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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Names Pam Bondi As New AG Pick After Gaetz Withdraws; KFILE: New Audio Of RFK Jr.; Bitcoin Soaring Since Trump's Win, Nears Historic $100,000. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 21, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:34]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Trump announcing Pam Bondi as his pick for attorney general. The staunch ally and former Florida attorney general named after Gaetz withdrew his nomination. And Gaetz tonight hinting he's not out of the picture.
Plus, our KFILE uncovering audio of RFK Jr. comparing Trump and his supporters to Nazis. So how is Kennedy explaining that?
And should anyone invest in bitcoin? Is it all a charade? I mean, the price of bitcoin has gone from a thousand bucks to almost $100,000.
Lets go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Trump has a new pick for attorney general tonight, six hours after Matt Gaetz suddenly withdrew his nomination, Trump has a new choice. That is, the former Florida attorney general and longtime ally, Pam Bondi.
Certainly raises the question of whether maybe this was the plan all the way along, maybe this was just to get Matt Gaetz out of Congress without an ethics report coming out. We'll see.
But meanwhile, only six hours did it take for Trump to write online just moments ago. Quote, Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime and making America safe again. I have known Pam for many years. She is smart and tough, and is America First fighter who will do a terrific job as attorney general.
Now, of course, Bondi has been a very successful fighter for Trump in the 2020 election. She was on the front lines pushing Trump's election lies. She said, quote, we've won Pennsylvania and we want every vote to be counted in a fair way. Of course, he did not win Pennsylvania.
During Trump's criminal trial in New York. She was one of his top defenders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is just one big press conference trying to smear Donald Trump, trying to hurt Donald Trump. The gag order is completely illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Bondi also making it clear she is on the exact same page as Trump when it comes to his claim that the Justice Department has been politicized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONDI: When Republicans take back the White House and we will be back in there in 18 months or less. You know what's going to happen. The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated because the deep state last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows but now, they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated. And the House needs to be cleaned out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, that is as clear as it gets. That is where she stands. That is what Trump wants. She was also, though, very present on the campaign trail this year. She was a staple joining Trump at campaign rallies across the country. And as I mentioned, her nomination came in just six hours after Gaetz dropped out.
Meantime, just a few moments ago, Gaetz posted, I look forward to continuing to fight to save our country, just maybe from a different post.
A different post -- important word. Sources telling CNN that Trump himself is the one who called Gaetz this morning to let him know he didn't have the votes to be confirmed. Now, we understand that Trump did not ask Gaetz to drop out, despite the serious allegations involving statutory rape and sexual misconduct in a shocking turn of events, though just 24 hours ago, Gaetz showed no signs he was stepping down
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): They've been going great. Folks have been very supportive. They've been saying we're going to get a fair process, so it's a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: We were told Trump was standing by his staunch ally full stop, and the sources close to the president-elect were optimistic but then reality struck. Around 11:30 this morning, our Paula Reid reached out to Matt Gaetz's team. She had new reporting that there was a second alleged sexual encounter between the Republican and a 17-year- old. So his team asked for an hour to respond to Paula's reporting. They never did respond. Minutes before she was about to go on CNN to break her news, Gaetz
issued this statement, quote, there is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Thus, I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general.
Now, this was a major setback for Trump. I mean, even if he had thought this wasn't go through, going to go through, and it was helping Gaetz and getting that ethics committee report to not come out. And he had a backup plan of possible Pam Bondi, even if all that is true, he did back him.
He did say he wasn't going to step down and he said he was doing very well, but at the same time did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect. Those are the final words from Gaetz.
Sources telling CNN that the president-elect was all in on Gaetz. They told us that he didn't have someone waiting in the wings.
[19:05:01]
Well, that's a big question, right? So either he was ready on -- on Pam Bondi ready to go or he made that decision as quickly as he had made the Gaetz decision, we don't yet know.
But we do know that many of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress, like Josh Hawley, were happy Gaetz is out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): My plan is to support all of them. I think they've got momentum. I thought the meeting today with Gaetz went great and it's full steam ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That was just yesterday, maybe barely over 24 hours ago.
And today, here's Hawley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: Well, I'm sure it was the right decision if he feels like it is, and if the president feels like it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Right decision.
Well, Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT to begin our coverage near Mar-a- Lago.
