New Photos From Epstein Estate Show Trump, Bill Clinton & Others

25:21Here to discuss, Democratic Senator John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. Senator, after the Senate effort, dueling effort failed this week, you said they were, quote, designed to fail and said you want a proposal that can pass and deliver real relief. First off, analysis and assessment of the facts, 100 percent accurate. Both those votes were designed to go down. But the idea of what what an actual bipartisan agreement would look like, what are the elements of that in your mind? Well, I mean, I think that's really the most that's really possible, that when you have effectively two, maybe three days next week to do just that, I think would just be like a clean one-year extension of it.

26:10Anybody know what that is? Yeah. Do you have a sense, you know, there are Republicans on, you know, Lisa Murkowski's been very upfront about this, so is Susan Collins. Do you have a sense of what the group on the other side is might be able to work with their leadership to get onto the floor in two or three days? I really don't know. But what we do know is, is that when they were asking for three years, we were asking for three years, we got four votes. I mean, it doesn't matter if we have 59. It doesn't mean any more different than if we have one vote. It has to hit 60 and then it's not going anywhere for sure.

26:49So for what I'm trying to say is, is that that when you have effectively no time left and you have one way to deliver those tax credit subsidies just like that, and then it's just like as elegant and as quick as it was to do what I think what we as Democrats want and enough Democrats as enough Republicans want now to that would only require effectively, you know, eight or nine, maybe Republicans. It doesn't even have the Republican caucus to agree with that, too. So and I think that we'll discover, you know, are the Republicans concerned about health care subsidiaries in 2026 or not? Or if we, you know, I think as a Democrat, I want to deliver health care.

27:36And it's like a vote that's absolutely going to fail doesn't do that. What a vote actually that could that actually has a chance of passing. And that's for me, I think that's the most simple, the most elegant way when you effectively have no time left before the end of the year. It's difficult sometimes to track where President Trump is on a particular day related to the issue of health care, including on this specifically, which it seemed like he might get behind an extension or something near that and then kind of reverse course fairly quickly thereafter. After last night, he broke from kind of his combative streak on health care, predicting both parties will soon be working together on health care.

28:16Listen. Yeah. What a nice group of Democrats. We do. We have a lot of Democrats and we welcome you. Honestly, we do. And I think we're going to start working together on health care. I really predict that. I really believe we can work on health care together and come up with something that's going to be much better, much less expensive for the people, less expensive for our nation, but really, most importantly, better and less expensive for the people. Have you gotten any indication from the White House that something might be possible? Do you want the president more involved here? oh i haven't i haven't had any back channeling or anything at the white house i'm just saying everybody knows how little time there is left and and we all know that it's a math problem in the senate and that has to hit it at 60 now you can have all these different things and it still has to hit 60 and just like both that were put out on thursday neither one got really close but the one that got closer was the three years thing.

29:19Now, maybe two years would get six or seven, maybe more. But for me, you know, if any of the Republicans, it doesn't require like a full-on buy-in. It just needs enough people on the Republican side, just like we had as a Democrat, as myself as one, to reopen our government because they happen to believe overall party views because I think that's the right thing for the country at that particular kind of solution now, right now. That's the thing. And I'm welcome for another option that, you know, because they, we saw two on Thursday and everybody knew that was going to fail. And I predicted, yeah, there's not a single Democrat would vote for theirs.

30:00And I thought maybe two or three, the only surprise mild one was four did, but I think so that's, that's where we're at, but nothing really matters until you hit 60. And I think that's the, you know, it meets the time. It delivers the kinds of tax subsidiaries. And it also, it's something that's already well known. And it just would require an understanding that we can spend next of 2026. Negotiate on a package after 2026 is enacted for 27, 28, or no. So for me, that's what I'm recommending. And I want a better one. I want one that you can pass because I haven't seen anything that's remotely in that.

30:44And that's similar to keeping our government open. That's enough Republicans have to realize that we want to deliver this for their constituents. And we have time at this point. Something other than that, I'm not aware of it. Yeah, we will be watching. Senator John Fetterman, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Well, at the very least, California Governor Gavin Newsom is getting attention with his tone towards Republicans. But is it unwanted attention for the party? See how we trolled Indiana Republicans in their redistricting fight. That's next.

31:41Yes, exactly. VisuSteuer is the app that understands you. Because the tax is your whole life. Work, children, partners. You can't do anything wrong. Yes, nice. It doesn't look like tax. Tax is done. Safe. With VisuSteuer. Now to test it.

32:01In our politics lead, there's an op-ed that's getting at something that's been talked about somewhat quietly over in Washington for the last couple of months, which is Trump's dominance in Washington, just 11 months in. Is it slipping a little bit? And if it is, why? Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan argues in part Trump may be losing his touch, not just with his own party, but with Americans as a whole, coast to coast. She writes, in part, the president's border triumph will likely weaken his and MAGA's political position. Noonan goes on to write, remove the issue that made you and you can no longer use it to gain votes or maintain unity.

32:37My brilliant And two panelists join me now. Mike, what's interesting about this is he's been too successful in that framing. And therefore, it makes it more difficult from a political perspective. I think there's layers to, does he have a problem right now, post-Indiana, Senate, kind of how things are moving? Look, he has defied gravity to such an extent in the first administration and now in the second administration that I think anytime you see some slippage or some anomaly, you think it's slippage. I don't see it yet. What I'm amazed by is even in the poll numbers that have him at 35 % on the economy or 35 % on immigration, if you look at the Republican numbers, they're still rock solid.

