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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Rails On Judge After Judge Threatens Him With Jail Time; MTG: Don't Give A "Rat's Ass" About GOP Criticism Of My Efforts; Police Arrest Protesters, Break Up Encampment At NYC University. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 01, 2024 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:38]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, Trump lashing out on the campaign trail moments ago, slamming the judge in his New York trial just hours before that judge holds another Trump gag order hearing.

And more breaking news at this moment. The NYPD tonight going into another city campus, the biggest city in America, as violence spreads around the country on campuses. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is OUTFRONT.

Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene saying she doesn't give a rat's you-know- what about what her party thinks, as she plows ahead with her plan to oust Speaker Johnson.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, from the trial to the trail. Former President Trump, in a rare break for the courtroom today, hitting the campaign trail and he gotten a plane and flew out to Michigan. This is Freeland, Michigan, where you're looking right now, live pictures of Trump, right now on the podium.

And he is maybe coming out swinging today using the stage to tear into the judge overseeing his hush money trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There's no crime. I have a crooked judge. He's a totally conflicted judge. And then I get indicted again, and then I got indicted again. And then I get indicted by Fani with her boyfriend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A crooked judge, a conflicted judge. Well, that is the judge who is holding a hearing first thing tomorrow morning about whether Trump violated his gag order four more times. Now remember, the Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Trump had already

violated the gag order nine times, and if he -- and what was crucial, what he said in the room that we all saw in there was Trump isn't careful in the future, he could end up in jail because of these violations.

Here are the alleged violations that Merchan is maybe thinking about right now, but will be likely ruling first thing in the morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial, he got caught lying in the last trial. So he got caught lying, pure lying.

That jury was picked so fast, 95 percent Democrats.

You think of it as just a purely Democrat area. It's a very unfair situation.

Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and he's got no credibility whatsoever.

David's been very nice, nice guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: That last comment was about Trumps longtime friend, David Pecker, who was witness in the trial. Trump saying nice things about him when he was on the stand.

The temptation though for Trump will be there tomorrow. In just hours, he will be 15 feet or so away from Stormy Daniels's former attorney who already in great detail laid out conversations he had with Michael Cohen about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. It was crucial testimony and Trump's team will likely get a chance to push back on Daniels' attorney and his claims and possible cross-examination if they get there tomorrow.

Paula Reid is OUTFRONT in New York to begin our coverage.

Paula, what more are you learning about the gag order hearing tomorrow.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, this is hearing that could have dire consequences for former President Trump. As you mentioned, this hearing is about four additional alleged violations of the gag order, but these violations allegedly occurred before the judge issue that $9,000 fine and threatened Trump with jail.

So at this point, it's really unclear if that threat is going to have a deterrent effect on Trump but, Erin, speaking with sources and observing Trump. It's clear that he's not being quite as prolific and his violations of the gag order as he was instead relying on allies to attack prosecutors and other individuals who are protected by this gag order and making these political attacks that he was making.

Now we heard a short time ago you play that clip of him attacking the judge. That's completely fine. That is completely valid under the gag order, he can attack the judge. You can attack the District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Now, tomorrows hearing will give prosecutors and defense attorneys a chance to argue about this, but this will all happen outside the presence of the jury.

And, Erin, the big thing I'm looking for is whether Trumps attorneys are going to switch up their tactics because remember that last gag order hearing, it was a disaster for the defense. They wanted to focus on their big picture constitutional arguments about political speech. The judge wasn't having it. Instead, he wanted to go post by post, comment by comment. At one point, he even threatened to have a Trump testify under oath during the gag order hearing.

So I'm watching to see if defendant its attorneys change up the approach to tomorrows hearing, then after that concludes, the jury will come back in and hear more critical testimony from Keith Davidson.

BURNETT: All right. Paula, thank you very much, downtown Manhattan at that courthouse.

And our experts are all here.

[19:05:04]

So, Joey Jackson, I want to go with the gag order moment, but obviously we're hours away from Trump pulling back in that courtroom has a serious talk about he does in the same way and the same order with the same people carrying the same boxes every day, Groundhog Day down there.

And Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' attorney, is going to be back on the stand. So cross-examination may begin.

For what we've seen from Keith, so far, what -- what does Trumps team have to do? And can they do it?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So what they have to do, Erin, is distance Trump from those actual negotiated deals, right? And so remember what the testimony is. This is the lawyer who gave the indication that he negotiated the Stormy Daniels deal and the Karen McDougal deal with Michael Cohen.

