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Erin Burnett Outfront
Epstein "Co-conspirators" Appear To Be Redacted In New Batch Of Docs; Supreme Court Blocks Trump; Blanche Defends Ghislaine Maxwell's Move To Minimum-Security Camp. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 23, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:24]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
New Epstein documents contradicting Trump's statement about not flying on Epstein's plane and raising questions about other uncharged coconspirators. Why are their names blacked out?
Plus, more breaking news this hour. Trump denied. The Supreme Court blocking the president from deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
And 40 years after "We Are the World", some of the biggest names in the music industry are joining forces with author Tony Robbins to fight world hunger with a new song. We have exclusive access behind the scenes on this Christmas Eve eve.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, who is the Trump Department of Justice trying to protect. The DOJ, releasing 30,000 more pages from the Epstein files, documents that are, again, heavily redacted, page after page of black. And among the redactions, something critically important.
The names of the men who allegedly committed these heinous acts, still unknown, still protected, as are the names of what federal agents call Epstein's coconspirators, according to one email with the subject coconspirators, the person whose signature line includes FBI New York, writes when you get a chance, can you give me an update on the status of the ten coconspirators? Then the response hours later comes, and every name is blocked out.
Now, it is a mystery who these potential coconspirators are. Also a mystery is why the DOJ felt the identities of all but three of them should be protected. But the Justice Department tonight is also determined to protect the president. Spending hours today to prove that a letter purportedly written by J. Epstein to convicted sex offender, pedophile Larry Nassar, a letter that reads, in part, "Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls."
Now, at 1:30, the DOJ tweeted it was looking into the validity of this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar. That was their quote. Two hours later, they posted another post on social media saying the FBI has confirmed this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is fake. Fake.
Now, this begs a lot of questions. How did the DOJ not know that before releasing the letter? It is confusing, to say the least, to think that when they're redacting content and only releasing files in dribs and drabs because they say they are taking such care with what they put out. To think that such a thing was released. And above all else, why isn't the DOJ spending as much time protecting victims, which the DOJ says with great moral fanfare is their top priority as it is debunking a document it says is fake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The statute also requires us to protect victims. Our process is simply that, to protect victims, making sure that victims' names and any of their information from victims is protected and redacted. If they have an issue with me protecting victims, they know how to get a hold of me. They know what we're doing to protect victims
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Meantime, tonight, the name of an Epstein victim remains unredacted in the files. We played that soundbite last night. We pointed out that her name was unredacted and that she called the DOJ and asked it to be redacted. And still, it hasn't been done.
A victim who has never before been named until now, until even after two days -- two days after she told MJ Lee, our MJ Lee, who has been reporting on this, she told her she complained to the DOJ. She asked, have my name protected? Please redact it. This is a mistake. It hasn't happened.
So, the question remains who is the DOJ protecting and why? And why the priorities? The alleged crimes are unimaginable. The stuff of nightmares.
One file detailing the alleged abuse from a survivor, which reads: I was raped by Jeffrey Epstein. There were other men that raped me. I was kept in a stall so that men could look at me.
That is horrific. It's from a document submitted by an advocacy group, but it is unclear if the FBI investigated it.
Well, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal supporter of releasing all of the Epstein documents, wrote about that specific accusation on X, saying, "This is horrifying. Trump called me a traitor for fighting him to release the Epstein files and standing with women who were raped, jailed in stalls and trafficked to men. Only evil people would hide this and protect those who participated. I pray for these women."
And as for Trump himself, the documents thus far undercut something Trump said in January of 2024. He said at the time, quote, "I was never on Epstein's plane." And he went on to blame A.I. for reporting that he was.
Well, now, according to a 2020 email from an assistant U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, they say Trump flew on Epstein's plane eight times.
[19:05:00]
All right. OUTFRONT now, Danielle Bensky, an Epstein survivor, a familiar face to our audience. One of the survivors who has worked tirelessly to get these documents released.
Ryan Goodman also here. Stacy Schneider and Barry Levine.
But, Danielle, let me just start with, you know, when we go through this today. More documents, that's a good thing.
DANIELLE BENSKY, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIOR: Yeah.
BURNETT: More redactions. That's not a good thing.
You know, how do you feel about what's been put out there thus far?
BENSKY: I just -- we're -- I think survivors as a whole, we are feeling so frustrated with this whole process. And, I mean, I'd like to remind everybody -- this is a law. We had a law passed and he is now -- the DOJ is now breaking the law. This is not a slow rollout. This is not meant to be.