33:24So I don't think he's had the slippage that maybe Peggy Noonan is referring to yet. There's one thing that I know is that politicians, Democratic Republicans, care about two things. They care about money and they care about votes and getting reelected. I think you're going to see a lot of Republicans start growing spines when they no longer have a deadline on filing to be in their primaries. And let me make my case. The point I'm making is that there's filing deadlines coming up to run for Congress. He has a huge war chest. If he wanted to primary one of those folks, he could do that, but not if they're not open to having a new candidate there.

33:58So when those filing deadlines pass, I think it'll open up a lot more Republicans to maybe have some courage. You're that cynical? Do you think they're just... Yes, I do. I do. I run campaigns for a living. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But your money is a very big point because he's still going to have that money. I mean, again, this is a president that has raised money in the first year of office like we've never seen before, and he's going to have that money. So I will disagree with you on the filing deadline. I think you're on to something, but I think the money factor is so large here that it won't go that way.

34:29But if there's no candidate to put it behind. Can I ask you, but the money factor was in play in Indiana as well. And again, I want to be cautious about taking too much out of what's happening in a state's parochial politics as it relates to redistricting. However, the threat was made very quickly, very overtly. We're going to have a super PAC. We're going to light up anybody who doesn't come with us. And that was four months ago, and they never got it over the finish line. Yeah. Well, they never, but I haven't seen the advertising. I haven't seen the money yet. And the president today, he made a comment about that state senator that he doesn't think he's going to get through the primary.

35:00So we'll see it. Look, I think Indiana is a very nice state. I think the people of Indiana are very nice people. They want to get along with each other. I don't know if that is the rumble tumble of Washington politics. And you may have seen a little Indiana nice yesterday. I think in the middle of the country with what we call the I states. And for those folks, Listen, I is I like the letter I is Iowa, Illinois, Indiana. Those folks don't like Washington, D.C. telling them. And I think that there's such a red state in red areas that Donald Trump has a lot of play and underestimate him at your own peril.

35:32I've said that to everybody. I'm like, I just think Indiana and some of these Midwestern states are different. You can add Ohio in. I'd like to be in that group. I call I call that group called it's on that group. A new political article profiling California Governor Gavin Newsom and his prolific trolling of President Trump and the GOP just today. Newsom's target was Indiana Republican Governor Mike Braun, who vented his disgust with Republicans who did not vote for the state's redistricting plan. We were just talking about Newsom responded, quote, on X, your knee pads are in the mail. XO, XO.

36:01Chuck, from your political expert strategist perspective, we good with that message? Look, Donald Trump has been whooping Democrats for so long. It makes Democrats so desperate for anybody to fight back, no matter if it's fighting back as a troll, fighting back in Indiana, fighting back wherever. Democrats and our base, we were talking about the Republican base earlier, are hungry to see somebody take on and not be scared of Donald Trump. And this is the latest analogy of that. I mean, you've got Pritzker doing it and Newsom doing it and all these Democrats trying to outdo themselves. So one thing that I think they're missing is where Donald Trump sets himself apart, is that he's also willing to take on his own party.

36:42And I haven't seen the Democrats willing to do that and go after each other yet. And I think when they go after Trump and they go after each other, and I'm going to cheer on that as a Republican, that's when they finally turn the corner. I was just going to say you should watch some Democratic primaries in Texas, in Michigan, and we're going to come around the country in Maine. No, I mean states where you can win. No, we're going to win these states, all of these states. Really? You're going to win Texas? You're going to win Texas? I really feel strongly about Texas. Just because, look, I know there's been a lot of good money thrown after bad, but as your resident Texan here, if you look at all the elections that have happened in the last 11 months and, quote, the overperformance, I'm not saying everything is overperformance.

37:19Not everything is Georgia. I'm just saying there's a chance. Give me a chance. I wish I wore my Bills hat today so I could bet it against your Stetson. I'm on now. I'm just going to put a pin in that and some money underneath it. We'll have to wait and see. You guys are the experts. All right. See you guys in a little bit. Thank you guys very much. Well, up ahead, the new docuseries from Taylor Swift in the must-see moments of fans talking.

37:47In the pop lead, the Swifties are getting a brand new behind-the-scenes look at the life of their favorite showgirl, Taylor Swift's The End of an Era docuseries, making its Disney Plus debut today with two episodes featuring interviews with the pop star and her crew from her record-setting Eras Tour concert series. If you're a parent, can't find your daughters, that's where they are. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is here to tell us more. Elizabeth, new revelations. What are we getting in the first two episodes? Yeah, so you really get a behind-the-scenes look of the making of the Eras Tour, which, of course, is the biggest tour of all time, a total cultural phenomenon.

38:23But we also get the emotional side of Taylor. You remember, Phil, when there was that very scary incident that thwarted terrorist attack in Vienna, Austria, during one of her tourist stops. Taylor speaks about it for the first time. Let's take a look.

38:41We dodged like a massacre situation. And so I've just been kind of all over the place. There was this horrible attack in Liverpool at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party. And it was little kids that...

39:08So there, Phil, you remember there was that thwarted terrorist attack. But then there was also that horrific knife stabbing at a Taylor Swift themed dance party that resulted in the loss of three little girls. So that's what Taylor is talking about there. She then goes on in this docuseries to meet with some families and then you see her on tour. So it's not all going to be emotional. We are promised to get a lot of behind the scenes with Travis Kelsey and more of the tour. So definitely look forward to some upbeat moments. But for Taylor, this was a really poignant moment for her to get so emotional.

