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Civil Rights Leader, Jesse Jackson, Hospitalized; Hundreds Evacuated, Dozens Hospitalized After Ammonia Leak; State Department Warns Americans in Japan, Watch Out for Bears; Upcoming Epstein Files Vote Looming Over White House as Shutdown Ends; Epstein Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell Gets Special Prison Treatment. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 13, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- Civil Rights Leader, Jesse Jackson is in the hospital. The Rainbow Push Coalition, the group he founded, says the 84-year-old is under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy. It's a newer degenerative disease, or condition rather. Jackson rose to national prominence in the 1960s, supporting racial equity, economic justice, and voter rights, working closely with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Also, a dangerous ammonia gas leak forces evacuations in a town about an hour west of Oklahoma City. That leak coming from a tanker truck parked in a hotel parking lot. Many people in the immediate area suffered breathing problems and at least 36 were taken to a local hospital. Authorities say more than 500 spent the night in a shelter. Authorities say the truck is no longer spewing gas and air quality ease continuously monitored.

And bear attacks are now so prevalent in Japan. The State Department is warning Americans there to be careful. The unusual wildlife alert is coming for those in the northern part of Japan. Just yesterday, an airport in Japan suspended flights after that bear was spotted on the runway. Since April, at least 13 people have been killed by bears in Japan, more than a hundred injured. And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": After 43 days, the government shutdown is just that, shutdown. And what this means for a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, we'll speak to a survivor just ahead. And in a federal courtroom, two of President Trump's perceived political enemies asking a judge to throw out the charges against them. Why they say Interim U.S. Attorney, Lindsey Halligan didn't have the authority to indict.

And raising funds, Dawson's Creek actor, James Van Der Beek is auctioning off memorabilia from the show as he fights colon cancer. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Any minute, President Trump is set to sign an executive order at the White House alongside his wife, First Lady Melania Trump. And we're standing by to see if he takes questions as he has been ramping up pressure on Republicans not to defy him during next week's vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Four GOP lawmakers supported the effort to force this vote. And the White House is now bracing for more defections despite the president's pushback. Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju, who's been speaking with Republicans. What are they telling you?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, House Republican leaders are bracing for mass defections within their ranks amid growing support for this bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Remember, just four Republicans did sign on to that effort that would circumvent the Republican leadership. That was a procedural decision by those members. A lot of the members don't like to undercut the leadership's ability and authority to set the floor schedule, which is why many did not sign on to this effort to actually schedule the vote.

But now that the vote is going to happen, we expect it to happen early next week. That changes the calculus completely because a number of them are signaling that they plan to support this bill. And the supporters of the plan are pushing very hard to get the magic 290 votes, that is a veto-proof majority and it's a sign that this could become law if they get that threshold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON, (R-NE): If this comes on the floor, I will vote for it. I want transparency. It's the worst PR job I've seen anywhere. I mean, initially, back in February or March, whatever it was, we have all the Epstein lists right here. We're going to release it. And then all of a sudden, there's nothing. It's sort of a self -- they shot themselves on the foot on this.

RAJU: Epstein votes come into the floor, are you going to vote for it? This bill?

REP. ELI CRANE, (R-AZ): Yeah.

RAJU: You are?

CRANE: I would, yeah.

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON, (R-OH): I'm going to vote for it if it comes up. I'm not on the Judiciary Committee, but I did want Pam Bondi to come and do some explaining. How is it that you had everything teed up and then suddenly, there's nothing. You handed out binders to journalists. What was in the binders?

REP. MARIA SALAZAR, (R-FL): I'm a Florida girl. I have two daughters. So I am thinking, I'm thinking, I mean, I'm sure that the president has nothing to fear.

RAJU: Yeah.

SALAZAR: We do need to know. We do need to know everything about Epstein.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: And that is a broad cross section of the Republican Conference right there for some more moderate members like Congresswoman Salazar and Congressman Don Bacon, who represents a swing district, to more conservative members there from Warren Davidson and Eli Crane. And it just shows you the breadth of support that there is right now for this bill. So a big question is going to be how -- just how many Republicans, we would require about 70 or so to break ranks to get that magic veto-proof majority. And if it does get a significant number, that would pressure the Senate to act. The Senate Republican leaders have showed no interest in putting this bill on the floor, but perhaps that could change if the significant number of Republicans do in fact vote for this bill next week. Brianna?

