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Soon, Hillary Clinton to be Deposed in Jeffrey Epstein Case; U.S., Iranian Negotiators Hold New Talks Amid U.S. Military Threat; Bill Clinton Scheduled to Testify Tomorrow in Epstein Case. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired February 26, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Hillary Clinton deposition. And moments from now, she will testify behind closed doors in the Congressional investigation of convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Plus, missing records, new CNN reporting on Epstein files that weren't included in the Justice Department's document dump.

And back in court, right now, another hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case is his lawyers claim a vindictive prosecution. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And negotiations with Iran. Today, delegations from Washington and to Tehran are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, as the U.S. ramps up U.S. military pressure on Iran. Could a deal be within reach?

Plus, balancing act, new CNN reporting on how the top U.S. general is now walking a tightrope with President Trump when it comes to Iran.

And later, quote, distasteful joke. The captain of the U.S. Women's Hockey Team is speaking out against President Trump's comments about inviting her team to the White House.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in the situation room.

And we begin with the breaking news. Just minutes from now, the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, will begin her sworn testimony in the Congressional investigation of convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The former senator and former secretary of state has said she never met Epstein, neither she nor her husband are accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Bill Clinton is due to testify before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow. A CNN review has found that the former president traveled on Epstein's private plane at least 16 times.

And in this photo from the U.S. Justice Department's release of files, Clinton is seen in a hot tub with women. A Clinton spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties before Epstein's arrest on federal charges back in 2019 and was unaware of any crime.

CNN Senior Reporter Annie Grayer is in Chappaqua, New York, that's in Westchester County, where the Clintons live and where the deposition is being held. Annie, this will be behind closed doors. How will things unfold today?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Wolf, we are expecting this deposition to go for hours where Hillary Clinton is going to be questioned behind closed doors by both Democrats and Republicans. This deposition is going to be filmed and there will be a transcript that should come out in the days ahead.

But, so far, what we know is this deposition is going to cover at least five major categories of agreed areas of questions. And those categories are the alleged mismanagement of the federal government's investigation into Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigation of Epstein's 2019 death, the ways the federal government could effectively combat sex trafficking rings, how Epstein and Maxwell sought to curry favor to protect their legal activities and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials.

Now, it was a long road to getting to this point. Hillary and her husband, Bill Clinton, did not want to testify as part of this investigation because they argued they were being unfairly singled out, that they did not have any information to share beyond written statements. And they argued that other witnesses were able to provide written statements, why couldn't they?

Now, take a listen to how Hillary Clinton framed what she calls her unfair treatment in a recent interview with the BBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You know, we have no links.

Why did they want to pull us into this? To divert attention from President Trump. This is not complicated. This is so obvious, and they keep trying to divert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: Now, the Clintons only agreed to testify at the last minute when the House Oversight Committee was going to hold them in criminal contempt on a bipartisan basis to prevent that from going forward. The Clintons agreed to House Oversight Chair Republican James Comer's terms, and that's why we're in Chappaqua today.

[10:05:05]

BLITZER: Annie, take us inside a little bit more of Hillary Clinton's strategy that's about to unfold. How does she approach this deposition?

GRAYER: So, Wolf, Hillary's been meeting with her team of lawyers for days. They've been hunkered down, I'm told, to prepare for this, not only to refresh the former secretary of state's memory about what her life was like around the Epstein days, but to also plan lines of attack because we are -- we know that the Republicans are expected to go after Hillary Clinton. There's a long history there. Hillary and her former -- and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, wanted to testify publicly but ultimately are appearing behind closed doors to agree to the terms that Republicans laid out.

We are expecting this to go for a long time today, but Hillary says she is ready to just say everything that she knows and hopefully move on from this. It's going to be a long day of testimony. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Annie Grayer in Chappaqua, New York, for us, Annie, thank you very much. We'll stay in close touch with you. Pamela?

