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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Answered All Questions In Interview With Probation Officer; Alito In Secret Recording: "One Side Or The Other Is Going To Win"; Apple Stock Down Despite Unveiling "Apple Intelligence". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 10, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:41]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, Trump's interview with a probation officer wrapping up, the first of its kind in history. We have new details about the questions he faced and how his answers could affect his sentence, as well as who was in that room.

Plus, a secret new recording tonight of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, this as the former Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman breaks her silence about the man that she had publicly supported and introduced to the United States Senate. Does she now regret backing Alito?

And it's the hottest stock in the planet. A little known company forcing Apple today to play catch up. We have a special report.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Former President Trump just wrapping up an interview with a probation officer. This is a first, never an American history has a former president had to sit down with a probation officer because the former president has never been convicted of a crime. But here we are.

This meeting was mandatory for Trump as he is now a convicted in felon in the state of New York. Trump answering questions from his home in Mar-a-Lago.

Now, according to a source, the question answers lasted about half an hour and Trump was asked, we understand some of the basic questions that other convicted felons must answer those questions for a regular felon would include questions about family background, financial status, living situation and crucially, it chance for the defendant in this case Trump to say why he thinks he deserves a lighter punishment.

Now there is no pleading the Fifth here, and the answers Trump gave will influence Judge Juan Merchan, who will formally sentence Trump in July. Here's the range: Trump is facing anywhere from probation to up to a

maximum of 20 years in prison after being found guilty of all 34 counts in the New York hush money case.

Now, one of the most important drivers into whether, you know, which extreme this ends up on or where it ends up in that -- in that band is whether Trump expresses remorse and that, of course, is not happening. Trump today posting online, I truly wish people would remember that all of these trials, in quotes, are concocted and run by the crooked Joe Biden White House and DOJ for the purpose of election interference and damaging crooked's political opponent, me, as much as possible.

Of course, it always bears noting in a moment when he says that the Biden DOJ could have prosecuted this case and explicitly chose not to, and the White House -- White House officials privately call this case the runt of the litter.

But Trump is going to milk this trial for all its political worth. And it comes as his top political ally today, Rudy Giuliani, is now facing some justice of his own, charged with allegedly conspiring to overturn Arizona's election. This just came out moments ago. What you're looking at on your screen is the mug shot of Giuliani, America's mayor, turned into Trump's fall guy, and that is his mug shot. And the state of Arizona, Maricopa County tonight.

Brynn Gingras begins our coverage OUTFRONT live in New York.

And Brynn, you've got new reporting about this interview between Trump and probation officers. What are you learning?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. So, Erin, this interview took place around 3:30 today, as you said. It lasted for about a half an hour, but as source in New York City's -- who was familiar with the actual interview that took place over a virtual meeting telling our John Miller that's Trump was described as polite, respectful, and accommodating, answering all the questions asked of him. Now, we've reported that Todd Blanche, Trump's attorney was with him in Mar-a-Lago on that side of the virtual feeding.

But here in New York, our understanding from this source is that the commissioner of the New York City probation's department, Juanita Holmes, was present. The general counsel for that department was present as well as the probation officer that is assigned to Trump's case.

Of course, this probation officer now will likely stick with Trump and this will be the person who does the follow-ups. The source saying, though, that as of now, like I said, he answered all of the questions that were asked of him. And right now, there doesn't seem to be a follow-up, but of course, there is always that option should they need it?

So one of the more details of how that probation interview went, as we've described before, many questions could be asked up, certainly about Trump's background, his financial history. Has he abused drugs or alcohol in the past? It's certainly not much ground covered in the 30 minutes, but, of course, we're talking about a defendant like the former president here.

Now, what happens next? The defense attorney Todd Blanche to his team, they're going to submit a sentence recommendation to the judge.

[19:05:03]

The probation officer, who conducted this interview is going to conduct, it's going to compile a report. And these are just two elements that are going to be factored into Judge Juan Merchan's decision when he makes that sentence being done, which, of course, we know the days is next month in July 11 -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Brynn, thank you very much, in New York, outside that courthouse.

Michael Jacobson, and our team join me here.

Michael, let me start with you because you are the former New York City correction and probation commissioner. So, Juanita Holmes now doing that now.

So what's your take of what happened today? Could have been obviously probation or regular probation officer assigned to the case, but it sounds like the commissioner herself was in the room as well as the general counsel.

