Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Senate Sends Bill Forcing Release of Epstein Files to Trump; Jeffries Refuses to Criticize House Dem Who Texted with Epstein; Trump Praises Mohammed bin Salman for Growing U.S.-Saudi Ties; 4 Reasons Americans Won't Get a $2K Check from Trump Anytime Soon; Trump Promises $2,000 Rebate Checks to Struggling Americans. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 19, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... Portrait of Elizabeth Lederer was made in the final years of the Austrian painter's life and narrowly escaped destruction during World War II. Not a bad-looking piece. The price tag though for me, I don't know. Hey, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: It is the day survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been waiting for. President Trump expected at some point today to sign the bill that would force the release of the Epstein files. We'll speak with a survivor about what this moment means for her.

Plus, President Trump has repeatedly suggested using tariffs to fund rebate checks for Americans. Just ahead, the four reasons why you will likely never see that $2,000 he's promised and one unsettling reason why you might.

Plus, immigration rates ramping up in North Carolina as rallies against the administration's crackdown stretch across the state. New reporting this hour on which city could be the White House's next target in its immigration crackdown.

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

Five hours, that is how long it has been since the Epstein files bill cleared the Senate, putting it now in President Trump's court. Earlier, a White House official -- senior White House official, said the bill would be signed whenever it gets to the White House. We have to be transparent though, the timing at this hour is still not clear for when that will happen. Also unclear at this hour, what Attorney General Pam Bondi might do next. Lawmakers and Epstein survivors are concerned she could use the investigations that were opened last week as a reason to keep some of those files hidden. Here's what the Attorney General had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What changed since then that you launched this investigation?

BONDI: Information that has come -- information. There's information that, new information, additional information, and again we will continue to follow the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Manu Raju is live on Capitol Hill at this hour.

So, Manu, what more do we know about next steps here?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this bill will be signed into law according to the White House and then it will take a matter of about 30 days according to the legislation for the Justice Department to release this doc -- these documents to the public. The question is going to be whether those these documents will be redacted, whether the full Epstein files will be released, and whether they may cite ongoing investigations to deny the release of some of those documents. Those are all the questions that I'm hearing here in the halls of Capitol Hill and the extent to which Epstein's connections, who they impact.

We do -- we have learned actually over the last week that it goes well beyond some Republicans and some other financiers but also to some Democrats as well. There's one Democratic delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett, who sits on a key House committee and it was revealed in a text exchange that was -- came out last week through the House Oversight Committee that she was in direct communication with Jeffrey Epstein over -- during a hearing in 2019 involving Michael Cohen, who was Trump's former fixer.

At that time and during the hearing, it appeared that she was asking him questions and they're going back and forth about what she should actually ask Cohen in that hearing. And that has prompted enormous concern here in the House, including an effort that ultimately failed last night to censure her and remove her from the House Intelligence Committee.

I asked the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, if he is okay with this happening in his caucus given that he also voted against censuring her over this matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Stacey Plaskett was in direct communication with Jeffrey Epstein and this was after he pleaded guilty to sex crimes, after the Miami Herald investigation into all these heinous acts. So, why is a -- as a Democratic leader, why are you okay with that?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I expressed my position on the floor yesterday. My statement speaks for itself. In a bipartisan way, a bipartisan way, the resolution that was introduced targeting Stacey Plaskett was defeated, and it was defeated for several reasons including the fact that it was a dramatic overreach related to throwing her off her committees.

RAJU: But what about actions -- her actions?

JEFFRIES: Democrats -- Democrats -- if you're going to ask a question, you got to let me answer. Democrats and Republicans defeated the censure. Stacey Plaskett has made clear her position as it relates to Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly and her words speak for itself.

(End VT)

[15:05:04]

RAJU: And I asked Jeffries later if he has spoken with her and he said that he hadn't spoken with her after the censure vote was defeated. I pressed him further about shouldn't he have spoken with her given all of this controversy and he said that he did in fact speak with her and had a private conversation but would not reveal any of the contents of that conversation. She herself has defended her interactions with Jeffrey Epstein's and she also told our colleagues Pamela Brown and Wolf Blitzer earlier this morning that she is moving forward despite the controversy of that exchange. Guys.