And so, I think the issue will be on the cross-examination. You spoke with Michael Cohen. Is that correct? You exchanged emails with Michael Cohen. You had several discussions with him.

You were not privy to what, if anything, was said between him and Mr. Trump, are you? In fact, you have no idea who directed this, if it was Trump or anyone else, or if he acted on his own. You can't give us any indication as to that, can you? And so, why do I say that? The cross has to suggest that this was

something that Cohen was doing, right? And it was -- he's the fixer. He was doing it. Not necessarily that he included his boss, told his boss whether he was looking for brownie points or whatever, perhaps that's a defense, but you move Trump away from that, and that's what Cohen's job was.

Why would Trump have any knowledge of this? That's what -- that's going to be their play.

BURNETT: And, Terri, you know, so far, you here a couple of takes from what Davidson has said one is a, well, he thinks that he knew this was going to help the campaign. He knew all of that.

The other is he doesn't -- he doesn't have at least so far any knowledge of Trump telling Cohen when or said he didn't think Trump was involved. So has he done what the prosecution needs him to do?

TERRI AUSTIN, HOST AND LEGAL ANALYST, LAW & CRIME NETWORK: Well, he took one step forward and two steps back I think because one of the things that the prosecution must do is, as Joey says, establish the fact that there is a separation. Cohen is out here doing what he needs to do on his own. And we heard Davidson say, look, he's irascible, he's always leaning into his relationship on Trump. And you can't predict what he's going to do.

So I think that separation has been made, but Davidson also said, I don't know if Cohen actually has the authority to make these payments. I think that hurt the prosecution a little bit and it established that maybe there was that separation.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Hard to imagine that they expected that comment because that was that was not a good moment, obviously.

AUSTIN: I don't think they expected it.

BURNETT: All right. And before Keith Davidson takes the stand, David Axelrod, it will be that gag order hearing. So Trump goes on the campaign trail today. And what's interesting is Paula mentioned what he said about the judge -- crooked, corrupt, what, whatever words he uses that he uses all the time. That's totally consistent. That's fine. He's allowed to do that.

But what I played are the things he said today, he did speak for an hour-and-a-half and those are the only things he said. So do you think that he actually is a little worried about this gag order and that the threat of jail? I mean, he is -- for him incredibly controlled, not slamming Cohen, not slamming Daniels. I mean, it is a shift.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. No, no doubt about it. Yeah. I do think he's concerned about going to jail. I think the judge was pretty clear in his remarks and Trump heard him.

And I think the last thing Donald Trump wants to be in jail. I know there is a theory that he wants a martyr himself by going to jail. I don't really believe that. You know, everything that I've read, heard about him suggests to me that that's the last thing that he wants.

So I do think its having some disciplining effect. The question really, Erin, is what effect is this whole thing having on the campaign? And I think there's very little evidence right now that is having much of an effect on the campaign at all. In fact, Trumps numbers are sort of marginally better than when the trial started, half -- more than half of people say they're not paying close attention to it.

You know, we'll see what happens when there's a verdict one way or the other and how that affects the campaign. But right now, this is in many peoples estimation a non-event.

BURNETT: Which is really incredible, Joy and Terri, because certainly it's not just sitting here and in New York and being a part of it. But when you see what's happening there, it is. It is such an unprecedented historic moment.

Do you think that it changes in terms of broader people paying attention when Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen take the stand, or do they say no, more of the same? I've seen this before?

JACKSON: So I think it does only because those are the marquee names, right? I think to David's point, I think what ultimately is going to be the issue if there's a verdict and that verdict is guilty we don't know that, not suggesting it will be, but whether that changes the political dynamic, right?

But I think that it's funny because we are not sure who's going to be the next witness. And it's interesting, we talk about the gag order. We would be sure if Trump would have not violated the gag order because the prosecution would have been comfortable releasing the names of the witness who's next going to testify.

[19:10:04]

But I do think with the addition of those two, I think people pay closer attention.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, I mean, David, you've got to wonder and maybe we don't -- we don't put this out there intellectually enough. There's a lot of talk about what people will do if Trump is convicted and people have said they have an issue with that, and we'll see.

It's been a lot less discussion about how in a criminal trial with the burden of proof and 12 people and you know, what would happen if this jury does not convict him?

