Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Georgia's RICO Case Against Trump, Allies Gets New Prosecutor; House GOP Preparing For Mass Defections On Epstein Files Vote; Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Is Interviewed About Trump Slams "Weak Republicans" Joining Push For Epstein Files Release. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired November 14, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:47]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, moving forward, the sprawling election interference case in Georgia against President Trump and his allies will proceed but with a new prosecutor and not Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis who originally brought the case.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the breaking news, Georgia's election interference case against President Trump and a number of his allies will resume but with a new prosecutor.

BROWN: Crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz, is here with us. Katelyn, for a while here, it seemed like this case was dead. What changed?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Zombie case. Yes, this was a zombie case because the prosecutor, Fani Willis, had been removed by the courts. What today marked was a deadline for them to find a new prosecutor. The person in charge of that search, his name is Peter Skandalakis. He couldn't find anyone that wanted to take the case against Trump and others in the state of Georgia. And thus, he is appointing himself.

He gives a little bit of an explanation in a lengthy statement describing the state of the case and what he's doing. He says, the decision to assume responsibility for this matter was reached only after careful and deliberate consideration. While it would have been simple to allow Judge McAfee's deadline to lapse or to inform the court that no conflict prosecutor could be secured, thereby allowing the case to -- to be dismissed for want of prosecution, I did not believe that to be the right course of action. The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case. Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent decision about how best to proceed. Given my prior familiarity with portions of the case file, I made the decision to assign the case to myself. So not only does this case have a new prosecutor, Peter Skandalakis. Not only is the case against Donald Trump in the state of Georgia not a federal case still alive, a conspiracy case, looking at the call Trump placed to Georgia officials, an intimidation campaign allegedly against people in the state, the fake electors used in Georgia. Not only does this case continue, this prosecutor needs to make legal decisions on whether it will proceed in the courts with Trump remaining a criminal defendant or it will be dismissed outright now by him after he reviews the evidence or potentially get put back on ICE because Donald Trump is the President right now.

BROWN: We shall see. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.

BLITZER: And thanks for me as well. Happening now, a top U.S. Justice Department official is speaking out as the Trump administration is facing growing criticism for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

BROWN: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is blasting Epstein's estate claiming, quote, it hid documents he didn't have at the time of his controversial interview with Epstein accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. An attorney for Epstein's estate denies that allegation. This finger-pointing comes as Speaker Johnson and House Republicans gear up for a pivotal vote next week that seeks to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.

And President Trump is lashing out on social media this morning calling Republicans who support the release, "weak." And announcing that he has asked the Justice Department to investigate former President Bill Clinton and the slew of others for their alleged ties to Epstein. So let's bring in White House reporter, Alayna Treene. All right, Alayna, President Trump is now threatening this new investigation I just discussed involving Epstein. Tell us more about that.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, this is remarkable, I would argue Pamela and Wolf. I'll note as well that I believe he's -- he's posting these from the residence. I don't see a Marine outside the West Wing, so it doesn't appear he's doing this from the Oval Office. But look, he is threatening now to ask his Attorney General, Pam Bondi as well as the FBI to open investigations into some of his political opponents, Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, the -- the former Treasury Secretary Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn. I want to read for you some of what the President wrote.

He said, he argues that it's, you know, now that Democrats are using what he refers to again as the Epstein hoax. He argues it's a deflection from the government shutdown. He says, I will be asking AG Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice together with our great patriots at the FBI to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan. I note J.P. Morgan's interesting, he actually just hosted Jamie Dimon, the CEO here at the White House this week, Chase and many other people and institutions to determine what was going on with them.

[11:05:24] Look, I mean, this is, I think it appears of course to be in some ways a deflection from the government shutdown from everything we are seeing, all the political heat this administration is facing, not just from many Americans who have been fixated on this for years now but from people in his own party, who we know in a growing number of House Republicans are expected to vote on the House floor next week to support an effort to compel the Department of Justice to release all of the Epstein files.