BROWN: and as she noted, Wolf, the Clintons' deposition this week, while it marks a stunning reversal after months of fighting to avoid testifying and what they'd announced as a Republican plot against them. The former president and first lady agreed to comply with the Epstein probe only after the House moved toward a bipartisan vote to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Joining us now to discuss is White House Correspondent for NOTUS Jasmine Wright. Hi there.

So, our colleague, Jeff Zeleny, is reporting the Clintons have been hunkering down, not only to refresh their memories about the Epstein years, but even more to defend themselves against potentially hostile questioners. What are you expecting to come out of the Clinton's appearances today and tomorrow?

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NOTUS: Well, I think when talking to some of these Epstein survivors. They're hoping that more information comes out of these depositions. But, fundamentally, this is going to be a moment of politics. We know that in the past, the House Oversight Committee has released long videos. We saw that one recently of Les Wexner and times it got a little combative, but we heard his lawyer saying, stop answering so many questions.

And so I think we're going to see potentially even more combativeness when it comes to the way that Republican questioners in the room are reacting with the Clintons. I mean, to be clear here, this is not the first scandal that the Clintons have had to answer questions about. It's not the first, second, or really third, particularly not the first one about sensitive, personal topics, which some of these conversations could get into.

And so the Clintons are not necessarily new to this behavior and are putting themselves in a position, according to Annie and Jeff's incredible reporting, to be able to fight back against what they perceive as a political attack against them.

But to be clear here, this was not just the Republicans that led to this moment. Nine House Democrats also joined in on the vote to hold them in contempt if they did not sit down for a deposition. Obviously, now they are. And so this is a bipartisan effort for people who want to hear more about the truth and who feel that it is fundamentally okay for the Clintons to be a part of this probe just because of how many times Bill Clinton was mentioned in these files itself.

BLITZER: And just if you would speak to just how different the political climate is for the Clintons on Capitol Hill now versus years ago.

WRIGHT: Well, I think that you saw that in the way that they initially reacted some of that back and forth. We know that coming from the former president's official office were some striking comments, attacking James Comer, who leads that House Oversight committee, basically accusing him of political ploy, accusing him of going after the Clintons to take the heat off of President Trump in a way that felt not exactly meshed with the moment, particularly when this is not just about the politics of it, but it's about people who experienced real tragedy within these files.

And so I think that you saw the difference because, you know, they went after Comer. It didn't exactly land the way that they wanted to, and then you saw House Democrats, nine of them, really defect from House leadership and vote to hold the Clintons in contempt.

Obviously, they're now sitting down for that deposition, but I think that those -- that that instance is a really good example of how the times have changed because you wouldn't have seen those nine Democrats defect away from House leadership back 20 years ago when they were kind of involved in their first types of scandals.

BROWN: All right. And I also want to note, you covered the White House. You cover President Trump on a day-to-day basis. How closely do you anticipate he's watching developments from the Clintons?

WRIGHT: Well, I know that the White House will be watching developments. I think that the White House, on one track, has tried to move past this Epstein saga. I think that they believe that now that all the documents are over. It's not going to satisfy all the questions, but it allows them to kind of move forward after the Department of Justice and Pam Bondi had a real difficulty of getting their hands around this in the past few months, and the White House recognized this.

[10:10:07]

On the other hand, of course, I think that the White House wants to frame this as a purely Democratic issue. The president, of course, has said it's a Democratic hoax and that Democrats are responsible for the information that is in the files and that they could have released it last administration.

Fundamentally, though, I think that there is a question of what happens after this deposition. Perhaps we learn more information from both Hillary Clinton and the former president. But there's still a question of who the voters are blaming for some of this information in the Epstein files. We knew that there was a CNN poll just a month ago that said 6 percent of people believe that the DOJ was accurately handling the information now that the information is released. There was a poll that came out from Data Progress, obviously a left-leaning firm, but that said that a majority of the people felt that the president was being untruthful about the Epstein files itself, including 72 percent of independents they surveyed.

And so this is a political issue that has not gone away and that it doesn't necessarily reflex well on the White House either.

BROWN: All right. Jasmine Wright, thank you so much.

