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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump National Security Adviser Doubles Down On Greenland Threat; Report: Russian Officers Paid Taliban Millions To Kill U.S. Troops; Silenced By Elon Musk? Aired 7-8p ET
Aired January 07, 2025 - 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:
Breaking news, a Trump land grab. The incoming national security adviser tonight, doubling down on Trump's threats to take Greenland by military force if necessary. A Greenland member of parliament is OUTFRONT.
An exclusive new reporting into OUTFRONT tonight. Famed investigative journalist Christo Grozev says Russian intelligence officers paid to have people kill Americans. He's got video and pictures to prove it.
Plus, was she silenced by Elon Musk. A reporter who had just debunked a bizarre conspiracy theory about Elon Musk was kicked off X hours later. She's my guest.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news. Trump's national security adviser doubling down on a military threat to Greenland tonight.
Here is Trump's incoming national security advisor, Congressman Michael Waltz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): Greenland is key to our national security, and the arctic is important for our national security.
REPORTER: So, you agree with that?
WALTZ: The president knows that, I think he just said all options are on the table.
(END VIDOE CLIP)
BURNETT: All options are on the table.
Congressman Waltz's comment there is coming after Trump explicitly said this about Greenland and the Panama Canal today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Your references to Greenland and the Panama Canal and so forth.
Can you assure the world that as you try to get control of these areas, you are not going to use military or economic coercion?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.
REPORTER: Can you elaborate again? You didn't rule out military coercion?
TRUMP: Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes. I've been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump has been publicly talking about Greenland for five years. It wasn't a joke. And today, in a matter of minutes, President- elect Trump spoke about three land grabs -- Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Canada and the United States, that would really be something you get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like. And it would also be much better for national security. Don't forget, we basically protect Canada.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now just to make the distinction here between Canada as opposed to Greenland and Panama today. Trump did say explicitly that he would not use military force to try to take over Canada, which he, of course, has repeatedly called a 51st state.
But Trump's threats have already destabilized Canada's current government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning on the heels of Trump's tariff and economic threats. Tonight, responding to all this, tweeting there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States. Of course, he's already lost his job over this.
The Danish prime minister making it crystal clear tonight that Greenland is not for sale. Of course, it is a territory of Denmark, saying just moments ago, Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland, all 56,000 of them.
The Danish king also shocked historians by stepping up, getting involved in this and changing the royal coat of arms in Denmark. They literally have come out in all of this and changed the coat of arms to more prominently feature Greenland. The updated version features an enlarged polar bear, which represents the world's largest island. All of this is a desperate scramble to respond to Trump, who today
dispatched his son Don Jr., and several MAGA loyalists to Greenland. The group posed for pictures in the capital, stopping by a restaurant, passing out MAGA hats.
And while there, Trump himself called his son. Talking to people there with the locals, telling them, quote, I just want to say that its a very special place. It needs security for itself, but it also needs security very much for the world. You see the people in the ships sailing around, they're not the right ships.
Okay, so what people and ships sailing around is he talking about? Specifically, he is talking about ships sailing off the coast of Greenland, which belong to Russia and China, two countries that just agreed to work together to develop arctic shipping routes. And they have been conducting military exercises around that island.
Putin, in fact, now has more arctic military bases in the region than NATO. His bases in the map in red. Now, the U.S. does have one major base already in Greenland. And as Congressman Waltz makes clear, Trump is not idly engaging in a stand up routine with these threats.
In fact, none other than Harry Truman actually tried to purchase the world's biggest island.
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That was back then.
Now Trump is about way more than just one place. He is talking about redrawing the entire map. Even so far as to do this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's like the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Gulf.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT, live in West Palm Beach, Florida.
And, Jeff, you know, you listen to all these things and it all adds up to this is really happening. Trump is making it extremely clear that he is extremely serious about the United States acquiring Greenland and possibly more.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, there is no question President-elect Donald Trump is serious about talking about American expansionism. It has really become clear through a crescendo since his election through social media responses.
But today at that news conference in Mar-a-Lago, he made clear repeatedly in question after question and answer after answer. This is something he is intent on doing, and for the first time, really cloaking it in a national security argument. As you said, this is not something we have heard the why necessarily until right now.
Now, he did often sound like the real estate magnate he's been his entire life. Of course, now he's president elect. In 13 days, he will be the 47th president of the United States. So anything he says moves markets, concerns allies and beyond.
Now the question, is he talking about this as a negotiating tactic? Is he trying to rattle allies?
But one thing is vastly different from the beginning of his first term nearly eight years ago, which we, of course followed along with, there was an isolationist strain in his voice. An American First agenda, if you will. That is not what we're hearing now.
He clearly is making a case on Greenland, on Canada and the Panama Canal specifically, and using the death of Jimmy Carter, who, of course, one of his biggest accomplishments was ratifying that Panama Canal treaty back in 1977, also saying that is part of the economic security interests of the U.S.
