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Erin Burnett Outfront
Polls Close In Virginia Where Trump Hopes To Get Revenge; Kim Jong Un Welcomes Putin To North Korea With A Hug; Biden Pushes Biggest Immigration Relief In Over A Decade; CNN Obtains Justin Timberlake Mugshot After DWI Arrest. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired June 18, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:57]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, the polls closing right now in Virginia where Trump is looking for payback tonight. This as the former president makes a major and unfounded accusation against Biden just moments ago.
Plus, North Korea pulling out all the stops. Kim Jong Un now welcoming Putin to the hermit nation as Russian state TV zeros in on this program's coverage. And we're going to tell you why live from Moscow tonight.
And from NSYNC to in jail. We have new details on why Justin Timberlake spent the night in jail.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news. There are polls closing right now within the past minute in a crucial 2024 primary. There could be a big tell for the presidential election.
And we are standing by right now for results in the race for the Republican nomination in Virginia in the fifth congressional district. This is the most expensive House Republican primary of the year.
And it is a race that Donald Trump takes very personally.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he's reelected, Bob Good will stab Virginia in the back, sort of like he did with me.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump slamming the incumbent congressman there who is Bob Good. Why you may ask? Well, Congressman Good initially endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary. Now, after DeSantis dropped out, Good immediately backed Trump, even went so far as to be in the group of acolytes are disciples, the people who came to the criminal trial of Trump in New York and rode in Trump's motorcade to the courthouse.
He did all of this. Like I said, a disciple, the ultimate show of loyalty for Trump, but that is not enough. Trump is now supporting goods challenger, a man named John McGuire. And Trump thinks that Virginia is in play for his election in November.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to put a very heavy play on Virginia and I think we're going to win the state of Virginia. We're up now in the polls.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Virginia is crucial. Now, Trump is not beating Biden yet. A recent poll, though, shows Biden and Trump now tied in Virginia. Keep in mind Biden won that state by ten points in 2020. And right now, Biden is in Virginia at a fundraiser with Bill and Hillary Clinton where they say they're raising $8 the most ever for a Democrat in Virginia and a presidential election.
But that neck and neck poll comes as tonight, we have a new national polls showing the same thing, showing Biden and Trump tied just days before the first presidential debate nationally, and that is the debate that Trump is talking about at this hour. So it was just a few moments ago at this rally in Wisconsin, he made an outrageous claim that Biden will use cocaine at the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Joe Biden doesn't have a clue. Now, we're going to watch -- is anybody going to watch the debate?
(CHEERS)
He's going to be so pumped up. He's going to be pumped up. You know all that stuff that was missing about a month ago from the White House. What happened?
Somebody didn't pick up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine, I wonder who that could have been. I don't know. Actually, I think it was Joe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Maybe slightly unclear what Trump is talking about specifically, but generally we all get point.
Melanie Zanona is OUTFRONT live outside Congressman Good's campaign headquarters in Virginia.
Which is a crucial state, Melanie, as I said, neck and neck now, in polls for Trump and Biden. Biden there tonight at a fundraiser.
What is the latest you're learning as these polls have just closed in Virginia?
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yeah, the polls did just close moments ago, in what has become the most bitter and expensive House Republican primary race in the country. And the reason for that is because Bob Good is a very polarizing figure inside the GOP. And there are a lot of Republicans who are looking for payback.
Chief among them is Donald Trump. As you mentioned, he has never forgiven Bob Good for initially endorsing Ron DeSantis over Trump back when Trump was battling some legal troubles and it did not look like he might become the eventual nominee.
[19:05:01]
Of course, as you mentioned, Good did eventually flip his support to Donald Trump when Ron DeSantis jumped out of the race. But that was not enough for Donald Trump, who is endorsing John McGuire, his opponent. He did a tele-town hall last night for the candidate, and he even sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bob Good's campaign, urging him to not use campaign signs that suggest that Trump is supporting Bob Good.
And then, of course, and the other camp, there's Kevin McCarthy and his allies who were coming after Bob Good because he was one of those eight Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
Now, Bob Good does have his share of allies. He has Matt Gaetz, he has the House Freedom Caucus. He has them conservative outside groups, but he was outraised by his opponents. And notably, Speaker Mike Johnson has stayed on the sidelines of this fight probably because he doesn't want to get on Trump's bad side.
So, no doubt, this test is going to be of Trumps strength and influence inside the GOP tonight -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. As we await the formal results there.
