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Erin Burnett Outfront

Astronauts Back On Earth; New Strikes On Ukraine; Town Hall Tempers. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:32]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, back on Earth. The two American astronauts who spent that unexpected nine months in space splashing down moments ago.

You call it miraculous, but it's not that. There's no miracle about it. It's technology and achievement, human achievement. Medical checks now underway. Standing by for more information right now for NASA. They're still in their spacesuits and in chairs.

Putin strikes. The Russian president carrying out strikes across Ukraine hours after speaking to Trump, after claiming he'll stop attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure.

And backlash. We're live at a Republican congressman's town hall where tempers are flaring. We'll take you there live.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, that breaking news, the drama of that homecoming. A space capsule carrying four astronauts, including Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Their eight-day trip to the International Space Station, turning into a 286-day sojourn, splashing down off the coast of Florida moments ago.

And we are now standing by for a press conference from NASA. We just got our glimpse, our first glimpse of the space capsule. The parachutes opened at 18,000 feet, and then just three minutes later, the crew splashed down in the waters just off Tallahassee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And splashdown, Crew-9 back on Earth.

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And SpaceX Freedom. Splashdown good main relief.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy, splashdown. We see main chutes cut. Nick, Alex, Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Then there was that sort of fleet of speedboats that raced across the water to move the capsule onto a waiting ship, and then we got our first glimpse of the astronauts. The four-person crew on there, Suni and Butch, with them, emerging for the first time from the SpaceX capsule.

And -- and you see them when they came off sort of, you know, wheeled off and then, just standing for an instant, moved into another chair because they're not in gravity and they aren't even as we speak, immediately undergoing immediate medical screening.

That happens. Then they get on a flight to Houston. So this is what's going to happen here as this evening goes on. Finally, after that, they'll be reunited with their families. Obviously, you can only imagine the emotion of that.

They have not seen their families since June of 2024. They expected to be gone one week.

And Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT live in Houston, where, of course, they will end up. And we just watched them come off, you know, essentially in just to use a laypersons term, a stretcher standing up for a second and then again, laypersons term. But -- but sitting down almost as if straight into a wheelchair, that -- that's -- that's the physical situation that they're dealing with as they just come back to Earth.

What more can you tell us about how they're doing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDEN: And that's just part of the process that those astronauts are going through right now. They will be taken into a medical bay there aboard that ship, where they will continue to be checked out by the medical teams there. And in a short time, they will be helicoptered from that vessel out in the gulf waters off the coast of Florida, back on land, where they will then be put on a NASA aircraft and flown here to the Houston area.

So it will be in presumably in a few hours that these astronauts will be back here at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. And we are told that it is there at Ellington Field, where that NASA aircraft will be landing with these astronauts in a few hours, that that's where they will be reunited with their family members, presumably.

There will not be cameras allowed in that portion of all of that. Will you imagine be a very emotional moment for those astronauts and their family members?

But here, back in Houston is where they will continue to do the -- the medical reentry, if you will, back into life here on Earth as they get re-acclimated to the -- the -- the -- the -- the experience of being back in gravity. We were told that they will go through exercises and pools to rebuild the muscles and that sort of thing, and that is a process that will take days, if not weeks for these astronauts to complete here, Erin.

BURNETT: Yeah, it's really incredible to imagine what they what they went through that just that physical manifestation of it. I think something that we all can tangibly realize the magnitude of what they chose to do, what they endured unexpectedly in that additional 51 weeks.

[19:05:06]

All right, Ed, thank you very much.

And OUTFRONT now, former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger actually survived a major fire on the space station. Kristin fisher, our space analyst with us as well. In a moment, were going to be joined also by Jeanette Epps, who returned from space five months as part of SpaceX Crew 8.

So, Jerry, these first minutes, right? I mean, first, I guess they land and they're bobbing around and then -- then they come out, as I said, sort of from stretcher to wheelchair. And there's a moment where they wave and you see, you know, they wave, I wave and then I do this. They wave and. Yeah. And just flops straight down. You could see that.

I mean, it is incredible to see this, to imagine that they are now back in gravity.

CAPT. JERRY LINENGER, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: It feels like you're on my shoulders. Basically, when you try to stand up, it feels like someone's on top of you.

