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DOJ Directs Top NY Federal Prosecutor To Look Into Trump's Demand For Epstein Investigation; Ghislaine Maxwell's Lawyer: Prison Staffers Fired For Sharing "Privileged" Emails Between Him And Maxwell; Georgia's RICO Case Against Trump, Allies Gets New Prosecutor; Indiana Senate Won't Meet To Consider Redistricting Despite Trump's Push; Thousands Of Parents, Guardians Of Migrant Kids Arrested In Trump Administration Crackdown. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 14, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

JENIFER MORIARTY, EVANSTON RESIDENT: I mean, that was a crowd of probably 70 percent women. And these men were out there pulling their guns and trying to mace people. They're afraid of communities who are on alert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Our thanks to Shimon Prokupes for that report. And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump orders the DOJ to investigate alleged ties between Jeffrey Epstein and many high-profile figures, all while criticizing what he calls weak Republicans for siding with the Democrats on the push to release the Epstein files.

Plus, new life for an old case. The Georgia election interference case against President Trump and several of his allies will move forward with a new prosecutor. And we're going to tell you who's taking over and what it means for the case.

Plus, building a better spy using artificial intelligence. A leading A.I. company says Chinese hackers use their technology to spy on American companies and government agencies.

We're following these major developing stories and many more. They're all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We do have breaking news just hours after President Donald Trump said he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein's ties to high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton. The DOJ is now directing federal prosecutors in New York to look into the President's demands.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House. She is joining us now with more on this. This news just coming down.

Kristen, what more are you hearing?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, this shift in strategy is moving very quickly. President Trump has spent most of his time denying, deflecting, calling the Epstein files or the controversy around it a Democratic hoax, and now we see him trying to take control of the narrative. Not only has he said he was going to ask his attorney general and Justice Department to now look into these prominent Democrats that had ties to Epstein and what those ties actually were. Many of them were mentioned in the same email batch that his name was mentioned. These were the Epstein e-mails released by House Oversight Democrats.

But on top of that, now we have the attorney general saying that this investigation is essentially underway, that she has put the top New York prosecutor in charge of actually leading this investigation. And again, this is coming. As we know, President Trump has continued to be incredibly frustrated over the narrative around the Epstein files, the Epstein case. Completely frustrated with the fact that it hasn't gone away, despite the fact that he continues to try and change the subject.

Now, we see him going in a completely different direction. Because of course, Jessica, this is going to ensure that anything related to the Epstein controversy stays in center spotlight. But President Trump, here, shifting it so that he feels that he is controlling the actual narrative, at the same time that we know that his allies have been telling him that they think he's getting bad advice when it comes to how to handle this case.

I will tell you, a senior White House official told me anyone who's telling him he's getting bad advice doesn't know what advice he's getting at the White House. Likely also in reference to the fact that President Trump himself has been driving a lot of the response, which means he's taking his own advice.

However, here, he has shifted on where he's going with this. We just don't know exactly what the long-term game plan is around any of this.

DEAN: It is interesting to see the evolution of where Trump has come down on this. Because I don't have to tell you, you were there for all the rallies. But during the campaign, the President, J.D. Vance, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, all of these people went on and on and on about the Epstein files and releasing them and how that was so important and they were going to uncover these giant conspiracy theories. And so, is it clear, Kristen, at this point, kind of why there's been this shift back and forth from that position to what we've seen and where we're going?

HOLMES: No, there isn't -- it isn't clear. And that's why you've had so many allies of President Trump's and long-term supporters who have become increasingly frustrated with this idea that President Trump and essentially his entire cabinet ran on the idea of releasing these files and now has come into a place where they are trying to stop a vote from happening on the floor to release these files.

If you ask the White House, they say there has been no shift in strategy, that they have released every possible thing that they can legally release, arguing that they didn't have the subpoena power to subpoena the estate, which, of course, as we know, is where these Epstein emails came from, saying that anything that they could actually do, they have done.

But when you talk to even Republican lawmakers, they say that's not enough. There's more out there. We want everything.

DEAN: All right. Kristen Holmes with the very latest reporting from the White House. Thank you for that. Brianna?

KEILAR: We're now learning that employees working at the minimum- security prison camp where convicted child sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving time, have now been fired.

[15:05:08]

This comes after the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee revealed earlier this week that a whistleblower alleged Maxwell was receiving special treatment at the facility. CNN's Annie Grayer is part of the team that broke this story.

Employees being fired. What -- what are you learning here?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So, these firings come just a few days after a whistleblower came to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee with claims that Maxwell was receiving special treatment in prison. And this -- and Democrats then put all -- all the information they received in a letter directly to President Trump. And some of the claims that the whistleblower was making was that Maxwell was able to get meals delivered to her, that she had a service dog that was assigned to her, that she was able to exercise in a recreation -- recreational area after hours.

And this -- this whistleblower claims that no one else was getting this kind of treatment, that the warden specifically was acting sort of as a go-between for Maxwell in the outside world, making sure that she got communications and emails quickly.

