mr. acosta: thank you, mr. president. over the last week i have seen a lot of coverage of the department of labor and what i have not seen is incredible job creeeags we see in this economy, more than five million jobs. i haven't seen that workplace injuries are down. bucking a three-year trend. workplace fatalities are down, bucking a trend. we have the safest year ever in mine, lowest ever fatalities ever in mining. i have seen coverage of this case that's over 12 years old that has input and vetting at multiple levels of the department of justice and as i look forward, i do not think it is right and fair for this administration's labor department to have epstein as the focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today. so i called the president this morning, i told him i thought the right thing was to step aside. cabinet positions are temporary trusts. it would be selfish for me to stay in this position and continue talking about a case that's 12 years old rather than about the amazing economy we have right no

mr. acosta says his actions back then were correct. see acosta: we believe that proceeded appropriately, that t based evidence, not just my opinion, but i've shared ould the affidavit -- based on the evidence, there was getting a guilty plea. laura: for more on this i spoke earlier with the bbc's anthony zurcher. anthony, is that mr. acosta's main defense against the charge that he let epstein off to lightly? anthony: the first thing he did was point at the florida prosecution and said they were not going to give him any jail time. he gave the media someone else edto blame and said "i sten and i got jail time and i got him to register as a sex offender." "i did not want to roll the dice," he said. risking a prosecution that may have been unsuccessful. he said times have changed and it is hardo look at it in the same framework as we were looking at back in 2008. he laid out his defense in a legastic, lawyerly way becau he is a lawyer. laura: any word on whether mr. acosta did enough to satisfy the audience -- one, the president, so he c

mr. acosta. the state attorney's office was not a party to those meetings and negotiations and definitely had no part in the federal non-prosecution agreement and the unusual confidentiality arrangement that kept everything hidden from the victims no matter how my office resolved the state charges. the u.s. attorney's office always had the ability to file its own federal charges. mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history. barry krisher's statement makes the central element of alex acosta's defense today untrue. the state attorney's office was not a party to those meetings or negotiations and definitely had no part in the federal non-prosecution agreement. if that is true, that demolishes everything that alex acosta said today. he was asked about a private meeting with one of jeffrey epstein's defense lawyers that many legal observers are calling improper and unethical. >> the meeting that was alleged was a breakfast meeting that took place after the agreement was negotiated, not before.

mr. acosta, mr. epstein, mr. trump at this point? >> how is it so easy to perpetrate a myth about yourself? how is it so easy to elude justice over and over again? how has it been so easy to strike a pretty lenient deal? i would just go back to that story and just examine these circles of power, the people who are in them, the cover they provide for each other. it's just there are so many questions about how people aid each other. if you make it into this crowd, how easy it is to just sort of keep it moving even if you catch trouble. >> and mimi rocah coming right off that point, this speaks sadly to your occupation. this is "washington post." mark fisher. "epstein's influential allies have included a dream team of defense lawyers including alan dershowitz, former clinton special counsel kenneth starr, leading white-collar defense attorneys lefcourt, roy block, jay lefkowitz." underscoring people's belief, already hardened, that you can indeed buy your way out of trouble in this country. >> and unfortunately we're still seeing that t

mr trump has praised mr acosta as an excellent labour secretary.acosta and president trump spoke to the media earlier. here's what they had to say. he was a great labour secretary. not a good labour secretary. he has done a fantasticjob. he is a friend of everybody in the administration and i got a call this morning early from alex and i think he did a very good job yesterday under a lot of pressure, he did a fantasticjob. and he explained it, that he made a deal that people were happy with and then 12 years later, they're not happy with it. he'll have to figure all of that out but the fact of the matter is, he has been a fantastic secretary of labour. i look forward. i do not think it is right and fair for this administration's labour department and to have epstein as the focus, rather than the incredible economy that we have today. and so i called the president this morning, i told them that i thought the right thing was to step aside. cabinet positions are temporary trusts. it would be selfish for me to stay in this position and continue talking

