>> >> fighting for the oval and the airwaves. president biden kicking off his 2024 campaign with a major speech and a historical landmark in a key battleground state, as the republican front runner, donald trump, makes a final push in iowa days before the caucuses. we're tracking both. plus, secretary of state antony blinken is in the middle east again, as multiple flash points threaten to erupt into a regional conflict. and, as israel reveals its next

phase of the war against hamas. >> and before he opened fire, the iowa school shooter is a belize -- a video on tiktok from a school bathroom. new details about the deadly shooting and the heroic actions of the principal. we are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. >> here in minutes, president biden will be arriving in pennsylvania one day before the third anniversary of the january 6th attack on the capitol, to kick off the 2024 campaign year with his pitch that this election is fundamentally about defending democracy. the backdrop, valley forge, the legendary winter encampment of the continental army were general george washington built his troops into a piece of forest during the revolutionary war. biden speech is part of

aggressive push by his campaign to frame 2024 as another opportunity for voters to protect the constitution from the threats of a second trump turn. the -- where he calls in his biggest ally to help with his message. >> our democracy depends on you. >> it really does, folks. that's no joke. >> that's why we need you. we need your help to ensure joe's leadership continues to guide us forward. >> donald trump's camp is also eyeing that 2020 rematch, even though the republican primary hasn't even started yet. with ten days until the iowa caucuses, trump is contrasting his economic platform with bidens in a new ad, as biden's economic message struggles to resonate with americans. that's despite another batch of strong jobs numbers today. we're actually going to speak to the acting labor secretary about those numbers, and whether this will bolster the case for biden onyx. but first, let's get you to the

white house and cnn's mj lee. mj, what are we anticipating will come from biden's speech? >> reporter: yeah, well this afternoon is going to mark president biden's first campaign speech of the new election year. and this is really the biden campaign setting the stage for what they expect to see as the choice that they're being presented with and the voters are being presented within the 2024 presidential election. and that choice, according to the biden campaign, is between preserving democracy and the freedoms that are fundamental and sacred, they say, to this country, versus a party and a candidate that would let those freedoms and that democracy a road. and there's really nothing subtle about this afternoon and what we are about to see from the biden campaign. first of all, the timing and the date. of course, tomorrow is january 6th, it's the third anniversary of the january 6th insurrection on capitol hill. this is an event that we've heard president biden talk about numerous times, as representing an event that was

so unacceptable, including the fact that there was a president and presidential candidates now who has essentially condoned and encourage that kind of political violence. and then, just the choice of this venue and this place. obviously, pennsylvania goes without saying is an important battleground state. but as you mentioned, valley forge is a historically important place where people will remember as sort of that image of george washington leading his troops through this long winter battle. and we are told that president biden is going to invoke george washington and that fight, that caused, in a number of different ways in his speech. and basically draw parallels between what we saw there, versus why the biden campaign believes and the president believes is a charge he's trying to lead in 2024 as he prepares to take on donald trump. now, in terms of the biden campaign and the fact that we are now in january of 2024, we are told by the campaign that

this really is the beginning of the campaign really starting to ramp up. we will see president biden on monday in south carolina, he is going to be speaking at mother a manual church. this, of course, is where we saw the mass shooting where nine black worshippers were killed in that shooting. this will mark the president returning to a state that the biden white house believes sent him to the white house. returning to voters, black voters in particular, that the biden campaign talks about as having also sent him to the white house. so in so many different ways, this afternoon will be very heavy of political symbolism, and again, will really mark the beginning of what we will see to come in the coming year, as the biden campaign really prepares to take on donald trump. >> mj lee, live from the white house, thank you very much. >> meanwhile, as a positive new jobs report came in today, the president is hoping he can tout an improving economy in his reelection bid. the last jobs report of 2023

