← The Headlines
The Headlines
The Clintons’ Epstein Testimony, and the Pentagon’s New Laser Strike
00:14:34
Plus, the company that just cut 4,000 jobs because of A.I.
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Tracy Mumford
from the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, February 27th. Here's what we're covering.
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Guest/Interviewee
Well, I have just finished testifying. I answered every one of their questions as fully as I could.
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Tracy Mumford
In a closed door meeting yesterday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat for a deposition that stretched more than six hours as members of the Republican led House Oversight Committee questioned her about Jeffrey Epstein.
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Guest/Interviewee
We returned to answer questions repetitively, literally over and over again. I don't know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes. I never went to his offices.
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Tracy Mumford
Clinton, along with her husband, the former President, had spent months trying to fight congressional subpoenas to testify, calling them invalid and politically motivated. They only agreed to appear after they were threatened with contempt of Congress. At that point, they asked for their testimony to be public so anyone could watch. Republicans refused. But yesterday a Republican member of the committee, Representative Lauren Boebert, leaked an image of Clinton from inside the room, which was immediately posted to social media by a right wing podcaster that almost derailed the whole session. Clinton abruptly paused her testimony before eventually agreeing to continue. We are sitting through an incredibly unserious clown show of a deposition where members of Congress and the Republican Party are more concerned about getting their photo op of Secretary Clinton than actually getting to the truth and holding anyone accountable. Some of the Democrats on the Oversight Committee condemned the deposition, saying that Republicans weren't focused on the people with the closest ties to Epstein. They noted that their GOP colleagues all skipped a deposition last week of Leslie Wexner, the billionaire Republican donor and former head of Victoria's Secret who helped Epstein build his wealth. Clinton also pointed out that she was asked some questions about things that had nothing to do with Epstein at all, including the Pizzagate conspiracy and UFOs.
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Guest/Interviewee
I would just say one of the things I learned today is if you really have specific questions about the Clintons and Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. You got to ask Bill Clinton.
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Tracy Mumford
Republican members of the committee, meanwhile, said they were looking ahead to Bill Clinton's testimony, which is scheduled for today. He flew on Epstein's plane several times after leaving office, and there are many photos of him in the Epstein files. It will be the first time a former US President has been compelled against his will to testify in front of a congressional committee. In New York City yesterday, the arrest of a college student by immigration agents set off a frantic chain reaction that roped in the city's mayor and President Trump. Around 6 in the morning, ICE agents wearing plain clothes showed up at Columbia student housing. According to university officials, they demanded to be led inside, claiming they were police officers searching for a missing child. A superintendent let them in. Columbia says they then repeated the same story at the door of the student's apartment, even showing a picture of the alleged missing child. At that point, the agents arrested an undergrad student. When asked to show a warrant, they did not. Within hours, Columbia's acting president sent out an urgent statement about the arrest and some 200 people showed up for an emergency rally at the school.
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Guest/Interviewee
When immigrants are under attack, Stand up, Fight back.
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Tracy Mumford
By total chance, New York City's Mayor Zoran Mamdani happened to be on his way to the White House for an unrelated meeting with President Trump. In social media posts, Mamdani said he raised the arrest with the president. Trump later told him she would be released and she was. The Department of Homeland Security, however, says her deportation case is still active because she does not have a valid student visa. DHS has also disputed Colombia's version of events since saying the agents were wearing badges and had verbally identified themselves. Simply shocking. It shocks the conscience, truly. Some New York officials, meanwhile, condemned the agents for entering school property under what they said were false pretenses. And in a statement, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, quote, no one should disappear at the hands of the government. In Texas. For the second time this month, the FAA has closed a pocket of American airspace over concerns about a high energy laser that the government's been using. The Department of Defense used the laser yesterday to shoot down a drone over a small border town near El Paso. It's very similar to what happened in early February when the same technology was used to take down what Customs and Border Protection the thought was a drone, but turned out to be a balloon. The laser's an example of increasingly powerful anti drone technology that's raised concerns over what could happen if it's used near commercial airplanes. In both cases, the laser was used without the FAA's approval, and the agency then abruptly closed the nearby airspace out of caution. The first time the entire El Paso airport had to be temporarily shut down. Critics say the incident show a communication breakdown inside the government, and yesterday's use of the laser may underscore that further because the Times has learned that the drone the Pentagon shot down was a US Government drone. Four people who were not authorized to speak publicly said it was from the Department of Homeland Security. It's not clear what the military thought it was aiming at, though federal officials have said that drug cartels have flown tens of thousands of drones near the border in recent years. In a joint statement, the faa, Defense Department and Customs and Border Protection