MICHAEL JACOBSON, FORMER NYC PROBATION & CORRECTION COMMISSIONER: Well, you certainly expected someone more than just the probation officer to be in that interview. I mean, it's so unusual for 1,000 reasons, most of them obvious, but just the fact than it was remote and that Trump's attorney was there. Those are two very odd things in and of themselves.

So, given all that, it certainly made sense that you would want someone other than the probation officer. It certainly makes sense to me for the general counsel to be there, the sort of equivalent of Trump's attorney on the probation side.

BURNETT: Yeah.

JACOBSON: And, you know, the commissioner runs the agencies. So I think she thought it was appropriate that she was there.

BURNETT: Now, I know these can often go up to 90 minutes or two. I then go longer. This went less than 30, and obviously, this isn't a case where the judge needs to be reminded about the details of the defendant or anything like that as would be the case and normal situations.

But what do you think they got out of it?

JACOBSON: Well, it's just the beginning of what can be a pretty long and sometimes intrusive process. So, you shouldn't take too much that it was just a first polite interview. The probation officer has wide berth here to get into as you said alcohol and drug use, talking to past victims, can examine Trump's behavior in terms of the violation of the gag order, revisit the -- finding that he sexually assaulted Jean Carroll, all that is open fodder for a pre-sentence investigation.

They want us to paint a broad picture. So, this was the start of something. It's certainly not the end.

BURNETT: Which is important thing, right? It's not as if this is done, then we wait a month, right, Terri? This is -- this is a part of it.

But you've watched the judge so closely in that room. A judge that Trump had referred to looking like an angel, but he was really the devil, was the way Trump put it. But a judge who, you know, his demeanor was always positive, serious, he never, never for betrayed any sort of emotion.

How much weight do you think he will give this report, this interview that's -- the report that's going to come out of the interview that Michaels talking about?

TERRI AUSTIN, ATTORNEY: I think he's going to take it very seriously, but like you said, Erin, he knows this defendant, he knows Trump. He saw him every day. He saw Trump violate the gag order ten times and he impose the fine for that.

And I think he's going to really want to see whether there is remorse and he's going to take what's been going on in Las Vegas, the rally, what he's saying and all of the things that he saying now really don't show remorse.

And I think that is going to have an impact. I'm not saying he's going to incarcerate him but I do think as to whether its probation or house arrest, or community service, he's going to go with something that's a little more serious.

So, Mark, the way that it was described in Brynn's reporting, the way that Trump handled himself today was that he was polite and respectful and accommodating to the probation officer, and obviously, the commissioner and the general counsel who were also present for the New York Parole Commission, I'm sorry, Probation Commission.

But this is the first time a foreign president's ever been in a situation like this, Mark. You've been in situations like this hundreds of times with clients. So, does the judge already have his mind made up when you hear accommodating, polite and respectful? Does that mean anything considering what Trump says about this, judge pretty much daily?

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think there is a pragmatic approach that he should be respectful to probation officer interviewing him. I've never had general counsel show up at the hundreds that I've ever been on. I've also never had the commission of Department of Corrections show up. So, obviously, everyone's looking at this very, very carefully.

But, Erin, as we talked about last week, I do think that this judge as most judges who sat through the trial before sentencing, have most of their mind made up 90 percent or so. This is not going to, I think move the needle very much because everyone knows who Donald Trump is.

Everyone knows about the facts of the case, which really interesting is whether or not they took this opportunity to give a written statement for a verbal statement of his position. I'm almost surprised if he didn't just because of who he is, although I tell my clients never to give a written or verbal statement at this stage, wait until you get in front of the judge.

BURNETT: All right. Well, we'll see.

Mark, I want to ask you about one other thing here because it Trump obviously was in this interview today. Meantime, Rudy Giuliani, right, who was at the helm of this his efforts to overturn state election results was we had his mug shot taken in Maricopa County in Arizona, a process in Phoenix after pleading not guilty to charges of trying to overturn the election there.

[19:10:06]

Just looking at this picture and he's got a blue and a white star tie on. I tried to smile, I guess. I mean, Mark, what's your reaction looking at that mug shot?

O'MARA: It's insulting to the process to be honest. I remember Rudy when I grew up in New York and all of that good stuff, America's mayor, like you mentioned. It's just sad that were getting to the point where on the same day, a former president maybe if future president is getting your probation interview, and the former mayor of America is getting a mug shot taken.

