this history for alex acosta was perfectly okay for donald trump. >> yeah. lawrence, that's the key point. the biggest news is that there is no news here at all in some respects. this was known that mr. acosta had bungled the case and a judge said he violated the law in not notifying the victims about his decision. there was information about his sweetheart deal and donald trump nominated him anyway and the majority of the senate and republicans confirmed him anyway. not just for any job. mr. acosta is the senior federal official in charge of most of our anti-human trafficking programs. we have a person who turned the other way on the trafficking of young girls be in charge of now enforcing the laws that protect many young women in the workforce for these trafficking things. the only thing worse than putting alex acosta in charge of the labor department is the fact that we sit here and he is still in charge of the labor department and donald trump seems uninclined to do anything about it. >> what do you make for the one on one meeting with one of the jeffrey

doesn't that alone warrant an apology from alex acosta? >> yeah, let's get all of the details out on that and find out from acosta, again he has to go back and review this with the department of justice and make it right in any way we can. my impression is a lot of the push right now is because he's a trump cabinet member and not because of the case. my focus would be let's focus on the -- on him as an attorney and u.s. attorney and find out what mistakes were made and how do we never do this again and make sure there aren't other individuals in other places that we had a prosecution not fully fulfilled. >> you make an important point. these were 14 and 15, 16-year-old girls who were abused in awful ways. -- would you like to see secretary acosta come before congress so you could directly ask him questions about the decisions he made a decade ago? >> so i would like to see the same way we could do with any other u.s. attorney, let the department of justice go through the process and do the investigation behind closed doors as they would for

of americans could lose coverage. >>> also tonight, president trump is defending labor secretary alex acosta whose facing the demands that he step down. acosta was a u.s. attorney a decade ago when he cut a secret plea deal for multi-millionaire jeffrey epstein who faced sex charges and now with epstein facing new charges for allegedly running a sex trafficking network and abusing underage girls, joe biden is the latest to demand that acosta resign. president trump says acosta is doing a great and fantastic job. but said the matter must be looked at closely. i'll speak with democratic candidate amy klobuchar and congressman john garamendi and our correspondents will have full coverage. let's begin with our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. a member of the trump cabinet is under fire for his controversial actions in a previous job. what is the latest? >> reporter: he certainly is, wolf. president trump is stepping up to defend his labor secretary who is is facing calls to resign over his handling of the jeffrey epstein case. president said secretary alex acosta is doing a fantastic

and i want to thank alex acosta. he was a great, great secretary. . >> (inaudible). >> iran better be careful. they're treading on very dangerous territory. iran, if you're listening, you better be careful. >> (inaudible). >> i had a big one yesterday. >> you've been listening to donald trump on the white house south lawn. you saw him dripping with sweat at the end of more than 30 minutes of speaking to reporters on a series of topics. of course the major headline was the president standing beside his now former labor secretary, alex acosta, saying despite tremendous pressure, he thought acosta did a fantastic job explaining his role in the plea deal as it related to jeffrey epstein. the president, as you just heard, said acosta is resigning. you see our panel right now. hans nichols was on the south lawn. elliot williams is joining us right now. we have juan that summers, susan del persio. kimberly atkins as well. hans, i want to start with you if i can. you were on the lawn right now. it was sort of remarkable agai

our sources say that is probably what is going to determine alex acosta's fate going forward. there is not a whole well of support for acosta in this white house, but the president is the one who will ultimately decide. and he may very well decide based on whether or not he thinks he and his administration can weather this storm, john. >> abby philip live at the white house, appreciate that new reporting. with me in studio to share their insights, julie pace, sun min kim, jeff zeleny and laura. the tweet, smart on his part to try to get out ahead of this because he knows he's in a new firestorm. he said based on the good evidence, good for you, geoffrey berman, and the southern district of new york. if you were the u.s. attorney in florida at the time, why didn't he pursue that evidence? these are the same victims. >> right. i don't think that tweet goes nearly far enough in trying to answer that question and the others that surround him. i think abby is right, you know, trump will be the one who ultimately decides whether acosta can weather this. trump tends to have this impul

