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Justice Department Released New Batch of Epstein Documents; Trump Deals Another Blow to Wind Energy; Brown University Puts Police Chief on Leave After Deadly Shooting; Veterans Affairs Employees Brace for More Cuts. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired December 23, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: -- The Oklahoma City Thunder then finished off a dominant season, beating the Indiana Pacers in seven games to win their first-ever NBA title.
And at Number One on our list is the Los Angeles Dodgers edging out the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the most dramatic World Series of all time. The Blue Jays an inch away from winning it all in game seven, but the Dodgers coming through in the clutch thanks to amazing performances from Japanese stars Yoshi Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.
FREDDIE FREEMAN, DODGERS FIRST BASEMAN: It's kind of amazing, crazy and I'm just glad we won.
SCHOLES And the Dodgers will look for the three-peat in 2026 which will be one of the busiest sports calendars in a long time with the Winter Olympics in February and the World Cup kicking off in June.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.
ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A new tranche of Epstein files just released. This latest batch includes President Trump's name in reference to flight records for Jeffrey Epstein's private plane.
KEILAR: Plus, Brown University sidelines its top safety official and hires new legal counsel as the federal government opens an investigation into the deadly mass shooting at the Ivy League school. And bracing for cuts, Veterans Affairs employees say they're finding little to be merry about this holiday season as the agency says it will eliminate tens of thousands of open and unfilled positions.
We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."
HILL: So Breaking News on the Epstein files at this hour. The Department of Justice just moments ago putting out a new statement about one of the 30,000 pages of documents which were released overnight.
KEILAR: First, here is the initial document we're talking about. It's a disturbing letter signed J. Epstein that was sent to convicted sex offender, Larry Nassar, in the same month that Epstein died, postmarked just a few days after his -- what has been ruled a suicide. And it appears to make a lewd reference to President Trump without directly mentioning him by name.
We do note, President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing. CNN's Marshall Cohen is back with us. DOJ now saying something about this document. What's their reaction?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, you know, so we -- all day, we've been talking about. Here's what we know, here's what we don't know. Some things are maybe getting a little clearer and some questions are being raised. So let me read for you what just came out from the Justice Department.
They are raising questions about the legitimacy of this letter. They said, "The DOJ is currently looking into the validity of this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar, and we will follow up as soon as possible." DOJ goes on to say that they believe three facts stand out.
The postmark on the envelope is Virginia, not New York, where Jeffrey Epstein was jailed at the time. DOJ continues on saying that the return address listed the wrong jail where Epstein was held and did not include his inmate number, which is required for outgoing mail. And then, Brianna, as you mentioned, the envelope was processed three days after Epstein's death.
That last point's not too crazy because, you know, inmates don't have the privilege to immediately send mail out. But other two points that DOJ is raising to try to question the validity of this, as they say, they are looking into it. But I need to point out when this emerged a few years back, we learned from a public records request that the FBI had asked its handwriting experts to compare this note to Jeffrey Epstein's known handwriting.
And what we haven't seen in the Epstein files releases these last few days is the results of that analysis, which probably would tell us a pretty definitive answer.
HILL: So it'd be good to get those results, I guess, as we're waiting for that and perhaps more clarification if it is to come on that letter. We also know that in this latest document dump, there are flight records which include President Trump being on some of those flights with Jeffrey Epstein.
COHEN: This part is much, much firmer than what we just talked about. This comes from a prosecutor sending an email in 2020 to another prosecutor inside the Justice Department. And they said to their colleague that -- this is another quote. "The flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jets many more times than previously had been reported or that we were aware." This was when these prosecutors were building the cases against Ghislaine Maxwell before her criminal trial in 2021. And it revealed that the president, Donald Trump, way before he was president, but back in the 1990s, he was on Epstein's plane eight times. Maxwell was on a few of those flights.
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There was someone described as a 20-year-old on one of those flights and also women that ended up being potential witnesses in Maxwell's sex trafficking trial on those flights as well, according to this email from a Justice Department prosecutor.
KEILAR: And one of the newer documents you have reporting on also involves Cesar Sayoc. That's the Trump supporter who was convicted of sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and also to CNN. What are you learning? That was back in 2018, by the way.
COHEN: Back in 2018, yeah, that was that was a scary time for a lot of people. And Cesar Sayoc was in prison. There is an email that just came out this morning that revealed that some of the officials at that federal facility in New York City was considering moving Epstein into a cell with Sayoc. Not sure why. They both were part of very high- profile prominent cases and had needed extra attention and special custody. It's not clear if that actually ever happened. And those emails were from just a few weeks before Epstein's suicide anyway.
KEILAR: Very interesting. Marshall, thank you so much for taking us through that. Really appreciate it.
COHEN: Of course.
KEILAR: And joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury. She serves on the House Oversight Committee.