said they would, quote, continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future. In Silicon Valley yesterday, there was one of the clearest signs yet of how artificial intelligence is set to radically upend the American workforce. The financial technology company Block, which owns Cash app, the streaming service Tidal, and Square, the card payment system you see at stores across the country, announced it's cutting roughly 4,000 jobs. That's 40% of the company. The top executive, Jack Dorsey, said it's because AI has allowed the company to do its work with fewer employees. He added, quote, within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes. Across the tech industry, AI coding tools are already starting to be able to automate a wide range of tasks. After announcing the cuts, Dorsey held a virtual town hall with the company's employees. Participants flooded the screen with thumbs down emojis, according to two people who were on the call. And one employee confronted Dorsey about why he'd chosen to show up that day wearing a black hat that said Love on it. Despite the anger inside the company in after hours trading yesterday, Block's share price jumped more than 26%. And finally, the billion dollar Hollywood drama that is the fight to buy Warner Brothers has a new twist. The whole thing has basically been a big, messy love triangle. Back in December, Netflix sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry when it said it would acquire a large portion of Warner Brothers Discovery, the legacy movie studio and TV juggernaut. But Paramount wanted it, too. Now Paramount has put in an even better offer and Netflix is backing down. This latest turn paves the way for a major new force in US Media to become even more powerful. Paramount is run by David Ellison, whose father is the billionaire founder of the tech giant Oracle and has close ties to President Trump. Ellison took control of Paramount last year and immediately shook up its storied news division at cbs, pledging it would become more centrist. His potential acquisition of Warner Brothers, which will need the approval of federal regulators, would also put him in charge of cnn, where millions more people get their news. Overall, it is quite the story arc for Ellison, who came to Hollywood two decades ago trying to be an actor and is now poised to own a massive chunk of the entire news and entertainment industry. Those are the headlines. If you'd like to play the Friday News quiz, it is just after these credits. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Yon Stewart and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, larissa Anderson, Miles McKinley, Zoe Murphy and Paula Schumann. Now time for the quiz. Every week we ask you a few questions about stories the Times has been covering. Can you get them all? Here we go.
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Guest/Interviewee
Members of Congress have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the the United States.
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Tracy Mumford
This week, President Trump gave a marathon length State of the Union speech touting his leadership and slamming Democrats. The Democrats were ready with their pushback. We're going to do a speed round here on three ways Democrats mounted a response. First, a small group of lawmakers tried to send a message by all coming dressed in this color. The answer, white. It was a nod to the suffrage movement and a symbol of protest against Trump's current push for new voting restrictions. Next, which lawmaker interrupted Trump yelling that he had, quote, killed Americans in reference to shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis? That was referring to Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who later walked out in the middle of the speech. And last one, the governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, gave the Democratic Party's official rebuttal, hitting on a particular theme that is expected to dominate this year's midterm elections. Can you fill in the blank? Is the president working to make life more for you and your family? The answer? Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Affordable? Affordability. Going to be hearing that a lot. Next question, which also touches on a group of people who are at the State of the Union. Thank you.
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Guest/Interviewee
What a special job you did, what
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Tracy Mumford
special champions you are.
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Guest/Interviewee
Thank you very much.
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Tracy Mumford
The US Men's hockey team whose Olympic victory Trump called out in his speech. The players have actually been at the center of an unexpected number of political stories this week, especially after the head of a government agency was filmed celebrating in the locker room with them, cheering and chugging a beer after they won gold. Your question, which US Official was that. The answer? The head of the FBI, who is a hockey player himself and a big time fan, Cash Patel. Patel has defended making the trip to the Games in Italy, saying it was in part to help oversee Olympic security. But critics say it's just the latest in a string of questionable uses of taxpayer funds. Last year, Patel used a government jet to fly to a private hunting ranch in Texas, a Scottish golf resort and to Pennsylvania, where his girlfriend, who's a country singer, was performing at a wrestling match. And last question. On Wednesday, the Rock and Roll hall of Fame announced its list of nominees for 2026. It's intended to be a measure of who has stood the test of time. You're not even eligible until 25 years after the release of your first recording. Now, unlike in previous years, where the hall has been criticized for being very thin on nominations for women, this year there are a half dozen in the mix. We're going to have you guess a few of them, but because these are huge artists with famous songs, we are going to play you the songs backwards. No secret messages here. Just trying to give you a challenge. First one, Next one. And last track. The answers pink with so what? Shakira with Waka Waka. And Mariah Carey with her holiday mega hit All I Want for Christmas is you. Bells Belles. We're trying to tell you something. That is it for this week's news quiz. If you want to tell us how you did, our email is the headlinesytimes.com I'm Tracy Mumford. The headlines will be back on Monday.