>> In Washington DC you're allowed to spin, spin spin and lie lie lie.

And we've seen him do it before.

>> The Justice Department releases some but not all of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

>> So three of the biggest thorns in the side of the president are right here in Kentucky.

>> We'll review the year in Kentucky politics with Trey Grayson and Bob Babbage.

>> On all SEC final is Kentucky will play for a title.

>> And the UK volleyball teams.

Amazing season continues with a win in the Final Four.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Friday, December the 19th.

We have made it to the weekend.

I'm Renee Shaw and we thank you for starting off your weekend with us.

Today is the deadline for the Trump administration's Department of Justice to release files about Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender known for his connections to powerful political and business figures.

On November 19th, Congress passed legislation requiring their release.

And one month.

Well, today, December 19th, is that deadline.

The Justice Department released some of the files today around 4 p.m.

Eastern time, while promising to release more in the coming weeks.

Some members of Congress are already denouncing the Justice Department for its failure to release all of them.

Now, as required by the law, Congressman Ro Khanna of California is demanding a timetable for the release of the documents, and Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican from the fourth district, is one of the leaders of the movement to get the files released yesterday, Congressman Massie addressed a question he's often asked.

>> How will you know if they've released all the materials?

Well, one of the ways we'll know is there are people who have covered this case for years, and I've talked to them in private, and they know what some of the material is that's back there.

But the other way that we're going to know is the victims lawyers have been in contact with me, and collectively, they know there are at least 20 names of men who are accused of sex crimes in the possession of the FBI.

These would reside in the FD 302 forms.

The FBI fills out these forms to summarize or memorialize what a witness gave them.

As far as testimony when they interviewed with the FBI.

So if we get a large production on December 19th and it does not contain a single name of any male who is accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven't produced all the documents.

It's that simple.

>> Congressman Massie says he will be on CBS News Face the Nation this Sunday, and will have more to say about The Jeffrey Epstein Files.

Time now to go inside Kentucky Politics, where we talk about some of the big stories of the year 2025 and what we can expect a little bit in 2026 with our good friends, Trey Grayson and Bob Babich.

Happy holidays to you gentlemen.

>> Happy holidays.

>> It's already here.

Okay, before we talk a little bit about and the pants always have to do Christmas year.

>> Bringing the spirit.

>> Yes, Bob and I could take some lessons on how to do it from next year.

Next year we'll get it right.

So let's talk about some of the big political stories of the year.

Give me one.

Trey Grayson.

>> You know, the McConnell retirement and then the Senate race to succeed him is probably dominated.

The political headlines for the for the year.

You know, there's three primary Republican candidates in that race Daniel Cameron, former attorney general, past Republican nominee for governor, current Congressman Andy Barr from here in central Kentucky and businessman Nate Morris.

And they've been vying for fundraising and endorsements.

And Trump's attention.

And then on the Democratic side, there's a ton of candidates, most recently in the last couple of weeks, we've had a couple of the the last two nominees for Senate on the Democratic side, who lost Amy McGrath and Charles Booker entered the race.

And I think there's like 7 or 8.

Dale Romans Dale Romans Dale Romans got in.

Pamela Stephenson, state rep, was the first kind of name in the race and a couple first time candidates.

>> Do we expect all of them to hold?

I mean, or there to be more added?

I mean, January, what ninth is the candidate filing deadline?

So there's still time for more to get in.

Bob Babbitt, are you hearing anything?

>> Attack of a lot already.

That's a bunch of Democrats I'm not sure anybody was looking for this year to produce that many rivals to the Republican trio.

Those three Republicans have fought it out and spent a ton of money this year already trying to get an edge or an angle.

Trump endorsement would matter tremendously.

Some say he won't do that at all, but that's just speculation.

>> Does that still matter?

Even though his popularity numbers seem to be an approval, numbers seem to be on the decline.

>> I would say absolutely yes.

It matters.

>> Yeah.

I think, you know, whether you've seen the decline as an independent and maybe weaker Republicans, but the folks who are going to vote in May.

Yeah, his his endorsement matters still a great deal.

>> Yeah.

