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U.S. House to Vote Next Week on Releasing All Epstein Files; Trump Calls Epstein Emails a Hoax, Denies Wrongdoing; Major Airlines Say Operations Returning to Full Capacity; Ukraine Embroiled in $100M Energy Corruption Scandal; James Comey, Letitia James Seek to Have Charges Dismissed. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 13, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. The White House pushes back against
any links between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. As a congressional committee releases thousands of Epstein related documents.
And this hour criminal cases against the two of Trump's political adversaries face a critical test for Attorneys foes James Comey and Letitia
James argue the charges should be thrown out. And an Israeli plan to deport sick Palestinians back to Gaza. Why forcing patients to return to the
shattered enclave could be a matter of life and death.
Welcome to the show. And America's longest ever government shutdown is over, but a new battle is brewing in Washington, although it's a familiar
one, the one over the Jeffrey Epstein case. The U.S. House is set to vote next week on a contentious bill that calls for the release of all the
Justice Department's files on the convicted sex offender.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to get a vote as quickly as possible is a reflection of growing agitation from members of his own
party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We have been for maximum transparency of the Epstein files from the very beginning. What I was opposed to is the
reckless disregard that was used in drafting the discharge petition, and we've been over this many times, but it was not drafted into such a way
that it would adequately protect innocent victims. We have a responsibility to do that.
There's many as 1000 women, by some estimates, of people who have been victimized because the sex trafficking and Epstein and all these
horrendous, heinous crimes. And we can't have them subjected any further harm. So, we wanted to make sure that they were properly whose names are
properly redacted out of the files.
But the discharge petition is not only reckless, it is also a totally moot point. The oversight committee has been working, as you all know, around
the clock, working on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Our Arlette Saenz spoke earlier to our CNN colleagues about the vote.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: House Speaker Mike Johnson is basically fast tracking a vote to release the full Epstein file, saying that he will
bring it up on the House floor next week. Now this was an effort that both Johnson and the White House had resisted for quite some time.
But Johnson's hand was really forced here when a bipartisan group of lawmakers used an arcane tool known as a discharge petition to compel a
vote on this matter. In order for a discharge petition to be successful, they needed to have 218 signatures on to that procedural tool.
This was an effort led by Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. And it really
had stalled out for quite some time, until yesterday, when Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was officially sworn in 50 days after she was elected to
Congress.
Grijalva was the 218-signature needed on that discharge petition, which then would force a House vote. There were also four Republicans who signed
on to that, including Massie, who was leading this discharge petition, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert,
despite some calls from the president and White House at the last minute, all remains on that discharge petition.
Initially, it was thought they would need to go through the full seven legislative days for this measure to ripen, setting a date for this vote in
early December. But Johnson, last night, told reporters that it's basically a moot point now, and he will bring it up for a vote on the House floor.
Massie has predicted that there could be a cascade of Republican lawmakers who vote on this once it comes up in the chamber. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): The deal for Republicans on this vote is that Trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way. In other words, if you
vote to cover up for pedophiles, you've got cover in a Republican primary. But I would remind my colleagues that this vote is going to be on your
record for longer than Trump is going to be president.
And what are you going to do in 2028 and 2030 when you're in a debate either with a Republican or a Democrat. And they say, how can we trust you?
You covered up for a pedophile back in, you know, 2025.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, even if this passes the House, it's still unclear whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune would bring the bill up for a vote in the
Senate, and over there, they would need 60 senators to sign on. But really, this whole episode just highlights some of the growing agitation within the
Republican Party relating to these files.
And Johnson just wants to get it over with and bring it up for a House -- a vote on the House floor next week.
[10:05:00]
GIOKOS: All right. We've got a lot to discuss. We've got CNN Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson, live in Washington. And also with us is
Ed Luce, the U.S. National Editor at the "Financial Times". Welcome to both of you. Stephen, Democrats accuse Speaker Johnson of keeping the House
closed to avoid voting on the release of the files.
The Democratic committee releases these emails yesterday, shortly after the House opened. I want you to walk us through the timing of this. And do you
believe that this is a political move for the Democrats?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: So initially, I was skeptical of this idea that Democrats were pushing that Johnson wanted the
House closed to keep the Epstein issue bubbling up again, simply because it was pretty obvious that as soon whenever the House came back, this was
going to be a massive issue.
And there are other reasons why Johnson didn't want every Republican lawmaker spouting off to the media during the shutdown. But given the
absolutely chaotic handling of this whole issue by the Republicans and the White House and Johnson, who almost always does Trump's bidding, you do
have to question whether he actually did think that this might just go away over the summer and everyone would forget about it.