president said secretary alex acosta is doing a fantastic job. mr. trump also tried to distance himself from epstein in the oval office earlier today after once describing him alz a terrific guy. >> thank you very much -- >> reporter: tonight president trump appears to be standing by his embattled labor secretary alex acosta. at least for now. >> i can tell you that for two and a half years he's been just an excellent secretary of labor. he's done a fantastic job. >> reporter: the president appeared to diminish acosta's role as a federal prosecutor in 2008 plea agreement for jeffrey epstein who is facing new charges of running a child sex ring in florida that includes accusations of abusing teenage girls. >> i do hear there were a lot of people involved in that decision, not just him. i can only say this, from what i know and what i do know is that he's been a great -- really

under fire over a plea deal he once cut for multi-millionaire sex offender jeffrey epstein, alex acosta defended the handling of the case as a prosecutor. >> no regrets is a hard question. you look back and say what if. >> reporter: with you in victims coming forward questioning whether acosta was too lenient in the case, the secretary was asked whether he would have reached the same agreement today. time and again he pointed the finger at state prosecutors in florida claiming they were going to allow epstein to avoid jail time. >> today's world treats victims very, very differently. today's world does not allow some of the victim shaming that could have taken place at trial. i don't think we can say take a case that is this old and fully know how it would play out

alex acosta, for whatever reason, did not see it that way. joining us now is julie brown, the "miami herald" investigative reporter whose in-depth reporting series on jeffrey epstein broke this story wide open last year and was credited for assisting prosecutors in the investigation. she was inside the court today. julie, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> first of all, thanks for being this reporting. for these young victims it had to be a relief to see at least what could be the beginnings of justice. does it surprise you that the charges that are being brought against him today are so similar to the charges that he was given a sweet deal for before and how can that be explained to sort of the ordinary person out there? >> well, he had an operation going. he had people who worked for him. he had a whole setup of recruiters all over in new york, in florida, as far as we know this was probably going on in the u.s. virgin islands where he also had a home and in europe. and he had schedulers, such as like an organized crime orga

i think alex acosta has to answer a lot of questions why it was resolved that way and what his reasons were and what he based his decision on. >> the u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york cited the excellent reporter by the "miami herald" over these past many, many months. a lot of speculation, preet, and i need your expertise on this,

so that's a problem for labor secretary alex acosta. that is not getting better with his supposed defense. it seems like it's getting worse. also, the materials that acosta distributed today in his own defense additionally show that his office, acosta's office believed that epstein was breaking the terms of the non-prosecution agreement they had signed him up to. it is clear neither you or your client ever intended to abide by the terms of the agreement he signed. they put that in writing. acosta's office and prosecutors saying you were never intending to abide by that deal. well, okay. once you have got an alleged perpetrator who you decided to give a non-prosecution agreement to, once that perpetrator violates the terms of that agreement, then deal's off. agreement's broken. you are no longer bound by it. prosecute away, right? alex acosta's office never prosecuted jeffrey epstein. acosta released this information purportedly as part of the reason you are supposed to feel better about his actions. it doesn't make things any better for

let me start with your reaction that alex acosta is stepping aside as labor secretary. >> look, acosta no longer hold that position of public trust, it just wasn't possible. and, you know, the acosta angle to the story encapsulates a very important part of what we're talking about here. because we all agree, right, epstein was an evil guy, he's a terrible guy. but there was a network of powerful, rich, politically connected people who enabled him to carry out this abuse of children for an extended period of time. and -- and without those connections, without that power surrounding him, it wouldn't have occurred in this way. what acosta didn't do when he had the opportunity, which was to aggressively prosecute him, is a reflection. it's a man testtation of that issue. do any of us seriously believe that if jeffrey epstein wasn't rich and wasn't powerful that he would have gotten the kind of sweetheart deal that he got? the answer is definitively no. he wouldn't have. there was a 56-page indictment. there, numerous witnesses willing to testify and he got work release for a year or whatev