39:44Yeah, no question about it. I do want to ask you, you also went behind the scenes to talk to the stars, paired up to interview one another for Variety's Actors on Actors series, which has been great. It's been streaming exclusively on the CNN app. Tell us about the new feature. Yes, so we are so excited to have Actors on Actors here at CNN on our new streaming app, as you said. And I was on set for the entire production. There you see me with Ethan Hawke and Sidney Sweeney. And today, the newest episode is father and son, Alexander Skarsgård with Stellan Skarsgård. They talk about how Alex actually really hated growing up in a showbiz family.

40:21But then afterwards, I caught up with them. I asked if they prepared at all. Just take a look at what they told me. Did you prep and you just showed up? Like research and stuff? Research on all their film history, watching all their material. Oh, interesting. Or was this just like showing up to talk to dad?

40:42I did a lot of research. A lot. 49 years worth. 49 years worth of research. I went deep. Deep, yeah. Yeah. Very committed journalist. No, it was pretty obvious that I didn't do s***. They were honestly hysterical, Phil, So make sure to tune in to their episode because hijinks definitely ensue. But we have them today, the Skarsgård pairing. And then as the days go on through next week, we have different pairings every single day. Everyone from Michael B. Jordan with Jesse Plemons and Leonardo DiCaprio with Jennifer Lawrence. I endorse that approach to preparation. Elizabeth Magweiser, you're the best.

41:30Again, you can stream Actors on Actors exclusively on the CNN app. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly. In for Jake Tapper. This hour, the Epstein photos. The White House says House Oversight Committee Democrats cherry-picked which images to release. The Democrat on that committee will be here to respond. Plus, the new lawsuit aiming to block the president's demolition on the White House ballroom. And day one of deliberations underway in the trial for Brian Walsh. the Massachusetts man accused of killing his wife. But the judge responded to a question from the jury that could give insight in what's being discussed behind closed doors.

42:08And one of the stars of Mad Men, actor John Sidery, will be here on The Lead, why he thinks his new movie, Nuremberg, is so relevant to today.

42:21The Lead tonight, the White House reacting to new photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. Pictures released by House Democrats on the Oversight Committee. Well, those pictures show President Trump. Many other high-profile figures, such as Trump ally Steve Bannon, former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, movie director Woody Allen, and several others. None of the photos showing Trump or these other individuals depict any sexual misconduct, nor are believed to depict underage girls. We start things off with CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House. Kristen, the White House can't appreciate the kind of weekly, bi-weekly drip, drip, drip of this.

42:58What are you hearing from inside? Yeah, I mean, there's nothing that they want to talk about less than Jeffrey Epstein. President Trump has made that clear. The White House has made that clear all the way up until terms. They didn't want to get out in front of stories because they didn't want to reintroduce Jeffrey Epstein into the news cycle until it had already been done so. So, yet they do find this incredibly annoying, particularly as we hear from the committee saying that they already released photos, but they're going to continue to release more photos. Now, as you noted, they did respond today.

43:25This is what they said. They said, once again, House Democrats are selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative. A couple of things that I do want to note here. One, everyone that you mentioned that was released that had a photo with Jeffrey Epstein is somebody that we had already known had an association with Jeffrey Epstein. So that's something to keep in mind. The other part of this is that there were only a handful of photos released from 95 ,000, which is why the White House is saying that the committee cherry-picked, based on the fact that we only saw roughly 22 photos.

44:02The first was 19, and then they just released a few more from that 95 ,000. Now, we are being told that they're going to release more than that. But as you noted, this has become a drip, drip, drip of information. We do believe that the House Oversight Committee is still getting more information. And just a reminder, the Department of Justice has until next week, December 19th, to release the files. There is no word yet on whether or not they are going to. I am told by the White House repeatedly that the Justice Department was going to comply. But we still don't have any information beyond that.

44:34And we've asked if there's going to be any potential for an early release. Still no answers on that. From the North Lawn, thanks so much. Well, my next guest is a Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida. Congressman, really appreciate you taking the time just to start with the White House response to the committee's release of photos saying that they were cherry-picked photos to create a false narrative. None of the photos suggest any wrongdoing. So what was the kind of sense of why to put them out right now? Why do you think this contributes to the public's understanding on this issue?

45:11because house democrats on the oversight committee have made one commitment to the american people and it's been that we're going to be very transparent in this investigation donald trump has said he's going to be transparent he lied and has done everything he can to stop the epstein files from being released republicans in the house oversight committee have been kind of transparent about things but what we're saying is as we receive information we're going to go through it. Yes, it takes time to go through over 90 ,000 pages of documents and pictures and etc. Our team goes through them. Yes, we add some redactions.

45:45Why? The redactions are there to protect the identity of survivors and of people who have been sexually abused, human trafficked, and raped. And until we know for sure that they don't want their face on the public, we redact them because this entire investigation is about justice for those very survivors. So yes, Yes, we had redactions, the faces to protect their identities, not redacting the faces of rich, powerful men that in many cases like Donald Trump for years and years downplayed his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Why do we release the photos to show the American public what we've received?

46:18The other thing that's important to know is when he talks about it being cherry pick. Again, it takes time to go through 90 ,000 photos. We're putting out photos that we think the public would want to see. And also on our Twitter for Oversight Democrats, we released a dropbox where we're putting even more photos in them as well. The estate has seemed to be a very rich trove of information for the committee, Republicans and Democrats. And to your point, sometimes there's probably a level of bipartisanship at moments on the committee on this issue that we don't see necessarily as much on Capitol Hill these days.