mr. acosta's recollection of this matter is completely wrong. federal prosecutors do not take a back seat to state prosecutors. that's not how the system works in the real world. the grand jury heard all the evidence that was available at the time which did not include later evidence that emerged from civil depositions and returned a single count indictment of felony solicitation of prostitution, a third degree felony. >> subsequently, they had a indictment that was abandoned. the state attorney's office was not a party to those meetings or negotiations and definitely had no part in the federal non-prosecution agreement in the unusual confidentiality arrangement that kept everything hidden from the victims. the u.s. attorney's office always -- that mr. acosta was concerned with the state and felt he had to rescue the matter, he would have moved forward with the 53-page indictment that his own office drafted. instead, mr. acosta brokered a secret plea deal that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement in violation of the crime victims right act. m

mr. acosta as the u.s. attorney meets at a confidential location, having breakfast with the attorneys for mr. epstein and brokers a deal. does not tell the victims, as he's required to do under the crime victims rights act, and agrees to an agreement that prevents any further actions taken against mr. epstein, who then is allowed to work and only spend evenings in jail. i mean it is such an absolute repugnant act by a person who's supposed to be complying with the laws and making sure that the laws are being implemented. mr. acosta has to go. and i have authored two letters. i've been joined by over 60 members of the house saying it's time, mr. president, to relieve mr. acosta of his responsibilities because not only is he the secretary of labor, he is in charge of child sex trafficking, and he's suggested reducing 80% of the funding there. so none of this adds up as someone who is committed to making sure that children are protected in this country. >> congresswoman jackie speier, thank you so much for join

mr. acosta did well, but he did not respond to him. we don't know how he comes out on this at this point. acosta offered sort of a measured even nuance kind of explanation here, whether you accept it or not, by saying i thought that the plea deal was a safer course than taking -- going to trial which would have been a roll of the dice. trump likes a more trumpian kind of defense. this is not a -- he is not known for nuance. we'll see if this satisfied his thirst for a kind of a more robust kind of the defense of the sword that he himself would give if he came under fire. >> kimberly, you're agreeing with this, robustly. >> yes. that's one of the things that i saw is that this was not a kavanaugh defense. kavanaugh was angry and vocal. >> and he attacked his attackers. >> he attacked the attackers. in this case, acosta was very measured, very technical in a sense, trying to explain why that this deal was secretive that was somehow meant to protect the victim. >> you can't imagine, du it seems to me the victims -- let many go back to ber

mr. acosta hit this agreement from epstein's victims. no one can figure out why mr. ein was able to persuade u.s. attorney acosta not to prosecute. other than epstein could afford high-priced attorneys. as the "miami herald" editorial board wrote this morning, it was not just that acosta failed to get it right in 2008, the evidence suggests he didn't care to. accordingly, i am asking three things. first, i am calling on secretary acosta to resign. it is now impossible for anyone to have confidence in secretary acosta's ability to lead the department of labor. if you refuses to resign, president trump should fire him. instead of prosecuting a predator and serial sex trafficker of children, acosta chose to let him off easy. this is not acceptable. we cannot have as one of the leading appointed officials in america someone who has done this. plain and simple. second, i am calling on the department of justice office of professional responsibility to make public the results of its review of aacosta's handling of the epstein's case. the justice department so far has stonewa

mr. acosta's statements that if anyone is a victim of mr. epstein, they should come forward and come forward directly to the authorities that can make a difference in this case. but i can tell you the u. s. attorneys' office has also spoken with one of my former clients, and she's ready, willing, and able to testify in the new york case if they ask her to. . >> spencer kuvin is an attorney who represents three of the alleged victims of stkwrefry epstein dating back to the 2008 plea deal. mr. kuvin, i appreciate your time. i want to bring in ann bremner, she is an attorney who specializes in sex crimes. we have spoken in cases not too dissimilar from this one. . >> right. >> i want to get your take as you heard from alex acosta there, the last couple of days, what frustrated you in the fact that this was able to effectively follow through the cracks that this man was given a sentence of 13 months where he was going home -- or going to his office six out of seven days for 12 hours each of the days. >> it's outrageous. a bad beginning makes a b

mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history.acosta argued given the evidence at the time, going to roll of ld have been a the dice. the 2008 agreement allowed epstn to avoid federal prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to state charges, including soliciting prostitution from a minor. epstein was sentenced to 13 il months in ja and forced to register as a sex offender. critics have slammed the agreement a sweetheart deal. epstein pleaded not guilty to new sex trafficking charges involving underaged girls. all this as a new accuser has come forward. epstein raped jennifer when she was 15 years old. >>did jeffrey epstein rape you? yeah, he raped me. forcefully raped me.rt what h even more so, if i wasn't afraid to come forward be sooner, me won the have done it to other girls. >> acosta acknowledging the impact of that interview andew allegations. >> based on additional allegations i saw this morning, e are multiple jurisdictions, whether federal or state that he's going to have to answer to. >> that was kristen welker repor

