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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
GOP Aide Calls Rep. Miller's CNN Interview an "Epic Disaster"; Speaker Johnson Calls for "Process to Play Out" with Rep. Miller; Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA); Armed Man Arrested at Trump's California Golf Course Ahead of President's Visit; Trump Loyalist, Michael Lindell, Seeks the Republican Nomination for Governor of Minnesota Without the Party's Backing; A.I. Models Tried to Deceive Human in Security Test, U.K. Security Institute Says; Meta Investigating How Its A.I. Model Hacked Another Company; Anthropic Reacts to Report Its Models Went Rogue During Security Test Says the Models Were Tested Under Deliberately Permissive Conditions. Aired 8- 9p ET
Aired August 05, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): ... behind the broken door. The new occupants insist it was a legitimate sale and that they never even met the seller.
It means the money and the widow, just like Maria's Dad, are now long gone.
Matthew Chance, CNN in Saint Petersburg.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Tragedy on top of what is already a tragic war. Matthew Chance, thank you so much and thank you all so much for joining us. I'm Kate Bolduan. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:36]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Tonight, Republican Congressman Max Miller is defiant in the face of a growing chorus of calls for him to step down and some of those calls are coming from inside the building, the Capitol, the Republican side. John Berman here, in for Anderson.
And reached by phone today, Congressman Miller said, "I'm not going anywhere," indicating that he is staying in his reelection race despite domestic abuse allegations against him. Allegations that he denies. Congressman Miller's interview with Jake Tapper continues to reverberate around the Halls of Congress across the country and throughout Miller's district in Ohio.
We're going to play just one exchange from this 23-minute discussion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: There is a police report from the suspected child abuse incident in February involving your daughter. And that report details that the child protection team says that your child had a right clavicle fracture and "a bruise that accompanies the injury that appears to be in a handprint and appears to have been inflicted."
Now, your ex-wife stated to police that your child told her in the days leading up to the discovery of the injury, "Daddy, kill you." And your ex-wife also said your child had said, "Daddy angry, and Daddy's house is scary."
Now, according to your wife, your daughter articulated these statements to Children and Family Services. So, can you explain why your child may have said those things?
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): Jake, I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. She can't string together sentences like that. She's two- and-a-half years old. She doesn't have the ability to articulate any of what you just said. That is an entire fabrication of the truth. I have actual video. Actual documentation --
TAPPER: But didn't you just tell me that --
MILLER: I have been through two investigators --
TAPPER: -- you just told me that she had said that she was scared to go to Mommy's house --
MILLER: She is, And I have video of it.
TAPPER: But now you're saying that she's not capable of saying "Daddy kill you" I mean, it seems like she's either able to say one, but not the other. That doesn't make sense.
MILLER: Jake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That one Republican aide on Capitol Hill, in reaction to Miller's interview, texted, "I had a feeling this wouldn't go well for him, but it's actually much worse than bad, epic disaster." That was a Republican. So, was this a GOP strategist texted, "I mean, what the absolute eff was that?"
Late today, Miller's former father-in-law, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, who has already called for Miller to step down, had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): I wish he cared about figuring out how to solve his family issues as much as he cares about his political career. This has obviously been atrocious. You know, someday we're all going to have to explain this to a little girl, what happened. Hopefully she understands it had nothing to do with her. My daughter is completely focused on being a mom. And if you know anybody that's ever been through any abuse situation, it's not just the physical abuse, it's the mental abuse. And by having this all out in the public like this, she's reliving that emotional abuse on steroids. And so, to watch this media tour that he feels he needs to do for my daughter, it's gut wrenching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And late tonight, another Republican Senator is calling for Miller to resign. Katie Britt from Alabama, telling the news site, Semafor, "When you watch those interviews, if you have ever had anyone in your life that has experienced abuse, they were eerie."
Now all that, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson finally broke his silence on the Miller saga in an interview released today by POLITICO. His message " Let me just launch house ethics investigation into Miller play out."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We don't take disciplinary action against members for allegations. He is vehemently denying this, in his own words, a nasty divorce proceeding. And it's gotten ugly and it's gotten public. But he's saying the same things privately to members that he is publicly, that he denies all this, and he thinks it's a hit job on him.
DASHA BURNS, POLITICO: Will you tell him to drop out?
JOHNSON: No, I will tell Max what I tell everyone. These are serious allegations. I'm the father of two daughters who work on Capitol Hill. I mean, the allegations are serious. I think Max is taking them seriously. I think our colleagues are. But again, we have to allow this process to play out. It's just begun.
BURNS: I mean, the President called him Max Miller said this, that the President called him and told him, you know, things aren't looking good for you.