the labor secretary, alex acosta, says he's stepping down. that less than 48 hours after secretary acosta defended himself to reporters. wednesday acosta insisted the nonprosecution deal he gave to accused pedophile jeffrey epstein a decade ago was on the level. today the labor secretary 234r5 flanking the president on the south lawn said he didn't want to be a decision and that he made this decision. the boss, though, didn't hesitate to accept it. >> he explained it. he made a deal people were happy with and 12 years later they're not happy with it. but i want to let you know, this was him, not me, because i'm with him. as far as i'm concerned, i watched alex yesterday. i thought alex did a great job. alex, i think you'll agree, i said you don't have to do this. he doesn't have to do this. >> let's get straight to kaitlin collins live at the white house. is this as presented a decision just by the labor secretary on his own? >> reporter: john, the president said alex acosta called him this morning and came over to the white house to offer his

this is we have rate a news conference with alex acosta. hi, everyone, i am dana perino and this is "the daily briefing briefing." acosta will speak to reporters 30 minutes from now. amid growing calls for is it resignation, we have fox team coverage. chris wallace will join us with analysis. but let's begin with david lee miller on the disturbing new allegations. david. >> dana, she was 14 years old when she first meant jeffrey epstein back in 2001. in chilling detail, legal papers filed today revealed how the alleged relationship began and ended after she said epstein forcibly raped her in his mansion. she said she was introduced to epstein by a twentysomething brunette woman who approached her side of a nearby performing arts high school where she attended class in new york city. she said the woman enticed her to meet epstein, suggesting he could help her with her career as an actress. she described him as a very caring, very wealthy, and very successful and someone good to know. at the first meeting she said she was served wine and give

this came up in alex acosta's hearing. this was a known fact. all of the details about this were not known the "miami herald" has done a remarkable job in reporting it alex acosta suggested in his press conference if not for him, things could have been worse he talked about the rolling of the dice of going to take jeffrey epstein to court versus agreeing to this deal you are obviously a specialist and having been a prosecutor, were you able to make sense of what alex acosta was trying to get across and whether it made sense? >> it's contrary to everything i know about his office. for years i worked with the office he led. the southern district of florida in miami that's an office that makes big drug cases and they make those cases by using witnesses who come with a lot of baggage witnesses who had been deal drugs and all sorts of misconduct the notion that somehow his office wouldn't be able to convict in a case where witnesses had come forward because they were pictures on social media holding a beer, that just doesn't make any sense. no prosec

so, alex, we'll see who's next in time to become acting labor secretary after alex acosta's official departure, but just one of a growing number of officials that have left. alex. >> the numbers tell us a huge part of the story about this trump administration. thanks very much. >>> for more we are joined by congresswoman katherine clark, a democrat from massachusetts. a vice chairwoman of the democratic caucus and a member of the labor subcommittee on the house appropriations committee. congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. are you there? yes, you are. >> yes, thank you, alex. >> now we see you. i just want to remind people of your interaction with secretary acosta at a hearing back in early april. let's take a quick listen to that. >> the hideous truth has come out. you chose wealthy and well connected people, child rapists over the victims in this case. >> congresswoman, we did see alex acosta on the south lawn of the white house with the president today explaining why he is resigning. the president saying it was absolutely acosta's choice, he is not being fired. what's y

labor secretary alex acosta becoming the 14th cabinet level official to leave.o mention the ump teengt departure. and down the west wing organization clarity. it's an extraordinary number of departures under very interesting circumstances in many cases. acosta was replaced no surprise by an acting secretary one of many acting top officials including at defense homeland security, the u.n., mall sbis administration and the f.a. chl a. more on the latest part forfeiture jim acosta joining us now. jim, the president public mri praise ds acosta on the south lawn. is that the case privately? >> no, anderson, i'm told by a senior administration official gnat president had been stewing over this over the last this hours. anderson there are officials inside the white house who were concerned that there would continue to be disclosures in the jeffrey epstein days case and this was going to continue to make alex acosta look bad not just in washington but potentially on the campaign trail. you saw a whole slough of democratic contenders weighing in on this earlier this afte