Having said that, he knows respect to should give the process. He hasn't done it recently, but he knows and you don't smile, you don't look away from the camera. You give the respect, even at the process of a mug shot, to respect the process that quite honestly, he was sworn to protect for decades. And it's frustrating.

BURNETT: And it's important what you say, right, I mean, he's mocking it by the smile. It's not a state of mind, it's a mocking.

Michael, when we talk of Trump allies, it's actually very relevant here in the context of the probation conversation, because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, you know, they obviously were rivals for a time. They were allies then rivals, and now here we are.

But DeSantis could actually be the one who oversees whatever sentence Trump gets, right?

JACOBSON: Right. So the way this works is a little known part of probation nationally called the Interstate Compact. And if you're sentenced in a jurisdiction but you happen to live in another jurisdiction, which is the case here, right, sentenced in New York, lives in Florida. Most of the time through the Interstate Compact, the supervision of that case will be done in a jurisdiction that the person lives in.

So under normal circumstances, if he was sentenced to probation, they would to make a request to be transferred to Florida probation.

BURNETT: Right.

JACOBSON: Those requests are normally fulfilled. I think this one there might be a little more of a discussion then they're normally is, but that agency is, as you say, controlled by the governor in Florida.

BURNETT: So, kind of -- you know, how he really has to check in or the way he's treated. That would -- could potentially be the decision of Governor DeSantis.

JACOBSON: Potentially. That compact gives wide berth to the receiving agency as they're called, and the general rule is that agency treats this person as they do similar people. There are no similar people.

BURNETT: There's no similar people.

Terri, so what's the process here as Michael has pointed out, this is the first step? It's a month from tomorrow that we're actually going to get the sentencing unless it's delayed. So the process here is what, and Trump's team files or what, they think the sentence should be. And there's a whole lot of back-and-forth?

AUSTIN: Exactly. And one of the things that the probation officer will be doing. They don't just have to interview Trump. They can interview family members. They can talk to prior victims if there were any victims in this case, its victimless, so to speak.

But they're going to be continuing to do their investigation. The judge is doing his research. By the way, he is looking at how many similar people have had these types of charges and what has been their sentence.

BURNETT: Right.

AUSTIN: So he's doing that. And meanwhile, the attorneys obviously are working on their recommendations, both the prosecution and the defense.

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

And next, we do at breaking news on the jury deliberating in the Hunter Biden trial tonight. His family turning out in force today as the prosecution warns the jury about Biden's family presence in the courtroom.

Plus, protests breaking out tonight after one of America's top allies suffers a shocking defeat at the polls. Tonight, far rights candidates across Europe gaining ground.

And Justice Samuel Alito, listen to this, secretly recorded on tape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO, U.S. SUPREME COURT: They really can't be compromised. So, it's not like we're going to split the difference. (END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:18:21]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Hunter Biden's future at this hour in the hands of a jury. That jury deliberating for nearly an hour today. So they are in deliberations, then they were sent home for the night, will be back tomorrow morning, could have a verdict.

Biden facing three charges tied to the purchase of a gun while abusing narcotics. If the jury finds them guilty of all three counts, the president's son could serve up to 25 years in prison. He could also be forced to pay up to $750,000 in fines.

Now, when you think about that, just to be clear here, his father, the president of the United States, has made it clear that he will not pardon his son if he's found guilty.

Evan Perez has been following this trial since the beginning. He's OUTFRONT from the courthouse.

And obviously, you've spent now days and days inside that courtroom, Evan.

So the jury has this now, what can you tell us tonight?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, I was in the courtroom this afternoon as both the prosecution and the defense did their closing arguments. You could see some jurors nodding off during the 90 minutes defense closing arguments.

Abbe Lowell, the lawyer for Hunter Biden, really focused his arguments on trying to direct the attention of the jury on things that he says shows showed shortcomings in the government's case. He pointed out that because there is no direct evidence that Hunter Biden was using crack cocaine in October of 2018 when he bought the firearm, that that is reasonable doubt as to whether he knew he was lying on the form that he filled out when he bought that gun.

Now, in response to that, there are kinds, the prosecutor said, someone who holds a crack pipe to his mouth every 15 -- every 15 minutes knows that they're an addict.

