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Erin Burnett Outfront

Jeffries On White House Funding Mess: "Round One Goes To Team America"; RFK Jr. Grilled; Migrants To Gitmo? Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 29, 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:

Victory. Democrats are celebrating a win after Trump backtracks on his attempt to freeze federal funding. The president, though, is saying he is not reversing course.

Plus, a brutal grilling. Democrats tearing into RFK, Jr. about vaccines and his role in a deadly measles outbreak. The governor of Hawaii, also a doctor, who helped deal with the fallout from Kennedy's vaccine claims, is my guest.

And breaking news, Trump now announcing plans to send up to 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay, promising to send what he claims are the, quote, worst criminal migrants to the military base.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, Democrats claiming victory. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on a private call with Democrats claiming they won round one after Trump was forced to backtrack and rescind his order. That would have frozen trillions of dollars in federal spending for things including Meals on Wheels. Jeffries telling his party that they may have won this battle, but of course, as they see it, they are still at war.

Jeffries, according to "The New York Times", saying, quote, it is a congressional fight as well as a court fight and a street fight. But at this moment, to be honest, it is unclear what Democrats are really fighting for or what their next move is, just even on this, because the confusion is growing over Trump's efforts to clean up what's left in the wake of that spending freeze. Because just moments ago, a federal judge came out and said he does not buy the administrations claim that it rescinded Trump's order. The judge warning hell block Trump's freeze again.

And really, this is all because what's transpired over the past few hours. At 1:00 p.m., the administration sent out this two line note declaring: OMB memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. Bureaucratic speak for we're taking it back.

Forty minutes later, Trump's press secretary fired off a tweet, quote, this is not the rescission of the federal funding freeze. The president's EOs, executive orders, on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.

Okay, so -- so what is it? You know, they had this whole whether the executive orders and then they put the memo on top of it, you know, some sort of confusing soup. Earlier, Trump was asked about what was happening after he signed his first bill into law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, government funding. Can you take a quick question on government funding? The pause.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think this is appropriate time, really. I respect that, but I don't think it's appropriate. I can just tell you government is doing very well and we're cutting way back, but this is not the appropriate time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Well, he didn't want to talk about it then, but minutes before he was happy to give some specifics like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And that process we identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas, 50 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, just because the facts matter, our Daniel Dale checked that claim because, I mean, you know, you're like, wait, what? Okay, well, this is what it turns out. The White House and the State Department had no evidence that even came close to approving this claim. Even close. In fact, total worldwide spending on USAID condom spending for the whole world is less than $50 million. So that that does not add up.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Trump's view on the spending freeze did meet bipartisan resistance. I'm sure it was more Democrat than Republican, but there were Republicans pounding the table on this one, some of them now cheering Trump's decision to backtrack -- backtrack on the spending freeze.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I made it clear that I thought it was too sweeping, that it was causing a lot of confusion and consternation in my state, particularly for nonprofit organizations and I am glad that its apparently been rescinded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick posting tonight: I'm grateful to all the Pennsylvanians who reached out about the administrations spending pause over the last 24 hours. The pause has been rescinded. Your input made a difference. Thank you.

An important one. Obviously, not just a Republican senator, but one who, you know, barely won with Trump's backing. So, you know, important to -- to see where Dave McCormick stands.

Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT, live outside the White House.

So, Jeff, it's truly stunning to see how quickly Donald Trump rescinded the memo. And he did rescind the memo.

[19:05:02]

The memo was what made the spending freeze universal, and it was what made it so big. The executive orders that underlie it were more specific about things like, well, were talking DEI and gender, right?

But it was a memorandum that made it so broad, including things like Meals on Wheels.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it's one of the fastest and certainly broadest reversals that I can ever recall President Trump doing. And it is a setback for his view of executive authority that clearly, with every executive order, every executive action is testing, what are the limits of presidential authority? We've been talking a lot about spending. Who controls spending, Congress or the president?

But this -- rescinding was a big deal also because of how the White House just yesterday defended it, went to great lengths to defend, saying that programs were not being affected while Republicans, you mentioned Dave McCormick there. I talked to a Republican senator today who said, A, we weren't informed about this, but B, we were hearing an earful from constituents.

So the reality here is when the federal judge last night put a temporary pause on this, the White House had a decision to make, and they decided not to go forward with the legal fight here. Now, that does not mean that this is the only discussion here. Obviously, they still believe in, sort of trimming down federal spending and going after some of these programs.