alex acosta defended himself. >> no regrets is a very hard question. you always look back and say what if. >> reporter: with new victims coming forward questioning whether acosta was too lenient in the case, the secretary was asked whether he would reach the same agreement today. time and again he pointed the finger at state prosecutors in florida saying they were going to allow epstein to avoid jail time. >> today's world treats victims very, very differently. today's world does not allow some of the victim shame that could have taken place at trial. i don't think we can say, you know, take a case that is this old and fully know how it would play out today. we did what we did because we wanted to see epstein to go jail. there is a value to a sure guilty plea. because letting him walk, letting what the state attorney was ready to do, go forward, would have been absolutely awful. >> the secretary made it clear he is not about to resign, talking up his relationship with president trump while working in a plug for the administration's record. >> my relatio

this is we have rate a news conference with alex acosta. perino and this is "the daily briefing briefing." acosta will speak to reporters 30 minutes from now. amid growing calls for is it resignation, we have fox team coverage. chris wallace will join us with analysis. but let's begin with david lee miller on the disturbing new allegations. david. >> dana, she was 14

essentially cut bait by the time this morning came around but according to our sources, anderson, alex acosta a favorite cabinet member and took the jeffrey epstein case unfortunately to force him out. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. >>> a live report from the new orleans and the latest forecast for the tropical storm that's expected to strengthen when it hits. we'll be right back. direct messages have evolved. so should the way you bank. virtual wallet from pnc bank. just one way pnc is modernizing banking to help make things easier. pnc bank. make today the day. pnc ♪ank. corey is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/ her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. befor

clear at this point, ali, this is now effectively in the hands of president trump, the fate of alex acosta. acosta in his opening remarks said that there is an outstanding relationship that he has with the president. he said that he received a call today from mick mulvaney, the acting chief of staff. there has been reporting from msnbc and other that mulvaney is among those aides who have expressed frustration over the fact that acosta hasn't done more to pursue a presidential priority which is deregulation. but one thing that really struck me from the conversation here today was the fact that acosta said he's been paying attention to the cases surrounding jeffrey epstein over the course of the more than ten years since he was involved in that case in the southern district of florida. and he said that he was satisfied, that he was pleased to see that new york had pursued some of these allegations that it continued investigating that it would be bringing charges, which raised the question why he didn't continue investigating, given all those allegations. and that's part of what i asked him

attorney for southern florida alex acosta. currently donald trump's secretary of labor who was confronted by cnn last year only to dodge questions. >> i want to you ask about the jeffrey epstein -- >> reporter: in 2017 at his senate confirmation hearing, he defiended the lack of federal prosecution but did agree jeffrey epstein's come and go as he pleased jail time was a disgrace. >> he had to sleep at a county jail but he was basically allowed to move and go around the community and do whatever he wants and then that became a subject of significant criticism. >> and i'm on record condemning that and i think though was awful. >> reporter: the lack of federal prosecution more puzzling given acosta's record of aggressively going after others for sex trafficking. getting convictions and pushing for sentences of a decade or more behind bars. acosta's role in the plea deal brought to light last fall by a long investigation by the "miami-herald" which identified dozens of women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused

the president sending alex acosta before cameras for an hour to defend himself. and acosta performed a audience everyone. he was unapologyist fiercely defending his role in securing the sweetheart deal in 2008 for epstein. >> a state grand jury brought that single, completely unacceptable charge. a state official allowed epstein to self-surrender. i wanted to help him. that is why we intervened. we did what we did because we wanted to see epstein go to jail. he needed to go to jail. there was value to getting a guilty plea. you can always look at a play after the fact and say should it have been the safe play or gone for the big score? >> well acosta certainly went for the safe play. despite authorities having evidence that epstein skauly abused dozens of teenage girls. the deal hammered out resulted in epstein serving 13 months in a county jail. allowed to leave every day six day as week for 12 hours a day. if epstein had been convicted he could have served life behind bars. that was a sweetheart deal. yes acosta today portrayed himself as a hero. >> there is a v

