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Headline: Epstein Survivors: Release the Files; Epstein Survivors Beg Trump to Help Release More Files; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) Discusses About Discharge Petition of Epstein Files; China Displays Military Might as Xi Stands with Putin, Kim. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 03, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Speaking with one voice, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific abuse call for the release of files connected to him. One accuser rejecting President Trump's claim that this is all a hoax. She insists this is no hoax. The abuse, she says, was real.

Plus, missiles, jets and soldiers, a defiant show of solidarity. China displaying its military might in parade. But the defining image from Beijing may be the historic appearance of leaders of China, Russia and North Korea all aligned shoulder to shoulder for the first time.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And do you always take your phone with you to the bathroom? Health experts now say skip the screen time on the commode for one important reason.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: Today, the Epstein file saga reaching a, quote, "boiling point in American history." Words from a Republican lawmaker who just a short time ago stood beside 10 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein as they begged Congress and President Trump to help force the release of many new files. The survivors directly telling the President that their abuse was not a hoax.

And just last hour, a new reaction from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who says he does not support that effort and has not changed his mind despite emotional pleas from survivors. Johnson saying a discharge petition put forward by Congressman Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna does not adequately protect victims. And because we have so much compassion for the victims, those who spoke today and the estimated maybe as many as thousand victims total, we have to be very diligent about protecting their identities. CNN's Arlette Saenz is live for us on Capitol Hill.

So, Arlette, first walk us through what we heard those survivors share. ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, you could really hear

and see the raw emotion that these survivors felt as they detailed their own experience with trauma at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Nearly a dozen survivors went through their own personal experiences as they urged Congress President Donald Trump to do more, to use their influence, to bring more transparency to the process. These survivors also really pushed back on President Trump's claim that this is a Democratic hoax that is being promoted, it's something that he echoed in the Oval Office just minutes after these survivors finished speaking. Here is a sample of what they had to say today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANOUSKA DE GEORGIOU, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: My polished exterior is a shield hiding a wound that still bleeds. President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. Please use that influence and power to help us.

JENA-LISA JONES, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Please, President Trump, pass this bill and help us. Make us feel like our voices are finally being heard.

SKY ROBERTS, VIRGINIA GIUFFRE'S BROTHER: If you vote no, your stance will be clear. You will be choosing to stand on the side of the rich and powerful, allowing money to buy your way out of the consequence.

CHAUNTAE DAVIES, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: President Trump and members of Congress, why do we continue to cover up sexual abuse and assault? Who are we covering for? Let the public know the truth.

HALEY ROBSON, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican. Not that that matters because this is not political. However, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, these survivors were hosted by Congressman Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, a bipartisan duo trying to push for the full release of the Epstein files. They are still moving forward with their efforts to try to force a vote on the House floor on this matter. They - if they have all Democrats on board, they only need a total of six Republicans. And so far, they have four Republicans, which includes Massie.

Another lawmaker who was at that press conference today was Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who says that it's imperative that lawmakers try to do more to get these files released. But really, this has just highlighted the further political divides within the president's party over this battle. As you have had, the White House warned that support for Massie and Khanna would be a hostile act against the White House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leadership have tried to point to the fact that the House Oversight Committee has released more than 33,000 pages of documents that had been handed over to the justice - by the Justice Department relating to Epstein. Even as Democrats point out, the majority of that has already been public.

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So, this is certainly an issue that continues to roil the Republican Party and one that does not - this is not expected to die down any time soon as they are still pushing ahead with this effort to force a House floor vote.

SANCHEZ: Arlette Saenz on the Hill for us, thank you so much. Brianna.

KEILAR: We're joined now by a Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.

Congressman, great to have you.

And we're looking at this right now. It's looking like three Republicans supporting this discharge petition that has been brought by Congressman Ro Khanna and by Congressman Massie. There's six that are needed for this to succeed. Have you heard from other Republicans who might join after this press conference?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Well, I think the last count I heard was four Republicans, including Massie. So we need two more. And I think there are a bunch of people who are seriously considering it. Look, if you were in that room with those survivors yesterday, I was there for about two and a half hours, basically, you - it was gut wrenching. It was emotional. They were extremely candid, specific, incredible. And you knew that when they called for transparency, accountability and justice, we in Congress have to act.

