← The Beat with Ari Melber
The Beat with Ari Melber
New Trove of Epstein Files Released
00:41:19
Thousands of new pages from the Epstein files have been released. MS NOW's Ari Melber reports and is joined by Vanity Fair's Molly Jong-Fast and Semafor's Margaret Carlson.
Loading summary
Transcript144 lines
- [00:01]
Ari Melber
Welcome back to Listen to youo Heart. I'm Jerry.
- [00:03]
Jerry
And I'm Jerry's Heart.
- [00:04]
Ari Melber
Today's topic, repatha Evolocimab heart. Why'd you pick this one?
- [00:09]
Jerry
Well, Jerry, for people who have had a heart attack like us, diet and exercise might not be enough to lower the risk of another one.
- [00:16]
Ari Melber
Okay.
- [00:16]
Jerry
To help know if we're at risk, we should be getting our LDL C, our bad cholesterol checked, and talking to our doctor.
- [00:22]
Margaret Carlson
I'm listening.
- [00:23]
Jerry
And if it's still too high, Repatha can be added to a statin to lower our LDL C and our heart attack risk.
- [00:29]
Ari Melber
Hmm. Guess it's time to ask about Repatha.
- [00:32]
Commercial Announcer
Do not take Repatha if you are allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing. Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms. Common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flu like symptoms. Back pain, high blood sugar and redness. Pain or bruising at the injection site.
- [00:52]
Margaret Carlson
Listen to your heart.
- [00:54]
Jerry
Ask your doctor about Repatha. Learn more@repatha.com or call 1-844-repatha just in.
- [01:02]
Ari Melber
Thousands of winter arrivals at your Nordstrom.
- [01:05]
Commercial Announcer
Rack store, save up to 70% on.
- [01:07]
Ari Melber
Coats, slippers and cashmere from Kate Spade.
- [01:10]
Commercial Announcer
New York, Vince Ugg, Levi's and more.
- [01:13]
Survivor Advocate
Check out these boots.
- [01:14]
Ari Melber
They've got the best gifts.
- [01:15]
Molly John Fass
My holiday shopping hack.
- [01:17]
Commercial Announcer
Join the Nordic.
- [01:18]
Ari Melber
Get an extra 5% off every rack.
- [01:20]
Commercial Announcer
Purchase with your Nordstrom credit card, please.
- [01:23]
Ari Melber
Plus, buy it online and pick it up in store the same day for free. Big gifts, big perks.
- [01:28]
Commercial Announcer
That's why you rack.
- [01:30]
Ari Melber
Welcome to the beat. We begin with these new Epstein files. Thousands of new pages past the deadline. We have covered the illegal cover up since most documents have not been met by the deadline. But what we have now are new emails, investigator notes, new witness accounts, as well as material that goes well beyond some of what was in the DOJ's first release. Before we get into any of the context and the wider legal ramifications, let me tell you highlights of what are in these files. New flight records, newly revealed prosecutor notes. Documentation of Donald Trump traveling with Epstein to a degree that even the people inside the DOJ at the time, people with knowledge of the case, found to be a, quote, surprise, more jet travel with Epstein than they knew at the time. A subpoena that was sent to Mar? A Lago during the Maxwell probe. It was seeking records that itself is not completely incriminating for Mar A Lago, but it's new. You could see why they wanted to hide it. Here's the Washington Post headline on what is now another day of Epstein file dumps. Quote, second batch of Epstein files with many mentions of Trump. Here's a conservative paper, the examiner, that says some of the new files include Trump's name, which is putting it mildly. Or Mediaite, which is read widely in east coast media circles. The five most shocking Trump mentions in the latest batch of Epstein docs. This is shaking up D.C.
- [03:01]
Jerry
Overnight under pressure, the Department of Justice releasing thousands more. Jeffrey Epstein files. The most substantial dump of documents so far. Tips about President Trump's degree of involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Then this email mentioning President Trump from.