46:52You mentioned how much is still being gone or is staff is still going through right now. Members are still going through right now. What are the expectations about how much more is coming? What might be in the rest of these documents? Yeah, we're still in the middle of receiving things from the estate. And as you may or may not know, we also issued subpoenas to a few different banking institutions, which we're receiving documents from as well. And so everybody watching understands everything we've received this year of substance. We're talking about the text messages between Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, where they talked about the fact that Donald Trump knew about what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, to the birthday card that Donald Trump wrote to Jeffrey Epstein, to the pictures we just got today.

47:37All this information has come from the estate because House Democrats in a subcommittee forced a subpoena vote that we got some Republicans to join us on, and we were able to issue that subpoena to the estate. That's why we have this information, because we push for it. None of this has come from what we know as the Epstein files from the DOJ, from the Trump administration. Now, people should know that, of course, the full House voted on releasing the Epstein files. Donald Trump has until Friday of next week to release them. And we hope he'll comply with the law and release them. But let's not forget that four months ago in a subcommittee, we already sent a subpoena to the White House for all the Epstein files.

48:18And they've slow rolled the whole thing. And they really just stopped talking with the committee about it. So they've already violated the subpoena on one end. We're hoping that now that the full House has made it known that we want it, that by Friday we'll get the Epstein files from Donald Trump. But people should rest assured that whether or not the Trump administration wants to play games on these files so we can get justice for the victims in our nation, we're still going to fight to get as much information as we can from everywhere, whether it's the state or the White House. I want to ask you, the president right now is talking to reporters in the Oval Office, and he was asked about the photos.

48:54He said there are no paraphrasing. Oh, actually, we have it. I want you to listen to it. Take a listen. So Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon, what were your reaction to those new photos that were released? Well, I haven't seen it, but I mean, everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. I mean, almost there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him. So that's no big deal. I know nothing about it. So the president's saying he hasn't seen them. They're no big deal. that people were taking, lots of people were taking pictures because he was around everywhere down there in that area of Florida.

49:29What's your response to that? This is, again, Donald Trump trying to cover things up and try to downplay his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Like I just said, he's been trying to do this for a long time, for years and years and years. He's wanted the entire country to believe that he met Jeffrey Epstein a few times, hanging around with some friends, and they didn't have a deep friendship. and what these photos show us, what the text showed us a few months ago. And before that, what the birthday card showed us that he wrote to Jeffrey Epstein is they were more than just casual acquaintances.

50:02They were friends. And Jeffrey Epstein himself in the emails we got from his own estate say that Donald Trump knew a lot more than what he's admitting to. Again, we're not here to point fingers without evidence, but we are here to say the White House is slowing the roll on this entire investigation. we believe that they are attempting to cover things up and not let the truth go out and why is the answer that remains to be uh or is the question that remains to be answered and why we're going to continue to push for the files so everybody should know once again everything we've gotten that has put a light on this situation um that it's not just about donald trump it's about powerful rich men in this country that abused and took advantage of not women of girls and teenagers, we want to make sure there's justice there.

50:48And wherever it leads to, whether they're a Republican, a Democrat, whoever, we're going to continue to fight for that transparency as House Democrats on the Oversight Committee. I want to ask you about a policy issue as well, because something else that was released today, the House Republican health care package that they are saying they're going to vote on next week, it's a legislative bill, at least based on my cursory read of it while I was on TV, does not extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Instead, the plan aims to expand association health plans, fund a cost-sharing reduction program for some Obamacare enrollees, increase transparency on pharmacy benefit managers to help lower drug costs.

51:25Where this stands right now, 19 days before the deadline, what's the pathway to getting these subsidies extended, addressed, finding some type of agreement? We need Republicans to join us in making sure that we can pass the bill. And actually, our leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has a discharge petition that every Democrat has signed. We only need a handful of Republicans to sign it, and it will force a vote so we can extend these tax subsidies. I haven't read the entire bill you're talking about, but yesterday they released some general points on what it'll be. It didn't look like a health care plan to me.

51:58It looked like a hodgepodge of different ideas relating to health care. The fact of the matter is, in 19 days, 25 million Americans will have their health care go up anywhere from 50 to 300 percent. And I'm in Florida. This is the biggest Affordable Care Act state in the nation. I have 189 ,000 people in my district alone who are going to have their health care go up by insane amounts. And what's going to happen is some people are going to pay those insane amounts and have no money to feed their family or pay their rent. And a lot of people are just going to not have health care. And they're not going to go to the doctor.

52:31And they're going to wait till they're dying and go to the hospital like many do in this country. And I think it's despicable that in the richest country on Earth, not everyone has health care. And we can't even pass a bill to make sure we extend these subsidies for the 25 million Americans who need them right now. I recognize that we have a broken health care system and we need to do something about it. But right in front of us in 19 days, these tax subsidies will expire. And 25 million working people in this country are going to pay a hell of a lot more for health care. So we need Republicans to join us.

53:04The problem that Mike Johnson has is he himself and many Republicans in Congress do not want to extend them. They don't believe they should be extended. They are perfectly fine with working people paying a lot more for their health care so they can give a tax break to billionaires. It's the same thing we should be used to, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poor. However, there are still some Republicans I know that want to have this extended. So we hope they'll join us to do it because we're running out of time. Yeah, we'll be watching those discharge petitions. There's 218 for an extension.