attorney, alex acosta cut this deal? know acosta was questioned about this during his last confirmation and he was confirmed. you heard it from the prosecutor, it was reporting from "the miami harold," epstein's accusers have their own private investigators. these young women did not realize that the deal had been cut. >> regardless of where this goes, everything about of what's happening right now has been a massive failure on everybody's part except for "miami harold," a guy that's well known of his activities were and he gets charged and cuts a deal in which he goes to jail and gets out six days a week to go to work. >> he went to jail. >> had a private wing. >> he was staying in a private wing, his own private driver was allowed to pick him up six days a week and he went to his private office. yes, registered as a sex offender but not the jail experience one would assume from a sex offender. when it came up to alex acosta's confirmation hearing, a lot of people wondering, then and now, this is stuff happening is this

the president also reiterated that the white house is carrying out some sort of review of alex acosta and his role in the epstein case. that is also what they said months ago when that federal judge ruled that acosta broke the law when he and his office made epstein this deal. the white house said then they were reviewing the matter. apparently, it's still being reviewed. i mean, in terms of the pressure that acosta is facing, lots of democrats today, including house speaker nancy pelosi and democratic senate leader chuck schumer have called on alex acosta to resign from the cabinet. so far, it's interesting, no republicans in congress have done the same. democrats in the house, of course, could choose to start impeachment proceedings against acosta if they -- if they wanted to. that would involve, of course, holding hearings on what acosta did in the epstein matter. there has been no formal move in that direction as yet, but it is within the democrats' power to launch impeachment proceedings against a cabinet official like alex acosta if that's what they wanted to do. so we are watch

crime victims have the right to be told when there are plea negotiation going on, but alex acosta did not notify the victims before he granted him that plea deal. epstein's lawyers asked acosta to keep the deal a secret and acosta agreed. courtney wild, one of the victim who is was kept in the dark about that deal, she sued the government alleging that alex acosta and his team broke the law by keeping secret from her and all the other victims the fact that they gave epstein this non-prosecution deal. she filed that naught 11 yelaws ago and it dragged on for over a decade. she bravely and courageously put her name on the record and told her story to the "miami herald." courtney wild did not give up and drop her case after all that time. eventually earlier this year a judge agreed with her, ruling that the current secretary of labor, alex acosta broke the law when he agreed to keep that deal a secret from his victims. and yet still even then, there was no justice for courtney wild and her fellow victims. alex acosta stayed labor secretary. jeffrey epstein stayed free. he could not be he

the labor secretary alex acosta. many of your democratic presidential candidates and a lot of democrats in congress, they're demanding that he resign because of the way he treated jeffrey epstein. more than a decade ago when he was the u.s. attorney in south florida. what do you think? >> well, i heard the president say that the secretary is a terrific guy. well, i tell you terrific guys don't give sweetheart deals to sex offenders because they're a billionaire and that's what happened here, and, unfortunately, this is a continuation of a pattern in this administration. this isn't just a onoff offense. this administration is of billionaires, by billionaires and for billionaires. this is just another incident of demonstrating that. this roegue's cabinegallery of members. he needs to go. >> so you're joining the other democratic candidates? >> you bet. >> you want him to resign. >> he should resign. >> if he doesn't resign, you want the president to fire him? >> yes. >> what if the president doesn't fire him and he doe

this time labor secretary alex acosta announced his resignation days after coming under heavy scrutiny for miss role in a plea deal with accused child rapist jeffrey epstein when acosta was u.s. attorney in florida. >> he has been a fantastic secretary of labor. and alex called me this morning and he wanted to see me. i just want to let you know, this was him not me. because i'm with him. he was a -- he is a tremendous talent. >> so that's today. of course just two days ago acosta said it was up to the president, not him. zbloots i'm doing my job. if at some point the president decides that i am not the best person to do this job, i respect that. that is his choice. i serve at the pleasure of the president. >> got it. so what changed? the senior white house official tells cnn that trump was stewing and worried that a steady stream of revelations would haunt trump on the campaign trail. and acosta may not be the only one on the chopping block. a senior white house official telling cnn that the president is looking at replacing his director of national intelligence dan coates what's park