But this is something that's very important to the conservative Republican base, the certain sectors of the conservative media. So just the political
management of this entire issue, even before you get to the substance, has been deeply amateurish.
GIOKOS: All right. Ed, I want to play some sound from the survivors and the victims. And while there's a political angle here, we've got to think about
the victims in all of this. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ STEIN, JEFFREY EPSTEIN VICTIM: It really is just driving the point home of how badly we need this information released. We need the government to
release everything that's in these files, of course, with the appropriate redactions to protect the privacy of the survivors, but we really need this
information to be out there so these crimes can be investigated.
DANIELLE BENSKY, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I just don't know what more you need to show that it is not a hoax, you've had. You know there are 1000
victims. We know this. I know personally, 20 survivors that are out there doing media. You've heard from a lot of us today.
And so, it's like we've all told our stories on a variety of platforms, and we didn't know each other going into any of this, and yet, our stories are
consistent and very similar in a lot of regards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right. So, a lot of the information now is in the hands of the public, basically. So, I wonder how this is all going to play out in the
public eye, Ed.
ED LUCE, U.S. NATIONAL EDITOR AT THE FINANCIAL TIMES: Well, a lot of information is in the public, but only a fraction of the available
potential information. There are 300 gigabytes of FBI documents, investigative documents, into Epstein over many, many years, and we can
only guess at what's in that.
There's a lot of video material as well as written material. So, we can only guess at what's in that. And I remain skeptical that this will be
released, although Johnson's now, you know, pushing this through to a vote next week, Speaker Mike Johnson. The president, is still absolutely
determined to bury the Epstein files, the so-called Epstein files.
And I don't think that the contrary pull-on Johnson led by, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and others. I don't think that
that's equal to the weight of Trump's pressure on him. So, we're going to get a lot of sorts of anti-climactic moments where there's a vote, it'll
probably go through next week.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LUCE: The Senate will find delaying it. And I don't think there's going to be a moment of satisfaction where the grand conspiracy is suddenly revealed
to the public. It's much more mundane than that.
GIOKOS: All right, so Stephen it is skeptical about whether it's all going to be released. He mentioned Lauren Boebert, and frankly, it was four
Republicans that signed on to the petition to get those released. But I want you to listen to Lauren Boebert and what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): The president never asked me to take my name off of the discharge petition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- but he was de rated concerns about you taking that position?
BOEBERT: The president has not forced me to do anything. The president has not put pressure on me. I was not asked by the president to remove my name.
Every conversation that I had was welcomed and very civil. And you know, it's okay for people to have discussions about things that are going on
with our nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Here's the thing, Stephen, pressure is mounting, and I just I mean, are you as skeptical as Ed, is?
[10:10:00]
COLLINSON: Yeah, I'm skeptical that this is going to get through the Senate, especially with the 60-vote threshold that would be needed, but it
was interesting listening to Lauren Boebert there. She is a MAGA lawmaker from Colorado. She was taken down to the White House Situation Room, of all
places, yesterday, reportedly with the Attorney General, the Head of the FBI and other senior officials in what apparently looks like an attempt to
get her to take her name off this discharge position and thwart the vote.
This is something that almost never happens for a single lawmaker. And it gets to what I'm saying about the chaotic management of this from the White
House, because every act they take, it makes it look like Trump has something to cover up. And then when you get all of these emails coming
out, which suggests that the president knew perhaps more about Jeffrey Epstein than he's let on publicly, that just adds to this whole political
furor.
The reason this all started was because Trump, on the campaign trail and Attorney General Pam Bondi said they would release all the Epstein files,
partly because they wanted to take advantage of the political frisson about all of this in the conspiracy sectors of the MAGA movement.
And then they came out and said, well, there's nothing to see here. This, you know, the political side of this, at least before we get to the
substance, is a self-inflicted crisis by the White House. Everything they do every time to try and get out of it. They just dig themselves deeper.
GIOKOS: Yeah. OK, so Ed, you wrote an article, and you're saying that this is Trump's Achilles heel, and that the U.S. President knows this. What --
how damaging, do you think this is going to be for President Trump, because there is a thinking out there that, look, the evidence could exonerate him?
And now you know, we're seeing the White House pushing as hard as possible to not see these documents released.
LUCE: Well, if the evidence could exonerate him, I can't think of any other example of somebody going to such lengths to suppress evidence of their
innocence, which is what Donald Trump is doing. Now it might well be the case that he has other reasons, people he knows, pressure from interested
parties he's close to not to release these we don't know.