But in this case, at least, it clearly was a sense of this controversy and confusion led to the White House backtracking very quickly. We will see if that happens. On other issues, we do not know, but it was very unusual from that respect. But the White House clearly still intends to test this executive authority on other issues, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

And Astead Herndon of "The New York Times" is with me now, along with Republican strategist Lauren Tomlinson and former Democratic Congressman Max Rose.

So I'm really glad to have all of you with us. I said, let me start with you again. You know, not on my bingo card. Fact checks on U.S. aids, global condom spending, but certainly worth worldwide spending is below what Trump said was spent in Gaza.

Okay, so I'm trying to understand though instead what's really happening here. They put out these executive orders that say they don't want a variety of things die, among them green new deal. Then they put out a memo that pauses a spending on that and everything else, and judge shuts it down. They say they're going to fight it, and then all of a sudden they just cave in and remove the memo.

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah.

BURNETT: Is that really what's happening?

HERNDON: I think we should, you know, we should we should use our brains here, right? I think what happened here is the public pushback caused the White House to reverse. And I think that it shows the difference between campaigning and governing to me.

Donald Trump on the campaign trail and his statements and his speeches, things that his aides and folks close to him take as gospel oftentimes speaks in these sweeping tones, right? All funding will be rescinded. Well, we're taking back everything. All funding is paused right now. That's how that original memo was written.

And almost immediately it became clear that that creates legitimate funding problems across the government that not only affect Democrats or people who they assume are leeching off the government, or they presume in a kind of stereotypical way, but also, of course, a lot of Republicans, too. And so that obviously reached kind of Republican elected officials and I think caused some of that blowback.

But to me, it was actually a helpful, informative point about a political thing, too, which is that there's a real public response to some of this stuff. We didn't see that at the inauguration. We didn't see that kind of in the last couple of months. I think there was an open question whether the 2017 moment of people pushing back against Trump still existed.

I think this serves as a helpful reminder that when something cuts through, there is real pushback if it has a negative effect and the elected officials have to respond to that.

BURNETT: And there was a response to it.

I mean, Congressman, obviously, Trump made it clear where he stands, right? He was behind this. They were going to fight it. And then at least when it came to the broad strokes here, all of this spending they have they have given in. Why do you think he rescinded the memo?

MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I think a bunch of Republicans complained very quietly, showing that, in fact, they do have a backbone somewhere, some place. And Donald Trump as well is not a omnipotent demigod. He can be stopped.

Now, what this also shows, though, is that his political project, the MAGA political project writ large, there's been a hole punctured in it. Government, they've said, is the -- is the problem and we need we need to take a sledgehammer to government. They made an attempt to cut government in a large way. And the American people rejected it across the country. This is a very easy thing to campaign on and a very difficult thing to do.

But just the last point, Donald Trump spent the last four years saying, look, ignore my four years of governing. I didn't know what I was doing, but now we are prepared. But yet again, we see the jayvee squad. You could reject the ideology all you want, but this was incompetent execution and that's why they've backtracked so quickly.

[19:10:03]

It was an embarrassment.

BURNETT: So, Lauren, based on what you're hearing from Republicans behind the scenes, and I mean, I was sharing, you know, Senator McCormick, Senator Collins is the former congressman, right, about how livid Republicans were over this, that they were quietly expressing deep frustration?

LAUREN TOMLINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think deep frustration. But mostly they were seeking to clarify. It was a very ambiguous memo and very typical to what we saw in Trump 1.0. There wasn't a lot of pre- communications to Congress before the memo went out. So that created a lot of confusion.

And their main job is to their constituents and making sure that they facilitate that communication between the federal government and what's going on in their states. So I think there was a lot of that. There was a lot of quiet pushback.

You know, you wouldn't expect members of the party to go out and blast him publicly on this.

But there is also general support for federal government reform, for spending reform. And I think were going to see this even more in the next coming weeks as Congress debates the reconciliation package and the debt ceiling limit and all of these other spending opportunities that they're going to have over the next three months.

And so this is going to be a key fight. And this was just step one, I think, for Republicans to get their handle around the messaging of how do we rein in government spending so that we make government efficient for the American taxpayers and do so in a way that not only benefits our constituents, but also reforms the federal government in the way that President Trump wanted, wants it reformed.