- [03:16]
Ari Melber
A federal prosecutor on a fight that Trump and Epstein were on. A flight that Trump and Epstein were on would be two possible witnesses in a Maxwell case, in a Maxwell criminal case. This group includes an awful lot of references to Trump in the paperwork. Reporters, other people interested. Obviously the members of Congress who demanded this by law have been going through this at msnow. We had people burning the midnight oil even though it is of course a holiday week as they went through these files trying to verify, trying to make sense of it. Again, we're going to go through these new documents that include that subpoena I mentioned. It was in 2021, pretty recent, that it was sent to Mar? A Lago and was part of the open case against Maxwell. Of course, the investigations of Maxwell have traversed multiple administrations. There's a photo of Trump with her. We don't know the context of that, but there it is. There are emails from a federal prosecutor about Trump flying on the Epstein jet, writing Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported. That's Jan, 2020. And they note Trump was listed as a passenger on eight flights in the 90s, including four flights where Maxwell was also present. They note in a flight in 93, Trump and Epstein were the only two listed passengers. On another, there were three passengers. The other individual besides the deceased trafficker Epstein and the current President Trump was a 20 year old name redacted. Now you can see why a politician might not want any of that spilling out. On the other hand, those pieces of evidence, those references do not in themselves implicate Donald Trump in a crime or wrongdoing. And that's important to note given all the interest and some of the salacious details here. The files also have a letter that is purported to have been written by Epstein. So it's in these files to A serial sex abuser, Larry Nassar. I want to tell you tonight, Trump's DOJ says that while the letter was in the files, Right. The letters and emails in these files are not obviously automatically true. And we've had more disclosure than usual in this case. And one of the things we've mentioned, our guests have mentioned is sometimes people think when something is overexposed, that means guilt by association. That's not always the case. Now, some of this was reported by 2023 by the AP, but not in the same detail. This is postmarked three days after Epstein's death, August 2019. There. Ms. Now hasn't confirmed the authenticity. So what I'm telling you is this is in the files. You may hear about it, but that doesn't mean that it's a true thing. Just as we've had past emails from Epstein and others making accusations about Trump, that is not itself criminal evidence of wrongdoing. It tells you about what's in some of these files, might tell you about threats or blackmail that aren't based on the truth. And I want you to know the statement here, they've confirmed the alleged letter from Epstein to Nassar is, quote, fake. Fake is what DOJ is saying tonight. Again, this is how transparency is supposed to work. Let the people see and add context. Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationist claims made against Trump. They go on to say, discussing that as unfounded and false. Now, Trump's DOJ can of course, add that context. What has been requested and now mandated under law is more information, not less, more documents, not hiding documents. And then you can add context. The DOJ's handling of this release is peculiar. Those files posted yesterday were available for hours. Then they were removed at 8pm Then they were reposted around midnight, which gives you an idea of what it's like to work at Trump's DOJ in this Christmas week. The files also reveal an email from an investigator who said they had a photo of Trump with Maxwell while searching Bannon's phone. Again, that's interesting to say the least. Investigator included the photo, but that was redacted. There was an uproar over the photos removed from the DOJ's website, which were also then stored. If you see from the headlines and the point here, this has been a bungled operation and at times an illegal cover up. That's just the facts tonight. Now, one of the photos was inside Epstein's home and it had that Trump image as part of a personal collection. You see it there, of all the things that have come out in this Epstein story, what you see the arrow pointing at is not exactly the worst thing for Donald Trump in terms of public embarrassment. And yet they took it down and then put it back up. Survivors have been speaking out.
- [07:42]
Survivor Advocate
I am no longer supporting this administration.
- [07:44]
Ari Melber
I am so disgusted with this administration.
- [07:47]
Survivor Advocate
I think that Pam Bondi and Cash Patel both need to resign and I.
- [07:52]
Ari Melber
Would love to see number 47 get impeached over this.
- [07:55]
Guest Commentator
We went from, you know, very happy, very excited where we've reached somewhere to now being very disappointed. It's come to the point where we can't even trust our government.
- [08:09]
Ari Melber
Those are the voices of survivors. They can't trust their government even after they led a actual movement, I don't know what else you would call it, of survivors and their allies and others interested in truth in the story as well as a bipartisan coalition in Congress. And that movement went from hey, you're never going to see anything and get a vote to forcing a vote to forcing the President to sign that law because they already had a veto proof majority. The voices of the survivors you hear have achieved a lot this year as we end in this odd Christmas week, this Epstein document dump week. They've achieved a lot, but you can see their work's not done. They're still pressing because what we are witnessing in real time as we've been reporting since Friday night, is an illegal cover up in plain sight, a bungled cover up. Problems with posting, taking down, reposting, redactions, putting up slices of material and then add real time tweets about it as if they haven't had all this time to prepare. And so what you see there is a DOJ and more widely, a Trump administration under pressure. It doesn't look organized cuz it's not. It doesn't look honest because as we've reported on the evidence in many times in cases it has not been honest. And the survivors and the Congress that has pushed this, they've made it clear they are not done with this administration. Even if everyone takes a couple days off at the end of the year. We, we've got Molly and Margaret here when we're back together in 90 seconds.