[14:05:00]

KEILAR: Yeah, what a interesting week ahead here. Manu, thank you for that reporting. Jessica?

DEAN: And as we wait to see if those documents are indeed released, CNN has exclusive new details about the special treatment longtime Epstein-accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is receiving behind bars. In August, she was transferred to a minimum security prison camp in Texas to serve her 20-year sentence. And since then, sources tell CNN, she's had meals delivered directly to her cell. She's been given unlimited toilet paper, seen as a currency with inside that camp, and even taken private meetings in the prison's chapel. Her transfer coming right after a two-day interview with Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche.

Now, Republicans say that testimony exonerates the president, but new emails released by House Democrats are raising questions about Maxwell's reliability. In one of those emails, Epstein tells Maxwell that Trump spent hours with Virginia Giuffre at Epstein's home. But listen to what Maxwell told Blanche this summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHISLAINE MAXWELL, EPSTEIN ACCOMPLICE: I think they were friendly like people are in social settings. I don't -- I don't think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the president in any of -- I don't recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And of course, the president has said he committed no wrongdoing and he is not being criminally investigated for any of this. I do want to bring in Liz Stein. She is an Epstein survivor who met Ghislaine Maxwell when she was just 21-years-old. And Liz, you now do a lot of work on behalf of sex trafficking victims and this is something you've done for a lot of years. We're just listening to my colleague, Manu Raju there on the Hill, talking to all of these House Republicans. And now, they're preparing for potentially what they're saying are mass defections on the Republican Party to vote for this. How do you feel about that?

LIZ STEIN, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Well, what we have been saying as survivors all along is that this isn't a partisan issue. It's a crime. Sex trafficking is a crime. And our focus is being put on to things that have nothing to do with what we're talking about. I think that we need to remember that this case has been ongoing for more than five administrations of both political parties. And so, to see it politicized in the way that it's being politicized right now is really an insult to us.

What we want to see is justice for the crimes that were committed against us. And we shouldn't be swayed by the fact that some of the people involved have really high powers and positions of power.

DEAN: Because this has turned into such a political issue, I mean, it is driving the conversation on Capitol Hill right now, at the White House. But for you and many others, it's so deeply personal and it is about justice, and those are very different things, politics and justice. How do you kind of balance all of that in your head?

STEIN: So I think that it's really encouraging to see the support that we're getting from Republican lawmakers right now, because you're exactly right. I think that we're -- people are starting to look at this as a human issue, which it is, instead of a political issue. And I think that we're hearing things come out of Republican lawmakers' mouths that are, I can't imagine if this happened to my daughter. I can't imagine if this happened to my sister.

And to really bring it down to that very, very human level, I think that it would be hard for any lawmaker to not follow their conscience in looking at this issue and to really just let them know how much we appreciate their bravery for standing with us, despite any pressure that they're getting from their party because they're standing on the right side of this issue, and that's what their job is.

DEAN: And there's an attorney representing several Epstein accusers, Arick Fudali. He has argued that the full release of these files, if they were to release all of these, would provide additional context to these emails that recently were made public. Do you agree with that? What are you looking for in all of this?

STEIN: As survivors, we want this information to come out. We want it to come out in a way that is appropriate to our safety and to our privacy. We want survivor's names to be redacted from this information when it's released, but we don't want perpetrator's names to be redacted when this information is released. And so, despite the fact that this might make us uncomfortable, we feel like it is so incredibly important for all of the information to be released, so these crimes can be looked at and prosecuted in the way that they need to be.

[14:10:00]

DEAN: And if those are released, I'm curious from your perspective, if you've felt limited in what you could say, if you've felt like you've had to maintain some silence, not just for your own privacy, but also because you want to protect yourself and anything beyond that. Does it help if it's coming from somewhere else that's not you, a survivor? STEIN: Absolutely, it does. And it's important for the public to understand it's not our job. It is our government's job to release this information and to prosecute these crimes. We've been giving them evidence for decades. They have the evidence, but they're not doing anything with it. And so anytime we see any little bit of this released, it gives us hope that there's going to be some transparency.