And, Kristen, I was just talking about how one would go in six hours from Gaetz to Pam Bondi if you didn't already have something in your head about how this would go. But we just don't know. I know you've been learning more about exactly what happened. What have you found out?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay. So we do have some answers. Now, obviously, we don't know if she was waiting in the wings, but we are told that this wasn't quite a surprise that she had been on the list originally. As someone who could potentially pick to be attorney general, and I am told that almost as soon as Matt Gaetz withdrew his name or told Donald Trump that he was going to be withdrawing his name, Pam Bondi's name started circulating. A source of mine said they first heard about it early afternoon. So roughly an hour after Matt Gaetz withdrew his name, noting that this was circulating fairly wide, that he was likely to pick her and pick her as soon as possible.
The thing to keep in mind here is that Donald Trump still believes that attorney general is the most important position in his administration and in his cabinet. So he wanted to get this done and done as quickly as possible, despite the fact that there are still other names out there and other positions that are looming. He thought it was most important to get this done.
Now I will also tell you, I've spoken to a number of Republicans, including some of Trump's staunchest allies, who are breathing a sigh of relief. There had been a number of conversations about how exactly this confirmation process was going to go.
Trump himself had been briefed on the fact that they didn't think he had -- that Gaetz had enough votes, and Trump had said to others obviously, as we know now, that he had called Gaetz and said the same thing, but he had admitted to others that he did not think that Gaetz could potentially, at this point, get confirmed in the Senate.
When I am talking to these various allies, they are saying she is a solid pick. They believe her chances of getting confirmed are much higher. She also still carries a couple of things that Gaetz did the same viewpoint about the Department of Justice talking about dismantling it, how its been weaponized, some same thing we've heard Donald Trump say over and over again but also, Erin, I bet it wasn't that hard for your team to find those clips and find them quickly.
Just a reminder, it was just 30 minutes ago that he named them. The reason why is because Pam Bondi likes to go on television and she's good on television one of the things that Donald Trump really wanted in an attorney general was a bomb thrower who could go on TV and say his message effectively communicate. That's what I was told about Matt Gaetz. And that applies here as well.
Clearly, we've seen it apply to a number of cabinet positions, but that is part of the reason that he chose her and liked her.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Kristen, thank you very much. All those new details.
Let's go to Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.
Manu, again, it's been just about a half an hour since we found this out. How is the -- what's the response so far to the Pam Bondi choice? MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, silence,
right now, Erin. One part because the Senate is now -- they have left town for the weekend.
So senators will have the weekend to digest this news. And this will become as senators will look at this nomination more favorably undoubtedly, than the Matt Gaetz nomination. Gaetz came in with heavy baggage. A lot of senators knew Matt Gaetz for the way that he conducted himself on the House side for many years, where he battled with his colleagues.
Of course, those ethics allegations, those investigations that was going on about sexual misconduct and the like, and they wanted nothing to do with Matt Gaetz. They will look at Pam Bondi much differently with a fresh set of eyes, someone that they will have to assess.
Now, that doesn't mean that she definitely will be confirmed, even though her chances are so much higher than Matt Gaetz is right off the bat because senators simply don't know her. They'll have to vet her. They'll have to question her.
There will be an exhaustive background check. There will be a those hearings that will, of course, will be all important early next year. And how does she do in all of that? And will any red flags come up during their vetting process?
Those all will be the big questions. So senators may, well, the Trump team is believes that she is much more confirmable and she can certainly get the post. That process still needs to take place in the United States Senate because she's not very well known to these members and perhaps she will sail right through. But we'll see. These processes are complicated, and sometimes they can trip people up.
BURNETT: Absolutely. All right. Manu, thank you very much. And everyone's here with me.
So, Lulu, you know, eight years as attorney general for Florida, outspoken Trump supporter Trump and his foundation had put a lot of money into her election campaigns.
I know our Drew Griffin back in the time had done a lot of reporting on that. And whether, you know, whether that was in any way linked to decisions she then subsequently made his attorney general. The big question though, is, is, Lulu, does this you know, six hours? Do you think this was basically in a sense, a backup plan all the way along?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, I wouldn't -- I don't know if that if it was a backup plan, but Pam Bondi is in pretty obvious choice for him.
She's telegenic. She defends him. She worked on his impeachment trial. She was then at America First Policy Institute overseeing their legal operation there, something that's very allied to Trump.
I mean, she's had a very long relationship with him. You just mentioned. I'm a Floridian and, you know, you mentioned that those that relationship with Donald Trump -- I mean, it was back, I think, in 2013 that he gave money to her campaign and then, you know, apparently there was some questions around actions that she took around Trump University.
And so, you know, there's a long, long, long history there between the two of them.
BURNETT: Scott, a long history. She does have obviously real legal experience, which is in contrast to Matt Gaetz. No allegations of mass -- sex scandals with anyone underage drug scandals.