JOHNSON: Well, I mean, they don't look good right now, of course. But again, like, what should a Speaker do in this case? I mean, I call out alarming behavior. I try to work every day on decorum and on the Ethics of the House. We have a very active and engaged Ethics Committee. They've done more work than they need to that I wish it wasn't necessary but there's been a lot in this Congress on both sides of the aisle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:23]
BERMAN: A full investigation by the house ethics committee can take months or even years, long past the deadline of Monday, August 10th, to put anyone else's name on the ballot for November's election other than Max Miller. Now, another Republican Congressman, Chuck Edwards from North Carolina, was investigated by the House Ethics Committee starting in late April for allegations of sexual harassment allegations that he denies. That committee just released their report this week, finding that he repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two of his female staffers. The committee recommended that he be censured.
Today, he announced he was abandoning his reelection bid at a very competitive district. He posted, "After much prayer and reflection, I have decided to withdraw from my reelection campaign. I will complete my current term."
There is a third House Republican, Cory Mills of Florida, who is facing disturbing allegations and a House Ethics investigation, in part for allegedly assaulting one woman and threatening to disseminate sexually explicit videos and images of another woman.
Now, Mills denies any wrongdoing. He has a primary just a few weeks away. All of this does have anxiety rising in the Republican Party for fears that they could lose seats because of mounting scandals, and they could maybe potentially lose control of the House.
Let's start with CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Manu, what are you hearing from Republicans? How many are saying what Katie Britt is saying, that Max Miller should resign?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, frankly, John, not many. In fact, perhaps one big reason why is that the House has not been in session for the last couple of weeks, and a lot of house members simply have not been posed the question because they're back home in their districts, or they're campaigning or they're on vacation. And the Speaker Of The House breaking his silence there, saying that the ethics process should play out.
That ethics process, meaning the House Ethics Committee investigation could take months, could take longer than months. Who knows if Max Miller will still be a member of Congress by the time that that wraps up. And then on the other side of the Capitol, senators rarely weigh in on members issues involving members of the House.
Oftentimes, they steer clear of it. Some of them decided to do so, like Katie Britt today, others have joined calls for resignation. Others simply are not following the issue at least they say they aren't, and one of them, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, went a little further today than he did yesterday when I asked Thune about whether he agrees with Senator Bernie Moreno that his time for Max Miller to resign. He initially called it a family matter, something up for House members and House members to deal with their own voters. But then he went on today to say that there's a lot of speculation and swirl, and this unpleasantness probably could end, and suggesting that may mean resignation. He didn't go as far as calling for resignation there. But, John, you're seeing a lot of members dealing with a lot of different ways.
But one thing is clear, there is a lot of concern that if Miller stays in this race, which he told me today, that he absolutely will, that they could lose a seat that had been reliably Republican for quite some time.
BERMAN: Separately, Manu, what is the status of the nomination of Todd Blanche to become Attorney General? Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, has already said she is a no vote. Where do some other senators on the fence sit?
RAJU: Yes, there are two Republican Senators that we are watching very, very closely because if they vote no, that is the end of Todd Blanche's nomination to be the next Attorney General of the United States. Those two Republican Senators, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, they met behind closed doors in a small office in the basement of the Capitol earlier this evening for more than an hour. I was outside that meeting. They eventually came out. They refused to comment at all, saying, not saying one way or the other where they were leaning, what they were concerned about, what they were torn over. But there are a variety of issues that they have raised in the past over the Justice Department, over Todd Blanche's stewardship of it.
The question will be Lisa Murkowski, someone who is not who is known to break with the President not so infrequently, she has done so repeatedly. Will she do so here? And Bill Cassidy, someone who President Trump, of course, endorsed his primary foe earlier this year. That primary vote defeated Bill Cassidy. Cassidy returned to the United States Senate, has broken with the President from an issue, some issues, but also, John, he has fallen in line after pressure from this White House, even after losing his primary campaign.
So, a lot is on the line here. We expect a vote before the end of the week. In just moments ago, I asked John Thune if he's confident, he has the votes, and he wouldn't say so -- John.
BERMAN: All right, that's interesting. Manu Raju on the Hill tonight. Work in the Senators there. Thank you very much.
I want to bring former special assistant to President George W, Bush, Scott Jennings and Executive Committee Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee, Christine Quinn, thank you both so much for being here tonight.
You know, Scott, last night, you know, we were talking about Max Miller and you said you think, frankly, the people of Ohio could get a better candidate at this point than Max Miller. So why then the response from Mike Johnson, why not come out and say something more definitive in just lean on the House Ethics Committee?
Ive heard that John Boehner, when he was Speaker, Pat Ryan when he was Speaker, Paul Ryan, excuse me, when he was speaker, that they would have come out more strongly than he did.
[20:10:31]
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think Speaker Johnson is an institutionalist, and that's the way the institution works. There's an Ethics Committee and by the way, it does issue findings.