We will see how this plays out. There are many things he talked about at his news conference, many things he is pushing on day one.
But, Erin, one thing is a bit uncertain. How would any of this happen? Speaker Mike Johnson telling reporters today in the Capitol he has not been part of any of these discussions at all. So never mind U.S. law. All of these things would also violate international law. So, the bluster versus the reality a bit unclear, but there is no doubt about it at all. Donald Trump is serious about Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal -- Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely. And in the sense, as you know, we have already seen the disruption in the Canadian government, whatever -- whatever strategy it is, there are already serious repercussions.
Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much, was there with the president-elect today.
And that really raises this crucial question here. You're talking about redrawing the entire map of at least the Western hemisphere, as Trump envisions it, and complete change in the arc of history. Is there any real chance that Trump could actually find a deal to get the world's largest island, Greenland?
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): With the Donald Trump Terminator action figure on the cockpit dashboard --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This looks like the runway Santa Claus would land at.
PLEITGEN: Trump Force One on final approach to Nuuk, Greenland. Don Jr. claiming it's all just a private visit.
DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: Here as tourists, seeing it looks like an incredible place. We've been talking about going for a while. I was actually supposed to be here last spring for some of the stuff I do on my free time, but just really excited to be here.
PLEITGEN: But Don Jr.'s trip comes right as his dad, the president- elect, has reiterated he wants Greenland to become a U.S. territory.
I'm hearing that the people of Greenland are MAGA, Trump said in a post on his platform, Truth Social. And we will protect it and cherish it from a very vicious outside world. Make Greenland great again.
It's not the only expansionist talk from the president-elect Trump. Also on truth social recently insinuating he wants the U.S. to swallow Canada as well. Many people in Canada love being the 51st state, he said. The United States can no longer suffer the massive trade deficits and subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this and resigned.
Greenland is important to the U.S. about halfway between North America and Europe. The U.S. already has important military assets, including a Space Force base with a missile defense radar base there.
And China has been trying to get its hands on some of the potentially vast mineral deposits the autonomous island, which is part of Denmark, holds.
TRUMP: We need Greenland for national security. People really don't even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security.
[19:10:02]
That's for the free world. I'm talking about protecting the free world.
PLEITGEN: But that's where the president-elect's big ideas seem to meet a different reality. Both Greenland and Denmark say this piece of the Arctic can't be bought.
METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: We have a clear interest in that it is the United States that plays a large role in the area and not, for example, Russia or other countries. But Greenland is for the Greenlandic people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): The Danish prime minister remaining diplomatic there. At the same time, she was seemingly addressing President-elect Trump when she urged everyone to respect the Greenlandic people and that in the end, they would be the ones defining their future -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Fred, thank you very much. And OUTFRONT now, Aaja Chemnitz. She is a Greenlandic member of the
Danish Parliament.
And, Ms. Chemnitz, I appreciate your time tonight.
You heard President-elect Trump today refuse to rule out the use of military force for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. Do you take that threat seriously?
AAJA CHEMNITZ, MEMBER OF DANISH PARLIAMENT; GREENLAND RESIDENT: No, actually I don't. And I think it's been, of course, a wild day, but also a crazy day.
And I have been in contact with all kinds of media from all over the world. So, of course, everybody is interested in hearing what is Greenland's position.
And Greenland is not for sale. Greenland will never be for sale. And therefore, I think it's important to be more respectful when it comes to a collaboration with a near ally.
BURNETT: There's video today of President-elect Trump's son, Don Jr., arriving in Greenland today, and they've got a crowd of people waiting for him to arrive or cheering him on. Some of them are wearing MAGA hats.
Don Jr. then posted a photo from Greenland of even more people wearing MAGA hats behind the American flag, and he posted along with that Ms. Chemnitz, quote, Greenland loves America and Trump. And last night, as Don Jr. was on his way to Greenland, President-elect Trump posted saying, I am hearing that the people of Greenland are MAGA.
Now, obviously, they're going to post pictures of people who support them. But when you look at those images, when you think about what you know, is it possible that there are people in Greenland who truly do support Trump and support what he wants?
CHEMNITZ: Of course. And I think you can find that in all countries, but I don't think its part of the majority. I think it's a very small minority, and most of the people on the picture are people that I know.
But I also know that with the free lunch that was given to people standing outside, just, you know, dragging people in from the street more or less giving them a MAGA hat and then just taking pictures. Of course, it's the talk of the town. Of course, it's nice that there's an interest in Greenland, but that's not the same that Greenland wants to be an American and we want to be American citizens.
Greenland is not MAGA. Greenland is not going to be MAGA. And I think in many ways it's a Trump stunt. It's what he's done many times before.