I mean, you know, just -- just to put it out there, here -- it's -- it's -- we'll see what we see here. But is this just a confirmation that would essentially sail through, Scott, or not?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't think you could consider anybody, you know, just where they're going to sail without any kind of real process. She's going to have to go through a process like everybody else.
But I can tell you, this is a massive upgrade. I've talked to a couple people up on the Hill already. There's a sigh of relief that now we have somebody here, two-term AG, strong record on drug enforcement and opioid issues, a total hawk on immigration, politically supportive of Trump obviously. I don't know a Republican in the country who doesn't love Pam Bondi.
So you were starting with Gaetz, a nominee who was underwater significantly to start and was going to always be hard to get to the surface. With Bondi, I do think you're starting above water, and as long as she performs in her hearings and look, this is somebody who's been through two elections in a really big state and so a lot of public vetting of her has gone on already.
So I think this is a great move by Trump to be pragmatic and tell Gaetz to get out. And a really good move to go with Bondi. This is not a shaky limb. This is a sturdy branch he's going with for AG here.
BURNETT: Would you agree with that, David?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'd agree with half of it. I think it was a good move to get Gaetz out of the nomination, because he clearly was going to crash and burn, and he shouldn't have been there in the first place. It was a horrific choice.
Look, I think that, you know, my recollections of Pam Bondi were of leading the locker up chants at the 196 -- 19 -- I'm sorry, at the 2016 Republican convention and of being in every way a political actor on behalf of Donald Trump, both as attorney general and outside the office of attorney general, and then after she left the office of attorney general.
So, he got he gets in her what he wants, which is he wants someone who will be responsive to him first, not the duties of the Constitution. He wants to have political control over the Justice Department, and she -- to Scott's point, I think she's fully -- fully, willing, able and capable of doing that, of putting a political functionary, who he trusts in that office.
Now, whether the rest of the country feels comfortable about that, whether the senators do. We'll see. It is a very -- I think it's a very daunting proposition for those who care about the integrity of the Justice Department.
BURNETT: Well, it doesn't make you realize in all these things you talk about electing people, running for office as attorney general, than they're getting donations. I mean, the whole thing about justice is supposed to be impartial. And the way a lot of this goes down, it just makes everybody think how we want to make these processes happen.
Lulu, to that impact, I want to read again what Gaetz said. He said, I look forward to continuing the fight to save our country, just maybe from a different post.
So, you know it. I know there are some who would hope okay, that's it for Gaetz. He's gone into the quietly into the night. It would be nothing that would indicate Gaetz is going to go quietly into the night. And in fact, use of the word post would indicate that he fully anticipates Trump will find another role for him.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think it's pretty clear that the end of Matt Gaetz is not nigh, and I think that becomes a reason for this report that the House committee has kept buried should see the light of day. I mean, I still think that it is incredibly important for that to be made public, and it is unclear if indeed these allegations are not as damning as Matt Gaetz says they are, that -- that why haven't they shown that to anyone yet?
[19:15:01]
I mean, the fact is that this entire thing, the allegations against him that he was grooming young high school girls and he slept with one of them, that was 17 years old, I mean, is -- should be disqualifying on the merits. And let us not forget that Donald Trump was supporting his nomination for attorney general until the end. And it was only four senators who kind of stood between Matt Gaetz and that position. It wasn't Donald Trump despite these allegations. And so you know, well see what happens to Matt Gaetz. But it ain't over till it's over, as they say.
BURNETT: Scott, so, so in this context that it is -- I think we can all know that there will be something else for Matt Gaetz in this administration. Do you think the House ethics report will see the light of day?
JENNINGS: I don't know if the actual report is written, will see the light of day, but I think virtually everything contained therein will and is currently being made public. I mean, look, we've got stories popping out this week. There's more reporting going on every day.
So whether Gaetz or anyone else likes it or not, virtually everything in there is going to come out. If he gets another appointment that doesn't require Senate confirmation, I'm sure there'll be even more people that dig into it.
I still am wondering if he's not entitled to show up and be sworn in to the House in January. I mean remember, he resigned from this Congress and said he would not take the oath in the 119th Congress, but he was duly elected by the people of Florida for this next term. I mean, he could technically show up, I think, and be sworn.
BURNETT: But then the report would come out, right?
JENNINGS: Well, but like I said, its already coming out. The news is already coming out. I mean, he's already suffered potentially through the worst of it here.
So anyway, I agree, I don't think we've seen the end of Matt Gaetz, but I think there's a couple of different paths he could take here. I just don't know which one it's going to be.
