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Erin Burnett Outfront

January 6 Panel Suddenly Adds New Hearing For Tomorrow; FBI Seized Phone Of Trump Election Attorney John Eastman; Officials: 3 People Dead, 50 Injured After Amtrak Train Derails; Interview With Vice President Kamala Harris; Interview With Governor J.B. Pritzker Of Illinois; Election Denier On Ballot Tomorrow To Oversee Colorado's Elections; Zelenskyy Calls Russian Airstrike On Mall One Of "Most Daring Terrorist Acts In European History", 1,000 Inside Before Air Raid. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 27, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:28]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, January 6th surprise. The select committee suddenly announcing the new hearing tomorrow, they say with new evidence and witness testimony.

And we're learning the FBI seized the phone of John Eastman, the architect behind Trump's plan to overturn the election.

Plus, a CNN exclusive tonight. Vice President Kamala Harris warning there's more to come in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

And we're following a developing story out of Missouri tonight. An Amtrak derailment, killing multiple people, injuring at least 50.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, new evidence. The January 6th committee abruptly scheduling a hearing for tomorrow. Last week, they said they would have no additional hearings until next month. And then, suddenly, a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

And the intrigue growing tonight as the committee released only a brief statement about it, saying the hearing will include, quote, recently obtained evidence and witness testimony. This is a very sudden reversal for the committee and it comes at an important context. We have just learned that federal agents have seized the phone of Trump's election attorney, John Eastman, a man who presented Trump a road map for overturning the election, someone who was right there, front and center, in Trump's ear in the days and weeks ahead of the deadly insurrection, and someone who was working the phones for Trump.

So his phone is now seized. Here's just some of the testimony we've heard so far about the importance of John Eastman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): And what did Dr. Eastman want you to do?

RUSTY BOWERS (R), ARIZONA HOUSE SPEAKER: That we would in fact vote, take a vote, to overthrow, or I shouldn't say overthrow -- that we would decertified the electors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did the president say when he called you?

RONNA MCDANIEL, RNC CHAIRWOMAN: Essentially, turned the calling over to Mr. Eastman who proceeded to talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right, I want to begin our coverage tonight on Capitol Hill with Melanie Zanona.

And, Melanie, what more are you learning of the abruptly scheduled hearing? It wasn't going to happen -- anything until July, and all of a sudden, something that is so important and so new that they're going to do it tomorrow.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Right, this was a complete surprise. The Select Committee was not planning on holding hearings, as you mentioned, Erin, until mid-July. They really wanted to take the next few week to see go through evidence, new documentary film footage that they obtained.

And Congress is also on a recess right now, which means most lawmakers are not even here in Washington. And so, the Select Committee must have uncovered something that they felt was so urgent and so compelling that they decided to hold an emergency hear to get try to get this information out as soon as possible.

And remember, up until this point, the Select Committee has been very careful and deliberate with how they orchestrate these hearings. And so, they would have not thrown together a last minute hearing unless they thought time was of the essence.

Now, we do not know who the witness is tomorrow or what testimony they're going to reveal. The committee has actually been incredibly tight-lipped about this, which is very different than how they normally operated --

BURNETT: Yeah.

ZANONA: -- and it's also adding to the sort of intrigue around here. But we do know after the hearing started, tips started pouring in to the Select Committee's tip line. Committee members also using the hearings to try to implore new witnesses to come forward. So perhaps those efforts have worked but we'll just have to wait and see until tomorrow, Erin.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, it is -- it is pretty incredible. I know we heard that sort of -- if you have -- if you see something, say something, and maybe that did yield something. But as you point out, Melanie, and we should emphasize so everyone watching, that committee's not out talking, right? And they usually are out, you know, being willing to address the public and they're not doing so ahead of this hearing.

I want to go now to our justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz, who is also in Washington.

And, Katelyn, you now, the text here, right, as I said, you know, you got to put in the context of this phone, John Eastman's phone being seized. What more are you learning about that?