But I think the majority in Greenland, they -- they find it quite scary, actually, and quite uncomfortable that there is so much focus on Greenland and that U.S. is actually in a disrespectful way, showing that they would like to be buying Greenland -- Greenland or controlling Greenland. That is not what the population in Greenland wants.
BURNETT: Elon Musk has also been pushing this entire idea as you're of course, aware, and Musk is extremely influential with President-elect Trump to state the obvious to understate the situation. And Musk said, Ms. Chemnitz, that the people of Greenland should decide their future. And I think they want to be part of America.
I know you think that not only is this disrespectful, but that this will -- that this is some sort of a stunt and may go away. But, of course, it has come back.
I mean, is there any chance that there ever is some sort of a vote or a referendum or anything of that nature?
CHEMNITZ: There will be an election in Greenland, which is an ordinary election for the parliament back home in Greenland and for the government of Greenland. And it will be in a couple of months. So it will be before April.
And in many ways, that will be the most important referendum or election in Nuuk, Greenlandic times. So, of course, this is going to be very interesting.
I don't have that many concerns. I will have -- I have some concerns whether people are just scared of what is happening. We're seeing that some people are even talking about moving away from Greenland if that is going to happen. So -- so I think this is, not something that is going to happen.
I think there will -- there might be a referendum about whether we should have independence or not, but I think it should be based on facts. It should be based on what kind of agreements can we have. So I think in many ways we won't necessarily see a change when it comes to the realm.
[19:15:01]
We'll see a change when it comes to a closer collaboration between Greenland and U.S., when it comes to business development and even defense, I would say, is an area that we could maybe collaborate a little bit more on.
So I think extracting rare earth would be interesting for us. Having more tourism, which is, you know, it's quite interesting actually that Trump Jr. is there because he might attract more American tourists to Greenland. But otherwise, you know, Greenland is not for sale and Greenland will never be for sale. So Greenland is not MAGA and Greenland is not going to be MAGA.
BURNETT: No, but of course it is -- it is fascinating that all the things you talk about with the referendum and where we are, that all this, of course, is this conversation is happening because of what Trump has said.
Ms. Chemnitz, I very much appreciate your time and thank you.
CHEMNITZ: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. David Axelrod is OUTFRONT now, former senior adviser to President Obama.
David, you know, I was just fascinated talking to Ms. Chemnitz because she was very clear this was disrespectful, that Greenland is not MAGA and won't be MAGA. But yet then she listed out. But if what Trump wants is more business development, more defense ties, rare earths and tourism, we could do that.
I mean, is Trump actually going to vis-a-vis this whole conversation, David, actually get what he wants after all?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, we'll see and well see if this is just a negotiating posture on his part. You'd have to hope so.
But, Erin, and there's no doubt, by the way, that Greenland does have strategic importance to the U.S., but the idea of using military force to seize it, uh, was way beyond the pale, except for this -- if you think about how Donald Trump reacted to the original invasion of Ukraine by Putin, and you remember this.
What was his first reaction? He said it's genius. It's genius.
I think his idea was, if you can go in and snatch a country, why wouldn't you do it? And you know, this is concerning, because a world that is a jungle where the strong take what they want and overrun whoever they can, is not going to be a safe world for Americans or anyone else.
BURNETT: Yeah.
AXELROD: And so this kind of loose talk is concerning.
BURNETT: And we have some breaking news coming in, David, just as we were speaking here, and that's from Panama. The foreign minister there is now warning Trump, saying that the sovereignty of the Panama Canal is not negotiable, saying that he has not had any formal contact with Trump's team at all.
What do you make of this reaction? I mean, are those just also words?
AXELROD: Look, I don't know. I mean, this as I said, you know, Trump seems to feel like his words can that he can say what he wants to say. And with no, you know, no impact, no effect.
But as Jeff Zeleny said, when presidents talk, they can send armies marching and markets tumbling. And he ought to be a little less loose with his talk. I know, one of his appeals is that he is very genuine, very authentic. Nobody ever says, gee, I wish Trump would speak his mind.
But we may end up saying, gee, I wish sometimes he wouldn't, because this can be very dangerous.
I'll say one other thing. I don't know one person in this country. I don't believe there's one person who went to the polls on -- in November and said, man, I really want Greenland. I'm going to -- I'm going to vote for Donald Trump.
They went to the polls because they were concerned about the cost of things. Yes, they were concerned about the border. And if he spends his term on, on, you know, trying to brass knuckle, you know, neighbors in the region and so on and not focused on the things that really counted for people when they voted for him, he's going to find that it's not going to be very -- it's not going to be a very successful term.
BURNETT: Yeah. We'll see, of course, as he also said today, right. It's -- it's about much more than Panama, Greenland, Canada, right? I mean, the Gulf of America also.