[19:20:05]

And so, that's really the concise nature of this case. This is a very simple case and so now that the jury has it, we anticipate this is not going to take too long. However, what we know is this once he, once we get a verdict from this -- Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years, possibly under this law, we don't expect that as a first-time offender, if he is convicted, that he would get that much. We also anticipate that the -- that the judge will take at least a few weeks to set a possible sentencing, again if, there is a guilty verdict.

Again tomorrow, the jury is back here at 9:00 a.m. and we expect that there'll be here all day tomorrow.

BURNETT: All right. Evan, thank you very much. I mean, well see when that verdict comes. And that could be tomorrow, and Evan will be there in that courtroom, which was packed today.

And notably, a number of people in the room were related to a Hunter Biden, including the first lady, Jill Biden. France over the weekend she was back. Prosecutors even telling jurors not to be swayed by the president -- the presence I'm sorry, of the president's family in the courtroom saying, quote, this is not evidence.

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Will you testify?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the jury head into deliberations, Hunter Biden's family was there in force.

His mother, his wife, and others packing the first rows of the courtroom. This even after a brutal week of testimony, full of painful details of his infidelity, divorce, drug addiction, and grief, all of which he acknowledged long ago.

HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF PRESIDENT BIDEN: I made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded. For that, I'm responsible.

FOREMAN: Women in his life have played a big role in court. Ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, testifying that she searched Hunters car before their daughters got in and found drugs or paraphernalia on approximately a dozen occasions.

His former girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, whom he met when she was a dancer at a club, said he appeared to be smoking crack on their first evening together.

His daughter, Naomi, tearfully took the stand in her father's defense, only to be asked by prosecutors about this text to him. I'm really sorry, dad. I can't take this.

And First Lady Jill Biden has been in court to holding hands and the family line.

JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: I love Hunter and I'll support him and I -- in any way I can. And that's how I look at things.

FOREMAN: Hunter's deceased brother Beau has also loomed large. Witnesses have talked about the devastating impact of Beau's death to cancer in 2015. Hunter has said the grief was so intense, it spurred or romantic relationship with Beau's widow, Hallie.

H. BIDEN: And that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe you could replace what we lost and it didn't work. It didn't work. FOREMAN: Indeed, at trial, Hallie said Hunter introduced her to crack. It was a terrible experience, she said. I'm embarrassed. I'm ashamed. I regret that period of my life.

Through it all, the unstoppable refrain, drugs, drugs, drugs, was segments of his own audio book played as evidence.

H. BIDEN: I possessed a new superpower, the ability to find crack in any town at any anytime, no matter how unfamiliar the terrain. It was easy.

FOREMAN: And, of course, President Joe Biden is hovering, not in person, but in spirits. His decision already made.

INTERVIEWER: Will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?

PRES. BIDEN: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: This would be a difficult bit of testimony for any family in this country to endure, I am sure, but with a member of that family seeking to hold onto the White House knowing the whole nation is watching, just makes it more so -- Erin.

BURNETT: Tom, thank you very much.

And Ryan Goodman is here.

So, Ryan, you know, just going through that, how many people were in the room when you think about it, the ex-wife, sister-in-law, former girlfriend, his stepmother, Jill Biden, all of them in that room. What does that do to the jury?

RYAN GOODMAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So I think it can make the defendant look like a more sympathetic character, especially because you've got this audio tape, which I think some of what they're playing, it makes him seem very creepy. And he's talking about criminal conduct in a sense.

But here you have the family that's showing love and support for a person who is giving the image of being rehabilitated and so that could be sympathetic to the jury, and that's why the prosecutors maybe felt like they had to say something, to try to defuse that, to say that's something separate from whether or not he's criminally guilty of the alleged --

BURNETT: Right, which they're trying to say, don't look at who's in the room. It's not about the case.

But his defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, as Evan was referring to, said during is closing statement that Hallie Biden, who was Beau's wife who at one point, as Hunter talking about was -- had dated Hunter after Beau's death, did something, quote, incredibly stupid.

[19:25:11]

That's how Abbe Lowell put it, when she threw out Hunter Biden's gun, and your source, the things you do for love in that instance.

Is that a good move with this jury do you think? And I guess the context here is they were nodding off during his 90-minute closing.

