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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump Shares Racist Video Depicting Obamas As Apes; Dow Hits 50,000 Points For First Time; TMZ: A Second Ransom Deadline Is Set For Monday; Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 31 At Islamabad Mosque; Officials: Russian General Shot And Wounded In Moscow. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 06, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:32]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A racist video from Donald Trump sparks fury.

I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.

White House staffers are in damage control mode after the U.S. president posted a racist video of former President Barack Obama and former First

Lady Michelle Obama. The animation depicts the Obamas as apes. It was included in a series of social media posts from Mr. Trump, many of them

repeating false claims that he won the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The White House initially defended the video. The president's press secretary dismissed the reaction over it as fake outrage. The White House

official later told us "The Post" was erroneously made by someone else, and the president was very let down by the staffer who put it out. The post was

taken down following bypass and backlash, including rare condemnation from top Republicans.

A close Trump ally in the Senate, Tim Scott, called it the most racist thing -- racist thing I've seen out of this White House. Republican Senator

Roger Wicker says the image is totally unacceptable and the president should apologize. Congressman Mike Lawler described the post as incredibly

offensive. He also says Mr. Trump needs to issue an apology.

Let's go straight to Kevin Liptak for reaction to this.

And, Kevin, it took, let's be honest, many hours really for the White House to reverse course on this. And that, of course came after this Republican

backlash that we've just been outlining there. Quite the U-turn.

What accompanied the White House's U-turn, the statement they put out? Tell us.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, it took 12 hours almost for the White House to take it down and include that 12 hours

included. Not only this outrage from Republicans, but also that defensive statement from Karoline Leavitt calling it all a fake outrage. And so not

altogether, you know, a moment of dignity. I think, for this particular White House or the president's aides who were trying to defend the

indefensible. You know, this was just straight up racism.

This photo and video depicting the Obamas, their faces superimposed on apes, really calling to mind the worst racist tropes that have been used in

American history, you know, by slave traders or segregationists who have used these kinds of images to suggest that African Americans were somehow

subhuman.

And so, you know, the furor that it created in Washington was, I think, eye-opening for a lot of people, because so often the reflexive response by

Republicans in these situations is to excuse the president or claim that they hadn't seen what they said or what he posted. That's not what happened

this time around and included some of the Republicans who are, you know, the closest to the White House. You know, Tim Scott, who is the only Black

Republican in the Senate, is someone that the president speaks to many times a week. He's someone who's very close to Trump. He's not, you know,

one of those anti-Trump Republicans. He's someone who has the ear of the White House.

And so, I think his criticism, along with the criticism of a number of very senior members of the Republican Party, became very clear to the White

House, and we're told that that was occurring behind the scenes as well as in public. You know, members of Congress trying to get in touch with the

president to say that this was unacceptable. But also members of the president's own staff who were trying to decipher what precisely happened.

Of course, that is ultimately what led the team to take down the post and to lay the blame at a staffer, unnamed staffer, but at a staffer of some

level, which I suppose raises another question of why anyone has access to the president's social media accounts at midnight. But maybe that's a

question for another day.

You know, it all, I think speaks to, you know, the president's approach to these issues. You know, he has long cast aspersions on the Obamas, really

dating back, you know, 15 years, his entry into national politics was through the birther conspiracy, suggesting that President Obama was not

born in the United States even after the president at that point produced his birth certificate showing that he was born in Hawaii. The president

continued to question it up until he was running for president in 2016. Even then, when he acknowledged that this was a real birth certificate, he

tried to blame the whole thing on Hillary Clinton.

And so, if this was kind of a one-off mistake, I think Republicans may have been more willing to let it go.

[15:05:03]

But the fact that it's of a pattern of the president sort of using offensive imagery and slurs about Black Americans, I think just adds to the

idea that this had to they had to come out and say something about it.

MACFARLANE: Absolutely. And as you said, speaks also to that unanswered question as to why a staffer had Donald Trump's phone in the middle of the

night and was posting such offensive comments.

Anyway, Kevin, well get back to that another time. Thank you.