BERMAN: Not quickly.
JENNINGS: No, but those findings do result in consequences quite often. Look what happened to Edwards today as was noted. So, he's not wrong about that. It's just in this particular case; there's a truncated timeline for dealing with this in Ohio.
So, I don't fault him for supporting the levers of his institution that he leads. That shouldn't stop other Republicans from saying what we all know to be true right now, which is at a personal level, if you have children and you're watching this unfold, you know what the right thing to do is. And there are some political operatives out there saying what's also obvious as a political matter, this puts a Republican seat at risk.
But the real issue here is I just keep watching this, thinking about the child, the mother and look, I know Bernie Moreno. He is a good man and he cares so deeply about his daughter and that grandchild and you can tell how broken their family is. All politics aside, they ought to listen to Bernie. He knows what's going on, and he knows what's right to do here.
BERMAN: Why is it just Senator Katie Britt then coming out so far among Republicans who seem if they're in town and I know the House really isn't, but to be treating this as some sort of trick question, and I'm not sure it is.
JENNINGS: Well, it's not a trick question, although none of those people individually are at the top of the party. They're members of the party. And I think their opinions matter. And certainly, even President Trump, who is at the top of the party, has expressed, at least privately, to Miller, his opinion about this.
BERMAN: Certainly not publicly.
JENNINGS: Not publicly yet. It might be time to do it, to be honest. And maybe he will. And there's still a few days to go here, and we'll see how this unfolds. I know he remains defiant, but it was hard to, sort of hard to look at the details and hard to watch that interview with Jake and walk away from that going, yes, everything's going to turn out fine. I think any reasonable person watching that knows that's not the case.
CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: Not only did President Trump not come out and say he should step down, he said, today, I feel badly for him. He didn't comment on his ex-wife. He didn't comment as you did on the daughter and all of what this will mean to her as she grows up and the trauma right now. He commented that he felt badly for him. That shows clearly the President is not looking at this in the right way as the real tragedy that this is, and instead looking at it either through politics or personal relationships.
BERMAN: Let's play a little more of the interview that Jake did with max miller, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MILLER: I have the utmost confidence that my constituents back home know me. This race is a home race. This isn't about what the national media thinks. This isn't about what people in California or New York or Florida think about what goes on in Ohio 7. What you're going to see here, Jake, is that I am going to be successful in this November because my constituents know who I am, and they also know who my ex- father-in-law is. And they also know who my ex-wife is. And that's why you've seen people aren't running from me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I mean, really, he seems --
QUINN: It's horrible.
BERMAN: Yes.
QUINN: I mean, it is horrible. Okay, you're involved in a terrible divorce and some divorces get bitter, but you have a child together with your ex-wife, and you are going to attack her and that child's grandfather on television like that, you're going to repeatedly say that her -- the issues and the allegations she's brought forward are because she's mentally ill, which is quite literally a classic thing that every abuser tries to do to women is discredit them as being mentally ill. I mean, that's just horrible on a human level, it is horrible.
And on a political level, rightfully so, Republicans criticized us, Democrats for not being out there on Graham Platner quickly enough and that was a fair criticism. So, I find it the height of hypocrisy right now that we're not seeing more Republicans coming out and saying that Miller should step down and get out of the race, just as they rightfully did with Platner.
BERMAN: What about that? I mean, because Democrats, some of them were slow, although they ultimately did come around on Platner. Is that going to happen in the next three days?
JENNINGS: Look, I think the truth is a lot of people are waiting to see what the President does here. He's the head of the party. And although we know what's happened privately, nothing has happened publicly yet. And a lot of Republicans will take their cues from him.
I mean, if you look at the reporting on it, it's obvious that The White House and people around the President are hoping and pressuring this situation to try to get an outcome here. But I suspect that a lot of Republicans are waiting to see how President Trump wants to play it.
[20:15:09]
BERMAN: Quickly, on the Todd Blanche nomination process, waiting to hear from Murkowski and Cassidy, they would both theoretically have to vote no. Do you think that they might vote against Todd Blanche?
QUINN: Oh, absolutely. Look, if you're Cassidy, you owe the President less than nothing, right? And I mean, he largely the President is responsible for him not winning in his primary. So, there's nothing really compelling him, given the concerns he has. And Murkowski has put out a lot of concerns and has been said she not infrequently goes against the President. So, this is going to be an incredible nail biter for the President.
BERMAN: Quick prediction.
JENNINGS: I don't know. Neither of these people owe President Trump anything. I personally would vote for Todd Blanche. I think he's a good man, but they're in a different political situation than me sitting here at CNN.
BERMAN: At least right now. Scott Jennings, Christine Quinn, thank you both for being here.
