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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Weighs In On New Epstein Photos Of Him, Other Powerful Men; Mother Of White House Aide Leavitt's Nephew Speaks Out After ICE Arrest; Colorado Governor Shuts Down Trump Over "Full Pardon" Of Election Denier. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 12, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:30]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Trump speaks out about the newest Epstein photos hours after the release of images showing Trump and other high-profile men, including Bill Clinton, at Epstein's home. Two Epstein survivors are OUTFRONT tonight to respond.
Plus, an OUTFRONT exclusive this hour, the mother of Karoline Leavitt's nephew, she was detained by ICE, and she is here tonight for her first live television interview. Does she believe she was targeted? Her story is incredible.
An actress, Ricki Lake, she lost everything in the L.A., fires. Her house gone, including her family photos. But then a woman who is a complete stranger found a trove of them, and she's my guest.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
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BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. We've just got more than 70 new photos from the Jeffrey Epstein estate. These have just been released here over the past hour. Following on the heels of about two dozen others released earlier today. And some of these photos serve as the newest evidence of President Trump's long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
House Democrats releasing the newly obtained photos and Trump was asked about them just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I haven't seen it, but I mean, everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. His photos with everybody. I mean, almost there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him, so that's no big deal. I know nothing about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Of course, among the people with photos with Epstein is Trump himself. And of course it is important. One new photo released today that had been in Epstein's possession shows Epstein and Trump standing shoulder to shoulder. Another shows Trump with six women wearing leis. The women's faces were redacted by the committee. But you see Trump there.
There's a photo of Trump with another woman whose face is blacked out on a plane. And then there was a photo that Epstein kept as well, a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Trump's face on the wrapper and the words, quote -- can't believe I have to read this. I'm huge. The condoms are in a bowl with a sign that says Trump condom, $4.50.
And even as you laugh, to think about the fact that this was Jeffrey Epstein's possession, it's disgusting. Of course, it wasn't just Trump. Epstein also had a photo of himself and Steve Bbannon. And this was Trump's point, that a lot of people knew him.
There was another one that was a picture of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and others with former President Bill Clinton, who, of course, also spent plenty of time with Epstein. There are photos of Epstein with Woody Allen and a photo of the former treasury secretary, Larry Summers, on a plane as well.
Now, none of the released images in this case depict any specific sexual misconduct. It's also not clear when or where they were taken or who took them. But despite Trump trying to downplay it today right when he says it's no big deal, and hundreds of hundreds of people took photos with Epstein, right, the takeaway from that would be, oh, you know, who knows what might anything with him. Just really quick photo. Lots of people have them.
But the thing about it is, is that Trump was not just one of hundreds of people that Epstein took photos with, right? They knew each other, and they knew each other well, and they knew each other over a long period of time.
Listen to what we have heard time and time again from people who knew them in those years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were best friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were best friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was his best friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And, of course, that friendship was specific and important. But a lot of powerful men also had relationships with Epstein, which is why there is such a massive push. For more information that Trump once had been at the forefront of once he had the power to release the files, which he has since he took office. Any day, he could have released them. All he had to do was say so, but here we are.
Just listen to Trump's former ally, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): He was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files. I fully believe that those women deserve everything they're asking. They're asking for all of it to come out. They deserve it. And he was furious with me.
INTERVIEWER: What did he say?
GREENE: He said that it was going to hurt people.
INTERVIEWER: He said to you, people will get hurt.
GREENE: People will get hurt. I don't know what that means. I don't know who they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now to Epstein survivors. Danielle Bensky was recruited when she was 17 to give Epstein a massage at his townhouse on the upper east side of Manhattan. She was an aspiring ballerina. Her mother had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Epstein told her he would help her mother if she brought him more girls.
[19:05:03]
Haley Robinson says Epstein assaulted her when she was 16 years old. She was a high school student in Florida, then, giving her an ultimatum to bring him a girl every day. She felt powerless just to imagine that 16 years old.
Also with me tonight, Stacy Schneider and Charlie Dent.
And I appreciate all of you.
Danielle, I can only imagine, you know, having had the chance to speak with you over these past months, what it's like for you to drip, drip of information every day for you. You don't know what every day is going to bring. And today, all of a sudden, all these photos.
DANIELLE BENSKY, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I mean, you know, the best way I can explain it is it feels like, you know, when you're in line at the DMV and you know, you're going to have to wait. So, you set yourself up to wait and you tell yourself, like, at the end of all of this, we have that 19th deadline in our heads as survivors, and we figured we would not be seeing anything until then.
BURNETT: The 19th of December, when -- when supposedly the DOJ.
BENSKY: The DOJ should be releasing everything. Everything should come to light that day, which is just next Friday. Right? So, we're really -- we're thinking, okay, I'm prepared to mentally like it's not going to be easy to see any of this stuff come forward. We know how like it's always going to be so painful. But we prepared ourselves mentally to be able to do that on that day, and I think after talking to so many survivors today, this constant we don't know what is going to pop up and when.
