‘WHY did she say those things?’: Nicolle reacts to Melania Trump’s SHOCKING Epstein speech

[0:00] Hi everyone, it's four o'clock in New York. It has been more than 40 days since we've led this [0:05] broadcast with news about Donald Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, or for that matter, the Trump [0:11] administration's refusal to release the Epstein files with any alacrity or consideration for the [0:16] victims of sexual abuse and child sex trafficking. Melania Trump changed that today seemingly on [0:22] purpose. She summoned the White House press pool, and at 2.30 p.m. today, she said this. [0:28] The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. The individuals lying [0:40] about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, [0:52] but rather, I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation. I've never been friends [1:02] with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, [1:12] since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach. To be clear, [1:23] I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell [1:33] cannot be catered as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email [1:44] doesn't amount to anything more than a tribal note. I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce [1:57] me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at the New York City party in 1998. [2:06] To be clear, none of those things, nothing about Melania Trump [2:13] was the Epstein headline that was dogging Donald Trump in the days immediately leading up to the start [2:20] of the war he began with Iran. In those days, it was news of a woman who alleged sexual and physical [2:27] assault by Donald Trump when she was a child. That story was all over the news, including in right-wing [2:33] outlets. Importantly, it's a story that Donald Trump denies. But today, for reasons that aren't [2:41] completely clear, Melania Trump grabbed the Klieg lights and thrust them back, not just to Donald Trump's [2:48] ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but her own with this. [2:51] Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false. I'm not a witness [3:04] or a name witness in connection with any of Epstein's crimes. My name has never appeared in court documents, [3:14] depositions, victim statements, or FBI in interviews surrounding the Epstein matter. I have never had any [3:26] knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant, [3:37] was never on Epstein's plane, and never visited his private island. I have never been legally accused or convinced [3:50] of a crime in connection with Epstein sex trafficking, abuse of minors, and other repulsive behavior. [3:59] The question we have today is, why did she say those things? And why today? Those questions, [4:12] that breaking news is where we start today. Washington correspondent and host of the weekend AM, [4:16] Jackie Alamany joins us from the North Lawn of the White House. Also joining us, [4:20] New York Times White House correspondent Luke Broadwater is here. We'll be joined in a couple [4:24] minutes by the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia. [4:28] Jackie Alamany, I start with you. Why did this happen, and why did she say those things? [4:35] Yeah, Nicole, that is the question that we're all asking today. In fact, I just got off [4:40] a very quick call before we went to air with President Trump, who said he was in the middle [4:44] of a war meeting and that he couldn't talk for very long and had to go, but that actually he had [4:48] no prior knowledge to the topic that Melania Trump, his wife, was going to be touching upon today [4:53] in his statement. In her statement, he then repeated that he had to go. But before we hung up the phone, [4:59] he said that she didn't know him, presumably referring to Jeffrey Epstein. This was a really [5:07] remarkable statement that we heard from the first lady. It was something that my colleague, [5:12] Jake Traylor, when he pinked some of his, one of his White House sources said that many people in [5:16] the building were not prepared for this. She also called on a public hearing that centered around [5:23] Epstein's victims. This is a sea change from the message that we've been hearing from the White [5:29] House, specifically from President Trump. The last time he was asked about this, he actually scolded [5:35] a reporter. The reporter at the time was CNN's Caitlin Collins, scolded her for even asking the [5:40] question and then said it was a time for the country to move on. So again, lots of questions here [5:47] about the timing of this, why this is a president who in the past has preempted negative stories about [5:54] him. Just a month ago, he posted very negatively about New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman [6:00] recently, actually just two days ago, a very detailed report about occurrences in the situation [6:10] room. Some of the decision making that was going on in the lead up to the U.S. going to the war with [6:14] Iran was published. It's unclear if that was a direct preempt of that reporting, but needless to [6:20] say, this is someone who does not hold back when it comes to attacking and