Progressive firebrand Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan. But can he win in November? We are going to speak to a Progressive Leader in Congress about that next.
And later, new details after authorities say an armed man was arrested outside Trump National Golf Club in Southern California, days before the President was set to arrive.
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[20:20:33]
BERMAN: Some colorful language from President Trump late this afternoon as he attacked progressive Abdul El-Sayed after El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When I watch Abdul, he's full of (bleep)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Dr. El-Sayed won a tight race, a lot tighter than most people thought it would be. The margin of victory, less than one point. He defeated the candidate backed by the Democratic establishment, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, now when El-Sayed addressed supporters this morning, he said, "in the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: What we showed is that if you're willing to build a movement brick by brick, if you're willing to go and travel your state and have the conversations and rooms big and small, starting in moments when people aren't even paying attention to an election but are paying attention to the price of gas and the price of groceries, and the price of housing, and the price of healthcare that you can build a conversation that builds into a movement that defeats Goliath. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Abdul El-Sayed will now face Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers in the general election this November.
Now, Congressman Ro Khanna endorsed Abdul El-Sayed back in July, and we spoke to him shortly before air.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: So, Congressman, this was a significant win for the progressive wing of the party, but not a sizable one, right? I mean, less than one percent, separated the two candidates. So, what is the tightness of the race that incredibly slim margin. What message does that send for those looking for answers about what direction the Democratic Party should go in?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): First of all, it's a historic win to have someone of Abdul's background, a Muslim faith wins in a swing state. It should send a message to people across this country that regardless of their faith, their identity, they can do everything in America.
His message on Medicare-for-All and free healthcare in the wealthiest country in the world resonated. But we do need to build a broad tent, and Haley Stevens and I work together in the Obama administration. She did a lot to rebuild manufacturing. That message resonated in some of the working class and industrial towns. And so, we need to have a broad economic vision. I call it economic patriotism that combines Medicare for all, free healthcare, free child care and taxes on wealth with an industrial policy and a policy of reindustrialization for this country.
BERMAN: So, Dr. El-Sayed's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has already released a statement calling him an extremist. There are Republicans now referring to Doctor by his full name, which is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, feels a lot like when President Trump and others refer to former president Obama as Barack Hussein Obama. What do you think they are doing this for, and do you think or how to what extent do you think this kind of tactic will work in a general election?
KHANNA: We have to rise above it. Look, my full name is Rohit. I go by Ro. I still remember when I was in little league, people would chant "Roe can't hit." And every time I tell that story, people chuckle. This is a decent country. It's a country that's open to people of different backgrounds. And I think those kinds of attacks will backfire. What we need to focus on is not our own biographies, but what we're going to do for people. And Abdul needs to talk about what he's going to do to deliver healthcare, to tax billionaire wealth, to create industrial jobs and the jobs of the future.
BERMAN: My full name is John, and I always thought it was super boring, and I hate when people call me it. Congressman Khanna, I want to play for you something that Dr. El-Sayed said this morning on MS NOW and get your thoughts about it, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EL-SAYED: I just think we need to treat Israel the way we would treat any other country who behaved the way that Israel is behaving. I understand that Netanyahu is a big reason why they've gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty under his reign. But I also understand that it's impossible for us to say that we want a two-state solution while we've been aiding and abetting the very people who have been trying to foreclose on the possibility of a Palestinian State.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, in response, one of your former Democratic House colleagues, Ted Deutch, who is now CEO of the American Jewish Committee, he wrote on social media, "You can't claim to stand with the Jewish Community and then immediately call an entire nation of Jews bloodthirsty. This demonizing language is exactly why Jews across America don't feel safe."
So, what's your response to that criticism?
KHANNA: I went to Israel with Ted Deutch and Speaker Pelosi in 2019. I believe what we can say is that the government of Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, that we need a Palestinian State, that we need an end to the occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, but that we need a secure Israel as a Jewish Democratic State, and that that should be the vision towards peace. And it's a hard thing. Previous generations have struggled for it. But my hope is a new generation will be able to make progress for a just peace.
[20:25:37]
BERMAN: I think the Congressman, Ted Deutch, former congressman, was referring to the use of the phrase bloodthirsty as coded language, perhaps for Jews. Did it sound like that to you?
KHANNA: I don't believe that was Abdul's intent in any way, but it's not a phrase that I would use. I mean, we have to figure out a way forward in this world. And what I want to see is how do we create a Palestinian State? How do we end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza? How do we hold those accountable, both on October 7th, Hamas, a terrorist organization that committed an awful attack, and the government of Israel that ended up killing 19,000 children in Gaza and have accountability but move forward. But I don't think using those kinds of phrases is going to help us get to a just peace and my interest is in getting to a just peace.
BERMAN: Congressman Ro Khanna from California, we do appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much.
