Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Epstein Survivors Say Many Victims' Names Unredacted in Files; Deputy AG: DOJ Opens Civil Rights Probe into Alex Pretti Shooting; Bruce Springsteen Plays New Anti-ICE Song in Minneapolis; Congress Scrambles for Deal to Avert Lengthy Government Shutdown; Justice Department Releasing Remaining Epstein Files 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 30, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... talking about very, very serious tariffs, saying that Cuba is a threat to U.S. national security. And so, you know, if this is not resolved soon, if the negotiations don't begin, essentially Cuba is going to be left in the dark.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Patrick Oppmann, thank you so much for that reporting.

We have a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL, and it starts right now.

The Justice Department releasing a new and what it says is a final batch of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. What survivors say they are eager to see among the millions of documents, photos and videos.

Plus, protests against President Trump's immigration crackdown taking place across the country today as we're learning new details about who is leading the probe into the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And tributes are pouring in after the passing of award-winning actress Catherine O'Hara.

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

We start with the breaking news today. The Justice Department is releasing the final trove of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing the DOJ is making millions of files publicly available for the first time, and that includes more than 2,000 videos and over 180,000 images.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There is extensive redactions to images and videos. To protect victims, we redacted every woman depicted in any image or video, with the exception of -- of Ms. Maxwell. We did not redact images of any men unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Despite those assurances, some of Epstein's survivors tell CNN they found numerous examples of their names appearing unredacted throughout the documents. CNN's MJ Lee is among CNN's team reviewing these files.

And MJ, many of the victims say they've been waiting years to see these specifically what are known as 302 documents. Walk us through what that means.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, these 302s, you can think of them as sort of written documentation of when the FBI interviews witnesses, you know, whatever they're telling them, it is written down in a document. And when you go through the files that were released today, there are multiple 302s, and they are significant because for many of these survivors, you know, they've been wondering for years, sometimes decades, is there a written record of what I once told the FBI about Epstein's wrongdoings, everything I know about him and his actions.

But the important thing is that they may not actually get the answers to whether the FBI actually did anything to follow up on these complaints, but I do know for a fact that there are survivors who are currently pouring through these documents trying to see if they can see that their 302s, the information they gave the FBI, are included in these documents.

In terms of the redactions that you mentioned, you know, I've heard from multiple survivors who tell me that today they are seeing their names that are not unredacted, that are not redacted, excuse me, in these files, and that, of course, is problematic, and it's a problem that we saw when the first batch of files came out as well.

Todd Blanche, you heard him saying that he very much cares about protecting the identity of the victims, but even some Jane Joes that I've spoken with, they say that their names are all throughout the files. So, there is, to say the least, a lot of anger coming from the survivors and the victims about how the redactions have been botched once again.

KEILAR: And two versions of a document related to President Trump have been removed from the DOJ's website. Tell us what that's about.

LEE: Yes, you know, there was that interesting moment at the press conference where Blanche was asked about Donald Trump, and he really said, we haven't done anything, the DOJ, to try to protect Donald Trump, but there is a document in the files that were released today that does show that there were at least internal discussions within Trump's DOJ about allegations of sexual assault that were made against Donald Trump that were received through an FBI tip line, and officials here appear to be discussing a list of these tips that came in.

We are not going to detail them because many of them are unverified tips, but the FBI officials even went as far as to color code the various tips, saying yellow is going to be used for the more salacious allegations against Donald Trump. Some of them we can see in the document were followed up on, others were not, and some were deemed not credible.

But interestingly, Brianna, as you said, versions of this document appear to have gone missing from the DOJ's website. I was looking at it on my laptop earlier today. It was there, and now if you click on the link, it's not there. The DOJ hasn't said why exactly it's gone missing.

SANCHEZ: Wow. MJ Lee, thanks so much for the reporting.

Now to more breaking news on the death of Alex Pretti.

[15:05:01]

We know the Justice Department is investigating whether or not his civil rights were violated when he was fatally shot by federal agents nearly a week ago.

KEILAR: Today, Americans are gathering coast to coast in protest of President Trump's immigration crackdown, including in Minneapolis, where Alex Pretti and Renee Good were killed. CNN's Kevin Liptak is live from the White House.

Kevin, what's the latest there?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and really this investigation that we heard about today from Todd Blanche, the number two at the Justice Department, saying that this civil rights investigation would proceed. It is something of a turnabout from what we heard earlier this week as the Trump administration was describing how they would look into this. What they said was that this would be investigated at the Department of Homeland Security, that Homeland Security investigations would be looking into it, that it would be a much more narrow probe into whether internal protocols were violated.