BURNETT: So when you're talking about, you know, a fight in round one, it's the same words instead that we hear were used by Hakeem Jeffries on a call. Multiple sources are telling CNN that, you know, the leader, minority leader told Democrats they won round one, but it's going to be a much longer fight. I'm curious what your reporting is of what has just happened. What is this done to Democrats who honestly have been, it appears, you know, flailing in the wind to try to figure out what -- what to pick on, what to fight, what they even are? Has this given them any cohesion? HERNDON: I think it should, and I think it's a helpful reminder that

for Democrats, there are limits. There are places you can push back from Donald Trump. His win might have been total in terms of battleground states, but it's not universal in terms of the country. And there's a lot of spaces in which a lot of people are looking for them to push back.

But I do think -- I agree with the last point that there is broad support for government reform. I would not take it to take it in the 2017 type of way, where Democrats should be emboldened to lean into a place of resistance, where everything that Donald Trump says is the worst thing that's ever happened. I don't think that is the lesson from this, but I do think there is a lesson to say that there are particular moments of execution with this White House that go beyond the bounds that most Americans are down with.

And those are the moments where Democrats have to understand and to push back. It's a matter of selection and execution and messaging for Democrats. They have to recognize when those moments exist and then find the right message to reach people who are tuned into it.

BURNETT: So -- so, Lauren, do you think that that the president is trying to find a way around this as the judge was indicating? The judge is indicating? Well, I don't know if you really mean what you say when you're taking it back, and I'll block it again if you're going to try to do it right, that there was real skepticism there from this judge.

Do you think that that comes from a fair place that, you know, they take the memo back, but now they're trying to find other ways, maybe ways that won't be so obvious to get the same outcome?

TOMLINSON: I think that this White House is going to do everything it can to push the limits and, and aggressively implement this agenda. I don't think that you can fix a broken system by not testing the limits and not trying to blow things up.

So I do think that they will go back -- you know, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, said that the main reason why they rescinded the memo was that it freed up OMB to actually speak to the agency heads. Again, there was a pause on any communication, and their original intent with the memo was to find opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse within the government, which requires communications with those agency heads.

So I think it put everyone on notice that they're serious about this. And I do think they'll continue to push in all sorts of ways through the courts and others.

BURNETT: So, so, Congressman Rose, do you think that its possible that you come out of this though, with what Trump wants, right, which is people to think that he's serious about looking for waste, fraud and abuse?

ROSE: Look, we should all unite that waste, fraud and abuse is a bad thing when it comes to the provision of government services. But I really look forward to hearing Republican members of Congress and senators defend a president who wants to give their state less money, wants to give them less money for services for the elderly, less money for nonprofits, less money for health care, less money for law enforcement.

So they're going to go for round two and round three and maybe attempt to do this in a more sophisticated way. But the point will still be the same, less support. And I don't know what their -- what their defense of that will be, but I certainly look forward to hearing them out.

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

And next, the RFK Jr. hearings, the fate of RFK, Jr. in question.

[19:15:05]

Key Republicans have refused to come out and support him openly. Of course, Trump's pick for health secretary. That confirmation hearing was brutal. Wait until you hear, we're going to show you.

Plus, CNN learning that discussions are underway inside Trump's justice department to drop the corruption case against New York City's Mayor Eric Adams. Something Adams, you know, had been clearly hoping would happen given his rhetoric towards Trump.

And then an OUTFRONT exclusive tonight, our David Culver on the ground in Guatemala. So now the big question is this whole deportation push, those flights coming down there, is that actually deterring people from trying to cross the U.S. border in any way, shape or form? He's got answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:16]

BURNETT: Breaking news, the fate of Trump's pick to lead the nations health department, RFK Jr., may be in jeopardy tonight. Key Republicans refusing to say if they'll back him after a confirmation hearing full of fireworks, which included this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): Did you say that COVID 19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets black and white people, but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY NOMINEE: I didn't say it was deliberately targeted.

BENNET: Did you say that it targets black and white people but spared Ashkenazi Jews?

KENNEDY: I quoted a study.

BENNET: Did you say Lyme disease is a highly likely militarily engineered bioweapon?

KENNEDY: I probably did say that.

BENNET: Did you say that exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender?

KENNEDY: No, I never said that.

BENNET: Okay. I have the record that I'll give to the chairman.

Did you write in your book? And I -- it's undeniable that African American -- African AIDS is an entirely different disease from Western AIDS. Yes or no, Mr. Kennedy?

KENNEDY: I'm not sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And there were questions about a trip that Kennedy took to Samoa just before a deadly measles outbreak there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): You met with the prime minister. You talked about vaccinations. You met with an anti-vaccine influencer who described the meeting as, quote, profoundly monumental for this movement. So what happens? Vaccinations go down. There's a measles outbreak and children start dying.