Melanie Zanona, thank you very much. As we said, as she is outside, Congressman Good's headquarters, was we await making that call -- a call, Harry Enten, that could be crucial as we go beyond the numbers, because this is about the power of Trump as Melanie says, right?
He has put a lot in this. He has been nasty about bob. Good. No question where he stands.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: There's a surprise.
BURNETT: What is his record when it comes to endorsements?
ENTEN: Basically, he's won every single time that he's endorsed a candidate this cycle, they won. There's exactly one candidate that he's endorsed that has not one look at that record, 88.
BURNETT: Eighty-eight to one.
ENTEN: Eighty-eight to one. Now, of course, this is a very specific race in which he's going against an incumbent and this in my mind gives you a really good indication how far that Trump brand actually goes. Can he actually defeat an incumbent?
Most of the people he backs are, in fact, incumbents themselves or people in open races. And I will note that Trumps record this year is the best so far in this cycle of any cycle in terms of endorsements since he became president.
BURNETT: Okay. And that's crucial. That is though some might say, all right, but those are primaries. That's the far right of the party and that's not the same as the general.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: So, let's go there. Lets go over overall, if you look at Republicans overall, how is he doing? Is he winning over more and more Republicans overall?
ENTEN: Absolutely, Erin. You know, the fact is there are a lot of people said, oh, Nikki Haley challenged him, and where are those Nikki Haley voters are going to go?
BURNETT: She's still pulling 20 percent in those primaries.
ENTEN: Exactly right. But if you look at the polling right now, what do we see? We see Trumps margin against Joe Biden or against the Democratic candidate climbing higher and higher and higher.
You go back to 2016, you saw that Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump. Trump was leading at this point by 79 point, should go to 2020. Trump was leaning over Joe Biden by 83 points over Republicans. You go now, he's leading by 87 points among Republican voters.
She might say the Republicans, there'll be backing him anyway. But they're backing him and stronger and stronger numbers. And that's one of the reasons why I'm keeping an eye on the primary tonight because I'm interested.
Are there any cracks and all to be seen among Republican primary voters?
BURNETT: Yes. All right, so that's crucial for the state of Virginia. Now, obviously this is in the context of the debate that is coming up in just a few days. You've got the national polls. As I mentioned, Virginia neck and neck, but nationally neck and neck as well. So what are the three states that you think right now are the most important that you're looking.
ENTEN: It's the Great Lake battleground states. It's that blue wall, right? It's Pennsylvania. It's Michigan, Wisconsin. If Joe Biden can win these three states, he very likely will be the next president of the United States.
Yes, there are maps you control where he wouldn't but if he wins in these three states, he can win despite all that poor polling. And if you look at the polling right now and those three says, look at it, it's neck and neck. It's neck and neck in Michigan. It's neck and neck in Wisconsin, maybe a slight lead for Trump in Pennsylvania.
Trump if he can win one of these states, he's probably going to be the next president, but Biden wins all three, he will probably be the next president.
BURNETT: All right. Harry, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to Sherwin Hughes, radio host of "The Truth with Sherwin Hughes", a radio show based out of Wisconsin and Republican Bruce Blakeman, who is the Nassau County executive here in New York state.
So, Sherwin, you know, you hear Harry and you talk about that, Trump is doing well with his endorsements, but also doing better even among Republicans than he has in the past. And in just a few of those states, as Harry's laying out tied neck and neck. Are you concerned at this point that he is coming in stronger than he did in 2020 and even in 2016?
SHERWIN HUGHES, HOST, "THE TRUTH WITH SHERWIN HUGHES": I am not because we've seen the kind of liability of the Donald Trump has been on other Republicans that he has supported in previous cycles. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. So, Donald Trump getting some candidates across the finish line and primaries, I don't think that's any kind of harbinger of the future or of what may happen come 20 weeks from today.
BURNETT: Bruce, I would imagine you see even when you look at the blue, those crucial Midwest states that are must win, you see a very different picture.
BRUCE BLAKEMAN (R), NASSAU COUNTY, EXECUTIVE: Well, let me give you a little example. In Anthony D'Esposito's district, the fourth congressional, Joe Biden won that district by 16 points last election. Donald Trump is now up five points.
[19:10:02]
That's a 21 point swing in suburban Nassau County, right outside of New York City.
Donald Trump is now trailing Joe Biden by six points in New York state. We're seeing a trend where Donald Trump is getting stronger and stronger because the issues favor Donald Trump, whether it's sanctuary cities, whether it's the invasion from south of the border, whether its crime, inflation, all the policies that people are rejecting of Joe Biden, they realized that when President Trump was president, that they had a much better quality of life.
