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Sarah Fitzpatrick is Interviewed about Ex-Prince Andrew's Arrest; FCC Investigating "The View"; Trump Says He's Won Affordability. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 20, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:34:08]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

We're going to be watching the Supreme Court this morning. We're still awaiting decisions on several major cases. Those include tariffs, voting rights, so-called conversion therapy bans, and Trump's firing of federal officials. Any opinions are expected around 10:00 a.m.

And the northeast bracing for another round of powerful winter weather. As much as ten inches of snow could fall across New England and into the mid-Atlantic starting today. That could include Boston, New York City Philly and here in D.C. This model that you're looking at, rest assured it's the worst case scenario, but it all depends on if the storm will get close to the coast.

And Alysa Liu brings home the gold for Team USA in women's figure skating.

[06:35:00]

She's the first American to claim gold since 2002, and, frankly, the first to even make it to the Olympic podium in 20 years.

And Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, now out of police custody in the U.K. following his arrest on his birthday. Police say he remains under investigation of misconduct in public office. British authorities previously announced they were looking into claims Andrew shared sensitive information with convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. And that's during the time that the former prince was serving as a trade envoy for the U.K. Now, Andrew has denied all previous claims of wrongdoing when it comes to Epstein, but survivors of Epstein's abuse are hopeful that his arrest is a sign of accountability coming to the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKY ROBERTS, BROTHER OF DECEASED JEFFREY EPSTEIN ACCUSER VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: It does stink of a coverup. It feels like our own government is protecting potential perpetrators. And all we're asking for is to open up an active investigation.

DANIELLE BENSKY, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: There's a little bit of a glimmer of light now that we're able to shine into the darkest places. I'm definitely hoping and hopeful that we can start to see some change in the U.S. as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, Sarah Fitzpatrick, staff writer at "The Atlantic" covering national security and the Department of Justice.

Thank you so much for being here.

SARAH FITZPATRICK, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes.

CORNISH: Now, you're just not any person who's covering this case. You were one of the first people to actually put survivors on screen, and you actually spoke with Virginia Giuffre. We just saw her family there. So, what are people missing when it comes to Andrew, the U.K., and sort of how this thing has finally moved to this point?

FITZPATRICK: Look, I think this is an absolutely explosive development. The fact that Prince Andrew is actually potentially facing some kind of criminal investigation and perhaps accountability.

CORNISH: Right.

FITZPATRICK: But I think what's missing in this conversation is the fact that Prince Andrew has been on -- his conduct, these allegations have been public for so long, in great detail. But you -- what the case kind of epitomizes is how these structures. especially for those in the elite, whether it's legal laws and libel laws in the U.K., whether it's just the mechanisms of great lawyers and public relations. There were so many people who just, even in my case, I probably sent hundreds and hundreds of emails over the course of the time of my reporting to the palace, to his lawyers. There is a tremendous amount of available evidence just in plain sight that thousands of people have had access to over the years.

CORNISH: Yes, so we're all sort of -- there's very -- there's interesting things we all want to get to, flight logs, for example, those kinds of details. But you're saying there's also evidence of every person trying to get information out, right?

FITZPATRICK: Check information.

CORNISH: Check information. Victims putting in statements.

FITZPATRICK: And verifying that information.

CORNISH: All of that is out for everyone to see.

FITZPATRICK: Exactly. And this was known to the palace, to the heads of state. I mean this is not kind of in some abstract spot. And so I think it really goes to show that there -- you know, it is very, very difficult to get this information out into the open, but someone just has to be willing to take that risk.

CORNISH: OK.

FITZPATRICK: And I think we're only seeing that now.

CORNISH: So, here's where that is super relevant, because once you get in court -- we should say Andrew is not being arrested gated to sexual allegations. It's about information. He had a trade convoy that he might have shared with Epstein. So, it's --

FITZPATRICK: That we know of, but --

CORNISH: Yes, that we know of.

But as a result of these documents, more and more things are coming out. So, you've seen in New Mexico, they're reopening an investigation into alleged illegal activity at Epstein's former Zorro Ranch. So, do you think that we are now going to see more reopenings here and there? And are the -- are the victims ready for that?