KHANNA: Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Up next, new details on a man arrested outside a Trump Golf Course in California. Authorities say he was armed days before the President was set to arrive there. And the new pivot by Mike Lindell, My Pillow founder and loyalist of President Trump as he seeks the Republican nomination for governor in Minnesota in a crowded field without the backing of the party. But with the President's support.
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[20:31:02]
BERMAN: New information tonight on the arrest of a man authorities say was armed and outside Trump National Golf Club in Southern California on Sunday, just days before President Trump was scheduled to be there.
Now according to investigators, the suspect was apprehended with ammunition and a public telephone number for the White House on him while apparently taking pictures and videos of agents' security planning. Investigators say they also recovered an illegally modified AR-style rifle, a gold-colored badge, body armor, high-capacity magazines, and notebooks with "concerning statements" from the suspect's home.
Let's carry to CNN' Nick Watt for the very latest on this. Nick, what more have you learned about the man and what he was doing at this golf course?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well John, we know that he was first at the golf course Friday. He was seen with an earpiece in his ear, looking suspicious, walking around and taking pictures of the early stages of the security preparations for President Trump's visit. Now, the president's visit wasn't made widely public until Monday.
Did this guy know ahead of time that Trump was coming? We do not yet know that. Now, he was back Sunday and employees of the golf course saw him and alerted federal officials and said, hey, the guy's back. Now, apparently, this man, Taele, actually approached the federal agents and said, I'm with the State Department. I'm here for the security detail. Now, raised eyebrows all around as you can imagine, then a quick security check.
They found he had a warrant for a robbery. They patted him down and they found this 16-round magazine with hollow head ammunition in it in his pants' pocket. They then looked at his car, which was parked in the parking lot. They found a loaded pistol, this badge that read security protection agent. So, it's really unclear. Now, he lived pretty nearby in the city of Downey.
Did he happen to pass by and see some action at the golf club and go in to see what was going on? John, we just don't yet know.
BERMAN: So, they haven't or have they concluded yet if this man was planning to attack the president?
WATT: No, they have not. Now, you know, they searched this house and they found some pretty disturbing things. They found, you know, a modified -- illegally modified AR-15, a lot more ammunition, body armor, another law enforcement badge, and these notebooks that they say had concerning statements written in them.
Now, they have not elaborated on what those concerning statements related to. Were they related to President Trump? You know, Andy McCabe was on air earlier saying that if they did relate to the president, perhaps that would have been released by now. It hasn't. Now, this guy was supposed to be in court today on a federal firearms charge. Four local charges, firearms and the robbery, he's pleaded not guilty to all of that.
He was supposed to be in court today. We hoped we would find out a little bit more about what was going on. He did not appear and we have not had an appearance rescheduled. So, John, we just don't yet know whether this was a legitimate threat to the president or if this was perhaps somebody with some mental health issues who maybe had the intent, but not the wherewithal, to launch any sort of attack. John, we just don't know yet.
BERMAN: Some important clarifications there. Nick Watt, thank you so much for that reporting. I want to bring in former Secret Service Agent, Jonathan Wackrow now.
Now, Jonathan, what do you make of these details that we've learned that Nick was just reporting? And also, you know, is this an example of the Secret Service protection working the way it's supposed to?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, let me take the last part. Yes, the Secret Service protection worked the way it is designed and intended. But you really have to take a look at -- this is what exactly what the Secret Service has been warning about.
It's an environment where the volume and velocity of threats, specifically towards the President of the United States, is really unprecedented. You look at the numbers that the Secret Service recently released where the run rate this year is about 10,000 open cases around protective intelligence.
[20:35:00]
That's staggering. It's a 40 percent increase year-over-year. So you take that as the context. Now you take this case, this is the operational consequence of that threat environment that they're operating in. When you look at the behavior of this individual, multiple sightings over time and distance, that's a concern for the Secret Service.
You look at what his behavior was on the grounds. He was really mimicking what we would call pre-attack surveillance or planning, taking pictures of the security structure that's being built out. But this case really got serious when they searched the house. When you saw that notebook with concerning language in there, you saw the ammunition, the rifle combined with the gun, all of this, when you take it in totality, is really concerning from a threat perspective for the Secret Service against the president.
I don't believe in consequences, like, I don't think that this person just happened to be there. BERMAN: Coincidence, yeah.
WACKROW: Yeah, I mean coincidences, that he just happened to be there. There's a lot of red flags.
BERMAN: So what's going on behind the scenes then to get from all these ingredients that might be concerning and sound very concerning in and of themselves to charges that might be connected to an attempt or planning an attempt on the president's life? What do you need?
WACKROW: So let's see what we have -- what we know right now is we have the behavior that I just described. We have capabilities. We know this individual is able to acquire weapons and ammunition. What we don't have yet is intent, and that's what the law is going to look for. Does the behavior and the capabilities of this individual tie to some sort of intent?