AXELROD: I wonder, Erin, I wonder how many electoral votes Canada would have if they became a state. He may count those up and decide he doesn't want to go forward with it.
BURNETT: Considering it would appear most of those would be Democratic votes and Democratic senators that he would be ushering into the U.S.
All right. Thank you very much.
And next, a Trump appointed judge bailing out Trump again, blocking Jack Smith's reports on Trump. Does Judge Aileen Cannon even have the authority to do it?
Plus, a new bombshell report tonight claims that top Russian military officers were behind a secret bounty program. They were paying Taliban fighters millions of dollars from Russia to Taliban fighters to kill Americans. Investigative journalist Christo Grozev uncovered the reported deal.
[19:20:01]
He's got the video and the photos, and he's OUTFRONT.
And breaking news, new pictures just in of these devastating fires right now ripping through Los Angeles. Mansions on fire, hundreds of cars abandoned on roads, and we are live on the scene tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, Trump's judge saves him again. The Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who of course has made a number of rulings in Trump's favor, is coming out now in full force yet again blocking the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report in his cases against Trump.
This comes after Cannon's jaw dropping decision to entirely wipe out the classified documents case six months ago. Trump, of course, celebrating Cannon's decision today, as we learned, his attorneys have been able to review the special counsel's report in recent days.
[19:25:09]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So if they're not allowed to issue the report, that's the way it should be, because he was thrown off the case in disgrace. Why should he be allowed to write a fake report? It'll only be a fake report. That's great news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, they saw the report, and that was when, of course, they decided that they didn't want anyone else to see it.
OUTFRONT now, Ty Cobb, the former Trump White House lawyer.
So, Ty, Judge Aileen Cannon tonight, Trump's knight in shining armor.
TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Oh, yes, she's very reliable on his behalf.
BURNETT: I mean, you know, very reliable and so much so that today, after this news came out that she was going to block the report, he had that press conference. And in addition to talking about Panama and Greenland, he talked about her. In fact, he talked about her repeatedly. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had a brilliant judge in Florida. She was a brilliant judge with great courage. Judge Cannon was brilliant and tough. She was very, very strong and very, very brilliant. Very strong and a very brilliant judge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's -- that's five times using the word brilliant. Why do you think Cannon blocked the report?
COBB: Well, to the extent that she's brilliant, she's shining, and the only reason she's saying is she's his tool and he polishes her religiously. He gets the results he needs from her, the 11th Circuit has already, as we know, over two years, had to admonish her extensively for the rule set and the remedies that she created out of whole cloth for him after the Mar-a-Lago search and made it clear that, you know, she was way out of bounds and overruled her.
I suspect they will do so again quickly. In fact, I think strategically, one of the mistakes here is that had they only gone to Judge Cannon, this would have probably delayed things a little longer than going simultaneously to Judge Cannon in the 11th Circuit. But as we know, the 11th Circuit has already asked the Justice Department to respond tomorrow morning, which suggests that they may be prepared to mitigate the stain that she is and the stain that she's created again for the judiciary quickly on this. BURNETT: So, Smith's office, Jack Smith's office says Garland has not
actually yet determined whether he would even publicly release the report, but that if it's released, it comes Friday morning at the earliest. We know Trump's team had a chance to see it, and that's when they -- they took great umbrage with its release.
So would you be surprised if Garland doesn't go ahead and release it at this point, especially given the context of the scrutiny on him for the long time it took for the Justice Department to bring charges in the first place.
COBB: So I would be surprised not because of any pressures or timing, but just, you know, historically, these reports get released. Now, they don't get released necessarily word for word. They're typically redactions. There will be likely be redactions in this case, particularly as to the two potential defendants whose case may move forward once the 11th Circuit reverses. Judge Cannon, as they are almost certainly to do with regard to her ruling that the special counsel statute was unconstitutional and Smith had no authority.
So I think, they will be cautious and, and lawyerly about that. But as to the release of special counsel reports, that's a decision entrusted by the statute, the special counsel statute and internal Justice Department policies solely to the attorney general. The courts don't really have a role in connection with that. And absent, you know, highly unusual circumstances which these are not.
So, yes, I would be surprised if the report is not released, assuming that that happens before January 20th. After January 20th, of course, all bets are off. And two of the lawyers who signed the briefs for Trump and in this matter today will be the number two and number three officials at the Justice Department. So I think we know how that will go.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right. Of course, that means the clock is ticking here. Ty, thanks.
COBB: Always a pleasure. Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: Thank you.
And next, breaking news, we've got pictures from just moments ago. This is that massive wildfire that right now is tearing through Los Angeles. Stay with every minute. Several football fields consumed as it rages on.
And the conditions are getting worse right now. Natasha Chen is there on the ground, and we're going to go to her right after this. You see her there in Pacific Palisades.