A few files here, a few files there. I mean, I understand 30,000 feels like a big number. But when you look at the whole, it's not. And so, I think we're just -- we're so frustrated on one side that nobody is communicating with us from the DOJ. We still haven't gotten our FBI files, our 302s.
And so, we're kind of in the dark as far as like I'm looking for random dates all over the place. It's just the process has been so messy. And it just feels like an egregious oversight by the DOJ.
BURNETT: I mean, Ryan oversights one word. There are others you could come up with. I mean, they had -- well, first of all, this has been something that anybody at the DOJ would have thought Trump would have done on day one. They could have had a lot of time to prepare it, even if they waited for all this fight. You had 30 days, you know, and it feels like they waited until the last minute to start doing it in a rush way, which is the only way I can explain the kind of sloppiness of the redactions and fake documents being in there, whatever fake actually means.
I mean, the 10 coconspirators in that email that I just referenced, we -- seven of them, they never identify in here. What's going on here?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: It's difficult to know because we don't even know what the definition is of coconspirators. We don't know what the FBI is using as that definition versus the DOJ. But -- BURNETT: Right. I mean, Ghislaine Maxwell is a convicted
coconspirator, but there could have been others who were not, you know, malignant.
GOODMAN: That's right. And there -- in all likelihood, there are other coconspirators. The FBI was aware of them. And the DOJ discussed whether or not to prosecute them.
So, seeing these documents is certainly consistent with what most close observers think. And there's another document that says that they in fact, prepared an 86-page document on coconspirator updates after Epstein's death. Another document, a memo of coconspirators. We could potentially charge after Epstein's death and then a corporate prosecution memo.
BURNETT: Wow.
GOODMAN: So that's the question. I think that's -- what's also being held back. And the law says this should all have been revealed days ago in an unredacted form, at least with respect to only redactions to protect the victims and the survivors. And we don't have it. And there's a list of what we need to have.
BURNETT: I mean, it is -- it is really incredible, Stacy, when you think about it. And then in the midst of it, there's this document that they say is not real, that they spent their day debunking about this, you know, this letter that they, they say was fake but from Epstein to Nassar.
STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. It's like the Justice Department is almost acting like Trump's personal attorney and PR firm. You know, they got on this right away as soon as this got released. Yet they're behind on meeting their statutory obligation to release the file on Friday, and that they spent that amount of time to jump on it, correct it and protect the president. That's not what a document release is all about. Bill Clinton's photos got released and there was nothing --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Well, they were -- they were given prominent billing at the very start.
SCHNEIDER: Right.
BURNETT: First things out the door.
SCHNEIDER: And they didn't bother to give any context to those at those were innocent photos of him sitting in a swimming pool. He wasn't doing anything wrong. No one made a statement on behalf of Bill Clinton.
Yet, the Justice Department who is supposed to or which is supposed to be involved in justice for victims and citizens of the United States, is working on the justice of protecting the president's image. And it's bizarre and disturbing. BURNETT: Barry, as you've covered this for so long, what are the big
questions you have tonight about those coconspirators?
BARRY LEVINE, AUTHOR, "THE SPIDER": Well, Erin, you know, as Ryan pointed out, there is material in these files that we're supposed to be related to the coconspirators. The fact is, we haven't really seen the meat and potatoes of that material. What concerns me most, Erin, is in looking at the legitimate documents that were that were seeing today, is that there's been so many missed opportunities.
Why are the coconspirator documents related to, after "The Miami Herald's" perversion of justice series? Why weren't they focused on these men in 2008, when they first took over the case from the palm beach police? This is what is so upsetting.
You know, there's also a memo that the palm beach police first heard about Ghislaine Maxwell recruiting girls at a college campus in palm beach in December 2001. Why did it take three more years before their investigation finally went full force?
Jeffrey Epstein was raping three minors a day.
[19:10:01]
So when you think about the damage that took place before this investigation began, it is just so upsetting for the survivors.
BURNETT: Danielle, you know, with all of the gaps that are here, right, there are mentions of Donald Trump. We point out that that letter today, the Epstein Nassar letter, actually doesn't reference him by name, but he was president at the time references the president, "our president". There were mentions today of him some that were salacious, unverified tips, claims, whatever they may be.
And then the DOJ put a statement out about that. The statement is: to be clear, the claims are unfounded and false. And if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.