mr acosta is expected to speak about the case soon.orney kim wehle. talk us through why the controversy around alex acosta when he was prosecuted in this case. there were numerous women and girls involved in this alleged sex trafficking scheme, jeffrey epstein had very powerful lawyers and a lot of money and well—connected politically and it is reported that alex acosta as us attorney felt pressured to give him what most people believe is a sweetheart deal. he ended up not only with 13 months in prison but was able to come and go to his local office and in addition got a non—prosecution deal when he was essentially immunised from product charges relating to the very sad situation and in addition alex acosta did not let the victims know that this deal was coming and that that this deal was coming and that that violates federal law is protecting victims. there are a lot of pieces to it that show or suggest it is money and influence that got him on this deal notjustice. he has tried to address some of this on twitter, we are waiting to he

mr. acosta was directly engaged in the discussion about the plea agreement as the u.s. attorney and, and remember, he didn't even tell the victims about the plea agreement. that is not normal. >> that was huge. what would it take to get the feds to agree to a deal like this? can you imagine it would take for a u.s. attorney to agree to a deal like this? >> in my experience, when line attorneys who are usually quite adapt experts at their job make a recommendation to a u.s. attorney about taking something as serious as sex trafficking minors, the allegations here, they knew there were up to 80 girls in this case, i don't have an explanation. >> okay. we'll leave it at that. having established why this is not double jeopardy, jonathan lamarre, before we talk about the current president, let's talk about a former president because bill clinton's name has come up alongside that of jeffrey epstein in fairness, here is the entire statement from the former president's office tonight. president clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes jeffrey epstein pleaded guilty to in

mr. acosta's recollection of this matter is completely wrong.é@ if mr. truly concerned with the state's case and felt he had to rescue the matter," forgive me, "he would >> i told the recruiter.q pyes.xd >> you're 14 years oldì(lc% >> yeah. he knew very well my age. >> did jeffrey epstein rape you? >> yeah.t( he raped me.t( forcefully raped me. he knew exactly what he was doing.r i feel really guilty. to this day i feel really guilty. >> we should note that this young woman is not part of the case the f]l she was there at the labor secretary's press conference today. mimi rocah, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. these days a distinguished e1 fellow in criminal justice at the pace university school of law. ashley parker, pulitzer prize-winning white house reporter for the "washington post." phillip rucker, pulitzer prize-winning white house bureau chief for the "washington post." welcome to you all. katie, i'd like to begin with you given your proximity to thi( story today. did you come away feeling that w3 not with the

mr. acosta. the state attorney was not a party to those meetings and negotiations and had no part in the non-prosecution agreement. no matter how my office, meaning how the state office resolved the state charges, the u.s. attorney's office, acosta's office, always had the ability to file its own federal charges he was truly concerned with the state's case and felt he to rescue the matter, he would have moved forward with the indictment that his own office drafted. instead, alex acosta brokered a plea deal that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement. it closes, mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history. so honestly, bottom line, this just turned out to be an unusually gross day in the news even for the trump era. if i had access to a shower in my office, i would have used it to get through the process of reading these developing stories. as a legal matter and as a political matter in terms of the future of the cabinet official, it seems like this cabinet official, alex acosta made the

mr. acosta. state attorney was not a party to those meetings or negotiations and had no part in the federal non-prosecution agreement and the confidentiality agreement. mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history. his lawyers asked the federal judge in the case to asked him to await trial at his $77 million town house. they offered to put up the town house and his private jet as bail money along with any amount of money the judge might require. they offered to hire private armed guards. they scheduled a hearing for monday in federal court in manhattan. mimi rocah, former assistant attorney in the southern district of new york and msnbc legal contributor. not surprising, i suppose, that there are so many new victims coming forward claiming that jeffrey epstein abused them after the u.s. attorney invited them to come forward. >> it's not surprising for two reasons. anyone who saw even a clip or a headline from that press conference heard the u.s. attorney and the head of the new york fbi of