But you double down. My question is, do you accept even a scintilla, just even a sliver of responsibility for the drop in vaccinations and the subsequent deaths of more than 70 people? Anything you do differently?

KENNEDY: I -- no, absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Right. In a moment, I'm going to speak to the Democratic Governor of Hawaii, Josh Green. He's an ER physician. He was -- traveled to Samoa to get that outbreak under control. So he is going to be with me in just a moment.

But I want to go to Lauren Fox first on Capitol Hill.

So, Lauren, what are you learning about these key Republicans? I mean, you know, we played there. Obviously, Senators Bennet and Warren, Democrats who are going to -- is obviously clear go against this. But this is up to Republicans and whether RFK Jr. can get all those votes and many of them aren't speaking. What are you hearing about them?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, I mean, we pushed a number of Republicans who have been on the fence on Trump nominees in the past today about whether or not they could support RFK Jr. I just spoke with Senator Susan Collins a short time ago, and she said its premature for her to make a decision. She will be part of the questioning tomorrow before the help committee. But one really interesting exchange happened today in this hearing, and that was between RFK Jr. and Senator Bill Cassidy.

He has been really reticent to speak out about how he feels about this nomination. He is a doctor. He is someone who has been very outspoken on the need for vaccines in the past. And he had this really interesting exchange.

Here's what he decided to press RFK, Jr. on today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): How do you propose that we integrate those programs? Does Medicare pay more, Medicare pay less, Medicaid pay more, Medicaid pay less? How do we do that?

KENNEDY: Well, the -- I'm not exactly sure because I'm not in there. I do not know the answer to that.

CASSIDY: So going back to Medicaid, though, and speaking of these specific advances, how would you -- what reforms are you proposing with these ideas vis-a-vis Medicaid?

KENNEDY: Well, I don't have a broad proposal for dismantling the program.

CASSIDY: I would not say, of course, not saying that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Now, I pressed Bill Cassidy after this hearing about whether or not he could support RFK, Jr. after that exchange. And he told me that he thought that the answers spoke for themselves when I pressed him on whether or not he thought RFK, Jr. understood the differences between Medicare and Medicaid.

But I would note he will be leading the hearing tomorrow before the help committee. It's going to be really interesting to see what questions he presses on and follows up on after that exchange today -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Lauren, thank you very much, on Capitol Hill.

And as promised now, I want to go to the Democratic Governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, who is also an ER physician. He's in Washington, D.C., tonight because he had spent time in Samoa after that measles outbreak. And he has decided it is important for him to go to Washington to tell senators why he believes RFK, Jr. should not be the HHS secretary.

So, Governor, I appreciate your time. So now, here you are today. I know you've had a chance to speak to -- correct me if I'm wrong, but at least a dozen senators. [19:25:02]

Based on those conversations, do you think Kennedy's nomination will pass?

GOV. JOSH GREEN (D-HI): Hard to know. He -- he totally flopped in his hearing today. Didn't know the difference, as you reported, between Medicare and Medicaid, which is totally fundamental to Health and Human Services.

I mean, it's unbelievable that he couldn't distinguish those and didn't know what to do going forward. I've spoken like I said to these -- these senators behind closed doors, they are not at all inclined to support him, but there's a ton of pressure on them.

And I've met now with six Republicans and seven Democrats. And I will tell you, some of them are afraid because his position on vaccinations is absurd.

He obviously is anti-vax. He started an organization that's anti-vax. He demolished the, you know, the confidence in vaccines in Samoa as people were dying.

And then there's the more conservative Republicans who are pro-life and they want no part of him. If this thing went anonymously as a vote, it would be 70 votes against.

Let me share this, though, also about Samoa. There was a follow up question that no one has asked, and that is when he, you know, tells a lie about not being there to disrupt vaccinations. Why doesn't anyone ask him, did you help to vaccinate people?

We have resources in America. We have 40,000 Samoans that live in Hawaii, my community. Did you go there and help?

No, of course, he didn't. He went there and he did what he described as a natural experiment to watch measles run over people, 5,000 people got sick, or 83 people died. I felt the warmth on a child that had just passed from her fever, but her heartbeat was gone.

I mean, it's incredible that this gentleman is able to spin these tales and then still want to be director of Health and Human Services.