Danielle, what I find fascinating about this, among all many things, but is that they didn't put a statement like this out about anybody else. You mentioned Bill Clinton, right? Nothing else. Right. So, in all this where there's still a victim's name, unredacted, that she wants to be redacted, coconspirators names are redacted.
They took the time to do this. You know, what's your reaction to this? There's still a victim's name that's unredacted. When she's called and said, take my name out.
BENSKY: Yeah. I mean, the redactions have been intentionally careless. That's the way survivors are feeling, I think. Although we are not a monolith, I don't speak for everybody, but I think -- in looking at them, I saw -- I saw a page today where Virginia's name is out there, and Andrew's name is redacted. We are actually standing with the perpetrators. BURNETT: Yeah. And he's actually been punished or held to account.
Finally, in some ways right in the U.K. But his name still redacted and hers --
BENSKY: It was redacted. And so, it just really poses the question of like, what are we doing here? And this whole quest for transparency, like, survivors are not playing games. We are not here to play games. We are not here to be political pawns. We've been saying that from the beginning.
You know, I just remember being with Jeffrey. And I remember how he would make you feel so special. Like you were the only one in the room. And then he could throw you away like a piece of trash the next moment.
And he could literally make you feel like a ghost. I would walk through that house, and I would feel like an absolute ghost, a shell of myself. And it feels a little bit like for me, the revictimization is in the systems failures now. It is with the DOJ right now.
And it's -- they are revictimizing us in the same way. They gave us this moment of the Transparency Act, where we passed a law and we were like, we're seen, we're here, we've arrived. And now to see the carelessness of the way that they're handling, you know, survivors, it's just abhorrent. It's exhausting.
And we're so tired of just saying, like, please take us out of your games. Just give us the truth at this point.
BURNETT: Ryan, you know, not legal and morally abhorrent. The word she just used. Abhorrent. I mean, what explains a situation like this where, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Whatever his name is now, his name gets redacted and Virginia Giuffre's name is not redacted in the same back and forth when everybody actually knows those two, because he has finally paid a price.
GOODMAN: So, the words of Todd Blanche on "Meet the Press" this weekend, this is a close paraphrase. He said, if the attorney general released the names of victims, that would be the wrong. That would be a crime. And we are seeing that.
And it's inconceivable that it's even after one of the survivors have has notified the DOJ and it's nationally known that they've notified --
BURNETT: Yeah. His quote, by the way, was: If they have an issue with me protecting victims, they know how to get a hold of me. That victim got a hold of the DOJ. Two days later, her name is still in there. So, this rings pretty hollow.
GOODMAN: Yeah, it's very upsetting.
BURNETT: So, Stacy, then, you know, at this point, you know, what do you make about the DOJ putting that statement out about Trump, saying that the things in there today that came out about him are salacious and false, but only about him and not about anybody else? SCHNEIDER: I think their priorities are pretty messed up. They had a deadline last Friday to release these files. Everyone's been waiting. The survivors have been waiting, and they dropped what they were doing. They're supposed to be -- they told us as Todd Blanche told us. They're supposed to be being very careful, going through redacting victims names so nobody gets hurt.
Why -- why isn't that happening? Why are they running to defend Donald Trump?
Donald Trump can speak for himself and defend himself. And yet the focus here just seems to be off. And it's suspicious. And I have to say, it's shocking. The whole situation is shocking. But the Department of Justice is called -- there's justice in the name for a reason. Where is the justice?
BURNETT: It is kind of interesting, by the way. I will just say that that they would be fine putting the Bill Clinton stuff out there, but not Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Right? And I'm not saying they shouldn't be putting Bill Clinton out there, but like, what is the rhyme or reason to the redactions?
I mean, Barry, I want to ask you something else that I pointed out briefly at the beginning, and that is that Trump said I was never on Epstein's plane. Okay. That was a -- that was a quote from Trump.
But then in these documents, which they have said, you know, are full of salacious details, right? That aren't true. An assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York writes in an email on January 8th, 2020, Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported, or that we were aware, including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case.
In particular, he is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present.
Barry, what does that mean?
LEVINE: Well, what it means is that, we weren't told the truth up front by the president. And even more disturbing in that report of the flights from '93 to '96, there's a reference that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were on a plane with two women who were potential Maxwell witnesses to testify at her trial. So that could place the president on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein with a possible sexual abuse victim.