HILL: Manu, appreciate it. Thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We're joined now by one of Epstein's survivors. Danielle Bensky is with us. She was just 17 years old when she met him. Danielle, thank you so much for being with us today.

DANIELLE BENSKY, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Thank you so much for having me.

SANCHEZ: Our understanding is that this bill is now on the President's desk and at any moment we'll get confirmation that President Trump has signed off on it. Did you ever think you would see that happen?

BENSKY: Definitely not this fast.

SANCHEZ: Okay.

BENSKY: You know, or ever really. We think about five administrations. We think a lot about Annie and Maria Farmer. I think about Maria Farmer coming forward in 1996 and just the series of systemic failures that happened along the way. There was a bit more hope, I think, when we came back to the Hill in September for that press conference. It felt like a very powerful moment.

And I think since then there's been a lot of naysaying. There's been a lot of folks that have said, you'll never get the petition. You'll never get it through the House. You'll never get it into the House, you know, and then forget getting it to Senate. So, it was amazing to see how fast this whole piece went once we got to the Hill.

I was really thinking and prepared to come back in January and February and meet with senators. There's a group of -- a lot of survivors that like to, sort of, canvas the area and talk to senators, talk to their congresspeople. We're all very invested, of course, because we care so deeply about this topic and how personal it is to us.

SANCHEZ: No doubt.

BENSKY: So, you know, we really thought we were prepared to like, you know, have the babysitters on standby and have the -- the you know, the partners like doing all the work, because we were really prepared to come back and really fight this fight in the Senate. Like every congressperson that I met yesterday when we were in the House, I would ask, okay, who are the senators that I should go to first?

SANCHEZ: Sure.

BENSKY: Where should I start this process? So, I was sort of like formulating a list. And then, we were at the vigil and it was this beautiful moment of uplifting one of our survivor sisters who is not here anymore and actually honoring all of the survivors that have passed due to trauma. And they're no longer with us. And there's this beautiful moment. And then, all of a sudden I got the whisper in my ear, it's on -- it's on Trump's desk. And I was like, what's on Trump's desk?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BENSKY: And they're like, the bill is on -- like, how did it get through Senate? Oh, it was a unanimous vote. They just passed it that fast.

So, I think that it's an amazing act and it just shows what the American people can do. We are so public as survivors right now. And, of course, they show us, thank you for the media coverage because you're showing us actually going to the offices and doing the legislative work, which is so important. But the -- the calls coming from all these different cities and calling from everybody at home. And now like I know I've told my parents, my -- you know, everybody -- everybody that I know to tell, please call your congressperson, please.

And I think that that made this move and that made the difference that it became so much more than just those that were standing up there. And it was more than even -- it wasn't about Epstein and Maxwell victims and survivors at that point. It was about women as a whole and women who have endured possibly abuse in their history, which is a lot of us. And I think that everybody sort of bonded together and that was how it became this -- this larger-than-life thing that just happened in real time. I still can't believe it was only 24 hours.

SANCHEZ: As one guest that we had on yesterday said, it shows the power of democracy. And as you said, people banding together over causes that are -- that are important. I -- I wonder as we await on the timing of this, whether you've heard anything from the White House, there was some discussion as to whether or not they might invite some of the survivors over there. If they did, would you be interested in going?

BENSKY: I would have to think about that. You know, I think, of course, there are logistics involved there for my own family and all of that as well. But, yes, I would have to think about it. I think survivors have a little bit of whiplash right now because we have been at this fight for so long and then it just feels almost too easy right now. And I'm wondering if there is a piece of, like, we don't want to see this bill be held up anywhere, right? We want the transparency. It's what we've been fighting for from the beginning. And it feels a little bit like, will there be new legislate -- or new ...

SANCHEZ: Hurdles.

[15:10:05]

BENSKY: Hurdles, right, exactly.

So, like, will we see a new case pop up where everything get -- where the documents get tied up or things are going to be too heavily redacted, right? So, like, there's a little bit of, we are so -- we are in this moment of -- of victory, but it's not actually the finish line yet.

SANCHEZ: Right.

BENSKY: So, I think we're a little bit skeptical and a little bit hesitant. So, until we really understand that, like, this is happening, I think I'd have to make that call when we get there.