AXELROD: Yeah, I think that there hasn't been enough discussion about that. There is this presumption that it'll be found guilty. But if he has a hung jury, he will spin it as vindication. And it seems pretty likely now, Erin, that this is the only trial that's going to take place before the election. And he will use it to color all the other indictments and say this was always political from the beginning. This proves that.

So, yeah, I think it could have a negative effect on him to be a convicted felon for sure. But it also could give them a little boost if he is not convicted.

BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely.

And. Terri, I just want to -- Stormy Daniels, obviously, has been receiving an incredible number of horrible threats that she may be testifying. So we don't know. We don't know the order because again, they don't have to provide that. So we don't know for sure if she will, although it seems likely. We certainly don't know when.

Her bodyguard talked to me about the threat she's received, but also how she was responding to them, right now as she's preparing to possibly testify. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Do you think we're going to see this -- this defiance, this willingness to take it all on the witness stand?

TRAVIS MILLER, STORMY DANIELS' BODYGUARD: I mean, you know, you know, it's not my place to say anything about that when it comes it out. But she's a fighter and if there's one thing you've noticed about Stormy is that no matter how hard she could take -- she keeps getting back, and she stays true to who she is, and she never wavers, and I think that's the most important thing when it comes to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And she, you know, she that moment is going to be incredible and her fortitude in that moment, how she conducts herself, is going to matter so much in that room, right? I mean, because it is such a small room. Stormy Daniels is going to be, what, ten feet away from Trump?

AUSTIN: She's key. She's really key.

I don't think that the prosecution necessarily has to call her, though, because this is a records case. And they had Gary Farro who talked about the bank exchanges. They had Pecker who set up all of the transactions. They had Davidson who's talking about literally what happened with both Karen McDougal and with Stormy Daniels.

I think if Michael Cohen doesn't go well, if he goes first and we don't know, then I would put Stormy Daniels on because Michael Cohen has some credibility issues. He is someone that no one really likes, apparently, at least according to Davidson. And so I think if he doesn't go well, the prosecution may say, all right, let's put on Stormy to corroborate what we've already said by the records.

BURNETT: So she's like the secret weapon?

JACKSON: So, briefly way and I'm in accord with Terri that she doesn't have to go, but the optics and I'm sure they're having that strategic discussion, because the optics of her not going may cause some juries to be confused. Wait, we've been talking about Stormy Daniels --

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: So I think because they want the full really story to get out there, right? That she goes, not because she's an indispensable witness because people have spoken to the issue she will speak to. But because the jury wants to know and they want to hear from her, and I think is an important part of the prosecution's case.

BURNETT: To give them an --

JACKSON: Absolutely. Right.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much.

And next breaking news, Marjorie Taylor Greene now taking on her own party as Republicans are slamming her for trying to House Speaker Mike Johnson tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): What you guys seem to know is I really don't give a rat's ass what anybody up here says about what I'm doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Also breaking news out of New York were police are just moving in and starting to clear protesters from Fordham University on the west side of Manhattan. The city's mayor, Eric Adams, is my guest.

And the Fed rules out cutting interest rates. Well, I mean, interest rates, mortgage rates, credit card rates, all going to remain historically high. So as now really the right time to buy or should you keep renting? Suze Orman is our guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:18:24]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking out to Manu Raju, hitting back at her own party under fire for announcing today that she's forcing the vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: What do you guys seem to know is I really don't give a rat's ass when anybody up here says about what I'm doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, it comes as Johnson is holding firm, but he will not bend to the demands of Marjorie Taylor Greene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Marjorie Taylor Greene has called on you to resign. Sir, quickly, will you resign?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Of course not. It's absurd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Melanie Zanona is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill.

And, Melanie, Greene digging in our heels, her own party as roundly opposes her and mocking her in many cases. So she backed into a corner here. Is she just going to sort of be throwing around insults and epithets?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REOPRTER: Yeah. Well, the thinking here is that what's Greene did file that motion to vacate the speakership, it was almost inevitable that she was going to force a floor vote on this. We are now knowing that that is going to happen as soon as next week. One Republican described it to me, like pulling the paint on a grenade and walking around with it and not knowing what to do.

But this will all come to the head next week, were going to see that showdown and the motion is expected to fail because Democrats have vowed to step in and help save Johnson's speakership.