POLANTZ: Right. So, what we have learned is that the FBI, so that's a separate investigating body than Capitol Hill, this would be the Justice Department, is seizing the phone of John Eastman, this right wing lawyer that was working with Donald Trump last week, the same day that there was a search also conducted by federal agents of another top lawyer close to Trump, wanting to push these election lies, named Jeffrey Clark. He was at the Justice Department.

So what happened was this was in New Mexico. There were about 6 FBI agent that went up to John Eastman as he was exiting a restaurant after dinner, they patted him down, they got his phone. He had his iPhone on him. They had him unlock it with his face and were able to access and obtain -- seize his phone and email communications on them.

[19:05:09]

So the reason we're learning about this now is because -- because this is a search warrant that would have come through the court system, Eastman is going to court and say -- asking a judge, please put this on hold, don't let the Justice Department use these emails. We're learning of it from him.

He's saying that he believes it's just the office of inspector general of the Justice Department, it is conducting this search. I've reached out to them and they don't have a comment at this time -- Erin.

BURNETT: Kate, I want to ask you one follow-up here. Is there any significance to the fact that he was willing to unlock it? He used his face to do so. I know, you know, you could -- cell phone companies have, again and again, right, Apple have backed not sharing that information. But he did let them do it.

POLANTZ: Well, this is something that he's contesting now. He doesn't want -- he doesn't believe the way they approached him was proper and that they forced him to unlock it but it is one of those things that is a tactic the FBI could use, to hold the phone in front of him, have him unlock it -- Erin.

BURNETT: Right, right. I guess if you hold it in front of him, it's facial recognition, you can -- whether you were willing or not may not matter.

All right. Katelyn, thank you so much for your reporting. I want to bring in now, Gloria, our chief political analyst, along with Norm Eisen, who is the former counsel to House Democrats. You remember from the first Trump impeachment trial.

Norm, let's start with this moment. Eastman says half a dozen FBI agents swoop in on him as he's leaving a restaurant, seized his cellphone, gain access to his emails using the facial -- you know, the face unlock which I guess there's now a question as to whether they sort of held it up without him agreeing or not. You know, you heard Katelyn reporting it there, unclear.

How significant is this?

NORMAN EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Erin, thanks for having me back. It's very significant, because what we've seen with the search warrants on Trump's outside coup lawyer, John Eastman, last week, on his inside council who advised this coup, Jeff Clark, is the justice department signaling the seriousness of the case.

You need to make a legal showing to get these warrants. In terms of the unlocking of the warrant, I've looked at the information, and the warrant actually provided for the phones to be unlocked. So that was pursuant to the warrant.

So to me, what it signals is this was a coup, not with guns and bullets, with law books and statutes. You have two of the lawyers who were in deep trouble. That points to the client, Donald Trump.

BURNETT: And, Gloria, to this point, right, this seizing of John Eastman's cell phone comes on the same day that the FBI raided the actual home of Jeffrey Clark, the DOJ lawyer.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: What a coincidence, what a coincidence.

BURNETT: Right, randomly on the same day.

BORGER: Yeah.

BURNETT: So, you know, you take those two data points, how close is this all getting to Trump himself?

BORGER: Well, these are people who were very much in his orbit, and as Norm was pointing out, these were the people who were talking about decertifying the electors and trying to figure out a way to get around a free and fair election.

And, you know, you have to go to a judge before you can get this kind of search warrant. And you have to show some kind of probable cause that there may have been a crime committed. So I think this is pretty serious, and as we know, Donald Trump is kind of obsessed with these hearings. You can't blame him for watching these things.

BURNETT: Right.

BORGER: And I'm sure he's not thrilled about these developments since these two men were key in forming, sort of, the rationale for their -- the coup, or would-be coup. BURNETT: Norm -- yeah, the hearings schedule obviously has changed

multiple times but it had been left that at the end of last week that they were having hearings in July, right, and they had put out all the requests for new information and we knew about the Jeffrey Clark raid and all these things. It was still going to be July. And, you know, after July 4th.

And now, all of a sudden, shocking everybody, there's hearing tomorrow. 24 hours notice hearing tomorrow, new information has come in and witnesses are involved.

What do you think is behind this sudden change?