BURNETT: Really?

LINENGER: Inner ear is messed up, you know? Everything's not quite stable. If I just lean back this much, it feels like I'm doing backflips. For example, when I came back.

You're weak. I'm about 60 percent of my preflight strength. That was after five months. I had lost 13 percent of my bone mass.

And so, all these things take place. But I guess the immediate one is bobbing in the ocean. There is not, you know, really great after you're trying to adapt. And so I'm sure they all feel a little unstable.

BURNETT: Oh, does that make you feel almost vertigo.

LINENGER: A little vertigo -- a little, just not quite right. And it takes a while to readjust. Took me about a year and a half when I'm out riding my bike one day, a year and a half after landing, I'd go through one revolution. And finally I say, wow. I finally kicked back in. Neuromuscular disconnect is back to normal again.

BURNETT: A year and a half.

LINENGER: A year and a half later. Now again, usually it's about 45 days. You feel kind of okay after a week, but those longer term effects take a while.

BURNETT: Hey, Kristin, just watching this and knowing and obviously you have an entire life dealing with space, you know, in your family. You -- this is -- you know, what -- what -- what is happening here in these first moments.

Now, they've come out. They're looking around, they're smelling. I mean, they're smelling. I can't even imagine that, right, for them. And immediately going to medical care.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: Yeah. And hopefully, immediately after that, finally getting to see their families because, you know, as the daughter of two former NASA astronauts, I can say that, you know, a lot of times its easier for the people who are flying in space than it is for the family that is left behind on Earth. And I'm not the only person to say that, you know, many married astronaut couples say that it's easier when their spouse goes into space, or it's easier when they go into space than when their spouse goes into space.

So I imagine for Butch and Suni, the thing they are most excited about right now is finally getting to see their families. Butch, his kids. Sonny has two dogs that she's obsessed with. Very excited to see. So, you know, that's probably where their where their minds at.

But, you know, Erin, if just looking at what we've just seen today, I think this was one of the most spectacular splashdowns or return to earth that I've ever seen, brilliant blue skies. You had dolphins greeting them. I mean, Planet Earth really put on a show for Butch and Suni's return.

BURNETT: Yeah, I mean incredible.

And, Jeanette Epps, as I said, joins me now.

Jeanette, you just returned from space just a few months ago as part of the SpaceX Crew 8 mission. So, you know, when you watch this, sonny getting out of the capsule. When we finally saw her, you're looking at it as that was you just a few months ago, right? You know what that feels like. Well show you getting out of the capsule.

When that happened to you, how did your body feel in those first moments?

JEANETTE EPPS, NASA ASTRONAUT, FLIGHT ENGINEER ABOARD ISS IN 2024: Well, when you first land, the first thing you notice is that gravity is taking hold of you. And for me, and its different for everyone when they return for me, I just noticed how heavy my head was. Turns out like you don't hold your head up in space, it actually floats.

So it was the first time I actually held my head up on my own. And some of the muscles in your neck may be atrophied a little bit, and holding your head up, it just feels like its 100 pounds or so. So for me, I was glad to be back, but also feeling gravity for the first time after eight months was a, you know, I could feel the entire weight of gravity at that moment. BURNETT: I mean, Jeanette, I'm wondering, I mean, its incredible to

think about that. I'm almost thinking of an infant, right, when they're learning to raise their -- their necks that you have to go through all that.

So in those moments, you're feeling all that. I know at that point, you also have so much anticipation of seeing your family and getting back. Was it -- was it all sort of joy and ebullience, or was there also with some of those feelings with your neck, maybe some fear and trepidation of what how you felt and what that might mean?

EPPS: No, there was no fear at all, actually. What I was feeling was, you know, elation to see my family and everyone back here on Earth.

[19:10:04]

We exercise daily, if we can, on orbit. I mean, out of 235 days that I was there, I exercised a little bit over 190 days. So I felt strong. But there's just this newness that you feel when you feel gravity again after not having felt it for so many months.

So, you know, leaving the space station, which became our home, we kind of settled in there and leaving was a little bittersweet, but it was very nice and pleasant to get back to my family.