Now, in the past hour, the Dow Jones has hit 50,000 points for the first time. Markets are clearly surging today. The Dow Jones is up more than

1,000 points in the final moments of trade. A big rebound after days of selling.

Richard Quest is here to tell me what is going on and why are we seeing these numbers. Is it what we expected?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, having seen losses over the last three days, pretty significant losses on the back of worries over

A.I. profitability, the amount of money people, companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia are all spending. It is unusual on a random Friday in

February to suddenly see the market go in exactly the opposite direction for no obvious reason.

If you're asking me, is there a single reason why? The answer is no, other than a feeling that the selling was overdone, that the optimist bulls are

still in control, and they believe that A.I. is going to provide the benefits and the productivity gains and profitability.

MACFARLANE: This is all being driven by tech speculation, A.I., nothing to do with the economy, nothing.

QUEST: I want to look at. If you can get the triple stack and you'll see what I mean. It is a slightly bifurcated market today because we've got the

Dow which is up, but the other big market, the S&P 500, which has been lower during the course of the session and they are -- it's now up as well.

But earlier, that was -- that was not doing as well. And if you look at it over the week it's not done so well.

The Nasdaq nearly 2 percent higher. This is the market basically saying we know the worries. We know the risks. We know the nonsense, and we're still

going to go to the races.

MACFARLANE: Markets are so steady, aren't they, at this point. I mean --

QUEST: Well, they're frothy --

MACFARLANE: Talk about them being unpredictable. But they also can be --

QUEST: The only -- well, the only certainty is that they seem to be rising. But the issue remains. At what point will investors weary of these hundreds

of billions of dollars being spent on A.I. research for the future that does not have an immediate profitability to come?

MACFARLANE: We will look to that, Richard. Thank you.

QUEST: It'll finish up.

MACFARLANE: It will finish over 50,000. We'll see.

Now the family of Nancy Guthrie is making a new plea for her return. She's the mother of NBC today show host Savannah Guthrie. On Thursday, her son

posted a new message to the kidnapper begging for the person to contact the family directly. The sheriff's department have confirmed blood found on the

front porch was Nancy's. They also said a security camera was disabled from her home. The FBI has increased the reward for her return to $50,000.

Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early morning hours last Sunday. Camron Guthrie's plead to the

kidnapper comes as a second ransom deadline approaches. TMZ is one of the media outlets that received the ransom note. Its founder says the deadline

is critical for authorities to find Nancy Guthrie before Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARVEY LEVIN, FOUNDER OF TMZ: It felt like somebody means business. I mean, when you read it, it's very detailed. This person thought through, I

believe, again, if it's legit, this person thought through the markers of, showing that its real. The bitcoin address, we checked immediately. And

it's a real address.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Joining me now, chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller.

And, John, we are now, what, almost a week into this investigation at this point. How much harder does it become from here -- go from here, especially

given we, of course, still have no concrete evidence at this point?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, you know, if you've seen one kidnapping, you've seen one kidnapping. They're

all very unique in their own dynamics. In this case, you have a very high- profile victim family. You have a one-way communication through the media, interestingly, demanding millions in cryptocurrency.

And you have a family that is fleeing to make that a two-way communication so that they can, A, get some verification that whoever wrote that letter

with that financial demand has their mother, and B, that she's okay.

The fact that we haven't heard anything today since that second plea could be an indicator that they've made contact, or it could be an indicator that

they are waiting and may come out with another message. We don't know.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and to that point, what did you make of the sheriff's comment? I believe it was earlier today where he said they were waiting

really, and hoping for a tip or tip off that would lead to her release.

MILLER: Well, I think if you look at a lot of the major cases we've been through lately, it has been a combination of technology and then getting

images or information out to the public, crowdsourcing, and then in taking the response from that, crowdsourcing and calling out the one that actually

becomes the thing that breaks the case. We saw that in the Brown University shooting lately. We saw that in the Charlie Kirk case.