BURNETT: Well, I mean, obviously, it was COVID at that time, but do not relitigate all of that.
Sherwin, I want to ask you about sometimes politics being local, separate from the big issues which matter nationally. And Bruce is right, right? People care about immigration, to care about the economy, of course. In Wisconsin, though, you're must-win state, Trump is there today. He
was in Racine, now he's in Wisconsin on stage. And it came out in Milwaukee and tried to clean up his recent comments.
So, recently said behind closed doors and he was quoted as saying Milwaukee is horrible. Milwaukee is, of course, the site of the GOP convention in just about a month, a Democratic City and obviously a must-win state. So he came out trying to clean it up. Here he is, Sherwin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I love Milwaukee. I said you got to fix the crime. We all know that. You got to make sure the election is honest. But I'm the one that picked Milwaukee and the Democrats or the radical left lunatics as I call them what they say is just so terrible. They lie, lie, lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I love Milwaukee. Sherwin, does anyone take it seriously one way or the other when you come out and say it's a horrible place. Does that lose you votes?
HUGHES: Well, I tell you what, we're actually glad that he said as a horrible city because that's folks here in Milwaukee that know our city is not horrible. We're a wonderful place. We are up and coming in on the rise, and quite honestly, we believe that's why the Republicans chose our city for their convention.
So, him saying that has actually galvanized more Democrats in this city. In fact, 80 percent some of the people in the city of Milwaukee voted for Joe Biden. So it's great talking point for the Democrats. Billboards have gone up all over the city.
And here's the other thing. Republicans are competing for a very, very small share of votes. And there are some Republicans, Republican voters in the city of Milwaukee. But why would they consider voting for a man that calls their cities I know that they love very much horrible?
So I think he didn't do himself any favors by saying that, but I think it was actually good talking points for the Democrats because it got us to rally around Donald Trumps evil rhetoric.
BURNETT: And, of course, you know, Trump's in Milwaukee tonight. He was in Racine earlier today, the exact same agenda that President Biden did just weeks ago when I interviewed him in Racine, and then he went to Milwaukee that night. The point is, Bruce, it's a must-win state, but it is perhaps of the Midwestern states and we'll see, but perhaps the hardest for Trump to get over the line for.
Where would it he best spent -- be best to spend his time?
BLAKEMAN: Well, I think he's going to do very well in Wisconsin. I think he's going to do very well in Pennsylvania. Michigan is certainly in play. I think he's going to do very well in Georgia and North Carolina. I think that he's going to upset the Democrats, Biden in Virginia. And I think he's going to make it a race in New York and New Jersey.
So I think it's going to be a big surprise. This reminds me a lot of Ronald Reagan's race in 1980 when people were just fed up with the policies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan was a guy that nobody thought could win, and he won in a tremendous landslide. So, I think that's what's going to happen.
BURNETT: So, are you for real about New York and New Jersey? I mean, rhetoric aside, are you for real?
BLAKEMAN: I am for real. When -- yes, sure when. You have a congressional district that Joe Biden won by 16 points and now Trumps up by five. The whole states in play.
BURNETT: Sherwin, do you have fear of this?
HUGHES: Absolutely not. So here's the thing that we're forgetting. So on July 11, Donald Trump, his sentence for the 34 felonies that he has been convicted of, and this is something that Republicans are not talking about. There's a chance that he may not even be his own convention because he may be in some kind of confinement. So that can't go unsaid that this is a president who's got 34 felony convictions, and I think decent hardworking Americans know that they can't get most jobs with any felonies, let alone someone with 34 of them.
So we'll see what happens at his sentencing, because what that's going to do it was that's going to consume the media universe, even Fox News is going to have to cover what happens to Donald Trump on July 11th. So some of these places where Donald Trump has a lead, 20 weeks out before we've seen either of the two debates. I think its all smoke and mirrors. A lot can happen between now and November 5.
BURNETT: Well, that is something I think you both can agree on. Thank you very much, Sherwin, Bruce, I appreciate your time.
And next, Vladimir Putin on the ground literally embracing Kim Jong- un, arriving in North Korea for a major visit as Russian state television puts on a spotlight of our Matthew Chance and OUTFRONT.
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And we're going to show you why.