has employers adding 216,000 jobs in december, outpacing analysts expectations by more than 50,000. biden saying it showed 2023 was a great year for american workers. the unemployment rate remaining at 3.7%. treasury secretary janet yellen highlighting that it's rare for jobs to stay robust while inflation is going down. >> we have 23 months in a row unemployment under 40%. haven't seen that in 50 years. >> so, the soft landing, did it happen? >> what we're seeing now, i think we can describe as a soft landing. and my hope is that it will continue. >> wall street, though, has been waffling a bit on how to react here, because it signals the fed could wait to drop interest rates with such high jobs numbers. joining us now, we have acting labor secretary julie su. secretary, thank you so much for taking some time to be with us. what is the most promising thing in the jobs report, and

is there anything in it that is concerning you? >> hi, breonna. it's great to be here. this is, as you said, a strong, it's a very stable jobs report. 216,000 jobs in december, making the average overall 2023 to hundred 25,000 jobs. that is higher than at any point in any single year in the prior administration, and it is a sign that that coveted soft landing, we've reached it. we had theories of recovery from the pandemic, and now we've had a strong solid 2023. these things don't happen by accident. they happen because of strong leadership, they have been because of economic policies, and they happen because president biden has been very clear that we're going to build an economy where we do right by workers. that's how to make things better, that's how to make things stronger. we can keep unemployment rate low while we increase low wages,

while we continue to increase jobs. and that's going to be the message for 2024, is to keep on doing that. >> yesterday, the fed pushed back on early rate cuts this year, which were expected by many in march. one seasonal employment ends, it's a labor market going to be strong enough to withstand a more prolonged period of higher interest rates, do you think? >> well, so interestingly, we don't see the volatility that often is associated with seasonal numbers. and again, because we now have a full year's report, we can really look at not just december, which was strong, but a whole year in which the jobs numbers defied expectations over and over again. and many people predicted that we could not both control inflation, while keeping jobs high. and that is exactly what we have accomplished, and that is what the president wakes up every morning thinking about. is how do we make life better for the american people? how do we create good jobs in

every single community so people don't have to leave their homes in order to find work that's going to bring them into the middle class? so this is a year long, sustained and steady record, that many people thought was not going to be possible, and we are going to keep that up for the rest of this year. >> so many people, curious of course, what the fed is going to do, as they look at perhaps buying a home or getting a car, if they need a car loan. they're looking at their credit card interest rates, the key indicator that the fed considers for inflation is still at 3.2% year over year at last measure. the fed target is 2%. in your view, is that low enough for the fed to ease off of interest rates? should they still be aiming for that 2%? >> reporter: all right, so let's just dive into that a little bit. i'm not going to comment on what the fed does, but i will say that we have seen very strong gdp growth to,

productivity is above 5%. so that means that the inflation rate, combined with wage growth, there is some room for workers to keep doing better without having inflationary pressure. again, that is very core to the presidents message and his economic agenda, that we don't have to sacrifice work or well-being when we strengthen the economy. in fact, those two things actually go hand in hand. and we saw that throughout the year. not just in terms of jobs numbers we talk about, but also in terms of the record gains that workers made at the bargaining table. the broad base jobs creation across multiple industries. and again, we are still just getting started. 2024 is going to be a big year for those historic investments to actually hit the ground, to have projects actually beginning, and to have even more jobs across construction, manufacturing, clean energy, and other industries that were really focused on growing here in america. >> i do want to ask you about

texas governor greg abbott, and really some of the solution prescriptions that some democrats are looking for. he's been bustling in flying migrants to democratic cities, as you're well aware. we've spoken to a number of leaders in these cities who are upset with him, yes, but they also are upset with the biden administration. they're looking for help with this influx of migrants. here's what democratic leaders in chicago and new york told us. >> many of the migrants that are here, they plan to stay here. they'd like to have permanent housing, they need to support themselves. need need the ability to get temporary work visas, that something the federal government has to get out of the way for the people that are here. >> we need more work permits for the migrants. i've talked to so many of them, and the first question i'm asked, unbearably, is how can i work? >> are you going to be able to increase or expedite work permits? is that on the table in these upcoming burin immigration talks? >> reporter: yeah, so the president has also been very

