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Former Prince Andrew Arrested; Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) is Interviewed about Former Prince Andrew and Iran; Marina Lacerda is Interviewed about Former Prince Andrew's Arrest; Rise of Christian Nationalism; Mo Ivory is Interviewed about Georgia Elections Board. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 19, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:11]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are following the extraordinary breaking news out of the U.K. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formally Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles, arrested this morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office after new revelations from the Epstein files. King Charles released a clear, cold statement last hour, saying in part, he learned of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest with the "deepest concern," and stressed "the law must take its course."

CNN has also learned that Prince William and Catherine support the king's statement.

Joining me now is CNN royal historian Kate Williams.

We used the word "extraordinary." How extraordinary is this moment where the brother of the king is now under arrest?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: This is extraordinary. This is unprecedented. We haven't seen a senior royal arrested since the 17th century. That would be Charles I in the civil wars. We -- I have never -- I never expected this. The fact that Andrew has been arrested. That the king is going to support that arrest. That we don't know what's going to happen next. But will Andrew be charged? This is the serious question.

The fact is that the whole principle of the royal family is -- it's about perception. It's about message. They were ordained by God, that was the original idea, ordained by God as this sort of almost magical family to represent the United Kingdom. And here we have a senior, senior member, the king's own brother, who was once second in line to the throne, he is now being arrested in a police cell. The same kind of police cell that they put any kind of person who's under arrest. It's going to be very small, with very few amenities. That is where the man who is formerly Prince Andrew, that is where Andrew Mountbatten is. And this is a seismic, extraordinary day for history for the United Kingdom, and this is going to be seismic, a crisis, for the royal family. [08:35:02]

SIDNER: Look, the fall from grace was fairly quick once it started to happen, where King Charles stripped him of his title last year, moved him off the Windsor estate. I mean, how much distance has the palace already created? And when it comes to this, have they been able to distance themselves, because, indeed, he still is the brother of the king?

WILLIAMS: He's the brother of the king. And you've hit the nail on the head there. What the royal family have been trying to do have -- is distance themselves from Andrew. For a long time they were really burying their head in the sand, imagining that it wasn't going to get any worse. Nothing would happen. It would all blow over.

Then, by the end of last year, they realized, this was serious. They distanced themselves. His title of prince was removed. He stepped back from the title of duke of York. Only parliament can remove that. And he was taken out of his huge mansion on the royal estate.

But he's in another royal estate. And this is the problem. I think people will say, but what did the king know? How long did you know about it? At the very least, Ms. Giuffre, Virginia Giuffre, she said that there was an agreement that she wouldn't say anything about her experiences, her suffering, as she put it, at the hands of Andrew during the queen's jubilee year, 2022. That was a legal agreement. And when the queen passed in September 2022, that was clearly still in place because she didn't talk throughout the king's accession. So, at the very least, the king knew about that. The king kept it in position. And people, I think, are going to say, but you're also -- you're an institution, you're a business, but you're also a family. And how much did you know about this man who is your brother?

SIDNER: Yes. Sandringham, the estate. We were looking at the pictures of unmarked police cars there as they were arresting the former prince.

I do want to ask you about his role as the U.K. trade envoy. The reporting is now suggesting that the alleged misconduct relates to his time that he was the U.K. trade envoy. Give us some sense of the importance of that role and what he would have had access to.

WILLIAMS: He would have had access to every piece of trade information about U.K. companies, about U.K. liaisons, about U.K. agreements with other countries, the U.S. the UAE, Europe, he would have known absolutely everything and had access to all that information.

And this role as trade envoy is -- no one did it before or since. It was created specially for Andrew. And it was all about him traveling all over the country. They used to call him Air Miles Andy, traveling all over the country, all over the world and making agreements with different businesses across the world.

And he's already been accused of using that position for his own enrichment. But this is something quite shocking, that he's been passing on information to Jeffrey Epstein, who would have passed it on to other people he knew, about businesses that were doing well, businesses that weren't doing well, which is insider dealing. It would have meant that people could have invested in these businesses or sold their stock, and that's insider dealing, which is illegal.

So, yes, as you say, there are various different police accusations, criminal accusations that have been raised against Andrew, but this is not to do with Virginia Giuffre's accusations, any accusations to do with women.

SIDNER: Right.

WILLIAMS: This is about sharing information. And there is, of course, there will be an email trail, so there will be very clear evidence that will show whether he did it or he didn't do it. And all the information in the Epstein files suggest he did do it. And that is a crime under British law.