And while the Oversight Committee is properly kind of procuring these documents from the Department of Justice, there's nothing like this discharge petition to make it extremely clear that all of the files need to be produced. And that needs to be done by statute, not just by protocol or the DOJ releasing what it wants.

KEILAR: Congressman Massie told our Manu Raju this morning that the Trump administration is, quote, not redacting things to protect victims. And in the process of preventing embarrassment, they're hiding some criminals. He says they're actually redacting to prevent embarrassment. He referenced a redacted flight log in the files that were released by House Oversight that was previously publicly released. Do you share those concerns?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I do. And look, I'm just like - I'm just, you know, so perplexed about why Donald Trump does not want us to see the rest of these files. The women and their attorneys yesterday made it very clear there's a group of people who may be at large who were involved in the sex trafficking ring. And so, in the name of bringing to justice those folks who are at large, as well as preventing this from ever happening again, we must have full transparency right now. And that means all those files need to be produced.

And by the way, one of the most interesting things that I learned during this two and a half hours with the survivors is that they have not even had access to files involving themselves that are in the possession of the government. So, for their sake, they need to have those files, even if they aren't shared with the rest of the public. And then for the public's sake, the rest of those files need to be disclosed as well.

KEILAR: Can you help them with that? Can Congress help them with that?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes. And I think that we are - I know that Massie and some others on the other side are interested in working with us. But we need to get those private files to the victims or to the survivors. And then the survivors also pointed out a list of people that we need to subpoena, that we need to talk to as well, who may be involved in criminal conduct. And so we need to subpoena them, too.

KEILAR: Okay. Yes. One of the victims today making a compelling case saying there were pieces she couldn't put together and that she needs the files so that she can heal. One of the apparent conspiracy theories about Epstein, Congressman, I'm sure you're aware, is that he had a connection to an intelligence agency as an asset or a spy. Listen to this moment from today with victim lawyer Brad Edwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was involved with or tied to the CIA or a foreign intelligence operation?

BRAD EDWARDS, LAWYER FOR VICTIM'S OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN: I think that the safest thing for me to say is all files should come out, whether it is for this - with the CIA, FinCEN, SEC, FBI. I'm not just making these up haphazardly. I'm giving you a road map where to look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. He says that's a road map. Now, what he said is not going to put this theory to bed. And then he also, I think, raised some other questions about where Congress should be looking by naming those other agencies. What can you tell us?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, Mr. Edwards made a variety of statements about FinCEN, CIA, FBI, other agencies that we should potentially subpoena for records. And I think it makes sense to get whatever files are in their possession related to this particular situation in front of us. It was very disturbing.

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He related an anecdote about the CIA and Jeffrey Epstein wanting to have a meeting and some kind of interlocutor being sent by the CIA to Epstein while he was on work release in 2008, 2009. I mean, these types of anecdotes are very disturbing, but now we have to kind of actually investigate to see what the evidence would show and not just rely on anecdotal evidence.

KEILAR: Can you tell us more about that? KRISHNAMOORTHI: All I can tell you is that, you know, this particular

attorney, Mr. Edwards, basically said that somebody named some - a bodyguard for Epstein was somehow an intermediary between the CIA and Epstein. I don't know more than that. That's why we need to kind of ...

KEILAR: Do you believe that?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: ... figure out - he was very emphatic about it. He was specific about the time and the date when this happened. And so, as you know, specificity kind of lends some credence to someone's claims. All that being said, that's why I think we need to get more information now.

KEILAR: And does he know that because there was a victim present to witness something?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Correct. Correct. One of the victims or one of the survivors, you know, apparently was victimized even at the same time of this work release. Which brings up another subject, which is this sweetheart plea agreement that Mr. Acosta, the former U.S. attorney who negotiated this particular agreement, like what the heck was going on? Why did they allow work release during which, you know, basically Epstein committed more abuses of women? It makes no sense.