mr. acosta. at the time epstein had formed a legal dream team including alan dershowitz who insists the 2008 plea deal was fair. >> they got him to be a registered sex offender, to pay vast amounts of money to all of the women and to get him to plead and go to jail. >> reporter: michelle licata says she was 16 when a friend recruited her to give epstein massages. she never got a chance to confront him in court because of the plea deal. >> i really just wanted to be like, hey, do you remember me? of course not because it's been so many other girls you couldn't even put on your hands like, oh, yeah, i remember that one. i ruined her life. >> reporter: epstein has pleaded not guilty to the new charges. white house chief of staff mick mulvaney is dismissing a report that he wants acosta to be fired. mulvaney says the relationship is, quote, excellent. >>> breaking overnight, a major development in the disappearance of a mother of four who gave birth to twins in december. police in kentucky say they f

mr. acosta would resign as labor secretary. will congress force his exit? should it? 2020 hopeful leading the charge on that. we'll ask her about the latest on that. and the border fix from senators from her party, senator amy klobuchar here tonight. we also have the president's acting immigration chief sounding the sirens that i.c.e. raids are absolutely coming. is that the best or worst move right now? and we have news on what democrats are planning for mr. mueller. we have the plan and the stakes. what do yo

mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history." david? >> david: this is a real tough one. was approved by 60 votes in the senate for his confirmation as secretary. that includes eight democrats, by the way. we knew about the decisions he made and that through a snake case. but it all changed without mine and "miami herald" report back in november. the report that showed the degree to which the law was bent a little bit. everything was done legally, but at the influence of -- >> melissa: but the sticking point was the victim's. >> harris: that's what everybody comes back. >> david: that's with a "miami herald" focused on. more than any other piece of reporting in the past year, that piece of reporting deserves a pulitzer prize of the very least. because that not only did a lot for america's understanding of the case, but it really changed the epstein case entirely and because the southern district of new york to bring it up again. even acosta, a meet and look ridiculous when he said, i approve of what this of a district was doing." some of it should have been done back in 2

mr. acosta held a private meeting with mr. epstein's lead attorney in the fall of 2007 at a local marriott in west palm beach, florida. and at that meeting, the two men worked out the framework of the nonprosecution agreement that was actually signed several months later. agreement and the as part of those behind the scenes communications, it is clear the attorneys for mr. epstein were insistent that the defendants not be told that this ,henceas being settled the young women could not show up in state court where this was diverted back after the fed said they did not w want to hanandlet anymore. the defendants were not told the case was being settled. they could not show up to object. was sealed fornt several months until lawyers went to court and got it unsealed. 10 years later. amy: apparently, this filing of federal law, not telling the victims. i wanted to turn to julie brown herself, the reporter. we spoke to her earlier this year about her award-winning series "exposing epstein's crimes. i i asked her about alex acost's

mr. acosta would resign as labor secretary. will congress force his and it. should it? we have a senator and 2020 hopeful leading the charge on that. we'll ask her about the latest on that and the border fix from senators from her party, senator amy klobuchar here tonight. we also have the president's acting immigration chief sounding the sirens that i.c.e. raids are absolutely coming. is that the best or worst move right now? and we have news on what democrats are planning for mr. mueller. we have the plan and the stakes. what do you say? let's get after it. ♪ >>> not me, boss. that's what you heard from the labor secretary today, a lot of excuses. don't blame me. blame them for the jeffrey epstein sweetheart deal. >> simply put, the palm beach state attorney's office was ready to let epstein walk free. >> the former palm beach county state attorney says that is bs. a statement was put out saying, quote, federal prosecutors do not take a backseat to state prosecutors. true, by the way. mr. acosta brokered a secret plea deal that resulted in a nonprosecution agreement i

mr. acosta's recollection of this matter is completely wrong.eral prosecutors do not take a back seat to state prosecutors, no matter how my office resolved the state charges. the u.s. attorney's office always has the ability to file its own federal charges. if mr. acosta was truly concerned with the state's case and felt he to rescue the matter, woe ha matter, he would have moved forward with the 53-page indictment his own office drafted. mr. acosta should not be allowed to rewrite history. joining us now "vanity fair's" emily jane buck. this seems like a story that will stay on a slow burn no matter what horrors the trump white house rolls out for us to focus on day in and day out. he was doing what axios described yesterday an industrial scale pedophilia operation and snared a lot of powerful people and donald trump was once in his social circle. >> donald trump was once in his social circle, president bill clinton, the prince from england was once in his circle. >> alan dershowitz. >> there is a very thick black book with a lot of powerful p

