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CNN

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, MJ Lee, Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — A key Republican whose yes vote would be needed to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general said Thursday that Blanche needs to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein before he would be in favor of President Donald Trump’s choice.

Sen. Thom Tillis said that while he had a positive disposition toward Blanche, he has not made a final decision on the nomination.

“This is a very important part of getting to yes,” Tillis said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. “There should not be any reason why, based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks.”

“Blanche was willing to say that he would meet with them and counsel, I understand the restriction that counsel has to be present,” Tillis said Thursday. “I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee, and I’m trying to get to yes.”

Blanche fielded hours of questions from the Senate panel yesterday, acknowledging there were some errors in the department’s vetting of the Epstein files, but defending his handling of the case.

A group of Epstein survivors have urged the Senate to reject Blanche’s nomination. One victim, Dani Bensky, testified against the acting attorney general on Thursday, with other survivors in the room standing with pictures of themselves at the age they were first abused.

Following Tillis’ comments, a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN that a meeting between Blanche and the survivors would be arranged within the next two weeks.

The fate of Blanche’s nomination in the Judiciary Committee hinges on two Republican senators with nothing to lose: Tillis, of North Carolina, and Texas’ John Cornyn. Cornyn recently lost the Republican primary in his state to a Trump-backed rival, while Tillis announced last year that he would not seek reelection.

Both senators have also been among the sharpest Republican critics of the Justice Department’s earlier proposal of a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which Blanche has said is “dead.”

Cornyn told CNN on Thursday that after Blanche’s testimony, he thinks the fund “still can be revived.”

“I think what I confirmed is that the weaponization fund is, still can be revived, and so this idea that it’s somehow gone is just not true, in my opinion,” said Cornyn.

Tillis said he needs to see a “work product” that ensures it won’t come up again.

“There are very specific, measurable work products — not a wink and a nod and a handshake, but definable, ratified, executed agreements that will make me feel comfortable that this turkey of an idea is dead,” the senator told CNN.

The acting attorney general had to tread carefully

By Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — A man who managed to slip past tight security at 30 Rockefeller Center and confront “Today” show co-host Craig Melvin, allegedly lunging at him and hurling a racial slur, was taken into custody Thursday morning, according to a law enforcement official.

Officers responded to a report of a disorderly person inside 30 Rockefeller Center at approximately 9:19 a.m., within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct, and placed the unidentified individual into custody, according to the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. No injuries were reported, and the investigation remains ongoing, the NYPD said.

CNN has reached out to NBC for comment.

Investigators believe the man entered through a secured area, where he asked staffers for Al Roker, the law enforcement official said. When he didn’t find the longtime co-host, he turned his attention to Melvin, spotting him a short time later. That’s when the confrontation happened, the official said.

Investigators are trying to determine how the man was able to breach the secured area and are combing through surveillance footage, the official said.

The man is being held at an NYPD precinct in Midtown Manhattan, the official said.

Security was stepped up at NBC’s “Today” show in February as Savannah Guthrie’s co-hosts and colleagues covered the abduction of her mother, Nancy, two people at the network said on condition of anonymity.

The additional security measures were implemented out of an abundance of caution to help alleviate some of the stress the show’s hosts were feeling as they talked on air every morning about the mystery.

Major networks like NBC have security departments that support their hosts — from physical protection to online threat tracking — and liaise with local police.

CNN’s Brian Stelter and Nina Giraldo contributed to this report.

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