And also this hour, an exclusive new report claiming that Russia is behind a bounty program that paid millions of dollars to people to kill Americans. The reporter who helped break the story is OUTFRONT next. He's got the photos and the videos to prove his case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:34:26]
BURNETT: Breaking news: wildfires right now raging out of control in southern California. This image, this you're looking at here is incredible images. This is a Pacific Palisades right near a home there, the exclusive neighborhood near L.A. surrounded by intense flames. It's a massive fire. It has grown from 200 acres to more than 1,200 in only three hours.
So, just the speed with which this is accelerating. Four football fields of land burning every single minute right now, out of control in Los Angeles, the fire is being fueled by the historic Santa Ana winds. Thousands right now being evacuated, and that is causing gridlock as people are now abandoning their cars, and in some places, as we can see in our images, fleeing on foot.
[19:35:08]
Natasha Chen is there. She is in Pacific Palisades.
And, Natasha, I mean, obviously it looks there as if its darkness with the -- with the wind and the smoke. What is it like?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we're trying very hard not to breathe in smoke and ash that's billowing everywhere. The wind is strong enough to knock things over easily. It is so hazy. You would never be able to tell that on a sunny day. This is supposed to be like a scene out of the Barbie movie.
But instead we are dealing with plumes of dark smoke. We've seen buildings behind us on fire. We've seen palm trees on fire. And as you mentioned, those residents that had to flee so quickly and in some cases abandon their vehicles.
I talked to one woman, Rachel Silver, this morning, who came down the hill with her husband, three dogs and one suitcase, and she had to leave her car behind.
Here's what she told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL SILVER, EVACUEE: We were running down. You could see palm trees just like random palm trees on fire. So I'm sure leaves are burning and falling down. And it's -- it's literally apocalyptic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: Luckily, her children are safe. They were evacuated from one of the schools in the area, Los Angeles Unified School District actually evacuated several schools here to relocate them for the day. We saw anxious parents trying to get past roadblocks to see what was going on.
It was very chaotic, and right now, we've been hearing from officials at a press briefing talking about strategy as we see night fall. They're talking about whether they can still use an aerial strategy here because it's unsafe in when the wind gets to such a high level for the planes to continue dropping retardant or water. And if the winds are that high, it may not be that effective because you're dumping water or retardant and it will just scatter not in the places that you want it to go.
So, a lot of discussions happening now about how to move forward, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Natasha, thank you very much. Stay safe there. Obviously, unbelievable situation unfolding so rapidly in Los Angeles. We're going to check back in with them in just a few moments here as it develops.
Also, though, do want to share with you the other breaking details we have, the breaking news that Russia is paying to kill Americans. There's a new bombshell joint investigation by investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a regular, of course, to all of you, along with Der Spiegel and the insider.
And it reveals that top Russian military officers paid the Taliban tens of millions of dollars to kill American troops. The report, also detailing that the covert bounty program was linked to several attacks, including a sophisticated assault on Bagram Air Base.
The Taliban members boasted about the payments. They posted photos on social media showing stacks of American dollars that they were paid, paid by Russians, American dollars to kill Americans, and then said the Russian military's money was being laundered through gems like this that you're looking at here. That is an uncut emerald that was smuggled into Afghanistan.
OUTFRONT now, Christo Grozev, the investigative journalist who broke this story, also, of course, the reporter who uncovered those responsible for Alexei Navalny's poisoning.
Christo, we were just showing some of your exclusive photos and video, the stacks of money, that uncut emerald. So, all of this you found this is Russia directly offering tens of millions of dollars to kill Americans?
CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: That is true. I mean, the story about Russia possibly being behind this bounty program did come out in investigative reports by "The New York Times" a few years back, but it was bluntly denied by the then Trump administration. It never happened. Russia cannot be behind the money for American soldiers that get killed.
The subsequent administration of Joe Biden also denied that this did happen. It is true. We found hard evidence. It is true. We showed you the money, literally the cash that was probably used for an attack on the life of one American, apparently for one dead American, the Russians paid 200,000. What you're seeing here is exactly 200,000.
We've proven this, and we've actually shown the face in the report that comes out tomorrow across a variety of our colleagues in different media. We're showing the faces of the Russian operatives who are running the program, who were running the program for more than ten years.
We're showing also the faces of the Afghan nationalists who are part of this network of couriers who are smuggling gems, smuggling other forms of valuables across many, many borders. And they did it in a very sophisticated, sophisticated way. They traveled from Moscow to intermediary countries, some of them to the United Arab Emirates, some of them to India, others to Pakistan and Tajikistan. In order for them to lose the traces for the trackability of the Russian origin of the money, and then would deliver them in stacks of cash to Kabul and to Kunduz, and to other places in Afghanistan, where they were paid through intermediaries to the Taliban.
So, yes, that's what we were able to prove with data, with granular phone records, with granular travel records.