labor secretary alex acosta is expected to speak this afternoon. controversy surrounding a sweetheart plea deal that he inked a decade ago as u.s. attorney overseeing the case against sex offender jeffrey epstein. now epstein, as we well know, is facing new charges here in new york of sex trafficking. acosta is facing new scrutiny. just as a new woman is coming forward with allegations that epstein assaulted her when she was just 15 years old. the woman, who is now 32, tells nbc news that she was 14 years old, 14 years old when she was first approached outside her new york city high school by a young woman who would later introduce her to the man charged with running a sex trafficking ring. listen to this. >> i didn't necessarily think that he was going to rape me. >> did he hold you there? >> yeah. mm-hmm. >> no question in your mind he knew you did not want that to happen? >> oh, yeah. no, he -- yeah, there was no way. i was like -- i don't want to say i was screaming or anything of that nature. but i was terrified and i was telling him to stop,

alex acosta will soon speak out. thousands cheer on the us women's soccer team — and their fight for equal pay — at their ticker tape parade in new york. hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in london, michelle fleury is in new york. british diplomats are supposed to be able to tell their bosses in london what they think, without those thoughts becoming public. they are supposed to be able to give candid analysis without fear of losing theirjobs. today, sir kim darroch, britain's ambassdor to america learned that neither of those things still hold. sir kim resigned today after leaked emails printed in a uk newspaper revealed his less than flattering assesment of the us president. the resignation is highly unsusual and prompts a lot of unsettling questions for british diplomacy and british domestic politics. we will explore all those issues in the programme — starting with this report from our diplomatic correspondent james landale. kim darroch, 42 years a loyal public servant, from a council estate who advised prime min

the man who headed the florida case, alex acosta, now secretary of labor in the trump administration. >> at the end of the day, mr. epstein went to jail. epstein was incarcerated, he registered as a sex offender. >> reporter: the "miami-herald" in an investigative report helping prompt today's charges found that acosta signed off on

the latest on the calls for alex acosta to resign for his role in the agreement that allowed epstein jail sentence. >>> tim kaine will join the conversation and explain why he says acosta needs to go. "morning joe" just moments away. . "morning joe" just moments away. [farmers bell] (driver) relax, it's just a bug. that's not a bug, that's not a bug! (burke) hit and drone. seen it, covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ just between us, cleaning with a mop and bucket is such a hassle. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and it's awesome. it's an all-in-one that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. and it helps prevent streaks and haze. stop cleaning. start swiffering we carry flowers that signifyn why we want to end the disease. and we walk so that one day, there will be a white flower for alzheimer's first survivor. join the fight at alz.org/walk. >>> joining us from washington with a look at axios is cofounder and ceo, jim vandeheim. good morning. what's the one big thing. >> we're looking at t

the man who headed the florida case, alex acosta, now secretary of labor in the trump administration. >> at the end of the day, mr. epstein went to jail. epstein was incarcerated, he registered as a sex offender. >> reporter: the "miami-herald" in an investigative report helping prompt today's charges found that acosta signed off on a deal essentially shutting down an fbi investigation giving immunity to any potential co-conspirators allowing the multi-millionaire to pay restitution to his victims, register as a sex offender and plead guilty to two state charges. he spent 13 months in palm beach county jail where he was allowed to leave, six days a week, 12 hours at a time. >> the world was put on notice

well, alex acosta is a former u.s. attorney in the southern district of florida, had already beenput on notice by congress that key committees would want to bring him back. he's testified many times before. but to address these specific issues. what would that do? create more of the political firestorm, attaching the administration to that. and in addition if he were to stay on the job and the epstein trial. again, remember, this is about jeffrey epstein, were to play out during the campaign year, that too would be a major distraction. so for his own reasons to leave with his head held high that he would not make it something the president would need to do. we've seen the president weigh these sort of issues before sometimes dismissing people very publicly. this stood out today in the very friendly way the president handled it. >> let's talk about the justice department, the office of professional responsibility is reviewing whether lawyers committed misconduct in the handling of the original case against epstein in fl