- [09:40]
Survivor Advocate
We're trying to get justice for all of them and all of us. But it just seems like every time we think we're in the right step in the right direction, the government goes and does something else and lets us down. And this should have been cut and dry once again and it wasn't. And it's just a circle of abuse. And I think everyone also forgets that when we're going through this continuously that this is an emotional and re traumatizing all the time. And this is not just re traumatizing of what happened to us. We're being re traumatized by our government.
- [10:18]
Ari Melber
We have been hearing from many different survivors. Sarah, that was on Lawrence o' Donnell's program. Important points we wanted to make sure you heard. I'm joined now by New York Times writer Mola John Fass and and Semaphore's Margaret Carlson. Molly, your thoughts tonight?
- [10:33]
Molly John Fass
Yeah, I was glad that victim talked about being re traumatized because I think that's a real phenomenon we're seeing happen here. And the truth is the federal government should be protecting these women. They have been failed by five different administrations. Nonpartisan, both Republicans and Democrats have failed these women. And it feels and again, we don't know but it certainly looks like the DOJ is spending a lot more time protecting the Donald Trump than protecting these women. And I think that even just that fact is so damning because their job should be to protect these women, to find justice for them, to make sure that the men accountable are prosecuted and that's it, period, paragraph. And I think because this DOJ seems so partisan and so much at the hand of Donald Trump, it really has created a feeling that they are not acting in the best interest of these women.
- [11:31]
Ari Melber
Understood. And Margaret, we've covered many issues where the government may be somewhat secretive. There are entire committees and reviews about government secrecy. This on the evidence goes farther. It looks corrupt in the nature of the secrecy. It's illegal, as I've emphasized since they blew the Friday deadline. And also very important, it suggests that they are more interested at the DOJ in helping Donald Trump avoid whatever it may be, embarrassment or worse than complying with a federal law that's trying to deliver justice for survivors. I want to read from the new files because as I've told viewers, both things are true. There's an illegal cover up. There's also new information. In the new information, Margaret, we see a reference in 2019 to Epstein's quote, 10 co conspirators and their locations, three in Florida who have been subpoenaed, another in Boston, one in NYC where of course he kept a big townhouse, one in Connecticut. And Margaret, we can now square that which is credible contemporaneous pursuit of many Epstein co conspirators, which makes sense from what we already know to what appear to be misstatements or worse coming from Trump's appointees. Here's Kash Patel.
- [12:57]
Molly John Fass
Who if anyone did.
- [12:58]
Barry Levine
Epstein traffic these young women to besides himself Himself.
- [13:04]
Jerry
There is no credible information. None. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals. And the information we have again is limited.
- [13:14]
Barry Levine
So the answer is no one.
- [13:16]
Jerry
For the information that we have in.
- [13:20]
Ari Melber
The files, in the case file. Fact check. Misleading at best or false. We don't know exactly what Patel knew, but we do know that he, Margaret, had access if he wanted to this information because these are DOJ written records of not one or two but ten co conspirators.
- [13:44]
Guest Commentator
If ever there was a time to have a special prosecutor, this is it. And today with the the latest release, it's even clearer that it's got to get out of the hands of the doj. When I'm reading along sometimes, Ari, I see DOJ and I think, oh well good, the cops are here. No, it's just the opposite. The DOJ is that is the COVID up of the crime. Here there's both the COVID up and a crime. So somebody's got to do something. The White House isn't going to appoint a special prosecutor. So it's only up to Congress. What are they going to do? Senator Kennedy, you just showed us. I don't think the Republican Senate is going to come forward if I were a victim. And the clips of those girls, every time you see them, you say how are they ever going to get justice? Epstein's suicide was another crime to them because they didn't get to go to court. There was no time for them to have their day. And so I read this and I say we're in a really bad movie where the cops are on the take.
- [15:03]
Ari Melber
Yeah. And you refer Epstein was found dead in his cell and that's been corroborated. The federal government at the time in the Bureau of Prisons was overseen by the Trump administration which ruled it a suicide. Brunel, who we're learning was another sex trafficker who flew on the plane more than previously known, also was found dead in a in a prison in Europe. It was ruled a suicide. So we can report fairly and precisely which government authorities have said what then, Molly? The questions remain because this very episte Transparency act asks for more information about that and the questions are how their credibility over the long haul squares with what we're learning. Then there's the incompetence, which is also part of this story. Molly. If one was a total conspiracy theorist cynic, which I don't recommend neither for learning the Truth, nor is it a fun way to live. But if you were that, you'd say, well, we're never gonna learn anything because of this whole cover up. Right? The truth is messier. I alert you, Molly, to headlines today. And we've seen this on social media. Epstein files that were redacted and released within the last few days getting unredacted by people online who have better tech skills than some of the Trump DOJ people. File redaction can be undone with Photoshop techniques or highlighting text to paste into a word processing file. Which gives you the sense, Molly, that there's also some incompetence over there.
