By Samantha Waldenberg, Kevin Liptak, Kit Maher, CNN

(CNN) — Shortly after the law enforcement investigation into Jeffrey Epstein became public in the mid-2000s, Donald Trump called the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department to express gratitude, according to a newly released document.

“Thank goodness you’re stopping him,” Trump said, according to the document. “Everyone has known he’s been doing this.”

The document — a written record of an FBI interview that a former Palm Beach County police chief told the Miami Herald he gave in 2019 — is likely to fuel more questions about when and what specifically Trump knew about Epstein and his crimes. President Trump and the White House have said repeatedly that Trump broke ties with Epstein in the early 2000s, believing Epstein to be a “creep.”

The Miami Herald reported the interview memorialized in the document was with Michael Reiter, whose name is redacted. He was the Palm Beach police chief at the time of the call, which appears to have occurred around 2006, according to the Herald. According to the FBI document, Trump told him on the call that people in New York knew Epstein was disgusting. And he said Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was “Epstein’s operative,” adding of her, “she is evil and to focus on her.”

Trump also said he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and “got the hell out of there,” the document says. Trump was one of the “very first people” to call the Palm Beach Police Department when people found they were investigating Epstein, according to the document, which was among millions released by the Justice Department under a new law passed by Congress.

The White House referred a request for comment to the Justice Department. A Justice Department official said, “We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.” CNN has reached out to Reiter for comment.

The question of what Trump knew about Epstein and his crimes has clouded the president’s second term amid renewed interest in the story and the release of millions of pages of documents related to the late convicted sex offender. Trump has said the two men were friends in the 1990s, and socialized in the same circles in Palm Beach, before having a falling out in the early 2000s that resulted in Trump kicking Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club.

Trump has said the falling-out was motivated by Epstein’s attempts to steal his employees but has denied having any knowledge of his crimes.

“The concept of people taking people that worked for me is bad,” Trump told reporters in July. “People were taken out of the spa, hired by him, in other words, gone.”

“When I heard about it, I told him, we don’t want you taking our people – whether it was spa or not spa. I don’t want him taking people, and he was fine and then not too long after that he did it again and I said ‘outta here,’” Trump said.

Trump said he believed one of the people taken was Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent Epstein survivors who later died by suicide. But Trump later that week told reporters he didn’t really know why the women were poached from his club.

Trump’s description of Maxwell as “evil” in the document contrasts with how he reacted to her arrest in 2020. He said at the time “I just wish her well.” Maxwell is serving a lengthy prison sentence for sex trafficking.

While Maxwell pleaded the fifth during her latest deposition

Por Issy Ronald, CNN

La cantante ganadora del Grammy Chappell Roan anunció el lunes su salida de la agencia de talentos dirigida por Casey Wasserman después de que el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos publicara correos electrónicos que mostraban que este intercambió mensajes de flirteo con Ghislaine Maxwell hace más de 20 años.

Los correos electrónicos fueron publicados el mes pasado como parte de la divulgación de millones de documentos vinculados a la investigación sobre la pareja de Maxwell, el fallecido delincuente sexual convicto Jeffrey Epstein.

Wasserman, una figura influyente en la industria del entretenimiento, es el fundador y director ejecutivo de la agencia de talentos Wasserman y también preside el comité coordinador de los Juegos Olímpicos de 2028 en Los Ángeles. Tras la publicación de los correos electrónicos, se enfrenta a peticiones de que renuncie a sus cargos.

El lunes, Roan publicó en sus historias de Instagram: “A partir de hoy, ya no estoy representada por Wasserman, la agencia de talentos dirigida por Casey Wasserman”.

La cantante de 27 años no mencionó los mensajes de Wasserman en su declaración, pero añadió que “de ningún artista, agente o empleado se debe esperar que defienda o pase por alto acciones que entran en conflicto tan profundamente con nuestros propios valores morales”.

“Los artistas merecen una representación que se alinee con sus valores y respalde su seguridad y dignidad”, añadió Roan. “Esta decisión refleja mi convicción de que un cambio significativo en nuestra industria requiere responsabilidad y un liderazgo que genere confianza”.

Wasserman no ha sido acusado de ningún delito penal en relación con Epstein. CNN se ha puesto en contacto con su agencia y con una firma de comunicación de crisis que lo representa para solicitar comentarios.

Maxwell fue condenado por tráfico sexual y otros delitos en 2021 y cumple una condena de 20 años. Epstein se suicidó en 2019 mientras esperaba su juicio por cargos federales de tráfico sexual.

El lento flujo de revelaciones que ha surgido de esta última tanda de documentos ha puesto al descubierto los estrechos vínculos que decenas de figuras clave de la política, el mundo empresarial e incluso la realeza parecían tener con Epstein.