EISEN: Well, Erin, you know, the committee has earned a great deal of creditability. So just as they postponed one hearing, the DOJ hearing which turned out to be a blockbuster one, that pointed to the possible culpability of that other lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, now they have seemingly moved up that plans for the hearing schedule.

Having tried many cases, worked on the Hill, sometimes witnesses do step forward who have dramatic new information and you don't delay when that happens. Get them -- get them on the stand, that's always been my watch word when trying cases.

BURNETT: Yeah.

EISEN: So that -- I take them at face value.

[09:10:01]

They have something explosive here.

BURNETT: Well, and that's the question, Gloria. You know, Norm uses the word explosive. How much is at stake if they do not deliver that?

BORGER: Well, you know, obviously, their creditability to a degree is at stake, although I believe they've choreographed these hearings so carefully --

BURNETT: Yes.

BORGER: -- that I can't imagine that they would call a special hearing that was a dud. That wouldn't provide new information. Particularly, since they already announced they weren't going to have hearings anymore. So -- until July.

So what I have to presume is that perhaps, given what they've seen on these 11 hours of video, perhaps our new archival information, perhaps new information that comes from a witness who may be reluctant and they want to get this witness to testify quickly, all of that put together, said to them, you know what, we have to get this out now because perhaps it follows the story we heard from the Department of Justice attorneys.

And they've been telling this narrative in a very deliberate way.

BURNETT: Yeah.

BORGER: So they want to continue with that narrative before you kind of lose the momentum of it. And that's what I'm kind of presuming, but in the end, we'll know tomorrow.

BURNETT: Right.

Both of you, thank you so much. And we will all know tomorrow. Everyone, of course, now is going to be waiting and watching for that.

And next, we do have some new details just coming in. There has been a deadly train derailment. It's Amtrak, and it's in Missouri, video showing the terrifying aftermath of the train, you see there completely on its side, multiple cars and we have been told multiple people were killed and at least are 50 injured. The story is developing. These numbers are developing.

Plus, Vice President Kamala Harris in exclusive interview after the fall of Roe v. Wade with our own Dana Bash, saying Justice Thomas clearly signaled the court's ultimate goal is to take away more individual rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he just said the quiet part out loud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Referring, of course, to Justice Thomas.

And an election denier barred from running elections in her own country -- county, I'm sorry -- now running to oversee elections for the entire state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:52]

BURNETT: Breaking news, at least three people are dead, dozens injured as we know it right now, the story is developing. This is because of what you see on your screen, an Amtrak train derailed, that's in the state of Missouri. Police say it happened after the train hit a dump truck.

And you see the train cars bun after another flipped on their side. There were 143 passengers we understand on that train.

I'll show you some video that one of them shot inside the train just moments after it tipped over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang in there, hon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn it, it happened. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please don't step on the glass.

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: You can see just a feel for the disarray there and the fear.

Nick Valencia is OUTFRONT.

So, Nick, what else do you know about what could have caused this horrific accident.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Hey, there, Erin, what a terrifying scene there earlier today. About two hours northeast of Kansas city and what we know is this fatal incident occurred at a public crossing that was uncontrolled, this, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol, meaning that there was no lights or electronic arms blocking that public crossing from passenger vehicles.

The Amtrak train was traveling earlier today from Los Angeles to Chicago with 243 people on board as well as 12 crew members when it struck that dump truck which was blocking that public crossing, Erin.

BURNETT: Wow, so I know we understand that there are multiple fatalities, at least, you know, many injuries so far. What else are you hearing from people on the train?

VALENCIA: Yeah, at least 50 people injured now and at least three people killed as a result of that fatal accident. Other three people transferred to the hospital and we're hearing just these harrowing stories of survival including from the man who shot that video we showed a moment ago, we talked to him shortly after the incident and could tell he was still in shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT NIGHTINGALE, PASSENGER: I decided to take a nap before my lunch reservation and then I heard like a, I don't know what I heard, and then everything started to go in slow motion. I was afraid the windows were going to smash, so I shimmied myself up against an exit to the room and then we slid and then we came to a stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: You can see from Nightingale's video there, that several people were literally standing on top of those overturned train cars. One image showed a passenger which appeared to be a passenger being extracted from one of the broken windows of the train cars. It happened in a rural area, Erin, as you can see, really nothing around there which is why this public crossing was uncontrolled.