So, like today, for instance, you know, I thought I was going to have a normal day and not do media. And then by like noon, I was scrolling and I see that picture of Steve Bannon sitting in Epstein's office.
BURNETT: That one was really striking to you.
SCHNEIDER: It was. I've been -- yeah, I've been in the office. The office has a lot. It holds a lot for me because it was, as we've talked about so many times on your show that my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and I brought him scans.
He never paid for any of her care. He never did anything to help her. But he did threaten me so severely in that moment. And it happened in that office.
And then to see a political figure who should be protecting our country, sitting in that very spot is really appalling. And I think that, like, there's no way that you could be in that house and be I mean, he was like the way the design and the architecture was, he was literally like right across the hall from the massage room. So there's no way you could enter that house and not know what was going on. So, at the very least, you're witnessing something and you're complicit in it.
BURNETT: Haley, what was today like for you?
HALEY ROBSON, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I wasn't surprised at all. I wasn't shocked. I found some of the photos to be quite salacious especially with the toys. And all I could think about were the other survivors that would find that triggering or had a response to that. And I couldn't help but feel as a collective what they were going through in that moment, seeing these photos.
And, you know, it is a trickle effect. And this is why I am so committed to healing and to seeing a therapist is because you can't, as an American and as a human being, you cannot look at these photos, whether involved or not, and not have a reaction and not feel devastated or just grossed out.
And so, I kind of felt a little like that today. And then I had to take a deep breath and brace myself and said, okay, this is a teaser. This is just a little preview. There's more that's going to follow.
And we just all need to stay united and keep supporting each other and just keep being there for each other, because the more information that comes out, it could be very triggering for a lot of us
BURNETT: Stacy, you know, when Danielle is talking about the office and having even just to see a photo like that and the unbelievably horrible experience she had the memory for her, she also was talking about something that is consistent with what the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said and his belief anybody -- everybody knew and nobody knew that and that there were tapes. And he had a whole theory.
But what she just described there, because she's been in that house so many times, was that when you went in and you're in his office right across the hall, that you could see one from the other? That particular picture, I guess it happened to be Steve Bannon with him in his office. But obviously many people would have been there. I just I just think it's so powerful what she said. Just the physical proximity that anyone who knew that was in that office knew about the massage room.
STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.
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It's stunning to hear that. I never heard that before about the proximity of the room and then people coming in and out of his office. This is such a difficult situation, because there are going to be plenty of people in those photographs. The House Oversight Committee already seized 95,000 photographs from Epstein's computer and emails just by subpoenaing his estate. So there's going to be a lot more coming out.
What they did today, what their initial tease. They sent out 19 photos like you described Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and them and some other famous, well-known people. There's no indication of any criminality in those photos, and there's no context for those photos.
But I believe that the House Oversight Committee was sending a message to the administration, to Pam Bondi and to the Justice Department, that we've got a stash of evidence and information that we know exists. And if you play funny business in releasing this file and taking advantage or over advantage of all those loopholes that they were given in the law to release the files and not telling the public what's really in there, we have it on this side, on the other side of the other subpoena, and I think it was a subliminal message or a veiled message that we're watching you, and we want to make sure you do the right thing by the public.
BURNETT: In terms of putting out what the DOJ has, which we, we know to be a massive amount of information, right, has made clear many times that, you know, it's what we've seen is 3 percent of what they have. We don't know how much of what the DOJ has, is also what the estate may. I mean, we don't know the full Venn diagram on all of it, but we know that there's a lot that they have that when they say they're so transparent, obviously, that's not true. But they could put them out any day. They haven't.
But what do you think? What do you make of the House committee putting this out? And specifically, it was the Democrats on the committee.
CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, PENNSYLVANIA: Well, today, what I saw, I didn't learn anything today that I didn't kind of already know.
BURNETT: Right. You knew that that Trump and Epstein, you knew Clinton and Epstein.
(CROSSTALK)
DENT: The condoms. I didn't see that coming. But other than that.
BURNETT: Yeah, well, at least you didn't have to read it.
DENT: Yeah, exactly. But, you know, look, I've said from day one, this administration and their allies have hoisted themselves on their own conspiracy petard, was Bongino, was Patel, it was Bondi, all telling us about Epstein files. And then they said when they got into positions of power. Oh, there's nothing to see here.
The problem is that a lot of their base supporters believe them. And I think right now, this administration should have released this stuff a long time ago. Bad news doesn't get better with time. And they're waiting and I'm anxious to see what they do in the 19th.
I'm sure they're going to scrub this. They're going to redact this. They'll sanitize it any way they can. And then they'll release whatever they release. And I'm sure it's never going to be enough, because a lot of people are going to say they're hiding something. And given --
BURNETT: Well, people who are going to know, I mean, people like you, Danielle, you're going to know, right? So, if they redact to not hurt people, is what Trump said, okay. That would be redacting your name. Youve chosen to put your name and face out here. So is Haley. So have so many other survivors, but some have not.
Their names should be redacted. Faces redacted. Right? But you're going to read through things in there and you're going to know if it's all there.
