Tens of thousands of documents dumped so far,

apparently more than one million to go.

The lead starts right now.

One week after what was mandated to be the total release of the Epstein files,

we are now learning that the task is proving far more ambitious by the day,

a Christmas scramble for extra help at DOJ,

continued questions over what's been redacted and what hasn't.

One of the earliest Epstein victims to speak out joins us in moments.

Plus, a major foreign policy initiative moves forward.

A Mar-Lago meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky

reportedly set for Sunday. They may agree on a peace plan Vladimir Putin will also sign on to.

This, while the U.S. strikes terrorist targets in Africa, though some question President

Trump's stated reason for the action. And serious weather woes on both

coasts as California gets a break from the relentless rains and flooding parts of the northeast

are about to get walloped by Old Man Winter, including New York City's biggest snow forecast

in several years.

Welcome to lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We start with our law and justice lead. More than one million files, more files potentially related to dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, have just surfaced, according to the Justice Department.

They say the new trove

originating from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI may take,

quote, a few more weeks to comb through and release to the public, as the department scrambles

to find more volunteer prosecutors over the holidays to help redact the newly discovered

files. Now, remember, by law, the Justice Department was supposed to release everything it had

...