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Luke Igel and Riley Walz are Interviewed about their Version of Epstein's Gmail; Americans Feeling on Tariffs. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 20, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: People violated the policy, again, they need to be held accountable, including Greg Bovino.

All right, remember Trump's plan to build an arch in the nation's capital? Well, a group of veterans are trying to block his plan in court, filing the first lawsuit against Arc de Trump (ph).

And also, after this break, it took just five hours to create a viral website that is helping people comb through the Epstein files. It's called Jmail. The men who created it are with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you're looking at live pictures of President Trump in the White House. In that room, many, if not most, of the nation's governors. This is a working breakfast.

[09:35:01]

These have been some controversial meetings.

Listen to what he's saying.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But thank you very much for being here. It's a great honor.

And the media, thank you. You can leave now.

REPORTER: Mr. President, are considering a limited military strike to pressure Iran to into (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: I guess I can say I am considering it.

Thank you.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press. Thank you, press. REPORTER: Have you talked to the governor about (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, press.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press. Thank you. Thank you, press.

TRUMP: Who is that person? It's -- are you considering a military strike?

BERMAN: I'm going to let this run as long as we have it here because it is interesting and I want to see if there is any interaction, and I'll explain why in just a second.

(CROSS TALK)

BERMAN: OK. OK. Now we are fully on out of there.

That's a working breakfast with the nation's governors. The National Governors Association. They're all in Washington for these weekend meetings. Traditionally, there has been a dinner at the White House Saturday, where all the governors are invited. Some Democratic governors have not been invited to that dinner. And there is this working breakfast where they -- many of them, if not most of them, are this morning. Some have -- Democrats have suggested they're not going because of the controversy over the dinner.

And last year we saw some actually pretty heated exchanges between the president and one of the Democratic governors, Janet Mills of Maine. This morning they did not let the cameras stay to see what that interaction was like between the president and the nation's governors, which is interesting in and of itself. We will get you reporting from what took place or is taking place at that moment in this meeting as soon as it comes in.

In the meantime, new this morning, a new tool is making millions of files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more accessible. It's called Jmail, a play on Gmail. And it basically lets you scroll through the Epstein emails as if you were Epstein himself in his own account. It's part of a larger project called the Jmail Suite that includes JeffTube for videos, and a Google Drive looking like called Jdrive.

With us now are the creators of this project, Luke Igel and Riley Walz.

Gentlemen, thank you both so much for being with us.

Look, first of all, you know, tell us how this all started, what gave you the idea.

LUKE IGEL, CEO, KINO AI: Well, I was spending some time with friends back in November when the original tranche that the House Oversight Committee came out with was released. And as cool as it was to be able to see that initial batch, it was very hard to go through. I immediately thought of my friend Riley, who had done a lot of projects that were based around this idea of making this data really accessible. So, I reached out to him immediately. And after convincing him for about a day, we got to work the next day.

BERMAN: And, Luke, first of all, when did you become interested in the Epstein files? Because it was kind of a specific moment in your life and in the evolution of this story.

IGEL: Well, I was -- I had just finished my freshman year at MIT. And over that summer is when all of this stuff went down, August of 2019 or so. Upon coming back from my sophomore year at MIT was just surrounded by controversy of various professors who had spent a lot of time with him. And that's when I think my interest in the whole story really began.

BERMAN: And it's been several years and now people can see a lot of the -- a lot of the impact of it in this very accessible form.

So, Riley, Jmail was released in November and started as pretty much the Gmail interface, but you've been expanding as more files are released. So, talk to us about how it's evolved.

RILEY WALZ, JMAIL CREATOR: Yes. In December we -- more files were released. And in January even more. So, we got a bunch of our friends together and lots of our friends had ideas for more items in the suite to add. So, we added two, which is videos as part of the Epstein files. We also have Jflights, which shows his flight manifest on his private jet and who traveled with him. Another one is Jamazon, which shows his Amazon purchase history. There's roughly a thousand orders that he placed that we have. So, there's a lot there.

BERMAN: And what's the reception been like, Riley, as you've been hearing from people?

WALZ: Yes, it's been incredible. It dramatically lowered the barrier to investigating, you know, one of the most consequential scandals in history. One hundred and fifty million people have visited our website around the world to connect names, search, engage with the material in a way that just really wasn't possible before.

BERMAN: That's pretty incredible, 150 million people.

So, Luke, you know, what's the -- what's the goal here? The end goal for you? And how long do you think you'll stay at it?

IGEL: Well, initially it was just to make this legible to normal people.

[09:40:03]

You know, many large releases of government documents have happened throughout the years. But I think what's interesting here is that we're -- we really just want to make it so that anyone who is comfortable really using their phone can actually see what happened over this 20, 30 year period now that these documents cover. The end goal is just to be a genuinely trusted source for all of the

documents and the entire archive related to this scandal because it's important to make sure that --

BERMAN: How much time --

IGEL: Oh, so sorry.

BERMAN: I didn't mean -- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. But what I was going to ask you is how much time do you spend surfing Jmail, Luke?

IGEL: Well, I think every single time something new happens I want to see -- like the arrest of Prince Andrew yesterday. I want to see what Jamal actually has on him or on the given person who's in the news cycle. So, finding out, typing in the duke, for example, yesterday, the whole team found out just how much Jamal has. So, really depends on the news cycle.

BERMAN: I got to say, quite a thing. I mean quite a historical moment we're in, but also these historically new tools to process it all.

Luke Igel, Riley Walz, thank you so much for being with us. You got this up and going incredibly quickly. Impressive.

Sara.

SIDNER: Wow, that's really amazing.