SANCHEZ: How would you know when you've reached that finish line? In other words, how would you know when all the documents are released, when all the names that should be unredacted are actually unredacted?

BENSKY: That's a really good question. You know, I just -- I think that when we get the files, you'll be able to see, like, that's where the process actually starts, right? So, when the files are released and we start to look through them, I think that there will be -- it's all a web and it's all interwoven and we all know, you know, I like to call it an enterprise because it was. Jeffrey and his estate, they were very smart, and Ghislaine, right? They were very smart and they had so many people to make this happen, right?

They had Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, who are the accountant and the lawyer. There were so many people that knew that this was going on. So, I think that when you start to get into the files and you start to unearth it, you will find quite a bit.

SANCHEZ: That's something I wanted to ask you about, and I -- and I don't want to say anything that could put you in legal jeopardy, ask anything that can put you in legal jeopardy.

BENSKY: Yes.

SANCHEZ: So, I'm not eager to -- to have you name names, but I -- I do want to ask more broadly if there are people that were involved with Epstein, who you were hoping their names will be unearthed through these files, people who should be held accountable that have not been held accountable.

BENSKY: I think that it's -- you know, survivors have a ton of litigation out there right now because that's how we know how to move through the courts, right? SANCHEZ: Yes.

BENSKY: So, when everybody says, name the names, name the names, and we say, yes, it is for safety for a lot of people that they don't want to name names. But there is also the part of this where we have been trying to for so long, and that is where it can feel frustrating for survivors because, like, I have had a piece of litigation out there and others have as well where it does name those names.

And so, I think that when we, if we just follow the records and follow the litigation and try to do a little bit of research about what's actually already out there, we will -- we'll find what we're looking for.

SANCHEZ: We -- we really hope you'll keep in touch and get the answers and the transparency that you've been seeking for so long. We're so grateful. Thank you so much, Danielle.

BENSKY: Thank you so much, yes, I hope so.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for your time.

BENSKY: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you. Thanks so much.

BENSKY: You too.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Trump touting a strong economic alliance with Saudi Arabia, though many Americans have concerns about his relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Plus, the President teasing the idea of a $2,000 tariff rebate check. It may or may not happen. And even then, some experts think it's a bad idea. We'll explain why.

And later, cities in North Carolina now the focus of the administration's immigration crackdown. Leaders there, though, are doing things to protect fearful residents. We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:35]

HILL: President Trump playing up strong ties with Saudi Arabia on day two of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington. The President speaking about the shared partnership between the two nations at a U.S.-Saudi investment forum earlier today. The White House has announced several landmark deals on everything from A.I. to nuclear energy and is even designating now the kingdom as a major non- NATO ally. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House this hour.

So, Kristen, the Trump administration has really been fostering this relationship with the Saudis for some time now. How have these last couple of days strengthened that relationship? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, according

to White House officials, they believe that the United States got a lot out of the last couple of days. President Trump, of course, touting that $1 trillion. You mentioned how much the United States and President Trump, this administration, has been fostering this relationship. President Trump kind of bucked all norms by spending his first trip going to Saudi Arabia and these Gulf Arab countries, which is not generally what one does when becoming president.

So, as you can see there, you see these U.S.-Saudi Arabia ties. President Trump elevating Saudi Arabia to a major non-NATO ally. And, of course, again, the $1 trillion investment in the U.S. and the agreement to sell American-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, which has caused a lot of concern in areas of the Middle East to believe that this will shift the military balance in that area.

Now, one thing to keep in mind, if you're curious just how close President Trump has gotten to the Crown Prince, I would refer you back to what happened yesterday when the President essentially publicly went against U.S. intelligence when it came to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post reporter.

U.S. intelligence had found that the Crown Prince likely directed that murder of President Trump yesterday in the Oval Office when asked about it, saying he had nothing to do with it, he knew nothing about it.

HILL: It was really quite a moment, as we know. Kristen, I did also want to see, I know you have been reaching out to the White House trying to get an answer on when we may see the President sign this bill to release the Epstein files. Is there any further clarification at this point from the White House on when that may happen?