I first, Congresswoman, want to ask you about that handwritten letter signed J. Epstein to Larry Nassar appearing to make crude references to President Trump in this 2019 message. We just heard word from DOJ raising issues with this letter that the postmark is Virginia, not New York. The return address is the wrong jail for Epstein, doesn't include his inmate number. The envelope was processed three days after Epstein's death. That last thing might not be entirely abnormal. But what are your thoughts on this? Is it possible the letter is fake? Do you believe it's real?
REP. MELANIE STANSBURY, (D-NM) HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: I mean, I do not have any more information than the public has about what was included in this file drop. But let me just say this. Donald Trump has a long known history of friendship, of business deals, and hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein. And if you read the emails that were released by the estate just a few weeks ago, Jeffrey Epstein himself, from his own hand, multiple times that Donald Trump knew about the girls.
He hung out at his house. He hung out with him and the girls. Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's own Chief of Staff, said in the Vanity Fair piece that they were hanging out and basically cavorting with women. And we know that there's over two dozen sexual assault cases that have been filed against Donald Trump.
So at this point, there is nothing that would surprise me in these files about Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with Donald Trump and Trump's potential activities involving women, because it's all out there. The public needs to believe their eyes. And certainly, this is why we are asking for the release of these files, whether it's the president, whether it's other public figures, whether it's unknown billionaires and other powerful people involved in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, whether they participated in them or they knowingly covered them up, must be held accountable.
KEILAR: So according to another document, this is how we learned this, from this document posted today, the FBI actually requested a handwriting analysis of the letter in 2020. So, they were making moves to check on this. Is the Oversight Committee doing anything to further investigate the letter, its contents, and the outcome of that handwriting analysis?
STANSBURY: Well, certainly there were thousands of pages of documents dropped overnight, which I think is no (inaudible) should have been released the last (inaudible). There's just thousands of pages of documents that the Oversight Committee is going through. We will work to authenticate and to look into all evidence.
And certainly, there's a small community looking into each and every document that implicates anyone powerful, whether that's the president or otherwise.
KEILAR: Congresswoman, we are taking hits on your signal. So I'm going to ask you another question and hope that kind of clears up. But if it doesn't, I'm going to have to try to re-establish your signal there. But hopefully, we can let it kind of catch up here. What do you think of this DOJ statement that says some of the documents released contain untrue and sensationalist claims against the president and "to be clear, the claims are unfounded and false. And if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already."
STANSBURY: Well, I think obviously, the Department of Justice has been complicit in President Trump's cover-up for months. The president threatened members of Congress. He tried to keep these files from being released. And now, they're trying to put a spin on it for the president. We will investigate any and all crimes, whether the president or somebody else.
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Certainly, we're not going to take DOJ word as they are already part of this crime family that's been breaking a lot around this case.
KEILAR: All right, Congresswoman Stansbury, thank you so much for being with us. Obviously, a lot of questions raised from this newest batch of Epstein documents. Really appreciate it. And still to come, Brown University placing its top safety official on leave after the deadly mass shooting 10 days ago as the school retains new legal counsel. We have the latest in the investigation.
HILL: Plus, that shelved "60 Minutes" segment actually ended up online, giving viewers a look at what the head of CBS News did not want you to see. And President Trump is suspending all large offshore wind farms that are currently under construction off the East Coast, a move that threatens thousands of jobs. It also threatens cheaper electric bills for nearby residents. We're going to dig into that and much more ahead on "CNN News Central."
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KEILAR: The mass shooting at Brown University sparking at least two separate reviews. School officials say they placed their Campus Police Chief, Rodney Chatman on administrative leave and that a former Providence, Rhode Island Police Chief is taking over in the interim. That person will also lead an external review of the December 13th attack that killed two students and wounded nine others. The Ivy League school has also hired new legal counsel in the wake of the shooting.
HILL: Now, at the same time, the Department of Education announcing it is conducting its own review of Brown's safety and security-related measures to ensure that they meet federal requirements. The alleged gunman was found dead inside a storage facility last Thursday, five days after that mass shooting. Police say he took his own life. CNN's Danny Freeman has been following the story for us. So, Danny, what more do we know about these investigations, essentially?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, basically, there are a lot of things that are happening on this holiday week when it comes to the fallout from the Brown shooting. Let's start first with the announcement late yesterday from the Department of Education that they're going to be opening up an inquiry, basically an investigation into Brown, specifically into their security practices in the wake of that shooting.
Basically, the DOE cited the Clery Act, which basically requires that higher education institutions maintain certain standards of both safety and security and data-sharing capabilities with the federal government. And the purpose of that is so that if they comply, then they will be able to continue to receive federal funding.