GOODMAN: Right. So I think he might need to say certain things to try to charge them up and focus back in on him. But that's especially using that kind of language against Hallie Biden that could come across as a sexist trope to identify her as such. And then the defendant is not somebody who's engaging in stupid --

BURNETT: Right, let him off --

GOODMAN: But the woman --

BURNETT: She's the dumb one.

GOODMAN: Yeah, exactly. And with that many women on the jury, it's not a good move and it's just -- why even say something like think. They could just say, look, I don't like this, I don't like this defense counsel. I don't trust him and part of his narrative that he's trying to sell me on includes that, element in it and that's not persuasive.

BURNETT: So again, interesting, Evan said a few of them were nodding off during that closing.

So, one hour of deliberations today, how soon do you think we'll get a verdict?

GOODMAN: I think we could get the verdict tomorrow and not in the way in which when you get a very early verdict, you often think it is going to be a guilty verdict, has just having a Manhattan with Donald Trump.

I think the case is very straightforward. It's only a weeks worth of testimony for both sides. And the law is very straightforward as well. So it's three charges, all around the same set of facts over 11-day period. I think they could come back tomorrow with guilty or acquittal or hung jury.

BURNETT: And are we surprised that President Biden said he would not pardon his son?

GOODMAN: I don't think so. I think that he really has stood the ground of that. He needs to be separate from this and that he's trying to restore faith and the Justice Department and in some ways, our criminal justice system.

So for him to suggest anything other than that, would be a mistake.

BURNETT: Right, right. All right. Thank you very much, Ryan.

And next, we have breaking news of massive protests breaking out tonight across one of Americas major allies after the far right is pulled off, a major store victory. Could this be a warning sign for Biden?

BURNETT: And meet the CEO taking on Apple's Tim Cook and winning, and what he's creating, wait until you see it, changed the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:47]

BURNETT: Breaking news, massive protests breaking out across France tonight in the face of major victories by far-right politicians across Europe. But that new video and to CNN showing huge crowds in Paris. These far right wins were a shocking blow, shocking, to one of America's top allies.

The French President Emmanuel Macron suffering a stunning defeat that could see him lose his majority.

The election results becoming clear as Macron was actually meeting with President Biden who may face the same fate of falling to the far right in just months.

Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A landslide defeat for French President Emmanuel Macron's party in the European elections.

Macron immediately dissolving French parliament and calling for snap elections in France.

The decision is serious, a hard one he said, but it is above all, an act of confidence, confidence in you, my fellow citizens.

The call came as the far-right Rassemblement National won around twice as many votes in the election as Macron's party. Sluggish economies in many European countries and the migration crisis similar to the southern border in the U.S. where the top issues for voters across Europe. Many of the right-wing parties gaining ground also, sympathy steady to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, like Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement National, who's been a Kremlin ally for years.

The French have spoken and this historic election shows that when the people vote, the people, when she said.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party also suffered for a beat down coming in third behind the right-wing alternative for Germany, or AFD.

The AFD with big gains even after their main candidate claimed there were decent people in Hitler's Waffen-SS and employed and accused Chinese spy in his office during the election campaign.

We had a bumpy start to the election campaign and then really caught up in the final sprint, the party chairman said, after all the prophecies of doom, after the barrage of the last weeks, we are the second strongest force.

Europe's far-right, often skeptical of relations with the U.S., will be a strong force in Europe's parliament.

And one of former President Donald Trump's strongest allies in Europe, Viktor Orban of Hungary, also an EU skeptic, at a strong showing.

To sum up the results of the European parliamentary election, we can send in a telegram to Brussels saying, migration stopped, gender stopped, the war stopped, Soros stopped, Brussels stopped, he said.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on camera): And, Erin, in various European countries, the centrist forces lost ground to those far right parties. And just to give you an idea of how dire the situation is in some places, but here in Germany, normally, the Green Party attracts a lot of young voters, but this time around, the greens actually lost a lot of young voters. And many of them went to the right-wing alternative for Germany, Erin.

[19:35:01]

BURNETT: Real questions and real -- raising real questions here in the U.S.

Fred, thank you.

And I want to go now to Jason van Tatenhove. He's a former spokesman for the far-right Oath Keepers group, testified before the January 6 Select Committee, and he's also the author of "The Perils of Extremism: How I Left the Oath Keepers and Why We Should Be Concerned About a Future Civil War".