This is the second time in as many days an Amtrak train collided with a passenger vehicle and as you mentioned earlier, this is an active and fluid situation, and we're working on gathering more details -- Erin. BURNETT: They will try to figure out, I should point out. And,

obviously, incredibly remote. Two hours outside Kansas City, and very rural as you can see looking at the live pictures.

Nick Valencia, thank you very much.

As we get more on the developing stories, fatalities, injuries, we'll keep you posted on that throughout this hour.

Next, though, the Vice President Kamila Harris in an exclusive interview with our Dana Bash with this warning tonight about contraception and same sex marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think the Supreme Court is on a path to reverse those as well?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I definitely believe this is not over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, Ukraine's president calling it one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history. Russia accused of striking a mall with at least 1,000 people inside, the death toll tonight is continuing to climb. We are in Ukraine tonight with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:26]

BURNETT: New tonight, a Louisiana judge temporarily blocking the state's trigger law to ban abortions after the Supreme overturned Roe v. Wade, as states across the country move rapidly to either protect or ban the right.

Even now, these are the states right now where abortion rights are guaranteed, while abortions are already banned or severely restricted in these 10 states, the one that was just lit up in orange. And abortion bans or severe restricts likely, are going to light them up, again, in the 15 states now have lit up in brown, with Louisiana now in limbo.

Well, you can see how this country dramatically changes. It comes as Vice President Kamala Harris just sat with our own Dana Bash, for her first interview since the ruling Friday, warning that she believes Americans are now in danger of losing more rights.

Here's Dana's exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Madam Vice President, thank you so much for having me here.

You were on a plane when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I was.

BASH: As the highest-ranking woman ever elected in U.S. history...

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: ... what was going through your mind at that moment?

HARRIS: Well, so, I was on Air Force Two heading to Aurora, Illinois, to talk about maternal health.

We were with Lauren Underwood, with the chair of Judiciary, Dick Durbin, Senate Judiciary. We were headed there to unveil a plan based on the work we have been doing to ensure that women receive the kind of support they need during and post pregnancy.

[19:25:00]

And we thought that the decision would come down sometime soon, but not at that moment. And I was shocked.

And it's one thing when you know something's going to happen. It's another thing when it actually happens. And I just actually turned to CNN.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: And I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it, because they actually did it.

And here's what they did. They -- the court actually took a constitutional right that has been recognized for half-a-century and took it from the women of America.

That's shocking, when you think about it, in terms of what that means in terms of democratic principles, in terms of the ideals upon which we were founded about liberty, about freedom. I thought about it as a parent. We have two children who are in their 20s, a son and a daughter.

I thought about it as a godparent of teenagers. I thought of it as an aunt of preschool children.

BASH: And a woman yourself.

HARRIS: And a woman myself, and the daughter of a woman, and a granddaughter of a woman.

And my husband and I are actually talking about it. We have a 23-year- old, and my mother-in-law's in her 80s. Our daughter will not know the rights for the court -- for the amount of time that my mother-in-law knew these rights, which is the right that should be well-settled that a woman should have to make decisions about her own body.

And, when we think about it, everyone has something at risk on this. First of all, if you are a parent of sons, do think about what this means for the life of your son, and what that will mean in terms of the choices he will have.

Do think about it in the context of the fact that they wrote this decision, including the concurring opinions, that suggest that other rights, such as the freedom to make decisions about when you are going to start a family, the freedom and the right to make decisions about contraception, IUDs, what this is going to mean in terms of in vitro fertilization.

BASH: Well, let me ask you about that.

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: Because Justice Thomas -- this is what you're referring to -- did write...

HARRIS: Right.

BASH: ... a concurring opinion saying the court should reconsider other cases of precedent that protect same-sex marriage, contraception, intimacy, and more.

HARRIS: Right. Right.

BASH: Do you think that the Supreme Court is on a path to reverse those as well?

HARRIS: I definitely believe this is not over. I do.