clear that we need comprehensive immigration reform. we need a humane immigration policy that is going to also serve not just the economy, but actual working people. we've been in a very tight labor market for sometime, and that is by design. a tight labor market is good for workers. it increases worker power. it has helped in these wage increases and other improvements to working conditions. better retirement security, better health and safety protections, and the like. and so i think the presidents call for congress to address the immigration issue has also called for more funding so that they can be a strong policy at the border. but what we've certainly seen is throughout the economy, the immigration -- >> can you speak specifically, secretary, on this issue of work permits, increasing or expediting them? i just want to ask because i'm going to run out of time.

>> yeah, so we have done that. when workers are eligible for work permits, they should get them. and part of delivering to the american people is to make sure that those basic services are provided. and i hear all the time from employers who say they're looking for workers, they need workers, and our whole agenda is about making sure that people who want jobs can actually get those jobs. connecting them, work permits is part of that. but also good training for games, all that is part of a bigger picture. >> but democratic cities, they're not eligible, and that's the problem. it's not an issue if they're eligible, they're saying they want them to be eligible for it so that they can then get an expedited work permit. is that on at the table? >> yeah, i mean, that's where congress comes in. that is where congress and immigration reform that recognized the needs of the labor market and provides legal pathways and a smart policy for how we deal with issues at the border, have to come in, and

the president has been very clear with working with congressional democrats to try to make that happen. but it's not something that we can do on our own, it does require congress to move. >> comprehensive immigration reform, obviously difficult to, and more likely impossible, in a divided congress, as we all know right now. just the specific issue of eligibility, is that on the table? not as part of a comprehensive, but just as these negotiations that are going on about border security and other eight that congress is discussing? >> we have said, and biden on mix is about using every tool that we have power over to make sure that we are creating good jobs and putting people into those good jobs. to the extent that there is more that we can do in that area, a lot of it is about connecting people to training programs and making sure that those who are eligible to work at the tools that they need to do that work. but there's -- much of this has to happen through actions that congress

has to take. and we are our ways ready and willing to -- this is a divided time, and so that's why we are focused on the leverage that we have, which is about investments, it's about construction jobs, manufacturing jobs, creating jobs for people who don't have a college degree. and doing everything we can to connect those people to help rebuild america, and make every corner of america really strong with people who have economic security. >> look, it's a tough situation. it does not seem like those democrats maybe having their requests answered anytime soon. secretary sue, i certainly appreciate you being with us. thank you. >> thank you. >> and at any moment, america's high court could decide if it will weigh in on whether donald trump should be allowed to run for president again. the justices meeting today for the first time since trump asked them to overturn the historic colorado supreme court ruling, they kicked him off the

states primary ballot under the 14th amendment's insurrectionist clause. >> and the clock is ticking. colorado election officials are facing a deadline of today to certify their candidates. the primary itself, of course, two months away, on march 5th. super tuesday. the colorado secretary of state has said that trump is going to be on the ballot, unless the court acts in some way. trump's legal team says it is now confident the justices will rule in his favor. listen to this. >> i think it should be a slam dunk in the supreme court. i have faith in them. people like kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through, helped get into place. those people will step up, not because they're pro trump, but because they're pro-law. >> we're joined now by cnn senior supreme court analyst joan. joe, great to see you. what can you tell us about today's meetings? >> nothing is a slam dunk. but about today, i was up at the court today one the

justices took the bench for the first time since the new year, and as they were then going to go into their private meeting. they handled some routine business first, and then later they went in and they looked at various pending cases, including this one. the one involving donald trump, and whether he should be kicked off of the ballots because of january 6th attack at the capitol. now, they have several things to iron out here. there are several questions that we can get into in a second about the issues. but as you said, the clock is ticking. and what they need to do is decide what issues to take up, what kind of briefing schedule they would have, and when oral arguments would be held. and there is pressure from the groups involved, donald trump says that he would like this decided promptly, but colorado voters who started all of this, can it be decided by february 11th, which is the day before ballots are mailed out in colorado for the and results