KEILAR: Yes, that's been alleged before at that off-site office that he had set up specifically during that work release.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: It's called the Florida Science Foundation or something like that. Some strange title for this office that he set up.

KEILAR: Nera (ph) lawyer's office as it's been reported. Can I ask you about that, just lastly, because Alex Acosta, who's a former labor secretary, was the U.S. attorney of the Southern District of Florida, who brokered that sweetheart plea deal that has been so controversial once it came to light, is going to have this voluntary interview with you guys in a couple of weeks. What questions do you have for him?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: We're going to be asking him about a lot of the correspondence, probably within even the summary judgment motion that was pending at the time of this sweetheart deal. I think that we're going to have a lot of questions about him about specific people, as well as what - why did he enter into this agreement? What - why - what could possibly have led him to believe that this was the appropriate deal in light of the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims of Jeffrey Epstein? It doesn't make sense.

That's why, like, to me, it's extremely important that we have full transparency on the files. Like, why is it that it's taken 20 years now, since the beginning of the litigation until now, for us to even get to this point and we're not nearly where we need to be?

KEILAR: Yes. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, we really appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Let's get some analysis of the politics of this with CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein.

Ron, thanks so much for being with us.

First, I want to step back ...

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Boris.

SANCHEZ: ... and ask what you make of the collection of lawmakers that were present at this press conference, because you had both sides of the political aisle, but notably some voices that have been prone to saying false things. They don't have the best reputation.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And at the same time, you had protesters behind them insinuating that President Trump is involved in all of this, too.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Right. I mean, look, I mean, there are momentous things going on in the country right now. And I think for most Americans and voters, those are going to be front and center, whether it's the continuing struggles to make ends meet or deployment of troops into U.S. cities or the threat to the vaccine infrastructure that we've had for half a century. But, you know, this is something that is easily graspable to a lot of voters as kind of a classic example of the political system and the establishment locking arms to protect their own.

And it is, I think, kind of catnip for people who are prone to seeing those kind of conspiracies as part of their worldview. You know, and sometimes, as they say, paranoids are right. And so it's not surprising that you get the kind of voices from the Republican Party that you have here. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, you know, even Massie, who has been on the edge, Democrats see an opportunity to create kind of an embarrassing vote for Republicans and potentially embarrassing revelations.

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But I think, you know, this is something that feeds into a broader view of the world and certainly a view of the political system that a lot of people, as we've learned in the last few years, have in the American - you know, have in American society. And it's something that's much more tangible, easily graspable than many of the other divides between the parties. So, it's not surprising that it has a lot of oxygen.

KEILAR: There were victims speaking today who have never spoken publicly before.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

KEILAR: And I think anyone looking at this group of women, you know, they didn't see people with a political axe to grind. BROWNSTEIN: Right.

KEILAR: They saw people who are looking for justice. You know, they want answers. They want justice for what happened to them. And so, I wonder when you even heard the President, Ron, again, say that this is a Democrat hoax ...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, hoax.

KEILAR: ... even as you saw, you know, this is a bipartisan group of lawmakers that's pushing this law. Is that going to fly?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I don't think so. I mean, I think like, you know, regardless of whether you believe there is some vast conspiracy that protected Epstein and ultimately killed him, I think almost all Americans would agree there was a great injustice done to these young women in the way this was handled from the beginning, from the sweetheart deal, from, you know, from the special treatment, from the reluctance to prosecute.

And I don't think there are many people anywhere on the political spectrum who will defend the way the criminal justice system handled this. It really underscored the point that, you know, that there are different levels of justice for different people, depending in most cases on their on their wealth and to some extent connections.

And so, for Trump to kind of dismiss this solely as the partisan element of it, and sure, Democrats are hoping there is something in here that might embarrass him, or if not, just the sheer act of, you know, refusing to release the files will create problems for him. But that isn't the whole dimension of it as you talked about. I mean, the people who are there are real people and a wrong was done to them. It's not too late to understand more about why that wrong was done to them, even if it isn't, you know, ultimately peeling back the onion on some vast conspiracy to protect him.

KEILAR: Ron, great to talk with you. Ron Brownstein, we really appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: And still to come, an impressive show, a military might from Chinese President Xi Jinping as he stands united with the leaders of Russia and North Korea while President Trump accuses them of conspiring against America.