And just ahead, we're going to be joined by Democratic Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who will be attending the depositions. Wolf?

BLITZER: Looking forward to that interview.

And still ahead, back to the negotiating table in Geneva. Will it be enough to prevent a U.S. attack on Iran? What both sides want, we have details, that's coming up next right here in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: Breaking news, American and Iranian negotiators are meeting in Geneva for a new round of talks aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear program. The foreign minister of Oman, you see him there on the right, he presented Iran's latest proposal to American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner before Iran's foreign minister met with both Witkoff and Kushner during the course of the day, they'll be meeting. The talks come as the U.S. prepares for possible military action against Iran.

Let's go live right now to our Senior International Reporter Fred Pleitgen in Geneva. So, what's the latest on these talks there, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. And, of course, there are some who see this as sort of a last ditch effort to try and avert that major military confrontation between the United States and Iran. And certainly some of the things that we've seen here today is that those talks apparently are being held in a very intense matter, and certainly both sides are bringing each other's ideas to the table.

What we've heard from the Iranians, the talks are in a pause right now, Wolf, and the Iranian side has said the talks have been extremely intensive and extremely serious, and that both Iran's nuclear program was discussed as well as possible sanctions relief for the Iranians.

Of course, as far as that nuclear program is concerned, that's where the United States has the most issues. It wants the Iranians to stop enrichment. It wants the Iranians to send their highly enriched uranium out of Iran. At the same time, the U.S., of course, also has big issues with Iran's ballistic missile program as well as Iran's regional proxies.

But right now, those two issues are not part of the negotiations. All of this is about Iran's nuclear program. Both sides have said that. And as far as enrichment is concerned, the big question is whether or not the two sides are going to be able to find a way forward out of the fact that the U.S. wants no enrichment by the Iranians, and the Iranians are saying it is their own right to enrich uranium, and that's really what both sides are working on very intensely.

What we're seeing now is a proposal by the Iranians that could be the foundation of an agreement between Iran and the United States. But, of course, these talks have been going on, let's say, for three or four hours. They're in a break right now. They're going to continue in about an hour and a half. It's hard to see that there's going to be major progress today, but both sides saying they are working very hard. And the Omanis who are mediating these talks also saying that they believe that the atmosphere is very constructive. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, the stakes clearly are enormous. Fred, I want to play for you and our viewers an exchange between Vice President J.D. Vance and CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Can you explain to the American people why the United States would need to strike Iran to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon if the United States obliterated their enrichment program last summer?

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not going to make any news on Iran today, Kaitlan. I'll let the president make those announcements. As you know, he is sending two of his best negotiators to Geneva tomorrow in order to continue to try to strike the best deal possible for the American people. But the principle's very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If they try to rebuild a nuclear weapon, that causes problems for us. And, in fact, we've seen evidence that they have tried to do exactly that.

So, the president is sending those negotiators to try to address that problem. As the president has said repeatedly, he wants to address that problem diplomatically. But, of course, the president has other options as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Fred, is Iran saying anything about these comments?

PLEITGEN: Well, they certainly are talking about their nuclear program and the fact that the Trump administration has said that they can never have a nuclear weapon. First of all, the Iranians, by the way, have said that they have been quite impressed by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the negotiations so far, especially in that last round of talks that happened here in Geneva last week, and at some of the ideas that have been put forward. As far as their nuclear program is concerned, the Iranians have never made a secret of the fact that they want to have their nuclear program. They believe it is their right. They believe they have the right to enrich. They also say that no matter how many times the U.S. strikes that nuclear program, the knowledge is there. At the same time, they have also been saying they categorically do not want a nuclear weapon and will not work on one in the future.

[10:20:01]

And, certainly, they are saying that they would be willing to give the United States the safeguards to ensure that Iran does not make a nuke in the future. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Fred Pleitgen in Geneva, Switzerland, covering these talks for us, thanks very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Coming up here in The Situation Room, soon, Hillary Clinton will testify behind closed doors in the Congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Up next, we'll speak to one of the lawmakers who will be questioning her,

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BLITZER: Breaking news, the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee in its probe of Jeffrey Epstein in just a few minutes.