BENSKY: I do think that something that's been frustrating for survivors. Well, first of all, we're all in this together. And that has been something magical that has been born out of this. Just seeing Haley's face like now is just incredible to know we have that camaraderie and that sister ship.
But, I think something that we are a little bit frustrated with is we I put the FOIA request in for my 302, which is the FBI file. Right. I requested my FBI file, my own file.
BURNETT: Your own, the stuff about me.
BENSKY: I'm not asking for anything else, just me. And I put that request in in September, and we haven't many of us, I don't actually know a single survivor who has seen their own FBI file. And so what that means is we're living off of our memory, which dates can get a little fuzzy.
I know I talked to law enforcement in 2008, 2008 is a long year. That's, you know, 365 days of going through whatever we possibly can find. So that is a little bit frustrating in that we are yes, we are a unit and we are moving through this together and we will be looking out for each other, and we will be okay here as so and so. And this is what happened here.
But at the -- at the same time, nobody's making it very easy. And there's no road map for this.
BURNETT: Yeah.
BENSKY: So it's going to be --
BURNETT: Stacy, what do you make what she's saying here that since September for her own FBI file.
SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it's ridiculous. And, you know, it's a real shame here, based on what you're saying, the administration, it's a law. They need to put out the file. If they don't do justice, and they put out a fully scrubbed, redacted file next week, why should the burden --
BURNETT: Or incomplete, right. We don't or they, you know --
SCHNEIDER: Incomplete, or, you know, they say it's an ongoing investigation against these Democrats. The Trump ordered. So, we can't release this aspect of the file. And then that -- what that does is it puts the burden on the survivors of having to come forward when maybe some of them aren't ready or don't want to come forward. The burden should never be put on them to correct the record and make it straight.
[19:15:00]
The burden is on the Justice Department to give a correct record and abide by the law.
And there's just been so much signaling and behavior that indicates that they're going to not do right by the public. And that's the prediction, I think, from most people.
BURNETT: I mean, Haley, obviously, you've noted before you voted for Trump, obviously, you know, and then and thought perhaps that those files would come out right away, something that he could do any time, right? At this point, obviously, he's chosen not to do so. But what about Stacy's point, right. That you and Danielle, you've been on this show many times. You've been in other done media interviews, right? You're putting yourself out there every day at cost to your own life, to retraumatizing, to triggering to all of those things because of the absence of transparency from the government.
ROBSON: I mean, I've just been doing this for so long, and I actually called Long Beach sheriff's department to get my file and records years ago, and they told me that they had referred it to the FBI. They had to hand everything over to the FBI. I haven't put in a application to get my records, but you're absolutely right. To her point, like this is asinine.
I don't understand why the DOJ and the FBI are not being put under an extreme investigation as to why, as an American citizen and as a survivor of Epstein, why these girls are going through trauma, including me, and now were being denied our records, our personal records that we want. So, when the records do come out, we can compare and contrast to our stories and what's in the records.
And it's just -- it's a shame that it's come down to this and it's all tactic. This is all a tactic. The fact that it's now close to the deadline and the DOJ hasn't released, in my opinion, this is just another example of this administration weaponizing the DOJ for political gain.
And it gets so exhausting when we as a collective are coming out and we're saying enough is enough. This is not political. Help us. And it's been -- I mean, we've been to the Capitol, several times, and I've been there when these girls and these women are expressing to Congress, I want my files, I want my FBI files.
Why isn't that being talked about enough? Why three months into it are we still not receiving our FBI files? What is the DOJ doing and why is this administration continuing to play these games and to delay and to distract? You got a week, seven days, and we're not letting up.
BURNETT: So, Charlie, I mean, you know, what do you make of that? I mean, and can Thomas Massie as a Republican right now, you know, leading the charge obviously he's -- you've got Ro Khanna and Garcia, you've got other Democrats working with him. But can he get this over the finish line?
DENT: Well, I think to a certain extent, it's out of Massie's hands and Congress's hands. It's in DOJ's hands. And they're the ones who are going to release this. The question is, what does Congress do?
BURNETT: Right. But I mean, can Congress hold them accountable and make sure there aren't redactions or --
DENT: Well, there are things they could do. You know, as a former appropriator, you can do all kinds of things, defense their money, hold it up for DOJ until they do certain things. They that would require Republican leadership, though, to step up and basically threaten the administration if you don't give us those files, you know, you're not going to get funding for things that you really care about. I mean, there are certain things that they can do to pressure them.
I don't know that they would -- I don't know that the leadership would do that. I'm sure Thomas Massie would, if he were able to. But that's where they are. But it's going to take some real muscle from Congress to force. And we'll see after that discharge, all of a sudden, you went you went from four loan people for months to everybody but one. What would happen here?
All right. Thank you all so very much. I appreciate it, Danielle and Haley, thanks so much to both of you for being willing to come out and talk about this tonight.
And next, exclusive, the mother of Karoline Leavitt nephew detained by ICE. She was heading to pick up her son from school. Then she gets locked up for nearly a month by ICE, and she's our guest tonight for her first television interview.