BURNETT: I think it's so interesting to hear astronauts, when you all talk about how its hard to leave because, you know, some of us watch that, and I'm thinking the claustrophobia of even imagining being in there. But -- but it's different, right? You're a different breed, a breed of courageousness.

Jerry, so we have some video of you watching the parachutes deploy, which was so beautiful. And you were watching it in our control room, and, you know, this was slowing down their -- their flight back so that they could just drop down. There you are in our control room just moments ago. It's so different from what your flight back was in the space shuttle. Yes. When you would come in, flying over Texas.

LINENGER: Still a pinpoint landing, though. It's pretty impressive there. You know, within three miles of that recovery craft, we did have a drag chute on the space shuttle. Wed land with speed and therefore wed have a drag chute come out. So we had some parachutes, but not -- not the parachutes that they had.

But yes, it's brilliant. It's beautiful to see those fluffy parachutes. You know, and a nice splashdown in the dolphins and everything else.

The thing I remember was when they opened the side hatch, you had talked about that. Fresh air. You know, I don't have to make it. It's all around me. I don't have to worry about it rushing out, rapid decompression and suffocating me. And it was just. Just --

BURNETT: Free air.

LINENGER: What a carefree life. What a great existence we all have here on earth. And I always say, Erin, we should be smiling every second of our lives. If you have a bad day, just take a deep breath.

There's all around you. You know what, what, what an environment Planet Earth is.

BURNETT: A whole new way of looking at the simple joys of life. Truly, it is, the miracle. There -- there we can use the word miracle.

LINENGER: I love your green dress, by the way, because green, the color green was something I missed. So I would sit in my backyard and just look at the grass and the trees and the leaves blowing. And again and just that wonderful fresh air in my face.

And so the color green and you miss you miss some fundamental, basic stuff, you know, feet in the sand, that type of thing.

BURNETT: Things that we just, we truly do take for granted. We take for granted.

Jeanette, your -- your trip or the trip for Suni and Butch took about 17 hours, which is about half, you know, what it took for you, 30. And I know that, you know, this depends on positioning and, you know, all of the math that goes into this.

What did you do during that time? And I've always been curious about this, Jeanette, because I know it was different in the Soyuz than here, but I mean, how do people use the bathroom? I mean, how does it work? You're stuck on a capsule for 30 hours.

EPPS: Well, you -- we knew that we were going to be stuck in there for 30 hours, but so we had books downloaded on our tablets. I listened to a couple of stories and books on Audible and I, you know, slept a part of the time as well.

And the bathroom situation on the Dragon is -- is pretty good, actually. It's similar to what we have on the station, the Komodo Dragon, as they call it. You set it up at night before you go to bed. You set up a curtain so that there's a little bit of privacy. Even though the capsule is small, it's still bigger than, you know, some of the other capsules that like the Soyuz.

So it's relatively spacious. You can be very comfortable in there. We even had sleeping bags that we could set up in our in our seats, strap ourselves in. And I slept pretty well. You know, we were floating in the sleeping bag, so you sleep pretty well. And listening to stories and talking to each other. Yeah.

BURNETT: Very different than you experience, Jerry.

LINENGER: I used to sleep upside down, strap myself in, and, you know, just kind of float like that. And one crewmate didn't strap himself in at all. This is on the Russian space station.

So I'd see a cosmonaut, you know, floating by and bump into me during the night, and I'd give him a push, and in the morning I'd see him like a bat. He's up on the ceiling to an intake fan, and he would just be sleeping up against the fan. And so everyone sleeps in different ways. I kind of like something

pushing on me. So I put bungee cords on me just to have that feeling of my back pressure on something. And when I first came back to Earth in bed the first night, I would wake up like this, sort of startled because that much pressure on my back in space, I would be accelerating. And so I actually got up, took my sheet, wrapped it around me, tethered myself into my bed back on Earth.

BURNETT: So you wouldn't be leaping up --

LINENGER: I wouldn't keep waking up thinking I'm going to go because if I push like that, I'm flying in space.

[19:15:02]

It's un -- it's hard to imagine just how effortless it is. And that's why you have those physiological effects bone mass, muscle, cardiovascular effects, everything else because it is effortless up there.

BURNETT: That's incredible.

All right. Well, thank you all so very much.

And in the moment when the capsule splashes down, Suni's friends in her hometown in Massachusetts, were watching.