We won't know, but the public will assume, they'll put two and two together and get four whether that four is correct or not, and they will assume that
Trump does have something to hide. And the problem for him is that large parts of the base, you know, really for them, this is a totemic issue.
It's about the conspiratorial deep state. You know, it's linked also to QAnon stuff, except in the Epstein case, you know, this is based on what
actually happened. It's not a sort of feverish conspiracy. So, they think that the Epstein files would blow up the likes of Bill Clinton and other
democratic and liberal figures.
That's why the base is so attached to this, and that's what Marjorie Taylor Greene is doing by leading this Republican rebellion to get it published.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LUCE: But I think all it's do for Trump is bring forward the battle for the succession as to who will inherit Trump's mantle after he leaves, because
he's looking, as Stephen said, like, he's got a pretty weak grip on events. He's -- this presidency is in trouble, and it's, you know, the named-up
period is not far off if it carries on like this.
GIOKOS: So, Stephen, the president hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, and, of course, the White House repeatedly denied the president's
involvement with Epstein. I want you to listen to what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It just shows how this is truly a manufactured hoax by the Democrat Party. For now, they're talking
about it all of a sudden because President Trump is in the Oval Office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, so what's your response to that, Stephen?
COLLINSON: Well, first of all, it's kind of an -- odd argument to say that this whole thing is a hoax and then say that the emails that were released
yesterday prove Trump's innocence. That doesn't make an awful lot of sense. Neither does this idea that the White House is pushing that its meeting
with Lauren Boebert is proof of transparency because on all sorts of other issues.
Not least, what the administration is doing in Caribbean of Venezuela has not benefited from this kind of sunlight on its intentions and
comprehensive briefings to Congress by senior officials. Democrats obviously believe that they've got Trump on the ropes here. They're going
to continue to push this.
It is political from that sense, but at the same time, I think what is important is the increasing visibility of the victims of Epstein. They're
increasingly organized. They now have a channel to the media.
[10:15:00]
They believe that this is much broader than Trump. They believe that there has not been accounting of all these powerful men knew about what Epstein
was doing. Trump is kind of a symbol of that. They're not going away. And I think their testimony is increasingly powerful in the politics of this.
GIOKOS: OK, so Ed, a final question, and this has to do with the record 43 days that we saw the government shut down. It's now reopened. And frankly,
there's quite a bit of debate around statistics, and we've two key pieces of economic data weren't really so it's the October jobs numbers and, of
course, inflation. How are you weighing up the impact of the shutdown.
LUCE: So, I think the problem with collecting statistics pre-existed the shutdown. Trump has attacked the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles
inflation and unemployment, fired the previous head of it. And so, there was already a crisis with data before the shutdown. The shutdown, of
course, then meant there was no sorts of data being compiled.
But if you look at private sector indicators, and there are a number of others, the number of those. It looks like that. We're now in into a period
of job losses, of labor retrenchment. One estimates of 50,000 job losses in October. So, a de facto recession, and maybe an actual one.
And the president having very, very few levers other than sort of walking back his trade war, which is central, you know, to not just his economic
policy, but his foreign policy, having very, very few ways of reducing inflation and trying to get more money into people's pockets, and the
shutdown, of course, didn't help, but I don't think it's the main factor here. The economy is going south anyway.
GIOKOS: All right. Ed Luce, Stephen Collinson, great to have you on. Thank you so much. Right, the end of the U.S. government shutdown means air
travel should get back to normal, but we aren't there yet. About 1000 flights are canceled today, but airlines for America says reopening the
government means flight schedules should be back on track before the Thanksgiving holiday.
The busiest time of the year for travel in the United States. CNN's Isabel Rosales is reporting from Hartfield International Airport in Atlanta this
morning.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's looking pretty smooth, pretty good out here at the world's busiest airport. In fact, take a look right here.
As the crowds are starting to pick up this morning, if we look up at the board, not a lot of red going on. That is great news to see.
And in fact, we have a graphic of the cancelations, flight cancelations, and you can see that it's going down about a third of the cancelations
today than what we saw over on Sunday. So that is certainly excellent news. But still, this is not something that you can just flip on a switch and
suddenly all these air travel woes go away.
Insiders are warning that it's going to take time for these airlines to bounce back. And let's not forget that the flight capacity is still cut at
40 major airports after the FAA put out an emergency order because of the staffing shortages fueled by the government shutdown, during which we know
air traffic controllers were required to pay to work, excuse me, without pay.