So as we often say on Kentucky Edition, there's not a newscast that goes by where we don't mention either.

Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Brett Guthrie James Comer.

So once again, Kentucky is punching above its weight many and many times.

But let's talk about Massie, McConnell and Rand Paul.

What do they all have in common?

>> So three of the biggest thorns in the side of the president are right here in Kentucky.

And actually, as a fourth district resident, I have Congressman Massie's, my congressman, and obviously both Senators Paul and McConnell represent our state.

So the three of them, for different reasons, have been going after the president on various different things.

Massie, most visibly, was the Epstein discharge and also was a tough vote early on for some of the procedural matters for the one big, beautiful bill, Senator McConnell voted against a couple of the early nominees, RFK and I think maybe one more, although of late has been more quiet in his opposition to the president on on matters I mean, in general.

First of all, all three of these guys on 80 to 90% of their issues are aligned with the president.

But there's, you know, they're high profile times when they're not.

And Paul's been very outspoken recently, especially with some of the saber rattling, if you will, of the administration.

So Trump actually spent several months and his allies trying to recruit a candidate against Massie, and finally settled upon Ed Gallrein, a businessman, former Seal who narrowly lost the state Senate race last year to Aaron Reed.

Gallrein that Shelby County turns out in the fourth district.

Who knew?

So Shelby County, where Gallrein lives, is so Gallrein will get in that race and kind of be the Trump proxy.

So presumably have plenty of money and resources.

Massie has been trying to raise money after it.

It should be one of the most visible races in the country, and I think people will be watching to see, because if Massie prevails, it might give more courage to Republicans when they disagree with Trump to speak out.

Most recently this week, the president had a really unfortunate post about the murder of Rob Reiner.

Massie spoke out actually, that one got a lot of Republicans speaking out.

If Massie wins, I think you'll maybe see a few more things when the president steps out of line and say, hey, you know I like you, but not here.

But if Gallrein wins that race, it'll be a signal to, hey, don't mess around.

Yeah, stay in line.

And so a lot of people are going to be watching that race.

>> Yeah.

What do you think?

>> $1 billion to help candidates that he wants to help or work against people he wants to work against?

Just this week, a billionaire came out and said, whatever he does, I'll do for Massie.

So this could be a multi multi-million dollar race if it turns out to be that kind of contest and the outside money comes in to fight it out.

Massie is very well connected and very popular in his district.

It will take a heck of a race to beat him.

There could be a heck of a race put on by Gallrein.

That will be national press probably every day once we get, you know, to warm weather for the balance of the year, simply because it will be so significant and so very much will be read into it.

That's big.

The Senate race is big.

Also in the coming year, the governor's race starts to shape up for 2027.

We like to run them early right earlier and earlier, and we'll see folks emerge or begin to discuss possibilities there, or any.

>> Spoiler alerts you want to drop.

>> Right now.

James Comer might be James Comer.

>> Rocky.

>> Rocky Adkins, Lieutenant Governor.

>> Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman.

>> Yeah.

>> Maybe some others.

>> Yeah.

>> So, yeah, you know, when we're gathered here on May 19th, I think is the primary election night.

Yeah, a lot of people will be watching the race.

They'll be watching that Senate primary to see who emerges from that.

And also the sixth district race.

That's right.

Because Barr is running for Senate.

It opened up the sixth district race here in central Kentucky.

Former state Senator Ralph Alvarado, who resigned a couple years ago to go to Tennessee professionally, he still lives in Clark County, but he became the commissioner of health down in Tennessee, moved back home, jumped in the race.

State Rep Ryan Dodson, also from Clark County.

They're both in the race.

There's there was another state rep, Deana Gordon, who ran for a few months but decided to stick with her state rep seat just recently.

And then there's a businessman as at least one businessman who's jumped in the race on the Republican side, who's a first time candidate on the Democratic side.

Cherlynn Stevenson seems to be, I think, the the sort of the favorite.

But there are some other Democrats in that race.

That race is one the Democrats could win.

You know, it's not as it's not as purple as it used to be.

Some of that's through redistricting, some of that's just the decline of of Democratic support in the rural part of the district.