And OUTFRONT now is her dear friend Dianne Durso, who watched Suni's return to earth with dozens of other friends and fans. They had a watch party for their friend. Diane and Sunny were in touch, obviously, throughout Suni's time in space.

Well, maybe if it was a week you might not have been, but it was almost a year. And so, Dianne, here's the moment, the actual moment, and then the room reacting to sunny splashing down, the cheering for -- for you and all those who know her and care about her. What are you all feeling right now?

DIANNE DURSO, LONGTIME FRIEND OF ASTRONAUT SUNI WILLIAMS: What are we feeling? We're obviously really relieved that she came home safely, and were really happy for her and for everything she's done and all that she's accomplished. But yeah, really a lot of a sense of relief right now that everything went smoothly with the landing and the splashdown and seeing her wave when she got off the ship was -- was really a good feeling.

BURNETT: And, you know, in that moment when she came off, you know, which one, what order are they going to be? And then she comes off third. And, you know, you see that it's her when you realize that's her face and, you know, it's the first time she's breathing fresh air on earth in -- in nearly a year when she thought it would just be a week.

Yeah. And then I noticed -- and maybe it's because she's so experienced, Dianne. But, you know, when they waved, you could see the gravity. Their arms would just flop down really fast and hard. But she held hers up and that, you know, she -- she seemed to know. How does she look to you?

DURSO: She looked good. I mean, she smiled and she was waving and so that was that was good. I was wanting to make sure that she was -- she was in good shape. And just seeing her wave and smile, and she was giving thumbs up and everything that was good. And she gave her -- her -- her smile that she was so well known for. She smiles a lot, and she seemed pretty happy. So yeah, I think she was really relieved to get home to. She's been anxious to get home, so it's great to have her back.

BURNETT: And I know she's -- she's close with her family and I know her sister was coordinating with you, sending care packages and -- and gifts to her. The two of you were always in touch. You spoke to her many times while she was up there.

And obviously, I know she -- she's -- this is her life. This is her profession. But when you expect to go and be in isolation for a week and it turned into almost a year, that is, there's no one for whom, that's just nothing. I mean, can you share a little of what she would share with you while she was there and what -- what she did to get through the challenge?

DURSO: Yeah. So you know, obviously they didn't expect to be up there that long, but they're trained for that. And that's what she was telling us that, you know, they're -- they're, you know, they knew it was a test mission and for the -- for the Boeing ship. And so their expectations were that anything could happen. And they were -- they're trained to be up there. They both -- Butch and Suni had both been up on the space station for a long term stays before.

So, you know, they've been there before. They know what to do. They're trained for this. But obviously, you know, nobody knew that it was going to take nine and a half months to get them home. But you know, she -- she did great up there.

And yeah, she, you know, she kept in touch with us the whole time. She was up there with weekly emails and some phone calls and zoom calls and stuff with a group of our friends. Yeah.

BURNETT: That's amazing to think, you know, hey, during COVID, college friends would be Zooming. You're Zooming with someone up from space. It's just normal, I suppose, for your friend group. It is so incredible. And I know you can't wait to actually see her in person soon.

Dianne, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

DURSO: Sure. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

BURNETT: Yeah. You, too.

And next, breaking news. Russia striking Ukraine tonight, hours after Putin spoke to Trump for more than two hours, agreeing to stop attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. And here we are, a sea of attacks tonight across Ukraine. Go live there and to Moscow. Plus, breaking news, Trump lashing out tonight at a federal judge

coming right after Chief Justice John Roberts slammed Trump for his attacks. Former White House Attorney Ty Cobb OUTFRONT.

And Trump claiming he's releasing the JFK assassination files, also saying they are, quote, very interesting.

So what's in them?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:24:05]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Ukraine under attack. President Zelenskyy saying Russia is launching drone strikes on a hospital and other civilian targets in Ukraine. The Russian strikes coming just hours after Putin's marathon 2-1/2-hour phone call with President Trump. I mean, 2-1/2 hours a long time and a lot was said.

Putin, we're told, agreed on that call to stop bombing Ukraine's energy and infrastructure sites for 30 days. He rejected the full and immediate 30 day ceasefire, but he said he was going to stop a whole lot of attacks.