Plus, denied. The Colorado governor shutting down Trump's attempt to pardon a convicted election denier.
And a prosecutor tonight laying out disturbing charges of stalking and home invasion against the former University of Michigan football coach, fired after a, quote, inappropriate relationship with a staffer allegedly telling that staffer, my blood is on your hands.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:44]
BURNETT: Breaking news, an OUTFRONT exclusive, the mother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt nephew and godson sitting down for her first television interview after being detained by ICE for nearly a full month. Bruna-Caroline Ferreira was arrested by ICE agents last month while driving to pick up her son from school. She shares custody of her child with Leavitt's brother Michael, whom she was engaged to until about a decade ago.
Ferreira was shuttled to several detention centers around the country before ultimately being sent to Louisiana, more than 1,600 miles from where she lives, where she calls home in Massachusetts, Ferreira has been living in the United States since 1998. That's when she came here from Brazil. She was a six-year-old child.
The Trump administration calls her a criminal illegal alien who overstayed a tourist visa. Her attorney maintains that Ferreira is in the process of getting a green card, which she had begun years ago, and that she is protected from deportation through an Obama era immigration policy.
And OUTFRONT now for her first television interview, Bruna-Caroline Ferreira. And she is joined by her attorney, Todd Pomerleau.
And I really appreciate both of you being here.
So, Bruna, I just want to start, you know, when this story first broke, I kind of had to look at it a couple times to understand what actually had happened here. And then learning more and more about you and who you were.
[19:25:05]
I understand on the day that this happened, you were running out of the house, shoelaces not even tied to pick up your son from school.
BRUNA-CAROLINE FERREIRA, MOTHER OF KAROLINE LEAVITT'S NEPHEW; WAS DETAINED BY ICE: Yes, ma'am.
BURNETT: So, tell me what happened.
FERREIRA: I was heading out to pick up Michael from school and a vehicle drove towards me. So, I decided to back up to get out of his way and unmarked vehicle, may I add. And then I noticed my rearview mirror. There was another vehicle, and then it was just a swarm of people, and I was quickly rushed to the Revere Police Department for them to clarify my identity.
They didn't know my name. They asked me my name. So I asked them, how could you possibly know who I am and where I live without you having some kind of a warrant? I wasn't presented with any of those documents, so I just started panicking, trying to see if I could get somebody an emergency contact, anybody to answer me to pick up Michael from school. And just thought. --
BURNETT: Because at this point, you were you were running with your shoelaces untied because you wanted to be first in line to school, right?
FERREIRA: Yes, ma'am.
BURNETT: So, then all of a sudden, no one\s going to pick your child up from school.
FERREIRA: Correct.
BURNETT: Okay. One thing you said there, though. So they're waiting this vehicle, another vehicle comes up on this swarm of people as you describe it. And then you're saying, but they didn't know your name.
FERREIRA: No warrant. No -- yeah. They asked me, is your name Bruna? And I just asked, well, you know, how do you know who I am if you don't have any type of -- how do I know who you are?
BURNETT: So they knew you were Bruna, but they didn't have a warrant for you.
FERREIRA: So they wanted me to verify my identity with the driver's license. So I just asked, where do you have a warrant? Or --so then they said, lets just rush her over to the Revere Police Department. And there they verified my identity and made a call. I made an emergency call for somebody to go pick up Michael. And after that, I was shuffled around all the entire country.
BURNETT: So, I want -- okay, I want to ask you about that.
Todd, though. Okay. What happened here, then? Do you think their way -- they knew her name, but they didn't have any warrant. They didn't have any proof that they. But they knew her name.
TODD POMERLEAU, ATTORNEY FOR BRUNA-CAROLINE FERREIRA: Well, at first, they played dumb and acted like it was a traffic stop. So, they asked her for her license. But then somebody says, are you Bruna? Which causes her concern. Plus, traffic cops don't have masks over their faces. That's how Immigration and Customs Enforcement, you know, functions these days.
BURNETT: These guys had masks.
POMERLEAU: Yeah, they cover their face. And that's what they did here. And again, they don't show any warrant. And then apparently, they
manufactured a warrant when she was in Vermont several hours later, which is highly unusual. And when you look at the video, TMZ leaked the video. I hadn't seen the video before when I was on the show a few weeks ago. And you see five cars just quickly swarm. It looks similar, like an undercover drug buy, where they just go in right away and they know who they're getting.
And what was strange about it is hardly any people knew where she lived. She was driving a vehicle not registered to her. It seemed like they knew exactly where she was going to be, which was customary. She regularly picked her son up. She'd leave around the same time, multiple days a week. They knew exactly where she was going to be.
BURNETT: So it sounds like you're saying you were targeted.
FERREIRA: Premeditated.
BURNETT: Premeditated.
FERREIRA: Very organized.
BURNETT: And because of who she is, because of the relationship to the press secretary.