Si bien algunos aspectos de la asociación de Wasserman con Epstein ya se conocían, esta nueva serie de correos electrónicos muestra una relación más profunda e íntima con Maxwell de lo que se había revelado previamente.

Durante un intercambio en marzo de 2003, Wasserman le pregunta a Maxwell: “¿Qué tengo que hacer para verte con un traje de cuero ajustado?”.

En otro correo electrónico, fechado el 1 de abril de 2003, Wasserman, quien por entonces estaba casado, le dice a Maxwell: “¿Dónde estás? Te extraño”, antes de pedirle que reserve un masaje.

En una declaración a otros medios la semana pasada, Wasserman se disculpó por sus comunicaciones con Maxwell, que tuvieron lugar años antes de que ella fuera condenada por un delito, y añadió que “nunca tuvo” una relación personal ni comercial con Epstein.

Wasserman, una de las agencias más prestigiosas de la industria del deporte y el entretenimiento, cuenta con otras estrellas en su plantilla, como Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan, Tyler, The Creator y Joni Mitchell.

Al igual que Roan, varios artistas más han anunciado su intención de dejar Wasserman. La banda de rock alternativo Wednesday declaró esta semana que, “dadas las circunstancias, creemos firmemente que debemos iniciar el proceso de desvincularnos de Wasserman”. El grupo añadió que el equipo con el que trabajaban en la agencia estaba formado por “personas decentes y confiables” y exigió al propio Wasserman que dimitiera.

El dúo de pop electrónico Sylvan Esso también anunció su salida de la agencia, mientras que la banda de art-pop Water from Your Eyes indicó que

Por Betsy Klein, Ian Berry y Renée Rigdon, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump quiere construir un arco, y quiere que sea el más grande del mundo. Pero, aunque sugirió que firmará un decreto para su creación, el proyecto enfrenta resistencia y probablemente se topará con obstáculos legales antes de poder proceder.

Trump quiere una versión estadounidense del Arco del Triunfo de París, pero más grande: el Arco de la Independencia tendría 76 metros (250 pies) de altura para conmemorar el 250º aniversario de la nación. (El Arco del Triunfo tiene 50 metros, o 165 pies, de altura). Según las medidas estándar, equivaldría a un edificio de entre 16 y 20 plantas.

Se trata simplemente del más reciente —y más ambicioso— intento de Trump por imponer su estilo y gustos en la capital del país. Sin embargo, los conservacionistas advierten que la estructura propuesta, que se situaría frente al Monumento a Lincoln al otro lado del río Potomac, bloqueará vistas históricamente significativas en ambas direcciones y podría suponer un peligro para el tráfico aéreo en el cercano Aeropuerto Nacional Ronald Reagan de Washington.

La estructura del arco propuesto tendría 50 metros (165 pies) de alto y 50 metros (165 pies) de ancho, con un pedestal de 7,6 metros (25 pies) y una enorme escultura de bronce dorado de la Dama Libertad de 18 metros (60 pies) en la cima, según una fuente familiarizada con los planos, a quien se le garantizó el anonimato para que pudiera hablar libremente sin repercusiones profesionales. Aún no se ha seleccionado un escultor para esa parte del proyecto, según dicha fuente. Se consideraron versiones más pequeñas, de 50 y 37 metros (165 y 120 pies) de alto con esculturas de 12 y 9 metros (40 y 30 pies), añadió la fuente, pero Trump está “totalmente decidido a construir este enorme arco”.

Con su tamaño actual, el arco tendrá aproximadamente la mitad del tamaño del Monumento a Washington, que mide 168 metros (550 pies) de altura, y más del doble del Monumento a Lincoln, de 30 metros (98 pies). Además, sería el arco monumental más grande del mundo, unos 9 metros (30 pies) más alto que el Monumento a la Revolución de la Ciudad de México.

Las representaciones más recientes del arco de piedra propuesto presentan columnas, águilas, coronas y la Estatua de la Libertad dorada.

“El arco será uno de los monumentos más emblemáticos no solo de la ciudad de Washington sino de todo el mundo”, dijo a CNN el portavoz de la Casa Blanca Davis Ingle.

El diseño se está “refinando”, según un funcionario de la Casa Blanca, y se presentará para su aprobación ante dos comisiones clave: la Comisión Nacional de Planificación de la Capital y la Comisión de Bellas Artes, dos organismos que Trump ha llenado de leales suyos. Pero, a diferencia de su proyecto de salón de baile, el arco no se encuentra en terrenos de la Casa Blanca y, por lo tanto, no está exento de la revisión de preservación histórica.

El monumento se ubicaría sobre una rotonda al pie del Puente Conmemorativo de Arlington, justo entre el Cementerio Nacional de Arlington y el Monumento a Lincoln. Técnicamente, el sitio se encuentra dentro de los límites de Washington. Sin embargo, dicha ubicación bloquearía drásticamente la vista entre el Monumento a Lincoln y la Casa Arlington, antigua residencia del líder confederado Robert E. Lee y ahora un elemento central del Cementerio Nacional de Arlington.