Well, Jason, I'm glad to be speaking with you again because you can put real perspective on this. You know, the far-right movement in the United States so well. How emboldened are they by what we are now seeing happen tonight across Europe?

JASON VAN TATENHOVE, FORMER OATH KEEPERS SPOKESPERSON: Well, I think it does play a part. I think, you know, what happens here ripples across the world in that happens back and forth. You know, those victories are going to be seen as a victory here, too, that there's momentum growing and I think we need to take it as kind of a dire warning as to where we really are right now even with a front runner that is just been found guilty of so many charges.

It just doesn't seem to matter. There's certainly momentum growing.

BURNETT: You see it as a dire warning. I mean, we have seen, Jason, to your point, a disturbing rise in rhetoric, violent rhetoric and threats since Trump was convicted. "Axios" reported another far-right group, the Proud Boys, wrote on a website: Hope these jurors face some street justice and don't be surprised, you know, this was going to happen. Stand back and stand by. This is far from over. We promise.

So stand back and stand by, of course, the words that Trump himself had used in 2020. And at someone told the pro-Trump right-side broadcasting network, which is something many may not have heard of who watched this program, but it's out there and at a Trump rally over the weekend, they said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in a third world nation now. So, yeah, I would expect it at some point that like it'll break out into violence. I mean, at this point there yet, they're using the courts against their opponents. We've seen that before. So we know what's next. So, yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: We're a third world nation now. And I would expect it'll break out into violence.

I mean, Jason, what are the threats and the talk of violence that you are seeing and hearing right now that worry you most?

VAN TATENHOVE: You know, really, what worries me most is where it's coming from in my thought processes. And that's from Trump. This really seems to have evolved past what I would call stochastic terrorism, where you have a message that goes out.

It seems to be passing a threshold where I think really he's just putting out this messaging and if you look at the emails that have been going out and last week or so, the rhetoric is getting more extreme. It's quoting that line of direct violent action more and more, and, you know, unfortunately, that audience -- there are members of that audience consuming those messages, that may take action, that looked to be preparing to take action and that's very concerning to me.

BURNETT: And when you say looked to be preparing to take action, do you really believe that there is sort of I don't know, how organized you would describe it as, but that there really are those preparations that stand back and stand -- stand back and standby.

VAN TATENHOVE: I think we would be foolish not to take them at their word. I think that absolutely there -- you know, we saw an evolution of tactics after January 6 and during the prosecutions that happened with the people involved where it kind of, you know, it moved away from these, these big national groups and big national events to hyper local, you know, going after the drag storytelling hours and such.

But now, I think we're seeing, you know, a shift again where we're going back and there is a reorganization happening. And I think were going to see more coming from that national -- those national groups that there are definitely ready to reappear. BURNETT: All right. Well, Jason. I appreciate your time, sobering warning. As you say, a dire warning that you're putting out there, but thank you.

And next, a secret new recording of Justice Samuel Alito.

Plus, I'm going to speak to the former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. She put a reputation on the line. She endorsed Alito during his confirmation hearing. She was the one there. Her face was out there. Does she now regret it?

Plus, Apple trying to play catch up to accompany now -- there's a company worth more than the iPhone maker. And the CEO of that company has net worth is now $100 billion. He says he's just getting started.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:44:05]

BURNETT: Tonight, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito secretly recorded on tape. The conservative justice who wrote the opinion striking down Roe versus Wade, explaining why he thinks compromise is unrealistic on polarizing issues. Alito making the remarks to a liberal documentary filmmaker who represented herself to Alito as a religious conservative and secretly recorded their conversation, which was obtained by "Rolling Stone".

Now, we have not obtained the full audio. Here is a part of it that they've put out for you to hear.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ALITO: One side or the other is going top win.

There can be the way of working -- a way of living together peacefully. But it's difficult, you know, because there are differences fundamental things that really can't be compromised.

They really can't be compromised. So, it's not like we're going to split the difference.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[19:45:02]

BURNETT: This comes as Alito is embroiled in controversy after "The New York Times" reported that an upside-down American flag flew outside his home in northern Virginia in January 2021. It was, of course, a standard flag, standard bearer of January 6 protesters, as well as the second flag, one carried by the insurrectionist on January 6, that flew outside his vacation home.

So two different flags, both used on that day.