But there are attacks happening tonight and Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With breaking news on Kremlin controlled TV, the moment word came out, the long awaited call between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had ended.

It lasted more than two hours and 28 minutes, the anchor says.

[19:25:00]

State media immediately hailing the call as a win for Putin.

We've been accustomed for many years to the fact that the West addresses Russia arrogantly and from a position of moral superiority, this guest says. And now we see a completely different picture.

Both the U.S. and Russia saying they want to work towards ending the Ukraine conflict, starting with an immediate 30 day halt to attacks on critical energy infrastructure by both the Russians and the Ukrainians. The Kremlin said Putin has agreed.

Vladimir Putin responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order, the Kremlin readout says.

But that's where the agreement seemed to end. Putin, making steep demands on his terms, calling for an end of all Western intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine aid, which Kyiv says has been vital to keeping its forces in the fight in the past years.

The Kremlin makes no secret of the fact that their main goal is normalizing U.S.-Russia relations and major sanctions relief, even as Vladimir Putin, speaking at an economic forum in Moscow, cautioned that could take time, even with a Russia-friendly administration in Washington.

This is a mechanism of strategic pressure on our country, Putin says. And no matter how the situation develops, no matter what the system of international relations is, our competitors will always strive to restrain our country, weaken its economic and technological capabilities.

This comes as Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, who some have called the ideological brains behind Putin's invasion of Ukraine, is promoting his new book, "The Trump Revolution".

So there's a lot of people, obviously, in the West who believe and fear that President Trump is closer ideologically and politically to Vladimir Putin than he is to his Western allies. What do you think?

ALEXANDER DUGIN, RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHER: Yes. It's so I agree that that is obvious. That is obvious. He is much more conservative. He is in favor of traditional values. He is in favor of the patriotism of the nation.

And I defined that as the great powers world order. Putin and Trump coincide in accepting this model.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, Vladimir, thank you very much.

PLEITGEN: And both the Kremlin and the White House say they are in favor of fundamentally restoring U.S.-Russia ties as fast as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And, Erin, as you can imagine, there's actually a lot of political excitement here in Moscow with a lot of folks here coming out and praising Vladimir Putin for, as they put it, defending Russia's interests. In fact, there was one lawmaker who came out and said the United States and its allies now need to understand that any peace agreement for Ukraine will take into account the interests of the Russian federation -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Fred. Thank you very much.

And OUTFRONT now, Christo Grozev, investigative journalist who's on Russia's wanted list.

So, Christo, you know, 2-1/2-hour call. Putin makes steep demands. There's no full cease fire, which Trump had wanted. He did say that there would be no bombing of a energy infrastructure. It appears that's already been violated.

Now, Trump says the call was productive. Zelenskyy says Putin's game is to weaken Ukraine to the maximum. Who's right?

CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST; ON RUSSIA'S "WANTED LIST": Well, in this particular case, clearly, Zelenskyy is right. I mean, the Trump was productive for Putin, both for domestic audience, because a lot of the posturing today that we saw from Putin was meant for -- for him to project the image of the winner for a domestic audience.

I mean, before the actual call began, there was a staged press conference or an event where Putin appeared to be telling the audience that he's making Trump wait for the beginning of the call. That was clearly, again, an alpha male message that he wanted to send.

And -- and then the call ended with something that only Putin needed, which is the end of the attacks on -- on energy infrastructure. I mean, lets not forget that over the last couple of months, Ukraine has been quite successful with drone attacks on refineries and Russian money-making machines, essentially, that are supporting the war machine for, for Russia, whereas the attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, energy infrastructure have been pretty exhaustive. But in the past, they haven't been as as important in the last couple of weeks or months.

So the end result of the call today was both a domestic win for Putin and essentially Putin getting a breather, a month during which he can continue shelling Ukraine and expanding the territory that he can call the status quo of Russia, Ukraine -- Russia dominated territory because the main goal for Putin at this point is to maximize the territory that is de facto and the Russian control by the time the actual peace negotiations start.

[19:30:05]

BURNETT: Yeah. So what are you hearing, Christo, from your sources about how Putin and his team view Trump's negotiating tactics?