- [16:35]
Molly John Fass
Yeah, I think that's a pretty good bet. And look, the good news about Trump world is that they're very incompetent. And we've seen this before. They had files they put up. There were a group of files that then they took down. And we've seen a lot. Right. You were talking about that before. So we've seen certainly a lot of back and forth. And if you wanted a story to go away, this would absolutely not be the way to do it. Now, I think the good news, right, is I mean they've just the drips and drabs taking things off, putting them on. But I think the good news is that oversight, the ranking member of oversight, Robert Garcia oversight has a ton more photos and videos and stuff. So they have a lot of information they got from the Epstein estate. Plus we have Thomas Massie and, and all of the people who did that discharge petition, who and Ro Khanna and Marjorie Taylor Greene. And they are talking about getting Pam Bondi to testify. So there are, you know, as much as this feels just so terrible and you feel for these women, there are, you know, public pushback is a powerful thing. And that's what we've seen with the discharge petition. And I think that's what we're gonna see here. You know, the Todd Blanche said there were more than 1200 victims. That is a lot of women. And these women are very angry, as well they should be. And the public needs to come to their aid and fight for justice for them.
- [18:06]
Guest Commentator
Margaret, you know, I worry listening to Pam Bondi's testimony when the oversight for her nomination, I don't think she was truthful then. It worries me relying on Congress to cross examine in a way to get to the bottom of what these people have been doing. I mean, since she, the moment she said, oh, the files are on my desk, and that's months and months and months ago. And here we Are. And still somehow. Here's the file. No, that's not the file. We're giving you the file. No, we're taking it back. And we have tech bros who can do it better than our own Justice Department.
- [18:47]
Ari Melber
And I know when you say tech bro, you mean tech bros and gals.
- [18:52]
Guest Commentator
Oh, I do. Definitely. I'm just not.
- [18:54]
Ari Melber
I know you, so I know you do.
- [18:55]
Guest Commentator
I mean, it's like anybody but my tech sisters.
- [18:58]
Ari Melber
But anybody.
- [18:59]
Guest Commentator
Yeah, go for it.
- [19:01]
Ari Melber
Yes. Tech sisters. Well. And Margaret, anybody who knows their way around a computer. People have different skill sets. But the DOJ is supposed to be better than this at it. And some have pointed out they've lost some of their competent ace people in this year.
- [19:19]
Guest Commentator
Oh, they haven't. And the FBI is the premier place to go for this. But when you look at Kash Patel, he's not your guy. So, you know, we've been taken over. You know, there's scene in the movie Witness where the camera goes and the person on the phone is the police captain. He's the one running the whole thing. You say, oh, my God, everybody's in on it. None of the adults are straight. What are we gonna do? So I'm hoping, as Molly says, we can rely on Thomas Massie and others to organize a set of hearings where the Republicans aren't in char. I mean, if oversight is in charge, we're not going to get anything. So it's going to have to be a special committee.
- [20:06]
Ari Melber
Right. You're both speaking to how it's requiring checks and balances, which at times have been under attack by this president. And this law marks a check. They're fighting it. And they clearly think at DOJ that if they can do a couple days, it's not like what they put up today they didn't have on Friday. They think that they can drag this out and then move on. And that's going to be a test of whether people, the public, the press and the Congress, all the levers of checks, care or not. There's a lot of signs people are going to care. Well, in the next year. We'll be on it. Molly and Margaret, thanks to both of you tonight. I have Bob Woodward coming up. As we look at following the money and learning from people who've done that and the revelations on Trump with a reporter who wrote the book on this.
- [20:50]
Barry Levine
Next.
- [20:58]
Ari Melber
A new batch of Epstein files out today, which shows again how even the things they are willing to release are hurting the Trump administration a long ways from Pam Bondi vowing to release A client list from her desk.
- [21:12]
Barry Levine
The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients.
- [21:17]
Ari Melber
Will that really happen?
- [21:18]
Guest Commentator
It's sitting on my desk right now.
- [21:23]
Ari Melber
Then Bondi backtracked. She said there was no client list. Contradicting herself, she ruled out the idea that Epstein ever blackmailed people, foreclosing possible investigations in that lane, and seemed like they didn't want to pursue anyone. Trump claimed he didn't know anything about anything. No, I was never, Never brief.