But, Erin, this can still cause major problems for Mike Johnson for a couple of reasons. Number one, Marjorie Taylor Greene could force repeated votes on a motion to vacate and Democrats, have not said whether they would continue to save Johnson or whether this is a onetime deal, Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, was asking that as a press conference earlier today, and he would not say.

And number two, depending on how many Republicans are on Greene's side when this vote comes up, it could expose weaknesses in Johnsons political standing, which could impact his long-term political future, especially if he does want to hang on to power next year.

[19:20:07]

And there was one new Republican, that's Warren Davidson of Ohio, who came out today and told Manu Raju that he would at least support allowing a vote on the motion to vacate even if he's undecided on the merits. So this is just not where Mike Johnson wants to be in this moment. It's not what he wants to be focused on.

And meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene kicking up controversy for a completely other reason. Today, she announced she was voting against a bill to combat antisemitism. And in her reasoning, she invoked an antisemitic trope.

I want to read you what she said in her post on social media. She said antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for leaving the gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews. Now, that claim that Jewish people were responsible for the death of

Jesus have has historically been used to justify antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community. So just another example of Greene's controversial behavior and also not the first time she has used antisemitic rhetoric -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Melanie.

And, you know, tonight, if you think about it, Marjorie Taylor Greene's biggest supporter who has been Trump, has signaled on more than one occasion, but he backs Johnson, although he's really kind of really wait to see where the wind blows on this one. But now it seems to be much more pro-Johnson.

Greene tonight insists though that she is still following Trump's lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: I'm the biggest supporter of President Trump, and that's why I proudly wear this MAGA hat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREENE: We're going to reelect our favorite president, the greatest president in United States' history, Donald J. Trump, right, Georgia?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the get-go, it was a conservative dream team.

GREENE: Let's get it done.

FOREMAN: A firebrand president and hi uncompromising congressional ally pledging allegiance and scorched earth.

GREENE: Not only do we support President Trump, we support his policies, and any Republican that isn't willing to adapt these policies, we're completely eradicating from the party.

In 2022, I'm going to blow away the Democrats socialist agenda.

FOREMAN: Greene won her seat in a deep red corner of Georgia by embracing the Trump based to its far right edge, talking up conspiracy theories about 9/11.

GREENE: The so-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

FOREMAN: Chasing a survivor of a school massacre, claiming he was a shill for gun control.

GREENE: And he's a coward. He can't say one word because he can't defend his stance. FOREMAN: She's winked at QAnon, made veiled threats of violence

against Democrats and raged against abortion rights.

GREENE: When I said that I'm a Christian nationalists, I have nothing to be ashamed of because that's what most Americans are. We're proud of our faith.

TRUMP: Where's Marjorie? Where's Marjorie?

FOREMAN: But since she won in 2020, the same year, Trump lost, she's also chained herself to his grievances, claiming the election was rigged, January 6 was no big deal, charges against the former president are nonsense.

GREEN: This is a weaponized government attempt to take down the top political enemy and leading presidential candidate of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

FOREMAN: She's waved her phone at fellow Congress members to show them Trump on the line demanding support.

TRUMP: They've got to get tougher. They've got to get like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who happened to be here.

FOREMAN: And the Greene shouted at President Joe Biden during his State of the Union Address.

To the delight of the man who lost that podium.

TRUMP: Now sometimes you would say that's not nice, but in this case, it was very well needed.

GREENE: Clearly, people like President Trump and his policies.

FOREMAN: So even now as she tries to take down the speaker of the House, Trump has defended the former president, is in her corner to you.

TRUMP: She's a very good friend of mine. And I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker.

If times are bad, she'll call me up and said, don't worry about, sir, you're doing great.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: All of this cheerleading has cost Representative Greene assignments in congressional committees. It is question the credibility that she has, among other lawmakers and at times, it has led to outright ridicule, and yet not a discouraging word from Donald Trump, at least not yet -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Tom. Thank you.

And we have some breaking news. We've got new video just coming in of police clearing tense from inside Fordham University, actually tents inside the building after protestors refused to leave. Several students have now been arrested, and the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, is next.

Plus, buy or rent, a burning question for millions as the Fed again keeps interest rates untouched sky high. What does Suze Orman say? She'll tell you, OUTFRONT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:53]

BURNETT: And breaking news, these are live pictures on your screen at the University of Texas in Dallas, growing pro-Palestinian protests there at this hour comes as in New York, the NYPD has entered Fordham University, making arrests.