GROZEV: Well, I mean, everybody that I've talked to in Moscow is -- is more than thrilled at Trump's inability to see the detail and to essentially give away a lot of the -- of the assets that Putin has without even realizing he's giving them away. I mean, the whole conversation about, or the hints that we heard yesterday from Trump about some of the nuclear stations being up for debate, that clearly suggests that Putin has kind of made it an ask and has received an assurance that he's going to get control of the Zaporizhzhia station.

It -- everybody that I've spoken to in Moscow suggests that Putin has a granular understanding in direct one to one conversation of what the little details are that are not little, that actually will give Russia huge wins, whereas Trump is kind of the big picture guy. He has one goal to come home with some sort of a truce or some sort of a peacemaker kind of image. But he doesn't really pay attention to the details.

BURNETT: And Zaporizhzhia, of course, I mean, crucial power plant for Ukraine, largest in Europe. Trump and Putin discuss normalizing relations in this call. And I

obviously just to point out before Putin's Ukraine invasion, before any of this started, Russia was about 1 percent of American corporate revenue, right? So to normalize relations wouldn't -- wouldn't be a benefit for the U.S., right? This would be for, for Russia.

But today, the White House says Trump told Putin about the enormous economic deals the two countries could make. Those are the words that they used. The Kremlin readout of the call included something additional. It said Trump was open to the U.S. and Russia competing in hockey games.

And you actually think that matters? How come?

GROZEV: Well, I mean, as I said, a lot of the posturing today was made for a domestic audience in Russia. Hockey is not just Russia's favorite game. It's Putin's favorite game. I mean, the night hockey league is something that Putin created. And he's -- he loves showing off with his hockey stick.

And for him to essentially establish a non-existing prior relationship in hockey, championships or hockey, playing with the United States is a way for him to message that, you see, the United States or Trump, rather, in this case is doing me a personal favor.

So, that has absolutely no bearing, no importance to the American side. It has only 100 percent important -- importance for Putin's personal ego and vanity.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Christo, thank you very much. It's always good to see you.

GROZEV: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, breaking news, Trump just asked whether he defied a court order by not turning back deportation flights. We'll see what he answered. Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb is next.

And breaking news, we're live outside a Republican town hall where voters are giving a congressman a piece of their mind tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTITUENT: What are you going to stand up for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:48]

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump ramping up his attacks on the federal judge who halted his deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know who the judge is, but he's radical left. He was Obama-appointed and he actually said we shouldn't be able to take criminals, killers, murderers, horrible, the worst people, gang members, gang leaders that we shouldn't be allowed to take them out of our country.

Well, that's a presidential job. That's not for a local judge to be making that determination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Those comments coming after Trump also said on social media, in part, quote, I'm just doing what the voters wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the crooked judges, I am forced to appear before, should be impeached.

Now, after that, then there was an important moment today. So he had this call to impeach the judge, and it led to this extraordinarily rare rebuke from the chief justice, John Roberts, who chose to speak out so that in and of itself is something. And he said, and I quote him, for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.

OUTFRONT now, former Trump White House Attorney Ty Cobb.

Ty, how significant is it for the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to speak out like this? So Trump has a social media post on impeaching the chief justice, speaks out and calls out and answers the rhetoric of a sitting president.

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ATTORNEY: I think it's very significant. You know, John Roberts is by nature pragmatic and restrained. He spoke out once before with regard to Trumps rhetoric in 2018, when Trump was identifying judges as Obama judges, to try to discredit them. And he made the point that there were not Obama judges or Trump judges or Clinton judges or Bush judges. There were only dedicated public servants who were independent. And the country should be grateful for that.

Today, he was quite restrained, frankly. He didn't -- he didn't take Trump on directly. He just reiterated the point that impeachment is not a remedy for a judicial opinion that with which you disagree.

[19:40:01]

That's -- that's for appellate review.

And that's a very simple foundational point of the rule of law. And while the rule of law is under frontal assault by Trump, it needed to be said. And to his credit, the chief justice as the, you know, protector of the integrity of the judiciary, stepped up.

BURNETT: And this also came as you know, this judge is trying to determine -- Judge Boasberg in the case that Trumps referring to, you know, that he just disparaged there in that interview, is trying to determine if Trump and his administration defied his orders in the case of those deportations over the weekend.