- [21:47]
Survivor Advocate
Did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the end?
- [21:51]
Ari Melber
No, no, she's. She's given us just a very quick briefing. Trump is in the files, though, and whatever happened at that so called briefing, his own number one aide recently telling Vanity Fair she read what she calls the Epstein file. Trump is in the file. We know he's in the file. She just said he wasn't involved in any crimes. I'm joined now by journalist Barry Levine, the author of the Spider Inside the Tangled Web of Epstein and Maxwell. Thanks for joining. Given how long you've worked on these issues, I'm sure some of the new documents are things you would have liked to have earlier on. What stands out to you about everything we've learned since Friday?
- [22:34]
Barry Levine
Well, Ari, what stands out to me is the fact that there were many, many missed opportunities to apprehend Jeffrey Epstein going way back. And when you think at the time when this was going on, Jeffrey Epstein was bringing in at least three minors a day for these sexualized massages. In essence, he was raping three minors a day. So you think about the opportunities to have apprehended him. And that's what has been missing. And that is what is so upsetting to me. In looking at these files, we see, for instance, the Palm.
- [23:12]
Ari Melber
Just to push you on that. Yeah, which, which files, which new information speaks to that?
- [23:19]
Barry Levine
Well, what speaks to it, Ari, is the Palm beach police, we know from a memo, began an investigation in December 2001 when they were alerted that Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's co conspirator, was paying college girls from the Palm Beach Athletic Campus $200 a day, technically, for answering the phone. Three of the girls that the Palm beach police apparently talked to at that time said they had been touched inappropriately by Jeffrey Epstein. Okay, so they were. Epstein and Maxwell were on the radar of the Palm beach police going back to 2001, which is a new revelation.
- [24:00]
Ari Melber
Right, which.
- [24:00]
Barry Levine
We're not slowing you down.
- [24:02]
Ari Melber
I'm just going to slow. I'm just slowing you down. So we've got a government story, an official story about oh, what they found in 06. And the defenders of that, including a former Trump cabinet member, have said, well, that's really as far as we could go. Even if you'd like to go further, sort of the too big to fail bank defense where we heard from prosecutors you can't do more. Sometimes that's true, by the way, in certain legal situations. Seems false. Here you're saying the docs show they go back to 01 in Florida. The farmer doc newly revealed Friday goes back to 96 for the feds. And we're waiting on. I'm gonna put these memos up and let you continue. The coconspirators memo which I mentioned tonight, needs more detail. A corporate prosecutions probe memo, a discussion of another target. Go ahead and factor in any of this if you care to.
- [24:53]
Barry Levine
Yeah, let's talk about the report involving the FBI with the Crimes Against Children Human trafficking unit from July 9, 2019, where they named 10 possible co conspirators. You know, this is an investigation by the FBI that should have been done in 2008. Why is it, you know, more than a decade later that they're just listing the names of these ten possible co conspirators? I mean, this is what is so upsetting is that all of this was hiding in plain sight. The Palm beach police could have gotten onto this much earlier. The FBI were handed this case by the Palm beach police in 2008. And he gets of course, the slap on the wrist non prosecution agreement. And then we don't hear anything for the most part until 2019 after the Miami Herald series Perversion of Justice. And then they began investigating Jeffrey Epstein again. In fact, it was only a few weeks after that series that they began investigating him. And all of this evidence, this goes.
- [25:59]
Ari Melber
To something else I want to ask you. I'm just, I'm the lawyer, so I keep interrupting. I apologize. But I did want to ask you before I lose you. The Epstein plot was to use and abuse money and connections to pull so many people into his orbit, many of whom we know, according to what we have, weren't present for some of these horrific crimes. But to pull so many people in that he would be too hard to get. Now he's dead. And it seems that some of that still worked in the sense that when Pam Bondi says nobody else to charge because she's worried that any of this could affect her boss. Trump or others may have been worried about the Clinton photos. Who cares? Or any other people involved. Does it concern you that this plot in a way works even past his death to evade all of the prosecutions that a fair process would have yielded?
- [26:54]
Barry Levine
Yes, I think it does. And sadly, you know, we lost his main accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who took her life last April. She had named in her book, she had referenced 11 individuals that she had been trafficked to. Of course, prosecutions involving any of those individuals, and that's both men and women, can never take place now because of her passing. So, you know, valuable time over these decades has gone by and so many individuals who are still out there, not only the men who took part in the sex trafficking, but the men who were modeling fixers, who put young girls as young as 11 and 12 years old on planes to Epstein's island in the Virgin Islands, are getting away with this. They were paid money. And so right now we really need to go through those financial documents that Senator Ron Wyden is going through and see if we can pick off any of the men who was receiving money from Jeffrey Epstein for the transportation of these miners.