Police just releasing this video tonight of officers in riot gear clearing out a tent encampment set up by demonstrators inside one of the school's buildings at Fordham in Manhattan.

You can see protesters linking arms against the windows, and those tents setup, Tensions escalating after police arrested about 300 people around Columbia University. These are some of the images from inside Hamilton Hall where protesters barricaded themselves inside for nearly 24 hours.

And now, we are monitoring the situation at UCLA. Were fights are breaking out between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counter protesters. People on the ground reporting last night that was tear gas and fireworks deployed inside that tent encampment at UCLA.

Josh Campbell is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At campuses across the country, once peaceful protests turning violent, most recently, unrest at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as police moved in to disperse protestors.

[19:30:06]

And at UCLA, protesters and counter-protesters coming head-to-head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They started trying to breach through the barricades. They then released fireworks on us.

CAMPBELL: After as many as 100 pro-Israel supporters stormed the pro- Palestinian encampment late Tuesday night, according to "The Daily Bruin".

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People that didn't go to school here that were causing the blood, violence that they were committee here, pipes, mace, this a couple of people had knives. They had bats. They had many different types of weapons.

CAMPBELL: What did you think seeing what took place here?

MEGHNA NAIR, UCLA STUDENT: So I just want really angry that these random people from outside were coming in here for purposely trying to disturb the protest, purposely trying to provoke people.

CAMPBELL: A Muslim civil rights group criticized the lack of police protection for college protesters.

In New York, a group of protesters, advised by veteran activists Lisa Fithian, who participated in protests including Occupy Wall Street.

The protests escalating as a group smashed their way into a campus building, scores of officers in riot gear entered the Columbia University campus late Tuesday.

New York's mayor calling out what he claims to be outside agitators.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: By external actors hijacking peaceful protests and influence students to escalate.

CAMPBELL: Portland State University's president saying now, only quote, non-students are occupying the campus library. A Jewish human rights organization is now calling for the FBI to intervene, citing campus extremism and asking the bureau to investigate clear ties to organize outside agitators.

There is no indication the FBI will be assuming a prominent role.

CHRIS WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We don't monitor protests, but we do share intelligence about specific threats of violence.

CAMPBELL: Now, some leaders seem to be running out of patients with campus demonstrations.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Those protests cannot be used as an excuse to spread antisemitism zoom in our communities or Islamophobia for that matter. I think universities have a responsibility to root that out.

Many colleges now increasing the presence of security officials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to unsure that students have their voice and that outside voices, which may be more radical, are not tied to what are in most cases legitimate students protest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (on camera): Now on those clashes here last night at UCLA, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, is calling for an investigation. She issued a statement writing in part: Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found arrested and prosecuted. Free speech will be protected. Violence and bigotry will not -- will not.

Now, you can see here on the campus where outside that encampment, one thing different than yesterday, Erin, is this large police presence. We've seen now nearly 100 different officers from various agencies who have come. Of course, this is a precarious time for law enforcement.

On one hand, some these protesters are saying we want the police to go away. We don't want them anywhere near the campus. Of course, on violent strikes, they'll call in the police. It's really fine line that the police are trying to walk to ensure that they don't inflame the situation, Erin.

BURNETT: Right, but these schools are calling them in.

Josh, thank you very much from UCLA.

OUTFRONT now, New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

And, Mayor Adams, we're seeing these growing demonstrations in New York again today. And the images of police in riot gear for Fordham University is now across the airwaves. Students set up an encampment there inside the school and that sort of elevated grassy area, large group of protesters cheering them on outside.

Are we going to see what happened at Columbia last night happened at Fordham?

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We are in communication with the officials at the school and when they make the determination, they would like to have this issue resolved. We're going to cooperate with them when 100 percent like we did at Fordham twice -- like we did at Columbia twice like we did at CUNY as well.

We spoke to one Columbia graduate student and, Mayor, she's not giving her full name, but she does be on camera here. She says she was there last night at Hamilton Hall at Columbia when the NYPD moved in and then she told us this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When NYPD came in, they push all press away from where we were so they couldn't document anything and then the ambushed us, they tackled us, they beat us. We're not going to stop and I think what administration did last night with the future mistake on them. This one added more fuel to the movement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Ambushed, tackled and beat. Do you know anything about that?