53:35We'll see how it comes together next week. Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Thank you. Well, next year on The Lead, one of the Indiana state senators who pushed back on President Trump resisted his calls to change the state's congressional map. What Indiana's move could mean for the overall fight in 2026. That's next.

54:03In our Law and Justice League, deliberations are underway in the trial of Brian Walsh, the Massachusetts man accused of killing his wife in 2023. Walsh is charged with first-degree murder and faces a potential life sentence, a potential sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He's already pled guilty to misleading police and mishandling remains. CNN's Jean Casares has been following every twist and turn of this trial. Jean, what were some of the arguments made in the closing statements? Well, the defense is trying to show that there was no reason at all for Brian Wolf to murder his wife.

54:38He said that the couple had stresses because he had been convicted of federal art fraud, so he couldn't join his wife in Washington, D.C. He had to stay in Massachusetts. He was the primary caregiver for the children day in and day out. She would visit on weekends that he didn't know at all about her extramarital affairs. So that couldn't be a motive for murder. He didn't want the insurance policy proceeds because they were already talking about investment properties, more money for the family. And the defense was saying there's just not a reason here that he wanted to kill his wife. Take a listen.

55:15The evidence suggests there was no motive at all. And without a motive, without a reason, a reason that is based on facts and circumstances, logic and understanding, without that, you have a sudden and unexpected event that results in confusion and panic and fear. And the defense is saying this was sudden death in her bed and he found her and he panicked. But the prosecution is saying all of the things that he did in the aftermath after she was deceased, they say by homicide, all the Google searches, dumping her remains, dismembering her on and on, going to stores, buying the cleaning supplies.

56:08That was all because of consciousness of guilt. He knew he had done something wrong and he had to cover it up. Listen to the prosecution. The defendant did not want anyone to find Anna's body and to know how she died. So the defendant bought cutting tools at Lowe's and Home Depot, and he cut up Anna's body, the woman that he claimed to love, and he threw her into dumpsters. the defendant intended to kill on a watch. The jury did not reach a verdict today. They will be coming back Monday morning. And Phil, there is a lesser included here besides premeditated first-degree murder, second-degree murder they can consider.

57:01Gene Casares, we will certainly be watching. Thanks so much. And to Gene's point, with so much attention on this case, hear much more tomorrow. CNN anchor Laura Coates is working on a special program for the weekend. the Brian Walsh trial. That's tomorrow night at 8 Eastern right here on CNN. Well, up ahead, the fight for 2026 and what could be a new pressure campaign on Indiana Republicans after resisting those redistricting calls from President Trump and his team. Stay with us.

57:34In our national lead, a federal judge is temporarily blocking the Trump administration from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia again. It's the latest setback in the U.S. government's effort to deport Abrego Garcia for a second time. Now, Abrego Garcia is an undocumented immigrant brought back to the U.S. earlier this year after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is here. And so, Priscilla, you've been following a very rollercoaster-like story here pretty much since the beginning of the administration. Is he free? Is that going to sustain over time? What happens next?

58:07He's free for now insofar that he is at home in Maryland and not at a detention facility in Pennsylvania. The reason for that is because yesterday a federal judge had ordered his immediate release in part because they found or the federal judge found that he was unlawfully detained because there was no imminent removal. That's something that judges can do. And so today, Abreu Garcia went to his check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He will be under supervision again in Maryland. He can't leave the state and there are limited circumstances for him to leave the home. But his attorney similarly acknowledged that this has been a roller coaster and what comes next is still very much up in there.

58:45Take a listen.

58:49I wish I could say that this is the end of the story, but I think we've all been here long enough to know that unfortunately the government is not going to leave well enough alone. They're going to keep going and we're going to keep going. We're going to keep fighting. And the fight is certainly ongoing because, again, the federal judge had blocked him from being detained again on a temporary basis. The administration, for its part, maintains they're going to fight this tooth and nail in court. And they also say that they are still set on sending him to Liberia, a country by which he has no connections to.

59:17And it's part of this fraught legal battle that's been happening in terms of not only just deporting him, but where he's deported to. It's been such an intense focus on this one individual. But there's also kind of the macro effort that is still very much underway, including, I think, today, another announcement about protections being taken away from a specific group of individuals. What happened? Well, this is called temporary protected status. It's a form of humanitarian relief for people in the United States. Essentially, the government decides that the hardship is extreme for them to go home.

59:46So they give them protections to live and work here. Now, what the administration did today is strip nationals from Ethiopia from this designation. This is in line with what they have been doing, however. They've done this with Venezuela. They've done this with Syria. They've done this with Haiti. The Republican criticism here has been that temporary protected status is no longer temporary. It gets extended so many times that it almost becomes permanent. And that has been why they have fought for repealing all of these designations. But to do so, the administration has to find that the conditions back at home are OK.

1:00:18And in this case, they said that Ethiopia no longer poses a serious threat to the personal safety of Ethiopian nationals. So that's how they are reasoning this. But of course, this is being challenged in court because advocates and attorneys say that's not the case. These people can't be returned there. And often cases, they are people who have set up a life here. It is hard, though, I will say, to whittle down who exactly this will affect, because when someone has temporary protected status, they can also apply for other immigration benefits. So some people may already be protected in other ways, but certainly a blow for immigrants that are here under that relief.

1:00:50It is an expansive architecture with a lot of different layers. You've been covering all of them. So, well, Priscilla, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Well, as Hanukkah begins this Sunday evening, a heartbreaking look at how some Israeli hostages marked the holiday when they were in captivity. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the report next.