I think he just said the quiet part out loud. And I think that is why we all must really understand the significance of what just happened. This is profound. And the way that this decision has come down has been so driven, I think, by the politics of the issue vs. what should be the values that we place on freedom and liberty in our country, right, the right to privacy.

Let's think of this in the context of the laws that are being passed in states. Dana, in 13 states, by my count, they will not allow a woman to have access to reproductive health and to an abortion if she is the victim of rape or incest.

So let me tell you something. As a former prosecutor who specialized in crimes of violence against women and girls, in particular, child sexual assault and rape, the idea that, after a woman has endured such violence to her body, that she would not have the freedom and authority to decide whether she wanted to continue with a pregnancy that is a result of an act of violence is absolutely unthinkable.

BASH: So, because you are now the vice president of the United States...

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: ... part of an administration that is pledging to fight back to find ways to protect women's rights to abortion...

HARRIS: Yes. BASH: ... I want to ask you some of the things that are kind of out there that some of your former female senators, Senate colleagues, are asking the administration to do.

HARRIS: Sure.

BASH: Will the administration actively challenge state laws that make it a crime for someone to help a woman travel to another state for an abortion?

HARRIS: So, the president, rightly, last week, when the decision came down, indicated quite unambiguous -- unambiguously that we will do everything within our power as an administration through the executive branch to ensure that women have access to the medication they need, and which has been, by the way, FDA-approved, and that they will have freedom of travel, and that that travel should be unrestricted.

[19:30:16]

BASH: And you're going to do that through the courts, if need be?

HARRIS: I'm sure that the -- that our Department of Justice is going to do that, based on every statement that the attorney general has made.

BASH: Can the administration expand abortion access or abortion services on federal land, meaning provide the access on federal land that might be in and around states that ban abortion?

HARRIS: I think that what is most important right now is that we ensure that the restrictions that the states are trying to put up that would prohibit a woman from exercising what we still maintain is her right, that we do everything we can to empower women to not only seek, but to receive the care where it is available.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Is federal land one of those options?

HARRIS: I mean, it's not right now what we are discussing.

But I will say that, when I think about what is happening in terms of the states, we have to also recognize, Dana, that we are 130-odd days away from an election, which is going to include Senate races, right? Part of the issue here is that the court has acted. Now Congress needs to act. But we, if you count the votes, don't appear to have the votes in the Senate.

Well, there's an election happening in 130-odd days, I'm taking -- for example, thinking of a Senate race in Georgia or North Carolina. There's the Senate race coming up just in a couple of weeks in Colorado. And we need to change the balance and have pro-choice legislators who have the power to make decisions about whether this constitutional right will be in law, right?

We say codified. Put it in law, so that there will be no ambiguity about it.

BASH: And I want to ask you about that in one second.

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: Just a couple of more questions, because what I'm hearing -- and you probably are too -- is, what can this Democratic administration do right now with any executive power that the president has?

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: Can the administration actually increase access to medication abortion?

HARRIS: I think we're pretty clear that, to the extent that we can, we will. There's no question about that, because, again, it is FDA- approved, and if it is prescribed, if it is -- that a woman should be able to have access to it unfettered.

BASH: And what about the idea of financial resources, some form of voucher for travel, child care services, other forms of support for people...

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: ... for women seeking abortions in states where it's not legal, but they just don't have the means to go elsewhere?

HARRIS: Right.

I think you're asking a very important point -- making a very important point, which is, what are the details that are going to go into ensuring that women have the ability to actually travel without impairment?

And we know that, on this issue, women who have access to resources will probably be far less impacted by this decision than women who don't have resources. So this is something that we are looking at, because we know, for example, in terms of how this is going to actually impact real people, over half of women who receive abortions in America are moms.

That means that, if they're going to have to travel, they have got to find day care and pay for it. It means that they will, if they are working, which most are, they're going to have to have time from work. And if they don't have paid leave, they're going to have to figure out how to afford it.

It means that they may have to put up money for a train or a bus or a plane, much less a hotel.

And so we want to make sure that there does not result extreme disparities are any disparities based on who can receive care based on how much money they have got.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: The details here are so crucial, Dana, as you break them down with the vice president.