What the sheriff is hoping for is that the family makes contact with the kidnappers that that dialog starts. But in the background, while that

waiting happens, or even while that talking happens, the FBI and the sheriff are running leads in every direction, looking at every tip,

following it up, saying, is this the one that could crack the case? Or tell us where she is or lead to her rescue or release?

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and obviously every day, the it becomes more and more acute, given the medical conditions and the age of Ms. Guthrie.

John, we appreciate it. Thanks very much.

MILLER: Thanks, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Now, Pakistan is reeling from a suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. Authorities say at least 31 people were killed at a Shiite

mosque there. It happened in the middle of Friday prayers when the mosque was filled with worshipers. It's the deadliest attack in the country in

three years.

Salma Abdelaziz has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A truly brutal and horrifying attack on Friday prayers in a mosque in Islamabad. We do have images to show you.

They are very graphic, so I have to warn our viewers, but it gives you a sense of just the horror in the aftermath in this attack.

What we understand from eyewitnesses is that they were quite literally praying, prostrating when they heard the sound of gunfire ring out shortly

afterwards, an explosion took place. We understand now, of course, from Pakistani authorities that they say this was a suicide attack. A suicide

bomber detonated an explosive device at that mosque.

Now, also, that indication of the gunfire followed by a blast gives you a sense that this was coordinated. But so far, there is no clear claim of

responsibility here. Pakistan's government says that an initial investigation found Pakistan's Taliban to be behind the attack. But

Pakistan's Taliban has denied this and said it has no connection whatsoever to this attack.

Now, there's a few things we need to watch for here. Of course, this is going to overwhelm Islamabad. Already, dozens of people have been killed

and wounded. Hospitals and clinics are being flooded with victims. There's been calls for blood to be donated for those victims.

Now, there has been an increase in militant attacks across the country in recent months, in recent times. But Islamabad, as this heavily fortified

capital, has been largely spared. So, this is going to give people the sense that the violence across the country is spreading. It's also

important to note that Pakistan and Afghanistan, that border, has been extremely tenuous. There has been clashes there last year.

So, it is important here to understand the wider context of why that increase in militant attacks is happening. And then when you're talking

about this specific community, this is a Shia mosque that is a minority community. The majority a sect of Islam in Pakistan is Sunni. So, there

will be concerns about minority tensions there with this being a Shia mosque.

It is also just a few days away from Ramadan now. So there's a sense that this is a time when these communities come together and this is going to

absolutely shatter any sense of security, of safety, and bring a season of mourning at a time when people should be preparing to come together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Salma Abdelaziz there.

Now, coming up one week after the latest Epstein files were released, survivors are still searching for accountability. I'll speak to one of them

later in the show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:44]

MACFARLANE: A Russian general has been shot and severely wounded in Moscow. That's according to the Russian investigative committee. It says Lieutenant

General Vladimir Alekseyev is in serious condition and in intensive care. He was serving as a deputy head of Russia's military intelligence. This is

the latest in a series of attacks on top military leaders.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENOR INTERNATIONAL CORRRESPONDENT: Another one of Vladimir Putin's top generals targeted right here in Moscow. This time, it

was the deputy head of Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev.

Now, the investigative committee here in Russia says in the early morning hours of this morning, he was gunned down inside a residential building in

the northwest of Moscow. The investigative committee says so far, they've not apprehended any suspect. However, they are saying that there is

forensic work going on that they are going through surveillance camera, video, CCTV video and have also talked to eyewitnesses as well.

The lieutenant general himself, the Russians say, is in a hospital now. And as they put it, in serious condition.

Now, this is not the first time top Russian military officials were targeted here in the Russian capital. In fact, about a month ago, a top

military commander was killed in a car bomb incident here in the Russian capital. And at the end of 2024, there was a major car bombing also here in

Moscow that killed another top military official.

So far, the Russians say they do not have a suspect. They don't know who is behind this. However, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has come out

and blamed the Ukrainians and accused the Ukrainians of trying to derail a negotiations process. That, of course, is going on at the moment.