So, again, we don't know the context. We don't know exactly what was said on the plane. We didn't know if he knew who these women were. But it is -- it is upsetting. And then you take that into account in the same time frame. In 1994, you had a Jane Doe who is also in the file saying that she was 14 years old when Jeffrey Epstein took her to Mar- a-Lago and told Donald Trump, this is a good one, right? And Donald Trump apparently chuckled. That's in another report that came up in these files. So there's a lot of questions I think for the White House to answer
and hopefully in the coming days, we'll hear more about this.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, it's interesting. Obviously, president has been -- has not been accused of wrongdoing to this point. Neither had Bill Clinton. And Bill Clinton says, bring it on. I'm willing to fight this with what's coming out with him. We'll see what more comes out. There's a lot not there, as we know.
I mean, Danielle and I guess that's the question with where we are in this process.
BENSKY: Uh-huh.
BURNETT: Not that you probably expected it to just suddenly, after decades of pain and trauma, to just suddenly rip off the band-aid. And it's out there. I know you didn't think it would be that simple, but how are you doing right now with this just never-ending?
BENSKY: It's so hard on survivors. I mean, just even, you know, on Friday, I was, like, sitting on the floor with the computer, trying to, like, like, scouring every little possible breadcrumb of information because, like, the website wasn't searchable in the beginning, and then it was and then it crashed and then it went. So it's just been really, really impossible for survivors to find the information that were really looking for.
I do want to mention that I feel like we need a full investigation at this point from the office of the inspector general, because I just feel like at this point, it's going to be more of the same. We need somebody that can provide oversight on this whole thing, because right now, it's like survivors are just. It feels like we're hitting our head against the wall all the time.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SCHNEIDER: You know, can I say something to what Danielle was saying? And I found this extremely telling today with the email that came out about the 10 coconspirators. And again, we don't know who they are, or maybe we know some of them or one of them was Ghislaine Maxwell. But in that same note, there was a message that the U.S. attorneys should get on an airplane and go interview 25 witnesses in the case. And this was the day before or the day that Epstein was indicted, the period where he was going to be indicted.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SCHNEIDER: He'd already been arrested when this email came out the day before. And the fact that there are 25, what they're calling witnesses to be interviewed, and then they're naming the other unindicted people coconspirators, that's suspicious. That's what the focus should be on nowadays. Who are these unindicted coconspirators?
It is possible, though, that some of them might be the young women who were forced to work in Epstein and be, in those circumstances with him while he was doing things he shouldn't be doing. BURNETT: Some of them could be. But obviously Ghislaine Maxwell was one of them, and some of them could be like her.
SCHNEIDER: Not that many, right. Not out of ten. And they should be letting the survivors know who those people are, because that's what the survivors are waiting to hear.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you all very much. I appreciate it.
And next, MJ Lee, who broke the story that an Epstein survivors name was not blacked out in the files, even though she wanted it to be. She's uncovered even more examples of questionable redactions. She's next with that exclusive.
Plus, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right, well, on the eve of Christmas Eve, a major decision from the Supreme Court, perhaps coming at a time people didn't expect it, throwing a major wrench in Trump's plans.
[19:20:05]
His own appointed justices voting against him.
And 40 years after the song "We are the World", some of the biggest names in music are once again uniting, this time to serve 100 billion meals. And we have exclusive behind-the-scenes access.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, demanding to know why the DOJ failed to fully investigate an Epstein allegation first made all the way back in 1996. To think about how many people's lives would be different if that had happened, then.
The newly released files show Epstein survivor Maria Farmer first approached the FBI with accusations against Epstein, nearly 30 years ago. Farmer's lawyer saying, quote, "Survivors like Maria Farmer have waited nearly three decades for the truth to come out. This week's release of the report is a testament to the power of persistence, the importance of survivor advocacy, and the necessity of holding our institutions accountable."
And that statement, coming as the redactions in the new files are raising more and more questions.
[19:25:01] MJ Lee with this exclusive reporting OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Justice Department disclosing tens of thousands of pages of documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Among the redactions in those documents, names of Epstein's potential coconspirators named by federal authorities around Epstein's 2019 arrest. That omission, widely criticized. Also redacted, names of some government officials, including federal prosecutors involved in some of the early criminal investigations into Epstein, leaving in the dark identities of officials who helped negotiate the highly controversial non-prosecution deal that Epstein received in 2008.
The DOJ has not explained why potential coconspirators and prosecutors names would require redactions.