ADAMS: Well, we were very clear and the police was clear to video their actions inside and the police use minimum amount of restraint to ensure that they were able to get the individuals out of the building that they criminally into.

And when you look at the analysis of national independent news outlet, they use the terms of how much restraint, how well this was handled, how organized this was handled.

[19:35:08] The police department did their job, thousands of people outside on the streets. And, Erin, at the same time, we were dealing with at CUNY, a larger demonstrations where bottles were thrown, and items were thrown at police officers. Great deal of restraint we saw and I agree with those national outlets as stated, we showed that restraints.

BURNETT: So, you know, I visited that encampment, the day that Speaker Johnson was there, and obviously it was very peaceful at that point. Some of the concern at the time was that there may have been some -- people from outside the university, outside the gates who may have been instigating violence, but it was very unclear what was happening.

You have talked, Mayor, about the outside agitators at Columbia, people that you've referenced that you say have a known history of trying to create chaos and are not actually connected to Columbia University. At least at this point, I understand there were 300 people arrested last night.

Do you have any ability at this point to tell us how many of those were outside agitators and how many of them were students at Columbia University.

Well, I've always suspected that something was problematic when I first saw this and it wasn't until intelligence division gave me a briefing and confirm my concerns. We had clear evidence of training that was conducted by an outside agitator, that was not a student, do not believe on the campus.

In addition to that, we saw participate in and allowing people access to Hamilton hall, but we need to be clear on this, I received the letter from the school and in the letter from the school that asked us to come in, they said it was a clear and present danger and that they had outside individuals who were on the grounds participate in this activity.

So it was not only our observation for my intelligence division, but it was also to school officials who asked us to step in.

BURNETT: Are we going to ever get a breakdown from the mayor's office, from the NYPD on the breakdown though, of the 300, and how many were students and how many weren't?

ADAMS: Here's what we can do, we allow to do -- we are going to give the complete list of those who were arrested and turn it over to the school and the school will make the determination. We're not going to release student's name, but to school can make the determination of giving you a breakdown or turn him publicly of the difference between students and non-students. They will have the authorization to do so.

BURNETT: Mayor Adams, I don't know if you heard the former President Trump earlier today. He was not in court because today they didn't have court. He was out in the campaign trail and he praised the NYPD. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: It was a beautiful thing to watch New York's finest.

You saw him go up and ladders to breaking the windows and getting in and that's dangerous because you don't know what's on the other side of that window. And they went in, they knocked it out and they were incredible. They did a great job, New York's Finest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I assume on this, you agree with him.

ADAMS: There's no -- it's not the point of agreeing or disagreeing. I'm not going to put a split this moment as the election taking place. I'm going to stay on focus on one thing, protecting New York, as I did for 22 years as a police officer and I'm going to do it as a mayor of the city of New York.

BURNETT: All right. Mayor Adams, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

ADAMS: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, I'm going to talk to Suze Orman as interest rates are in 23-year high, mortgage rates double where they were just about 24 months ago. Suze will tell you whether she thinks it's better to buy or rent.

Plus, an OUTFRONT exclusive this hour, an inside look at the drones and missiles Iran used in its unprecedented attacks on Israel. We have a special report out from Tehran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:51]

BURNETT: New tonight, the fed, yet again, not lowering interest rates at its meeting, fueling fears that inflation is simply not going away anytime soon.

And the Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, even publicly admitted today that he is less optimistic than he was about getting it under control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD CHAIRMAN: I think my confidence in that is lower than it was because of the data that we've seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, he's being honest. It's just an honesty that sort of makes everybody blanche.

And it comes as consumer confidence has fallen to a 20 month -- 21- month low.

OUTFRONT now, Suze Orman, one of the world's best-known personal finance advisors and the founder of Secure Save and the host of "The Women and Money" podcast.

So, Suze, the Fed holds firm hormone interest rates. And Chairman Powell coming out and being honest -- I didn't like what I heard, but I'm glad he was honest that he feels less confident about getting inflation under control than he did.

So what do you tell people at home who are seeing this every day and prices and are really worried right now about this.

SUZE ORMAN, PERSONAL FINANCE ADVISOR: Well, what you have to get is that he actually came out, if you remember last November and saying there was going to be three or four cuts this year. Chances of there being a cut this year maybe they'll have one cut, probably not. We'll have to see.