POMERLEAU: It seems to be. And what's bizarre about her case, anyway, she's been trying to get a green card literally since she was almost six years old, and she was in the process of doing that. And literally one day after she filed her most recent green card application, the Trump administration tried to accelerate deportation case by starting it up again. She had a case that's been effectively shelved since the Obama administration, since Barack Hussein Obama put her in removal proceedings.
And it was just basically paused so that she could try to get her green card. She had DACA over a course of years, and she was merely waiting her turn. May 5th. She had her final hearing, but they accelerated the process after she filed her application.
BURNETT: So they just to be clear, you came here when you were six years old.
FERREIRA: Yes.
BURNETT: And so, obviously you didn't -- you didn't come illegally, first of all.
FERREIRA: No.
BURNETT: And you didn't have any choice in the matter. Right? I mean, so, so then --
FERREIRA: Very excited to come. And my little sister, yes.
BURNETT: Right. Okay, to meet your little sister for the first time. So essentially, you've lived here your entire life as much as far as you remember it?
FERREIRA: Correct.
BURNETT: Okay. So when they say to you that you're a criminal, illegal alien, which is what they're technically calling you specifically and explicitly, this administration, what do you say to that?
FERREIRA: I'm heartbroken. I'm heartbroken for my son, you know, I'm heartbroken for my mother, who has worked for a quarter of a century cleaning houses, earned an honest living, has paid her taxes. I've been a law-abiding citizen. I don't even have a parking ticket.
And I'm so proud of it. I'm proud of my name, and I carry it like a badge of honor, you know, like being on an honor roll. And now my child is sitting somewhere watching them broadcast this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a child, he must be terrified. Is it true? Did my mom do something? Do I not know about it? Gossip in school.
I don't know what's going on in his little mind. And I just want him to know that none of those things are true, honey. And we're going to square this all away.
BURNETT: So that when you go in that day and you make that emergency call, then you lose your phone, right? You don't have a phone, okay? For 26 days.
FERREIRA: Twenty-six days.
BURNETT: Twenty-six days, no phone.
FERREIRA: Yes.
BURNETT: Okay. I can't even imagine what it's like to not be able to talk to your child for 26 days.
[19:30:00]
POMERLEAU: Her phone somehow got broken during the arrest too, which is on TMZ. It's not a violent arrest, but her phone manages to get broken.
BURNETT: Your phone got broken.
FERREIRA: Correct. Yeah.
BURNETT: What was that even like to not be able to know what happened to your child or even who picked him up from school or anything for 26 days?
FERREIRA: You have a lot of time to think in there, you know? And you really think the worst. You think the worst, but the luck that I had is that I was surrounded by so many women, so many women that had four children, you know, one was pregnant, you know, and I can't imagine I just tried to put myself in their shoes.
I was in such a horrible situation, but they were praying for me and I was praying for them and being able to contact an attorney that could expedite my process, because some people are in there for a year and a half, I can't fathom a mother not knowing where her son is for a year and a half. And who's with him, what he's eating, if he's going to bed on time, if he's sick. I can't imagine.
BURNETT: It's unbearable. It's the cruelty of it.
FERREIRA: It's cruel.
BURNETT: So, you are -- okay, so, but in this time, then how many places do you go? You're taken from place to place, right? How are you? Can you just talk about what it was like, what it was like inside? Who was there? I mean, was it -- were you treated well? I mean, tell us.
FERREIRA: It's mind boggling to know that they know where you're going, but they won't tell you. So I was shuffled from Massachusetts quickly to New Hampshire, from New Hampshire to Vermont. Vermont to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Texas.
When I got to Texas, I asked the agent because it said Mexico. And I said, can you please, please, please have a little bit of empathy for me and tell me if you're taking me across the border? And he said, no, were taking you to the final destination, your final stop before your deportation, which is south Louisiana. Hardly anyone ever gets out of there.
So, I just mustered up the courage to cry and sleep throughout that final voyage. And when I got to south Louisiana, I was finally able to, by the grace of God, some girl let me use her minutes to make a phone call and then to tell my family where I was and the attorneys.
BURNETT: And so that's, Todd, when you are able to, to help to get her out for now.
POMERLEAU: We got the case the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and, you know, when she was taken to Vermont, she said that one of the ICE officers didn't think she spoke English and said, oh, we got more business coming in. And then she winds up in Louisiana and another for profit hellhole prison paid for by taxpayers. She has two businesses. This is a woman who has two businesses, a single mother paying her taxes and winds up in a for profit prison in Louisiana.
It's just unconscionable what they're doing on a daily basis. And then beyond that, this false character assassination, keep labeling her a criminal, illegal alien, their own lawyer. On Monday, when we had a bond hearing, said, I stipulate after we argued that she was not a criminal, illegal alien. That was patently false. Factually, legally.
And then they're still doubling down, claiming she was arrested for a crime. The only arrest in her life was this unconstitutional bag drop on November the 12th.
BURNETT: You know, I just -- I want to understand this and I think, you know, on some level, I don't want to make it about Karoline Leavitt, but that is why your story has, of course, risen. You know, you have become, whether you like it or not, right? A face of this for so many people.