OUTFRONT now, former Republican governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, who introduced Alito at his confirmation hearing back in 2006, and recommended him to the Senate judiciary committee.

So, Governor Whitman, I really appreciate your time.

And obviously, it's been a long time, nearly 20 years since you did that and you publicly vouched for Alito, you spoke out for him.

And now, time has passed and you see him -- things he has done. You see his defiance admits this flag controversy. Does this make you see him differently or regret your support?

CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Absolutely, without question. I mean, I was willing to support him because I looked back at his record. And when I was appointing justices, particularly of the Supreme Court, or any of the judges what I look for is how many times said they've been overturned, did they write clear opinions, and were they able to judge cases based on the facts presented to them in that case?

And I actually saw a case that Judge Alito had actually -- had decided in favor of a plaintiff that was clearly against what his personal convictions were relative to the matter of choice and abortion. And so, my feeling was, okay, he's shown that he will put aside his personal convictions to judge and decide the case based on the facts presented in that case.

So, unfortunately, since he's gotten to the Supreme Court, that's just seemed to have gone by the wayside.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, obviously, wrote that -- wrote that opinion in Roe v. Wade.

You know, in the letter to Congress about the flag, Alito said his wife flew the upside-down flag because she was greatly distressed. Those were his words by disputes with a neighbor and explaining his wife's motivation to fly the flag, he wrote, quote, the house on the street displayed a sign attacking her personally and a man who was living in the house at the time trailed her all the way down the street and berated her in my presence using foul language, including what I regard as the violence epithet that can be addressed to a woman.

Now, I spoke to Emily Baden. She was the neighbor and the dispute. She put up the sign Alito refers to which he said didn't refer to Mrs. Alito at all. Her husband -- her now husband is the man Alito mentioned in the statement, but she by the way, was the one who used the epithet in Alito's presence. It was not her husband, as he said.

But I want to play for you, governor specifically, something crucial. She told me about Alito's claim about the flag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BADEN: I just want to emphasize that the interaction that happened on February 15th is the one that they're using as an excuse for why they flew the flag. And I really want to hammer home the fact that that happened on February 15th, and their flag went up two or three weeks before that. At best, he's mistaken, but at worst, he's just outright lying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, the flag was flying before the altercation that Alito says was the reason that the flag was put up, right? That's what she lays out very clearly.

He wrote his version of things, Governor, in a letter to Congress. You're not allowed to lie to Congress. There are serious penalties to that.

Should he address this contradiction?

WHITMAN: Well, first of all, it gets very tiring to see these guys blaming their wives. I mean, come on, really? Besides, it is disrespectful of the United States of America, that's America's flag.

It's not -- if have a controversy with your neighbor, you deal with it with your neighbor, call the police if you want, use the courts. You should know about that, but you don't fly the American flag upside- down.

And as you mentioned before, it's a very clear signal two people who were part of the insurrection and then how does he explain the other flag at their -- at their other home? I mean, is his wife just doing that without his knowing and without his caring?

When you assume a role like such as a Supreme Court justice, you have a certain standard. You set a message. You set a standard for the entire court.

The court comes under scrutiny when this kind of thing happens as it has already anyway, for a couple of other issues that they're having.

BURNETT: Yeah.

WHITMAN: And the lack of it seems standards.

BURNETT: Well, his line, my wife --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITMAN: But it seems inexcusable quite frankly.

BURNETT: My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible.

Yeah. You find that jarring.

WHITMAN: I mean, really? Yeah. Come on. Man up at least.

And if your wife did it, you should have seen it when you walked in the door and said, that's got to come down and then make an apology, say that was all a mistake.

But say she put it up upside-down by mistake for Pete's sakes, but you don't -- you don't ignore it, let it hang, and let the other one fly as well.

[19:50:04]

You deal with them immediately. You're held to a different level of it. This is just a basic thing.

I don't care whether it's a Supreme Court justice or not. That is so disrespectful.

BURNETT: To the -- to the American flag. I mean, he won't recuse from January 6 related cases.

WHITMAN: Yes.

BURNETT: He did write an opinion in 2021, actually, for the Supreme Court about a flag outside Boston City Hall. And in it, he said that anybody who is looking at it would conclude that all of those flags convey some message on the government's behalf. He wrote that.

He was saying, if you fly a flag outside the Boston City Hall, people are assumed that's the view of the Boston City Hall government.