mr acosta says he got the best deal possible at the time.h case, they did not have a lot of cooperation at the time from the women, they suspected they were paid off, they felt it would be hard to make a case, other people in the office say that he should have made a case, they argued strongly for it. in the end, it was the plea deal, one of the most perplexing questions is why was it kept secret from the victims, and there has never been a real explanation for that up until this point. a lot of top democrats are calling for his resignation but where were they when he was approved for his current position? a good question. not as much of this was known during his confirmation hearing, it came up a bit but since then the miami herald has published its choice and there is much more detail so again this raises questions again about the trump administration and the white house vetting procedure of nominees from cabinet positions. the champ white house has a sorry record on vetting. this probably could have been uncovered but in any case this is

mr. acosta to do the right thing.nd by blaming the lower person on the law enforcement chain i think 6s -- it didn't look good. >> no one has done more reporting on this than you. obviously this week, i know you have spoken to victims who have come out. given all that's happened in the last few days, and especially right now, do you think we'll be hearing from more victims, some we haven't yet heard from? >> i think definitely. and i know for a fact there's journalists all over the world covering this story now. he had been recruited in other countries. i'm sure there will be more information coming out not only about his operation. but there were a lot of employees and other people, big people who, if they weren't involved in the operation, they knew about the operation. it's time for them to come clean on this. i know they were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements. but it is time they step up. >> recruiting women from other countries. and let me just remind the audience. two days ago in the press conference, alex

mr. secretary acosta, the trump administration called to cut that fund by 80%.was asked about it at the press conference and that is just washington. congress put the money back in. it is no big deal. when you have a record like that of getting a wrist slap to a sex trafficker and now your job is to enforce the laws and trying to repeal what congress is giving you to do it, it is a pretty good case he ought to go. >> and this is a huge case for conservatives and the evangelical community over the last decade. >> and that is why it has been a bipartisan issue that we've worked together on and it -- please focus on the women and getting them justice because we've talked about the guys, in the trump administration, secretaries come and go every week so i think the real important thing here is how these women are going to get justice. >> everyone stick around. president trump said he could no longer work with him and now the british ambassador is going out of the door. but major questions remain about the impact of what he said before president trump. stay with us.

mr. acosta as a loyal and until now no drama member of his cabinet. mr. acosta has not spoken with the president about the epstein case recently. according to "the washington post," quote, officials at the white house are nervous that democrats will encourage women allegedly abused by epstein to testify publicly before congress drawing attention to acosta's work on the plea deal. they add there was no substantial vetting done on acosta until after trump decided to nominate him. democrats and congress and as you might imagine 15 of the democratic presidential candidates are pressing for acosta to step down or be fired. republicans have yet to join in. there is growing pressure from other trump allies to move against acosta. this is telling. nbc reporting tonight that officials inside the administration including acting chief of staff mulvaney have had concerns about acosta's performance in his day job, his cabinet job, particularly his perceived lack of urgency on an acting deregulation. is this a foreshadowing. politico reporting mulvaney told trump on mon

mr. acosta's team did some 12, 13 years ago. don't forget, we have to ask, mr. time. >> right. >> there were people working in d.c. he was hired by. and there were people higher than him that had to approve this deal. so you as an investigative reporter and all the other reporters out there should be asking the people in power back then who made that decision back then. because that's really going to be the important part of this investigation. >> well i hope it all comes out so that we can learn from this and so that these women who were then young girls can finally see justice. attorney spencer kuvin eye who represented the epstein victims thank you for joining me tonight. >> thank you for having me on. i appreciate it s.e. >> sure. i'll be right back. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. my bladder leak underwear.orried someone might see the volvo xc90. so, i switched. to always discreet boutique. its shape-hugging threads smooth out the back. so it fits better tha