FITZPATRICK: Look, the victims have been ready. It is incredibly painful for them. It is incredibly traumatic. And they are worried about their safety. But they have been calling for this accountability, especially in the last six months, in which they believe that there is a coverup happening in real time by their own government, meaning an effort to suppress information. And I think the most important thing --

CORNISH: That's how they see it.

FITZPATRICK: That's how they see it.

CORNISH: An effort to repress. OK.

FITZPATRICK: Absolutely. And law -- my law enforcement sources, even within the FBI and the Department of Justice, often use that same phrasing. You know, why has there been this effort to prevent information coming out as opposed to them?

I think the key point is though, yes, there may be investigations opened, but we have seen the Department of Justice spend millions and millions of dollars, taxpayer dollars, as well as use hundreds of DOJ attorneys to review these documents, but we haven't seen any of those resources pushed towards new material investigative steps. Following up on new leads. Following up on documents. Following up on tips. Anything that, to us, would seem pretty obvious has not yet occurred.

[06:40:00]

We saw Bondi, last week, testify before Congress and there were literal witnesses sitting steps behind her who have tried very hard to submit information to the FBI, and she would not even turn around.

CORNISH: So, we're -- this kind of preoccupation with the documents themselves.

FITZPATRICK: Yes.

CORNISH: The act of showing the documents. You're saying that it doesn't have to end there. Like, the point of seeing it all is to potentially investigate.

FITZPATRICK: In theory. And we're not seeing any steps being taken at -- kind of at a small scale or at a large scale. So, I -- I am skeptical that we're going to see, unless there's a major, major change, I'm skeptical we're going to see any new really impactful outcome (ph).

CORNISH: Yes. And in the meantime, we're seeing like Norway, we've got a prime minister charged.

FITZPATRICK: Yes.

CORNISH: We got, in France, two investigations open. Latvia, opening a human trafficking probe.

I want to play for you one thing because what we are seeing here in the U.S. is more conversation, more depositions. So, for example, you have Victoria's Secret's owner, Les Wexner, he's been questioned for his relationship or ties to Epstein by the House Oversight Committee specifically, OK. And video is starting to come out about the deposition.

And I want to show you an example of a moment in the conversation. He had just told lawmakers that the FBI had never spoken to him about Epstein. And as he's talking, he gets a note. So, here's an example of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LES WEXNER, FOUNDER, VICTORI'S SECRET: All the things were inventoried that wasn't work for me or Jeffrey, it was just regularly done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you if you answer another question with more than five words, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FITZPATRICK: It's incredible. I mean it's an amazing moment caught on tape. But to me, the even more important moment that you see there, the fact that he's never been questioned by the FBI, never been questioned by the FBI in over almost two decades of federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, a man who had, if not so much material information, and we have had complaints. I mean there are reports to the FBI, to NYPD in 1996 stemming from Wexner's -- from a victim that had spent time at Wexner's home. So, it just like -- it defies logic and it really makes me question our confidence in the FBI and in our justice system.

CORNISH: Well, Sarah, I hope we can have you back. It seems like you're very much on this and giving me some new things to think about. I really appreciate it. Thank you for being here.

Now, I want to turn to this. CNN learning that it was a recent FCC inquiry into ABC's "The View" for a possible equal time violation that raised concerns at CBS. Stephen Colbert's show could be next. That's at least according to sources familiar with the internal decisions at CBS.

And that all came after the daytime talk show interviewed James Talarico, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Texas earlier this month. The Federal Communications Commission issued new guidance in January to late night and daytime shows that they need to give political candidates equal time. Now, there are some exceptions to the rule, including for bona fide newscasts and interview programs. FCC Chair Brendan Carr says, in his view, "The View" does not qualify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDAN CARR, FCC CHAIRMAN: They've been asserting the position that "The View" is what's known as bona fide news in the statute. If you're bona fide news, you don't have to give candidates equal airtime. But Disney and "The View" have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news. We've started an enforcement proceeding taking a look at that. And again, we're going to hold broadcasters accountable. The days that these legacy media broadcasters get to decide what we can say, what we can think, who we can vote for are over.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": We don't do the bookings. The bookings are done, you know, by an entirely different team. And frankly, I don't even understand what the problem is because we had Jasmine Crockett and a few weeks later we had Talarico.