The Ukrainians themselves have not commented on the matter, but the Kremlin has. The Kremlin saying they understand that their top military brass is at

risk. Of course, with the military operation in Ukraine ongoing. At the same time, they also say that they wish the general a recovery and a speedy

one at that.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, this morning, the White House called it fake outrage. But this afternoon, the backtracking had begun.

[15:20:01]

More on the racist video posted on Donald Trump's account, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: The U.S. attorney general has announced an arrest in the 2012 Benghazi attack. Pam Bondi says the suspect was a key participant in the

attack and has landed in the U.S. On September 11th, 2012, militants attacked the U.S. special mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing four

Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

As I mentioned earlier, Pakistan is reeling from suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque. Shiites are a minority in this mostly Sunni Muslim country

and have been targeted in the past. Violence there is being fueled, in part by U.S. weapons left behind after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in

2021.

Ivan Watson traveled to Afghanistan/Pakistan border and has this exclusive report. And a word of warning, some of the images in this piece are

disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are M-16 rifles, property of U.S. government.

WATSON (voice-over): Along the border with Afghanistan, the newest generation of jihadi militants carry out insurgent attacks using weapons

that were made in the USA.

WATSON: And it's manufactured by FN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WATSON: USA, out of Columbia, South Carolina.

WATSON (voice-over): The Pakistani military gives me an exclusive look bringing me to the border town of Wana and the aftermath of a recent

suicide truck bomb.

WATSON: The size of this explosion, you can tell, was massive. It ripped out the fortifications. The walls here at the front, at the gate of this

school and killed in this location at least three Pakistani army soldiers.

[15:25:10]

WATSON (voice-over): Moments after the blast, four insurgents stormed the school.

WATSON: These steps are still splattered with the blood of a school cook and a waiter who were both killed.

WATSON (voice-over): This could have been a bloodbath because there were more than 500 students aged 12 to 18 on campus. But over the next 24 hours,

Pakistani soldiers successfully evacuated all of them before killing all of the insurgents.

Colonel Muhammad Tahir (ph) of the Pakistani special forces says the attackers were all citizens of Afghanistan.

WATSON: Look closely here. What does it say, colonel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, it says property of U.S. government.

WATSON: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: M-16

WATSON: I'm taking photos of the serial numbers of these M-16s. And what we'll try to do is go back and kind of cross-reference them, check with the

U.S. government to find out what they're doing here.

WATSON (voice-over): The U.S. military confirmed to CNN that three out of the four rifles were supplied to Afghan security forces in and around

Kabul, years before the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The Pentagon declined to comment further on this matter.

WATSON: I've counted more than 100 M-16s, all with the marking property of U.S. government, and the Pakistani military says that these were all

captured from the hands of killed Taliban fighters.

What happens to the weapons that were supplied to the Afghan government?

JOHN SOPKO, SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR AFGHAN RECONSTRUCTION (2012- 2025): Well, the Taliban get it all, or a majority of it.

WATSON (voice-over): John Sopko spent 12 years as special inspector general for the U.S.'s $148 billion Afghanistan reconstruction program. It provided

billions in weapons to the Afghan security forces.

SOPKO: Three hundred thousand some small arms weapons ended up with the Taliban and it could go down the list. I mean, grenade launchers,

communication stuff.

WATSON (voice-over): In a video statement, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban denied accusations that the Afghan government was arming his

fighters.

Pakistani military statistics show a surge in casualties since 2021, the year the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

This war is getting worse, violence fueled in part by a huge armory of U.S. weapons, a legacy of America's 20-year-long war in Afghanistan.

Ivan Watson, CNN, along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street. And as we told you earlier, the Dow has crossed 50,000 points. We've been seeing big

rebound after days of selling.

This is our Business Breakout. Amazon shares are falling after the company became the latest tech giant to announce massive A.I. spending. The company

released its earnings after the bell on Thursday. It laid out plans for big investments on data centers and infrastructure.

Stellantis shares fell nearly 30 percent after the automaker said it was giving up on some of its electric vehicle projects. The company, which owns

Jeep and Chrysler, announced a major reset of its business. It's taking a hit of more than $26 billion on some of its EV range.