Plus, record heatwaves, stronger storms forming earlier than ever, uncharted the territory for so many on this planet. Scientists are warning that they actually now don't know what's coming next. We have a special report from our Bill Weir, next.
And Justin Timberlake arrested. New details tonight about the pop star's run-in with an officer who didn't even know who he was.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BURNETT: Breaking news, Kim Jong Un personally greeting and hugging Vladimir Putin as he arrives in Pyongyang in the middle of the night. It was -- it was literally two or 3:00 in the morning, local.
[19:20:01]
It's going to be a two-day visit, but arriving in the middle of the night. And Kim was there to meet them.
The two leaders then riding together in Putin's private car, complete with sort of an awkward moment and awkward dance to see who would get into the vehicle first, which you can see here, this sort of awkwardness.
Russian state television broadcasting from Pyongyang, while one of Russia's most prominent propagandists echoes Putin's threat to help Kim confront the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): President Putin promised to support North Korea and confronting an insidious and dangerous enemy. This is a direct quote, we can assume that this is about the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This as Putin is being glorified by Kim. His picture is on banners lining Pyongyang's streets along countless Russian flags, almost a Saudi sort of welcome.
Matthew Chance is OUTFRONT live in Moscow.
And, Matthew, how is Russia reacting to Putin's visit? And so interesting that he arrives literally at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning to Pyongyang.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, but that's just the time zone issue. Remember Vladimir Putin was in eastern Russia before we set off for Pyongyang and so, you know, the times won't be that -- that big to him.
In terms of how Russia is seeing this, they're obviously treating it with massive importance, like it's some sort of foreign policy coup. I mean, it's a very high level delegation that's gone with that Vladimir Putin, not just a foreign minister, but the defense minister, officials from the Russian space agency, one of the top energy officials in the country as well.
And so, what Moscow is anticipating, what its trying to show that it's looking at agreeing is some sort of broad spectrum agreement with Pyongyang. And indeed they talked about signing a strategic partnership treaty with North Koreans at possibly tomorrow, possibly during this trip. But make no mistake, this is about two countries that are isolated on the international stage that have been drawn together by that isolation itself. It's something that, you know, state television reporters here in
Moscow are actually alluding to. If you listen to them, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEKSEY GOLOVKO, RUSSIAN STATE TV CORRESPONDENT (through translator): The United States are still pushing their line and North Korea remains under heavy sanctions. However, it is easier to overcome these sanctions together. Vladimir Putin and Kim will surely talk about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Yeah, that. Yeah, they'll talk about that. But the other things are probably going to talk about which we're not going to hear about publicly, arms shipments to Russia. That's something that Russia needs very much from North Korean factories to sustain its war in Ukraine. And what North Korea gets in return, it needs a lot of things, but, of course, it wants help with this ballistic missile program and indeed its nuclear program as well, Erin.
BURNETT: Well, Matthew, Russian state television has also been following the coverage of this closely to how you and I here have been talking about this, and CNN has been covering this Putin-Kim meeting. What are they saying?
CHANCE: Oh, yeah, look, I mean, there's been a lot -- a big part of the coverage on Russian television is how other media channels around the world, including CNN, have been covering this meeting. And it just indicates that it, one of the main an objectives of this, I think for Russia is to not just go and visit North Korea and as it deals with North Korea, but to be seen to be doing so in the West particularly in the United States.
And in fact, they've been highlighting some of CNN's sort of comments and reports on the strip, not criticizing it, just highlighting it and sort of reveling in it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLGA SKABEYEVA, RUSSIAN STATE TV ANCHOR (through translator): But CNN made the boldest point, Putin's visit to North Korea will further strengthen the relationship between the countries hostile to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: So again, Erin, this is very much the two countries, particularly Russia, wants you to show that it is not isolated on international stage, despite all the sanctions against it.
BURNETT: All right. Matthew Chance from Moscow, thank you very much.
And as Putin, of course, is on this mission, to get even more weapons from Kim Jong-un, it is in part because of some real setbacks he is seeing on the battlefield in Ukraine. And Fred Pleitgen has that report you'll see first here OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ukrainian troops storming a Russian trench in the Kharkiv region, firing and throwing grenades at those unwilling to surrender. Elsewhere in the same region, a Russian soldier does give up after the Ukrainians decimated his units.
We ran to him and I saw his uniform up-close and realized he's a Russian servicemen, he says, then I shouted at him hands up, he put up his hands in the air and then did everything I told him to do.
Moscow's military launched a surprise offensive targeting the northeast of Ukraine earlier this year, destroying a key town and gaining a foothold not far from Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv.