SIDNER: And we will wait and see because at this point, as you mentioned, he has not yet been charged, which is the way the British system works. But in the next 96 hours he must be before they have to release him from jail. We will have to wait and see what happens here, Kate. But it is so good having you here to walk us through what all this means, not just to the public, but to the British royal family. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Jake Auchencloss of Massachusetts.

Many topics to discuss. But on this breaking news, Congressman, that we have coming in, we actually had -- John spoke with Congressman Stephen Lynch a little earlier in the show, and here's what he had said about his observation as this breaking news is unfolding. Lynch said, "it offers a great contrast, I think. Look what the British government is doing in light of the evidence and look at what the United States government is doing. Nothing." What do you think of this or what it should mean for the House of Representatives and the investigation that Oversight is leading right now?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

Steve's right, Great Britain is holding its powerful and privileged to account. The United States of America should do the same. It was only because Democrats in Congress called the question that we even have the files being issued.

However, those files are overly redacted. And they're redacted in a way that is still protecting the powerful and actually purposefully revealing the names of some of the victims.

[08:40:05]

The Department of Justice is still trying to play defense for Donald Trump, as opposed to pursuing justice for those who were molested by Jeffrey Epstein BOLDUAN: The contrasts today are quite something.

I wanted to -- originally I have you on to talk about Iran and the developments underway. To remind everyone, you served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan. You ran special operations in Panama.

This new reporting from CNN is that the U.S. military could strike Iran as early as this weekend. And it's just -- that President Trump has not yet made a final decision, as the -- he has said he wants diplomatic talks to continue. He wants to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

What are you hearing about this? It really seems that the threat level of something is reaching fever pitch.

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes. It's not Donald Trump's final decision to make. The Constitution is super clear about this, he cannot engage U.S. forces into hostilities without congressional authorization. That authorization for the use of military force has not been granted by Congress. Coercive diplomacy against Iran is appropriate, against their funding of proxy terror forces, against their ballistic missile development, against, of course, their nuclear program.

What is not appropriate is for him to make the unilateral decision that he will strike Iran and potentially vest the United States in another forever war that the American public does not want. If Donald Trump wants to engage in this kind of military saber rattling, he needs to come to Congress and get permission.

BOLDUAN: Look, all signs point to he's not going to come to Congress and ask for permission. Presidents past, when on taking military action, I'm not saying they're all on the same level, haven't come to Congress to ask for military authorization. It seems a trend with presidents in modern U.S. history. So, if he doesn't, do you think, though, short of military action, do you think Donald Trump, President Trump, can negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran? If not, what's his off ramp after the red lines that he has -- he has laid down here?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes, I believe coercive diplomacy could work. I don't believe it could work just siloed for nuclear development. It has to have the funding of proxy terror forces throughout the Middle East as well including (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: Which Iran wants off the table?

AUCHINCLOSS: Which Iran wants off the table. And that's just not acceptable, because if they are funneling their oil revenues to Hezbollah, to Hamas, to the Houthis in Yemen, that is still going to destabilize the region and threaten our allies' security and our own security.

What also needs to be on the table is internet freedom and the lifting of repressive tactics, excuse me, against the Iranian people. And this is something the president actually does have authorization for. Congress authorized and appropriated for the president to surge direct to sell technology into Iran, to allow the protesters to communicate with one another, even when the regime was trying to GPS jam their technology, the president didn't do it. He missed the best opportunity he had to tap into the courage of the Iranian people. And now he's playing catch up.

BOLDUAN: You talk about appropriations. Funding for DHS is still held up. Seems, in terms of negotiations, over the calls and demands to rein in ICE. They remain at a stalemate right now.

I just had Jim Messina, former top Obama official, on. And he has written in a new piece and he made basically a plea and a warning to your party saying that Democrats could be maybe falling for a trap by the -- by talking about abolishing ICE. And he says that, in terms of the abolished Trump's ICE or abolish ICE altogether, he says that's lost on voters. They just hear the message and that hurt Democrats in the past and it very well could hurt Democrats in the future. He says, "Democrats should resist the impulse to again align themselves with slogans that temporarily meet the passion many in the party are feeling, but will alienate voters come election day."

Do you think Messina's right?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes. And Democrats are not interested in sloganeering right now. We're interested in root level reforms that are appropriate for a free people. We want there to be masks off, body cameras on. We think that if you have a badge and a gun, you shouldn't also have a mask. We want an end to the dragnet operations and warrantless searches of peoples' homes, and we want ICE to reprioritize towards border security and towards deporting criminals.

For example, there's 29,000 unauthorized immigrants in the United States with a conviction for murder or rape. ICE has deported fewer than five percent.