Danish jeweler Pandora is changing its products to be platinum plated rather than silver, due to a recent volatility in the silver market. While

platinum is significantly more expensive than silver, the company says it will use less of it to coat its signature charm bracelets, ultimately

making the product cheaper to manufacture. Pandora shares surged more than 5 percent after the announcement.

And it's been quite a rebound for U.S. markets, with the Dow crossing 50,000 points for the first time. And it's been a rocky week, especially

for tech stocks. Rana Foroohar from |The Financial Times" says artificial intelligence has left some investors struggling to make sense of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: The big tech stocks companies, excuse me, said that they were going to deploy. Get this $660 billion worth

of spending this year just on A.I.

The market actually got nervous about that. You know you would think, hey, we're going to go out and spend a lot on the technology. The market would

love it. The market thinks, you know, that's a lot of money and we're not sure what the outcome is going to be yet. So, there was skittishness. And

that's creating volatility.

So, I think this big question mark around A.I., what are we going to get? How is it going to show up? Is this just going to ultimately benefit people

holding a lot of stock. You know if these stocks turn out to do well?

[15:30:01]

Is it going to benefit real people on Main Street and how? That's -- that's making everyone very nervous.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Rana Foroohar there.

Stay with us. We'll be back with more news after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This does not make me happy. This does not bring any type of satisfaction to me to see the

president, one, who represents my party, but two, who represents the entire country posting this type of garbage. And I know the White House is saying,

well, maybe someone else posted it or it was tagged at the very end of a video.

Well, at a bare minimum, should we at least not be conscious to watch every single thing we're posting on our feed? That alone should bring into

question, what the hell is the president doing at 12:00 in the morning just posting any and everything with no regard for what it may be? You cannot

excuse this. Again, I'm not happy about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, that is Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton speaking to CNN earlier.

The racist video posted on Donald Trump's social media accounts earlier has provoked bipartisan outrage. It also sparked discussions across the

network, including here in our own newsroom, about how to cover the story in deciding whether to show the video. We have debated various questions.

Would it just give more oxygen to a clearly offensive image? Is it just a deliberate distraction for the White House?

We do want to show you a short image from it, and we do so knowing that many of you will find it offensive. This is from the video in question,

which has now been removed by the White House. The White House initially told the media to stop the fake outrage, that's quotes, over the video, and

a White House adviser says the president was let down by whoever put it out.

Our chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, is here.

And, Brian, has been something of a conundrum for us, not just in this newsroom, but I'm sure for many --

[15:35:00]

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yeah.

MACFARLANE: -- around the world, right, because the question remains, you know, given how offensive this content is, are we just giving it more

oxygen, a bigger platform if we choose to put it out?

Have you seen that being played out today?

STELTER: Right, but -- yeah, definitely. And in some ways, it is notable actually that newsrooms are taking this so seriously because what we've

heard for the past year is that people are numb to the Trump -- the president's foul behavior. And yet, thankfully, this is being treated as a

top story. And I think that's right. I think that's the right call.

What the U.S. president post is inherently, automatically news. Truth Social is the platform he used to announce the attack on Venezuela. It's

where he announced strikes on Iran last year. He uses his social network as a distribution platform for news that shapes the world and moves markets.

So, his use of the platform to share a racist image of his predecessor is automatically a big deal. And the defenses we've heard today have made it

an even bigger deal. I don't think many people are buying the White House's claim that a staffer erroneously shared this, but if that is true, if it

was some anonymous staffer, then that has immediate national security ramifications. You know, if some anonymous poster can post that, then what

else could they be sharing under Trump's name?

And you know, more relevantly, Trump's account shared dozens of clips and memes last night. He does this quite often, going on posting sprees late at

night, spreading conspiracy theories, sharing MAGA messages and hateful screeds against opponents. Today is a reminder this is not normal behavior.

It's not healthy behavior.

And just because millions of other Americans also do this and post lots of memes and ugly rhetoric on social media doesn't make it normal or healthy.