I know you chose her to be your son's godmother, right? I mean, there's a relationship there. You're not married to your son's father, but you have. You say, you know, you function, you co-parent together, you share custody.
"The Washington Post" says that the White House said you never lived with your son. They were clearly portraying you as an absentee parent.
FERREIRA: Why? I just want to. Why, why, why, why lie?
(CROSSTALK)
FERREIRA: Because I have so many friends and family that have called me and said, why would anyone lie about this when it's 2025, we have a digital footprint of everything. Every Wednesday, typically, my son and I go to Dave and Busters because it's half off or extreme couponers at our home, and I don't -- I can't, I can't wrap my mind around it, but it doesn't make any sense. I'm just as lost as you are, and I'm hoping that this interview gets me some answers.
BURNETT: What -- have you had a chance to talk to Karoline Leavitt?
FERREIRA: No, no.
BURNETT: I mean, what would you say to her? I guess I'm sort of. I'm still stunned by the fact that you chose her to be your son's godmother, right --
FERREIRA: Over my sister.
BURNETT: Over your own sister.
FERREIRA: My sister.
BURNETT: And now -- and now all of this is happening. I mean, what -- what do you have to say to her?
FERREIRA: I think what I would have to say to Karoline is just because you went to a catholic school doesn't make you a good Catholic. You know, you're a mother. You are a mother now. And you should know. How would you feel if you were in those -- in my shoes, you know? How would you feel if somebody did this to you?
Because at the end of the day, nobody is above the law. You know, it could happen to anybody. So, I can't wrap my mind around it. And hopefully there's a logical explanation for all of this.
BURNETT: I mean, this is just a picture of you. Obviously, we blurred your son's face out, but it's you and Karoline.
[19:35:02]
FERREIRA: Yes, little pool party.
BURNETT: Yes. FERREIRA: I mean, Atkinson. Yes.
BURNETT: Yeah.
FERREIRA: It doesn't make sense. I'm trying to understand and have faith that there's some logical explanation behind any of this, but there isn't. I'm not the first. I'm surely not going to be the last. There's thousands of women and families and children being separated daily. Where does it end? When does it stop?
BURNETT: So, Todd, what do you think is happening here? I understand you deal with immigration law. You and I have talked about other cases you're dealing with, but this case is extremely specific in the sense that you're dealing with the Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt of the United States, right? That you are -- you know, that she's the godmother to your son.
And so, ,and they are the ones, the White House, "Washington Post" reporting, right, saying that she's never -- she's never lived with her son. She says that's false, portraying her as an absentee mother. I mean, you have all of that in the center of your legal proceedings. So, what does that mean?
POMERLEAU: Well, equal justice under the law. Shouldn't matter who she might have been related to or not.
BURNETT: Yeah.
POMERLEAU: The reality is here that she's in line for her green card, like tens of thousands of other people. And throughout the country, people are just being illegally arrested when they're in the middle or the beginning or the end of a lawful process that congress created roughly in the mid '90s. The laws aren't perfect, but they\re there for a reason. People are entitled to due process of law.
Bruna is, all those women sitting in Louisiana that were with her are entitled to the same process and protections under the law. She had the lowest bond possible set. And this is what I refer to as the unconstitutional merry go round. We say it happened. A lot of people.
She's basically following a lawful process to then get illegally arrested, to then have to either hire a lawyer or hope for a volunteer to then basically sue, to then have to pay money out of her own pocket to get out of jail, to get back to where she started.
BURNETT: So, Bruna, I know, I mean, when, when can you see Michael?
FERREIRA: Hopefully very soon. I mean, it's going to be hopefully a Christmas miracle. I don't -- I don't really have that answer right now, but I'm hoping its sooner rather than later because I have been patiently waiting for 27 years. And some days now, you know, and it's just cruel. It doesn't make any sense. You know, I wish I really had the answer, but it's -- it doesn't make any sense.
And it costs me so much money every time I have to go and file more paperwork. And it's just -- it's not normal. It's not normal to constantly live in, like a fight or flight mode. And I've been doing it for so long and thanks to yoga, it helps me Zen and really gather my thoughts. But it's not normal for anybody to live this way.
BURNETT: And obviously, you're in the middle. You're in the middle of this. I mean, this is -- this is far from over, but --
POMERLEAU: And they delayed her process probably one or two years because then her case goes to Louisiana. She's in the detained docket now. She's out of jail. So now the case transfers back to Boston, and then there's lag time on the file getting there. Is there a case that was originally coming to a conclusion in May is now kicked back to September. And that's probably not in the end.
BURNETT: So are they preventing you from seeing your child, or is that you and your husband working that out, or how does that work from here?
FERREIRA: I tried to see Michael. However, they put me on a GPS monitor unlawfully, may I add. So his father had agreed to bring him to my house after a haircut. I called him at 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and he did not answer. So I'm going to have to let the attorneys do all of the talking from now on, because this is just gone on for far too long, and it has been going on for over 10 years, you know, since before Michael was even born. So, it has to end somebody, somewhere. It has to end.