All right, later, actors Timothee Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey talking about A.I. and the movie business. Why McConaughey thinks A.I. actors will someday crash the Oscars. A fascinating conversation you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:12]

BERMAN: We are standing by for the Supreme Court decision. Their opinion on the legality of many of the president's tariffs. That's the opinion of the Supreme Court. But to an extent, we already know the opinion of the American people.

For that, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here.

So, as we await the Supreme Court, how do the American people feel about the tariffs?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I have rarely seen public opinion turn against something as quickly as they've turned against new tariffs, Trump's tariffs. What are we talking about here? Well, you go back when Trump was re-elected back in 2024. Look, the majority of Americans, the slight majority of Americans favored new tariffs. Look at that, 52 percent.

But look at the switcheroo. The opposition went from 48 percent in November of 2024, up like a rocket, now to 63 percent of Americans who oppose the new tariffs. The American people have felt the tariffs, and they do not like them.

BERMAN: So, when people see prices rise, and we should note that prices have gone up. They always go up. The rate of inflation can go up and down, but prices have gone up. When they see prices go up, how much do they blame the tariffs?

ENTEN: Yes, they blame it very much so. I mean this, I think, really gives the game away. Why have they turned against the tariffs? It is because they blame the tariffs for rising prices. Look at this, say they've already seen prices rise because of Trump's tariffs. Look at that, it was 43 percent a year ago. Look at where it is now, 67 percent. Hello. That is an over 20-point rise. No wonder the American people have turned against the tariffs because they blame them for rising prices. That's an easy political equation to understand. You see rising prices. You blame the tariffs. All of a sudden you become opposed to the tariffs.

BERMAN: And I should, full disclosure, I cheated and I looked ahead here. This is one of my favorite sort of facts that you have referred to a few times over the last few months. How have tariffs played a role in President Trump's popularity?

ENTEN: OK, just look at the CBS News polling, right? OK, if you look before Liberation Day there were zero polls, zero polls where Trump had a negative net approval rating according to CBS News. But look at all the polls, after Liberation Day, all of them have given Trump a negative net approval rating according to CBS News. So, there was this clear inflection point. Yes, the numbers might have gone up and down a little bit, but once he dropped into the negatives, once he went underwater, once he was swimming with the fishes. After Liberation Day, he stay ed swimming with the fishes. And that is not a place you want to be.

BERMAN: Before, none. After, all.

ENTEN: All.

BERMAN: Tells you a little bit of a story there.

OK, what do people think? What are some of the predictions about what the Supreme Court might do in terms of tariffs?

ENTEN: Yes, if you look at the Kalshi prediction market at this particular point, people who are putting their money where their mouth is, a lot of references to money during this segment. Do-Re-Mi. Look at this, chance that the Supreme Court rules against Trump tariffs have consistently been well above 50 percent. So, what has Donald Trump done here? He has basically taken all this political capital, flushed it down the toilet. And for what? For the Supreme Court to rule against most of his tariffs. It's just -- it's political. It's political malpractice. You know, the flames are coming out the side of my head. I feel like I'm quoting Mrs. White from "Clue." Because politically it just has made no sense. BERMAN: Well, go get a fire extinguisher. Harry Enten, thank you very

much. We will see what the Supreme Court does, if there's any nuance in their decision. We appreciate your being with us.

A lot of news. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:38]

SIDNER: Actor Matthew McConaughey predicts A.I. actors will someday be crashing the Oscars. He and Timothe Chalamet sat down for a CNN and "Variety" town hall event, which airs tomorrow night. McConaughey, who recently trademarked his catchphrase "From Dazed and Confused," told the audience of college students to brace themselves for the rise of A.I.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREL QANTARA, FRESHMAN, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: You both have been in -- part of the film industry for numerous years, and have seen it change throughout the years. How do you think the film industry will change with the rise of new technologies, such as A.I.? What steps do you think will be taken to ensure that artificial intelligence doesn't replace creatives but is rather used as a helpful tool?

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, ACTOR: Wow, that's a great question. (INAUDIBLE).

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: Yes. You want me to kick off -- kick that off?

So, first off, it's coming. It's already here. Don't deny it. Don't just creative world. It's not enough -- it may be for you, but it's not going to be enough to sit on the sidelines and make the moral plea, the moral plea that, no, this is wrong. It's not going to last. There's too much money to be made and there's -- it's too productive. It's here, all right. So, I say, get your -- own your -- own yourself, voice, likeness, et cetera, trademark it, whatever you got to do.

[09:55:00]

CHALAMET: I saw you did that.

MCCONAUGHEY: Yes. Get -- own yourself. So, when and if -- when it comes, not if it comes, no one can steal you. But they're going to have to come to you to go, can I? Or they're going to be in breach, and you'll have the chance to be your own agency and go, yes, for this amount, or no, OK.

It's coming. Is it going to be another category or is it going to infiltrate our category? It's damn sure going to infiltrate our category. I think it'll end up, does it become another category? Will we be, in five years, having films, the best A.I. film, the best A.I. actor? Maybe. I think it might be -- that might be the thing is that it becomes another category. I'm not sure.

It's going to be in front of us in ways that we don't even see it. It's going to get so good we're not going to know the difference. That's one of the big questions what we're doing right now is the question of reality. That's -- it's more hazy than ever. In a very exciting way, I think, but also a scary way.

It's not only coming, it's here. I say prep for it and own your own lane so when it comes you can at least have your own agency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: You know what's also here, the town hall. It's coming tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN and on the CNN app. All right, all right, all right.

BERMAN: Own yourself. What about leasing with an option to buy?

BOLDUAN: Renting?

BERMAN: Yes, exactly. (INAUDIBLE) you're renting.

BOLDUAN: I'll rent -- I'll rent you, John Berman. That sounds so weird.

BERMAN: I'm rent stabilized

BOLDUAN: Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: We got to go.

BOLDUAN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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