And I think it's right for the American press to take a stand in defense of decency, whether it's about Trump or anybody else. It's okay to advocate

for basic human decency in a case like this. Let's advocate against posting racist content about next president.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, basic human decency. I mean, that is what we are trying to do. Brian, thank you.

I want to turn to my next guest who says Donald Trump knows exactly what he's doing with this video.

Andre Carson is the Democratic congressman from Indiana. He joins me now from Washington.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

This post was clearly racist coming, let's remind everyone, in the midst of Black History Month. You said just then the president knows exactly what

he's doing. Tell us what you mean.

REP. ANDRE CARSON (D-IN): Well, firstly, it's absolutely unacceptable. You know, dehumanizing images and rhetoric reflect dehumanizing policies.

There are many people in our country today, in our country's history, who believed Black people were less than human beings. Our founding fathers

certainly did. They believed Black people couldn't feel pain the same way. They believe Black people didn't have the same level of intelligence.

Those ideas justified slavery. They use religious texts to codify those thoughts in the hearts and minds of people. They justify the horrific

violence against Black Americans. We should never let this kind of blatant racism go unchecked.

The Trump administration continues this not even dog whistling, but signaling in the midst of Black History Month, that is, to signal to a very

racist and hateful part of his support system that I'm still with you.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I mean, the White House are certainly backpedaling now, but it took them 12 hours to take that post down. I have to ask you

what you made of the claim from the White House, that it was a White House staffer who posted the video on the Trump account in the middle of the

night?

CARSON: I don't doubt it was -- it was a staffer, but it was certainly being backed by Donald Trump again, as a signal to racist side of his base,

who still share these kinds of views and sentiments. There is nothing funny about the dehumanization of Black Americans. That is a daily reality for

Black Americans.

It is what justifies slavery. It is what justifies Donald Trump's anti- Black policies. Trump knew exactly what he was doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.

They can try to deflect, but the American people know what this administration tolerates. Even if I could accept the idea that it wasn't

done maliciously, the harm and damage is still there. It legitimizes racism and emboldens white supremacists.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And given that, to have such a racist video emanating from the president of the United States, I'm wondering today what impact

that is having on Black and Brown constituents, your constituents, and what you're hearing from them and how sharply this is resonating?

CARSON: Well, Indianapolis is a very racially diverse place.

[15:40:00]

We have a very strong Black history. We also have a history of having been the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan.

But Hoosiers are very resilient. Hoosiers come together, whether you're Democrat, Republican or independent. We just saw it with the redistricting

effort, and we pushed back on these things.

And so, people of goodwill who aren't Black have to condemn this. And Black folks already know what time it is. We've experienced it since we arrived

in this country. So Americans who are disgusted and disappointed by Donald Trump's behavior must speak out. If we're truly about being a neighbor to

our fellow neighbor.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. Is it enough, in your view, to simply delete the post? Should there be an apology from President Trump from the White House?

CARSON: There should absolutely be an apology. You know, I'm encouraged to see some Republicans speak out. Republicans should not let themselves be

bullied by this kind of behavior.

It is possible for Trump to lose favor even with within his own support system. And he should. And what we're seeing with racist attacks, we're

seeing over 300,000 black women who are without jobs since Donald Trump's administration. We're seeing levels of anti-blackness that is

unprecedented.

Regardless of those who may support him, that is their right. But now is the time to condemn this kind of behavior in the midst of what is taking

place. Black History Month, Black History is American history that highlights all the contributions that have been made by Black Americans and

all of the inventions that have been produced as a result of black genius and black ingenuity. Now is not the time to minimize those contributions.

It is time to accentuate that progress. And he has failed to do so once again.

MACFARLANE: Absolutely. Congressman Andre Carson, thank you so much for coming on and giving us your perspective.

And we'll be right back with more in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: London's Metropolitan Police have searched two properties linked to Peter Mandelson after new revelations about his ties to convicted

sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. has been accused of sharing market sensitive government information to the

disgraced financier after the 2008 financial crisis. He was the U.K.'s business secretary at the time.