BURNETT: David, do you think -- I mean, I guess it's conceivable he got -- he comes back and goes back into Congress.
AXELROD: It is conceivable. One thing you asked, would he go quietly into the night? Matt Gaetz doesn't go quietly anywhere. So he's clearly not going anywhere now. He's ambitious. He could probably run in his district and win again if he wanted to not just get sworn in from the last term. Maybe he can win a Republican primary in Florida. You know, we'll see --
BURNETT: If he gets that Senate seat?
AXELROD: I don't know about winning a general election, is the question.
BURNETT: I mean, I mean, the Rubio seat?
AXELROD: Oh, the appointment?
BURNETT: Yes.
AXELROD: Well, that that would be up to Governor DeSantis and he has a lot of calculations to make there.
Let me just say this. I hope that the same senators who were and others who are as, as rigorous in evaluating Gaetz will not only evaluate Bondi that way, but some of these other appointees. The president has made some credible appointments, and I don't think anybody should reflexively reject any of them simply because he made them.
But there are others that are in some ways equally troubling. Bobby Kennedy, the appointment for DNI, Tulsi Gabbard. We know we still have a discussion to be had about the defense secretary pick.
So, the system held today. People said, are there any limits to Donald Trump's power? Well, there apparently are some limits to Donald Trump's power. And hats off to those in the Senate who saw to that, but they have more work to do. BURNETT: Can I ask you, Lulu, to the point that David just made though, right?
Trump could have gone. And there are many who had said, oh, he'll just go and do a recess appointment or do whatever. He didn't do that in this case. It's not to say that he won't do it in something else, right? I mean, just in this one particular instance in time, Lulu, does that show some sort of a check on his power that the Senate was able to essentially make call the shots on this one?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, it was just a small group of senators, and that is -- I mean, the system held. That's how the system is designed to function that the Senate does have the advice and consent role. And so, yes, it held, but I don't think we should extrapolate much on this.
BURNETT: Yeah.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The fact is that Matt Gaetz was just very unpopular amongst his colleagues. I mean, leaving aside what was in the report, people didn't like him there. And that goes a long way in that environment.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Well, thank you all very much. I appreciate it.
And don't miss the latest episode of David's podcast, "The Axe Files" because he interviews Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita. That is out today.
There's some profanity in there which was dropped in a very fascinating way. That's my tease for it, David. I hope everyone will listen.
And great to see all three of you.
And next, David mentioned the defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth. He is facing more trouble tonight. And what's going to happen to him after a troubling police report is coming out detailing an alleged sexual assault.
Plus, caught on tape. RFK Jr. once slamming Trump, saying he was worse than Hitler.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, he's not like Hitler. Hitler had like a plan. You know, Hitler was interested in policy.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's new KFILE reporting up next.
And breaking news, Putin warning Washington just moments before launching a new type of missile at Ukraine, the former top Ukrainian general, the top former Ukrainian general reportedly warning World War Three has already begun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:24:28]
BURNETT: Tonight, some more trouble for Trump nominees.
New details this evening on the sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department. The Monterey, California, police department revealing disturbing and graphic details in a 22-page police report.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: -- often the opportunity to talk to any senator that wants to talk to us.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary met with senators and the vice president-elect on Capitol Hill and paused to make his first on camera defense against a sexual assault allegation.
HEGSETH: I think it's very simple.
[19:25:01]
The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, and that's where I'm going to leave it.
LAH: A newly released 22-page police report from Monterey, California, doesn't clear Pete Hegseth, though prosecutors did not file charges. But it does add much more detail to the allegations that surfaced last week, and threatens to jeopardize Hegseth's nomination. The report lays out very different stories of what happened at this Hyatt Hotel in the early morning hours of October 8th, 2017.
Hegseth was the keynote speaker at a California Federation of Republican Women event. After it ended, the woman called Jane Doe in the police report texted someone, I'm headed to the bar with other women from the group. One of the conference attendees told police. Hegseth touched her knee. The woman asked Jane Doe to help her to be a crotch blocker, trying to stop Hegseth.
From there, Jane Doe's memory, she told police, becomes hazy. The police report states she believes that something may have been slipped into her drink, though the report doesn't have medical evidence for the claim. After the bar closed, surveillance video captured Hegseth and Jane Doe heading towards the pool, walking together arms locked together.
Guests complained to the hotel that they were being loud. A hotel worker described Hegseth as very intoxicated, but Jane Doe appeared very coherent. She told police she didn't know how she got into Hegseth's room, but that he took her phone and blocked the door with his body when she tried to leave. She recalls saying "no" a lot.