But yet when it comes to himself, he says, it's my wife's fault. Is there real hypocrisy there, in his own statement?

WHITMAN: Yeah, oh, absolutely. I think it's very clear. The unfortunate thing is, no one seems to really care and it doesn't appear is if the chief justice is going to do anything about it.

I mean, they've adopted supposedly standards of conduct, but they're going to be judging themselves and somebody inside. They're going to be looking at each other to say what's appropriate. And Clarence Thomas is a whole another issue.

So the court right now is not in the best odor, shall we say with the American people and the real tragedy here is that when the American people lose faith in the justice system, we're going to really dangerous place and we shouldn't. We shouldn't be here.

It's -- it's not a good place to be. We have to have faith in our justices. We have to assume that they are going to judge cases based on those -- the facts before them in that case. And to have this kind of thing going on, on the outside is undermining and demeaning to the court itself.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Governor Whitman, I appreciate your time and thank you.

WHITMAN: My pleasure.

BURNETT: And next, it started with three friends in a Denny's. And now, their company is worth more than Apple. That's right, more than Apple. Today, the iPhone maker tried to play catch up. I'll give you the inside story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:56:46]

BURNETT: Tonight, Apple's stock slipping as it struggles to compete with the general public is rather a little known A.I., company called Nvidia, a company that is now worth more than Apple and has its the hottest stock in the world.

Nick Watt is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENSEN HUANG, FOUNDER & CEO, NVIDIA: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Blackwell.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take visionary, dressed in black, holding a thing that will change our world -- you know, the drill. But --

HUANG: This is the gray CPU.

WATT: Yeah, that's tougher to explain in an iPhone.

STEVE JOBS, APPLE FOUNDER: And to unlock the phone, I just take my finger and slide it across.

WATT: Here it goes.

HUANG: We work on something that is very important to the world, that is incredibly hard to do.

WATT: Here's why you should care.

What Nvidia does is vital to artificial intelligence which will change everything.

BRIAN HEATER, HARDWARE EDITOR, TECHCRUNCH: This is the company that makes the silicon that is powering all of these large language models.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nvidia is kind of everything in the A.I. space right now.

WATT: It's almost like they're the only company making bricks during an old-fashioned building boom.

If you had invested just five grand in Nvidia ten years ago, today, you're a millionaire. And apparently that's not just built on crazy hype. There are unverified online tales of even mid-level employees amassing multiple millions in stock options.

HEATER: I am not going to give you any financial advice that's not really my wheelhouse, but they're -- there is -- let's just say there's reasoning behind it.

WATT: And Nvidia's backstory is delicious.

Founded at this Denny's in 1993 by these three dudes, they just hope to make computer games look a bit better. One of them, Jensen Huang, one still leads the company. His net worth just topped $100 billion. And he's still hungry, still thinking huge.

HUANG: Can we create data time machine so that we could see the future of climate change? Let's see it today.

WATT: Nvidia survived an early near bankruptcy and eventually succeeded spectacularly on the video games thing with what they called graphics processing units or GPUs. They've dabbled unsuccessfully in smartphones, successfully in crypto mining, and took a big gamble, moving beyond gaming graphics, be more general, use movies, health care, climate modeling, with processors that can make multiple simultaneous calculations.

Turns out, they're fantastic for A.I.

HEATER: They made a bad break correctly that it's the next big thing and they're making a very similar bet right now in the world of robotics. So as that begins to take off, they're going to continue to be ahead of everybody.

WATT: Nvidia's value just tripled from $1 trillion to $3 trillion in under a year.

But Nvidia doesn't actually manufacture anything. They outsource that. They design still, this is now the second largest corporation on our planet, with all our futures in its manicured hands, holding this.

HUANG: This is the most complex, highest performance computer the world's ever made.

WATT: That's why you have to care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): Now, in the next few years, the competition is going to heat up in this marketplace for making the chips that train A.I.

But some analysts say that right now Nvidia has maybe up to 95 percent share of that market. They've got a huge head start on their main competitors, Intel and AMD.

AMD just launched a new chip. Nvidia says they're going to launch new chip every year. That $3 trillion valuation, computer world called just said maybe, that's an undervaluation -- Erin.

BURNETT: That's incredible.

All right. Thank you very much, Nick Watt.

And thanks to all of you as always.

"AC360" starts now.