DEAN: All right, Liz Stein, thank you for being here. We really appreciate it.

STEIN: Thank you.

DEAN: And still to come, gasps heard in open court. We've got new details from a high-stakes hearing as James Comey and Letitia James tried to get the federal cases against them thrown out. Plus, the heartbreaking reason actor James Van Der Beek is auctioning off memorabilia from Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues. And a little bit later, one of the nation's closest allies accuses the Trump administration of violating international law by striking alleged drug votes in the Caribbean. These important stories and more, all coming up this hour on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:58]

KEILAR: We just witnessed a high-stakes hearing on whether the Interim U.S. Attorney who brought charges against two of President Trump's perceived political foes, has the legal authority to prosecute the cases at all. Lindsey Halligan was appointed by Trump himself after her predecessor expressed concerns about the evidence against former FBI Director, James Comey and New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Attorneys for Comey and James argue that Halligan appointment itself was unlawful and they want the charges dropped because of it.

CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is here with an update. Tell us about what happened in court. There was a specific moment. There was a kind of a dramatic one.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yeah, there were audible gasps inside the courtroom according to our team that was in there. And this happened because the judge raised a question with the Justice Department attorneys saying, well, if you look at a similar case, at least in -- if you look at the facts with the Trump case in Florida, where a judge there, Judge Aileen Cannon declared that Jack Smith was not lawfully appointed and therefore, the case against Donald Trump was tossed. You know, what do you say?

Do you think that that case was correctly decided? And the judge, obviously knew what he was -- what she was getting at here. And the Justice Department attorney said, well, that's a totally different matter and that's a totally different case because Jack Smith had a different type of authority as a Special Counsel. But it is an important question because if Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed, which is what the argument is from James Comey and his attorneys, and from Letitia James, that Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed at the time that the case was brought, then this -- at least the Comey case dies immediately. Some other prosecutor could later bring the Letitia James Case. But everything is riding on that one question that the judge asked today.

KEILAR: That's pretty interesting. And the judge says that several minutes of grand jury transcript in Comey's case are missing.

PEREZ: Well, yeah, I mean, we don't know what to make of this. The judge was simply asking very pointed questions of the prosecution and they're saying -- they're pointing out that the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said that she had reviewed all of the proceedings in this case. And she's saying, well, that can't be the case because there are several minutes of the transcript from the grand jury proceedings that are missing. Now, we don't know what the meaning of that is, whether the -- she also pointed out that it's possible that the court reporter was not present or just not taking notes at that time.

But it does goes to show you, Brianna, that the judge in this case is asking very, very pointed questions at the prosecution. She's expected to rule. She said she's going to rule before Thanksgiving on these very important motions as to whether Lindsey Halligan had the right to bring this case in the first place. And so, that's a big deal because obviously, they cannot bring the James Comey case again, given the fact that the statute of limitations have expired. So for the government, everything is riding on this one decision because this case could easily go away if she rules -- and if the judge rules that Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed.

KEILAR: Really interesting day in court. Evan, thank you so much for that. Jessica?

DEAN: CNN has learned Gregory Bovino, that's the top Border Patrol Official, an unofficial face of President Trump's immigration crackdown, has left Chicago along with his agents and is now headed to Charlotte. Bovino has been at the center of multiple legal challenges, including the use of force and unlawful arrest. And just yesterday, a judge ordered more than 600 people to be released after they were arrested during one of Bovino's operations.

Last week, a separate federal judge said Bovino admitted to lying about an encounter with demonstrators that saw Bovino himself throw at least one tear gas canister. The judge also noted how Bovino denied tackling another protestor despite this video which was played in court, showing him tackling the protester in question. Let's bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who's been following this for us since the beginning.

[14:20:00]

Priscilla, now we go to Charlotte. What can we expect?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this would be the third city that Bovino has gone to with this new mandate of leading the charge of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in these cities. Chicago, of course, got a lot of attention given what occurred there, the litigation, and some of the heavy handed tactics. But that came after Los Angeles, where similarly, there was litigation as well as those protests and concern over the way that Border Patrol was conducting arrests in that city.