mr. acosta and donald trump? >> i think more of a problem directly for alex acosta.sues about how he conducted himself when he was the u.s. attorney for the southern district of florida. jeffreyally why he gave epstein a slap on the wrist to the charges against him. a federal judge already said that he believes alex acosta and his lawyers broke the law when they did not tell the victims that they had arranged a plea bargain with epstein. it is an issue for donald trump in the same way that it will probably be an issue for powerful men in palm beach and new york around to the view issues. what else does jeffrey epstein have in his pandora's box, incriminating information? the other thing is how the jeffrey epstein go about making his money? we know he only had one big investor in his fund. after that, it's a mystery. but he maintained a lifestyle that couple decades allowed him to fund money into homes, traveling. it will be interesting when they explore his money. david: when we ask how this could happen? to pick up on what president trump said, he said it was not ju

president trump will look at how the case of geoffrey epstein was handled by mr acosta. naj has cancelled a scheduled performance in saudi arabia next week. her decision comes after she decided to show her support for the rights of women and the lgbt community. her headline at the jeddah festival sparked an outcry from critics of the country's human rights record. we can now speak to entertainmentjournalist, kj matthews, who's been following the story. she joins me live from los angeles. she had to make this decision because of the pressure? it started last week with the human rights foundation taking to social media and reaching out to her people basically saying, please, do not play in saudi arabia because they have a horrible human rights record and they do not stand for the same things you stand for. i think she heard them loud and clear and decided to cancel a concert that is still scheduled forjuly 18th in the saudi arabia basically stating that she wants everyone to know that her support for women and for lesbians and gays and transgender people comes before her ma

mr. acosta brokered a secret plea deal. this morning a woman claiming epstein raped her one she was 15 shared her story. >> he forcibly raped me, he knew it he was doing and i don't think cared. >> reporters repeatedly asked acosta if he would apologize. >> i'm not here to try to say i could stand in their shoes, i'm here to say we did what we did because we wanted to see him go to jail. >> white house chief of staff mick mulvaney told fox news i think acosta did great, he did what he needed to do and did an excellent job of laying out the facts. >> we did not hear from president trump today about secretary acosta, we will see if he -- in the coming days. >> shannon: he was excited about something that happened in court? >> a federal appeals court panel ruled that president trump did not violate the constitution by making money off government guests in his d.c. hotel. attorney general from d.c. and maryland to sued, they lost. one of the judges questioned if the lawsuit was inappropriate use of the courts. it's a victory fo

mr. acosta was truly concerned with the state's case and felt he had to rescue the matter, he would have moved forward with the 53-page indictment his own office added, adding he a should not be allowed to rewrite history. >> but acosta argued giving the evidence at the time, going to court would have been a roll of the dice. the agreement allowed epstein to avoid federal prosecution, in exchange to pleading guilty to state charges. epstein was sentenced to 13 months in jail, and forced to register as a sex offender. critics have slammed the agreement as a sweetheart deal. on monday epstein pleaded not guilty to new sex trafficking charges involving underage girl, all this as a new accuser has come forward, telling savannah epstein raped her when she was just 15 years old. >> did jeffrey epstein rape you? >> yeah, hi forcefully raped me. what hurts even more so, if i wasn't afraid to come forward sooner, then maybe he wouldn't have done it to other girls. >> reporter: acosta acknowledging the impact of that new interview. >> based on additional allegations i saw this morning, there are m

mr. acosta and concluded that mr. acosta had to go. rouble in the sex case involving mr. epstein, mr. trump publicly took to the air waves and said jeff epstein is a terrific guy. he appears to love beautiful women almost as much as i do. these are direct quotes. >> that was back in 2002, i think. >> that's right. and some of them appear to be on the younger side and he certainly enjoys his social life. how did mr. trump know all those things unless he had socialized with mr. epstein? i don't think the administration wants those questions asked one little bit. >> but 2002 is not 2019. friendship can fall apart in that amount of time, yeah? >> that's true. and mr. trump did strike him on the no-fly list for mar-a-lago years later, but that was his spontaneous reaction to the reports about his then friend, jeffrey epstein. he appeared to know a lot about mr. epstein's social life. mr. epstein by his own words was a fixture in palm beach, where mar-a-lago is located. so that's my inference anyway. i think it's a reasonable inference, and i