[19:25:04]
But now, the Ukrainian say they've killed scores of Russians here and are back on the offensive. A major reason resumed military aid from the U.S. and its allies, Ukraine's president says.
We see the world's determination opening up new perspectives for restoring our security, he says. Among other things, this concerns the security of Kharkiv, the destruction of Russian terrorists positions, and launchers near the border order by our forces and soldiers really matters.
As Ukraine's land and air forces are pounding his troops, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, was at a children's musical school in Russia's far east in route to meet a key ally, North Korean strong man, Kim Jong-un.
With the going tough on the battlefield, Putin has already threatened the West for supporting Ukraine, but also claims he wants peace talks.
So far, the West has been ignoring our interests, he says. While they forbid Kyiv to negotiate, they hypocritically call on us to start some sort of negotiations. It just looks idiotic.
But Ukrainian troops facing the Russians on the eastern front say they have no trust in the Russian leader's words and want to fight on.
Russia understands force only, the soldier says. All the agreements and signings are just the games with the beast. Sooner or later, it will regain its strengths, lick its wounds, and will be conquering even more because it has already tasted blood.
And so, Ukraine's forces continue the battle against an enemy with more troops and a lot more firepower.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PLEITGEN (on camera): And you know, Erin, the Ukrainians, of course, acknowledged that the Russians are still pressing in some areas of the front line. However, they also say that they have been able to stabilize many places and are able to push back, especially thanks to fresh weapons deliveries from the U.S. and its allies -- Erin.
BURNETT: Fred, thank you very much.
And next from a deadly heat wave to dangerous storms that are deadlier than ever, scientists fear that this is just the beginning and there's no telling where its headed, models be damned. Our Bill Weir with special report, next.
Plus, President Biden announcing the most sweeping protections for undocumented immigrants since DACA itself. Republicans turning it into a conspiracy theory about voter fraud.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:52]
BURNETT: Tonight, extraordinary, terrifying, uncharted territory -- these are just a few of the quotes for how scientists around the world have been describing the now persistent, stubborn, and record-breaking heat. The dangerous and unusual weather hitting nearly every region of the United States tonight, 270 million people facing extreme and blistering conditions set to get worse in the coming hours.
Heat warnings, watches, advisories across the Midwest and northeast at this hour. Temperatures in some areas more than 25 degrees above average, blasting through heat records already. Texas today saw 113 degrees in June, records breaking Illinois, Ohio as well. The unprecedented magnitude of this is impossible to ignore.
And it is all happening earlier in all, well, it's not even technically summer yet, than ever before.
Bill Weir is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is not even officially summer yet. And he is already taking lives by the dozens. In India, during recent elections, at least 33 poll workers died of heat stress on the same day. At least 41 Jordanians perished as they made their pilgrimage to Mecca, where yesterday, they set a new all-time high at over 125 degrees.
And in Greece, at least three tourists lost their lives simply by hiking, without enough water or shade. While those places are used to stretches in the triple digits, the American northeast is not.
And on a planet overheated by fossil fuel pollution, Maine must now brace for the kind of heat and humidity found in Miami. And big cities are bracing for a strain on everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extreme heat is the most dangerous weather phenomenon we have in New York City.
WEIR: In the northern hemisphere, new science finds that last summer was the hottest since the birth of Christ.
And in the U.S., heat took the most lives since records began in the '80s.
This year is on pace to be even hotter, pushing disaster management into uncharted territory as the climate crisis manifest by region and by water whiplash, either too much or never enough.
In the part southwest, wildfires kicking back up from Ruidoso, New Mexico, to near Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every one of us is concerned, but with the wind that's the single most driving factor of this fire.
WEIR: And after a wet winter brought more plant life to California, there are worries that a scorching summer could turn it all to fuel. But when you pray for rain on an overheated planet, you must specify not all at once.
From Brazil to Florida, days of torrential rain created floods in homes and cars and lives hitting some in Fort Lauderdale who are still cleaning up after last summer, which brought the kind of rain and flood that is only supposed to happen once every thousand years.
DANIEL SWAN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA: So right now, it looks like certainly this summer is going to feature a lot more extreme, and in some cases of record-breaking heat in different parts of the globe. But to be quite honest, what were seeing now is the taste of what its going to be like all the time in just a decade or so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:35:08]
WEIR (on camera): Even though heat is the deadliest weather event, it has never been used to declare a federal emergency in the Stafford Act. About 30 groups today signed a petition trying to change that to open up female funding for big heat events like this, which has largely been left up to the states by now.
