Plus: Epstein Survivors Demand Full File Release

Good evening,

Three of the world’s most powerful authoritarian leaders commiserated about living forever as they attended a summit in China this week. Their vision: a new world order in which the US is not front and center and they are able to live for 150 years.

It came as China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un took in a military parade commemorating the end of WWII in Beijing on Wednesday.

🎤 A hot mic picked up Xi and Putin — both 72 years old — and Kim, 41, talking about how age 70 is “still a child” these days.
- Putin discussed biotechnology and continuous organ transplants as options, while Xi added that he thinks humans could soon be able to live to 150 this century.

The moment touches on an issue central to all three dictators: age and succession. Xi has ended Chinese term limits, Putin rewrote Russia’s constitution to take his rule into a third decade, and Kim is the third generation ruler of a family dictatorship.

We also got a glimpse of who could eventually succeed Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, as his daughter, Kim Ju Ae — believed to be 12 or 13 years old — made her first known trip outside North Korea.

Mo News Team

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Epstein Survivors Demand Congress Release All Files — Trump Calls It A “Dem Hoax”

A group of women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, demanding that Congress pass a measure to force the release of long-sealed files tied to the convicted sex offender’s trafficking network.

A lawyer for the women said the files span decades and remain locked behind protective orders and bank secrecy laws.
Marina Lacerda, identified as “Minor Victim 1” in Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 indictment, spoke out, saying the release of the full files could help her heal.

“It’s so hard to begin to heal knowing there are people out there who know more about my abuse than I do,” she said, speaking publicly for the first time.

The petition has bipartisan support, but House Republican leaders have opposed the effort. Even if the House passes the measure, it would still require Senate approval and President Trump’s signature — which he appears unlikely to support.

ZOOM OUT
Trump downplayed efforts by victims of Epstein to push for more documents to be released, again calling it a “Democrat hoax.” That is despite his repeated mentions of the Epstein files during interviews on the campaign trail in 2024, where he promised more transparency.

On Tuesday, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee released 33,000 documents as part of its investigation, but Democrats noted that only about 3% of the files contained any new information — mostly Customs and Border Protection flight logs.
- Victims and their lawyers say the documents fall far short of what they know the government has.

In July, Trump’s Justice Department and the FBI released a brief memo asserting that Epstein had no “client list” of blackmail targets and that his death was ruled a suicide.

MORE TO COME?
Some of the Epstein abuse survivors are considering releasing their own list of individuals they say abused them if the Justice Department doesn't make more documents public soon.

“We know the names. Many of us were abused by them,” Lisa Phillips, a former model and survivor, said, adding that the list will be created “by survivors and for survivors.”

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE FOLLOWING

Florida Plans To Be First State To End All Vaccine Mandates

Florida is moving to become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including those for school-age kids.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and the state’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, announced Wednesday that they plan to eliminate every existing vaccine directive in the state.
- Ladapo, a longtime vaccine skeptic, argues that the government should not decide what people or children put in their bodies.
  - “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” he said.

State lawmakers will need to vote on a full repeal of all mandates, but the state can kill a couple vaccine requirements in the interim. If carried out, Florida’s policy would overturn a practice that public health and medical experts say has limited the spread of measles, polio, and other infectious diseases for decades.

ZOOM IN ON FLORIDA
Florida law requires students get vaccinated for polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, mumps, pertussis, and tetanus — with medical and religious exemptions allowed.

The state has already faced controversy under Ladapo, including his decision during a 2024 measles outbreak to allow unvaccinated children to attend school.
During the pandemic, the state rejected many COVID-era mandates — including vaccine requirements for kids, prolonged school closures, and worker vaccination rules. DeSantis is looking to double down on his fight with public health officials.
- The DeSantis of it: The governor, barred by term limits, cannot run for a third term in 2026. Following his failed 2024 presidential bid, he is looking to stay on the national stage with hardline immigration moves and proposals to eliminate state property taxes. Rolling back vaccine guidelines is the latest move to grab headlines.

Blue states: Governors in Washington, Oregon, and California announced a new alliance Wednesday to develop independent vaccine guidelines, saying, “The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences.”

COULD THIS GO NATIONAL?
All 50 states currently require at least some vaccinations for school entry. But, vaccine hesitancy is at an all-time high — with 4.1% kindergartners receiving vaccine exemptions in the 2024–25 school year, up from 3.7% the year before and the most the CDC has recorded.

Former acting CDC director Dr. Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, believes vaccine exemptions will likely keep rising as long as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remains in office.
- Kennedy founded an anti-vaccine organization and has moved to upend U.S. vaccine policy.
More than 1,000 current and former HHS employees have signed an open letter urging Kennedy Jr. to resign, accusing him of endangering public health.

Still, most Americans support vaccine requirements for public school students, KFF data shows.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Trump officials: We will use military power to end drug cartels (MO NEWS)
Trump’s redistricting war spreads to Missouri and Maryland (POLITICO)
Trump can’t use Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members, court rules (AP)
Trump advisers discuss a job for NYC Mayor Adams if he quits mayor’s race (NY TIMES)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Landmark streetcar in Lisbon derails, killing 15 people and injuring 18 (AP)
Sweeping Russian air attack hits Ukraine as Putin attends China parade (NBC)
UAE warns White House that Israeli annexations could unravel Abraham Accords (AXIOS)
Iran increased stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium before Israeli attack, UN agency says (AP)
UK comedy writer Graham Linehan arrested over social media posts criticizing trans activists (FOX)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Google stock jumps after search giant avoids worst-case penalties in antitrust case (CNBC)
Children at risk of identity theft and fraud from 'sharenting' (BBC)
Lululemon bets on stars of F1 and golf to move past yoga roots (BLOOMBERG)
In a brawl over right-wing TV, Newsmax sues Fox News (NPR)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria and Corey Feldman among contestants on new season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ (CNN)
'Ketamine Queen' pleads guilty in Matthew Perry’s overdose death (NBC)
Demi Moore defends Bruce Willis’ wife amid criticism of her caregiving decisions (FOX)
Roger Goodell on potential Taylor Swift Super Bowl halftime: “It’s a maybe” (NBC)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… A California jury unanimously cleared singer Cardi B of all assault allegations as part of a $24 million civil lawsuit.

Cardi’s courtroom appearances and testimony went viral — even getting questioned by the plaintiff's lawyer about her rotating wigs. Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, she joked that her forehead was “raw” from all the wig changes.

Rewind: A former security guard claimed the rapper cut her cheek with a three-inch fingernail and spat on her outside a Beverly Hills OB/GYN clinic in 2018. The jury deliberated for about an hour before siding with the 32-year-old Grammy winner.

Cardi denied any physical contact but admitted to cursing at security guard who Cardi said tried to film her without permission. At the time, Cardi was pregnant but hadn't publicly announced it.