it was negotiated, as you know, in part bisect of labor alex acosta, who was then a u.s. attorney. this standing of acosta inside the white house and in the eyes of president trump. >> reporter: it is public affirmation and wait behind the scenes to see the political fallout. we just heard the human side to this. there is a political side as well. that's what is unfolding here and being measured in many ways by the white house and top officials. alex acosta has a job that requires his enforcement of human trafficking in the labor market. so there is an ironic and difficult complication with that part of his portfolio. and also behind the scenes job review that is not entire flattering. the kind of disagreements that happen in any administration about the pace of getting things done. namely abilitying chief of staff mick mulvaney from the office of management and budget and of course a conservative hard liner in the house when he was a member of congress has been critical of the regulatory pace of changing some of the regulations for the department of labor and putting that pressure

you heard bryan llenas refer to alex acosta saying there was no evidence. look at this from julie brown. she's a ""miami herald"" investigative reporter. she said this. >> and then we'll listen to this sound bite from lindsey graham. >> if this plea deal doesn't withstand scrutiny, it would be a job of the judiciary committee to find out how it got off the rails, what kinds of checks and balances do we have to make sure complaints involving minor children are investigated. >> dana: that is the issue, the plea agreement and was it held inappropriately so from the victim so they didn't know what was happening. >> i think we're at the beginning of this. not even the middle. we're at the beginning of this entire thing. you have the clinton statement about bill clinton going on four trips. now there's reports of the flight manifest being 26 flights. you'll see all kinds of different elements come out tied to this case. the people down in miami, the people in florida, know how those families were feeling when this plea deal was struck. so i think capitol hill wil

situation room, you've been going through the legal documents around this 2007, 2008 case when alex acosta was the u.s. attorney prosecuting him. what did you find out? >> we found out there were bare knuckle tactic that's were used by the high profile lawyers. including ken starr, the lawyer who had investigated bill clinton. what we found was that there were a lot of letters exchanged between two where they were trying to get acosta to knock two of his own prosecutors off the case as well as even say the case itself was overreaching. when that didn't work, they appealed to the criminal division at doj in washington. also to the child exploitation central and ultimately to the deputy attorney general's office one of their arguments was that this case was only a state case. it shouldn't happen. they suggested it was politically motivated because epstein had a close association with bill clinton. so that's one of the arguments they made. in the end, this was a case that resulted in no prosecution. so the deal even that they were arguing about did not result in federal charges. it was a nonp

people like mick mulvaney, i thought it was very amusing when alex acosta said, mick mulvaney called me and said we've got a great relationship. i mean, give me a break. i mean, mick mulvaney has been very dissatisfied with the slow speed of deregulation going on at labor, conservative movement as a whole in terms of many conservative leaders on the outside are very unhappy with him. so he doesn't have a lot of allies and friends inside this administration. it's actually the president who's probably got the best relationship. trump quite like it's, but that could change. >> i want to get the best reporters on the beat in two bright minds in charlie and juice joyce and i want to pin you guys down on something. donald trump watched blasey testify and he was reported by one or all of you to have gone shaky in that intervening period or to have found christine compelling. does acosta, annie, rise to the kavanaugh performance, which in that instance tilted to trump? >> that's exactly the example i was going to bring up and that is what was in the back of my head as i watched him take the

mollie, do you have any sense that alex acosta jumped or was pushed? e president wanted to make sure he stayed there, he stayed there. this is a sign that this case, this epstein case is something going to royal washington. acosta was the a csa who made the plea agreement. >> chris: the assistant attorney. >> he was acting as an informant of the fbi which robert mueller was at the head of at the time. >> chris: epstein, not a cost. >> chris: chuck, it's so interesting. acosta said he did not want to be a distraction but he held a news conference for an hour on wednesday and most of washington thought he is trying to keep his job. certainly indicated he wanted to keep his job. what do you think happened? >> one of the strangest departure organizations ever happen. when you are living, you don't hold a press conference with the president as you leave. >> the president let him do it. >> either way, it's pretty unusual. the nines were out for alex acosta for other reasons even before the epstein thing. regarded a little bit too much of a moderate on deregul