And meanwhile, one document from a lawsuit filed in the U.S. virgin islands against Epstein's estate in 2021 making the rounds for appearing to have botched redactions. Some text that is blacked out when copied and pasted into a document revealing that Epstein's lawyer had signed checks for, quote, over $400,000 made payable to young female models and actresses.
But CNN's review of the Virgin Islands docket indicates that the botched redaction occurred years ago. The DOJ simply republished the flawed file.
Another major source of concern information about Epstein victims and survivors, whose names are unredacted and visible throughout the files. One woman, who identifies as Jane Doe, telling CNN she was mortified to see her real name appear throughout the Epstein files. She's contacted the DOJ multiple times to ask them to fix the error. As of Tuesday, her name still appears in the files, but CNN did find one document where her name is now redacted.
BLANCHE: The statute also requires us to protect victims.
LEE (voice-over): But many Epstein survivors and victims and lawyers representing them expressing fury over the incomplete release and slamming what they say are abnormal and extreme redactions, with no explanation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Victim identities, national security or ongoing investigations. Those are the categories on which they are permitted to withhold but withhold -- sounds like they're withholding more than that.
LEE (voice-over): Files released overnight Tuesday morning containing multiple new references to Donald Trump, who has not been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Inconsistencies related to the redaction of Trump's name further fueling questions about the extent of the president's past relationship with Epstein.
In one document, the DOJ redacting Trump's name, but in another posting of that same document, Trump's name is visible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: And, Erin, we should note that when it comes to the Donald Trump references in these Epstein files, the DOJ did say today -- today, that some documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against Trump that were filed to the FBI right before the 2020 election, but that the department is disclosing these documents anyway for the sake of transparency.
I think transparency is certainly not a word that some people would use to describe how the rollout has gone so far.
BURNETT: Yeah, I think pretty fair to say that's not an accurate word.
All right. Thank you very much, M.J. Lee. And just all those incredible details there on the redactions, which is so crucial.
I want to go to Jack O'Donnell right now because he worked closely with Donald Trump as the president and chief operating officer of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. At the same time that Trump socialized with Epstein, Jack, who's familiar face to viewers of this program, is also the author of "Trump: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump".
And, Jack, you know, look, you've said loud and clear in conversations you and I have had on this show that Epstein was Trump's best friend and that you had seen them so many times together, right? I mean, there was a reason that you had that view. How much do you think that the Epstein files that have been released so far backs that up?
JACK O'DONNELL, FORMER PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, TRUMP PLAZA HOTEL & CASINO: Well, I think today's announcement that they've at least eight flights that that Donald Trump took on Epstein's plane, you know, is a clear sign that they're at the very least, very, very good friends. You know, so I think anybody like myself that claimed they were best friends, I think that's validation at this point. You -- yeah.
BURNETT: Yeah. Well, you certainly weren't alone in that. I mean, there have been others, you know, that I've spoken to who knew him, knew him, knew both individuals or interacted with them during those years who had the same exact description. But, you know, when I said in the file so far, Jack, I said that on purpose because the reality of it is, is it's been dribs and drabs and putting aside the -- at best, sloppy nature of the redactions thus far.
There's -- there's a whole lot that still hasn't been put out there, and there's no rhyme or reason. It's perhaps purposely, deeply confusing as to what is coming out when.
Do you think from what -- of what is not out there so far, that there's anything that will be a surprise to Trump?
[19:30:05]
O'DONNELL: Well, I don't think there's going to be anything that's a surprise to him, because I'm convinced that he knows absolutely what's in those files. And I think that's what is taking, so long. This strategy, by the way, of drip, drip, drip is just ridiculous on his part.
I mean, first off, its an egregious way to treat these victims. You know, to do this to them. And now it almost seems purposeful. But he knows what's in these files. And I think that's very simply what's going on. And, you know, obviously, I don't know for a fact, but, you know, this is this has turned into a cover up.
And it is not just a small one. You know, I look at it and I say, its kind of kind of reminds me of what the Catholic Church went through. You know, had they been a little bit more honest right up, right up front, it wouldn't -- they wouldn't have had years of this misery for these, you know, little boys. And that's something that's important here, Erin, to me. We are -- they're looking at, at these victims as women, the women that they are today. These were children, okay, that this happened. I mean, and that's the part that I think sometimes is lost on all -- on everybody. These were children.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, Barry Levine has reported and spoken about people as young as 11 and 12 years old, girls as young as 11 and 12 years old. And Barry's reporting over the years. I know, Jack, that you think that, that there's concern -- that Trump could worry about in terms of what's redacted and held back from the files that he should worry about what's redacted?