BOLDUAN: So, you're -- that's policy you want reformed, but do you -- do you think Democrats have lost the narrative on it already ahead of the midterms because there are members of your party very publicly saying they want to abolish ICE?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, I don't. And you had described a stalemate. That's true between Democrats and Congress and the White House, because the White House is still trying to gaslight the American public about what happened in Minnesota. There actually isn't a stalemate amongst the American public, though. There is broad supermajority agreement about the demands that Democrats are making. We want law enforcement. We want rule of law. We want border security. And we don't want a paramilitary.

[08:45:02]

And, actually --

BOLDUAN: You also think abolish -- you do not fit with -- you do not like abolish ICE language in terms of a slogan, if you will, for the Democratic Party right now?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, reform, retrain and make sure that ICE is acting as an arm of the law, not an instrument of fear.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, thank you so much for coming in.

AUCHINCLOSS: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: A lot of news this morning. Appreciate you coming in.

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes. Always.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news this morning, as Kate was discussing at the top there, the former Prince Andrew arrested this morning on suspicion of public misconduct. This is in connection, we think perhaps, to the release, the wide release of the Epstein files over the last few weeks. We're still getting more specifics on the investigation. And, obviously, news is coming out in the U.K., but it does have ripple effects here in the United States as well as all the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are now seeing some measure of accountability, at least some steps in the United Kingdom, across the ocean.

With us now is Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda. To be clear, the former Prince Andrew does not factor into your story as a survivor, but just your reaction this morning when you see an arrest like this of extraordinarily high profile, how does that feel for you?

MARINA LACERDA, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: You know, I got to say, it's amazing and it's really, really something that all the survivors have been looking forward and working towards. And I have to say, Virginia's brother and sister must be thrilled right now. You know I just look at it, it's insane how everyone's taking action. And we are doing nothing in the United States.

I'm right here in Norway right now. We have Princess Mette answering to questions. And it's just really sad that the United States is not taking any action. But I'm very, very happy that, you know, we have again, you know, we're making history here. So, this is big.

BERMAN: You mentioned Virginia Giuffre. And her family did put out a statement, to be clear. Insofar as we know, this arrest on suspicion of public misconduct isn't connected to allegations of sex trafficking or whatnot. It involves economic matters.

That said, you did bring up an interesting point. The contrast between what you see as the accountability, or lack thereof, in the United States versus other places. Talk to us more about that.

LACERDA: You know, I don't know why it's taking such a -- you know, it's being -- it's been a slow transaction to take accountability in the Unites States. And it's very sad to say that, you know, we are the United States of America and I really don't know why it's taking long. We have other places like here right now in Norway, people are taking serious action. We have U.K. right now. We don't know why the prince is arrested, but there has -- I think it has to be with some sort of connection and maybe we just don't know yet. But it's really sad that, you know, the United States stands for

justice. And it's just -- it's really lacking right now in the United States and it's something that I think the survivors and I will be working harder and harder every day to seize, you know, these men that have come up in the files, to take, you know, the American -- the DOJ, it stands for Department of Justice. They need to, you know, they need to take some action on this. It's serious. We got to look at other countries and we got to see ourselves. And, you know, other countries are looking at us and they're talking about us and they're saying, what are they doing? Why aren't they taking any action?

BERMAN: King Charles actually put out a statement after the arrest of his brother, saying that he was supportive of the investigation and will let the law play out as it does. I don't have the verbatim here. But how do you think that contrasts with what you've heard from leadership in the United States?

LACERDA: You know, I think what he's doing is right. I think he has to step back and let justice take its action and the law take action, right, because that's what they're supposed to do. I know King Charles is -- that's his brother and, you know, he probably feels very sad and, you know, is not approving of, you know, what his brother did. But at the end of the day, our leadership in America and the way that we're representing ourselves is looking very terrible right now. Very terrible.

BERMAN: Marina Lacerda, we do appreciate your time, as always, sharing with us your feeling and the work that you've done to bring justice.

We got a lot of breaking news this morning. We'll be back in just a moment.

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[08:52:41]

BERMAN: CNN's brand-new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" examines the rise of Christian nationalism in the United States. The ideology is rooted in the belief that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation, and its laws and institutions should reflect that.

CNN anchor and chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown has been looking into this.

And what have you found, Pam?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Well, John, we really wanted to dig into this and take a look at the rise of Christian nationalism holistically when it came to this project. And that meant understanding how it's infiltrating all sectors of life, not just in churches, but also in the home, in schools, in the government.

A big one does start young, in the school system, where Christianity is infused into education at every level. Let's watch.

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BROWN: At classical Christian schools, religion isn't a standalone subject. It shapes every lesson, from science, to history, through a strict and literal biblical worldview. Each morning at this school, they even pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, not the American flag.