Jane then remembers Hegseth over her. His dog tags hovering over her face. He ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her, and asked, are you okay?
Jane Does memory started to return in the days after. She went to the hospital, where she requested a sexual assault exam and then spoke with police.
Hegseth told police what happened at the Hyatt was consensual. Hegseth says Jane Doe didn't want to leave his room, saying there was always conversation and always consensual contact. Hegseth told police Jane Doe showed early signs of regret.
Hegseth's lawyer tells CNN this police report confirms what I've said all along, that this incident was fully investigated. No charges were filed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Kyung, obviously, the charges, you know, here the allegations are very serious, interesting how they describe the difference between their two behaviors on camera that he -- he appeared quite drunk and she coherent.
I mean, it's hard to know what to make of this. What is the district attorney telling you tonight?
LAH: We are getting a very brief statement from the Monterey County district attorneys office saying that after three months, a little more than three months of investigating this case. So sometime in January, in 2018, the district attorneys office declined to file charges against Hegseth because they couldn't prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. That's generally a standard that prosecutors have to meet, and in this case, they didn't feel that they had the charges to meet that.
We are getting a little more word, though, from Hegseth's attorney saying to CNN that the woman was paid a settlement and there is a confidentiality clause in part of that settlement. And that became very clear when we tried to speak with the accuser. We spoke to her very brief -- very briefly. She's not being identified by CNN because she is the alleged victim of a sexual assault, but when we mentioned Hegseth's name, she was visibly distraught. She said that she had to speak to her attorney, that she didn't know what she could say, and she has not replied to follow up requests to speak with CNN -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much. With all those new details.
And next, KFILE has uncovered comments from RFK Jr., one of Trump's top cabinet picks, applauding this characterization of Trump and his supporters.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KENNEDY: We may not have that many outright Nazis in America but we have plenty of cowards and bootlickers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Elon Musk versus Jeff Bezos and the fight between the two is over Donald Trump. What's going on? Kara Swisher will know more than anyone, and she's OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:44]
BURNETT: Tonight, idiots, Nazis and bootlickers. RFK, Jr. once praising these words being used to describe Donald Trump and his supporters. And so, tonight, there's a KFILE investigation which uncovers this audio of Kennedy. Here it is, back from 2016.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KENNEDY: You write about Trump, quote, the way that you build a truly vicious nationalist movement is to wet a relatively small core of belligerent idiots to a much larger group of opportunists and spineless fellow travelers whose primary function is to turn a blind eye to things. We may not have that many outright Nazis in America, but we have plenty of cowards and bootlickers and once those fleshy dominoes start tumbling into the Trump camp, the game is up.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, it's like James Joyce-ian.
All right. Andrew Kaczynski joins me now. Andrew what else did you find beyond fleshy dominoes in these RFK, Jr. audio recordings which really show -- I mean, he's speaking with intensity. This is something he clearly genuinely believed.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. And look, we already knew that RFK, Jr. was a Trump hater in the past. But I feel like this does sort of take it to a whole another level. He said that Donald Trump's entire appeal and political message was based in fear -- fear of Muslims, fear of immigrants, fear of Black people, that was what RFK, Jr. said in his own words, was what Donald Trump's supporters were afraid of -- basically, anyone that didn't look like them.
[19:35:09]
Now, what RFK, Jr. said in some of this audio that we reviewed was that Trump sort of positioned himself as the only person who could fix these problems for these people. He compared him to historical demagogues in the article or in the audio that we reviewed. Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini in the U.S., people like George Wallace and Huey Long, Father Coughlin, these were the comments that RFK Jr. made.
Now, as we heard, it wasn't just by the way Trump and his Trump that he took aim at he also took aim at Trump's supporters. He compared them as you heard, to idiots. He said they were -- they were outright Nazis and they were all attached to these establishment figures that like you said, fleshy dominos, spineless bootlickers.
This is really sort of like Hillary Clintons basket of deplorables comment, almost on steroids. And here is the kicker, sort of in what we found, Erin, that he eventually sort of concludes that Donald Trump was not like Hitler, but not for the reason that you might imagine. Take a listen to this audio.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KENNEDY: And you can see that every statement that Donald Trump makes is fear based. You know, we have to be fear of the Muslims. We have to be fear of the -- of the Black people and particularly the big Black guy Obama, who's destroying this country, who's making everybody miserable. And only one person has the genius and the capacity to solve these things.
You know, he's not like Hitler. Hitler had like a plan. You know, Hitler was interested in policy.
