Ro Khanna on MS NOW's Morning Joe discussing the war in Iran and what's next for the Epstein files

58.4K subscribers

7,068 views Mar 5, 2026

Congressman for CA-17 in the Silicon Valley. Working to bring tech jobs in my district and across America. No contributions from PACs or lobbyists.

How this was made

Auto-dubbed

Audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. Learn more

Transcript

Follow along using the transcript.

Let's bring in Democratic member of that oversight committee, Congressman Roana of California. He was a co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He

8 seconds

also sits on the Armed Services Committee. Congressman, good morning.

12 seconds

Good to have you here. So, we should point out this was introduced by a Republican. This is a bipartisan concern that something is being hidden from the

20 seconds

public within these Epstein files by the Department of Justice. The last time we saw Pam Bondi talking in public about the Epstein files, she answered

28 seconds

questions with opposition research about the members questioning her, was yelling about the DAO crossing 50,000, about this being a witch hunt. The Epstein

36 seconds

files are not a witch hunt to the vast majority of Americans who want to find out who did what and when. So, are you confident that through this subpoena,

46 seconds

you will sit across from and finally get some answers from the attorney general? I'm confident we'll sit across from her.

54 seconds

I'm not confident that we'll get answers. Her modus operande has been to come there and insult members of Congress. But this Epstein cover up is

1 minute, 3 seconds

not about politics. I mean, we we won that vote 24 to9. A number of Republicans like Nancy Mace, like Tim

1 minute, 11 seconds

Burchite voted uh with the Democrats to subpoena Pam Bondi. This is about an Epstein coverup. It's about a broken

1 minute, 19 seconds

Donald Trump promise. He ran saying he was going to release these files. And people are upset. They're upset that rich and powerful people raped or abused

1 minute, 27 seconds

these young girls and that half of the files are hidden and that the survivors statements about who these men are are hidden. So I believe that this coalition

1 minute, 35 seconds

will continue to grow more powerful and it continues to show a crack in the MAGA base. There's been so much talk and analysis and coverage of the Epstein

1 minute, 44 seconds

files. It kind of maybe gets lost to the people going about their daily lives.

1 minute, 48 seconds

Can you speak, Congressman, to what is still missing? A lot has been put out there, but boy, a lot of that's been redacted and a lot is still not out

1 minute, 56 seconds

there. So, what do you want to see? What do you want to get your hands on?

2 minutes, 2 seconds

About half the files have been put out and that has led to former princes being prosecuted, former prime ministers being

2 minutes, 10 seconds

prosecuted, major resignations in the United States. People see that a lot of people did a lot of bad things, but half the files still have not been released.

2 minutes, 20 seconds

What are those files? Some of them are survivors statements to the FBI where they named the rich and powerful men who

2 minutes, 28 seconds

may have abused them. Those were redacted back in March. They still have not put them out. Some of those files they simply have hid. In one case, the

2 minutes, 37 seconds

most serious case, there was an allegation against President Trump by a woman who claimed that she was raped as

2 minutes, 44 seconds

a minor. I have no idea whether that allegation is true or not. But here is what I do know. They released one of the

2 minutes, 51 seconds

interviews, FBI interviews with this woman. They have not released still three other witness interviews of this woman. And they've provided no

2 minutes, 59 seconds

explanation for why they haven't done that in blatant violation of the law.

3 minutes, 3 seconds

Congressman, those seem to be the key files that the public and members of the Democratic Party and clearly me some of your Republican members as well want to

3 minutes, 11 seconds

see. The ones that are missing pertaining to Donald Trump. First of all, are you confident that those uh FBI notes um are actually and 302s are

3 minutes, 20 seconds

actually still there? They haven't kind of disappeared totally. Do we know that they're still in the file somewhere? Uh and do you think this is the best chance

3 minutes, 28 seconds

you're going to get for the public to be able to see those specific files? Are you confident that the public will see those specific files about whether Donald Trump sexually abused a minor?