But the people at home need to understand that regardless of what he's saying, look what's happening to your own bottom line, and you really have to decrease your expenses because things are getting more expensive. And we'll see what he can do.

I mean, he may have to come out here and actually raise interest rates to curb inflation, especially if oil goes up. So what do you do?

You just keep keeping your expenses under control. Make as much money as you can, and take advantage of these high interest rates in terms of treasuries or CDs to make sure that you have that income.

BURNETT: Right. I guess that's important to note the income, but the fact that that he could raise interest rates. I mean, that's a tough reality, but it's very much could be around reality. And you know, when you talk about the pain it's having on people, Susie, it's the real estate market.

I mean, I was saying what are the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage right now is above 7 percent. That's doubled in just less than two years.

[19:45:00]

I mean, it's incredible and people don't know what to do with buying a home or renting. I mean, there was a Bankrate great study for the 50 biggest metro areas in the United States, Suze. It found typical monthly mortgage payment is now more than $2,700 a month. But the typical monthly rental rate is less than $2,000.

So I look at that and I go, okay, renting is cheaper, just ignore this whole horrible housing market altogether. But you say not so fast?

ORMAN: So two things here. If you have the money, you have at least a down payment, you have an eight to 12 month emergency fund, you know, you could afford the insurance in the property taxes and the maintenance and you want to buy a home right now and you can afford it, maybe you should think about getting an adjustable rate mortgage, maybe a five and one, where it's fixed for five years in and adjust after that to every year for one year, it keeps going because it is a good chance that by then interest fates will have come down in adjustable-rate mortgages are almost one less than a fixed rate. So that if somebody wants to buy, that's what they should be thinking about.

Number two, should you rent? Should you buy? If you can afford to buy, you always buy because if you really look at it -- yes, I understand very well that it's more expensive to buy a home meant to rent a home, but you're renting a home or an apartment from somebody who owns it. And look at what has happened to the price of the properties that they own over the past years, it has gone up and up and up.

So, you have to think about that.

BURNETT: We have Schiller index actually to show this where they actually track it, Suze, right? This is 80 years of home prices and there's only six years that home prices have gone down?

ORMAN: And if you really look at the last six years when that happened, 2006, '07, '08, '09, why did that happen? That happened because no matter who you were, you could have gotten a mortgage. It was interest only, zero percent down. So those mortgages were in jeopardy when you lost your job, everybody then had to foreclose.

That's not what's happening today. Real estate is secure. People are not foreclosing think about it. I would rather own if I could than rent.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Suze Orman. Great to see you.

And next, our Fred Pleitgen with incredible and rare access to Iran's massive weapons program. He is in Tehran tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:55]

BURNETT: Tonight, Iran's offer to Americans. One of the country's oldest colleges, Shiraz University is offering scholarships to U.S. college students who have been expelled for protesting on college campuses. This comes as we're getting exclusive look missile program at Iran's missile program.

Our Fred Pleitgen is there. He has gained incredible and rare access to the exact missiles and drones that Iran is using to attack its enemies, including these, the missiles that Iran used to strike Israel.

Our Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT with this exclusive report from Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): When Iran attacked Israel in mid-April, we fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.

Developed by the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Forces.

So these two were used in Israel?

Now, the Revolutionary Guard showed us that of weapons they use to strike Israel, including two ballistic missiles, the Emad and Ghadr, with a range of more than 1,000 miles, able to carry about a half a ton warhead.

How accurate are these?

BRIG. GEN. ALI BELALI, ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CORPS: Accurate, less than five meters.

PLEITGEN: Less than five meters to its target.

BELALI: Yes.

PLEITGEN: Brigadier General Ali Belali was himself once a missile commander in the Revolutionary Guard. He says Iranian missiles managed to hit two targets in Israel, including an airbase in retaliation for the bombing of Iran's embassy compound in Syria.

While the U.S. and Israel claimed to have shot down nearly all of Iran's missiles and drones, the general says, Tehran showed the power of its aerospace forces.

Today, our drones and missiles have become an important factor of strength and the execution of power in the world, he says.

He also showed us this cruise missile, a type also used in the strikes and arguably currently the most infamous drone in the world, the Shahed 136.

Can you show me? I had never seen the Shahed warhead before?

BELALI: Penetration and it explodes in the inside out --

PLEITGEN: Until the missile and then it explodes. OK.