just ahead, alex acosta set to speak to reporters in moments. ned that president trump is the one who urged acosta to hold this upcoming presser to answer questions about acosta's handling of the jeffrey epstein case. we will bring that to you live. ♪ when you have diabetes, dietary choices are crucial to help manage blood sugar, but it can be difficult to find a balanced solution. try great-tasting boost glucose control. the patented blend of protein, fat, and carbs is part of a balanced formula that's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. in fact, it provides 60% more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake and contains only 1 carb choice. enjoy the balanced nutrition of boost glucose control as part of a healthy diet. for a restless night's sleep. pain settle there's a better choice. aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12-hour pain-relieving strength of aleve that dares to last into the morning. so you feel refreshed. aleve pm. there's a better choice. [music playing] across the country, we walk.

meaning alex acosta should step down, according to minnesota senator amy klobuchar. >> i want you to stay close to your cameras. we expect senator schumer to call on acosta to resign. and we are waiting to hear what president trump may say when he is scheduled to be in the oval office with a pool of reporters. federal prosecutors say he exploited this vast network of girls for sex. the alleged victims deserve their day in court. here's how one of the women reacted. >> just to hear that they're standing up for the victims. you know what i mean? it is just like so overwhelmingly un -- it's past due. >> with me now is attorney spencer representing three of epstein's alleged victims from his 2008 non-prosecution agreement. thanks for being with us today. >> thank you for having me today. >> tell me how your clients are feeling these past 24 hours? >> i can tell you i've been in contact with them, and they are absolutely ecstatic that the attorney's office is taking this more seriously than they did back in 2007. they are very happy that they are actively prosecuting mr. epstein and they h

>> reporter: the president is insisting that this was entirely alex acosta's decision. act, in standing with acosta, talking about this in the white house south lawn, he said that acosta wasn't just a good secretary of labor, he was a great secretary of labor, but he called him and wanted to do this. for his part, acosta saying it would have been selfish for him to stay on the job while all of these aelllegations were swirli. i have to tell you, that aside, this is an abrupt turn around for alex acosta and for this white house. he was expressing both publicly and privately a desire to fight on, insisting that he did absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever. the other thing that i can tell you is even as the president is praising him, there's been a pattern with president trump that we have seen from the first weeks of his administration, even as somebody is either forced to resign or fired, the president often says words of praise as they are going out the door, and the one thing that this president does not tolerate is those on his team making problems for him. he will never

reporter: and while the white house is publicly defending acosta -- >> why are you talking about alex acosta and not jeffrey epstein. >> reporter: one confidant saying he doesn't believe acosta will last. >> he'll be gone in six weeks or shorter. >> i think it will be in a relatively quick period he will be gone. >> reporter: meantime, trump is now distancing himself from epstein who he once described as a terrific guy who likes beautiful women as much as i know. >> i knew him like everybody in palm beach. i had a falling out with him a long time ago. i don't think i've spoken to him for 15 years. i wasn't a fan. >> reporter: and he was a visitor at the mar-a-lago resort but the attorney for the trump administration said trump banned him from the property, although he doesn't remember when or why. as for epstein, who is facing new charges in a new york case, another accuser went public today. describing being raped by him as a teenager. >> forcefully raped me, knew exactly what he was doing. and i don't think cared. what hurts even more so is that if i wasn't afraid to come forward sooner, t

alex acosta's was not one of them. really wasn't substantial vetting done on him, which is not a surprise to me, because that was the case with a lot of people and you may remember the first person that they selected for labor secretary was andy. the vetting managed to miss the fact that his wife and accused him of domestic violence. it was done in a hurry purity to go back, this was all done in a great hurry. >> bret: one of the things about this case that gets so many eyeballs, that is the connection between the president, and his knowledge of epstein. bill clinton and his friendship and knowledge of epstein. he fears the the president said about his relationship today. >> i know him like everybody and palm beach newman. people in palm beach newman, he was a fixture in palm beach. if i had a falling out with him a long time ago. i don't think i've spoken to him for 15 years. i wasn't a fan. long time ago. i would say maybe 15 years. i was not a fan of his. that i can tell you. i was not a fan of his varied >> bret: b