Now, since the government shutdown began, 650 air traffic controller staffing shortages were reported. On Saturday, we saw a record of 81,
today, that number is four. So, these are all really good signs, but again, this is going to take time. I caught up with a couple traveling to Florida
for vacation, who told me that they were anxious about their plans being canceled.
They had a car rental as a backup, and when they saw that the government shutdown had ended, this was a big sigh of relief for them. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am happy that it will get back to some kind of normalcy or just a little bit better before the holidays. I know it's
important for people to see their families, especially right now, because things are a little bit crazy. You know, you might need that comfort of
your family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family time is so important, and during the holidays and travel, so getting everybody back to work with flights and airplanes is
very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: And here's the other thing you should know. Last night, the department transportation froze those mandated flight cuts to 6 percent
saying that more air traffic controllers are showing up to work. That number should have been eight today, but again, frozen at six.
So, all of this is great news. And bottom line here the government shutdown is over, but that doesn't mean that the air industry will suddenly snap
back instantly, at least it will take another couple of days for everything to catch back up.
GIOKOS: And still to come, sick Palestinians receiving treatments say Israel wants to send them back to Gaza and its decimated health system. We
have the details on that story right after this. And as Ukraine battles Russian advances on the battlefield, a scandal closer to home is putting
new pressure on the presidents.
[10:20:00]
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GIOKOS: Medics and patients tell CNN that Israel plans to report sick Palestinians back to Gaza. Medical teams in East Jerusalem say at least 89
patients and their companions are now due for deportation, even though there is no treatment for many of them in the battered enclave.
The World Health Organization says 94 percent of hospitals in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Take a listen to the situation in hospitals
there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED WAEL HELLES, INJURED 14-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN: I have been waiting for surgery for 50 days, and my surgery shouldn't be delayed because I have
a transection in the spinal cord. Also, there are thousands of people waiting for surgery rooms. I also have vertebral fractures and I can't
breathe.
MOHAMMED SAQER, SPOKESPERSON OF NASSER HOSPITAL: Concerning surgery rooms, the situation is honestly tragic. There are only six surgery rooms in the
surgery's building. These rooms were calculated originally based on the number of residents of Khan Yunis city.
Now, as I said before, we have to offer services to all the residents of Rafah and some of the displaced from the north who are still in Khan Yunis.
Therefore, these rooms can't meet all the needs of patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more details on those patients, facing deportation.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: they really range from babies who were born in Jerusalem because their mothers had preexisting conditions
and were brought to Jerusalem to give birth before the war in Gaza began following the October 7th attacks.
And they also include individuals with kidney failure, with heart conditions, a whole range of conditions, really. And just this week, they
received notice that Israeli authorities are seeking to deport these 89 patients and their families back to Gaza as early as next week. Now, we've
seen previous efforts by the Israeli authorities to deport some of these patients who are being treated in East Jerusalem hospitals back to Gaza.
Those have been met with challenges, including by an organization known as Physicians for Human Rights, Israel, a story that CNN covered back in March
of 2024 for example, resulted in the Israeli Supreme Court issuing an order to temporarily halt those deportations. But the situation now is different
of course.
The war is over, at least for now. Inside of Gaza, a ceasefire remains in place, but what hasn't changed is the condition of Gaza's hospitals, and
that is why so many of these families are concerned about what will await them or their loved ones who are sick if they return to Gaza, concerns that
they won't be able to get the proper medical care necessary.
One of those is the family of a boy named Yamen Al-Najjar. He is a teenager. He was brought to Jerusalem for treatment just two days before
the October 7th attack, being treated for a bleeding disorder.
[10:25:00]
And his mother has actually been trying to get him abroad to a third country, because even in Jerusalem, the treatment that he is receiving
isn't sufficient to actually address all of his symptoms. But there is a major backlog, whether it is patients in Jerusalem or patients in Gaza who
are trying to get to third party countries, even when they have approval from the World Health Organization.
Oftentimes, there simply are not enough third-party countries willing to accept patients who originate from the Gaza Strip. And that is a big part
of the backlog here, we have reached out to the Israeli authority known as COGAT, which is responsible for issuing this deportation order and
coordinating any humanitarian activity between the Gaza Strip and the outside world.
They have not responded to our request for comment. It is important to note that most of these patients and their families are willing to return back
to the Gaza Strip despite the conditions there, but for some of them, they fear that this could be a death sentence for them or for their loved ones,
a very concerning time and an issue that we will be tracking very closely over the coming week.
GIOKOS: Meantime, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities say Israeli settlers torched a mosque and sprayed it with graffiti on Thursday.