being the super tuesday, march 4th, when they have to be submitted. but there's some other 15 states that will be holding primaries that day. so you can see how crunched this is. and they can't just take the bench or meet in conference and decide this. they need to get formal briefing in, here from a multitude of parties on this very unprecedented question of whether a president can be kept off the ballot. >> yeah, it's not exactly a very fast thing, as we know. joan, thank you so much for that. >> no slam dunk, joan. thanks so much. >> so, secretary of state antony blinken is arriving in the middle east as tensions are reaching new heights in the region. we will tell you what he hopes to accomplish on this trip. >> plus, a new batch of documents connected to jeffrey epstein now out and one detective describes recruitment of dozens of girls for the convicted pedophile. we will have details on that, and had.

>> right now, the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in turkey. his first stop in a weeklong diplomatic push in the middle east. blinken's visit comes amid growing concerns that the conflict between israel and hamas in gaza may brought an even further. and lebanon, the leader of iran-backed hezbollah, is speaking out today, warning the people in northern israel will be the first to suffer if this war expands. >> overnight, the idf says it

struck more than 100 targets across gaza. officials said they were targeting operational command centers and military sites. with us now, we have cnn chief national security alex, and we also have cnn's jeremy diamond who is live for us in tel aviv. jeremy, starting with you here. the israeli defense minister has laid out a plan for the next phase of this military operation in gaza, and a plan for when the war eventually ends. tell us what he is saying. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. he is looking at the phase three and phase four of the war, phase three would be the next phase of the war, which he invasions as being split up between northern gaza, with the israeli military has really carried out the bulk of its operations in the initial weeks of the war, where they have largely routed hamas, although several key strongholds still remain. and so with this next phase of the war, he envisions that in the north, there will be a focus on special operations, on destroying hamas tunnels, and the final remaining stronghold

in that area, whereas in the south, he doesn't really talk about any kind of change in combat operations, but rather saying that's in the south that they will pursue hamas leaders for as long as necessary, and also work to try and secure the release of the hostages. but what's really interesting is when he writes here in terms of phase four of the war, which he said would only come once israel achieves its objectives of the war, which of course have been laid out by the israeli prime minister as destroying hamas and also securing the release of the hostages. and in this phase, he says critically that he does not envision a return of israeli civilians. no israeli settlements in the gaza strip, which is something that several right wing members of this government have indeed suggested in the past. he also says that there would be a multi national task force led by the united states in partnership with european officials, as well as egypt, which he outlines as a key partner to work on rebuilt in gaza. so there certainly some thought

being given to not only the next stages of this war, but also critically to what happens after. what is clear though, is that there is no formal consensus on these matters as of yet. we know that there is still significant debate, in fact, just yesterday a security cabinet meeting turned nasty, as there was shouting, there were accusations leveled at the israeli military chief of staff, and significant disagreements over the next phases of the war. and also, of course, what happens after the war is over. >> jeremy diamond, live for us from tel aviv, alex, walk us through the goals for secretary blinken on this trip. >> this is a wide ranging trip. nine different stops. it is fourth to the region. i think there are two main goals. to prevent the war from widening out beyond israel and gaza, and then pressuring israel. jeremy was just talking about the next phase of the war. one of the main things that the u.s. has been trying to do is try to figure out and pressure israel into going into that next phase from what we've been calling this fire intensity