BURNETT: It is incredible to look at those images, to think, you know, someone's gleefully showing them $200,000 in stacks of cash coming the way you describe, and that that was because someone killed an American being paid directly by Russia.
I mean, it is a stunning investigative report, Christo, and the way that you identified one of these Russian military officers that you say was overseeing the program is actually remarkable. I understand that it happened by chance. Can you tell us about it?
GROZEV: It did happen by chance. It's almost something you can't put in a movie because it will sound fake. I was watching a documentary about six months ago, in June. It was a documentary called Hollywood- gate. It focuses on the first year of rule of the Taliban after they take over from the pro-American, the American supported government. And at the end of the film, there's a scene where the Taliban are showing off their captured weapons from the American bases. They're showing off a military parade, and there are a lot of foreign dignitaries that are present there.
One of them you're seeing on the screen is wearing glasses. He's a typical, I mean, central casting spy. What I did in the cinema hall, I took out my phone and I took a snapshot of this person, and I did a reverse face search.
And I found that he's a very interesting character. He's a member of Russian military intelligence. And by focusing on him and on his network of phone records and travel data, I find out, found out the people that were responsible for running the Afghanistan network of couriers who were paying the Taliban.
It wasn't as easy as one, two, three, but it did take several weeks. And the origin of the first phase that actually led to the unraveling of this program came from this film.
BURNETT: Well, it is absolutely stunning. And of course, the incredible work that you have always done.
Thank you for sharing it, Christo. And I know Christo, as you have said, you're going to see the full report. All those photos, more tomorrow are going to be in "The Insider", also, "Der Spiegel", all of your reporting.
Thank you so much, Christo.
GROZEV: Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: And next, was it payback from Elon Musk? A reporter's X account suspended hours after revealing the person behind an Elon Musk fan account. That reporter is OUTFRONT next.
And the breaking news, we are continuing to follow those wildfires right now raging in Los Angeles, homes burning to the ground. We're going to speak to a person who is right now trying to save his home from the flames.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:29]
BURNETT: Tonight, bowing to Trump. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announcing that it will end fact checking ahead of Trump's second term.
Mark Zuckerberg revealing the policy change in a video today, which Trump is celebrating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Meta, Facebook, I think they've come a long way. I watched it, the man was very impressive.
REPORTER: Do you think he's directly responding to the threats that you have made to him in the past --
TRUMP: Probably. Yeah, probably.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, you heard Trump say it himself. Was he Zuckerberg responding to the threats you've made in the past? Yeah, probably. Trump thinks Zuckerberg's doing it because he threatened him.
And it comes as Trump's partner, Elon Musk, is facing questions for suspending the account of a reporter. Now, this reporter debunked a conspiracy theory that claimed that a pro-Musk account under the name of Adrian Dittmann was actually not Adrian Dittmann. It was just Musk himself. It was a front.
Now, the Adrian Dittmann account fawns over Musk, praising him as an amazing father, among many other good things. Now, you'd think Musk would be very happy to have someone come out and prove that a real person was writing these things and actually meant it, but apparently not. Perhaps he liked the mystery and the speculation.
After all, "Newsweek", "The New Republic", "Rolling Stone", and "The Verge" were just some of the media outlets writing articles about whether the account was a secret Musk account or not, so he was getting a lot of attention over this.
Reporter Jacqueline Sweet is the reporter who investigated Adrian Dittmann's account to get to the truth, and she reports in the spectator that he is not a fake account controlled by Elon Musk himself. In fact, Adrian Dittmann is a real person, a German businessman living in Fiji, according to Jacqueline's reporting. And she is OUTFRONT.
So, Jacqueline, just after you posted a link to your reporting on X, and so you did in the spectator, you post a link. Everybody can see it. Musk himself replies to your report saying, I am Adrian Dittmann. It's time the world knew. And hours later, your account on X is suspended, and those two things are directly related.
JACQUELINE SWEET, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST SUSPENDED BY X: I believe so. So I know that my account was suspended because my post about my news story and "The Spectator" were flagged by X as doxxing. That was the email that I got. And actually the links to "The Spectator" story were restricted. No one could link out to them. No one could even message them. It was one of the biggest sort of blocks of a news story that has happened since Elon took over Twitter -- formerly Twitter, now X.
BURNETT: And doxxing, you know, when you come out and say something negative about something, this was just you were just saying, hey, I looked into it and this is a real person.
SWEET: So doxxing is typically understood to be sharing personal information, usually with the intent of harming someone, addresses, phone numbers, things of that nature. News stories that responsibly expose people who are acting in newsworthy ways, don't usually, you know, fit the criteria for doxxing as most people understand it.
BURNETT: Right, right. And again, you were saying, you know, he's a German businessperson. I mean, those sort of more specific yet general details. But what I think, what people are wondering is, why would Musk ban you for revealing what you believe is the truth, right?