DAVID GOODWIN, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: We want to enculturate Christian kids. And when we say that, we mean deeply Christian kids. Ones who think like biblical Christians all the way down.

BROWN: So, do you teach the kids here, this is a Christian nation, this was founded as a Christian nation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Yes.

BROWN: Pastor Jeff's son Caleb and daughter-in-law E.J. are the headmaster and headmistress at the school where they plan to send their nine children. Kinley is also a teacher.

E.J. RIPPLE, CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS: We want to equip students to go to higher places than we've gone to influence culture. Like we want to make more Christians. We want to spread the Gospel. So, as they're infiltrating into culture, they're influencing the culture to Christ.

BROWN: And so basically it's all part of a mission to make this a Christian nation.

RIPPLE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

BROWN: For some, the choice to place your kids in public schools isn't just wrong, it can be a sin.

You think it is a sin?

GOODWIN: I think it is because, in most areas, the education is coming from the state. And that was not what God intended from the beginning. They don't raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. If you're a Christian, what justification do you have for putting your child in a situation where they're not getting that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:55:07]

BROWN: So, you just heard there the president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools. He actually coauthored a book with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before he was a member of the administration about the American education system and their desire to reform it. And Hegseth himself sends his children to a classical Christian school.

I also want to note, coming up on my show, between 10:00 and 12:00 today, I'm doing a look at the former tradwives, fundamentalist tradwives who have left these conservative churches and are now speaking out and sounding the alarm. So, that's coming up on my show. And you can watch my hour-long documentary on "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" this Sunday, February 22nd at 8:00 p.m. on CNN, Eastern Time, we should say, or the next day on CNN's All Access streaming platform.

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: And watch it more than once if you'd like. It sounds fascinating.

Pamela Brown, thank you so much for sharing your reporting on this.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, just hours from now, President Trump will travel to Georgia. The White House says he will give remarks on the economy, but it comes as that critical battleground state finds itself at the center of a showdown over the future of voting in America. Just about three weeks ago, the FBI searched an elections office in Fulton County and seized ballots from the 2020 presidential election. The one that President Trump continuously claims he won, which is untrue. So, this morning, the state election board is set to reconvene after holding its first meeting since that FBI search.

And we're joined now by District Four Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory.

Thank you so much for being here.

First, what do you expect to happen in this meeting?

MO IVORY, COMMISSIONER, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: Sure. Good morning, Sara, and thank you so much for having me.

Actually, the meeting was yesterday. So, it already happened. And I can tell you that it was largely routine. Despite the heightened attention that it was receiving, it was largely routine. Most cases across the state were dismissed and resulted in minor corrective action. So, a lot of hoopla about nothing.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you, and, apologizes, I meant to ask you what happened in the meeting.

The citizens of Fulton County's ballots are completely out of the normal chain of custody in a case where the president of the United States himself in 2020 tried to get officials to find votes for him that did not exist. How worried are you about what is happening with those ballots?

IVORY: Yes, well, we are very concerned about what's happening with those ballots. I do want to assure the public, and especially Fulton County voters, that we did have a digital copy of those ballots, and there was no personally identifiable information on those ballots.

So, we are in court right now fighting for those ballots to be returned. And, of course, we're concerned because we know what this is all about. This is about instilling fear, chaos in this election, in 2026. This is not about 2020. This is to disrupt and try to have an outcome that is favorable to the president in the 2026 midterm elections.

So, while we are very concerned about the ballots, the real issue is what he is trying to do this year.

SIDNER: Can you give me a sense of what the board decided, because you said it was business as usual. And certainly what happened there with the federal government versus the state government is not business as usual at all. What exactly happened? Did the board decide to, you know, do an investigation into Fulton County, and what happened in that meeting?

IVORY: Yes, well, the state election board has always been doing investigations into Fulton County. Understand that Georgia has 159 counties, and Fulton County is the most populous. It is a Democratic county. And the way Fulton County votes affects the way that Georgia outcomes will be in any election.

So, the main discussion involving Fulton County focused on database discrepancies tied to system transition that actually never showed any evidence of what they say was double voting. So, this ongoing claim that there was double voting by Fulton County has never been found to be true. And this is constantly something that comes up.

So, that came up again in the meeting. They did not take any action except to say that they will continue investigating that, and they will subpoena the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to come and speak about it. But that -- other than that, the meeting was very routine.

SIDNER: Yes, it's remarkable that we are six years beyond that and there is still this fight over it, even after 60 courts across the country saw no major fraud in the election. We are watching what's happening there in Fulton County, as are you, and we'll certainly be talking to you at a later time. We do appreciate it, Mo Ivory. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

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