[15:45:00]

Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Well, this time last week, the last batch of files concerning Jeffrey Epstein were released and the reverberations are still being felt across

the world. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor move away from the royal lodge in Windsor was brought forward after a fresh photos of the former prince were

released.

Norway's crown princess today expressed her deepest regret after the files showed she had extensive contact with Epstein, while Microsoft founder Bill

Gates is facing fresh scrutiny for his ties to Epstein.

And Brad Karp, the chairman of one of America's biggest private law firms, abruptly resigned this week after emails showed he had contacted Epstein as

recently as 2019.

Still, though, the U.S. Department of Justice is under fire for failing to redact the personal information of some survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's

abuse.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer for some of the survivors, tells CNN they were promised private details would be redacted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, LAWYER: I am beyond furious because it is so upsetting to so many of my clients who have been Jane Does for so many years and who were

promised by the FBI, by Homeland Security, by prosecutors to whom they shared their terrible, painful, traumatic experience with Jeffrey Epstein

and some with Ms. Maxwell so many years ago. And they were assured of privacy that they would never have their names and other information

published.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: So what we want to know is how have the survivors coped a week on from the release of the latest Epstein files?

And joining me now is Lisa Phillips. She's a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse.

Lisa, we're so grateful to have you on. Thank you.

LISA PHILLIPS, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Thank you, Christina.

MACFARLANE: So, I just want to begin. We had an overview there that, you know, this has been a week where we have seen some embarrassment and

fallout, let's say, for certain individuals, but not really a lot of real world action in the form of arrests, the revealing of names, of enablers,

of abusers, but instead the DOJ a week ago released the names of nearly 100 survivors after failing to redact their identities.

What impact has this had on you? And, of course, everyone in survivor community? Because I know you are a close knit community.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we are. And I wanted to say thank you so much for having survivors on and supporting us.

And I agree with everything Gloria had said. She's not my attorney, my attorney, Brittany Edwards, who have many clients and my survivor sisters

who are just as angry as Gloria's clients. It's not okay for not redacting the survivors' names. The law said all documents were to be released by a

certain date, and no survivor names closed.

That was a hard stop. That was like no survivor names. And what did they do? They put out so much information that we feel is retraumatizing. A lot

of victims are very, very upset.

And we have 1,200 victims, and I think they were pretty strategic of whose names they were, which was a lot of the ones that are more outspoken. And I

feel like it's bullying. It really is. It's not okay to put your drivers' licenses out there, their emails.

I mean, they were pretty particular, Todd Blanche was very, you know, straightforward and said we went through it with a fine tooth comb. And,

you know, we spent countless hours. But then why did you do that?

MACFARLANE: Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Why was that released? You know, who are you protecting?

MACFARLANE: You mentioned Todd Blanche, and actually I wanted to bring that up because on Sunday he told CNN that the Epstein's sex trafficking case

was, quote, over.

Let's just play actually that soundbite from him on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Is the Department of Justice considering bringing any additional charges here?

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, look, I can't talk about any investigations, but I will say the following, which is that in July, the

Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the files that, quote, Epstein files and that there was nothing in there that allowed us to

prosecute anybody. We then released over 3.5 million pieces of paper, which the entire world can look at now, and see if we got it wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Lisa, he also said that the victims just want to be made whole. And as I say, that this case is now over. What is your response to Todd

Blanche?

PHILLIPS: Well, Pam Bondi said it was over many, many times. And so, I think Todd Blanche is just echoing what he's probably told to say.

This fight is not over.

[15:50:00]

I think it's only been half of the files have been released. Maybe half of them, 50 percent, 60 percent. And Todd Blanche did say the majority of the

stuff that was pretty dark was taken out. So, I believe there's more than enough information, if they really did review it in July, that they could

hold people accountable.