criticizing reporters for [6:27] coverage that they don't like. But I did get off the phone as well with Stephanie Grisham, who was the [6:32] former secretary to First Lady Melania Trump in the first administration, and she said that whatever [6:37] was the impetus for the First Lady deciding to take to the camera to do this on a day like today, [6:43] when none of us are talking about Epstein, we are all here focused on the war with Iran. That really [6:48] is the news at hand today, that it must be something really serious that she didn't decide to put out a [6:54] statement and decided to hold an on-camera statement as well, where she summoned reporters to witness this [7:00] statement. Jackie, Stephanie Grisham, I know the answer to this, and I'm not sure if she shared it, [7:09] but has she done this before? I mean, who has, she said, quote, I've never been accused of a crime. [7:15] Who's accused Melania Trump of a crime? No one has. And there was a lack of specificity [7:24] in the statement that the First Lady made, which is why there's really so many unanswered [7:29] questions here. I touched base with a bunch of sources on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee [7:35] to see if maybe there were some new documents that the Justice Department had released to Congress [7:40] with regards to the Epstein files, because we are still waiting on missing FBI transcripts from some [7:48] of the victims who had tested, who had told reporters and others that in the past they had provided more [7:54] detail allegations that were not released by the Justice Department. They said that they haven't heard [8:01] from them since there was a briefing held with the DOJ some time ago. So it's extremely unclear what [8:08] she's talking about. There have been some unsubstantiated reports about the First Lady's [8:14] relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. But again, none of those things are really anything that are recent [8:21] or have been substantiated. Luke Broadwater, she said, Melania Trump saying, quote, I never had a [8:27] relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not Epstein's victim. Images and stories are false. Do you know [8:32] what images and stories she's talking about? I don't. And everyone I've talked to today about [8:38] this doesn't know either. You know, if you go online, you can find any number of false rumors and [8:45] crazy theories about someone. And there's speculation that she was looking online, saw some things that [8:51] she didn't like about herself and decided to call this press conference. But no one really knows [8:56] what prompted this exactly. I will say, politically, it is in some ways undercutting [9:04] the message that her husband has been putting out there, which is that the country should move on [9:09] from this matter. There's nothing to see here. Stop looking into it. And here she is coming out, [9:14] having a major press conference, which has garnered lots of attention and is calling for victims to [9:22] testify and for there to be hearings. So it's a very, very different message that she's, and she came [9:28] out on her own and did it without, without Donald Trump by her side. So, you know, politically it's [9:34] very interesting what's happening here between the president and the first lady and their diverging [9:41] messages. Stay with us, both of you. I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of [9:46] California. He's a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. Are you in possession of any [9:51] materials that haven't been released to the public yet that suggest any of the things Melania Trump [9:56] today denied? Quote, I never had a relationship with Epstein. Quote, I'm not Epstein's victim. [10:02] Quote, I'm not a witness or a victim to any crimes. Quote, I have never been accused of a crime. [10:08] We're not. And I'll just start by saying that [10:11] this kind of press conference that the first lady just had was pretty stunning for a variety of [10:19] reasons. First is she is publicly calling for a hearing with survivors that we have been asking [10:26] for for months and have been told every time that it wasn't possible. Chairman Comer has not scheduled [10:33] it. This is the same administration that has called this investigation a hoax. I mean, just a day ago, [10:41] the acting attorney general Todd Blanche said that the DOJ was not moving forward on any part of the [10:47] investigation. This has been an investigation the White House has pushed aside. There have been [10:53] efforts by survivors to meet with the White House, to meet with the DOJ. And so for the first lady [11:00] to come out and to essentially say that she is calling on this public hearing for survivors and to [11:07] kind of put herself in the center of the story is something that we certainly were not expecting [11:13] today. But we certainly welcome and agree with her call to hear directly from the survivors. And this [11:20] pushes back against all efforts the White House has been making and really distances herself from [11:27] the president and his public statements and trying to end this investigation and essentially calling [11:33] it a hoax.