I don't think the Democrats especially, we didn't mention Andy Beshear in the context of the Senate race because he's not going to run for president.

We'll talk about that later.

But the Senate race is probably not winnable.

But the sixth district race, if you know the right political environment, the right, you know, we'll just we'll have to see how that plays out.

>> Beshear did well in that area.

Yeah.

And I think it's extremely purple.

And it's been purple a long time almost all my life.

Go back to John C Watts, who was the Democrat Congress member for a long time.

Then Hopkins came.

>> It's gone back and forth, right?

Hopkins Chandler.

>> Several times.

So we've had.

>> Watts, Hopkins, Baszler, Chandler Barr.

>> If that's not a.

>> So it we're due right.

>> If that's not a district that is unpredictable.

>> And Alvarado is making that point, he thinks he's making the case that he's a stronger general election candidate than Dodson.

Dodson is more of a social conservative.

Alvarado is pretty socially conservative, too, so they're going to battle it out.

And but that's the case that Alvarado is making that if I'm the nominee, we have a better shot at winning this race.

>> The Democrat primary would be good, though, and test those candidates very well for that fall race.

They may come out because they're well funded with pretty good recognition, pay a lot of attention to the primary.

We're going to have a decent primary, probably not a mob scene of turnout, but the results on May 19th will be very interesting.

That evening and the day after.

>> Yeah, we do have until June January 9th to the filing deadline.

So we could have some other folks jump into these races.

And the other thing, it's the county election year.

So sometimes that drives turnout as much as anything else.

Is the competitive race?

>> Absolutely, absolutely.

>> Let's talk a couple of years from now, 2028.

And getting back to something you alluded to just a moment ago, Governor Andy Beshear and even U.S.

Senator Rand Paul could be eyeing the presidency.

>> Yeah.

So we know that pretty confident President Trump is not going to try to run for reelection.

I think the Constitution is pretty clear on that and that he's having some fun with that.

But regardless, the Democratic side on that race is definitely open.

And Governor Beshear has been traveling the country kind of trying out, if you will.

He's got a great post this year.

He's the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, which gives him an excuse to go to states to meet with donors to if it's a good year for Democrats to take credit for that.

So he's he's he's giving it his best shot.

If you look at some of the national polling, he's definitely in the back of the pack.

But there's a lane that he's trying to occupy and widen, which is in order to win, we need to elect people who can appeal to moderates and appeal to independents.

And I, as a Democrat, did this in a red state.

>> Red state.

>> Yeah.

You know, and, you know, we can talk for on the show about how that's a little bit of a simplistic explanation of his political success, but it does give him something unique to talk about compared to, say, Governor Newsom of California and some of the others.

So that's what he's trying to do.

And, you know, when the legislative session is done, he will probably just continue to crisscross the country and give it his best shot to try to to to be there.

And the beauty of it is for him, if he's not the nominee, he'd be well positioned to be a running mate again.

He was under consideration last time.

Or if there were a Democratic administration to lead an agency or a cabinet secretary or something like that.

>> Anything else?

>> Feedback is he sounds good.

He makes a good impression.

He sounds right.

>> People had a Vogue spread.

>> And yeah, who would have thought that?

>> Right?

Come on.

>> Vogue is good.

He's had some others lately, I think George will.

Right?

>> Sure.

>> Yeah.

Someone I've respected forever and ever said, you know, that's the kind of personality.

That's the kind of persona the projection Democrats should be looking for.

That's high praise.

And right now, the only people really paying attention are the Washington crowd and other politicos around the country.

For a man of that standing, to say that about Beshear says a lot.

And then if Rand Paul were to enter the race and he could, he has before.

He has a very unique style, a very unique following, a very unique message.

And he's very prominent right now.

>> Absolutely.

One little footnote before we go.

Surprise.

Political news item of the year, would you say that's the defection of State Senator Robin Webb to the Republican Party?

>> Yes.

Senator Webb's been a legislator for a couple decades now.

She was a state rep first elected in the late 90s, always viewed as kind of a moderate, even conservative on some issues, decided to run for reelection as a Republican, switched in the middle of the year, actually became national news.