- [27:58]
Ari Melber
Yeah, I think those are avenues to pursue. You mentioned Miami Herald and Julie Brown, who's been on Ms. Now, whose reporting was instrumental. Your reporting we've drawn on. So I appreciate you making time tonight here on the holiday week, Barry Levine. We'll be coming back to you Nafin a break. But when we do return, we're going to hear about the secrets of following the money in this case from Bob Woodward. There is new info in the Epstein files, but not anything close of what the law required be released. We have not yet seen financial documents, as one expert reminded us tonight, which helps follow the money, including which banks enabled Epstein his high flying lifestyle and perhaps his crimes. Iconic journalist Bob Woodward has some thoughts here. Deep investigative work, interviews, documents, some material that had been under seal to show that this big bank, JP Morgan, really did look the other way while these crimes were occurring and had some of its bankers allegedly involved in some of the very business Epstein was up to, which is a conflict, if not worse. I wonder what you think we should do with this kind of reporting in.
- [29:19]
Margaret Carlson
A time where, well, we should appraise it. It's a masterpiece. I've read it twice, I think of that kind of in depth reporting. It takes a new angle. J.P. morgan, what did they know and when did they know it and what did they do? I salute the New York Times because that clearly took a great deal of effort and investigative chops and experience and probably editors or I'm sure editors. What about this? What about that? Go back to so and so.
- [30:02]
Ari Melber
And how is that different from the world we're in, where everyone has an opinion or a conspiracy theory about Epstein versus that kind of dogged reporting?
- [30:11]
Margaret Carlson
Well, we need more dogged reporting. And, you know, old theme, and I'll repeat, there's nothing like a firsthand witness, somebody you as a reporter can sit with and say, what happened? When was it? Do you have any notes? Are there any documents? What do you think this means? The last question is always, who else knows about this? What's their phone number? How can I get in touch with them? Have you spoken with them? And again, the variable in all of this is time. As somebody who's worked for the post for over 50 years and done, what, 23 books, I have the luxury of time. No one says you have to turn it in now, even a book. If I say I need new time, more time, the publisher, Jonathan Carpet, my publisher, Simon and Schuster. Yes. I mean, take it. But then you're putting yourself out and say, you know, it's going to be worth waiting for.
- [31:29]
Ari Melber
You mentioned that you had the President on tape, and that was agreed to and that was part of the dispute. I want to pull from some of that, as we've done before, because it's this evidence of how he was thinking then in the White House in the first term. Some things he was thwarted. Now he's back and we've seen what the second term feels like. Here he was saying when asked about achievements, what he wanted to do to people in government. Take a listen.
- [31:55]
Jerry
I will consider this one of my greatest achievements, getting the scum out of government.
- [32:00]
Ari Melber
And it's scum. It's the lowest form of human garbage. These people, and I don't mean FBI people, I mean top people in the FBI. What do you hear there? And is that part of his agenda today?
- [32:13]
Margaret Carlson
Well, I mean, it's retribution. It's vengeance now. And people who've investigated him or people who have crossed him, he will say things like that and make judgments. But that's his style and he thinks it's worked for him.
- [32:36]
Ari Melber
And is it worse? By which I mean, is it testing or crossing legal and governing lines more in the second term than the first, when he did seem held back by some?
- [32:47]
Margaret Carlson
Well, people say that, and there's some evidence of that. I don't know if you can make a full comparison. But you know, see, I mean, in the Epstein case, we see, you know, it came up in the, what, the couple of months ago and now all of A sudden there is this avalanche of new evidence, including drawings and allegedly Trump signature. And a kind of it's the old boys club meeting and talking about girls and it's the undertow. And on the surface, some of it's pretty racy and sexist.
- [33:39]
Ari Melber
People are saying, sir, why are you putting your name on so many buildings? And I say it's because we had to take it off of so many files. Epstein renacted. Check it out. Trump didn't do nothing bad. Trump does smash. But not like wrong kind.
- [33:59]
Margaret Carlson
The end.
- [34:01]
Ari Melber
The word is out. Even if the Trump folks think they can push this story off, it was the big punchline to begin Saturday Night Live because apparently people know there's an Epstein problem. And there are games with the redactions. Trump officials have made promises backtracked in ways that have enraged their own followers. We're all on stage demanding the release of the Epstein client list. The current DOJ under Pam Bondi is covering up crimes, very serious crimes. Three times I voted for this man. This is by far the biggest fumble of the administration.