So Trump was just asked in that interview whether he would -- whether he has or would. So both -- both questions defy a court order. Let me play the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Going forward, would you -- would you defy a court order?

TRUMP: I had judges that were so corrupt --

INGRAHAM: Does that -- we all know that. That was outrageous.

TRUMP: I never did defy a court order.

INGRAHAM: And you wouldn't in the future.

TRUMP: No, you can't do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: There wasn't a pause there. He sort of talked to her. No, you can't do that.

But I see you smiling, Ty. Do you believe him?

COBB: Oh, no. You know, I mean, he -- he -- they've made it plain. Tom Homan said we don't care what the judges said. Pam Bondi made it plain when she introduced Trump last Friday at the Justice Department that she and her people were there to serve him. That's actually not the oath they take. They take an oath to serve and protect the Constitution.

Now Trump has, you know, his -- his march for power and adulation and wealth is well underway. And is idolaters are assisting him every step of the way.

This is -- this is nuts what's going on in front of Judge Boasberg? And I think Judge Boasberg, who, by the way, is highly regarded and actually is the single most qualified judge in the country to handle the issue before him as the former head of -- of the FISA court and the current head of the alien deportation court. So nobody knows more about the legal issues than this judge. Nobody has higher security clearances than this judge.

BURNETT: So could I actually tie on this --

(CROSSTALK)

COBB: There's no information that can be withheld.

BURNETT: I just want to ask you, because, you know, the reason that the Supreme Court justice spoke out was obviously to say, you know, to call out this issue of impeachment. But part of the social media post he responded to was Trump talking about this judge and, and -- and he said, Trump said, you know, he's radical left Obama appointed. So when you talk about him, you're talking about his qualifications.

And I don't like being in a position where were supposed to talk about what the real politics of a judge are, because that -- that is not what our system is about. But when the sitting president comes out and calls him a radical left, Obama pointed. And going through all these things, you know him. I mean, you know of him.

COBB: I don't know him personally, but --

BURNETT: Does that jive?

COBB: No, not at all. I don't know him personally, but I certainly know him by reputation. He had an excellent reputation as a homicide prosecutor in D.C. I prosecuted a number of homicides in my time as a federal prosecutor and followed his career closely. He's -- he's always distinguished himself and frankly, you know, to call him a leftist or a radical. This is a judge who ordered the release of 14,000 Hillary Clinton emails at the State Department when they were unlawfully withholding them. This is a judge who calls balls and strikes. He plays it down the middle. He's ruled, you know, on issues, you know, from pipelines to, you know, to Clinton's emails, to Mike Pence testifying in the grand jury.

He's -- he's handled some very, very serious issues routinely, is upheld on appeal, couldn't be held in higher regard and -- and by the judiciary John Roberts is the -- is the, you know, individual who appointed him in his role as chief justice, you know, to the FISA court and -- and to the alien deportation court. This is a very, very serious, highly respected, incredibly well regarded judge, who's -- who -- who has, you know, has acted with, you know, very calm demeanor throughout this, even though it's clear that he's being lied to and stonewalled.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, by the way, Trump treats he thinks you should be thanking him for the release of those emails. The Hillary Clinton emails.

COBB: Well --

BURNETT: The irony.

COBB: Well -- exactly, exactly. And for Trump to complain about, you know, to try to shift the narrative to he -- this judge is there to protect criminals. That's not what this is about. This is about trying to figure out whether the administration followed the law. And, you know, it's sort of like complaining in a Miranda case, you know, that, well, the guy was evil, even though he was denied his rights.

Well, you know, that's this isn't a country that until this president was denying people rights and this is a fight for due process and, frankly, a fight for the rule of law.

BURNETT: All right. Ty, thank you. COBB: My pleasure. Thanks, Erin.

BURNETT: All right.

And next, the breaking news. One Republican congressman right now meeting with voters at a town hall. It's very tense. We're going to take you there live.

And breaking news. Trump releasing thousands of JFK assassination files. Finally, they are here. So after all the hype, are the conspiracy theories true?

[19:45:01]

Is anything in there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, anger boiling just moments ago, boiling over at a town hall in Nebraska. Republican Congressman Mike Flood was finishing a meeting with constituents. And here is some of what we just saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Unfortunately, sir, you're wrong.