And that's going to be found in those concerning -- the language that's in those notebooks or other things in his digital history, his online profile. Is he connected to groups? Does he have animus towards the president? Has he said, I am going to attack or harm the president in any way? That's when you make that leap into really what the U.S. Attorney's Office is going to look at is 18 USC 1751, which deals with assassination and assassination attempts towards the president.
You have to have that means, opportunity, and the clear intent that his actions were directed towards harming the president.
BERMAN: What did you say, a threat environment right now, some 40 times the normal?
WACKROW: It's a 40 percent increase year-over-year.
BERMAN: 40 percent.
WACKROW: And also, the profile of this individual really does match what we're seeing with the Secret Service, that they're looking at these lone actors, right? We always talk about organized groups and nation states that would be harming and attacking the President of the United States, but here, increasingly, it's that lone actor that is really hard to identify and stop.
The Secret Service did a great job this time.
BERMAN: Well, the process play out, maybe we'll learn more in the coming days. Jonathan Wackrow, thank you very much for that.
Next, MyPillow Founder and Trump loyalist, Michael Lindell, announces a big change as he seeks the Republican nomination for governor of Minnesota without the party's backing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:42:08]
BERMAN: MyPillow Founder and President Trump loyalist, Mike Lindell has announced he is stepping down as CEO of the company, his company, to focus on his bid for governor of Minnesota with one week to go until the primary there.
Lindell shared on X, quote, "I'm putting Minnesota above myself, my title, and my business interests so I can give this campaign and the people of our state my full-time energy and attention." Lindell, who pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and then got into legal trouble for it, has the backing of the president but not the state's Republican Party.
Our Donie O'Sullivan recently caught up with him and this is his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's like we're going in to meet Willy Wonka.
O'SULLIVAN: Good to see you.
MIKE LINDELL, MYPILLOW FOUNDER: I'll tell you what Steve Bannon just called you.
O'SULLIVAN: Why did he call me this time?
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): I've come to Minnesota to meet MyPillow Founder, Mike Lindell, at his pillow factory.
LINDELL: So this is our outlet store.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Today, Lindell is perhaps better known as a prolific election conspiracy theorist.
O'SULLIVAN: I'm dreaming of free and fair election.
(LAUGH)
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Now the MyPillow man is running for governor of Minnesota.
LINDELL: Now there it is, huh? People can be coming up, picking up on governor signs, yeah.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): I first met Mike Lindell five years ago at his so-called cyber symposium, an event he organized where he said he would prove that the 2020 election was stolen by China.
O'SULLIVAN: If you're correct, if you have that evidence --
LINDELL: No, just forget about the evidence. If I'm right that China took our country, right now, do you care? Would that bother you? Would that bother you?
O'SULLIVAN: But you have to show the proof first, right?
LINDELL: No, would -- O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The proof never materialized but Lindell is still fixated on election conspiracy theories and is a firm fixture in the MAGA Media universe.
STEVE BANNON, MEDIA EXECUTIVE, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Mike Lindell, you're from the factory floor today.
LINDELL: We're now in our big factory sale but in a little bit, CNN's coming here. We're getting set up. Your old pal Donie is coming in from Ireland.
BANNON: Donie the dirtbag.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Staff from his streaming channel, LindellTV are now even part of the White House press corps.
CARA CASTRONUOVA, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, LINDELLTV: Will you guys also consider releasing the president's fitness plan? He actually looks healthier than ever before.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can confirm the president is in very good shape.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Lindell's loyalty to Trump has paid off. The president endorsed him for governor ahead of the Minnesota Republican primary. But before Trump's endorsement, the Minnesota GOP had already backed a candidate for governor and it was not Mike Lindell.
O'SULLIVAN: Obviously, it complicates things when the leader of your party nationally is endorsing a different candidate than the one the state party has chosen here, puts you in an awkward spot.
ALEX PLECHASH, MINNESOTA GOP CHAIRMAN: Yes, it did but that's OK. That's politics. We're always in awkward spots. Our endorsed candidate is Kendall Qualls, a very high-quality individual with a great background.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But Mike Lindell seems to be leading in the polls right now.
[20:45:00]
PLECHASH: Depends on which poll you look at and so on. But Mike Lindell is certainly a player, certainly after he got the endorsement from President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good, sir.
LINDELL: Hi, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike, it's such a pleasure. I'm such a huge fan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm praying for you.
LINDELL: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.
LINDELL: You never got a picture from CNN, did you?
(LAUGH)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we didn't.
LINDELL: That's five years later, Donie.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): For people who might say, you know what, Mike seems like a good guy, but I'm worried that if he becomes governor, he's just going to be worried about all this election stuff.