We should note, Clinton's name has come up many times in relationship to Epstein as well. His -- his spokesperson has repeatedly said, we haven't heard from him this morning in response to these tweets. But in the past has repeatedly argued that Clinton had cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges, that he doesn't know anything about these crimes. Larry Summers similarly has had interactions with Epstein. We saw that. Some of them, you know, just this week from that trove of documents that Democrats on that House Oversight Panel had released. Larry Summers name came up.

But it's -- it's interesting to see how the President now who has really been working furiously and tirelessly to try and brush this off, to dismiss it, to argue that this is something, you know, worked up by the Democrats is now going to be putting effort and asking his Justice Department to open a formal investigation to look into some of these people that I think, you know, are unquestionably some of his political opponents. So that's fascinating as well.

And I will say, I do want to just quickly reference the other post he sent just shortly before that. Because what I'm fascinated about in the other post is he refers to Republicans specifically. He calls them weak, he calls them soft. He argues that, you know really lashing out against Democrats as well. But he argues that Republicans who have, quote, fallen into their clutches are soft and foolish. He's obviously I think referring to the growing number of Republicans who are expected to support that vote like I mentioned.

And so this is getting very messy. And I will remind you as well, we are not actually expected to see the President today. He is traveling to Mar-a-Lago. We'll see if he ends up actually talking to reporters on the plane there. But he doesn't have any public events. We have seen him twice since these e-mails Kind of reopened this entire Epstein saga for the White House both of those times in a very uncharacteristic move for the President, did not answer questions.

And so really he has -- he hasn't talked directly with reporters about this just yet. But I think it's clear from these messages this morning, Pam and Wolf, that he's clearly very frustrated about it. But now he's actually digging into it further but trying to put the heat on Democrats and away from him.

BROWN: Yes he's clearly, this is clearly on his mind weighing heavily on him. All right, Alayna, thank you so much. And here with us now is CNN's Arlette Saenz. Tell us more about what Speaker Johnson and House Republicans are saying about this vote and the strategy that's sort of shifted here. ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Speaker Johnson and Republican leaders are bracing for a mass defection among the Republican conference to vote for this bill. Question is, though, if whether comments like this from President Donald Trump singling out weak Republicans might create pressure on them and stave off a tidal wave of Republicans voting to release the Epstein files. Republican lawmakers are really balancing two concerns right now.

One of those is trying to adhere to some of the concerns from their constituents who want to see greater transparency on this matter especially among the MAGA base. And then there's going against President Donald Trump. Both Speaker Johnson and the White House have really tried to delay and postpone this vote from even happening in the first place.

But now that that bipartisan group of lawmakers were able to successfully push forward on that discharge petition, Johnson has completely changed his strategy and said this is inevitable, we're going to vote on this. Let's do it very soon. And for Epstein survivors, they are really hoping to -- that this will create a lot of momentum not just in the House but also over in the Senate for Senators to vote to release these files. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIE FARMER, JEFFREY EPSTEIN ACCUSER: Courage is contagious. And I would encourage, you know, there were Republicans in the House that were willing to stand up with us because they believed what was happening was wrong and we need answers as American people to have trust in this government. And I would hope that Senators would do some research, talk to their constituents. They are with us. And people want transparency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now if this does pass in the House, a vote to release the Epstein files really meets an uncertain face in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune in the past has said he didn't think there needed to be this type of vote. If all Democrats in the Senate were on board, they would still need 13 Republicans to join them to pass this.

[11:10:03]

And one thing that proponents of this measure are trying to do over in the House, they want to get as much of a veto proof majority as they can. That means they need two-thirds of House members to vote in favor of this to prevent any or to be able to override any veto if this does get to President Trump's desk if he decides to do that.

So a lot of questions going forward in the coming week as House Republicans are preparing to decide whether they will sign on to this amid calls for greater transparency or side with the President.

BROWN: All right, thanks so much, Arlette.