Images show parts of the interior damaged by fire, as well as writing on the exterior of the mosque insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
In a statement to CNN, the IDF acknowledged the attack, but said no suspects were identified. It is the latest in a surge of settler tax
against Palestinians. Now in Ukraine, growing public anger over $100 million corruption scandal in the energy sector.
Ukraine's President is calling for the dismissal of two cabinet ministers over an alleged plot to seize control of key state enterprises, including
Ukraine's Nuclear Energy Agency. The lawmakers both deny wrongdoing, and it comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops near the front line
in Zaporizhzhia, where Russia has been making advances.
We have Ben Wedeman on the story for us. Ben, great to have you with us. And look, prosecutors are alleging multimillion dollar kickbacks were
arranged to protect energy facilities. I want you to give me a sense of the allegations and the investigation that is ensuing right now.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the National Anti-corruption Bureau in Ukraine has been investigating since the summer
of 2024, this corruption scandal involving around at least $100 million in kickbacks.
This was a scheme that, according to this investigation, implicated the current energy ministry minister, the justice minister, a former deputy
prime minister, and perhaps most damningly, Timur Mindich, who is the co- founder, rather co-owner of the production company that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has founded.
And that was really the production company that catapulted Zelenskyy to the fame that allowed him to become President of Ukraine. Now apparently,
Mindich, who is a dual Israeli-Ukrainian citizen, has left the country at this point. The justice and energy minister have been told to resign.
So, this investigation is ongoing, but it certainly couldn't come at a worse time for Ukraine, which is trying to maintain donor contributions to
the energy sector, which is being targeted by the Russians. And at the same time the Ukrainians are targeting the Russian energy sector.
And there is anger among donors that there is corruption in such a critical area of the Ukrainian economy. Also, it's going to complicate Ukraine's
attempt to get membership in the European Union. And of course, ordinary Ukrainians, who are increasingly suffering from long blackouts, winter is
well, is on the way.
And therefore, when they hear that there is corruption in such a critical sector for the country, people are angry and want some justice in this
matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVHENIIA KYRYCHENKO, PHOTOGRAPHER: The fact that all this is coming to light, that people so close to the president are involved in such a
corruption scandal is simply appalling.
IHOR LAVRUSHKO, FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: I believe that the fight against corruption should continue, both in peace time and during the war
we are currently experiencing.
[10:30:00]
I think that if the president's office. And the president himself takes appropriate steps to quell the scandal and take a tough stance on it, then
I think that it will not damage his authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And what we saw today is that President Zelenskyy did speak on the phone with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, assuring him that this
corruption investigation will carry on and will try to find and punish those who are responsible, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you mentioned western partners here, because they're obviously looking on and again, Ukraine relying so much and heavily
on aid. You spoke about public anger, and that is growing. And in fact, we actually saw protests in the streets in Ukraine because the probe is being
conducted by the very body that President Zelenskyy sought to dismantle a while back.
What is critical here is, actually what's happening on the battlefield, and this corruption is bad distraction to the real external threats that
Ukraine and Ukrainians are facing.
WEDEMAN: Yeah, it comes at a time when, particularly in Eastern Ukraine, and specifically the Zaporizhzhia region, which Zelenskyy visited today,
that the Ukrainians are on the defensive. They are losing ground to the Russians, and certainly, this corruption scandal couldn't come at a worse
time, because it does call into doubt the confidence of Western supporters and donors for Ukraine.
For its war effort and for supporting the economy in general, they start to worry about the problem of corruption. Keep in mind that corruption in
Ukraine has been a problem since Ukraine became independent in the early 1990s. This isn't by any measure, the biggest corruption scandal, but the
timing, Eleni, couldn't be worse.
GIOKOS: Yeah, all right. Ben Wedeman, great to have you on this story. Thank you so much. All right, so U.S. lawmakers are demanding answers from
the Trump Administration after CNN revealed Chinese firms have been shipping chemicals to Iran, defying U.N. sanctions.
CNN's reporting was based on information from European intelligence sources that enough sodium perchlorate has been sent to power hundreds of missiles.
Two lawmakers called on Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe to explain what the U.S. is doing to stop Beijing support
for Tehran, which they say threatens stability across the Middle East.
Coming up on the show, James Comey and Letitia James are both facing federal charges after President Trump demanded they be prosecuted. Could
today's hearing make their cases disappear? We'll answer that question after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back to "Connect the World". I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai, and here are your headlines. The U.S. House is expected to vote next week on a
bill that calls on the Justice Department to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein files. On Wednesday, Democrats made public several emails from the
late sex offender in which he mentioned Donald Trump.