But FEMA, as we know, is running out of money as it is. And speaking of FEMA funding and responses to big storms, there is the first of the season, a tropical depression develop hoping in the Gulf of Mexico could become a hurricane at the very least, Texas is in for a lot of rain -- Erin.
BURNETT: A hundred and thirteen degrees. And then I could be up to ten inches or more of rain, I guess they're saying.
All right, Bill. Thank you very much.
And I want to go now to one of the world's, you know, top scientists, but studying this issue, Bill Nye. And, Bill, terrifying thing that's happening across the U.S. this week
when you look at what Bill's going through searing heat in the Midwest and Northeast, the cyclone he just mentioned, the powerful thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast, double-digit inches of rain from Miami to now, maybe Texas, wildfires in California and New Mexico. And then you've got Montana with actually a winter weather advisory.
What does all this mean is you synthesize it?
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Well, what it means is we need to curtail art use of fossil fuels and putting carbon dioxide methane in the atmosphere. And we need to do it as soon as we can.
And I hearken all the time to a war where everybody gets motivated very quickly. There has not been a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor with respect to climate change because it happens, it's happening in slow motion. And so sooner or later, everybody, all of these events, all of these events will be connected to climate change by computer modeling. It's been straightforward to connect the extreme, extreme events, but now these sort of regular extreme events are going to be connected and we can get to work. The new -- the newest research indicates that there will not be -- there is not a tipping point, there is not a point of no return.
Rather, it's things just getting worse and worse the way they are right now this summer.
BURNETT: Yeah.
NYE: And just the point I want to make everybody, when people talk about a heat dome, which is the new good word, consider this following, there's a map of New England, the Ohio River Valley, and the dome is not hollow.
When I think of a dome, I think of a roof and you could walk around underneath it. No. The dome is solid. It's -- rather it's high pressure air.
BURNETT: Yeah.
NYE: And the jet stream shown here has gone north and enabled this giant dome --
BURNETT: Come down.
NYE: -- of hot air to stay there.
BURNETT: So, Bill --
NYE: And stay there.
BURNETT: But here's the thing and I know you mentioned -- you mentioned in a sense solutions, but just to hold on for a second. You know, all the modeling showed, you know, if you could stop a degree you could stop two degrees, and there's this sort of feeling out there. I think when you see what's happening, floods, droughts, heatwaves, that it's all suddenly happening a lot faster than anybody would have expected.
And therefore, nobody has any idea how bad, how dramatic it might get, how many feet you could be seeing of sea level. I mean, it's easy to get quite scared. Is it all moving a lot faster than you ever would have thought?
NYE: With respect -- no, there are certain scientists, climate scientists who have been talking about this for a long time and how it will accelerate. And you may have heard this expression, positive feedback.
BURNETT: Yes.
NYE: In control systems, positive feedback is the mathematical sign where you hold the microphone near the speaker and it gets louder and louder and screeches. That's positive the feedback.
BURNETT: Yeah.
NYE: In human resources, positive feedback is making you feel good about it. No positive feedback in mathematics and control system is what we're seeing now, things are getting worse, faster and faster, and the scientists --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: So, what about -- what about --
NYE: -- who've been pointing this out, well, are called alarmists.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: They were now, maybe that's -- maybe that's what is happening.
But can I ask you, Bill, though, in terms of stopping it because, you know, you hear about people now, you know, a termination shock are just pulling the carbon out of the atmosphere, things that, you know, may in theory be possible, but certainly in large practical application are not.
Is there anything right now that can actually turn it around, especially considering the burning of fossil fuels isn't going to stop? In fact, it is increasing on a global basis. So what's -- what's the solution as you see it, that actually can do something think about this in real time frame?
[19:40:04]
NYE: Well, okay, three things. First of all, let's do -- burn less, replace the electricity made with fossil fuels, with renewable sources.
BURNETT: Yeah.
NYE: This includes not shutting down any nuclear power plants that are working right now. The trouble with nuclear power, everybody, is political. People don't want these -- don't want to deal with the waste and so on.
Then what we want to do is take advantage of the systems we have right now. This is why people are advocating for electric vehicles, electric vehicle drive trains are 90 percent efficient versus 30 percent efficient for internal combustion. So you're just using less energy. Furthermore, when you use electricity for transportation, you can produce the electricity cleanly.