And actually coming up we're going to be talking with Congressman Don Bacon, one of the Republicans planning to vote For the House's Epstein measure. We'll also ask him about CNN's new reporting that President Trump is getting briefed on plans for military operations inside Venezuela. You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:20]

BROWN: Happening now, Congress and the Trump administration are bracing for a House vote next week, seeking to force the Justice Department to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein files. Sources tell CNN, Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to quickly schedule that vote marks a shift in strategy as more Republicans vow to support the measure, making it inevitable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): If this comes on the floor, I will vote for it. I want transparency.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why do you plan to vote for it?

BACON: Well, I'm not going to vote against being transparent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, joining us to discuss is the congressman you just saw there, Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska. He serves on the House Armed Services and Agriculture Committees. Thank you for coming on the show. So we were talking earlier --

BACON: Thank you.

BROWN: -- about what President Trump and how he has been responding to this. He's criticized Democrats and "weak Republicans" this morning over the Epstein push, characterizing them as soft and foolish. How do you respond?

BACON: Well, we're not going to be on the side. We're going to vote against Epstein. We don't want to be aligned on that side of this. We want transparency. And the White House needs to realize the train has left the station. They need to accept the fact it's going to happen. And this would probably wouldn't have happened if the Attorney General didn't tell us six or seven months ago that she had all these binders of names and lists, and she, you know, she's going to release all this information.

And then like a month later, said, oh, there's nothing there. It's really been poorly handled. In the end, we want transparency. But I would say, just I'd like to present both sides of this issue, that our Oversight Committee is doing a good job on this. They've released, I think, roughly 30,000 pages of information this past week.

So the process is working. If we vote on this this coming week, it's still going to pass the Senate. It has to go to the President. That's why I try to just provide a little sense of realism here. The Oversight Committee's working it, and I don't know that this big vote coming week will have that tremendous impact.

BROWN: Do you think that there will be a veto-proof majority in the House on this vote?

BACON: I think it will be. I mean, most Republicans are not going to vote to help shield Epstein and all the information on there. In the end, we know transparency's best. Let's protect the names of the victims. That's my view. If we can protect the victims' names, then everything else, let's put it out. And I know there's concerns. There may be sort of like, OK, we had dinner with Epstein. We didn't do anything but dinner. OK, just tell people that.

Be honest about what happened and your relationship with him. If your name happens to be on there, I think we'll be fine. But most people are now very cynical, and the only way to beat this is to -- to open up the books, put sunlight on it, and let the chips fall where they fall.

BROWN: What do you make of Speaker Johnson's shift in strategy now moving up this vote?

BACON: Well, I think it's, like I say, the train has left the station. There's no turning back. If I was the Speaker, I would just make it, get it done and get it done as quick as you can as well. Might as well just -- there's just no use in delaying this, so let's just get it done on Monday or Tuesday.

BROWN: I want to talk about another Trump post. He said that he is asking the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, and others. What do you make of President Trump calling on the DOJ to launch another Epstein investigation targeting Democrats here?

BACON: Well, we should leave the DOJ and make them as independent as we can. When the President gives orders to Pam Bondi and our law, you know, enforcement arms of the federal government, it just, what it does, it undercuts the credibility of our law enforcement. We want the law enforcement to be, you know, to have -- have the, you know, the -- the eyes covered and just do things if it's right or wrong, not because there's pressure from the White House or the president.

And so I -- I don't think it's appropriate for him to do it. I would -- I would ask him not to do that because all it does is taint our legal system.

BLITZER: Congressman, it's Wolf Blitzer. I have another important issue I want to discuss with you right now. As we now know, for example, that President Trump was briefed this week in the past few days on various options for U.S. military operations inside Venezuela, not necessarily in the Caribbean and the water, but on land in Venezuela. Do you have any concerns at all that the U.S. could be headed for war there?

BACON: Well, if we're going to go to war with Venezuela, the President needs to make his case and they've done zero on us. I know we've targeted, you know, approximately 20 boats that are being accused of carrying drugs. And by the way, there is some sympathy in Congress to stop this. We lose 100,000 people a year, but he should come to Congress. And if he wants to do continued operations on these boats, he should get authorization.

[11:20:16]

And if he's going to invade or do something with Venezuela, he needs to make his case because right now there's zero case being made for why we would do this with Venezuela.

