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Wanted to see epstein go to jail. there is a value to a guilty plea because letting him walk, letting what the state attorney was ready to do go forward would have been absolutely awful. >> reporter: the secretary made it clear he's not about to resign, talking up his relationship with president trump while working in a plug for the administration's record. >> my relationship with the president is outstanding. he has, i think, very publicly made clear that i've got his support. i serve at the pleasure of the president. i thought yesterday he was kind and he showed great support. we are here be...

Appropriately. based on the evidence there was value to getting a guilty plea and having him register. look, no regrets is a very hard question. as you watch these victim interviews, it's very obvious that the victims feel that this was not a sufficient outcome. these victims were traumatized. we can't begin to understand what they went through. and they look at this and they say, but why? and so you always look back and you say what if? this was the view of the office. there is a value to a sure guilty plea because letting him walk, letting what the state attorney was ready to do go forward w...

Guilty plea because letting him walk, leading with the state attorney was ready to do go forward would have been absolutely awful. >> secretary acosta is saying that he was essentially pleased with the deal that he got because he thought of the time that it was the best deal that he could get. it should be noted that he thought that epstein was going to be put in jail for 18 months and not be allowed to go in and go out of jail. as he ended up being allowed to do. a work release program where he can leave six days a week to go to work and come back to jail. today secretary acosta said he was n...

Guilty plea. you can always look at a play after the fact and say should it have been the safe play or gone for the big score? >> well acosta certainly went for the safe play. despite authorities having evidence that epstein skauly abused dozens of teenage girls. the deal hammered out resulted in epstein serving 13 months in a county jail. allowed to leave every day six day as week for 12 hours a day. if epstein had been convicted he could have served life behind bars. that was a sweetheart deal. yes acosta today portrayed himself as a hero. >> there is a value to a sure guilty plea, because l...

Alex acosta defended himself. >> no regrets is a very hard question. you always look back and say what if. >> reporter: with new victims coming forward questioning whether acosta was too lenient in the case, the secretary was asked whether he would reach the same agreement today. time and again he pointed the finger at state prosecutors in florida saying they were going to allow epstein to avoid jail time. >> today's world treats victims very, very differently. today's world does not allow some of the victim shame that could have taken place at trial. i don't think we can say, you know, take a...