Good evening everyone. What a week in the news. I’m coming to you from the CNN set, where I’m filming an episode of Have I Got News for You airing tomorrow night at 9 PM EST. I hope you’ll tune in. Because I am currently on set filming, today’s video update features a conversation with Jessica Tarlov and I. It’s a bit longer, but take a listen and let me know what you think.
We have a lot to cover today. But before we get into it, I need to say this: never in a million years did I imagine I would be in a position to film at CNN alongside some of the most respected figures in news and culture. That happened because of you. You made it possible, and I am deeply grateful.
And there is more. We are surging again. This year, our platform has outperformed every major media company in total engagement except the Daily Mail and Fox News. We are closing in on them too.
You did that. With your support, we built this. Independent. Focused. Relentless. A platform that has surpassed nearly every major media company in the world in engagement. Think about that for a moment.
And we are only getting started. This year, we are expanding internationally. I will be bringing you live coverage from around the world as we continue to grow this movement into something truly global.
Here’s the news:
- The Department of Homeland Security will enter a government shutdown at 12:01 am tomorrow morning, in just a matter of hours. Senate Democrats blocked a Homeland Security funding bill over demands to reform ICE after the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, sending Congress toward a partial DHS shutdown that would spare ICE and CBP but disrupt agencies like FEMA, TSA, and the Coast Guard amid a deep partisan standoff.
- Newly released DOJ emails and documents reveal that Jeffrey Epstein engaged multiple online reputation management firms in a years-long campaign—paying up to $12,500 per month—to suppress reporting about his 2008 sex offense conviction by pushing down negative news in search results, attempting to edit or influence his Wikipedia page, and generating favorable content highlighting his philanthropy to reshape his public image.
- In 2018, Jeffrey Epstein tells Larry Summers that he is being asked for names to replace Trump's Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Full file here.
- This is a section from Ghislaine Maxwell's 2002 naturalization questionnaire. She attested to never committing a crime for which she was not arrested. The allegations in her trial showed that she was engaging in sex trafficking in the mid-1990s. The Trump Administration has said it will pursue denaturalization of dangerous individuals. Will they do so with Ghislaine?
- Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) and fellow House Oversight Committee Democrats formally requested an interview with former British ambassador Peter Mandelson regarding the Epstein files, stating the request was made “in the interest of justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.”
- According to Politico, ICE Director Todd Lyons says video evidence suggests the two officers involved in the Jan. 14 Minneapolis chase and shooting may have lied under oath about the incident and are now facing a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice, a development that undercut earlier defenses, including from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who had framed their actions as self-defense.
- US annual inflation cooled to 2.4% in January, an eight month low that beat expectations and was helped by lower gas and housing costs, though core prices rose 0.3% on the month, signaling persistent underlying inflation pressures that could continue to influence markets.
- A federal judge ordered DHS to ensure detainees at Minneapolis’ Whipple ICE facility have timely, private access to lawyers and phone calls before transfer, ruling that prior practices violated constitutional rights and temporarily blocking out-of-state transfers for the first 72 hours of custody.
- The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a special April 21 election on a proposed new congressional map can proceed, allowing Virginia voters to decide in a referendum whether to approve mid-decade redistricting that could give Democrats an advantage in up to 10 of the state’s 11 U.S. House seats, even as legal challenges over the measure continue.
- U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes revealed in court that she received graphic death threats after temporarily blocking the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Haitians, defended the judiciary against intimidation, and sharply questioned government lawyers as the administration appeals her ruling and pushes forward with efforts to terminate the protections.
- CNN has confirmed that two top aides to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and General Counsel Mike Stuart, are expected to leave the agency as part of a broader leadership shakeup, with O’Neill’s departure coming amid criticism over his role amplifying anti-vaccine messaging and overseeing the CDC as the White House restructures the department ahead of the midterms.
- Americans say that Bad Bunny better represents American values than Trump:
- At the Munich Security Conference, prominent US Democrats including Gavin Newsom and Ruben Gallego are urging European leaders to stand up to President Trump’s confrontational foreign policy, as Europe remains divided between confronting what some call his “wrecking ball” approach or maintaining US goodwill for security, highlighting growing transatlantic tensions over NATO, Ukraine, trade, and the future of the global order.
- Two men were killed and a third injured in an overnight shooting inside a dorm room at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, prompting a campus lockdown and class cancellations as state law enforcement investigates the second deadly shooting at the school this academic year. The current statistic for gun violence in America to date:
- Democratic lawmakers, led by Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth and Mike Quigley, are pressing the Trump administration over how its immigration policies — including TPS terminations, loss of work authorizations and ICE enforcement actions — are shrinking the immigrant-heavy childcare workforce and worsening shortages and rising costs nationwide.
- President Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is going to have to get moving,” asserting that Russia wants to make a deal and warning that Zelensky could miss a “great opportunity” if he does not act.
- Newly released documents show ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion to acquire and convert warehouses nationwide into immigration detention centers, including 16 regional processing centers holding 1,000–1,500 people for short stays (3–7 days) and eight large-scale facilities holding 7,000–10,000 detainees for about 60 days before deportation; the plan includes $158 million to retrofit a Merrimack, NH facility plus $146 million for its first three years of operation, and is justified by a surge in ICE hiring and anticipated increases in arrests.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
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