And then if I may, I would like -- I would prefer I am going to vote for and whatever way I can for investment -- I'm not kidding, everybody -- in extraordinary new forms of electricity and I'm talking about fusion.
BURNETT: Fusion.
NYE: There are a half-dozen organizations, universities, companies around the world working on this problem. And if we could get this extraordinary new source of electricity, we could change the world. And for that, it takes investment. And in my opinion, government investment, if you like to worry about things my fellow U.S. citizens, the Chinese government is investing in a new super collider. This is something to investigate the inside of atoms.
BURNETT: Yes.
NYE: And that would mean it is possible that Chinese researchers will make advances in -- with respect to fusion that we are not able to.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Bill --
NYE: So, thank you.
BURNETT: Yeah. I appreciate it. Well, I'm glad you shared that and I think it gives us a starting point and maybe I suppose sense of possibility that something can be done as opposed to a sort of defeatist way, which it's possible to get your mind there.
Bill, thank you very much. As all always, great to see you.
And next, President Biden announcing an executive action to allow more than half a million undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States. Trump is seizing on it this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an invasion of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Justin Timberlake back in the spotlight tonight, but a far cry from the days of the Mickey Mouse Club.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:46:40]
BURNETT: New tonight, President Biden announcing a new executive action, which would allow more than half a million undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States, one of the biggest moves to protect immigrants from deportation since DACA.
Now, Biden insisted today is about keeping families together, rejecting claims that this announcement was political.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not interested in playing politics of the border or immigration. I'm interesting in fixing. I said it before --
(APPLAUSE)
I've said it before and I'll say it again today, I'll work with anyone to solve these problems. That's my responsibility as president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just minutes later though, former President Trump slammed Biden's move during a rally today. Here's some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Crooked Joe is sending a message to the world that he rewards illegal entry. And that's what's happening. Our country is under invasion. We should not be talking amnesty. We should be talking about stopping the invasion instead. This is an invasion of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Mayor Victor Trevino, the mayor of Laredo, Texas, obviously there had been one of the biggest crossing point in the U.S., in this recent wave of immigration. And he was at the White House today for the event with President Biden.
So, Mayor Trevino, obviously, there's two different issues. Present Biden is obviously talking about people who've been in this country for a very long period of time. He is not talking about people who have just recently come over the border.
The former president is obviously mixing those two things, saying that what Biden is doing is rewarding illegal entry and that Biden should be focusing on stopping the invasion.
What do you -- what do you say to the former president?
MAYOR VICTOR TREVINO, LAREDO, TEXAS: Well, first of all, everybody has an opinion. Thank you for having me.
But everybody has an opinion and you have to be living at the border and working at the border to know what's going on. There's -- there's a way to look at a problem and just stamp it out without looking at the repercussions. You don't look at a problem, you look for solution. And this is, I think the first step to modernizing our immigration system that there has hasn't been touched for decades.
BURNETT: Yeah.
TREVINO: So all this, I think would be beneficial for all the people that already work here and live here and they've been here all their lives. They don't know any other country, and they don't main -- not know another language. So it just makes sense that if people already Americans.
BURNETT: Does it send a signal though as the former president is saying to others, that, okay, sure, they stay here awhile, but then they were given it without having followed the rules. In fact, have having come into the country having, having broken the law to do that is you have a point on that or do you think that that does not encourage immigrants coming in now?
TREVINO: I don't think it would encourage him because as a result of insufficient immigration system that existed, this all has happened. But now we have the problem we need to look for a solution. I think these are the first steps, to look into a solution, to fix this problem.
And I don't think we are a country that's inhumane and the president said, today. This is the United States of America that portrays all the people from other countries. They came in to make this the country as great as it is. So we have to not forget our point of view.
BURNETT: So, Mayor, let me ask you. Trump's -- some of his allies have taken this further and they have said that this is actually part of a concerted plan to increase the Democratic voter base.
[19:50:08]
And one of the spokes -- spokespeople for Trump said today, quote, he's giving mass amnesty and citizenship to a hundreds of thousands of the illegals who he knows will ultimately vote for him, and the open border Democratic Party. The House Speaker Mike Johnson, Mayor, said, this is proof positive of the Democrats' plan to turn illegal aliens into voters.
Is there anything to that?
TREVINO: Not necessarily, because people that come from other countries have their mindset and what kind of government they want. And I've spoken to many people who come from other countries. And they don't necessarily believe that the existing parties, what they want. So I mean, this is something that you have to be cognizant of a not just say things that you think would probably would happen. So I don't think that has any value to it.