What Todd Blanche is describing today is much different. It's much more in line, in reality, with what typically happens when a federal officer kills someone in the line of duty.

Now, Todd Blanche did seem to sort of downplay the importance of it. He said he didn't want to understate what was happening. He said it was a standard investigation by the FBI. He said that they were looking at everything that would shed light on that day. And he also sort of stopped short of saying whether all of the evidence that they come up with would be put out and made public. Listen to more of what Todd Blanche said on that front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: I'm not committing to anything with respect to that investigation that would be completely unfair to the investigation itself for -- for me to stand here and, you know, commit to something for any reason. It just -- it depends. It just depends on what happens with the investigation. And that's a decision that was made by -- by the folks that -- that are -- that are working the investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIPTAK: Now, the other aspect of this that is not clear at this point is whether the FBI is going to share any of that evidence with Minnesota state investigators, which you'll remember have been sort of frozen out of this investigation altogether.

Now, Kristi Noem, who's the Homeland Security Secretary, also made note of this FBI-led investigation in an interview last night. In that interview, she also discussed some of her early statements about Alex Pretti that later turned out to be inaccurate based on the video that we saw. Listen to what Kristi Noem said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We were being relayed information from on the ground, from CBP agents and officers that were there. We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people and get them what we knew to be true on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: And you'll remember one of the things that Kristi Noem had claimed in the immediate hours after this incident was that Pretti was brandishing a weapon. Of course, the videos that later emerged showed that that was untrue.

Now, one person that is not backing off statements about Alex Pretti is Donald Trump himself. He's referencing that video of the incident of Alex Pretti getting into an engagement with federal officers 11 days before he was killed. President Trump suggesting that that video kind of undercut the narrative of him as a peaceful protester. He's saying that he's, quote, an agitator and perhaps an insurrectionist.

SANCHEZ: Kevin Liptak, really a stunning statement there from the president amid all of this. Thank you so much.

Still to come with the deadline just hours away, Congress is scrambling for a deal to avoid another government shutdown. The latest on Capitol Hill, where negotiations stand right now.

KEILAR: Plus, we are standing by for a verdict in the trial of the man accused of conspiring with his family's au pair to kill his wife and a stranger.

And later, how to prepare with another winter storm rapidly intensifying and heading toward the East Coast. Is that my car? No, that was a taxi, actually. But you never know. We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:13:26]

SANCHEZ: This just in to CNN. Bruce Springsteen is in Minneapolis as part of a benefit concert and this is an image from his performance. All proceeds from this event are set to go to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

KEILAR: Springsteen released a song just days ago in protest of the federal immigration operation in that city that's titled "Streets of Minneapolis." He also dedicated the song to the city's residents and in memory of Pretti and Good.

Congress is expected to miss the deadline that is less than nine hours away to avoid a partial government shutdown. But still, it's a big part of the government, just to be clear here. House members are gone. They're expected back to the Capitol on Monday. And senators are still working on a deal for the House to review.

SANCHEZ: Yes, so the proposal now on the table would separate out funding for Homeland Security while approving five other spending bills. With the DHS money on hold, Democrats are seeking two weeks to negotiate reforms on ICE and border enforcement. CNN's Lauren Fox has been tracking all the developments on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, so it looks like this partial shutdown is inevitable, at least through the weekend. The hope is that by the start of next week, this will be resolved.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so what we are still waiting for right now, Boris, is for the Senate to actually vote on this package that you just outlined, breaking apart those five spending bills through the end of September and then separately a short-term spending stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security.

Now, they have been trying to cobble together this deal cut by Schumer and the White House for about 24 hours now.

[15:15:04]

They still have yet to bring it to the floor of the Senate because there are some remaining sticking points with Republican members.

Now, Republicans did have about an hour-long conference lunch where they discussed this process. They also laid out sort of what was at stake. But it's really interesting to note that they still have not come to the floor. It's not clear when they're going to vote. All indications from members that I talked to coming out of that lunch were that they are moving the process forward. But until they actually vote, obviously, it's still a huge question mark as to how quickly they can move this forward. Even if they pass their own package tonight, however, there are changes that they've included here.

So, then the House of Representatives has to come back. We expect that'll happen on Monday. It's not clear exactly how fast they're going to be able to process all of this, in part, because there are some conservatives in Mike Johnson's ranks who may not be happy with the fact that Senate Democrats negotiated a separate deal with the White House than the one that was cut just a few weeks ago.

So, that's where things stand right now. House Republicans are expected to have a call this afternoon to discuss what their moves are forward -- in the weeks -- excuse me, in the days ahead. But that just gives you a sense of how much tumult there is up here, given the fact that this was supposed to be something that a week ago, appropriators were celebrating this bipartisan deal. And here we are a couple hours before midnight, and they have yet to announce a vote that will take place in the Senate.