BLITZER: You saw the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, put on social media that he's now calling this Operation Southern Spear, Operation Southern Spear. What does that suggest to you? Is the U.S. about to go to some sort of full-scale war with Venezuela?

BACON: Well, there's been zero case made for it. You know, in the past when we've done these things, whether it's Iraq or Afghanistan, whether it was Serbia and the, you know, Balkans, all this stuff, I served 30 years in the Air Force, all these places, the administration would always go to the American people and make a case why this was in our national security interests.

And typically, if it's, you know, extended operations, they go to Congress asking for authorization. We have had none of this done here. And I implore the President and his -- his team, make your case to the American people when you -- when you're using our military and you're doing -- and you're going to pursue hostilities. There has to be support for the people and you need to get support from Congress.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. And, you know, one final point I just want to make, as we've been reporting this week, the -- the Britain has now severed intelligence cooperation with the U.S. on this issue of Venezuela, saying that the U.S. is engaged in crimes, international war crimes, if you will. It's a very serious development given the very close U.S.-British intelligence relationship.

BACON: Yes, the British and America, we have shared top secret signals intelligence for decades and decades. I've been a part of that. I was a signals intelligence guy on reconnaissance aircraft. I've worked in, you know, top secret jobs and the British and us are often in the same rooms in the vaults working together. So we hate to see any strain on us.

But again, you know, I read the case that the White House made for why we're targeting these boats. I think they make a good case on us. But if you're not going to come to Congress and ask for authorization, it undermines their -- their actions because ultimately authorization from Congress makes it legal, right?

And it's one thing to do some operations and then stop. But if you're saying you do continued operations, you got to come to Congress. And -- and they do not make the case for why they cannot or why they're not coming to Congress. I think that's a failure. BLITZER: But the fact -- the fact that Britain, one of our closest allies is accusing the U.S. now of violating international law of what it's doing with regard to Venezuela, that's pretty unprecedented, don't you think?

BACON: I think it is unprecedented. And I think if the President and his team more forthrightly came to Congress, made their case and did an authorization vote, it may assuage some of the concerns of Great Britain. But for the executive branches to do this, saying that they have military right to do so, I'd like to say it undercuts their position by not seeking Congress, congressional approval.

BROWN: I want to ask you one more question and that is on health care because now that the government has reopened, that is really the big issue on the table. And CNN is learning that Republican leaders in the House have begun work on a health care package, but it will not include an extension of the Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of the year. What are your thoughts on that?

BACON: Well, I do think we need some deep reforms. The cost of health care under ACA have become unaffordable. The Affordable Care Act has become unaffordable, but we're not going to make major fixes before December 31st. I think we owe it to the middle class and -- and -- and around the middle class to extend these tax credits. Maybe with some reforms I got -- I have a paper out or a bipartisan proposal that caps the income to get these tax credits.

We want to ensure that every dollar that goes towards these tax credits goes towards lowering people's premiums. Right now, that's not the case. So there's things I'd like to change on these tax credits, but we have a very short timeline to get this done before December 31st. And so I -- I suggest finding a bipartisan way forward on these tax credits, a compromise, and then let's talk about some deeper things we could do because right now it's unsustainable, the costs and the rising costs.

And also, we're not going to be able to just do a Republican-only plan here. You're not going to get 60 votes in the Senate. And so we got to work with Democrats and find a consensus on this if we want to succeed.

[11:25:07]

BROWN: All right, Congressman Don Bacon, thank you for your time in the show. We appreciate it.

BLITZER: Thank you Congressman. It's Wolf, of course.

Up next, there's more breaking news we're following. New Jersey authorities bust more than a dozen people in an alleged sports betting ring connected to the mafia. We're learning more details right now about the scheme. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:29:52] BLITZER: Breaking news into The Situation Room. New Jersey's attorney general says 14 people are facing charges for allegedly taking part in a multimillion dollar betting ring operation. Officials say the scheme involves student athletes and the Lucchese crime family. Here's what --