How come?
O'DONNELL: Well, because I think it might prove you know, that a crime was committed on his behalf. But again, at the very least, it's going to probably lead to the conclusion that at least he knew what Epstein was up to. Okay?
And then that begs the question, what kind of character is a man that's in the presidency of the United States that knew about this behavior and continued to have him as a friend and only befriended him when the law was breathing down Epstein's neck?
BURNETT: All right. Jack O'Donnell, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. And, of course, as always, I'll just remind everyone that Trump has not been accused by law enforcement of wrongdoing related to Epstein's crimes and, of course, has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of his crimes. Thanks so much, Jack.
I appreciate your time. And next, we do have the breaking news of the Supreme Court on this Tuesday before Christmas, handing Trump a very meaningful defeat when it comes to sending the National Guard to Chicago.
And you had two of his own justices voting against him on this. We also have new reporting tonight from inside the prison where Ghislaine Maxwell is currently being held right now. And we'll share that exact -- that with you this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:37:00]
BURNETT: Breaking news: the Supreme Court handing a major loss to President Trump, barring him in a six to three ruling from deploying the National Guard to Chicago to protect ICE agents. Now six to three, let me tell you what that means. Chief Justice Roberts voted against the president, as did two Trump appointees, Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. They all voted against Trump.
S.E. Cupp and Max Rose are with me.
So, Max, you know, you've had and you've got other cities where lower courts have also ruled against the president. But this is from the Supreme Court. And this, this is resounding is six to three. You know, two of his handpicked justices making very clear how they see this. How big of a blow is this?
MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, it's a big blow, and its one of many blows over the course of the last 30 days for this president, where we see his base of power just cracking.
You go back -- Marjorie Taylor Greene moving away from him on the Epstein files. You go over to Brian Fitzpatrick and other moderate Republicans moving against him in terms of pushing a vote to extend the Obamacare tax credits to the floor of the House. And now, this. So, the entire Republican base is smelling weakness, because this right here was a signature policy of Donald Trump.
BURNETT: I mean, signature, S.E., to say the least. Max is completely right, right? I mean, Trump put this at the core of his agenda, threatening that he would be sending troops to American cities. I remember being there in L.A. and sort of it was a shocking moment. And that was when it became clear this is the first of many, right? And he made it very clear that's what he was going to do. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're sending in our National Guard. And if we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard, because we're going to have safe cities.
We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.
We're going to Chicago.
We're going to Memphis next, and we're going to clean up the crime in the cities, because we have to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, S.E., what is the significance of being shut down by his own? I don't want to say it's his own Supreme Court, but what he perceived to be his justices on the Supreme Court on something so core. S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, yeah, I mean, its as Max
was alluding, it's a lot of the checks and balances are finally checking and balancing, right, from the courts to House Republicans pushing back on Epstein, senate Republicans saying no to ending the filibuster. You know, on and on and on.
And the firewall that Trump came in with where it seemed like just a year ago, Erin, I'm sure you remember like nothing was off the table. He had unchecked power. It looked like and felt like he was going to be able to do anything he wanted.
That dam is breaking a bit, and I think politically, that's going to really frustrate him. Trump is not a guy that gets chastened when told no or when -- you know, there's pushback. He gets angry, he gets retaliatory.
[19:40:00]
And so, I think politically this is going to make him want to do more and find other ways around -- around this ruling. And you have to remember that while this was a signature policy proposal and promise, the way in which Trump is going after crime and immigration is not widely popular, while fixing immigration and lowering crime in our major cities is a popular idea.
BURNETT: Right.
CUPP: It's partly why he won. The way he's been doing it has not been popular even among a lot of folks in his own base.
BURNETT: So, Max, you know, then, you know, entering this, the enforcement itself. So ICE has posted an A.I. video on social media depicting Santa Claus as one of its agents, arresting and deporting an undocumented migrant. It's just, you know, pretty unsettling in and of itself.
But the message is reminding people that the DHS is tripling the incentive to $3,000 with free airfare to any undocumented immigrant who basically turns themselves in and self deports by the end of the year. But you see, the Santa Claus and the merry Christmas, with Santa deporting somebody.
Who's the audience for this? The intent? Let's go with, who's the intended audience?
ROSE: Well, the -- they think it's their base, right? And but S.E.'s totally correct here. The Trump administration is making the wrong political calculation. Certainly, we know that the vast majority of Americans do not want an open border, and they do not want anarchy at the border. But just as many Americans do not want an inhumane immigration policy domestically that involves removing peoples dignity and treating them this way.