But I think overall these rules and these laws are outdated and just don't conform to modern day media landscape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Sources said the inquiry into ABC put pressure on CBS with Stephen Colbert, who accused his network this week of scrapping "The Late Show's" interview with Talarico. Colbert ended up posting the interview on YouTube where, frankly, it got a couple million views.

Joining us in the group chat, Noel King, co-host and editorial director of "Today, Explained" podcast, CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams, CNN contributor Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Todd Ricketts, Republican strategist and co-founder of Freespoke.

OK, I'm glad to have you guys here finally.

Todd, I want to start with you because Freespoke is in the name. When you here Brendan Carr say, look, they can't decide what we think, they can't decide, it sort of reminds me of the fact that there is this focus on what Republicans and conservatives have always deemed an ideological capture of mainstream culture.

[06:45:01]

Should the state be the corrective for that?

TODD RICKETTS, CO-FOUNDER, FREESPOKE: Well, specifically just going to Freespoke, what we -- what I built at Freespoke is a digital news assistant and search engine that kind of takes news stories from all sides and uses A.I. to kind of build a consensus so you can see the overlap between left and right media. So just to throw that out there. But --

CORNISH: Well, it's relevant because --

RICKETTS: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: We've got a future where what happens on a couple of networks doesn't matter in the exact context you're working in.

RICKETTS: Yes, that's right. Yes, that's exactly right. And I think -- and here with this rule is, you know, specifically things that are over the airwaves. And so, it's an old rule, right, even though it's maybe been lightly enforced in the last, you know, so many years, 100 years or whatever it is. It's still a rule that's out there. And so, I think it's fine for the FCC to look at this.

CORNISH: But does it mean anything? I have to ask you, you're literally in the middle of doing a thing that involves new news sources.

RICKETTS: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: So, what's the point of all this? Is it just the show of yelling at what they perceive to be left wing people when the news ecosystem doesn't rely on any of the thing he's complaining about?

RICKETTS: Yes. no, I would just say that, like, it's a rule that's been on the books for a long time. And the fact that they're taking a look at it right now, I don't -- I don't think it's that surprising.

But I would also say, like, the interesting part of this is that the victim here is Jasmine Crockett, right? That's -- so I don't know why Brendan Carr would be thinking he needs to defend Jasmine Crockett out in public somehow.

CORNISH: Well, I have some ideas, but, yes.

RICKETTS: Yes.

CORNISH: Politically, it's to their advantage to stir the pot in Texas, but, Lulu, go ahead.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I mean I think -- I think the debate around this is pretty clear. The FCC has actually limited things that they can do in their toolbox. The only thing that they really oversee is broadcast media. What we're not talking about here is actually the other part of this, which isn't television, but is actually radio. They also oversee that. And that is dominated by conservative, as we know, talk shows, which they are not talking about the equal time rule for. And I think that is what everyone is pointing to when you hear Brendan Carr talking about "The View" and other, quote/unquote, things that they perceive to have a liberal bias. They're not talking about the other side of this and regulating the other side of this, which is conservative -- conservatives on the airwaves of radio. And that leads people to believe that this is really just about chilling speech on the left.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I would -- I would go even further than that, which is that the administration, in January, put out new guidance with respect to the application of the equal time rule and specifically exempted talk radio. It wasn't just an anecdotal thing. It is written into government policy. And I would just note, all of this is a reminder of the fact that this was a law written in 1934, when there were very few radio stations and everyone was clamoring to get on them that simply are not relevant anymore. It does not apply to the world that we're living in if now Stephen Colbert could potentially have a legal issue with a segment and then immediately put it on YouTube and have no problem with it. Well, clearly the rules that are designed to protect all of this should not and do not apply to the world we live in now. It just doesn't make sense.

CORNISH: I'm still trying to process that this new guidance specifically carves out talk radio.

WILLIAMS: Well, so it doesn't reference -- it doesn't reference it. It just --

CORNISH: It just doesn't mention it?

WILLIAMS: I doesn't reference it.

CORNISH: OK.

WILLIAMS: And it references late night talk shows and daytime television programing. It's just sort of specifically referencing --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The things that President Trump wants to be subtle.