While the Iranians acknowledged using Shahed against Israel, the U.S. and Ukraine accused Tehran of also giving hundreds of these drones to Russia. Moscow using them to attack Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. The Iranians continue to deny those accusations. The general tells me the Shaheds attack in swarms, often fired off secretly from unmarked trucks like this one.

Everything is preprogrammed, he says. The flight route is chosen according to the enemy's capabilities, and blind spots of radars and all the elements that can help us reach the target.

While tensions between Iran and Israel have somewhat eased after they traded direct military blows for the first time, the general warns Iran has even more modern weapons at its disposal.

That only path for them is to have logical and wise negotiations with us, he says.

[19:55:03]

In our defense capabilities, we don't depend on anyone. We've had good progress in this field and we will progress more. There are achievements that have not yet been talked about.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.

And, Ambassador Markarova, I'm glad to see you.

We just saw in Fred's reporting there from Tehran, Russia using Iranian-made drones, and they're using them to kill Ukrainians, to destroy critical infrastructure in your country. Thousands and thousands of those drones launched by Russia.

How involved is Iran right now, Ambassador, in helping Russia in its war against your country?

OKSANA MARKAROVA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, Erin, for having me.

Well, in fact, the wrong is willful and very active participant of this war by providing Russia Iranian drones, by producing them together. They actually have already created the co-productions facilities in Russia. So very much involved and we just have to be very loud and clear that Iran, together with North Korea, already for this axis of evil, of not only attacking and killing Ukrainians, but also we see that this technologies are then used against Israel and against anyone else. So we have to stop all of them.

BURNETT: Ambassador, Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene is speaking out. She, of course, has been getting now very public praise on Russian state television primarily because of her opposition to Ukrainian aid and she continues to speak out on this issue.

I wanted to play for you, her criticizing members of her own party who joined Democrats to finally, finally send that $61 billion aid package to Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: The uniparty is make Ukraine great again, the uniparty is all about funding every single foreign war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURETT: She even had a hat made instead of MAGA. It's MUGA, not make America great, making Ukraine great again.

What do you say to that, to Republicans like her, who are dead set against the U.S. supporting Ukraine? MARKAROVA: Well, let me say thank you to everyone who supported us, Democrats and Republicans in this very important fight and just say once again that by providing the so much needed assistance to us, America is not funding the war. It's actually funding our defense and efforts, which will lead us to peace because its very clear Ukraine was always peaceful.

We never wanted to attack Russia. It's Russia that is aggressor, terrorist state here. And they not only challenge our border, they challenge the rules when which, you know, the international order is -- was standing after the World War II. And they challenge the values which are sacred values for both of our countries -- freedom, democracy, dignity, sovereignty.

We are defending our homes like any American would do.

BURNETT: President Zelenskyy was just with the NATO secretary general. And he spoke out about his frustration about the speed with which Ukraine's Western allies are actually delivering the military aid. So, not the promises of the aid or the money set aside, but the actual delivering of the aid itself. Listen to him, Ambassador.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Timely support for our army. Today, I don't see anything positive on this point yet. There are supplies, they have slightly begun. This process needs to be sped up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Ambassador, how much are these delays actually hurting Ukraine on the battlefield? Can, can you help us tangibly understand what's happening?

MARKAROVA: Very much. Erin, very much hurt us not only on the battlefield. On the battlefield, we see a very difficult situation. I mean, we are fighting, we're holding the line when active defense, but of course when you run out of ammunition, even the best soldiers cannot defend the country without the ammunition.

But also, Erin, you interviewed President Zelenskyy in Odesa. And unfortunately, the delay in getting more interceptors for air defense, you see just a couple of hours ago, a horrible attack on Odesa, 13 people injured, just a postal office. Two days ago, again horrible attack on Odesa using a missile with a cluster head against civilians.

BURNETT: Cluster ammunitions, yes.

MARKAROVA: We just see it over and over again in Odesa, in Kharkiv, all peaceful cities, but also on the front line. That's why it's so good that Congress supported this legislation. We are so grateful for it. But the work is not over with this. It actually just begins.

And we have to turn it as soon as possible into air defense, and all they needed capabilities in order to be able to get them to Ukraine as soon as possible.

BURNETT: Ambassador Markarova, thank you very much for your time tonight.

MARKAROVA: Thank you.

BURNETT: And thanks so much to all of you for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.