Now, Maxwell's attorneys are supportive of these firings. They say that the whistleblower brought information to Democrats on Capitol Hill, breaking attorney-client privilege, and that none of this information should be out there.

But Democrats point out that anyone who is using any of the prison systems has to acknowledge a waiver that your information is going to be monitored in some way, and maintain that there is no breaking of attorney-client privilege here, and they're going to protect their whistleblower's identity. But Maxwell has been part of this firestorm of the Epstein controversy. She's currently serving 20 years in prison as part of being part of this sex trafficking ring. She was interviewed by the Justice Department over the summer for her role in all this, and continues to be a major figure, as both the Hill, the White House, and the Department of Justice are all continuing to investigate this.

KEILAR: I am curious how unlimited toilet paper would be privy to attorney-client privilege, right? Especially if once you introduce, say, a warden or some other official, that privilege, I don't believe it exists. Nonetheless, is it even clear why Maxwell's getting this special treatment, or who's signing off -- you know, who -- who's sort of giving the okay on these things?

GRAYER: It's very unclear, and our colleague MJ Lee, who was also reporting on the special treatment, got a statement from the Bureau of Prison saying that Maxwell isn't receiving any special treatment. In fact, another Trump administration official told our colleague MJ that -- that Maxwell is, if anything, the -- the treatment is just to protect the security of both her and the other prisoners in this lower security prison.

But there's a lot of questions here about why these certain decisions are being made. That is why Raskin put all of this in a letter and is asking the President to answer for it directly.

KEILAR: These aren't violent criminals, right, in this prison, to our understanding?

GRAYER: Right. Low-security prison.

KEILAR: Low-security prison. She's actually the sort of outstanding, I think, kind of unusual prisoner in this low-security prison who kind of sticks out there.

Annie Grayer, great reporting. Thank you so much for that.

And still to come, the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and his allies is now in the hands of a new prosecutor. What that means for the President and his 18 co- defendants.

Plus, CNN's exclusive reporting on how the Trump administration has arrested thousands of parents and guardians who allegedly paid for kids to cross the border into the US.

And later, a daring rescue caught on video. How the Coast Guard brought a father and son clinging to their overturned boat back to safety.

We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[00:02:56]

KEILAR: There's a new prosecutor in the only criminal case left against President Trump. Georgia's 2020 election interference investigation that also involves 18 co-defendants. Peter Skandalakis is now leading the prosecution after he says no one else wanted the job. The spot came open after an appeals court removed Fulton County DA Fani Willis over questions of her authority. The President and others are facing racketeering charges for an alleged scheme using fake electors to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state.

Let's talk about this now with former federal prosecutor Berit Berger.

All right, Berit, where does this case go now? What are -- what are you looking for in this December 1st hearing with this new prosecutor? BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: So, this new prosecutor has

the obligation now to review all of the evidence in this case with fresh eyes. He needs to go and he needs to look through to see if the evidence still supports moving forward with the prosecution, not just with the President, but for all of these 18 defendants. He has an obligation under, you know, his prosecutorial ethics, not only to see if it's still the just cause, but to really see if they actually still have the witnesses, the documents that they would need to move forward with the case.

KEILAR: The case was assigned to Peter Skandalakis. He's the director of that council that was in charge of finding a new prosecutor for the case. And he said, quote, "The filing of this appointment reflects my inability to secure another conflict prosecutor to assume responsibility for this case."

He said several prosecutors were contacted. They declined the appointment. I mean, he's like the last guy standing here. What does that tell you?

BERGER: Yes, it's interesting. We don't know why these people that were contacted said no. It's possible they looked at the evidence and said, look, I don't know that we can bring a case here. Certainly, at least with respect to the President himself, it's going to be almost impossible for anyone to bring a case. We can talk more about why.

[15:15:01]

But we don't know if that's the reason they said no, or the alternative is that they were asked and they said, no, we're nervous about potential retaliation or retribution from the President, because as we've seen, he does not look kindly on people who go after him or who he perceives as persecuting him, which he would certainly be thinking in this case.

KEILAR: And I want to ask you now about the Epstein files, because we also just learned that Attorney General Pam Bondi is assigning Jay Clayton, who is the top prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, to lead this probe into Jeffrey Epstein's ties to high profile figures, including Democrats. And she made this announcement just hours after the President publicly instructed her to do so. What's your reaction to that?

BERGER: I mean, my first reaction is the Justice Department had said they already undertook these investigations. I mean, the attorney general came out and earlier in the Trump administration said, we've looked, there is no evidence that would support charging anybody else with respect to the Epstein case. So presumably they have already done this investigation. If the Justice Department wants to continue investigating based on new evidence, based on new documents that were released, that's fine. Where they are going to get in trouble here is the people that have been identified by the President as being worthy of investigations share one thing, in that they're all Democrats that the President perceives as enemies.

So, we're going to get the same type of arguments that we got with respect to the Comey case, with respect to the James case, in that, you know, the President is picking out his targets first, not based on the evidence, but based on who he wants to be prosecuted.