The president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and the White House says the emails prove nothing. Israel plans to deport sick Palestinians
back to Gaza. Patients and doctors tell CNN, medical teams in East Jerusalem say at least 89 patients and their companions are due for
deportation.
Hospital authorities say the oldest patient is 85 years old and the youngest is two years old. Venezuelans are expressing uncertainty, fear and
skepticism. A day after the U.S. sent its most advanced aircraft carrier strike group, headed by the USS Gerald R. Ford to Latin America.
The U.S. Navy says the group will support the warships that have been carrying out deadly strikes on suspected drug trafficking vessels in the
Caribbean. Officials in Caracas argue it's part of a U.S. attempt to remove President Maduro from power. Now back to our top story, Democrats on the
U.S. House Oversight Committee have released multiple emails in which Jeffrey Epstein mentions President Trump.
The late sex offender, appears to reference Trump being aware that his girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell was poaching girls from Mar-a-
Lago to work for Epstein. Important to note, Mr. Trump has never been charged with a crime in relation to Epstein.
And even if the House approves a bill allowing for the release of all files in the Epstein case, it's unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed by
President Trump. More now on Donald Trump's relationship with Epstein from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy has been talked about for years.
Are people still talking about this guy, this creep.
RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was President Donald Trump in July this year, offering a very different opinion
of Jeffrey Epstein than he once shared publicly. In 2002 long before he became president, Trump told New York Magazine he'd known Jeffrey Epstein
for 15 years and called him a terrific guy.
He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side, Trump told the
magazine. Over the years, the two have been spotted many times in public together. This NBC video shows Trump and Epstein socializing in 1992 at a
party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
The video released in 2019, shows Trump appearing to say to Epstein, look at her back there, she's hot, while Epstein smiles and nods. Former
swimsuit model Stacey Williams, who dated Epstein in 1993 told CNN in an interview, Trump was Epstein's wing man.
STACEY WILLIAMS, FORMER SWIMSUIT MODEL: They were best friends. They were very close.
KAYE (voice-over): The two men flew together as well. These flight logs show Trump traveled on Epstein's jet four times in 1993, twice in 1994 and
once in 1995 and in 1997. The logs were made public during Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 trial, where she was convicted of sex trafficking, among
other things.
Epstein also attended Trump's wedding to Marla Maples at New York's Plaza Hotel in 1993. In 1997, Trump added this personal note to Epstein inside a
copy of his book, "The Art of the Comeback". It reads to Jeff, you are the greatest, according to "The New York Times".
That same year, the two men were photographed together at Mar-a-Lago. This exclusive CNN video shows Epstein and Trump chatting in 1999 before a
Victoria Secret Fashion Show.
KAYE: Despite all of that, during a court deposition here in Palm Beach in 2010 Epstein refused to answer many questions about his association with
Trump. And Trump has continued to try and distance himself from Epstein as recently as July. This was the story he told about kicking Epstein at a
Mar-a-Lago.
TRUMP: He took people that work for me, and I told him, don't do it anymore. And he did it. I said, stay the hell out of here.
KAYE (voice-over): More recently, Trump had to answer about a letter bearing his name found in a birthday book created by Ghislaine Maxwell for
Epstein's 50th birthday. The letter, according to the Wall Street Journal, contained the outline of a naked woman and a message, happy birthday and
may every day be another wonderful secret. Trump denied authoring the letter and sued the journal for defamation.
TRUMP: It's not my signature, and it's not the way I speak, and anybody that's covered me for a long time, no, that's not my language.
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right, this hour, a major legal showdown is underway.
[10:40:00]
Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James are asking a federal judge to toss out their criminal cases, arguing that
the prosecutor that President Trump appointed to pursue them was never legal in her job, if the judge agrees both cases could collapse.
We've got CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson joining us now from New York. And we've got the hearing about Lindsey Halligan authority currently under way.
Let's start with whether you believe the Trump appointed prosecutor was legally allowed to bring these charges.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, it's an open question to be clear, but I think there are some significant road blocks with regard to whether or
not that was a legal appointment. Why do I say that?
GIOKOS: Yeah.
JACKSON: I say that because it just happened to be, of course, a couple of days after Trump waxed poetic about going after his political enemies, that
would be Leticia James, the New York State Attorney General. That would be James Comey, the Former FBI Director, Adam Schiff, of course, in the United
States Senate, in California and others. And so, all of a sudden, before the actual statute of limitations is expiring.