- [34:34]
Barry Levine
Pam Bondi needs to go.
- [34:35]
Ari Melber
There is something there and it's being covered up. They are mad. And Trump last year and his DOJ leader now and his FBI picks all claimed they would release the files to get to the bottom of it. Now Trump says, no biggie. And everybody was friendly with the deceased sex trafficker. Everybody was friendly with this guy, either friendly or not friendly. But they were, you know, he was around. He was all over Palm beach and other places. This whole thing is with Epstein is a of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has. They're asking me questions about Jeffrey Epstein. I thought that was finished. It's not finished. He knows it's not finished. And if he thinks this is some big effort to distract from his administration's alleged record, he is the one who vowed this would be the year of Epstein transparency. Funny how those things can work out. When we come back, we are going to end the year right? That's next. We saw Americans stand up at these no Kings protests and often mix their political messages with some fun and some culture. This week we saw Epstein and SCOTUS News pushing back on President Trump, trying to seize the authority over troops. And right now we want to reflect on, on what we've learned, on inspiration, on joy, and even artists like Hendrick Lamar, who had a big year, and the author who he quoted is where we begin this positive look through artistic inspiration.
- [36:25]
Guest Commentator
All's my life, I had to Fight.
- [36:27]
Ari Melber
He's using your work. All's my life, I had to fight.
- [36:30]
Molly John Fass
Well, I think he's understanding that that.
- [36:31]
Guest Commentator
Is the truth of it, especially for.
- [36:33]
Ari Melber
Poor people and for people of color. I was just naive and stupid for not going. Yeah. What brings the tears? It was a hard fight.
- [36:44]
Guest Commentator
It's important to be an artist and to. To speak truth.
- [36:48]
Ari Melber
The truth is very rarely positive. Obama did. Obama did. Well, let's start there. And Ari did. A lot of my favorite lyrics have.
- [36:58]
Survivor Advocate
Kind of started as a joke.
- [36:59]
Barry Levine
Find your way.
- [37:00]
Ari Melber
It can be done. You have to remind yourself of the kid on the bedroom floor floor with the Beatles records. Wu Tang Clan, Barry, we can make a big difference. I have to speak up if I see any injustices. You gotta taste it. What you want to taste this. It's the hardest thing to catch away. That's life, man. That's life.
- [37:21]
Survivor Advocate
Delicious.
- [37:22]
Ari Melber
Yeah. You have to have a center, no matter who you are. Our whole battle at the beginning was sexuality.
- [37:28]
Jerry
How wonderful. This experience is one of my.
- [37:31]
Ari Melber
My favorite channels on the television. Save the world for humans.
- [37:35]
Molly John Fass
You are part of the natural world.
- [37:37]
Ari Melber
Earth is in space, and we're all on earth. Oh, my God. Well, there goes the red wave. We're in a cold civil war in this country. I do think that comedy should be criticized. It's dangerous for me to even step.
- [37:50]
Barry Levine
Into the political arena.
- [37:52]
Ari Melber
Poopity scoop.
- [37:55]
Guest Commentator
This is a disaster.
- [37:56]
Margaret Carlson
Snoop doggy Dog.
- [38:01]
Ari Melber
Life is what you make.
- [38:03]
Guest Commentator
Girls just want to have fundamental rights.
- [38:06]
Jerry
Music really is you kind of defining who you are.
- [38:09]
Ari Melber
You be accepted more when you rap it than just typing it. You speak through your art. Yeah, I speak through my art. Thank God for the artists who, you know, have the courage to speak truth to power.
- [38:21]
Barry Levine
I'm going to defer to you and Mr. Cube.
- [38:31]
Molly John Fass
Music is a language.
- [38:32]
Commercial Announcer
I'm on the air with Ari. Heart beating like a Ferrari.
- [38:43]
Ari Melber
You really got a problem with me. You can never sit in the Ferrari with me. I got Ari with me.
- [38:49]
Margaret Carlson
So what? We smoke weed, young water free. Amen.
- [38:53]
Ari Melber
I will start with Jay Z. I hate to quote Jay Z again. Just kidding. I don't. And maybe that was just Mitt Romney's way of saying, I'm not a businessman, I'm a businessman. This entire poem about America's drug war and Jay's own path.
- [39:06]
Molly John Fass
I agree.
- [39:06]
Ari Melber
That was amazing piece. When somebody break it down in that way, you know, we all feel same.