LINDELL: Right, and that's a good question you got, Donie. Well, you've gotten better after five years. What is going on?
(LAUGH)
O'SULLIVAN: Thank you (ph).
LINDELL: This is the honest-to-God truth. No matter if I would win, someone else would win, I always question anything done with the electronic voting machine.
O'SULLIVAN: If you don't win, are you going to say, this was rigged, this was stolen?
LINDELL: No, this is what I'm trying to tell you. But you know, see, I still see you don't listen even after five years.
O'SULLIVAN: No, I'm listening, but I think that's the question.
LINDELL: Listen to what I'm saying, what I'm saying is this, we have -- not just in Minnesota, we have now the technology and we've gotten the word out.
O'SULLIVAN: But election officials all over the country say, but we have audits, we verify votes.
LINDELL: No, no, they don't, and this is where you're wrong.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Even after the voting technology company, Smartmatic, won a defamation case against Lindell, he's still convinced of the conspiracy theories about the company and about voting machines in general.
(APPLAUSE)
LINDELL: Donald Trump was winning the election by a landslide, and then of course, all these deviations pop up. My teams were down there when they tested the Dominion machine.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Some of Lindell's supporters share his concerns about elections.
O'SULLIVAN: Why would Mike Lindell make a good governor of Minnesota? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he would take care of the machine, get rid of it, go to election integrity, gold standard, paper ballot, hand count.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): If Americans have learned anything from the politics of the past decade, it's to not rule anyone out.
O'SULLIVAN: Ten years ago, people laughed at and said, Trump could never be president. Now, in Minnesota, you got a millionaire that people laugh at, say he's absurd, that this guy could never be governor.
LINDELL: Only $14.88, I can't believe I'm even saying that.
O'SULLIVAN: Can you understand the appeal of Mike Lindell?
PLECHASH: Oh, certainly I can. I mean, I said the comparison with Trump is a very good one. And here he is president for the second time. So anything is possible in politics.
O'SULLIVAN: So if Mike Lindell wins the primary, you'll get behind Mike Lindell?
PLECHASH: Of course, we will. That's what the party does.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): It's easy to forget that before he was an election conspiracy theorist, here in Minnesota, Mike Lindell was known as a success story.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you have a MyPillow?
PLECHASH: I actually do.
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah? You sleep in a MyPillow?
PLECHASH: More than one.
(LAUGH)
O'SULLIVAN: You like them?
PLECHASH: Yes, they're very good.
(LAUGH)
O'SULLIVAN: Do you think you can beat Senator Klobuchar?
LINDELL: Absolutely.
O'SULLIVAN: Really?
LINDELL: Absolutely. I'm the only one that can beat him.
(CROSSTALK)
O'SULLIVAN: Will you debate her? LINDELL: Minnesota wants to be -- of course, you know me, bring it on, Amy. Are you kidding? I'd love to debate her every day.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Donie for that.
We do have Breaking News in the artificial intelligence space. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is confirming their A.I. model, Muse Spark, hacked another company's systems. This new revelation comes just one day after a shocking report from the British A.I. Security Institute that found Anthropic's most advanced A.I. model used fake identities to try and deceive real people and plant malicious code during a test.
It also found unsanctioned actions from an OpenAI model. This after both OpenAI and Anthropic reported in July that their A.I. models had breached other systems during earlier testing. If you're keeping track, it all sounds like it's going really well.
And we're counting four different disclosures of A.I. models gone rogue. Hadas Gold, who covers this so well, is here to explain it all. Let's just start with this latest Meta incident. What happened here?
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, another day, another A.I. model doing something it's not supposed to. In this case, Meta just disclosed this evening that during cybersecurity testing, one of its A.I. models got access to the internet in a way it wasn't supposed to, and it breached into another company's system. The information which first reported this said that the model made changes to the other company's internal system.
We don't know which company it is. This is all breaking tonight. Meta says this was a misconfiguration by Irregular. It's an independent testing company that Meta uses to test, cybersecurity test their A.I. models. And Irregular says there's no current open issues with this, and they're actually working on a white paper to share best practices for containment of these A.I. models.
BERMAN: You come in the morning and scare the hell out of us with all the stuff that's going on.
(LAUGH)
BERMAN: I literally had to ask you, wait a second, this is different --
GOLD: Different.
BERMAN: -- than what you've been telling us about with the Anthropic and OpenAI cases. What was going on there?
GOLD: Yeah, I mean, this technology is developing at such a rapid pace that we are getting new information day by day. So just yesterday, the U.K.'s government A.I. Security Institute revealed that during cyber testing of both Anthropic and OpenAI models, they found unsanctioned actions by these models.