And we know, because we've been following the story now since that awful shooting took place, again, more than a week ago now, that Brown has faced immense criticism, not just from the Brown community, not just from Providence, but also directly from the president and the White House over their perceived lack of security measures here, including one of the things that kept coming up was the lack of cameras in that part of the building where this shooting took place, when part of the reason why we didn't get a clear picture of the suspect after he committed that allegedly mass shooting. Now, Brown has until the end of January to basically reply to the government with a list of information that they're seeking about Brown's security practices. And as you noted, our affiliate WJAR is reporting now that Brown has retained a former federal prosecutor to help them in these next stages of whatever comes next here legally.
But then I want to talk about the other thing that we learned late yesterday, Brianna and Erica, which was the news that the head of Brown's safety and emergency management, Rodney Chatman, was placed on leave. Now, as you noted, the interim head of their safety apparatus will be the former police chief of the Providence Police Department. But Brown's president said in a message to the Brown community that this is all part of a thorough after-action review.
The Brown President, Christina Paxson, saying also that the concerns our community has about safety and security are real and I share them. So clearly, the Brown president is acknowledging that the message has been received not just again from their immediate community, but from outside of Providence and Brown as well, that safety and security measures are being taken very seriously on campus. The president added that they intend to add enhanced security measures to try and make sure nothing like this happens again.
So, this story very much not over yet now that the federal government is investigating and Brown is promising some action on their own home front to try and make sure their campus is more secure. Brianna, Erica?
HILL: Yeah. All right, Danny, appreciate the update. Thank you.
Veterans Affairs employees are bracing for more cuts as insiders tell CNN some of the positions that are set to be eliminated include mental health care providers. More on that story ahead.
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HILL: CNN has learned staffers inside the Department of Veterans Affairs are alarmed after finding out that tens of thousands of open unfilled positions are now set to be eliminated.
KEILAR: Sources who spoke to CNN said the cuts have raised serious concerns as morale is already low for employees who are facing staffing shortages. Sources also say V.A. leadership was only given days to decide which jobs to remove. CNN Correspondent Brian Todd is here with his new reporting. All right, Brian, which jobs are being targeted? Because that is really important here as we've heard over and over, V.A. officials insist that these aren't jobs that actually serve veterans that they keep cutting.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, but they're still important jobs, guys, and they go all across the board at V.A. According to three sources familiar with these decisions, including two in management positions, V.A. officials gave some of their managers notice of this just before Thanksgiving, telling them that there were plans to eliminate thousands of open and unfilled jobs.
To Brianna's question, here are some of the categories of jobs that are being eliminated. Primary care doctors and nurses, mental health care providers and social workers. Now, it's important that we mention that sources tell us so far the plans do not call for people currently occupying V.A. jobs to be laid off. But again, you see those categories. Those are important categories of employees they need to hire. They're not going to be hiring.
HILL: Those would certainly be in categories as well that would seem to directly impact those coming to the V.A., right? So what is the response then from the V.A.?
TODD: Well, the V.A., Erica, says this. This is from the V.A. Press Secretary, Peter Kasperowicz, "V.A. is simply eliminating about 25,000 open and unfilled positions, mostly COVID-era roles that are no longer necessary."
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He also says, "All of these positions are unfilled and most have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed." He says this will have "zero impact" on veteran care. But a source -- this is a V.A. management source who's in mental health told me that what it could lead to is longer wait times for veterans seeking mental health care, veterans -- them having not enough mental health care providers for veterans, or veterans may face having less experienced providers available to them since many experienced mental health care providers have already left the V.A. in recent months.
That's a warning from one of our sources who is in management in mental health at the V.A.
KEILAR: That's exactly right. We've talked to people who are working in the V.A. and just because something hasn't been filled for a year, it doesn't necessarily mean it isn't needed.
TODD: That's correct.
KEILAR: I mean, there have been so many people actually who would like to work there, who look at the conditions and go not right now.
TODD: That's right. That is exactly right.
KEILAR: It's a nightmare to work there. So, you've learned that actually some of these positions were in the process of being filled.
TODD: Not only in the process of being filled, offers had been made to people.
HILL: Wow.
TODD: That are now being rescinded. So again, this is an agency which already was very short staffed and they're not going to be hiring. And this is -- you saw even from the V.A. press secretary himself, this is 25,000 plus positions that this agency needs to fill. They're not going to be filling them. They say it won't impact care, that they're streamlining things. That's their perspective on this. And we'll see if this actually turns out to be efficient or not.
KEILAR: This should raise a lot of questions for anyone who cares about that covenant that the country has with veterans, that they are going to take care of them --
TODD: Yeah.
KEILAR: -- due to issues they may have with their service.
TODD: That's right.
KEILAR: Huge questions. Great reporting, Brian. Thank you so much.
TODD: Thank you.
KEILAR: We now know what was in that shelved "60 Minutes" report after a big slip up. We'll have that next.
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