1:01:13In our world lead, a heartbreaking look at life in captivity for some of the hostages taken on October 7th. In a brand new video, six hostages, all of whom were eventually killed by Hamas terrorists, are seen celebrating Hanukkah just a few months into their terrifying ordeal. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on the video, which has been released with the blessing of the hostages' families.

1:01:37From the depths of captivity, these six Israeli hostages celebrated the miracle of Hanukkah and prayed for their own. But that miracle never came. The beautiful six, as they've come to be known, were executed by Hamas in August of 2024, as Israeli troops closed in on their location. These never-before-seen videos appear to have been filmed about eight months earlier, lighting candles on the first and second nights of Hanukkah using a makeshift menorah made of paper cups. With the help of miracles associated with this holiday, may we go home in a big miracle and may we return to normal, happy and good lives.

1:02:22And may we always be happy, all of us, says hostage Almog Sarusi. The videos were filmed by Hamas and later obtained by the Israeli military. Now, their families say they want the world to see them. Hamas filmed these videos as propaganda, but the humanity of the beautiful six shines through this footage. The footage released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum offers a new, albeit partially staged, glimpse into their captivity. Playing cards, cutting each other's hair, and in this clip, pressing their captors for medical attention. He needs treatment, hostage Carmel Gat tells a guard. Professional.

1:03:07American-Israeli hostage Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, whose left hand was blown off by a Hamas grenade, is seen repeatedly, often trying to reassure his family. We're here healthy and alive. We are being taken care of. We are all right. We want to return home. Happy New Year to everyone in my family. Hirsch would not live to see another year. He was killed the next August. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv. Well, moments ago in the Oval Office, President Trump honored the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic team with a congressional gold medal and his notable response to a question, a conflict, a global conflict that he's dealing with now.

1:03:58In our politics lead just last hour in the Oval Office, President Trump honoring the Miracle on Ice hockey team. If you don't know who they are, shame on you. The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that defeated the Soviet Union. After signing a bill to award the players congressional gold medals, he took questions.

1:04:18What's the best for Ukraine from this win from 45 years ago when you defeated Russian team against all odds? Well, it's a similar situation, isn't it? Let's see what happens. We're working on seeing if we can make a deal right now. We're going to see. We'll soon know, I guess. My panel is back with me now. First off, props to that White House reporter. Clever way to backdoor into it. A question I think a lot of people are wondering right now. Mike, how much stock do you put into Trump's claim that we may have a deal to end this conflict soon? I mean, he desperately, the president desperately wants a deal to end this conflict.

1:04:58I feel sometimes that it's more of a wish than where we are in reality. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's a – I think we're probably closer right now than we have been. We're going into winter. If it doesn't get done now, it's going to be months and months more of suffering in Ukraine. What Chuck Roach noticed was everybody was handing out Chuck Roach a cowboy hat in the Oval Office Day, so I appreciate that. I think he's trying to get in good with me. But on a serious note, my point is exactly right. He wants to be able to run a TV commercial in the midterm saying promises made, promises kept.

1:05:36I've ended all of these different conflicts around the world. I told you I'd handle this just like I told you I'd bring down prices. I can see the ad being made. And he wants it over. No matter how much Ukraine he feels like he has to give away, he wants it to be over. He does want a deal. And, you know, and he feels like he's the good guy here because he's wearing the white hat. Oh, my God. Here we go. You're in the black hat. I know. Can we actually bring like a chuck with the president? in the white hat. I don't know if we have that together. The American people can draw their conclusions. But you seem to, I got to say, not to be unserious, I'm being very serious.

1:06:04You seemed offended when I came back to the, okay, so you saw that and you said, he's what, taking my shtick? Like, that's my, right. And then we also said that you also never put your candidate in any kind of headgear is what we also said. Football helmets, Mike Dukakis battle helmets, or a Chuck Roche cowboy hat. Or windsurfing, right? That's true. That's a windsurfing. We could just go up down the list here for a minute. I want to ask you about something else that happened today as we continue to visualize the precedent in a very large... That's not a Stetson, though, is it? I don't think so.

1:06:36It don't come with a little tie-dial. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit against President Trump and his administration in an effort to block the construction of the planned ballroom at the White House. The lawsuit alleges the administration did not seek approval from Congress and skirted several other steps along the way. Mike, do you... I was going to ask you if you think the case has legs. No, the building's gone. I mean, I don't care if that would seem to be a problem. That's a problem for their case. This is one thing, though, that I do want to point out. I was listening to the White House usher that had been there.

1:07:12He wrote a book. He'd been there from 1970 to like up to a couple of years ago. And he made the point when he was asked this exact question, like, are you upset? Are you offended that the East Wing is gone? And he goes, I've been in that house for so long that every president puts their mark on it. And they had the same arguments when the West Wing was built. And they took the stables away. And they changed all of this. His point was that this, the people's house, whatever we want to call it, does go through change. And I just find it funny that we are, you know, Republicans would be upset if a Democrat had done it.

1:07:47Democrats are upset when a Republican's doing it. But that house has been under construction since it was first built. I would push back and say that this is something the American people do understand. They may not understand the nuances of a Ukraine argument, but when all these visuals are up of the West Wing just being gone and a piece of the White House just being gone, I don't think, and what I've been seeing, talking to folks, is they understand that there's changes, but this is too big, and this lawsuit is saying you shouldn't have done this. Folks saying, well, I felt like it shouldn't have happened without Congress.