And just to be clear, what that is, is with regard to a prosecution, you have, generally speaking, five years, otherwise the case goes away. And so,
wow, magically, just a few days before the statute of limitations was to evaporate, at least as it related to Comey, you have this appointment of a
personal attorney with no prosecutorial experience who is installed in that office and then gets an indictment just before the expiration and just
after the president said so.
And that's a big deal, because historically, in the United States, Department of Justice operates separately and independently. They don't
operate in order to go after enemies. They operate to do justice. And so, with respect to the installation of that individual Ms. Halligan, it looks
bad.
But more importantly than it looking bad legally, very briefly, the issue is whether or not the appointment was valid. You had another U.S. attorney
who was serving there, who ended up leaving, and of course, he was there. The law says that a president can appoint, technically, the attorney
general who worked for the president appoints, but you have 120 days to have an interim appointment.
That is usually a person who's installed is done with the advice and consent of the United States Senate that has 100 members. If that doesn't
happen, it's OK, but they can only be there for four months. They, of course, after those 120 days. The district court that it's in, they get to
decide, and they did, but this individual really didn't succumb to pressure.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
JACKSON: Said, there's nothing to see here, Mr. President, we don't think we have a valid prosecution. And as a result of that, I'm not going to
prosecute. He was, of course, removed. And then the argument is whether or not the district court would then appoint or the President would appoint.
The president says, hey, I could appoint to the attorney general, and I did. Comey's lawyers say, and Letitia James lawyers say, not so fast. It
was an invalid appointment, and anything that they did is a nullity, meaning its void, therefore the indictment has to fall, and that's the
essence of what we're hearing today.
GIOKOS: OK, OK, so how likely is it that community gets their cases thrown out? What's the probability here?
JACKSON: So, I think they certainly have substantial arguments here to be made. I think that there is a likelihood that the indictment can go away in
the event, for example, that the appointment is unlawful. The issue then becomes whether anything that specific attorney general did, or, excuse me,
U.S. attorney who was appointed by the attorney general did, it becomes a nullity.
Now, there's a couple of things that can happen here, right? I mean, you can have a situation where a judge says, you know what, I don't think the
appointment was valid, but nonetheless, you know, we could sustain these particular indictments. The reason, though, that that's unlikely to happen
is that she was, that is Ms. Halligan, who was appointed by Pam Bondi, the attorney general, was the only one to sign the indictment.
Why is that important? It's important because remember this, there's precedent for the court saying that these appointments are invalid. It
happened in New Jersey in the United States. It happened in -- It happened in California. What happened? What happened was, is that the court said
that those appointments after the 120 days are not valid.
But in those cases, the indictment still remained. The distinction there, however, is that not only did a single U.S. attorney sign, but other --
prosecutor's sign. In this particular case, it was only Ms. Halligan who signed off on it, authorizing it, no one else. And so, it's certainly
possible that if the court determines that the appointment was invalid and anything she did was invalid.
There's no fall back, because no other governmental official signed it, and that would be as if any other citizen went into a grand jury and presented
that can't happen. If you go into a grand jury, you have to have the lawful authority to do it, so it's certainly possible that those indictments could
be dismissed.
[10:45:00]
GIOKOS: All right. Joey Jackson, thank you so much. Good to see you sir. And up next, once feared bird is now fiercely protected. We'll go inside
the race to save a rare African vulture.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: In the rugged mountains of Southern Africa, one of the continent's most powerful birds of prey is in -- Today, on "Call to Earth", we join the
local guardians fighting to keep them in flight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These chunks of meat are not the next meal of a big cat, wolf or any other kind of predator, but rather a baby bird -- This is
what we got. This is the bearded vulture. It's a flagship species of the Maloti, Drakensberg mountain range in Lesotho and South Africa.
In 2014, they were declared critically endangered in the region. Today, it's estimated that approximately 100 breeding pairs remain. These powerful
birds can weigh up to seven pounds and have a wingspan of almost three meters.
SHANNON HOFFMAN, MANAGER OF BRED 4 THE WILD: They're a big bird, and there's quite a fear history around them. But doing when you understand how
they work, how they function. They become a non-threatening thing. In fact, they're in vaccination species. They don't hunt. They scavenge, so they
clean up after the world. We come in here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the past 18 years, Shannon Hoffman, Manager of Bred 4 the Wild, has been at the helm of conservation efforts in the
region.
HOFFMAN: We're putting together a founder population of birds that we can breed from, and it's their progeny that's going to be released back into
the wild.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bred 4 the Wild relies on puppets to rear the birds to prevent them from imprinting on humans.