He -- I don't think Trump has any of that. I think he's like non compos mentis that -- he's, you know, he'll get in there and, he'll -- I mean, who knows what will happen. Like he's -- he's interested only in attention at this point.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: And look, I think it's important to point out, too, that RFK didn't stop this criticism after Trump became president. He wasn't one of those people who saw Trump as president and thought he did a good job. He was criticizing him all the way up until July, when he called him then a terrible president.
BURNETT: Right, right.
All right. So, Andrew, RFK also came after Trump on some of the issues that RFK, Jr. has spent. You know, so much of his life fighting for that he cares deeply about.
All right. So what did he say about those?
KACZYNSKI: Yeah. RFK, Jr. didn't just critique Trump and his supporters. He also critiqued his record on the environment in the audio that we listened to. And one of the clips that we found, he referred to Trump quoting an article from the climate scientist Michael Mann. He said he was the, quote, worst climate denier he said he was going to gut all of these key environmental protections for just these short term gains.
And then, you know, in other audio, he said that Donald Trump was essentially going to turn over his administration to lobbyists from the very industries that they were supposed to be regulating. Listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KENNEDY: Trump isn't just going to destroy the climate but he's also promised last week when he spoke to the oil industry, the shale gas industry, he promised that he would get rid of the Clean Water Act. So he's just going to open the floodgates to every kind of pollution.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: So we did reach out to the Trump transition team over all of these comments. And they did send us a statement from RFK, Jr. apologizing for them. I'm going to read it right here, he said. Like many Americans, I allowed myself to believe the mainstream media's distorted dystopian portrait of President Trump. I no longer ever having made those statements -- Erin.
BURNETT: Well, that worked for J.D. Vance, so we'll see if it works for RFK, Jr.
All right. Thank you very much, Andrew Kaczynski of KFILE. It's important to see all of that and hear all of that. And perhaps what may matter in terms of what happens to RFK, Jr. is not necessarily just what Trump thinks but what maybe the person who seems to be most powerful around Trump thinks. And that is Elon Musk.
Elon Musk, meantime, tonight is in a battle over Trump with Jeff Bezos, two of the worlds richest men are now publicly feuding for Trump's favor. Musk posting on X, quote: I just learned tonight at Mar-a-Lago that Jeff Bezos was telling everyone that Real Donald Trump would lose for sure. So they should sell all their Tesla and SpaceX stock.
Bezos, responding with: Nope, 100 percent not true.
Musk fired back: Well, then I stand corrected following by a crying emoji. And RFOL, rolling on the floor laughing emoji.
Musk has been seen with Trump almost daily, of course, since Trump was elected. And joining me now is tech journalist Kara Swisher. She hosts a multitude of podcasts, has covered Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos closely for years.
It is safe to say you know more about both of them than -- than anyone.
[19:40:02]
And so what is behind this feud that's going on between the two of them?
KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they don't like each other. They never have. You know, this is sort of the great fight in tech before this before this happened. They're both in space. And so that's where it started. Was this competition between SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
And so, they've always sort of you know, tweaked back and forth of who the visionary is, post-Steve jobs.
BURNETT: Right.
SWISHER: Let me just tell you, neither one of them. But they've been always trying to sort of vie for that. And mostly Jeff's been quiet actually comparatively, and Elon's a nonstop talker, obviously. He can't stop saying something. And you know, I think this is unusual that Jeff responded. But he did because they just don't like each other, right?
BURNETT: I mean, it's just -- it's the person. You just can't --
SWISHER: Well, not just that. They compete. You know, Jeff wants to really get some of these contracts, these SpaceX contracts, Elon, obviously wants to dominate here and does.
BURNETT: Right. And he's the one sitting next to Trump on every single time.
SWISHER: Correct, correct.
BURNETT: So what is Elon -- I mean, what do you think Elon is after with Trump right now? You know --
SWISHER: Power. He wants contracts. He wants to have an input into things. He thinks he knows better. He does think, you know, at one point when I was interviewing him once he when Tesla was in trouble a little bit and he said, if Tesla doesn't survive, humanity dies. That's literally what he said to me.
BURNETT: And he believes it.
SWISHER: I thought he did. I thought it was bizarre, but it was true and so I really think he thinks he's here. You know, some people think he -- he's like a video game player and he's ready. Player one, not Trump, by the way, him.
And so he really thinks he's contributing by being part of this.
BURNETT: So can I ask -- a couple things I want to ask you in the context of what he's going to do in the administration. I mean, who knows how long it's going to last?
Who knows what he's going to do. But he said that he's going to be running --
SWISHER: It will.
BURNETT: -- the DOGE, which, of course, has the same acronym as his crypto and the Department of Government Efficiency.