BURNETT: Well, it's excruciating and I can only imagine, as a mother --
FERREIRA: Exhausting.
BURNETT: -- excruciating what you're -- what you're enduring.
But, Bruna, thank you very much for talking to us. Todd, thank you very much. And of course, we'll see how this -- how this goes.
POMERLEAU: We appreciate you having us on to be heard. Thank you so much.
BURNETT: Thank you both very much.
FERREIRA: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell making his push to overturn the 2020 election the centerpiece of his new run for governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE LINDELL, MYPILLOW CEO: I have been relentless in making people aware of the fraud in our elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And we now have the disturbing details of what allegedly led the arrest of fired Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:43:29]
BURNETT: Tonight, the Colorado governor shutting Trump down, fighting back against the president's -- well, so-called full pardon of former county clerk Tina Peters, who is still behind bars. She got nine years in prison for tampering with voting equipment in order to support 2020 voter fraud claims that were false. Now, Trump posts, quote, "Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of Tina Peters, a patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair and honest. Today, I am granting Tina a full pardon for attempts to expose voter fraud in the rigged 2020 presidential election."
Now, just to be clear here, of course, what he's saying is actually technically untrue because Peters, he can't pardon her. She was convicted on state charges, not federal charges. So, Trump can only pardon on federal so he doesn't have the power to do this, something that the governor, Jared Polis, was quick to point out.
He said no president has jurisdiction over state law, nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions. This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders.
OUTFRONT now, Colorado's Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
And, Secretary Griswold, I appreciate your time. It's good to talk to you again.
So just to understand what happened here, President Trump says Tina Peters was a, quote, patriot who simply wanted to make sure our elections were fair and honest. Putting aside for a moment that he actually cannot pardon her because this was not a federal case, what do you say to that?
JENA GRISWOLD (D), COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: Tina Peters is not a patriot. She's a criminal. She was found guilty and sentenced to nine years of incarceration by a jury of her peers in a very conservative part of Colorado under state law, in a state criminal proceeding.
[19:45:12]
So that is absolutely wrong. And just a reminder to your viewers, Tina Peters is one of the last people actually facing the consequences of attacking our elections, because Trump is trying to rewrite history. He's pardoned the January 6th insurrectionist. He's pardoned other election deniers, and then he's promoted a lot of election deniers into his administration. And he is like, honestly losing his mind that she is still facing consequences and has been ratcheting up the threats to the state of Colorado over it.
BURNETT: So, obviously, he can't pardon her because its state charges. Governor Polis says it's up to the courts if Peters is released early from prison, he's the governor. He'd be the one to -- if there was a pardon. Obviously not doing that.
How confident are you that the courts will keep her behind bars, that she will serve her full nine-year sentence?
GRISWOLD: Well, under the Constitution, it is very clear that states are responsible for our own criminal justice systems. And that's what happened here. She had a fair trial and she was sentenced accordingly.
Trump is a lawless president who does lawless things repeatedly, including issuing this pardon. And it's actually an escalation. So, when he was sworn in to his second term, he started to have the DOJ intervene on Tina Peters behalf in her lawsuits. He then started a pressure campaign onto the governor, asking the governor to pardon Tina Peters. That didn't work.
So, he has threatened retaliation. The latest was a couple weeks ago. They sent a request trying to move Tina from our state prisons into federal custody. It has all not worked, and it underlines the fact that Trump does not have this authority.
If he had the ability to pardon tina, he wouldn't have done all the other stuff. He would have just pardoned her. He does not have the authority. It's an unlawful pardon. And honestly, it's going to go nowhere.
BURNETT: So another longtime Trump ally who repeatedly tried to help him overturn the election and, of course, it was out is out talking about that now in his race for governor as Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, he is now running for governor of Minnesota. And he's made the whole election rigged. Theme a big part of his sales pitch for governor. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDELL: I think politics pattern. Then along came the 2020 election. And you all know that I have been relentless in making people aware of fraud in our elections
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Secretary, I'm curious. I'm using him just to make this point. Are you concerned that people who were involved in selling the 2020 election as a lie, right. Not just that, that many of them are escaping justice, as you just pointed out, but that some of them may be rewarded. Right? That having that stance may reward a person with a position of great power, like being a governor.
GRISWOLD: Absolutely. And we're already seeing Trump give election deniers keys places in his administration, including in the Department of Justice and in the Department of Homeland Security. So, partners, former partners in securing our elections, their positions are now held by folks who are spewing conspiracies to try to destabilize the nation's elections.
I do think that this is all going to backfire. Trump is an unpopular president. The MAGA movement is an unpopular movement. Unaffordability is high. Trump is in the middle of the Epstein scandal, and he's trying to do anything he can to outrun his polling numbers. I'm confident that the American voters will hold him accountable and
stop this insanity nationwide. It does not lead to good government results. It's a scam on the American people. The American people know better, and I am very hopeful that this is put to rest in 2026, in the elections.
BURNETT: All right. Secretary, thank you very much. I appreciate your time on this Friday.