I mean, so he's got a guy out there saying all these wonderful things about him, you'd think he'd be thrilled. Hey, guess what? This is a real guy. It's not me saying these things. And yet -- and yet he -- it does not appear to be happy about that.
SWEET: Many people are sort of wondering about that because its kind of not intuitive. But if you followed Musk and his relationship with this Dittmann account for the last couple of years, he's kind of enjoyed, like the trolling of it. He's enjoyed kind of making fun of those who believed it as a conspiracy theory.
[19:50:00]
He even said the legacy media was gullible to believe it and promote it. So possibly he, you know, he liked having it as a way to make fun of his critics. Yeah. BURNETT: Yeah, and he got a lot of attention, as I was saying
"Newsweek", "The Verge", "Rolling Stone", lots of articles were written about it. So it was sort of an alter ego in a sense or something. He was getting a lot, a lot of attention.
You got an email from X saying it's against our rules to share someone's private information online without their permission, sometimes called doxxing. So that's the reason they gave you.
Now, you did find a lot of information about him, some of which you included, that he lives in Fiji. His family's launched several businesses there. So do you -- did that violate X's policy as you see it, in terms of revealing personal information?
SWEET: If you use this sort of standard for doxxing, a large percentage of news stories would qualify for doxxing. There are many news stories that sort of look at players who are behind things that are anonymous, whether its a business, whether its a PAC, whether its an account. If it rises to the level of newsworthiness, news reporters have been responsibly reporting stories like that for a long time, and they're actually very important.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Well, thank you very much. And this was such a fascinating story, and all of the aftermath.
Jacqueline, thank you very much.
SWEET: Thank you so much.
All right. And I want to go back to our breaking news. Those massive fires burning tonight out of control in southern California and Los Angeles. A scene being described as apocalyptic.
Nick Watt is right now in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles.
And, Nick, talk to me about where you are. That looks right behind you, those fires.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So, Erin, we just drove up into the hills of Pacific Palisades, where, as you say, these fires are pretty much out of control. The issue here, the wind, you can see the wind whipping that smoke. And those embers, you see the embers on the air. The wind can take those embers a mile, two miles, and they can set another spot fire. That's what they're dealing with.
The other issue around here, this is like a hilly community. The roads are very narrow. So when people were told to evacuate, it was very difficult to evacuate. Some people tried and couldn't.
There were huge traffic jams. People were abandoning their cars, going on foot.
Now we also saw L.A. Fire Department bulldozers just moving those cars out of the way, pushing them out of the way. So, engines like this can come in here to try to fight these fires.
Now the other -- Chris, look at this. I mean, this house. You know, I was here six minutes ago. This house was pristine. Look at it. Now, these houses behind me have been burning for some time now.
So the strange thing about these fires is they're kind of predictable. We knew that this Santa Ana wind event, these hot, whipping, gusting winds were going to be coming. So, fire departments were pre- positioned, ready. We knew it was happening.
This morning, I was down on the beach about 8:00 a.m. The wind was just beginning to pick up, 10:30, this fire ignited. Now, 1,200-plus acres -- Erin.
BURNETT: I mean, the speed, the ferocity with which it has spread, Nick, is really hard to comprehend. So, talk to me about where you are.
You're talking about narrow roads coming up. I mean, has everyone left? I mean, because even the proximity with which you are standing to that fire, I can hear it. It's almost -- it's like a fireplace. I can hear it crackling.
WATT: Well, listen, this is the great thing about California and the terrible thing about California is reporters, we are allowed as close to these fires as we feel is safe. So we, of course, have parked up the road facing down. So if we need to get out, we can.
But listen, there is danger here. There is no question. These winds are just moving right now, 50 mile an hour gusts maybe, and the wind is not at its peak. It is going to peak in the early hours of tomorrow morning. So we are very far from the end of this. This is only going to get worse.
There are a few hundred firefighters here now trying to contain this, but it's -- it's a very difficult job. I've seen people up there, other firefighters, very, very rich homes up here, very, very expensive homes. I saw one under construction, multi-million dollar house just gone, just on the next road up there.
So, most of the people are out. That is, of course, the first priority, 30,000 people under mandatory evacuation orders. That is the first priority to save lives. Second priority is to save property. And that is proving very, very difficult here, right now, Erin.
BURNETT: Nick, you talk about the forecast here, that the winds are going to continue at least until the early hours of tomorrow as part of the Santa Ana winds. But you're talking -- Pacific Palisades, obviously a very exclusive neighborhood. And with the speed with which this is spreading, I know there have been evacuations in Malibu and other places.
I mean, what how big could this be? How serious of a fire could this be? When you look at it in the context of fires you've seen before?
WATT: Yeah. Listen, I mean, I live in Santa Monica and that is a good 3 or 4 miles from here.