KEILAR: And in 2023, JPMorgan Chase, the bank did pay a lot of money, almost $300 million to settle this class action lawsuit with Epstein survivors who alleged that the bank had turned a blind eye to unusual cash transactions they say enabled his scheme. There was no admission or denial of wrongdoing in that process, we should note.

But given that, could there be a legitimate reason to look into financial dealings of institutions here?

BERGER: I mean, possibly. I haven't seen the documents that would support it. I mean, the bank claims that they ended their relationship with Epstein far before the sex trafficking charges. I mean, there is either documents that would support this or there's evidence that wouldn't support this.

So, you know, is investigation warranted? It may be, again, if the evidence is there. The way that the investigation would not be warranted is if the President has just chosen potential targets based on the fact that they, you know, identify as liberal or conservative or they're friends or foes of the President. You know, that's not a basis for starting the investigation. But certainly, if there's legitimate evidence, whether it's new witnesses that have come forward, new documents that have been unearthed, yes, then absolutely, the Southern District should investigate.

You know, I will be interested to see how many prosecutors the Southern District in New York finds that are interested and willing to work on these cases, particularly if they think that they are politically motivated as opposed to supported by actual evidence.

KEILAR: Yes, that's a very good point because it could affect their careers as lawyers, which will obviously go on for some time beyond this administration. Berit Berger, thanks for being with us.

BERGER: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: And ahead, some new CNN reporting on how the Trump administration is arresting the thousands of parents and guardians of migrant children who allegedly paid for them to cross the border into the U.S.

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[15:23:14]

KEILAR: Breaking news into CNN. President Trump's push to redraw congressional lines ahead of next year's midterms has hit a wall in Indiana. The Republican leader of the state senate has announced there are not enough votes to pass the new maps. He says because of that his chamber won't meet for the special session that Governor Mike Braun had called at the behest of the President, the Vice President and Trump's political allies. We'll be keeping a close eye on this story. In the meantime, 21 people have been arrested including at least one

clergy member during tense clashes outside the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago. CNN affiliates tell us the protests were largely peaceful but then police acted quickly when a group of protesters reportedly began pushing past barriers in a designated protest zone and that led to arrests. Jessica?

DEAN: Let's turn now to a CNN exclusive on the President's immigration crackdown. We're learning the Trump administration is targeting minors who crossed the border into the U.S. alone and the parents and guardians who allegedly paid for the children to cross over. In some cases, agents were directed to impose charges such as smuggling against those caretakers then leaving the children in limbo.

Let's bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez who did this exclusive reporting.

Priscilla, tell us -- tell us more about what you found.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the population of children that we're talking about here are those who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone either recently but also especially during the Biden administration. The Trump administration has been hyper-focused on this population of kids and the people who are caring for them who historically have been their parents, relatives or other guardians.

And so, the operations that have been launched over the last several months by this administration have been targeting -- targeting this subset of the population. And for the first time, we're learning about what that's yielded for them.

[15:25:02]

Three-thousand arrests or nearly 3,000 arrests of, again -- what we call -- so-called sponsors which can be parents, relatives or guardians of these children.

And in talking to both officials as well as advocates who work with these kids, it's a mixed bag of situations in which a child was at risk and therefore was taken out of that environment. But also in many cases, parents who were simply undocumented or as you say there had paid for the child to cross the U.S.-Mexico border and are detained for that purpose.

And I should note here Jessica and having covered this issue for many years, just about everyone who crosses the U.S.-Mexico border does have to pay somebody. So, this is a charge that they are levying against some of these sponsors.

Now, again, the Homeland Security Department had told me in a statement that these arrests are connected to human smuggling investigations but similarly they have said that sponsors who are in the United States illegally could be deported and they said they can bring their children with them if they choose. More to the point, a health and human services official told us, quote, "Unless we put our foot down and say that we're not going to accept this as a nation, that we don't want kids smuggled across the border, it's going to continue unless there's a punishment for it."

So, that gives you a glimpse into the thinking within the administration and sources tell us that at the White House, they see this as a way to ramp up deportations because it is a population of people they know where they are, they know where they're located. They also think that they can message this as a humanitarian mission because they have stumbled upon cases where a child was at risk. But this is an unprecedented effort that is underway. It's one that is stirring alarm because it can leave some kids in limbo. The kids in government custody who have not yet been released are also languishing in care and I'm told that some of them are afraid to have their parents pick them up because they think their parents are going to be detained because of them.

So, you can see what a complicated situation this has created. I will say the administration is not letting up on it. They -- this week launched another partnership with Florida in this case where they will have more door knocks in that state to find these children as well setting up a call center. So, again, to wrap this up best case scenario do you find a child who's in a bad situation, worst case scenario and the one that advocates are raising the alarm over you're separating these families and these kids are going back into custody and the parents are being deported.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Priscilla Alvarez with her exclusive reporting. Thank you for that.

Republican leaders are bracing for a significant number of lawmakers to break from President Trump and support the release of the Epstein files. We're going to discuss this with Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley, that's next.

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