HOFFMAN: The responsibility is huge, because if we lose any of these baby birds, or even as adults, you can't replace them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While rebuilding the population through breeding programs is critical.
HOFFMAN: He's coming in moving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So too is mitigating the threats to the dwindling wild bearded vultures.
SONJA KRUGER, ECOLOGIST OF BEARDED VULTURE RECOVERY PROGRAM: There's a lot of threats to the species, mainly poisoning that is the primary threat, and
they also do collide with power lines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sonja Kruger is a tireless champion of this imperial species, having dedicated more than 20 years of her life to protecting
them.
KRUGER: We're in the central Drakensberg at a feeding site, and this is on private land we really worried about poisoning and vultures. So, these
feeding sites are so important because we can provide safe food for the birds and try and keep them in areas that we know are safe and that the
food is safe.
The bearded vulture is a trans frontier species that crosses both Lesotho and South Africa, so both countries need to work together to save the
species, because we're sharing a breeding range.
[10:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Across the border in Lesotho. The traditions and customs of the Basotho people create a unique landscape for this work.
TELANG SEKHOTLO, MEMBER OF BEARDED VULTURE RECOVERY PROGRAM: They are not yet out, but they are about to come out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Telang Sekhotlo, the past six years have been spent spreading the values of conservation in his community.
SEKHOTLO: When coming to conservation here in Lesotho, we don't have much protected area or protected most of our land is communal land. The chief
and the head boys are here to learn the process of monitoring, in the environment, people are not able to differentiate different types of birds,
so we normally call them when we come here to monitor, so that say young people should learn about the bird conservation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an uphill battle for these activists, but they stay hopeful that their work today will help fill the skies with the
bearded vulture once again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very rewarding, with a few successes that we do have, but I think we have a long way to go to try and protect the species
and to try and stop the decline. It would be so sad if the future generations didn't have bearded vultures flying through the skies for them
to observe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Well, let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag, "Call to Earth. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: A corporate competition has ensued in the world of online shopping, Google, Amazon, OpenAI perplexity and others are racing to add AI powered
shopping tools to their platforms. For example, since September, U.S. based shoppers have been able to buy Etsy products directly from ChatGPT.
And OpenAI and Walmart announced a similar partnership last month. So how is this changing the landscape of online shopping? Our Lisa Eadicicco joins
me now live from our bureau in New York. I mean, my question is, is this going to help me shop even more than I already do, is it going to make my
life easier?
LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: So that's the goal. The goal is definitely to make your life easier. I think right now, the goal behind a
lot of these new features that we're seeing is to really help with product recommendations and that browsing process when you're not sure which
product to buy, and comparisons and things like that.
But this is really, I think, a stepping stone to a future in which you're not -- you don't have to do as much of the shopping on your own, and we're
seeing some of that already in some of the features that Google announced just this morning, they announced a new feature that can actually have
Google call stores on your behalf to see if an item is in stock.
So, if you're looking for leather boots nearby, or something like that, for example, you can tap a button that says, have Google call, and it'll call
local stores to see if they're in stock, ask about pricing, whether there's deals and promotions and things along those lines.
GIOKOS: So, it's going to make my life a lot easier. That's not good news, but I mean, OK, so Google added its own tree of AI powered shopping --
EADICICCO: Yeah, so that's just one of many features that Google announced this morning. There's also been some news around Gemini. It's essentially,
it's ChatGPT rival. You can now shop within Gemini. And again, this is not just about online shopping. This is really kind of about the future of the
web, because shopping is one of the critical things that people do online.
[10:55:00]
And the more that companies like OpenAI add features like that into ChatGPT, the less people actually have to leave ChatGPT to do something
else. So, this is really kind of about building out that ecosystem of things that you do online, and becoming the place for that. And shopping is
just one part of that overall ambition.
GIOKOS: Lisa Eadicicco, thank you so much. Good to have you with us.
EADICICCO: Thanks for having me.
GIOKOS: All right -- light show is on display above our planet. And this is footage of the glow from the southern lights over Australia State of
Victoria, and the rare aurora borealis painted the sky red over the Matterhorn mountain on the Swiss Italian border, Wednesday.
Dazzling waves of color are lighting up the sky across North America as well. The northern lights filled the skies in Michigan, Minnesota and
Wisconsin, Wednesday night. This was the scene in Iowa. It is all due to eruptions of energy from the sun interacting with the Earth's magnetic
field.
So, if you can step outside and take a look, it's absolutely gorgeous. Well, that's it for connect the world. I'm Eleni Giokos. Stay with CNN. One
world is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