SWISHER: Uh-huh.
BURNETT: So Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elon Musk, did you ever think that would be a pair? But apparently it's going to be a pair because Fox is reporting that she was just selected to lead a House subcommittee that's going to work with --
SWISHER: Delivering.
BURNETT: Right. They're going to be -- it's going to be the Congress part that's going to work with DOGE, which means working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Okay, you know, Elon Musk pretty well. How does that that relationship pan out? Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
SWISHER: I have no idea. I mean, both are very canny people. Let me tell you, Marjorie Taylor Greene, whatever you think of her, is a very canny person.
And so, I don't know, I think they're both -- I don't know how they're going to vie for attention and elbow each other out of the way of the cameras. That's one issue they both have. They love being in the center of attention.
You know, I think the problem is, can they really pass this or is this a lot of jazz hands and arm waving and we'll see if they're able to do so.
BURNETT: So you know what I find interesting on that? You know, a lot of people have a lot of admiration for Elon Musk and --
(CROSSTALK)
SWISHER: Sure. And a lot of people look at things that are admirable.
BURNETT: Right. And they look at the government and they say okay. And I know people are, you know, putting out messages on social media about hamster projects and, you know, and --
SWISHER: Whatever, there's always --
BURNETT: Whatever. Okay, and then big ones like Medicare fraud and Elon Musk wanting to go out and use A.I. or whatever it is to identify and fix that is something a lot of people can get behind. But then he talks about getting rid of entire government agencies and coming in and saying everybody, you know, essentially, you know, you could get rid of a lot of the federal government.
Ro Khanna said the other day. I think Elon is going to get frustrated fairly quickly.
SWISHER: Relatively quickly. The government is a big thing. It's not a company.
Elon goes into these companies and he kicks trash cans and yells at everybody. That's, by the way, his style. And he doesn't --
BURNETT: Literally doing that.
SWISHER: Yes.
BURNETT: Yes.
SWISHER: He doesn't run everything so well. I was talking to Neuralink people and they're like, we can't wait till he leaves because he's so disruptive.
BURNETT: That's the brain implant that's going to go --
SWISHER: Yes, because but he's -- you know, he's great at being an entrepreneur and creating things. And one of the things he does well is disrupt and break. So he crashed, I don't know 90 rockets before he got the right one. NASA can't do that. Government can't do that. Government can't crash because -- people it's not the same thing as running a company by fiat, which he does and he does very well in a very aggressive way. And that's fine. But it doesn't work when it comes to government.
You're always going to find the $600 toilet or the wrench that cost $1,000. The government has. That's a different issue. And I think just going in and cutting them and that's his way doesn't work in the public sector quite the same way it works in the private sector. Like this return to work thing is --
BURNETT: What he's saying, right? Federal government --
SWISHER: Have to come in.
BURNETT: Have to come in.
SWISHER: Most federal workers work at work. He doesn't even know the actual statistics because it's again, it's a lot of hand-waving and all government is bad its such a its such a reductive way to look at a problem and, you know, it works in private companies where you run everything. It doesn't work in government.
BURNETT: And quickly before we go, how do you think the Trump-Musk relationship goes? Those are also two people who love a camera.
SWISHER: I don't know, I think, you know, I think he I think one thing that's going for him, he's very rich. He's the richest man in the world. And so Trump likes that. So he can hold on for a lot longer.
In the end, I think it'll be like a Steve Bannon like thing, the too much attention and -- but you never know. The money -- money speaks to Donald Trump very much. And so possibly longer but probably end in tears.
BURNETT: Yeah. We'll see.
[19:45:00]
All right. Well, Kara thanks so much. It's great to see you.
SWISHER: Thank you.
BURNETT: Kara Swisher as I said, check out all of her podcasts. And next, we have breaking news. A Ukrainian, the former top Ukrainian
general, top general who had run this war for nearly two years, reportedly warning World War III is here now and we are going to take you live to the ground reporting in Moscow tonight.
Plus, the price of bitcoin, nearing a record $100,000, a rally that shows no signs of slowing down despite the fact that many people who know a lot about it think all of this is sort of a charade. Should you invest?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, the Pentagon tonight confirming that Russia notified the United States just moments before it launched a new experimental ballistic missile.
[19:50:02]
But it wasn't an experimental shot. It was a real shot at Dnipro in Ukraine. The sophisticated missile used against Ukraine is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, able to strike several targets at the same time.
But this is the first time it has been used in the war. And it comes as the former top Ukrainian general who ran this war for two years, is warning that World War Three has already begun.
