able to die by suicide last month in government custody. and because of that, these victims are not going to be able to have their moment directly facing him in court. three of epstein s attorneys are in court so they will be able to speak to them, but it s not the same as speaking directly to their accuser. third, i think we re going to hear a lot of anger and frustration and just genuine bewilderment that epstein s alleged coconspirators, other adults who victims believe had full knowledge of what was going on and enabled it. that there has been no criminal prosecution of them to date. now, the judge has indicated that that is an ongoing investigation and of tremendous interest and it s possible we may hear more statements about those other possible coconspirators here today in court. sara, thanks for that. stephanie, is this unprecedented? i don t remember anything like this. and to sara s point, the decision that these women had to make about do i put myself out there now? yeah
sara, what are we hearing? reporter: so the latest that we ve started hearing from multiple victims in court, we ve heard from at least three so far. and they re giving incredibly passionate, incredibly just stark statements about exactly what happened to them. how epstein recruited them, the impact that they say that it s continued to have on their lives. and we re also hearing some really strong statements about the fact that kind of what it s been like to let this play in the public eye as this case has garnered more attention. and even having victims saying they re upset that their stories are being used as entertainment. but most importantly we re seeing some signs of hope, that they hope that today is going to be a new change and a new point in this case. that their stories are taken seriously, that their stories are heard by law enforcement, and that possible change may occur. epstein s attorneys are sitting in the courtroom. they made some brief statements saying earlier sa
their stories of alleged sexual assault and harassment by the late financier and registered sex offender. prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss sex trafficking charges against epstein because he took his own life. instead, the judge said no, giving the women accusing him a chance for public acknowledgement of their personal pain. joining me now, nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk who s been following this case since epstein was charged. nbc news correspondent sara fitzpatrick is outside the courthouse. and msnbc legal contributor katie fang. it s good to have all of you. sara, what s happening inside that courtroom right now? what do we know? so right now we re just going through some introductory remarks. judge berman made a couple of unusual statements. firstly he mentioned that he found epstein s death by suicide shocking and not what anyone had expected. secondly, he called out a media report that apparently appeared this morning and said that this hearing was unnecessary and
really, really impassioned statements that this was absolutely appropriate to have the victims in court this day, that this is the obligation of the court to give them dignity, to give them the opportunity to treat their stories, and that this is absolutely a vital importance not just for the victims but for the public as well. sara, i know you ll keep us updated. thank you for that. meantime, nearly 2,000 lawsuits involving opioid drug makers could be significantly impacted this morning after a landmark decision against johnson and johnson. in yesterday s ruling, a judge ordered the pharmaceutical giant to pay the state of oklahoma $572 million for downplaying the risks of addiction while pushing doctors to prescribe opioids. johnson and johnson has denied wrongdoing and plans to appeal. but the state s attorney general says the company s actions helped fuel the state s opioid epidemic which led to more than 6,000 deaths since the 1990s. i spoke with him this morning. we re prep
not just sorta comfortable, serta comfortable. get a free motion base upgrade or get up to $900 off select icomfort sets. we really pride ourselves on temaking it easy for youass, to get your windshield fixed. teacher: let s turn in your science papers. tech vo: this teacher always puts her students first. student: i did mine on volcanoes. teacher: you did?! oh, i can t wait to read it. tech vo: so when she had auto glass damage. she chose safelite. with safelite, she could see exactly when we d be there. teacher: you must be pascal. tech: yes ma am. tech vo: saving her time. [honk, honk] kids: bye! tech vo: .so she can save the science project. kids: whoa! kids vo: safelite repair, safelite replace we re continuing to follow the breaking news. some of the women accusing financier jeffrey epstein of sexual assault and harassment have now begun sharing their stories in court. back with us now from outside the courthouse nbc news correspondent sara fitzpat