She went on a lot of the national news stories Democrats don't appear to be.

I don't even know if she has an opponent yet.

I don't know that I've seen somebody file, but she's being embraced by her new colleagues and Lee's only Ashley Tackett.

Lafferty as a rural Democrat in the Kentucky General Assembly, which is just crazy to think, you know, when you were in office, when I was in office, this was that was not the case.

You know, a lot of the base of the Democratic Party was in rural Kentucky, especially in eastern Kentucky.

On the one hand, it's a surprise because she hadn't done it before.

But on the other hand, it's like, well, yeah, she was sort of kind of ideologically Republican on many issues anyway.

>> Yeah.

She had someone filed against her today, I believe.

So that race will shape up there.

But not only are Republicans embracing Robin Webb, but many people who've been for Robin Webb, and I can think of a lot of them are still for Robin Webb.

Yeah, she has a terrific brand, a terrific personality.

Her Appalachian credibility and persona is is wonderful, but she's a woman who gets a tremendous amount of things done.

She touches many sectors of the economy.

You know, she takes a call and she's feeding a horse in a very rural setting and.

>> A very cold morning.

And she mined coal.

>> Probably by herself.

She was a coal miner.

It's hard to beat.

>> Yeah.

>> It's hard to beat her Beau.

I would say nobody can.

>> Yeah.

Contender for governor.

>> That's interesting.

You can start in the campaign right now for her.

>> On that.

>> Note.

>> Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year to you.

We'll see you on the third Friday in January of 2026.

>> Yes.

Thank you.

>> Some education notes.

Now Southern Elementary in eastern Kentucky is one of many schools where students receive toys this year to help families after the devastating flooding and tornadoes earlier this year, the Christian Appalachian Project partnered with Marine Toys for Tots Foundation for the event, which also included a visit from Santa Claus.

>> And what did you tell Santa you wanted?

>> My two front teeth because I don't have any two front teeth.

And there's a song called all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

>> So the kids are coming down talking to Santa Claus.

They come through, they're getting every kid will get a squishmallow and then they're actually getting two more toys.

>> Even right now, I would say these gifts go a long way.

They take a little bit of pressure off of our families, our families in need.

We have a diverse demographic here at Southern Elementary, so just having gifts to present to our students what just help the families out as well.

>> Some of the kids here were impacted by the tornado.

I think we're blessed that there wasn't that many, but still some here that were.

So we wanted to make sure why we done something this year at Christmas.

We just wanted to focus in these areas where the tornadoes had made made their impact.

>> We had about ten families displaced during the tornado time.

So we're still rebuilding as a community, but we're all chipped in and we're all we're all growing together and trying to get back to normal.

And these kids are reminded of it daily, just in the back.

Even in our playground, we lost a lot of our playground and buildings behind us.

So this event is allowing us to just kind of come together as a community, as as a region, the state of Kentucky, and just kind of give back to to our staff, students and community here.

>> I've seen smiles all day.

The one thing that I had mentioned and spoke to someone just a minute ago and spoke to a kid, and he said the one thing that he was asked Santa for this year was a big squirrel squishmallow.

And he just happened to get it here today.

Which which was makes it makes all, makes all the work worth everything you do.

>> When I went in the car, I was like, can we please get there fast?

Because I was excited to see Santa.

I got a game, a my Little Pony toy, and a letter from Santa and a Stanley keychain.

Oh, Santa, what I wanted for Christmas.

I got a cool toys and I got a plushie.

I'm going to play with it when I get home in the classroom, and I'm going to put my stuff on my bed.

>> Christmas seems to be always a time that families are struggling, just trying to make sure they have toys for for kids, and hopefully this is just going to help them.

Maybe it will help some of the kids that maybe are not going to get as many gifts.

Maybe this will help them have a little bit better Christmas.

>> It's one of the best times of the year.

>> If you work it well.

>> Little Ella is cute as a button without those two front teeth.

The Christian Appalachian Project also provided gifts in person to students at Ryan Pine Grove Elementary in London.