And next, we do have some new details and they're really odd and chilling about what led to the arrest of the former Michigan football head coach, Sherrone Moore
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grabbed several butter knives and a pair of kitchen scissors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And a small miracle. After losing her home in the fires, Ricki Lake thought everything was gone. Her family photos were completely missing until a stranger found some.
The hero of the story is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:55]
BURNETT: Tonight, stocking home invasion and suicide threats. That account from prosecutors and other disturbing new details about the fired Michigan football coach. Sherrone Moore charged in court today, pleading not guilty, facing years in prison if convicted.
Whitney Wild is OUTFRONT from Ann Arbor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDGE: May be seated.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charged with felony home invasion and misdemeanor stalking, ex-University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore appeared on Zoom at his arraignment Friday.
KATI REZMIERSKI, WASHTENAW COUNTY PROSECUTOR: The totality of the behavior is highly threatening and highly intimidating. She was terrorized.
WILD (voice-over): Moore was arrested on Wednesday, just hours after being fired as head coach of the Wolverines, setting off a firestorm of reaction among sports commentators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the hell is going on in Michigan right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole situation itself is just sad and tragic.
WILD (voice-over): The school says an investigation found credible evidence Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
REZMIERSKI: A risk to this victim.
WILD (voice-over): Prosecutor Katie Rezmierski told the court Moore, who is married with three daughters, was in a relationship with this woman for a number of years and said the woman broke up with more on Monday.
REZMIERSKI: Eventually, she presented herself to the University of Michigan, cooperated in some form of investigation there.
WILD (voice-over): After Moore was fired on Wednesday, Rezmierski said he went to the woman's apartment.
REZMIERSKI: Barged his way into that apartment. Immediately, then proceeded to a kitchen drawer, grabbed several knives and a pair of kitchen scissors, and began to threaten his own life.
I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to make you watch. My blood is on your hands. You ruined my life. And a series of very, very threatening, intimidating, terrifying, quite frankly, statements and behaviors
WILD (voice-over): 911 dispatch audio on Wednesday indicates an alleged assault. A CNN review matched the location of this call with the address of the alleged victim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a male at the location in the house attacking her and states he's been stalking her for months.
[19:55:00]
WILD (voice-over): The judge told Moore he cannot contact the woman upon his release.
JUDGE: Are we understood on the no contact and no go to, sir?
SHERRONE MOORE, FORMER FOOTBALL COACH: Yes, your honor.
WILD (voice-over): Moore's attorney reminded the court he has no criminal history.
MOORE'S ATTORNEY: There's no evidence to suggest that he's a threat to the public safety.
WILD (voice-over): In response to Moore's firing, University of Michigan president Domenico Grasso sent an email to students and faculty saying there is absolutely no tolerance for this conduct at the University of Michigan. This breach of trust by Coach Moore is painful for many in our community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Michigan can't escape the scandals. WILD (voice-over): Students reacted to the news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just really bad overall, I think it's just getting worse as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to want to support a program that does that, but I guess it's good to see the university addressing it and taking action.
WILD (voice-over): Whitney Wild, CNN, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And next, a small miracle. Ricki Lake lost her home in a wildfire, thinking her family photos were gone completely. And then a stranger made an incredible discovery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, a small miracle. Those words from actress and talk show host Ricki Lake, who thought she had lost all of her possessions, including every single family photo, when her home burned down in the Palisades fire. But just this week, a total stranger found her family photos at a flea market in Pasadena, California. Photos Ricki Lake hadn't seen in years.
They weren't the ones lost in the fire. It's a miracle they even existed anywhere, never mind a flea market. There are some of the only images of her childhood and family that she has now.
Ricki Lake telling OUTFRONT, "The return of these images feels like a small miracle, a reminder that even in moments of profound loss, the universe has a way of holding us. At a time when the world feels heavy, this unexpected, beautiful news has brought me so much light and hope. I'm thankful to everyone who played a part, especially Patty Sscanlon, who found the photos and decided to find me. Recovering these little pieces of history means more than words can express."
And tonight, Patricia Scanlon, the hero of the story, told me about the moment she realized that she had stumbled at a flea market on priceless photos of Ricki Lake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA SCANLON, FOUND RICKI LAKE'S LOST FAMILY PHOTOS: My husband came out, he saw me and said, what is wrong with you? You look in a little crazy about those pictures, Patty. I mean, are you all right? And I said, these are Ricki Lake. And he was like, aha! I understand, but why? Why are you going so crazy?
I said, she lost everything in the fire. Do you understand how valuable these are to her? And so then I picked the ones that I thought would be stop worthy, you know, like, grab people's attention. The red car, the yellow raincoat and a one with her, with the child. And I posted them on Instagram and I said, does anyone know Ricki Lake? I took a shower. I came out, my phone was blowing up, it was all over
Instagram. Ricki was like, I'm here. I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Patti's story is amazing. Wait until you hear about why she was at the flea market. It's all amazing. You got to watch the whole interview on X. You can see it @OutFrontCNN.
It's time for now for Anderson.