NOEL KING, CO-HOST AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "TODAY, EXPLAINED" PODCAST: The point is not to watch. Yes, the point is not to be settled here. I remember when Brendan Carr went after Jimmy Kimmel and he was talking like a mafia don (ph). Like, oh, we're going to take him off the air.

The thing I would remind us all of is that people did not like that. Conservatives even did not particularly like the move to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. And I don't know whether Brendan Carr registered much of that. He seems like a pretty serious ideologue.

CORNISH: Yes.

KING: But it made a lot of people unhappy.

CORNISH: OK, we're going to talk more about this and some other things. If you missed any of that conversation, you want to join in, you want

to share it, we are a podcast. That's still allowed. Scan the QR code now to find it. CNN THIS MORNING available anywhere you get your podcasts.

Next on CNN, President Trump claims he solved the affordability problem. So, he's pushing a new economic plan to voters in northern Georgia.

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[06:53:34]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You notice, what word have you not heard over the last two weeks? Affordability. Because I've won. I've won affordability. I had to go out and talk about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, you just got a preview of President Trump's message because he is set to deliver the State of the Union Address next week. And, of course, the economy could be a major focus.

So, during a speech in Georgia last night, the president not only declared himself the winner of the affordability crisis, he also claimed he's defeated inflation. He hasn't. We're going to show you some data in a bit. And he's expressed plenty of frustration about his tariff policies, because those could be undermined by the Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Without tariffs what would you do? You know what? Everybody would be bankrupt. Everybody. The whole country would be bankrupt. And I have to wait for this decision. I've been waiting forever. Forever. And the language is clear, that I have the right to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

Supreme Court is supposed to issue some decisions in the next few hours, so we'll have an answer on, one, whether the tariffs are constitutional as implemented, and people like Costco, who are suing over them, are very interested in the answer.

KING: Yes. Let's remember that the point of tariffs is to get Americans to buy American and to get other people to buy American made goods. Today, the front page of "The Wall Street Journal," imports to U.S. hit record. That means Americans are not buying American. That means other people are not buying American. That means Americans are buying from China and elsewhere. The tariffs are not working.

CORNISH: Wait, can I show you one other number that -- about who pays for the tariffs.

KING: Yes. Us.

CORNISH: This is a report that came out from the Federal Reserve.

[06:55:01]

Trump and Hassett don't like this, but it says that basically you pay for the tariffs.

KING: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Economics. It's a tax on consumption. I mean that's what it is. It's a tax on consumption. I just experienced it myself when I got shipped something from Europe. And it was held as if it was a different country until I paid this duty on it. And it felt like I was in, you know, the 1930s. Not that I was around then. But it was -- it was crazy.

No, it just -- it's just a crazy, crazy thing. And the fact that they've been trying to say that this is somehow not a tax on consumption, when literally that is what you are doing, you are buying things and the government is making you pay extra money to take it in, and that means you pay for it.

CORNISH: Well, let me add to this because it's really about the holistic conversation. Do you think Donald Trump's policies on economic conditions have made your life better or worse, right? That's almost always the question put to voters in any election.

Right now numbers not looking amazing. So, he clearly knows he has to talk about it. Do you think he has solved the affordability problem?

RICKETTS: Well, just to hit on the tariffs really quickly. If you think that the president wants to have tariffs forever, it's probably a bad economic idea. But if you -- if you think about historically where our trade deals landed and think that coming out of World War II, we had intentionally one-sided bad trade deals because we were trying to support the world economically to avoid all the civil wars that were about to happen. That was really successful.

And I think what the president is saying is like, how long do we have to have these unfair trade deals with everybody? And really, like the tariff is a tool to get to a better trade deal.

KING: But it's not working.

RICKETTS: And it's -- I mean it's not something that happens overnight. It's a long term sort of --

KING: It's been a year.

RICKETTS: I mean it takes -- it's more than a year. It takes -- we've been doing it for eight years. It's going to take more than a year to fix it.

CORNISH: But I think the other thing -- people -- I remember this argument about it being a long term thing and it could take some time.

RICKETTS: Yes.

CORNISH: And I think what's always been interesting about that argument is the capacity for Americans to experience economic pain --

RICKETTS: Right.