I know she had some very harsh words. Obviously, she mentioned Justice Thomas, there, to you, but also about Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. What did she say to you about then?

BASH: She was the U.S. senator when both of them were confirmed. She wasn't on the judiciary committee for Gorsuch, but she was for Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing where he talked about roe and called it precedent on precedent.

And some of her former colleagues, senators, have said that they -- the two of them just flat out lied during their confirmation hearings in order to get votes. Her answer, again, she voted no on both of those was I never believed them, I didn't believe them. That's why I voted against them.

BURNETT: All right. Very interesting.

All right. Dana, thank you so much. Of course, throughout the evening we'll hear more from Dana's exclusive interview with the vice president.

[19:35:00]

Thanks again to Dana.

And next, Illinois. When you hear the vice president talking about people coming across state lines, Illinois is now bracing for tens of thousands of women who flood to the state for abortion. Illinois governor is my guest.

Plus, election deniers, including one who has banned from overseeing contest in her own county. Totally banned in her own county? Now running to take over some of Colorado's top offices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, amid the abortion rights confusion across the country, one governor is opening the door for abortion access for women from out of state, saying he expects 30,000 women to come to his state for an abortion. It's the stale of Illinois and it is surrounded by a whole lot of states that are in limbo when they outright banned the procedure.

Democratic governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, joins me now.

And, Governor, I appreciate your time tonight.

Are you already seeing women traveling to your state from other states, neighboring or otherwise, where all of a sudden abortion is banned or seemingly close to being banned coming to Illinois for abortions? GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: We are. Over the last year, more

than 10,000 from neighboring states you probably already know and you showed a map of it. Abortion has been severely restricted, now banned in every state around us. There's one on its way to banning it entirely.

And so, we've already seen many, many women coming here to exercise their reproductive rights.

[19:40:50]

BURNETT: So, Republicans say, Governor, as you know, that the issue should be left to voters in the states.

All right, that they're not banning abortion, they're giving the states the right to ban abortion. And in your state, nothing will change because that's what the voters in your state want, that's what you're going to do. If they don't like what you're doing, they could vote you out and put in a governor who feels very differently.

So, how do you think about this intellectually, as a governor -- why shouldn't your fellow governors and state legislatures set the laws in their states the way you do in yours?

PRITZER: Because we don't vote on fundamental rights, fundamental constitutional rights, the right to privacy as was established is something that every American has, just like they do the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. You know, we -- it's important for us, at the state level, to protect our people from encroachment of the federal government, but this is a fundamental right. Everybody should have it.

I've been fighting for this my entire life. Really, my mother had me marching with her in the 1970s on behalf of women's reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights and so on.

And now, here we are. First time in my life a right has been taken away from people. We've always expanded rights. Now, they're contracting.

BURNETT: So, you know, of course, obviously, the right -- when you talk about privacy rights, it's not technically in the Constitution. The court established it in Roe, right, and upheld it via precedent. But do you have frustration now that the Congress failed for 40 years to codify in federal law to follow up? There was never an amendment, there was anything -- never anything, even though it was clear there were people, powerful parties who were going to be trying to do this to Roe the second they could?

PRITZER: Well, Brown v. Board of Education isn't something we had to codify. The Supreme Court, you know, ruled on it and I don't think any of us expected it will be reversed. Well, now, it feels like anything can be reversed.

So, do I -- am I disappointed that Congress hasn't been able to do it? Look, I think it makes it more important than ever now in 2022 that we elect pro-choice people to the United States Congress and those are going to be Democrats. Of course, we also have to make sure, as you've pointed out, in every state, we're electing Democratic governors and Democratic legislatures because it's the only way that we're going to be able to protect women's rights.

BURNETT: I also want to ask you about something else that's obviously very important for your state and that is, is revenue, obviously, in the context of providing a safe haven for abortion for people from other states. That's relevant and it's relevant for your state overall governor.

The hedge fund Citadel and trading fund citadel securities leaving, they say, to Miami, after more than 30 years in Chicago. The head of Citadel, I want to note, Ken Griffin, is backing a Republican challenging you for governor.