So, there might be 10, 20 percent of the American people that maybe enjoy seeing a video like that. It is nowhere near a majority political coalition. So, it's not only disgusting, it's politically wrong.
BURNETT: S.E., who does enjoy seeing a video like that? I mean, just -- do you agree with that 10 to 20 percent? I mean, at this point, who -- is this going to land?
CUPP: I mean, you know, the same slice of Maga that that revels in the punishment and the cruelty, right? There is a slice of MAGA, and I don't want to paint all of MAGA as this, like, vengeful bloodlust group of voters, but there's a slice inside that likes this. And it's gross and it's repugnant and it's awful, and it's the worst of us. But most Americans, it's such a shame because actually, Trump on crime and immigration, the country is with him in his diagnosis of the problem.
And Democrats lost in part because they said crime is down. You are safe. Look at these numbers and there's no crisis at the border, when, of course, there was. So he's right about the problem, but he's really, really wrong about his solutions for them so far. And I think he's going to be rebuked pretty handily in the midterms.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. I appreciate it.
And next, we have those new details just coming in from inside the prison where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held. You'll hear it first from someone who is talking to fellow inmates.
Plus, it's hard to believe that it has been 40 years since "We Are the World" was released and now some of the biggest musicians out there are coming together to do it again. We have exclusive behind the scenes access and you'll hear it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:26]
BURNETT: Breaking news at this hour. Newly released Epstein files reveal that President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club was subpoenaed in 2021 as part of the government investigation into Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. That subpoena demands, quote, "any and all employment records relating to and then the persons name is redacted."
Maxwell is the only Epstein accomplice to be convicted. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her crimes. But just days ago asked a court to have her conviction thrown out one of her victims, one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, accused Maxwell of recruiting her from Mar-a-Lago when she worked there as a teenager.
Trump, of course, has never been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Sam Mangel is OUTFRONT now. He's a federal prison consultant who has clients in the same minimum security prison that Maxwell was transferred to over the summer, pretty much immediately following her multiple interviews with the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, suddenly and without notice, transferred to this minimum security facility.
So, Sam, what are your sources telling you? And I know, you know, you're well aware of what many other women in the prison are hearing. And specifically seeing. What are you hearing about what fellow prisoners are dealing with inside the prison right now, as these Epstein files come out and Ghislaine Maxwell is there?
SAM MANGEL, FEDERAL PRISON CONSULTANT: Sure. So, since the last time we spoke, things really had quieted down quite a bit. I think that the staff and the inmates were really resigned to the fact that she was there, and they had a -- had to do whatever was necessary, because all of them eventually were getting out. And in a camp, you're only there for typically a short period of time.
So, rocking the boat, whether staff or inmate, didn't prove fruitful when all this started coming out. And I've spoken with two family members, a mother and a sister of two clients that are currently there, the analogy was it's like they rip the band aid off and put fresh salt into this wound. And if you can imagine 50 women sitting in a TV room, 75 percent of which are either victims of sexual violence themselves or have daughters the same age as Maxwell's victims, and they're watching TV and seeing all these documents and pictures coming out. And the person they're talking about is in the room behind them and getting some sort of special treatment and is bragging, I'm told, that she might not be there that long.
Now, whether the insinuation is I'm going to be transferred or receive some sort of clemency, I don't know.
[19:50:05]
But it's not only infuriating to the -- to the women. It's depressing. It's hurtful. You know, in prison, you know, it's a very lonely place. And when you're sitting there and something like this happens to you, it just deflates you more than you can imagine.
And when things calm down and now to have it open up to the degree that it has, and certainly for the foreseeable future, much more, it's a terrible situation.
BURNETT: Sam, So on that prison transfer, incredibly controversial because unprecedented in terms of her going from the level of prison she was to this one, given the nature of her conviction and her crimes, days after she met with Todd Blanche.
The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, just spoke about this and the whole transfer itself. Here's what he said. I wanted to play it for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLANCHE: At the time that I met miss Maxwell, there was a tremendous amount of scrutiny and publicity towards her and the institutions she was in. She was suffering numerous and numerous threats against her life. So, the BOP is not only responsible for putting people in jail and making sure they stay in jail, but also for their safety.