phase, that we've seen over the past few months. doing much more targeted, lower intensity phase that would do less harm to civilians. we will also hear secretary blinken talk again about the need for israel to do more to protect civilians, that civilian death toll going higher and higher. really, by the hour. we're talking about more than 22,000 people that have been killed in gaza so far. and then the humanitarian aid that the u.s. says not enough has gotten in. and a lot of that is because of the continued fighting. and so we will hear things we've heard in the past, and it's clear that the u.s. feels israel has not made enough progress. and they want to see progress there, at the same time, they don't want to be seen as telling israel what to do. and then blinken's going to be all over the rest of the middle east, talking about the other flare-ups that we've seen. and when you look at those, whether it's the houthis in yemen, or hezbollah in lebanon, or the proxy groups in iraq and syria. which of the whole have in common? they're all backed by iran. and so blinken is going to be

enlisting other world leaders, other countries, to be intermediaries with iran, essentially telling them to knock it off and not expand this conflict. >> the state department is also now offering a financial instead meant -- for disrupting hamas's financial networks. >> this is really interesting. essentially, as another way of trying to take apart hamas, which of course israel is trying to do militarily with american support. so this is a 10 million dollar reward for a state department program -- around the world. this is for information about hamas is financials, and in particular, five financial facilitators. they named five individuals, one is based in sudan, the other four are believed to be based in turkey. they have all kinds of rules, in terms of helping hamas make money and manage their investment portfolios on this notice we saw today, the state department puts an american phone number on there, saying if you have information, call us, text us.

we have seen this program mentioned recently in the context of the hamas official who was killed in lebanon. he had a 5 million-dollar bounty on his head. this is 10 million for information about these financiers, and it comes after the u.s. treasury department has already imposed sanctions on all kinds of hamas operators and officials, economic sanctions, to try to hit them where it hurts, economically. >> that's so interesting. we'll have to see what works. alex, thank you for that. a school shooting in iowa leaving a sixth grader dead and several other people wounded, including the principle. next, what we know about the victims conditions, and how this attack unfolded.

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been released, and they are headed home. the four others wounded are still being treated at a hospital in des moines. >> this happened when a 17-year-old opened fire at paris high school yesterday, and killed a sixth grader. friends of the victims describing him as the sweetest boy. >> a friend of ours, he was like my second kid. he had heard that he was missing, and he lives in our neighborhood. so i went to ask, and heard from the family themselves. he really was the sweetest boy. you want your kids to be friends with. >> it's heartbreaking. investigators are looking into a tiktok post that is being shared on social media, they believe by the gunman. i want to go now to cnn correspondent veronica miracle in paris, iowa. what do we know, veronica, about the victims and how they are doing, how they are recovering?

>> reporter: boris and breonna, all five of the victims are expected to survive from their physical injuries. four of those victims were students, one of them a staff member. a principle here at paris high school, who was identified as dan murder by his daughter on facebook. she said her father went into surgery, came out, is in stable condition, and is expected to recover. she also said that he tried to stop the shooter from going after other students, saying, quote, he tried to approach and talk dylan, the shooter, down, and destructive long enough for some students to get out. as many of you know, that is a gentle giant, an amazing dad, and just an amazing person. this is a very small community, everyone knows everyone here. the entire school district only has about 1800 students, and so at a vigil last night, there were so many people who already knew that the sixth grade boy had died. the sixth grader had died, as well as the other victims.

for us, breonna,? >> we know investigators are still looking into a possible motive. that part of this remains unclear, but friends of the shooter are speaking out, claiming that he was bullied. do we have any word on that? >> reporter: definitely a main part of the investigation is figuring out why this happened. authorities say they're looking at social media posts, including that tiktok video that you referenced that was taken, apparently, inside the school, in the bathroom. they're also looking at social media posts from before the shooting. and then we are hearing from potential friends who say that potentially bullying could have played a factor. take a listen to what they had to say. >> he got tired of the bullying. he got tired of the harassment. >> we tried to be there when he needed us. we weren't there for him, and now -- >> just like any school shooting, this is just devastating all around. so many families are going to

be feeling the effects of this, the grieving process has just begun. boris, breonna? >> veronica miracle from perry, iowa, thank you so much. let's get some perspective on this with former fbi deputy director and cnn senior law enforcement analyst, andrew mccabe. andy, great to see you as always. i'm curious to get your perspective on this tiktok post. it's anello that we've seen from these kinds of shooters before. this desire to show what they're doing to the world. does it give you any insight as of potential motive? >> well, i don't think there's any real clear insight on motive. but the use of video and social media, either i mediately before an attack, or during the attack, is something that we've seen across multiple mass shooters. really started with the christchurch shooter who broadcast his attacks on social media, and others have done that progressively.