But it's not just Citadel. They say they're leaving because of high taxes and high crime. Caterpillar, which has been a stalwart of your state, leaving Illinois for Texas.

Boeing -- I remember the day covering it as a business reporter, when they moved from Seattle to Chicago, what that coup that was for your state. They're now leaving for Virginia.

Do you have a problem in Illinois?

PRITZKER: Well, let me just point out that, first of all, I fight for every job in the state, and, of course, to attract headquarters and companies to put their factories and facilities in our state. In fact, you may have read in the last two weeks that Kellogg's is moving the main portion of their business to Chicago.

So we have a lot of comings and goings, the same thing is true of population. Our population grew. Our jobs are growing in the state.

And yeah, I don't like to see any company headquarters get up and leave. But just to give one example, Caterpillar has 17,400 jobs in our state, still, 240 are leaving, 17,400 are staying and hundreds have been added in the last year here.

Boeing, same thing. They had their office, relatively small, leave, but they added 350 jobs downstate building defense-related products of theirs.

So I don't like anybody leaving.

I also would point out that the head of Citadel had political reasons that he wanted to leave. You mentioned that. And he's been threatening to do that for some time.

Look, I believe in Illinois as a place for business and we're open for business here and attracting many, many more jobs. So I'm pleased about that, and then many small businesses. We have the largest growth of small businesses per capita of any of the large states.

So I hope everybody knows we're open for business in Illinois. BURNETT: All right. Governor Pritzker, I appreciate your time. Thank

you very much.

PRITZKER: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, voters about to go to the polls in Colorado where one Republican conspiracy theorist who is actually charged with trying to breach voting machines is now running to control the entire state elections.

[19:45:03]

And tonight, President Biden condemning a strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine. The death toll rising there as crews are scrambling to locate survivors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Voters are heading to the polls in Colorado tomorrow. Multiple election deniers are on the ballot there, vying for major positions.

This is really important, and one of them is trying to administer the state's next presidential election, despite, okay, ready for this, being barred for conducting their duties as a county elections chief, after being indicted for allegedly tampering the state voting machines.

Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the doors of this Grand Junction, Colorado, hotel, just hours left before the primary, a crowd of activists gather for what amounted to an election conspiracy forum, hosted by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, featuring 2020 election denier and Republican Colorado secretary of state candidate, Tina Peters.

TINA PETERS (R), COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE CANDIDATE: Well, if they don't cheat, I'm in.

LAH: Peters is not just a headliner here. She's made headlines across Colorado for the last year.

PETERS: Let go of me!

LAH: This is Peters in February, one part of a long saga of investigations she's faced with, a grand jury indicted Peters on multiple felony counts stemming from election security breach at her clerk's office. She's pleaded not guilty.

As part of the investigation, confidential, forensic images of voting machine hard drives and log ins appeared on a QAnon affiliated Telegram channel. She's now barred from overseeing the county's elections this year. Instead -- PETERS: I'm running to be your secretary of state to make that

happen.

LAH: She's on Tuesday's ballot, running to oversee elections in the whole state.

PETERS: I'm not an election conspiracy theorist. I -- when people came to me, and I listened. I listened to the people. That's how I got involved.

LAH: What do you say to critics, like your opponents, who say you're just simply raising lies?

PETERS: Ooh, i like that one. Well, I want to run on being accurate, transparent, and a voice for the people.

LAH: Also on the far right Republican ticket, State Representative Ron Hanks, running for the U.S. Senate. A 2020 election denier, Hanks on his campaign website, proudly shares this image of himself in Washington on January 6.

In his campaign video, he wields out a copier with the words Dominion voting machine, a conspiracy lie that the machines were rigged against Donald Trump.

RON HANKS (R), COLORADO U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm Ron Hanks, and I approve this message.

LAH: What happens if Republicans do nominate these candidates?

DICK WADHAMS, FORMER COLORADO STATE REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN: You can kiss this election good-bye.

LAH: Election liars can't win in November in blue-leaning Colorado, says former state Republican chairman, Dick Wadhams. That's why Republicans are now seeing this.

AD ANNOUNCER: How conservative is Ron Hanks?