And so -- so she was moved. She is in federal prison. She was in federal prison before. She's in federal prison now. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But of course, now she's in a minimum security prison where inmates can work in the community, all sorts of things, which someone convicted of trafficking underage girls would not be. What do you say to that entire explanation?
MANGEL: So I absolutely agree with Mr. Blanche that it is the obligation and responsibility of the prison to keep their inmates safe and secure, transferring prisoners happens all the time. I have clients that cooperate, and one thing or another happens to them. They're transferred.
But they're transferred laterally. They're transferred from one camp to another camp. They're transferred from one low security facility to another low security facility. There are probably at least a half a dozen other low security women's prisons in the country that she could have gone to.
It is unheard of from my experience to have someone with two safety factors, one of which was the sex charge to be transferred from a low security to a minimum security facility. So, you know, yes, he's right.
(CROSSTALK)
MANGEL: Right
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time. And thank you so much, Sam. It's good to talk to you again.
MANGEL: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, we're going to take you behind the scenes of an incredible project this Christmas week. Author Tony Robbins and the biggest names in music are out with a new song to help serve 100 billion meals.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:22]
BURNETT: Tonight, it has been 40 years since "We Are the World," and tonight bestselling author and life coach Tony Robbins, whose own family had a hard time putting food on the table, is determined to provide 100 billion meals for the hungry.
Robbins is joining forces with some of the biggest names in music, and they're making a new song called "The Next Verse".
Elex Michaelson has the exclusive behind the scenes story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING) ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the chorus of "The Next Verse" is recorded, author and life coach Tony Robbins is in tears watching his vision become a reality.
Stars like Bruno Mars, Jon Bon Jovi, Dr. Dre all uniting in song.
TONY ROBBINS, "THE NEXT VERSE": This is -- we have -- we figured out 780 years of music experience here.
(SINGING)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Forty years after the song, we are the world raised more than $80 million to support humanitarian efforts in Africa, Robbins envisioned a modern twist to support his effort to feed 100 billion meals to the hungry.
MICHAELSON: A hundred billion meals seems like such a crazy.
ROBBINS: We've already been 62 billion.
MICHAELSON: But you're there. You're making it happen, right?
ROBBINS: We went five years ago. It was 80 million people that were on the verge of starvation. This year, it's 385 million, just five years later.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): As a young man, Robbins himself experienced hunger. At 17, he moved out of what he described as an abusive house and became a janitor. And he's not the only one here who suffered.
WILL.I.AM, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I've stood in food lines when my family didn't have the means.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Before Will.I.Am's Black Eyed Peas sold an estimated 80 million records. His own family needed help to eat.
MICHALESON: After that experience, especially fill your soul to be a part of this, to be a part of this cause.
WILL.I.AM: Being a recipient of do-gooding and then having success, you want to always contribute.
ROBBINS: The two of you together is wild.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Robbins recruited Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to produce and help write this song.
TERRY LEWIS, PRODUCER: This is the song that never ends. I mean, this song could go on forever.
(SINGING)
JIMMY JAM, PRODUCER: The call to action. I can change the world. You can change the world. We can change the world. Love can change the world.
(SINGING)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Tony, emotional watching Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers fame, recording.
ROBBINS: This is what most of us look for in our lives to be a part of.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): McDonald says he was an immediate yes.
MICHAEL MCDONALD, SINGER/SONGWRITER: When somebody says, we have a chance to feed a billion kids in a world where a child starves to death, every 10 seconds, you can't say no.
DARRYL MCDANIELS, RUN DMC: DMC in a place to be.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC says music can prompt change like nothing else.
MICHAELSON: How is music the universal language?
MCDANIELS: It's a spirit. Once you hear it, you know who you are.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): To expand reach, Tony partnered with iHeartRadio and with Zoom, which brought in live feeds of people from all around the world.
MICHAELSON: What's the big, big lesson you want people to take from this day from seeing this video?
ROBBINS: I think it's that -- unless you have something you care about more than yourself, you're going to always have problems. I mean, there's a unification here because all of us are trying to serve something more than ourselves.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: How cute are they? Behind us is where they recorded that.
The song comes out on Christmas Day first on iHeartRadio stations. You can get more information about all of this at 100billionmeals.org.
Erin, merry Christmas.
BURNETT: Merry Christmas and it's just wonderful to see people gathering and feeling that sense of purpose. Thank you so much, Elex.
And Elex is going to have so much more tonight on "THE STORY IS" as he always does, it is 9:00 Pacific. Thanks so much to all of you for being with us.
"AC360" begins right now.
