have it together. No one knew at the time about the dark underbelly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And joining us now is Nicole Lapin, the host of "Scams, Money, & Murder," the podcast. Nicole, thanks so much for being here with us. As an author and a podcast host you cover your fair share of scams and financial crimes. But I'm curious, knowing that what is unique about this story, the "Billionaire Boys Club."

NICOLE LAPIN, HOST, "SCAMS, MONEY & MURDER" PODCAST: Yes, Jessica, I've been covering finance for more than two decades now, and very few scams actually end in murder. This is truly one of the craziest money crimes ever. I mean, it was a group of rich kids in L.A. basically playing hedge fund. And when somebody tried to call them out or scam them back. He was murdered.

That's what makes "Billionaire Boys Club" so wild. It's not just a story about crime. It's a story about ambition and obsession, about identity. Because this guy, Joe Hunt, wasn't just selling investments, he was selling a dream. He was selling status. He made people feel like they were getting access to something elite and powerful. And that's the same emotional hook, you know, that drives a lot of scams today. But what makes the story unforgettable, I think, Jessica, is that it's not just about what Joe Hunt did, it's about how many smart, smart people wanted to believe him.

DEAN: It is kind of amazing, isn't it? Why do you think that is?

LAPIN: Well, I think when financial crimes happen, they don't actually look like crimes, right? They look like success, and that's the trick. These scams don't start with theft. They start with trust.

So, Joe Hunt made people feel like they were chosen, like they were part of this secret, brilliant club that was going to make them rich. And we are still fascinated by that today.

It's the same reason why were glued to stories, right? Like Fyre Festival or the rise and fall of all these crypto empires. It's because they expose how even the smartest people among us, or who we perceive are the smartest, celebrity CEO's, finance pros can be fooled when status is involved.

DEAN: That's so true. And what would you say was the main fuel behind the greed is good era that this covers like the 1980s?

LAPIN: Yes, greed is good, wasn't just a quote back then. It was a business plan. The era was less about actual finance and it was more about this performance of finance.

So, if you looked the part and you heard it from the clip, if you drove the right car, if you dropped the right Wall Street buzzwords, people assumed you were legit. It was all about optics. So, Joe Hunt didn't invent this culture, he definitely exploited it, though. He made his pitch so convoluted and so insider-y that if you dared question him, it made it seem like you were the only person who didn't get it. And that's how these scams work.

When people are too embarrassed to ask questions, the scammers win. So, you know, I always say, if you're not understanding something, it's not your fault. It's part of their strategy.

[19:55:30]

DEAN: So true. All right, Nicole, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

LAPIN: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, and the all new CNN original series, "Billionaire Boys Club" premieres tonight at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

Still to come, one year after that assassination attempt of President Donald Trump. How Trump's near assassination became a rallying cry and redefined the 2024 race for the White House?

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