CORNISH: While they're waiting for your economic transition. That's what happened with globalization.

RICKETTS: Yes.

CORNISH: It was like, it'll be fine. You'll get some training. It'll be good. Spoiler alert, it was not fine. Many people were upset.

RICKETTS: Yes.

CORNISH: I --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Enter Donald Trump.

CORNISH: Yes, enter Donald Trump. Exactly. And I always like to show this number where sort of independents are thinking about the economy because this is why they voted for him.

The only other thing I want to say is that it's a k-shaped economy. If you got a 401(k), you might be a millionaire right now.

RICKETTS: Yes.

CORNISH: You got a house, you might be doing great.

ELLIOT: Right.

CORNISH: You want a job and you're entry level, things are trash.

ELLIOT: To some extent it does not matter what the data say if people are not feeling it.

RICKETTS: That's right.

ELLIOT: If people feel that their pocketbook is suffering, the idea that -- and you might -- you might absolutely be correct that there might be long term impact of tariffs. That might be good for the American economy. But the simple -- sorry. But the simple fact is, people don't feel it right now. And you got a big election coming up in six or eight months. The president's got a problem.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And can I say, the reason -- I mean it just doesn't hold water that the president's doing this to sort of reshape the economy.

ELLIOT: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: When you look what he's doing with Canada. Canada is -- we have the biggest border in the world with our northern neighbors. We've always had a wonderful relationship with him. And now he's actually saying he's not going to re-up the trade deal that is supposed to be negotiated by --

CORNISH: Yes. But we should -- so, lawmakers have sort of stepped in, in that case. Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Lawmakers have stepped in. But what I'm saying is, he is using this because of his own sort of -- it's not to reshape our trade deal with Canada, which actually has always been pretty much in our favor, with some exclusions. But it is to punish a country and a people who he feels is defiant to him. And this is what we've seen over and over again with Brazil and other places, he uses the tariffs to strong arm countries for political reasons and not economic ones.

CORNISH: OK, which people call negotiation and the art of the deal. So, we're going to have an actual answer soon from the Supreme Court, I think.

So, I want to talk about what is in your group chat, because the whole show y'all have been like, I hope you get to the group chat.

So, let me start with you, Noel.

KING: Lulu says she says it better.

ELLIOT: I know.

KING: But the group chat, our group chat --

CORNISH: Oh.

KING: Is this baby monkey in Japan, Punch. His name is Punch.

CORNISH: Oh, my God.

KING: He was neglected or abandoned, rejected by his mother and so he -- the zookeepers. You go ahead, Lulu. Take it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We can do it together. The -- he was given, because he was rejected by his mother, this gorgeous little monkey from Ikea. And that has become his favorite toy. And he has taken the internet by storm because people feel very sad.

CORNISH: Hang in there Punch. Oh, my God.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: All the monkeys have rejected him, and he has to play --

CORNISH: Punch is all of us.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Punch is all of us. And he has to play with this sad little monkey. And everyone has been sort of riveted by his story.

CORNISH: That is a timeline cleanse.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The good news is -- just the good news is, he has started to be embraced by --

KING: The community

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The community.

CORNISH: OK. I don't know how you top that, Elliot, but let's try.

WILLIAMS: I don't. But I'm going to stay on positive news. Look at that. Lunar New Year this week.

CORNISH: Hey.

WILLIAMS: We're stay in the far east as well.

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Lunar New Year this week.

[07:00:01]

The big theme of Lunar New Year is always prosperity and good luck.

CORNISH: Fire Horse, yes.

WILLIAMS: Well, when you translate those words into Chinese, they actually sound like Malfoy. Draco Malfoy from the "Harry Potter" --

CORNISH: I've been seeing this everywhere.

WILLIAMS: Yes, Ma-er-fu. Draco Malfoy is now the face of Lunar New Year.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I love this.

WILLIAMS: And, in fact, at one point he's appearing upside down on some posters because of how the character, the Chinese character would appear.

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: So, Draco Malfoy, the unlikely figure.

CORNISH: Listen, love it. That's a total timeline cleanse. I love it for all of us. Thank you.

And thank you for spending time with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next.