3 minutes, 40 seconds

I'm not confident that those documents are still there in the condition that they were in the original. I mean, they could be there and they could be blacked

3 minutes, 47 seconds

out. Uh so it's unclear whether they have tampered with these documents, but if they have, that is an enormous crime

3 minutes, 55 seconds

and a cover up. And it's not just allegations against President Trump. I mean, this has implicated what I call the Epstein class, some of the most rich

4 minutes, 3 seconds

and powerful people in this country who had no problem going to Epstein's Island or soliciting him for money well after

4 minutes, 11 seconds

he was a convicted pedophile, going to his ranch and being oblivious of the consequences. And you talk about a

4 minutes, 18 seconds

rigged system. You talk about ordinary Americans being upset that the government isn't working for them. The Epstein matter is exhibit one. Some of

4 minutes, 26 seconds

these survivors, over a thousand of them, have not had justice for decades,

4 minutes, 31 seconds

and they feel abandoned by the two tiers of justice in this country.

4 minutes, 37 seconds

Congressman, this is obviously a big issue. Uh it's obviously an issue that's uh being shorttrimmed by the Justice

4 minutes, 44 seconds

Department. You're not getting what you need. The public's not getting what it what you need. But as you know, uh, this country has a very short attention span

4 minutes, 53 seconds

in these past few years and it continues and now we're at war. I'm wondering when you go home anecdotally, what do people

5 minutes, 2 seconds

talk to you about when you encounter them? The economy, the war, or these papers?

5 minutes, 9 seconds

All three. I mean, most importantly, the economy. In my district, they're talking about rents being too high and not being

5 minutes, 16 seconds

able to afford uh groceries. But they're also talking, particularly Trump voters,

5 minutes, 22 seconds

about a broken promise. Many of them say, "Look, we voted for Donald Trump because he was finally going to put this country first. Our jobs had been

5 minutes, 30 seconds

outsourced. We kept getting into these wars. No one cared about us." And Donald Trump said, "I'm going to take him on.

5 minutes, 35 seconds

I'm going to take these corrupt elite who are controlling the government. I'm going to go after the Epstein class." He said, "I'm not going to get us into more

5 minutes, 42 seconds

wars. I'm going to focus on funding manufacturing jobs here, housing here,

5 minutes, 47 seconds

put America first." And they look at the Epstein cover up. And they look at this new Middle East regime change war, and

5 minutes, 54 seconds

they say, "What happened to Donald Trump? What happened to his fundamental promise that he was going to put our interest first?" And by the way, can any

6 minutes, 2 seconds

politician do that? Or do we just keep electing these politicians and they keep breaking our promise? And that's what actually saddens me that the next person

6 minutes, 11 seconds

who comes around is going to be viewed with such suspicion because Trump has betrayed such a fundamental promise to the people who elected him.

6 minutes, 19 seconds

Congressman, let's talk about the war in Iran and the war powers resolution that you will vote on today in the House. Uh failed yesterday in the Republican le

6 minutes, 28 seconds

Senate. They blocked the war powers resolution. What is your expectation today? Do you expect that Republicans,

6 minutes, 34 seconds

as usual, will fall in line behind President Trump and not use their constitutional uh mandate, their their

6 minutes, 42 seconds

power to justify and approve of a war?

6 minutes, 47 seconds

Well, I'm a straight shooter. It's going to be an uphill vote at probably 30 40%

6 minutes, 51 seconds

chance of success. But one of the things I give our leadership credit for is we're unifying the Democratic Party.

6 minutes, 58 seconds

We're saying we're going to be the party against these Middle East wars and focusing on jobs and housing here at home. And I want to shout out uh Thomas

7 minutes, 6 seconds

Massie who partnered with me on the Epstein files, who's partnering with me today on the Iran war power vote, who's

7 minutes, 13 seconds

defying his uh own president in his own party, and by the way, who's facing a primary challenge, and unlike Crenshaw,

7 minutes, 20 seconds

he's going to win. So he is showing uh that you can actually stand up to this president when you are consistent with some of the things the MAGA base wants

7 minutes, 29 seconds

and the MAGA base does not want another war in the Middle East. The MA base didn't sign up for that and so I expect

7 minutes, 36 seconds

a strong Democratic vote and I'm hopeful we have about five Republicans we're targeting but it's going to be uphill.

7 minutes, 42 seconds

That war is already underway without a vote. We'll see how that goes today.

7 minutes, 46 seconds

Democratic member of both the Armed Services and Oversight Committees covering a lot of ground this morning.

7 minutes, 50 seconds

Congressman Roana of California. Thanks for your time.

some songs

Saturday, March 7, 2026