So, the expectation is that Charlotte may be much of the same. Now, he has a style, Bovino and his agents, and the way that they carry out enforcement, it is one that has been touted by the Department of Homeland Security and the White House because they see it as effective. Now, this is what is expected as he goes to different cities. I had asked him when I had interviewed him a few weeks ago, how he decides where to go next. And he said that it is based on intelligence.

And what sources tell me is that now, that is leading him to Charlotte and then later to New Orleans. Now, New Orleans is interesting because the state of Louisiana and its governor have been quite welcoming to the idea of having more federal agents present for these types of crackdowns. So, we'll see how that looks. But in the interim, we do have this stop in Charlotte, according to sources, who say that that is what the plans are right now.

So look, Bovino has garnered a lot of national attention as he's gone city to city. He travels with his agents who are from the El Centro sector, the sector along the U.S. southern border that he leads. So it's not that immigration enforcement ends in these cities after he leaves. It continues with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But, his style and the way that his agents go about their crackdowns is one that they're taking to different cities to yield more immigration arrests because, of course, that is what the White House wants to see.

They've been saying that they have achieved thousands of arrests in Chicago over the span of time that they were there. And that is a pace that they want to continue in each of these cities. And also, cities that are led by Democrats where they similarly are making a statement about the politics of the location and where it comes head to head with the Trump administration.

DEAN: Yeah, it always seems to have that key factor involved as well. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

Up next here, a first of its kind study has revealed a clearer link between a specific type of food and rising cases of colorectal cancer. We're going to tell you what that is. Plus, we now know who's considering running against Kennedy heir, Jack Schlossberg in New York City's congressional race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:11]

DEAN: Actor James Van Der Beek is selling what he calls his treasures. These are items from his days starring in Varsity Blues and Dawson's Creek. People reports his auction includes the necklace he gifted the character Joey on Dawson's Creek. That is expected to bring in as much as $50,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWSON LEERY, PORTRAYED BY JAMES VAN DER BEEK, THE DAWSON'S CREEK: Dawson and Joey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The 48-year-old father of six says that he's been "Waiting for the right time to do something with them. And with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it's clear that the time is now." People reports that Van Der Beek will use the funds to help with the cost of his cancer treatment. He's currently facing stage three colorectal cancer. So let's talk about this now with Dr. Tricia Pasricha, a gastroenterologist, Harvard Medical School professor, and the Ask a Doctor Columnist for The Washington Post.

Doctor, I think this really highlights, right, the struggles of this disease, the costs of the struggles of this disease. What does it mean to be living with stage three colorectal cancer?

DR. TRICIA PASRICHA, GASTROENTEROLOGIST: That's absolutely right, Brianna. His case is really heartbreaking. It's also quite courageous. And stories like these really push us to think about acting earlier and late. So stage three cancers, colorectal cancer is very serious. It is often curable. Treatment for this type of cancer often involves a surgery to remove the tumor and then followed by medical treatment like with chemotherapy. What stage three is telling us is that this is a cancer that has begun in his colon and has spread to local lymph nodes, but hasn't reached other organs throughout his body. So it's a long, it's a difficult journey and unfortunately, for so many people in this country, very costly.

DEAN: Yeah. And how common is it? Especially, I've been reading about more and more younger people are being affected by this.

PASRICHA: That's absolutely right. So this trend in early onset cases, meaning people who are getting cancers and specifically colorectal cancer before the age of 50, it's been rising since the 1990s and it's a trend that has really alarmed a lot of scientists and physicians. And over the last several years and decades, we've been starting to get more and more pieces of those puzzles about why this might be happening.

Overall, these early onset cases that happen before the age of 50, they don't make up the majority of the cases, but they're the most rapidly rising. And so, we're trying very desperately to try to figure out why.

KEILAR: And I want to get your reaction to a new study that suggests eating ultra-processed foods may significantly raise the odds of that.

PASRICHA: Yeah, so this is a new study that came from the Nurses' Health Study and what this evidence is showing --