Another victory for the UK volleyball team details in tonight's sports news, the one seed Wildcats beat three seed Wisconsin last night in the NCAA volleyball Final Four in Kansas City, Missouri, but this was no sweep.

The cats started off slow, but eventually found their offensive rhythm and won in five sets.

With the win, the cats move on to the finals, also in Kansas City.

On Sunday, they will take on another three seed in Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m.

Big Blue Nation is invited to cheer on the cats during a free watch party at historic Memorial Coliseum, mayor Linda Gordon has declared Sunday beat Texas A and M Day in Lexington go big blue.

Stay with KET this evening, Bill Bryant and a panel of veteran Kentucky reporters talk about the big news of the week on comment on Kentucky coming up at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central right here on KET.

Now, Christmas is now less than a week away.

Hope you got your shopping done and there's plenty to do if you get some time off, our Toby Gibbs explains.

In this look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

>> It's a sweet time of year for ballet lovers as Louisville Ballet presents The Nutcracker.

Since 2009, the company has performed its full length take on Tchaikovsky's classic, with costumes and choreography that add fresh twists and live accompaniment from the Louisville Orchestra.

Owensboro is branching out once again with one of its longest running holiday traditions, the Holiday Forest Festival of Trees, now in its 48th year, is decking the museum with not one but two exhibitions, each offering its own interpretation of this year's colorful theme.

Patty's 1800s is flipping the switch on the season with its annual Festival of Light ceremony, turning the settlement into a bright spot on the holiday map.

The evening features live music to set the mood, and young visitors can expect to stop in from Santa and Mrs.

Claus.

The garden doesn't just grow, it glows.

Louisville's gardens A glimmer returns to brighten up the waterfront.

Botanical gardens.

The winter tradition turns the pathways into a sparkling nighttime nature walk.

Visitors can pen a note to Santa, try their hand at a seasonal craft, and even cross paths with Mr.

and Mrs.

Claus themselves.

And for anyone wanting a different lens on the lights, special 3D glasses are available to add a few extra twists to the twinkle.

If you prefer your holiday a little less bright, check out Candlelight Christmas Carols on Strings happening in Lexington this Saturday.

Listen to classic Christmas carols performed by musicians under the gentle glow of candlelight.

The audience also gets the opportunity to spread some holiday cheer during a group sing along.

Take on a creative take on winter in Lagrange, at Winter in Kentucky at Gallery 104.

The 10th annual Holiday Boutique features the work of local artists displaying original winter holiday themed artwork that can help get that gift list whittled down.

Make a few merry memories at Lake Barkley State Resort Park this holiday as it hosts a weekend of festive dining, caroling, cookies and other treats, plus live music and a special visit from Santa himself.

The fun kicks off tonight.

Kentucky history is dressing up for the holidays, as my old Kentucky home welcomes visitors with a tour that steps back into Victorian times hoop skirts, tailcoats and a familiar song to set the tone.

The mansion is trimmed with towering trees, each carrying a Kentucky theme.

Along the way.

Guides share Christmas traditions that range from the timeless to the downright curious, from the origins of the Christmas tree and the lore behind mistletoe, kisses to Yule logs, Christmas pickles and Victorian tales of Father Christmas, Santa Claus and even Krampus.

Tours continue through January 4th.

Ready to leave the holiday hustle and bustle behind?

Then grab your hiking boots and head to Audubon State Park for a winter solstice hike.

Taking place on the first day of winter, this free, naturalist led hike wanders a one mile course through the hilly nature preserve, giving you a change of scenery as the season changes.

And that's a look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you Toby Gibbs, as always, and that'll do it for us this week on Kentucky Edition.

We hope to see you right back here again Monday night at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform and connect and inspire.

For the next couple of weeks, we revisit some of Kentucky's most interesting people and places that we brought to you throughout the year.

And we want to leave you tonight on this note, there are a lot of people who make Kentucky Edition sing and go, and these folks are behind the scenes.

They don't get much shine.

But I want to say to them that I appreciate you, and we couldn't do this without you.

Thank you to all of those on the Kentucky Edition and Public Affairs team and our KET family.

And from us to you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.