i think the shooter in buffalo did the same thing, there have been many others. so this is a bit of a hallmark of mass shooters. and i think that's important, because it does reveal to us, if not motive, it shows us that this shooter was a very aware of other shooters. had probably spent time reading about and researching about other mass shootings and how other mass shooters had done it. and he's left us some other clues about inspiration, if you will. the use of the ied in addition to the firearms, we see that in other mass shootings. certainly became a major issue in the columbine shooting in 1999, and then of course we have this connection between the music that he attached to that tiktok video, the same song that eric harris, who was a columbine shooter, allegedly used on the background of his own personal website. so we do know that he was very acutely aware of other shooters, and likely spent time studying

and maybe obsessing over those events. >> would you say, andrew, that it's fair to assess that phenomenon as a sort of shooter culture? if somebody is idolizing the two guys that carried out columbine, and researching their methods, and then emulating them, does that speak to a broader problem when others, a second generation of folks that seek to make a name for themselves by carrying out these kinds of attacks? >> yeah, there's no question that particularly columbine looms large in the minds of these particularly alienated, likely bullied, students, troubled young students who think about mass shootings. we know that columbine remains a highly researched and read about issue among many young people. there are people who make pilgrimages almost too

columbine to see the school where these things happened. so it is a highly significant event in the minds, certainly, of people who decide to become mass shooters. the question is, how much more broadly in that age group and that culture, that's very hard to say. but it's important to know that if you know someone who is obsessing on those sorts of stories and that history and that legend, and really buying into it, and kind of in an inspired sort of way, that someone who you need to bring to the attention of mental health professionals, maybe law enforcement, school professionals. because it seems to be an indicator that they might be going down a very bad path. >> on the question of the weapons used, the shooter reportedly entered the school with a pump action shotgun, and a small caliber handgun. iowa law has it that a person has to be 21 or older to acquire a handgun, or even a permit to carry a weapon.

he likely didn't purpose them himself at a store, so what do you make of that? how does law enforcement go about then tracking the weapons that he used? >> i would expect that, especially with the presence of atf as a response, i would expect that law enforcement knows at this point the complicated history of those weapons, and who was the last lawful owner. it is likely that those weapons were simply the ones that he was able to access, and typically that happens at home. they're not the sort of weapons we typically see in mass shootings, it's not an ar-15 or a high capacity magazine pistol with larger caliber pistols. they were probably just the ones he could get, and it points out yet another gap in our gun laws, which is there's really no requirements on individuals or families to secure weapons in a consistent

and safe way, and to keep them out of the hands of young people who should not be carrying weapons, certainly not be carrying weapons in an unsupervised manner. so here we are with yet another problem in the way that we think about gun safety. >> andrew mccabe, we've got to leave the conversation there. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks, boris. >> stay with cnn news central, we are back in just moments.

this just into cnn. the new york attorney general seeking more than $370 million from former president trump and his codefendants in the civil fraud trial. letitia james also looking to buy the former president from doing business in the state. >> let's bring in cnn's kara scannell. kara, what are you learning about this? >> reporter: these are the closing argument breeds due today in the civil fraud trial. the attorney general's team is saying they are not seeking more than $370 million. they sued donald trump, they initially sought $250 million.