HOLMES: Yes, and to be clear, Erica, we don't know that we'll actually see him sign this bill. Yes, President Trump, often when he gets a bill like this, one that would have this kind of level of approval in Congress, he would want to sign it with all the pomp and circumstance, bring in the cameras, bring in the reporters for questions.

[15:20:05]

But the way we've seen President Trump react to this bill, I mean, spending months trying to not even allow it to get to the floor for a vote, it's unclear that he's going to want to have any kind of show around the signing of this bill. Now, we were talking to some officials on the Hill who said that it could take several hours for it to actually be transmitted from the Senate to the White House. But it's been several hours now since we know that it was sent over.

No answers on when he will sign it. If it is here, we were told by officials that he was going to sign it as soon as it was on his desk. But again, no updates since we know it's been hours since it was sent over by the Senate. Yes. Kristen, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, the $2,000 tariff rebate checks promised by the President may hit a roadblock or two before making it to your account. We'll take a look at the chances that you would ever see one of those checks after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:37]

SANCHEZ: So, President Trump keeps promising to use money from tariff revenue to gift $2,000 rebate checks to millions of Americans to help make them make ends meet. He reiterated the point today, hinting that the move was essentially a done deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have taken in trillions of dollars and it's been absolutely -- absolutely amazing. We'll be -- we're going to be doing a dividend to the people, low- and middle-income, moderate-income people, of at least $2,000. In addition to that, we'll be paying down debt very substantially. It's kind of money we're taking in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Economists are skeptical, to say the least. CNN Senior Reporter Matt Egan is here to explain why. Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Boris, the President makes it sound like it's a done deal, right? Like these checks are already in the mail. And there's no doubt a lot of people could use that money right now. However, I've got to tell you, at this point in time, it looks very unlikely that these checks actually get sent out. There's major obstacles here, perhaps insurmountable ones, starting with the math.

So, it's hard to say exactly how much these dividend checks would cost because very few details have been released. But the Tax Foundation estimates that the minimum it would cost would be $280 billion. Not only is that a lot of money, it's a lot more money than the President's tariffs are estimated to bring in next year, which is a little over $200 billion.

But if the checks are structured more generously to really go out to more people, then you could be looking at an even bigger cost of $600 billion. That would be more than this year's new tariff revenue and next year's combined. Now, there's also political obstacles here, too, right? Because it's not something that the President can just do. Congress would have to sign off. And it's far from clear that there would be votes in Congress to support this, especially because Republicans have just spent years criticizing Biden-era stimulus checks for high inflation, even though that was only part of the story.

And look, some economists, they do say that if you send out stimulus checks now, it would be inflationary because you'd be boosting demand without increasing supply. Even some Trump-friendly economists are skeptical. Stephen Moore, the former Trump economic advisor, he told me that sending out checks to people is a bad way to stimulate the economy. Stimulus checks only stimulate inflation. And there's also legal obstacles here, as well, because the Supreme

Court sounds very skeptical of the President's use of emergency powers under a 1977 law known as IEEPA to put those tariffs in place. And that is a problem because if the court strikes down the use of IEEPA, that would wipe out the vast majority of the tariff revenue that has already been collected.

You put it all together, clearly a lot of obstacles. That's why over on Polly Market, the prediction platform, they see just a 15 percent chance that these tariff checks actually become a reality by the end of March. So, look, Boris, yes, it's a great talking point when people are struggling, but right now it looks pretty unlikely.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and that's part of the reason you see the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, sort of struggle when he's asked about this to explain how it would work and who it would go to and -- and all of that. I wonder, though, if the economy really starts to stumble, would it make these checks more likely?

EGAN: Yes, Boris, it would. I mean, the clearest path to making this a reality would be to make it viewed as a necessity because, remember, stimulus checks are really tools for break the glass emergency moments like these tariff -- these stimulus checks that actually went out back in April 2020. Of course, that was during the COVID-19 pandemic, an actual health emergency. But, yes, if the job market really starts to stumble, if the unemployment rate starts to go up, tariff rebate checks could become a reality. But, of course, we -- that's, you know, not what we want to see. I mean, hopefully the economy continues to chug along and rebate checks like this are not viewed as a necessity. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that reporting.

So, hundreds have been arrested in the past few days in federal immigration crackdowns targeting North Carolina. We have the latest from the area next.

[15:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)