- [39:12]
Jerry
Rap Genius, Volume 2, just Jay Z.
- [39:15]
Ari Melber
Quotes Jay Z always says, the streets is watching. The streets is watching. The street is watching. Plead the fifth. When it comes to the fam, I'm like a dog. I never speak, but I understand. Ari Melber, rap genius will just not stop. Young thug has said, of course I didn't kill anybody, but I had something to do with that body. You're one of our most quoted artists here. Wasn't it Rick Ross who said, every day is another opportunity to touch the paper. Rick Ross who has a line where he says, shoe box, no shoes in it. And the implication is there's drugs in the shoebox.
- [39:57]
Margaret Carlson
No, I'm.
- [39:57]
Guest Commentator
I.
- [40:00]
Barry Levine
Can you pay my automobiles?
- [40:02]
Guest Commentator
Truth hurts.
- [40:03]
Ari Melber
Would you poof and disappear like some of my friends? As Drake famously said to his imitators, the big U is like a mini me. Sometimes you gotta go a little crazy. Wasn't it Pusha T who who said, I believe there's a God above me. I'm just the God of everything else. I don't like it if it don't bling bling. That clumsy attempt at hotline Bling Ripple has been a theme tonight. Shout out to the Grateful Dead, Bill Gates don't dangle diamonds in your face when he Microsoft in the place. Put some respect on my name, as it were. Who said that, Ari? Who said that? Birdman.
- [40:45]
Guest Commentator
Oh, okay.
- [40:46]
Ari Melber
Who's Birdman? I don't try to be showy. And if you don't know. No, you know hip hop said, do.
- [40:51]
Barry Levine
The ladies run this? Yes, we do.
- [40:54]
Ari Melber
It's time to fall back. I think you need to fall back and not give your guests homework before they come on the program. They just don't build chairmans like they used to. So here is my boy. I don't know about it. I didn't hear it. I mean, what can you say? I just want to send this message out to Donald Trump. All right. I don't always see these in advance. It's too late, baby. Yeah, it's too late.
- [41:34]
Guest Commentator
Congratulations on this scoop, man.
- [41:35]
Ari Melber
I'm super jealous.
- [41:38]
Molly John Fass
Winking.
- [41:38]
Ari Melber
Meet Rachel Maddow. Bring this face on the air. Ratings goes up. Twitter loves us, man. Wow. Only news show with a lighter.
- [41:49]
Barry Levine
Only news show with a lighter.
- [41:50]
Ari Melber
Only news show with a lighter. Thank you, Ari, very much, Method Man. You're one of ours, brother. Kamala Harris is almost done with this interview. I'm the original beatnik on your show. We got another into art.
- [42:06]
Guest Commentator
Don't tell cbs.
- [42:09]
Ari Melber
Get close to Mike the.
- [42:14]
Guest Commentator
Wait, wait.
- [42:15]
Ari Melber
This is ending. Toxic masculinity right here. It's like they said, Mero. Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks. That's it. That's it. What a year. We can be inspired and uplifted by so many people. You saw some of the great artists there and others. Jane Goodall, rest in peace. Richard Lewis Marrow there at the end. So yes, let's all have a big group hug and remember what makes life worth living. You can connect with us at our new link Ms. Now Ari this ad.
- [42:50]
Jerry
Is brought to you by Viv Healthcare, the makers of Tobato Dolutegravir Lamivudine if you're living with hiv, look ahead. Do chase a dream. Do consider how you stay undetectable. Do learn about Devato. Divato is a complete HIV treatment by prescription only for some people 12 and older. Your doctor will determine if Devato is right for you. Do find out how many medicines are in your HIV pill. Most HIV pills contain three or four. Divato is as effective with just two medicines. No other complete HIV pill contains fewer medicines than Dovato. Do dream about tomorrow.
- [43:26]
Commercial Announcer
It is unknown if Devato is safe and effective if you have HIV and hepatitis B if you have Hep B. Don't stop Dovato without talking to your doctor as it may get worse or harder to treat. Don't take Dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide due to serious or life threatening side effects. If you have a rash or allergic reaction symptoms, stop Dovato and get medical help right away. Other serious or life threatening side effects include severe liver problems and lactic acid buildup. If you're female or obese, you may be more at risk. Tell your doctor about your medicines or supplements, medical conditions, liver or kidney problems, pregnancy, breastfeeding or planned pregnancy.
- [44:02]
Jerry
Do ask your doctor about fewer medicines. Visit devato.com or call 1-877-844-8872 to learn more.