BURNETT: And yet, you know, when you look at the polls and I wanted to give you a chance to drill down this a bit. President Biden is struggling with Hispanic voters in a way he was not last time around and that was a crucial group to his victory in 2020. If you just look at Arizona alone, he won the Hispanic voters in 2020 there by 61 percent to 37 percent, 24 percentage point difference last time.
Latest Fox News poll out of Arizona shows him barely winning 50 percent. And Trump is only eight points behind. So he won by 24 last time, right now, he would only be winning by eight.
So does that play into any of this at all? The clear weakness at the current president is facing with a crucial voting bloc, which is Hispanics.
TREVINO: That just proves the point.
BURNETT: Yeah.
TREVINO: As you see, Hispanics are not necessarily Democrats or Republicans. The Hispanic have the mind of their own, so they look at whatever policy is beneficial to the country because we are part of the country and I don't really think that that really has anything to do with it.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Dr. Trevino, I appreciate your time, mayor of Laredo. Thank you so much.
TREVINO: I'm glad to be here. Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And next, this prince of pop popped for drunk driving. We are learning more about Justin Timberlake's arrest and struggles with addiction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:21]
BURNETT: All right. You are looking at Justin Timberlake's mug shot. This is after his DWI arrest in New York. He'd been released after spending the night in police custody. And you can see him leaving court after his release this morning. Arrest records show he refused to take a breathalyzer test three times. "The New York Post" reporting the officer who stopped him was so young he did not recognize the pop star by face or name.
Elizabeth Wagmeister is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Singer songwriter and actor Justin Timberlake known for hits like sexy back, leaving the Sag Harbor, Long Island, police station this morning, charged with driving while intoxicated.
Timberlake, known as the prince of pop, left the American Hotel at 12:37 a.m. this morning in a 2025 BMW, pulled over by police after allegedly rolling through a stop sign and failing to stay in his lane.
According to court documents, Timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and his breath had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage.
An officer said he had slowed speech, was unsteady and perform poorly on all standardized field sobriety test. The document says the 43- year-old rejected a breathalyzer three times and told police, quote, I had one martini and I followed my friends home.
He spent the night in jail before being released on his own recognizance.
The "Better Days" singer began his career on the Mickey Mouse Club and shot to stardom as a member of the boy band NSYNC in the '90s, before launching a multi-platinum solo career. Timberlake had a highly publicized relationship with Britney Spears from 1999 to 2002. In her tell-all book published last year, she wrote about having an abortion while dating the singer, alleging that Timberlake was not happy about the pregnancy, writing: If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it". Timberlake has not responded to that revelation.
He later married actress Jessica Biel, and the pair are now parents of two young sons. The couple recovered from a scandal in 2019 when Timberlake was seen cozying up to female co-star. He released a statement apologizing to his wife saying, I drank way too much last night and regret my behavior. I should have known better.
Like his high profile relationships, Timberlake's career has also had ups and downs beyond his music and acting.
And appearing on "Saturday Night Live", he was part of the infamous wardrobe malfunction after tearing Janet Jackson's top during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004. In 2021, he apologized to both Jackson and Spears for his missteps in the past after renewed attention on his relationship with Spears prompted him to make a statement.
Timberlake's arrest comes in the middle of his world tour for his sixth album, which was met with lukewarm reception and weak ticket sales. At a concert promoting his newest album this past February, Timberlake seemed to address some of the public scrutiny, sharing a few choice words on stage.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ACTOR/SINGER: I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to absolutely (EXPLETIVE DELETED) nobody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: You know, Elizabeth, he's obviously in Madison Square Garden next week, in the middle of this tour, you talk about some of the challenges he's had with it. But his personal life is now under a microscope. I mean, what more can you tell us?
WAGMEISTER: Absolutely. And this has someone whose entire life has been under a microscope. He grew up in front of our eyes in largely has stayed out of trouble. A ton has been said about his personal life, but this is his first arrest and his first brush with the law.
That said, he is always under a ton of public scrutiny for his personal choices and this comes in the middle of a huge tour for an album that has not been well-received. So this is really the last thing that Justin needs in terms of his career. And of course, you'd imagine that his family is top priority right now. He has two young kids with Jessica Biel and actually this past weekend on Father's Day, just posted sweet message to them.
BURNETT: All right. Elizabeth, thank you very much.
Thanks to all of you.
"AC360" starts right now.