they are significantly increasing the amount of money that they want to recover. that was from improper gains that trump had received. they prove this, they allege, to the evidence proceeded at the trial. in the evidence from trying to seek the former president from preventing him from doing business in life, they are also seeking a five-year ban on his, and donald trump jr. and eric trump. the argument is their intent to defraud was inescapable. they say the myriad deceptive scheme that they deployed to -- acid values and combat the fact that it's so complicated that the -- statements were accurate. there is no evidence presented in this case that the bank would've given them different interest rate terms had they gotten different financial statements, or the values of the attorney generals office argues, or they anchor values. the judge has already ruled in this case in a summary judgment motion that the financial statements were persistent and fraudulent.

the issue now for him is to decide how much money the trumps would have to pay and whether there is a ban. there were also six other claims that the attorney generals office is pursuing. that is why it went to trial. that is a conspiracy claim, insurance fraud, falsifying business records and issuing false financial statements. that is up for the judge to decide. trump's team, again, arguing that there was no intent to defraud here either. depending on how this plays out, the judge has issued a scathing opinion just a few weeks ago. rejecting trump's argument for a directed verdict where he rejected a lot of their testimony in a lot of their legal arguments. boris, breonna? >> carol, what is next here? >> next thursday will be what is, essentially, the closing arguments. these paper arguments that will be argued in court before the judge with both parties making their case. after that the judge said he would issue a written opinion. he said he hoped to do that by the end of the month, or at least in the february. he will then write a written

opinion on this. trump's team has already signaled that they intend to appeal. in fact, a lot of their arguments during the trial, they said to the trial, they had to put it on the record because they intend to appeal this decision. they did not expect him to rule in their favor. this is far from over, even once the judge's decision is rendered. boris, breonna? >> kara scannell, thank you so much for keeping an eye on for us. her story has been a subject of tv shows and documentaries for years. now we are hearing directly from gypsy rose blanchard, the woman who helped kill her abusive mother. she is now out of prison and speaking to cnn.

admitted accomplice and tabloid obsession. gypsy rosa blanchard says she would still be abused if her mother was alive. she finished her first week of parole after serving eight years in a missouri prison. of course, in 2015 her story gained worldwide notoriety. >> for years her mother, deede blanchard had folks rose to fake multiple and this is from leukemia to asthma, suffering from the rare mental illness as

what is previously known as munch house and by proxy syndrome. gypsy roe says after being brought to the breaking point she helped her boyfriend stab her mother to death. cnn's elizabeth wagmeister sat down with gypsy rose blanchard. elizabeth, what did she tell you? >> i did sit down with gypsy yesterday. she has a documentary coming out on lifetime where she tells her harrowing fascinating story as you spoke this is a girl who was abused her entire childhood her mother said she had leukemia and made her believe that. her mother made her use a wheelchair when, in, reality she was perfectly healthy and could walk. one of the big questions here is, how did this get by doctors, right? gypsy road was bought into various medical offices with her mother. they never caught this. i asked her about that. this is what she told me. >> i do feel like the system

failed me. i realized that there are resources and things that are put in place to protect kids from going through what i went through. unfortunately, i just fell through the cracks of all of it. >> reporter: as you hear her say there, she does feel like the medical system failed her. however, she told me that after serving over eight years of time in prison, she feels like she came out a better person. she received intense therapy. she learned about the abuse that she says she endured. she got an education. the prison system really did work on gypsy rose. now, i asked her, does she forgive her mother? obviously, she played a large role in the murder of her mother. here is what she told me. >> i would tell her that, i'm sorry. i forgive her. i am coming to a place of

forgiveness. it is going to take time. i would say that i understand, i see her. i see her in the way that she was not an evil woman, she was not a monster. she was just a sick woman. she would've needed a lot of mental health care. i see her for who she is now, or who she was. >> reporter: with that said, gypsy does say that if her mother was still alive today she does believe that she would still be enduring this abuse. elizabeth wagmeister, thank you so much for that report. this just in, a third round of documents from a lawsuit connected to jeffrey epstein just released publicly. cnn looking through the documents as we speak. we will bring you any news from this latest batch ahead.

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