[20:50:00]
In the most severe case, one of the models, which was an Anthropic model, wanted to publish malicious code on GitHub, which is essentially the Wikipedia of software code. And in order to try to convince the human editor, they made up several fake identities, several fake accounts to try and get this human editor to publish this malicious code. As part of that same effort, this A.I. agent emailed several real people, trying to get them to publish or run this malicious code.
According to the U.K. A.I. Security Institute, they say this is the first time that they have ever seen deception of this severity that was targeted at a real person, unprompted, in the real world. They did not tell the models to do this. They were just testing them.
Now, to be clear, when they're testing these models, they remove some of their safeguards to be able to test their full capabilities. And the Institute does say that they were unsuccessful in publishing this malicious code and that there was no real-world harm committed. But that's because the human reviewer didn't fall for it.
It's like a scammer who tries to pretend to be your bank and tries to get you to do something wrong. But this time it was an A.I. agent.
BERMAN: Yeah. I mean, the news here is they're trying. The machines are trying here. Put this in some context.
GOLD: Yeah. So this is the fourth incident in just less than three weeks, just over two weeks of an A.I. model going rogue. So in July 21st, OpenAI disclosed that one of its models escaped a testing environment and hacked Hugging Face's system.
July 30th, Anthropic, which was actually prompted by the OpenAI disclosure to go back and review its own models, found that unknowingly to Anthropic, they had no idea this had happened, there was three different incidents where their models also breached other companies' systems. Didn't so much escape the test environment, but still gained access to the open internet, wasn't supposed to, actually connected to the same company that caused Meta's breach.
Yesterday, we get this report out of the U.K. about A.I. agents using fake identities to try to trick people. And just tonight, we have Meta talking about its own breach. And I expect any day, we're going to hear from more.
BERMAN: That's a lot. Hadas Gold, thank you for staying on top of this. I fear we will be speaking to you again soon. Thank you very much.
Coming up, a tour of all of President Trump's many construction projects in Washington, D.C.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:56:20]
BERMAN: Take 2 on a new Marine One helipad at the White House. This is yet another project of the president's after the UFC Fight in the South Lawn. He said they would make a new landing zone out of carved granite. But now, they have removed all letters spelling out the seal of the president of the United States. Now it's unclear why the White House declined to give details.
In other parts of Washington, some of the president's projects have collided with lawsuits, historians and preservation groups. We sent our resident ultra marathoner, Tom Foreman, to take a look by foot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you say you want to grab one last vacation to Washington, D.C. before the summer ends. Well, right now, you better remember that the C stands for Construction. Let's take a little running tour of the obstacle course.
Here's one of the first things you're going to see. These are grandstands being built for an IndyCar race downtown. They've been repaving roads, they're putting up barricades. There are even supposed to be some overhead walkways. Maybe it's going to be a lot of fun, but right now, for tourists and commuters alike, it's a headache.
You can still visit the Museums of the Smithsonian, but so many of them like Air & Space here getting to it is like running through a mini maze.
Over the White House, this fencing is surrounding pretty much the entire complex. You can't see the demolished East Wing or the ballroom in progress or signs of the proposed helipad or the changes to the Rose Garden, none of it.
You do that whole big loop and you wind up here, next to this park where people used to get a much, much closer view of the White House, but not anymore because the park is closed for construction.
They are doing work on various statues, some of which are still all covered up and some of which are apparently done at this point. But no worries, I'm going to go to one of the most iconic photo spots for tourists in all of D.C., right here in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Oh, look at this. After two renovations in the past couple of months, the Reflecting Pool is still basically empty and still fenced off, at least at this moment. So that's a photo op lost.
Sure, plenty of things are open, beautiful to see, and some people really like the improvements, but the construction is a lot to work around if you are a tourist trying to take in the sights. Now if you run all the way across the bridge, yeah, you can finally wind up here in a field of grass. But this is where the president wants to build his giant Triumphal Arch, with construction starting as soon as he possibly can.
So if you're coming to D.C. for a vacation, make sure you bring a hardhat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And Tom Foreman joins us now. I will note, you did not break a sweat and you never once really were out of breath. I hate you for both of those things, but does it look like this construction is coming to an end anytime soon?
FOREMAN (on camera): No, not at all. We didn't even cover all the things that are going on here. But I will tell you that there's a plan for another walkway over near the Lincoln. There is the arch which we talked about, refurbishment of a golf course. And the president is clearly thrilled with the cleanup he's done here. He says we're making it clean and safe and all that.
[21:00:00]
D.C. was beautiful and clean and safe before he showed up. But nonetheless, he's proud of his accomplishments and many White House watchers say what's very clear is he wants his imprint on this city to last a long time after his presidency is done. John?
BERMAN: Tom Foreman, you're the best. We're at six miles for this piece. Thank you very much.
The news continues. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" starts now.