BURNETT: All right. So on this situation with Samoa, which obviously is personal to you, and it is where you and he, you know, overlapped so specifically. So you went there to vaccinate people after the measles outbreak. And obviously it's clear where you stand on -- on what you say his role was in terms of spreading misinformation on the island that led people to be even more hesitant of getting vaccines. So when he did talk about it today, he talked a little bit more than -- than we played with Senator Warren.

So let me just play that part for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENNEDY: I arrived a year later when vaccination rates were already below the -- below any -- any previous level. I went there nothing to do with vaccines. I went there to introduce a medical informatics system that, with digitalized records in Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient. I never gave any public statement about vaccines. You cannot find a single Samoan who will say, I didn't get a vaccine because of bobby Kennedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right, he's definitive there, Governor. He says, I never gave a public statement about vaccines. You can't find a Samoan who will say, I didn't get a vaccine because of bobby Kennedy. I went there nothing to do with vaccines.

GREEN: Okay. May I? He's a liar, and it's bullshit because he went there and he met with the anti-vax leader, supported that person who was spreading all of this misinformation. And that guy got arrested.

And we see pictures of Bobby Kennedy, RFK Jr., with the same minister that I was with. And then I was actually with people who told me that they were seeing Facebook posts demonizing vaccination programs. He started -- he started and founded and sponsored the Children's Health Defense, took $2.2 million in pay from them, and has been continuously engaging with this organization globally.

He is constantly kind of squirming around the reality, which is he did not support vaccinations. He had no reason on earth to be there. And then I had to go there with, you know -- with 75 doctors and nurses and vaccinate 37,000 people. And they told me while I was there of how he behaved.

So we all know he's written six books. He'd tell you this all the time. He's written books, he's questioned vaccinations. And its just enough to sow doubt, because the way vaccinations work, you have to be at 95 percent, maybe 90 percent.

BURNETT: Right, for herd immunity.

GREEN: For herd immunity.

He torpedoes it and makes it even worse. And it takes years to recover. So he is dead to rights on doing these things. And it would be fine if he was a nobody. But he's Robert Kennedy Jr., and he actually goes around the globe with these organizations making money off of referrals so that people can sue pharmaceutical companies and so on on vaccinations.

Now, those pharmaceutical companies, of course, are not angels. I'm not defending anybody. But they did give us a vaccine that saved millions of lives during COVID, which he also sued to try to stop.

[19:30:00]

So I mean, this guy, I can't believe he goes in front of senators or me and says these things and pretends he's okay on vaccinations. BURNETT: All right. Well, then, of course, when it comes to COVID --

COVID vaccine skepticism is becoming incredibly widespread across so many parts of society.

Governor, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

GREEN: Thank you very much.

BURNETT: And next, the breaking news, Trump's Justice Department said to be in talks with federal prosecutors to get the corruption case against the Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams dropped. So is this all a direct result of Mayor Adams -- well, certainly taking Trump's side on immigration, but then going down to Mar-a-Lago? We've got reporting on that.

Plus, a major miss by Musk. Tesla just reported a sharp drop in profits last year. Is Tesla struggles because its CEO is doing too many other things?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:16]

BURNETT: All right. We've got breaking news here. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the Democrat, could soon have his federal charges dropped -- well, because of the Republican administration.

CNN is learning the mayors lawyers are in discussion with federal prosecutors to drop the corruption case, which includes charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal campaign contributions.

This is Adams recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, skip Martin Luther King Day celebrations in the city -- in New York City so he could attend Trump's inauguration.

OUTFRONT now, former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb.

So, Ty, we hear these conversations are happening. And obviously, Mayor Adams has been both to Mar-a-Lago and inauguration, which are significant things for the Democratic mayor of the largest city in America.

So do you think that's -- what's actually happening here?

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I think it's really hard to ignore the likelihood that that plays into it. And, you know, Trump announced, you know, over a month ago that he was considering a pardon for Adams or he might pardon Adams, based on, you know, Adams's attempt to pretend that he was somehow singled out for political reasons, notwithstanding the fact that Bob Menendez just went to jail for specifically what Adams is charged with, taking bribes from a foreign country.

BURNETT: Twelve-year sentence.

COBB: You know, Menendez from Egypt and Adams from Turkey. So I think the combination of Adams's recent signs of fealty to Trump,

the frequent conversations that they've had, the fact that the Justice Department conversations that have were reported today apparently went through Emil Bove office. Emil Bove, who until a week ago was Trump's personal lawyer, is now the acting deputy attorney general. I think it's very hard to ignore the likelihood that something's up, and it could well -- it could well be -- that the threat of a pardon will bring the Southern District to the table on this.