And as you've seen, not just the survivors, but many of the American people who are doing their research has found many things that are highly

suspicious or that, could be held up civilly or criminally, you know, in court. So I'm just not understanding what's not adding up here.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And there is, of course, a lot of scrutiny on the DOJ for their behavior. Some are saying, you know, this was just incompetence on

their part, but others are claiming it was a deliberate act by them to intimidate victims. What is your view on that?

PHILLIPS: Well, I just don't believe it could be incompetence with something of this measure and magnitude, something that's so important to

the American people and globally.

You know, they said, the DOJ has violated three of the requirements of our bill to this day. Many important documents still haven't been disclosed.

The date set for the full release has long passed, and the DOJ released the names of survivors.

Those are three major, major things. And it's not okay. I will be at Pam Bondi's hearing next week and so many other survivors because it's

unacceptable.

MACFARLANE: It's unacceptable, and we are so appreciative of you continuing with this fight. And many of us are with you.

So, Lisa, thank you so much for coming on and for speaking to us.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Now at this moment, the sporting world has turned its eyes to Italy. The opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics are happening right

now. The theme for the night is harmony, and it has included performances from singing legends Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli.

American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn has passed her first test at the Winter Olympics after suffering a serious injury last week. The three-time

Olympic medalist completed her downhill practice run today, just one week after completely rupturing her ACL. She will now compete in her fifth

Winter Olympics.

CNN World Sport's Don Riddell is with me.

And, Don, I know the opening ceremony is happening right now, but I think it's really just the countdown to Lindsey Vonn day, isn't it? Downhill day

this Sunday. I didn't have a chance to watch the training run today. How did she seem to you and is she going to make it to Sunday?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, I think she's going to make it to Sunday. I mean, she didn't speak with anybody afterwards, Christina. So, we

don't really know what she's thinking. But her coach did speak to the CNN, and he was pretty happy with how things had gone.

She approached it conservatively. She didn't go for it. She didn't really have to go for it. Literally, just by leaving the gate that qualified her

to be able to compete on Sunday.

So that really was enough. But I would say she was conservative. Of the 43 skiers that came down in that training session, she was the 11th fastest.

So that's pretty good. And, you know, just this story remains absolutely remarkable. And as you say, all eyes really on this race on Sunday.

Lindsey Vonn has always been an incredible athlete. She's always been an incredible story. Then, of course, she stepped away from the sport and we

thought she was finished. She was away for six years.

Then she returned. Her comeback was going brilliantly and then we had the accident this time last week, helicoptered off the mountain. It seemed as

though the Olympic dream was over. Then we heard that she had completely ruptured the ACL.

That seemed like it might be it, but no, she's going to be competing in her fifth Olympics at the age of 41. We still don't know how many events shell

be competing in. She was originally planning for three, but of course, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's not get greedy. The downhills on

Sunday and she is very much trying to win another medal, which would be just amazing.

MACFARLANE: Oh my gosh, it absolutely would. I mean, I'm rooting for her. But I'm also cautiously holding out hope. But if she does do it, Don, I

mean this would go down as one of the greatest Olympic moments in history, wouldn't it?

RIDDELL: Yeah, I think so. I mean, first of all, she already holds the record for being the oldest skier to make it onto the podium at the

Olympics, and that was set eight years ago. So, I mean, just beating that would be remarkable. But yeah, I mean, I think the events of the last week

must have a few Hollywood producers kind of looking up her phone number, because this really could be, you know, absolute Hollywood stuff.

[15:55:00]

MACFARLANE: The dream finish, yeah.

RIDDELL: It's a great story.

MACFARLANE: It is.

Don, we appreciate it. Thank you.

And finally, this hour, there's another sporting event you don't want to miss this weekend, especially if you're in the market for a new canine

companion. It's the Puppy Bowl, a record breaking 150 dogs from shelters all over the U.S. and the British Virgin Islands will be competing in this

year's game. The annual event promotes pet adoption. The tournament ends with a trophy that the most valuable puppy and underdog, and you can catch

the Puppy Bowl Sunday on Animal Planet.

I would like to take one of those home.

That is it for us and WHAT WE KNOW. Stay with CNN. We have more after the break from Richard.

END

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