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT in Moscow at the moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The moment one of Russia's newest missiles dropped its payload on one of Ukraine's largest cities.
Several sub-warheads impacting in Dnipro apparently not fully laden with explosives, causing no explosions on the ground, but aiming to deliver a strong message from the Russian leader.
In combat condition, one of the newest Russian medium range missile systems was also tested, in this case with a ballistic missile, a non- nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missile men call it Oreshnik.
The Ukrainians exclusively sharing these photos of the missile debris with CNN. Kyiv saying the speed, trajectory and impact of the rocket bore the hallmarks of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying thermonuclear warheads, although Western officials say it was not an ICBM.
Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is and how he despises dignity, freedom and peoples lives in general, Ukraine's president said.
Russia's strike comes only a day after Ukraine, for the first time used U.S. supplied ATACMS surface to surface missiles against targets inside Russia. Vladimir Putin says that the Russians used this new intermediate range
ballistic missile as a direct response to the Ukrainians hitting targets deep inside Russia using longer range weapons provided by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Ukrainians say Russia's new missile was launched from the Astrakhan area of Russia, near the Caspian Sea. Russia has test- launched ICBMs from there in the past.
Russian officials refusing to comment most of the day. The foreign ministry spokeswoman even getting an apparent order to remain silent during her press briefing.
ZAKHAROVA: Yes, I'm having a briefing.
CALLER: On Yuzhmash, the ballistic missile strike, which the Westerners started talking about, we are not commenting at all.
ZAKHAROVA: Yes, OK, thank you.
PLEITGEN: She later said the caller only clarified a topic for her press conference.
On the ground in Dnipro, the damage from the new weapon seemed minimal, but Putin's message has been delivered. Russia is capable of unleashing much greater havoc on Ukraine and its Western allies if it chooses to do so.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Very sobering.
And next, bitcoin now nearly $100,000. So what has fueled the spike just from 1,000 not long ago? And is there any reason you should get in it now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:50]
BURNETT: Tonight, bitcoin surging to record highs, closing in on $100,000 for a bitcoin at this hour. You can see that chart since Election Day.
Look at since Election Day and there's a reason for that. Trump is fully embracing cryptocurrency. It's a complete about face actually.
In 2019, he trashed it saying it was quote not money and, quote, based on thin air, a view, by the way, that would be consistent with some other people out there who know a lot about this. But Trump has completely flipped.
And Harry Enten is OUTFRONT.
Harry, okay, so let's just start with how hot is bitcoin right now?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hot, hot, hot with a 100 percent chance of passion. That's how hot it is. I mean, compare it to where it was eight years ago at this particular point when Trump was on the verge of taking office for the first time, it was selling for under $1,000.
Look at where it is now. Look at where it is now $98,000 right now, in terms of how much growth there has been over the last eight years, compare it to the baseline, that, of course, is the S&P 500. Bitcoin is up nearly 13,000 percent. The S&P 500 over that same period up a little bit less than 200 percent.
I wish I had known about bitcoin. Maybe I would have done that instead of the safe thing which is the S&P 500.
BURNETT: There's no way you would have done that.
ENTEN: No, there's no way.
BURNETT: There's right and there's reasons for that. I'm not going to get into all of that. But there has been an explosion of interest because when you start to see something pop and I'm just going to, you know, bubble, whatever you want to say, people get excited.
ENTEN: People get very excited. I mean, look at the Google searches since Election Day. You were mentioning how much the bitcoin has gone up, but how about a Google searches since election day up 237 percent for cryptocurrency overall.
So I think this is the real interesting thing, right?
Cryptocurrency no longer is necessarily this thing on the side, this sort of fad thing. It's something that has a lot of Americans really interested in it.
BURNETT: It certainly does. Maybe there's some tulips, OK.
ENTEN: Very good. A tulip craze.
BURNETT: Who is actually buying bitcoin?
ENTEN: It's young men. It's young men. You know if we look at the numbers the pew research center looked into this. Over 40 percent of young men have invested in cryptocurrency compared to just 17 percent of adults. And I think that's really interesting because who are the folks that fueled Trump in the election? It was young men. It was men under the age of 30, white men, Hispanic men who, historically speaking, haven't necessarily been so friendly to the Republican brand, but they like cryptocurrency and they like Donald Trump.
BURNETT: Well, it's fascinating, and we'll see. I mean, let's see what ends up happening here.
ENTEN: Is this big Ponzi scheme? Who knows?
BURNETT: Right.
All right, Harry, thank you.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And thanks so much, as always to all of you for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
"AC360" meantime starts right now.