1:08:18There's not a single taxpayer dollar being spent on the construction. I don't think it matters. I don't think it's a bad vision. I'm interested in this, though, because this has actually been I have wondered why, given all the other issues that matter to people, why this would be something that would resonate. Aside from the fact that for an ad maker, it's a really convenient metaphor to be able to use. And a visual. And this is the piece. That's a visual consuming visual here all the time. You think I'm not adequately appreciating the resonance of the visual. I think regular folks at home who have to drive 55 and follow some basic rules with an administration that's not followed any rules and saying it's a bridge too far.

1:08:55Does that not make them vote a guess? I'm not saying it's going to swing a midterms. I'm just saying it's something that's another thing on the Trump list. Right here is a is a politician who doesn't just do the talk. He walks the walk and he said, I'm going to move something. I'm going to tear something down. And he does it. I mean, one of the appeals of Donald Trump is that he moves quickly. I think he's going to pay a price. I just think that we've said this and I know that he gets away with lots of stuff. But I think this building on top of the and I think you're starting to see it now in these midterms as special elections.

1:09:22Can I ask you, you made the point. Taxpayers aren't funding this. Right. True. The people who are in the Washington that we came up in, people would say, that looks like it might be a little bit problematic. I mean, like Dick Cheney was having secret meetings with energy company executives about policy. and it became a huge ethics concern, problematic for what he was or was not allowed to do about meetings. This is the richest people in America, all of whom have policy issues at the White House is working on saying, hey, here's a couple tens of dollars. You either believe in sunlight or you don't because the word that you use was secret meetings.

1:09:58And we know who the donors are. So this is out there. So I think the major difference between all of this, now, whether that's right or wrong, at least we now know who the donors are and we can make that call, but that's the biggest thing. There is sunshine on this. And the American people in a midterm will have a decision to make on whether this is something they do truly care about on top of affordability, on top of foreign, whatever the thing they care about. Immigration, crime, all the other topics. I just think that this is one more thing that's very visual for an American public that's very visual on this every day.

1:10:30Can I ask you guys, it's Friday and we always have like a really great plan with tons of really great elements that I will inevitably ruin for the team. In part by doing this, what is the thing that you're fixated on right now as you look at the landscape one year out, less than one year out, 11 months out for the midterms? You feel like people are missing about kind of things that are bubbling that will rise and be really important that maybe we're not focused on? I think things rise on Twitter. I think things rise on social media. What I'm really hyper-focused on is, sure, we've seen this movement towards Democrats in the off-year elections and in special elections, but who shows up in a midterm?

1:11:07We have an understanding of who normally shows up, but Donald Trump broke that in a presidential election. What I'm super fixated on is, is there motivation on one side of the other to see some kind of a turnout that we normally don't see in an off-year election because this has been an atypical presidency? Yeah, and I'm worried about the exact opposite, which is this is going to be a typical midterm. And you're exactly right. Donald Trump turns disinterested voters out every time he's on the ballot. He's not on the ballot this time. And whether or not those disinterested voters who then participated in politics and brought him into the White House, are they going to be there for Republicans in the midterms?

1:11:44I'm very concerned about that. Is that why, you know, it was fascinating to see Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff, who is not somebody who's out in public very often, is a very dominant presence for those people who don't see her out in public. You should know that and considered to be one of the better, an individual with a better ability to operate a staff, a team that can sometimes be divergent, oftentimes in your era. In a White House that is chaotic in nature, she is doing a fabulous job. And there's not a Republican that would disagree with that assessment. I think a lot of Democrats would agree with it as well.

1:12:16She was out publicly saying, we want him on the trail like it's 2024 for the midterm year, which a lot of people were like, he's at like 41 or 42. I actually think it's a great idea. And here's why, because we've tried everything else as a party in the midterms in 2018 and even in 22. We've tried everything else. I know his poll numbers amongst Democrats and independents are down low, but he's still holding them with Republicans. And if he can convince these folks to come out, I think we've got a better chance. So it's counterintuitive, but I think it's a smart political play. I think it gives more Donald Trump on the road is good with Democrats, too, because he goes off script like he did this week when he was talking about all the crazy stuff he was talking about.

1:12:58Like he was back in campaign mode when there's not really an immigration problem anymore. And there's not these other things that he's he feels so safe in those places because he's a grievance politician and grievance works for him. It works for motivation. These voters that Mike was talking about, like that's what that's the difference of him being out there or not. The point we got at this last hour, but you just mentioned the immigration issue, it has been so successful in terms of what the outcome he wanted at the border, shutting down the border. You hear this from White House officials saying, like, we don't get any credit for what we were able to do there.

1:13:34And what they are, what people are seeing are the deportations. Some of them, a lot of videos like in Chicago and places like that where they're saying, I don't know about that. And then no one's talking about what happened to the border. You think that becomes a problem at some point? Well, we were talking about visuals earlier. Yeah. When you have people crossing in Texas, what is the visual of a border crossing that has nobody trying to get across it? I mean, I understand why the visuals have turned to these cities now where you've got the National Guard and and other where ICE is performing these these sweeps.

1:14:04It's because there's a visual there. It is a different part of this conversation, but I think part of the reason we're getting no credit at the quiet border is because it's quiet. That's not good for politicians. What's good for politicians is having some kind of a conflict. And to be very quick about this is to say that when you look at immigration and you think about what's going on, folks don't like to see the masked agents. They don't like to see U.S. citizens getting deported and all the things. I will say, you can tell when a man knows how to wear a hat like the one the president put on earlier.