SANCHEZ: Plus, a wildfire scorching thousands of acres, burning historic homes in a historic California town.

And later, the doctors have spoken. Do not text on the toilet. We'll explain the health hazard when we come back.

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[15:22:19] SANCHEZ: President Trump is now responding after China staged an elaborate military parade marking 80 years since the end of World War II. The President says the spectacle was designed in part specifically for him to watch, which he says he did. China's march through Tiananmen Square showcased thousands of troops and some of the country's most advanced military hardware. Anti-ship missiles, undersea drones, air defense lasers, and even robot dogs.

The parade also highlighted the now close relationship between President Xi Jinping and other authoritarian leaders, Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

With us now is Jim Townsend. He's a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy, now an adjunct senior fellow at the Transatlantic Security Program.

Thank you so much for being with us, Jim.

Did this military parade reveal anything to you about China's capabilities relative to the United States?

JIM TOWNSEND, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW, TRANSATLANTIC SECURITY PROGRAM: Well, we had heard about a number of these systems as they were in process of being made, so there weren't any breakthrough surprises there, but I think just the sheer mass of what they were trying to do and the power of the signal was something that was certainly notable, whether it was signaling to Donald Trump or to Vladimir Putin, for that matter, that China had come a long way since the end of World War II.

SANCHEZ: Trump did post a sarcastic message to President Xi. Here is the post: "Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un as you conspire against the United States of America. That seems like a fair assessment of what this meeting was intended for, right?

TOWNSEND: Well, I think so. There's a little bit of humor there, if you will, but some fact also. Certainly, those leaders were talking about Donald Trump and the United States, what was happening domestically, talking about U.S. efforts to bring peace in terms of Ukraine and Russia, as well as their own particular beefs that they have with the U.S. So, there was quite a dinnertime conversation, I'm sure.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder, Jim, about Xi throwing this large banquet lunch for 26 world leaders gathered in Beijing. He was not at the parade, but as of a couple days ago, he was hosting India's Prime Minister Modi. He's talked about establishing a multipolar world. What happens if, for whatever reason, domestic instability in our politics, the United States loses its footing and China becomes the global power?

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TOWNSEND: Well, that's the important question, and I'm really glad that you're raising this. You're absolutely right about what Xi wants to do, and Putin wants to do the same thing. There's a feeling among, whether it's Prime Minister Modi or others, that for too long this U.S.-dominated international order has been running the world and that there's got to be another way and it's their way, whether it's Xi's approach or how Russia looks on itself and its role in the - on the globe.

Modi as well, they're tired of having the dictates coming from Washington, and they are pulling together this group. It's also part of the BRICS, those nations that have booming economies coming together and trying to represent to the globe that the answer isn't only the U.S. and the liberal world order that the U.S. created after the war. There's another way too, and they're going to represent that.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder specifically on Modi. There's been some criticism of Trump that it was his tariffs that sort of led Modi to the table with Xi and Putin, holding Putin's hand at one point. Do you agree with that?

TOWNSEND: Well, that was a very interesting set of events over the past couple of days. For sure, Modi was signaling to Trump to back off. The U.S.-Indian relationship has suffered over the past couple of years, and part of this also is Trump claiming that he brought peace between India and Pakistan, that he's deserving of the Nobel Prize for that. There were some words between the two on a telephone call. Things weren't going well.

And then, of course, the secondary tariff on the import into India of Russian oil, which is important to put pressure on Putin on the one hand, but on the other hand, as we try to patch up the U.S.-Indian relationship, this hasn't helped at all. So, as they were holding hands, Putin and Modi walking into the lunchroom, Modi making sure everybody saw his friendship with Russia and with Putin, that was a lot of posturing by India to the United States saying, we're very unhappy with you and don't think that we're in your pocket.

SANCHEZ: Jim Townsend, thank you so much for the analysis. Appreciate you.

TOWNSEND: You're welcome.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL, a CNN exclusive on how some Cubans who came to the United States seeking the American dream are now being deported in chains by the Trump administration.

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