Typically, they want to be independent on this. Typically, they would be independent and be dragged kicking and screaming to the table on something like this. But we'll have to see.

BURNETT: We'll have to see, and interesting that you point out the similarities between the cases. And Menendez is 11-year sentence. I'm sorry, I misspoke and I said 12 years.

But if Adams indeed if the cases are dropped, charges are dropped. What that means for Menendez.

Well, the Justice Department earlier said it would not pursue criminal charges against two of Trump's co-defendants in that classified documents case. And obviously, that's not going to surprise many. But this is after Jack Smith obviously had tried tied to revive the charges against them.

And you say there is a consequence to this decision, that it isn't just that no ones going to be held accountable, but that there is a serious consequence. What is it?

COBB: The serious consequence here is that -- that the report that Jack Smith did on the classified documents case, which, you know, doesn't add will not likely add a bunch of new allegations or anything, but we'll -- we'll significantly demonstrate the layers and layers and layers of substantiation that the Justice Department had for the allegations of Trump's violations of the Espionage Act and the and obstruction of justice.

You know, we know for -- we know because of the speaking indictment what those allegations are and the information that was to be provided to Congress would have laid that out in spades, but the Garland Justice Department chose for reasons that I think it will be fairly criticized for going forward, you know, they chose not to take this dismissal a month ago, at which point they would have been then free to share this information with Congress and with the -- and with the country. Now, we may never now we may never get to see it. And certainly we won't get to see it for at least four years.

BURNETT: So before you go, Ty, you and 22 other Republican officials, so it's 22 other Republican officials, 23 in total, wrote a letter urging senators to oppose the nomination of Kash Patel to be FBI director. His confirmation hearing is going to be tomorrow. You go through some reasons in this letter, you and these 22 other Republicans, you say poor judgment and that he is motivated by revenge. There were other things, but those two stood out poor judgment and

motivated by revenge. What would it mean for the FBI if Kash Patel is confirmed?

COBB: It will be a significantly demoralizing event. Perhaps the most demoralizing event in the history of -- in the FBI. Comey certainly brought a pall over the agency, given his misconduct. But this would be -- this would be a shocking deflation of the morale at the FBI.

Patel is not qualified remotely, by character or experience to do this. He was somebody that the intelligence people that I worked with in the White House and in the administration were openly skeptical of and nervous about.

[19:40:08]

This is somebody who is a real danger to democracy and certainly a dagger in the heart of the FBI.

BURNETT: Strong words. Ty, thank you.

COBB: It's good to be with you.

BURNETT: All right. Dagger in the heart of the FBI.

Well, next, Trump is preparing to send up to 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay. As we are on the ground in Guatemala to see firsthand who's coming back and whether these threats of mass deportations that are now a reality are causing people to rethink their plans of trying to come to the U.S. illegally.

And breaking news, Elon Musk reporting Tesla's profits have taken a huge hit. Is it because of Musk?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:00]

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump ordering 30,000 migrants be sent to Guantanamo Bay, just signing an executive order ordering the Pentagon to prepare the infamous military prison in Cuba.

It comes as Trump ramps up raids, arresting thousands of migrants. As our David Culver found talking to migrants in Guatemala, the raids do appear to be deterring some from trying to make it to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When we ask Annie and her partner Francisco why they left Honduras, he shows us.

Whoa.

That was six months ago. He was attacked by gangs with a machete. He said after that, they decided to --

We meet the pair at a bus terminal in Guatemala City. In years past, migrants passing through here had only one destination in mind, the U.S. But that's now changing.

They've been following on the news about all the deportation flights, and they're hearing about the situation in the U.S. right now. And so for them, that's enough motivation to keep them going no further north than Mexico, assuming they can find work.

With no money for a bus ticket, they say they'll walk a couple of hours to a local migrant shelter. We plan to meet up with them early the next morning.

Here we are just before 6:00 in the morning, just waiting on the priest who runs the shelter to let them know that we're OUTFRONT.

So there's about 60 migrants here from overnight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't see a lot of people, really.

CULVER: The numbers are down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, numbers are down.

CULVER: So do you think the messaging from the Trump administration is being received by migrants?

: Yeah, for -- for now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Venezuela.

CULVER: Venezuela, Honduras. Honduras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ecuador.

CULVER: Ecuador.

Fueling up before continuing their journeys, I ask where they're headed. Surprised to hear one person shout.