[10:25:03]

Here's what she told the BBC last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: There's something about this administration's attitude toward this, which I think really leads us to conclude they have something to hide. We don't.

They want us to testify, not everyone else who's mentioned many times, yes, hundreds of thousands of times in these files. So, we've said, fine. Let us do it in public, and we will appear in public and we'll answer all your questions.

And we have no links.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari of Arizona. She's a member of the House Oversight Committee.

So, what is it that you'd like to learn from Hillary Clinton today and Bill Clinton tomorrow when he testifies, Congresswoman?

REP. YASSAMIN ANSARI (D-AZ): Well, as we've always said, we are looking forward to getting information from anyone who may have it. So, the secretary has been pretty clear to say that she had no relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. So, a lot of the information and questions that I will be asking today intend to verify that or not, questions around, you know, how long she's known Epstein, whether she's been to any of his properties, in what context they've engaged one another. And then tomorrow, of course, with the former president, I think there's much more important questions to be asked given their possible relationship.

But again, this is part of a much broader investigation. Last week, of course, we spoke with Les Wexner, who was the main financier for Epstein. So, hopefully, one of, you know, many depositions to come as part of this critical investigation.

BROWN: Just to quickly follow up with you, you said tomorrow there are much more important questions with Bill Clinton. As you heard Hillary Clinton say, we have nothing to do with this, nothing to hide. What are those questions you have as you look ahead to tomorrow?

ANSARI: What has become extremely clear to me throughout this investigation is that there were many, many, many people who helped to enable and perpetrate the monstrous crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. And so I really want to know anything in regard to who those people may be, whether it has to do with other rich and powerful men who were around Epstein and may or may not have known about his crimes and still allowed them to continue. I want to know more about the people involved on the financial side of things. And we know that to make these vast crimes possible, many people were involved.

So, as much of that information will be vital. This is also, of course, coming at a critical time where The New York Times and NPR and others have confirmed what we have found, which is that the Department of Justice has withheld over 50 pages of FBI investigations into credible allegations from a minor against President Trump. So this is very concerning to me, and we know this is an ongoing cover-up by the Trump White House and this Department of Justice, and we need answers immediately.

BLITZER: Important point indeed. CNN is reporting that the Clintons have been hunkering down to defend themselves and are planning lines of attack against potentially hostile questioners. You're there in Chappaqua. You'll be one of the questioners. Is that a wise approach for the Clintons to take, in your view?

ANSARI: Look, honestly, I just want honesty from them. That's what I'm looking forward to. We do know there are potentially ten Republicans here. It's very disappointing because last week, not one Republican member of Congress showed up to question Les Wexner, who, again, was the top financier for Jeffrey Epstein. Of course they're all here now. It's a spectacle for them. They're not serious about this investigation. They've made that very clear.

It is Oversight Democrats that from the get-go have been pushing. We are the ones who got a subpoena for the Epstein files before there was ever an Epstein Files Transparency Act. We have gone to every deposition. So, you know, I'm sure that the Clintons have prepared accordingly for that, but we're here to take this seriously. There are victims, countless victims, who have shown so much bravery by coming forward, and we owe it to them to take this seriously.

BROWN: Do you wish that Democrats on Oversight when they had control and when they had the power in the White House and DOJ had done more to get those documents, given what you just laid out there?

ANSARI: I think more absolutely could have been done. It's important to remember that during the Biden administration, there was an active, ongoing investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell, which, of course, ended with her criminal conviction, so that's vital.

But this has been going on for decades, this cover-up. There is no question in my mind that the FBI and the Department of Justice and rich and powerful people and the elite Epstein class in this country has been able to cover up their crimes for a long time.

But the dam is breaking and the truth will come out, and we will not stop until there is accountability.

[10:30:00]

We've seen it in other countries and it is very embarrassing that the United States has not operated in the same way when it comes to accountability for people who were --