SANCHEZ: A lot to be on the lookout for. Lauren Fox, thank you so much.

Still Ahead, CNN is reviewing the just-released Epstein files, which includes millions of pages of documents, pictures, and footage. The latest we're learning, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:25]

SANCHEZ: Back to the breaking news on the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Justice Department is releasing the remaining documents they say they have from Epstein's sex trafficking case.

KEILAR: The nature of Epstein's offenses, the powerful people around him, and his eventual suicide while in federal custody have led to countless conspiracy theories, but could today's release finally put some of those theories to rest? You may know the answer, but let's get some context from Mike Rothschild. He is a conspiracy theory journalist and researcher. He's also the author of "The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything."

I don't know. I'm sure there's still going to be conspiracy theories, but I wonder what stood out to you from what we heard from Deputy Attorney General Blanche earlier today and what you thought about the fact that we didn't hear from Pam Bondi.

MIKE ROTHSCHILD, CONSPIRACY THEORY JOURNALIST & RESEARCHER: Well, I think what really stood out to me is the fact that the goalposts continue to move about what full transparency with the Epstein files is. Donald Trump ran on exposing the -- the trafficking rings, bringing the evildoers to justice. Here we are a year later, and well, we've got 6 million documents, but we're only putting out 3 million of them, and that ends the whole thing.

I don't think that's going to satisfy people. It certainly is not satisfying to Epstein's -- the survivors of Epstein's trauma, and I don't think it should be satisfying to any of us. And I -- I think you can tell that Todd Blanche seemed particularly uncomfortable talking about a lot of these things. There was a sort of edge in his voice. It almost felt like he was upset with us for questioning him.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you make of our reporters indicating that after certain documents were put up, they were then taken down. I mean, it -- it doesn't seem like that engenders trust or bolsters the idea that transparency is a priority.

ROTHSCHILD: I think one way to get people talking about forbidden documents is to put them up and then delete them. If you want them to get lost in the blizzard of documents, just leave them there. Deleting them only makes it look like a cover-up. They keep telling us over and over that there's no cover-up, there's no conspiracy. Deleting documents that mention the President looks to me like some sort of a cover-up.

KEILAR: And does it raise questions about those other 3 million documents?

ROTHSCHILD: Oh, absolutely it raises questions about these documents. It raises questions of what's going to be deleted once it gets some public traction. I think it's very natural for people to look at these documents and look for Trump's name in them, and then they start disappearing. If there are other documents that surface in the next day or two of reporting and then those get deleted as well, again, it just adds to this patina that there is a cover-up going on here, even as they are pretending to have some sort of transparency by releasing millions of documents. If you're deleting the only ones that actually matter, I think it's going to raise some people's eyebrows.

SANCHEZ: I imagine, Mike, that you have not had time to review all 3 million pages and -- and the thousands of videos and -- and images. But just on the surface, just from what you've seen initially, is there anything that surprises you that you didn't anticipate would be in there?

ROTHSCHILD: I would say that of the -- of what's -- what surprised me more than anything is Todd Blanche's admission that there are no names of people that we didn't know before that. And we were told a year ago that Pam Bondi had a list of conspirators on her desk that was just waiting to be released, and here it is a year later, and Todd Blanche is telling us there's no list, there's no names, nothing to see here.

That, to me, more than any individual email or revelation, is the thing that's most surprising, is the -- the just brazen shifting what they said they were going to deliver and expecting their base to just go along with it.

[15:25:05]

KEILAR: And since you are -- you're the conspiracy theory guy, you know, after the presser, Haley Robson, who's a survivor, warned the public to, quote, "Be careful with the conspiracy theories and the rabbit holes that you go down. We need proof, we need facts, we do not need conspiracy theories. Can you talk a little bit about that?

ROTHSCHILD: Oh, I completely agree with her. Conspiracy theories are incredibly alluring. They provide answers in a sea of chaos. They help you pick out signal from noise. The problem is that often they themselves are noise. We -- we've seen an endless stream of conspiracy theories about Epstein, about his clients, about his friends, about these files.

I think the most important thing about this is to focus on the people who Epstein and the people around him hurt and focus on what he did and how he was able to get away with it for so long. I think going down the trail of conspiracy theories, it seems alluring, but so much of it is either a dead end or actively harmful.

KEILAR: Yes, Mike, thank you for being with us. Mike Rothschild, appreciate it.

And still ahead, some live pictures of protests from Minneapolis right now. What's going to be the lasting impact? What is history going to say about President Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown and the protests against it? We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)