I'm headed back, he tells me.

He was in Mexico City for a year, originally from Venezuela. He's here in Guatemala saying he's going to Costa Rica.

And he's not the only one rerouting.

Why are you going back to Colombia?

After president Trump closed the CBP One app, they decided, okay, we need to go back to our country.

And so, to be back here now, will you stay here?

ORLANDO CHAJCHIC, DEPORTED TO GUATEMALA FROM U.S.: Oh, yeah, I'm going to stay here.

CULVER: You won't go back to the U.S.?

CHAJCHIC: No.

CULVER: Orlando Chajchic called Dallas, Texas, home for more than 20 years. He was deported three weeks ago under President Biden.

With other migrants, when they ask you, oh, should we try? Should we go to the U.S. because you have an experience that maybe they have no knowledge of?

CHAJCHIC: My advice would be right now, it's better you stay where you stay because you're going to be wasting the little money that you have right now. Especially when you go with family, the little kids.

CULVER: From Venezuela, we meet Manuel and Waleska and their three young boys.

You're going to claim asylum here in Guatemala. You're not going to try to cross to the U.S.

It's too dangerous.

The expense and risk of deportation are too high. And yet, they don't totally fault President Trump.

He says there are definitely bad people that she believes are in the U.S., but she hopes that they could separate between the good and the bad.

Yebet (ph) and his friend Patrick tell us they fled death threats in West Africa. Now they, too, are reassessing next steps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to enter into U.S. illegally.

CULVER: What if there is no legal pathway to get in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then I -- I must have to choose any of the South American countries to seek for a asylum there.

CULVER: For Patrick, the thought of giving up on the U.S. is crushing.

You're feeling a lot of emotion.

Just before they're about to head out, we finally spot Annie and Francisco.

They're going to walk for 11 days to the border city, Ticunaman (ph).

No longer bound for the same destination, they all now head in different directions. Perhaps proof that migration never really stops. It only finds new roads.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CULVER (on camera): So, Erin, inside that shelter today, there were about. 60 migrants, and all of them had initially intended to enter the U.S., but because of these changes in migration policies, because of the risk of deportation, only two of them say they now are going to try to enter the United States.

All the other ones say they're going to have to find another country to call home.

[19:50:03]

BURNETT: Wow. Well, I mean, you know, whatever your view on this, it certainly shows there is effectiveness in what they are doing.

David Culver, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And next, bestselling author, Tony Robbins, he just donated millions of dollars to Southern California after the deadly fires, actually lost his home years ago in a fire there.

That and more, we'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, Tesla reporting a sharp drop in profit. Elon Musk's company reporting $1.5 billion less revenue than expected last quarter. And Musk was, you know, shrugging it off on the Tesla earnings call, said the company will have an epic 2026 and a ridiculous 2027 and 2028.

Those words, of course, though, when it comes to, you know, financial projections are just words.

And the reality of it is, is Musk is taking on an avalanche of responsibilities, right? He's running DOGE. He's in Washington with the president pretty much full time. He is still leading Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, social media platform X, on which he posts sometimes hundreds of times a day. The tunnel construction company, the Boring company and the A.I. company xAI.

So I'm losing my breath.

OUTFRONT now is Tony Robbins, bestselling author and life coach.

And, Tony, you know, were here to talk about a lot of what you're doing in L.A. But I wanted to -- when I saw this headline, I wanted to ask you about it because Elon Musk, you know, he's a divisive figure in America right now. You have counseled so many CEOs. But -- there's really no one like him. And there's no one like him in terms of all of the things that he is trying to do at one time, but he's still nonetheless a human being.

TONY ROBBINS, ENTREPRENEUR AND AUTHOR: Yes.

BURNETT: You know, is he doing more than one person can do?

ROBBINS: Well, yes, of course he is. But that's Elon Musk, right? So I think he has more capability than most human beings do.

We all have an edge of where our comfort zone is, what we can control. And when it gets beyond that, we hit a threshold. And sometimes when that happens, there's some failure.

But if you push through that threshold and figure out how to handle it, your ability expands. And I think all that he's taking on, he'll continue to expand his ability. So whether you like him personally or not, he's certainly, you know, contributing things that are going to change society in so many different ways.

And I think he's more than capable of handling it. He has all the capabilities in the world. Will he make mistakes? Yes. Will he go beyond what he can do at times? I'm sure he will. But that's how you break through to another level. And I think no one can argue with a level of success.