[19:55:05]
And the evacuation order is getting pretty close to where I live. You know, it is predictable, but there's not a great deal that can be done. There are people trying to, you know, hose down these huge, beautiful fences, hedges in this part of town that, of course, right now are just fuel. The other issue, Erin, it's the wind.
The other issue, we have not had significant rain here in L.A. since pretty much last spring. And also there hasn't been a major wildfire move through this exact area for quite some time.
So what you've got is you've got a lot of vegetation that hasn't burned in a while, and that vegetation is bone dry. Its not just the vegetation burning, though, Erin. It is homes. It is people's lives going up in smoke -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Nick, thank you very much. And stay safe there. And obviously dealing now with the possible evacuation of your own house. We'll be checking back in with Nick momentarily.
Greg Yost and Jeff Marx join me right now, also from Pacific Palisades.
Gentlemen, thanks very much.
You -- you've -- you look exhausted. I know you live near each other. You've been out fighting this all day. You could see it in your faces. What have you seen?
GREG YOST, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: Yeah, we've been wearing face masks. Luckily, we were prepared. Like the reporter said prior. You know, this is kind of what is happening now. We were able to help put out. The firemen have been great. Luckily, their hoses are a hell of a lot better than ours. We had a fire pump, and, you know, we were able to, I think probably save 1 or 2 houses working with the firemen. But three houses have gone up right around us and the hills.
I don't know if you can see, but the hills are ablaze behind us on the down in the valley and on the other side. So, um, its its going on for sure. And the wind is not helping at all. It's -- it's, you know, horrendous.
BURNETT: Greg, I know right now I believe you're standing, the two of you in, in your backyard. So, so how close are you right now to what's happening? I mean, and also the winds that seem so, you know, it's pernicious, but also unpredictable. They can shift very quickly.
YOST: Yeah. The wind can shift for sure right now. I mean, what I'm doing is I'm looking over the top of my house at the other house that unfortunately burned. And we've been up there, you know, standing guard on that house so it doesn't continue on down the hill. So right now it's not looking real good.
The wind is blowing real heavy and were losing some light. So, you know, maybe a little bit of luck well be able to stay with it. And but we made a big difference just for the few houses around us for sure, with the firemen. They were doing great too.
BURNETT: Yes. And we know there's -- there's hundreds of them. They're trying to do what they can. We've been talking about it spreading now three football fields a minute in terms of the fire itself, Jeff. Sorry.
YOST: I was just -- their resources are being spread thin. There's the fire is going lots of different places up in the hills.
BURNETT: Jeff. What -- what are you going to do now?
JEFF MARKS, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: Oh, we're going back to fight fires. Yeah, were going up on the hill and keep saturating the field and the area and the roofs. And if there's any embers, we just water them down right away.
YOST: Yeah. Catch it, catch it early. But were right after were done with you. We wanted to talk with you, tell you what was going on. We're going back up on the roof.
BURNETT: You're going back up, I mean, and throughout the night, are your families okay?
YOST: Well, our families are out of here. We're the -- we're the -- we're the ones holding -- holding the ground. BURNETT: So, Jeff, may I ask you, what have firefighters been able to
-- I mean, have you -- you live there. So you've been through this before. I know that our reporter was just saying your specific area has not had a direct fire in quite some time.
You're used to it, of course, in general, but specifically to Pacific Palisades. But it is fearsome how it is spreading right now. And you have through the hours of the night. Have you ever seen anything like this before?
YOST: This is as close as we've seen. And its black smoke everywhere. I think hopefully that's the end of one of the houses that burned, but its definitely spreading and the wind is not helping.
BURNETT: Jeff. So then you're going to you guys will stay out through the night and then what? Take stock of where you are.
YOST: Yep. Look for fire I just I just put on a pot of fire. I mean, a pot of coffee right now.
BURNETT: And do you have other people in your neighborhood who are out doing what you're doing as well?
YOST: I think most everybody is gone. So were getting a lot of people information about their house via text and pictures. But we've been we've been safe. I mean, i, you know, moderately safe. We know our exit put it that way.
BURENTT: Well, that, of course, is important. And I know, you know, you talk about saving those houses. You can only imagine what that means for the lives of everyone inside. As we said, you know, everything going up in flames of peoples entire lives. Thank you both so much.
YOST: Thank you very much. All righty. Bye-bye.
BURNETT: All right. As we continue to monitor these fires, you can see them here in our live shot off in the distance, as I said, spreading right now, 3 to 4 football fields a minute. As we understand it.
Those are images of Pacific Palisades, California. As these winds are expected to continue throughout the night all the way into the early hours of tomorrow, threatening Los Angeles with their ferociousness and the rapid speed of those winds right now up to 50 miles an hour.
Thank you so much for being with us.
I'm going to hand it off right now to "AC360".