LAH: Millions of advertising dollars boosting Ron Hanks conservative credentials, paid for by the Democrats.

AD ANNOUNCER: Democratic Colorado is responsible for the content of this advertising.

WADHAMS: The Democrats spending this much money to nominate the weakest candidates is smart. I mean, I think it's unethical, but I think it's smart. And, frankly, it has moved voters.

JOE O'DEA (R), COLORADO U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: They dumped so much money into this.

LAH: Republican Senate candidate Joe O'Dea, a businessman and supporter of abortion rights, is not just fighting Democrats boosting his competitor, but also millions to tear him down. He can't even get through a campaign event at a restaurant -- O'DEA: Yeah, those are commercial.

LAH: -- without a negative ad running in the background.

Why are they targeting you with so much cash?

O'DEA: They know I can win, and they're going to have to spend hundred of millions of dollars to beat me in November. So, they're trying to get me off the ballot right now.

They're looking for somebody who can't win here in November, who's focused on an election that was stolen, focused on things that don't matter to working Americans right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Kyung, it's amazing. So, he's tripling down.

But the former GOP chairman I thought was very interesting when he told you what Democrats are doing is unethical but smart.

What do Democrats say in response?

LAH: Well, the Democrats, in short, say, so what? What they're doing is not illegal.

We reached out directly to the super PAC that is funding this effort, Democratic Colorado. And here's the statement that we got from the spokeswoman.

She says, quote: We are an organization committed to ensuring that Colorado doesn't elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate. Both GOP candidates are totally out of step with our values, and voters deserve to know the truth about who's running to represent them. But, of course Erin, if you talk to the Republicans actually running in the Republican primary, they just simply calling it meddling -- Erin.

BURNETT: Of course, a word we're all now familiar with.

Kyung Lah, thank you very much.

And next, a desperate search for survivors in Ukraine after a strike on a crowded mall. At least 15 are dead, many more are injured. And these numbers very fluid still moving. The latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:26]

BURNETT: Tonight, one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history. That's a quote from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. That's what he's calling a strike on a mall that killed 15 and injured many more.

Phil Black is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Panicked screams, impenetrable dust and smoke. These are the terrifying moments that followed a missile strike in central Ukraine. The might of Russia's air power unleashed, unshockingly.

The city of Kremenchuk is a long way on the front line of Russia's war. Fire quickly took hold of the complex. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the site has no strategic value, it's not a threat to Russian forces. It's just a place where people were trying to live normal lives.

Only hours before the attack, Zelenskyy told a meeting of allies, including President Joe Biden, Ukraine needs modern missile defense systems to protect civilians from Russia is intensifying air campaign.

Dozens of missiles were launched at targets across the country over the weekend. One hit this apartment block in Kyiv, ending weeks of relative calm in the capital.

Ukraine also wants more heavy artillery to help battle Russia's advancing forces in the east of the country.

Russia is slowly expanding its control of the Donbas region, squeezing Ukrainian forces and local civilians from three directions.

The key city of Sloviansk is now an easy reach of Russian rockets. They fell over residential areas, through the night, into the morning. This one delivered plaster bombs over an apartment complex, ravaging buildings, killing one man next to his car.

Locals say the man walked through this door where he lived early this morning and he's going to work as a taxi driver. But it was in those moments the bomblets dispersed over here. One of them detonated right nearby.

Officials say civilians who have yet to leave Sloviansk must do so now because the Russians are close and the danger is great. In this grim moment, the war for the east, the Ukraine's efforts to hold the line are slipping. The invaders are relentless, often indiscriminate fire power means, for now at least, the fight here is going Russia's way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (on camera): The Biden administration is that the reveal plans to provide Ukraine with a new anti missile system. That's from a source close to that expected announcement. That will be welcome news here, but it will also be scrutinized very closely. What will the capabilities of the system be? How much of this large country will be covered and protected?

Because as Russia has shown repeatedly, and indeed has proven again today, it has both the will and ability to hit almost any target, including civilian targets at anytime it likes, almost anywhere in this country, Erin.

BURNETT: Phil Black, thank you very much. The sobering reality in Ukraine.

Thanks so much for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.