Esa vista tiene un significado histórico especial. Tras el abandono de la casa en la cima de la colina por parte de la familia Lee en mayo de 1861, luego la secesión de Virginia de la Unión, el Ejército de Estados Unidos comenzó a utilizarla como campamento y, con el tiempo, para entierros militares, en parte como medida disuasoria para el regreso de la familia Lee, segú

By Pierre P Bairin, Billy Stockwell, CNN

Paris (CNN) — It was the photo of a loved one nobody wants to receive.

When the partner of a 35-year-old magistrate in France checked his phone last week, he saw a picture of his partner accompanied by a stark warning: pay a ransom in cryptocurrency or we will mutilate her.

The man – an associate in a start-up that has cryptocurrency activities – reported the demand to French police on Thursday morning, sparking a multi-agency manhunt involving as many as 160 officers, local authorities said.

The magistrate and her elderly mother were held for 30 hours in a garage in southern France’s Drôme region before escaping, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

The case renews focus on the recent rise in crypto-linked kidnappings in France and elsewhere, often involving high-profile individuals and those linked to them. Searches are ongoing in the United States after the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie. Purported ransom notes have demanded millions in bitcoin for her return, CNN has reported.

In France, the mother and daughter duo managed to escape from the garage in the municipality of Bourg-lès-Valence without a ransom being paid, assisted by a neighbor, Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran said Friday in a press conference.

“They were able to take advantage of the absence of their captor to free themselves, to call for help, in particular by banging forcefully on the garage door,” Dran said. “Alerted by the noise, a neighbor then intervened. He was able to open the door and thus allow our two victims to escape.”

The unnamed man who discovered the two women told local media they were grateful for his intervention.

“I just came to take my car when I heard women hitting and screaming. I opened the door and two women came out; they were a little dirty. I was happy, they said thank you,” he told BFMTV.

The women were immediately transported to hospital, Dran said.

On Sunday, six people were arrested in relation to the kidnapping, including a minor, according to BFMTV. The main suspects are in their twenties and were arrested in the cities of Lyon and Chambéry, the outlet said.

Crypto highly traceable, experts say

The latest kidnapping follows similar incidents in France linked to the world of cryptocurrency – either due to the individuals involved or the currency of the ransom.

Some believe bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are untraceable – and therefore useful in ransom demands – but experts say this is a misconception. “Crypto works on a blockchain, and the blockchain is a public registry where everything is visible, everything is trackable and everything is auditable,” Renaud Lifchitz, a French IT senior security consultant, told CNN last year.

Last week, Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade, vice president for intelligence and security research at SentinelOne, told CNN that bitcoin is one of the “most traceable currencies we’ve ever had.”

In December 2024, the wife of crypto investor and influencer Stéphane Winkel was kidnapped from the couple’s home in Belgium. She was rescued after her kidnapper crashed his car in a dramatic police chase.

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — McDonald’s is offering a few customers a special Valentine’s meal this year – Chicken McNuggets and caviar.

Starting at 11 am ET on Tuesday, McDonald’s is giving away a limited number of kits including caviar and a gift card for McNuggets at mcnuggetcaviar.com/countdown.

The giveaway underscores the lengths restaurants and retailers are going to grab customers’ attention, hoping the dollars will follow, as consumers remain gloomy about the economy and keep a tighter hold on their paychecks.

McDonald’s said in a statement each kit has all you need for “an upscale yet effortless celebration” including a 1oz tin of “McNugget Caviar,” crème fraîche and a Mother of Pearl caviar spoon, along with a $25 gift card.

Targeted campaigns can help boost brand awareness, and sales. A McDonald’s tie-in last year with “A Minecraft Movie” helped turn around sales after two quarters of sinking numbers. (The movie was released by CNN’s sister company Warner Bros. Pictures.)

And with consumer sentiment at its lowest in well over a decade, businesses have been looking for ways to get customers in the door. In that sense, a free giveaway might not generate immediate revenue, but it can build notice and serve as potentially viral marketing.

While McDonald’s clearly made its name selling burgers, its chicken sales are now on par with beef sales at its restaurants, CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors in 2024.

McDonald’s told Food & Wine magazine that the caviar offer was due to customer choice. For years, fans on social media have lauded the “high lowbrow” pairing. Popstar Rihanna even gave it a taste during a TikTok video in 2024

“They’ve been pairing Chicken McNuggets with caviar long before we made it official,” the chain told the gourmet magazine.

McDonald’s reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday. For the first nine months of the year, sales globally were up 1%, excluding the impact of currency exchange rates. Sales at US stores open at least a year were up 2.4% in the third quarter.

CNN’s Jordan Valinsky contributed reporting.

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