mr. acosta was truly concerned with the state's case and felt he had to rescue the matter he would have moved forward with the 53 page indictment his own office drafted. instead mr. acosta brokered a secret plea deal that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement in violation of the crime victims rights act. barbara, what do you make of all this? >> i thought that alex acosta's explanation rang hollow when he said it. after i saw the statement from the palm beach county prosecutor, i was even more convinced this sounded pretextual. there is nothing about a state court case that precludes the u.s. attorney's office from pursuing its own charges. if they were dissatisfied with whatever it was the state was doing, that's fine. sometimes global resolutions can be negotiated because it's in the best mutual interest of the state and federal authorities to put together one package that includes all of the conduct. here, if they thought it was unsatisfactory, there's nothing that stopped alex acosta from pursuing his own case. certainly cases can be challenging, especially sex trafficking cases. but in

mr. acosta. but you really have a three-part defense. number one they're saying the focus should be on epstein and epstein's alleged crimes. number two, they say what casey was talking about, this idea of asked and answered. this was essentially litigated during mr. acosta's labor confirmation hearing to head that department. and then finally you're hearing about the labor market, how strong the jobs are and they think, at least kellyanne conway does, that acosta is doing a great job over there. but when i asked her directly if the labor secretary still has the confidence of the president, she didn't give a direct answer. does the labor secretary have the president's confidence this morning? >> what i said is that the president said he met alex acosta two 1/2 years ago when he applied for the job. i do know when he was up for senate confirmation i believe this particular matter was discussed and was -- he answered questions under oath about it. >> you know, to casey's point, they're in a bit of a bunker mentality and they don't necessari

mr. acosta would resign as labor secretary. will congress force his and it. should it? and 2020 hopeful leading the charge on that. we'll ask her about the latest on that and the border fix from senators from her party, senator amy klobuchar here tonight. we also have the president's acting immigration chief sounding the sirens that i.c.e. raids

mr. acosta numerous time saying, just sit down with us and explain why. >> reporter: many lawmakers are asking the same question, and they want a justice disbarred justice department probe launched examining the jeffrey epstein plea deal to be made public. epstein's attorney in the agreement defended the plea deal thing the federal government did not have enough evidence to prosecute his client. >> they got him to be a registered sex offender, to pay vast amounts of money to all of the woman, and get him to plead and go to jail, and expose them for the world to see as a sex offender. i think the feds thought it was the best thing to do. choking about to get a who worked in the case told the miami herald that the evidence supporting the girls stories was overwhelming. natalie brand, cbs news, capitol hill. >>> jeffrey epstein is facing federal charges of sex trafficking of children in new york, while the scooters they a rate of is home turned up hundreds of photos. we will have more the story including local political action coming up on kpix 5 news at 5:00, and online on kpix.com. >>> cooperto

mr. acosta's office felt outgunned with respect to the amount of legal power behind mr. t the time. they just folded under the pressure. >> let's talk about acosta. the renewed focus on epstein has put a new spotlight on alex acosta and his role in inking this deal. in his press conference he held yesterday, he said a lot. let me play you what his message he said was to the victims. >> what's your message specifically to those who did come forward and felt let down by you? >> they came -- look, the victims came forward. there were several victims. i believe that in one of the filings, the department of justice talked to several of the victims. some of the victims just didn't want any public notoriety. if we went to trial and it became clear that they were going to receive money if he was convicted, how that would impeach their credibility. and today that would proceed very differently because victim shaming is just not accepted. but the circumstances of trials and what juries would consider 12 years ago was different. >> he says 12 years ago things looked a lot differentl

mr acosta was a federal prosecuter in 2008 when mr epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges.the plea deal quote — "amoral". here's what mr acosta had to say. 0ne one of the tough questions in these cases, what does that value at the ac carried guilty plea? with the registration. braces rolling the dice. and i know that in 2019 looking back on 2008, things may looking back on 2008, things may look different. but this was at the judgement of the prosecutors with dozens judgement of the prosecutors with d oze ns of judgement of the prosecutors with dozens of yea rs judgement of the prosecutors with dozens of years of experience. if you look to the letter, you will see it's not a single person making those decisions. let's go live to washington, and speak to anthony zurcher. so, mr epstein, a name that our view have come across i so, mr epstein, a name that our view have come across i know american euros have been watching closely, acosta speaking there and getting the press conference, why did he need to do that? well because he was coming under increased criticism from democrat