I wouldn't bet against anybody but Elon in environments like this.

BURNETT: So all right, now let me ask you about this moment that we're in. And obviously it's a moment of -- I mean, reality. Some people are very excited. Some people are heartbroken, right? There's division, there's instability, there's insecurity, no matter who you are for so many reasons.

And the L.A. fires really hit at the core. I don't know psychologically for the country. But you were there in L.A. when it happened visiting friends. You were born there, in fact, Tony. And since then, you've donated more than $4 million, almost half a million to the fire department, specifically with a specific goal there. What do you hope that money does?

ROBBINS: Well, the fire department, they really their dispatch system, believe it or not, was disrupted by water and sewage. So they don't have a backup system and they have new problems coming. And as you well know, they're going to have the Super Bowl, the Olympics.

So we basically donated a video based system dispatch system. So when someone you know has a hospital issue or a home issue, they can tell them exactly what to do.

But the bigger issue for me was I was only going to donate $1 million, and it felt like a lot. But I was there. And I tell my friends, you have no idea, watching the news how bad it really is. It looks like a war zone there, and I have tons of friends that have lost their homes.

So the hardest thing, the most expensive thing is housing. There were these 14 day vouchers and they're just now expiring. So I've donated $1 million to three different organizations. Airbnb is one of them, and they put up 25,000 room nights as well. Done the same thing with the Dream Center in L.A. and the same thing with Beyonce's Be Good Foundation, and they were also providing 35 million meals to people.

And then were providing emotional tools, you know, how do you get your kid? Like you said, I lost my home 20 years ago, burned to the ground, everything in it. All we had was the clothes on our back. And, you know, you could be depressed and angry and sad. But if you

got family, you got to set an example. And so, like, I had to focus on look, things went away. Things are replaceable. Family, people are not. But we've got tools now to help people.

You know, when Sandy Hook happened, I went in and took the set of tools that we've learned that are from energy medicine. Acupuncture has taught us that if you tap certain locations, you can release emotions and traumas. So we've had 27 people use it, but like 1.2 million people have tapped for literally nine minutes and reduced their anxiety by 40 percent.

So we have these that are available to for people. There's two different tools. And then I'm doing a free seminar. I do every year since COVID for people that starts tomorrow.

So people can go to TonyhelpsLA.com, TonyHelpsLA.com. If they know somebody needs a place to live or food, it tells you where you can get it. If you want to donate, it shows you the organizations that were supporting. And if you'd like to download these free tools for yourself and your family, or go to the seminar starting tomorrow, they have the ability to do that, too.

BURNETT: So, you know, you've been through this yourself. I mean, there's a story today in "New York Magazine", had Meryl Streep had to cut a car sized hole out of her neighbors fence because, you know, running wasn't enough, had to drive to get out fast. And, you know, tree was blocking her driveway. I mean, the terror and all the cars that I was seeing just sort of stacked around it. And people had left their, you know, taken their keys and run.

So that's what the cars were still there. I mean, just that, that unbelievable fear. Your home burned down years ago. Three kids, you get out, all of you are okay. But just with the clothes you were wearing. So you -- you've been through this?

ROBBINS: Yeah.

BURNETT: So what do you say to people who have lost everything?

ROBBINS: You've got to -- you have to discipline your disappointment, and you've got to come up with a compelling future. Like anyone can deal with a horrible today. If we've got a compelling tomorrow, and I really believe it's going to take a long time, it's going to be rough. But L.A. is going to be a brand new city. Everything's going to be new in a whole different level.

And, you know, its kind of the hero's journey. We know the oldest story in humanity is the hero's journey. You're living your life normally and then bam, something comes and disrupts it. Somebody gets cancer in your family, your house burns down something, and it's they call it the call to adventure because it makes us do new things.

So I had to go find a new home, and we found new friends, and we began to have new mentors. And I started some new businesses. And out of that house burning down, a lot of incredible things came from it. So I'm not, you know, namby-pamby about this or positive thinking. But

if all you do is focus on loss, you'll have no future. We've got to get people to turn that around. And that's why I'm doing this Time to Rise Summit, where people can come for three days, three hours a day and show them what they can do, not just in L.A. We'll do it for people around the world. We'll have 1.2 million people joining us starting tomorrow.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Tony, thank you so much. It's always wonderful to see you. And thank you.

ROBBINS: Thank you for the great work you're doing. We really appreciate you here, Erin, for sure.

BURNETT: And thanks so much to all of you. It's time for Anderson.