1:14:36No disrespect to the president. This man knows what he's doing. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you all for being here, as always. Well, next here on The Lead, actor John Slattery on his new film, Nuremberg, why he believes this World War II drama is so relevant today.

1:14:56In our pop lead, the world learned much more of the horrors committed by the Nazis during World War II during the Nuremberg Trials. That's the focus of the new film Nuremberg, which explores the relationship between Hitler's second-in-command, Hermann Goring, played by Russell Crowe, and the psychiatrist trying to outsmart him, Douglas Kelly, who's played by Rami Malek. The world needs to know what these men did. Dr. Kelly, Central Command thinks you're some kind of hot shot head shrinker. You will inspect and ensure the prisoner's mental health. The one you'll have to watch the closest is Goering.

1:15:32He was appointed Hitler's successor in 1939 and his highest ranking German military officer of all time. He's highly intelligent. Charming. And a narcissist. I am going to escape the hangman's nose. Very sure it'll be so. No man has ever beaten me. Well, Jake Tapper sat down with one of the stars of the film, John Slattery. John, I watched Nuremberg last night. Just riveting. Very, very powerful. Rami Malek's character, Dr. Kelly, real person, grapples with trying to understand how these evil acts could happen. You play Army Colonel Burton Andrus, whose goal is to hold the Nazis accountable. Here's another clip from the movie.

1:16:15When you sleep, your head and hands will remain above your blanket visible at all times. You will be given no belts. You will be given no shoelaces. You will be given no toilet seats. You will be given nothing with which to use as a weapon to take your own lives.

1:16:36Welcome to Nuremberg. Tell me about why you wanted to play Colonel Andrus. What about the role attracted you? Well, I think like a lot of people, I knew some of the information about the Nuremberg trials, but certainly not nearly what I thought I knew. When I read the script, it was just a fantastic story. And inside the larger story is the relationship between Doug Kelly and Herman Goering, which brings up everything from the nature of evil to how something like this could be allowed to take place. It was a great cast. Russell and Rami, I think, were already involved by the time I got cast. cast.

1:17:31And Jamie Vanderbilt wrote a great script and executed it extremely well. And it took me, you know, I read the script and was immediately in. Yeah, it's really, really powerful. There's a line in the movie when Herman Goering, played by Crow, is asked what drew him to Hitler. And he says he made us feel German again. You've said what happened during the rise of the Third Reich is relevant to today's world. Tell me about what you see are some of the important relevant parallels and lessons. Well, I mean, the sad coincidence is that Jamie Vanderbilt started working on this 13 years ago. And we're at a place where obviously there are parallels you could look to in the Middle least.

1:18:24And I mean, some would argue that the current administration in this country are pushing the limits of a dictatorial regime. But I mean, the movie isn't sort of built to answer the questions. It's bringing them up and asking the questions. And I think, sadly, it is relevant today. Yeah, and Dr. Kelly's question about are the Germans and the Nazis just a particular unique people, or is this just, are they just people, and this could have happened anywhere? Yeah, exactly. It could have happened anywhere, and that made me think, especially, well, there's been a rise, obviously, of horrific anti-Semitism in the United States, both on the right and the left.

1:19:14Some of it includes Holocaust denial. And there is this moment in the film during the portrayal of the trial when some of the real footage that was shown during the Nuremberg trial of Allied troops liberating the concentration camps and all the dead bodies. It's just absolutely horrific. It's about six minutes in this movie. It was, I guess, closer to an hour, shot by John Ford, I believe. We're going to show on our screen how the defendants reacted to the horrific images of emaciated survivors in piles of bodies pushed by a bulldozer like human rubble. I'm told that you hadn't seen that. None of you had seen it.

1:19:59And the actual reactions to watching that actual footage were real. Yeah, that's correct. He, Jamie, that is, we had four cameras set up and we were in a courtroom that was designed to the minutest detail, replicated, the actual courtroom. And we were seated with, I don't know, 250 extras, background artists, mostly Hungarian, most of a certain age that if they hadn't participated in some of these events, they certainly had friends and family that had. and they played, I don't know, 10 minutes of the footage or whatever you said, six minutes. The actual footage shown in the court was longer. It's the first time that film footage had been used as evidence in a prosecution.

1:20:57And yes, he advised us not to seek out the footage because you can find it online. And so we sat in our spots and watched it. And those reactions are we did one take and that's us watching it is what you see. John, it's a very powerful movie and you're great in it. Congratulations. Really appreciate it. And thanks for spending time with us today. You can see Nuremberg right now in movie theaters. John Slattery, thank you so much. Thank you. Well, coming up Sunday on State of the Union, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. That's Sunday at 9 a.m.

1:21:39and noon Eastern on CNN. Then Sunday night, something a little different. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. is hosting a very, very, very merry holiday special featuring the United States Air Force Band. Comedian Craig Robinson will also be there and singer Jesse James Decker. Look for this Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CNN and on the CNN, new CNN app. Remember, Net Out Front starts right now.

1:22:08Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life-altering losses. My guest is writer, poet Megan Fowley, who is married to the poet Andrea Gibson. Andrea died last summer after a years-long battle with cancer. Is grief different than you thought it would be? Yes, it is. I don't think that I thought that I would be able to have as much joy as I've had. I guess if I wasn't able to find joy and laughter now, I would have missed the point of Andra's messaging.

1:22:52Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.