CONSTITUENT: What are you going to stand up for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:50:02]

BURNETT: Danny freeman is OUTFRONT at that town hall in Columbus, Nebraska, tonight.

Danny, you've seen some of these town halls, so now you're able to say what one looks like versus another. So much frustration in the auditorium where you are. What did people have to say to Congressman Flood?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In this particular town hall, Erin, people had a lot to say to Congressman Flood. But just for some perspective, we're in Nebraska's first congressional district. This is a district that President Trump won by 55 percent of the vote.

Congressman Flood actually did better than Trump back in 2024 with 60 percent of the vote. And yet, as you noted, as you just played, there was still quite a lot of frustration, a lot of topics covered in this room tonight. The border tariffs, Canada, the rule of law, a lot of foreign policy as well.

And while -- make no mistake, there were a lot of Democrats here and folks who would not have otherwise voted for Congressman Flood or certainly President Trump, there were certainly Republicans here as well who I spoke with, who said they had voted for this Republican congressman and they were still concerned about what this administration has been doing.

And I will say, Erin, the biggest amount of boos and jeering that we heard really came with the subject of Elon Musk with the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE, a lot of people fearful that there would be cuts to the V.A. Also, cutting of Medicare and Medicaid.

Take a listen to how Congressman Flood responded to at least some of this, because he really stood by Elon Musk and DOGE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLOOD: There's a lot of people in this room that don't support what DOGE is doing. But for the first time, we are making some progress.

How can you be against a balanced budget? How can you be against a balanced budget?

All right.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Tax the rich!

FLOOD: All right.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Tax the rich! Tax the rich! Tax the rich! Tax the rich!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Erin, I'll say, I just spoke with a congressman after this town hall. He said that he certainly will take a lot of the concerns he heard specifically about the V.A. back to Washington.

I will note there was actually one other part of agreement that was a bit of a rare sight in this crowd. It was when Congressman Flood said he supports Ukraine. He does not feel Ukraine should give up any land to Russia, and he believes in a strong NATO.

But the one thing, Erin, is that Congressman flood said he was glad that he went out here and did this town hall. He plans to hold at least one more this year in August, in a much more Democratic area of his district in Lincoln, Nebraska -- Erin.

BURNETT: It's important, they're doing it. It's what they should be doing. So I'm glad to hear that.

Danny, thank you very much. Interesting that applause for NATO and Ukraine.

Well, next, the breaking news: Trump just releasing thousands of pages related to JFK's assassination. So, well, we've got them. And Trump says they're very interesting. So we've looked. Is there anything in there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:08] BURNETT: Breaking news, the Trump administration just releasing thousands of JFK assassination records that were previously classified. Trump delivering on a sweeping promise to release some 80,000 pages of documents related to President Kennedy's assassination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a tremendous amount of paper. You've got a lot of reading. I don't believe were going to redact anything. I said, just don't redact. You can't redact. A lot of people are waiting for this for so long -- for years, for decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He's right about that.

Now, CNN's going through the documents right now. One expert we spoke to who has reviewed them says, don't expect revelations of a grand conspiracy. Every review thus far has drawn the same conclusion. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. Yet, of course, conspiracy theories abound.

Harry Enten is OUTFRONT.

You know, lest anyone think that conspiracy theories are just, you know, a part of this fearful moment. No, no, this one goes way back.

Okay. More than 50 years ago, in fact, the person who did it, Lee Harvey Oswald, long been known. And yet you're saying an increasing number of people don't want to believe that?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah. Look, I'll tell you something you don't know, Erin Burnett. And it is basically this, the percentage of conspiracy theorists who believe that the United States government is involved was involved in the JFK assassination has gone up over the past ten years. It is now the plurality leader compared to the conspiracy theorists. They used to think it was someone, hey, maybe it was Cuba. Maybe it was the mob that's actually down from 40 percent to 29 percent.

And the overall number of folks who believe in the conspiracy theory that JFK was killed by more than one man is also up.

BURNETT: So in this thing of we are in this odd, conspiracy fueled moment, I guess that fits right that more people believe it.

All right. Trump himself has -- has talked about conspiracies about this death, including one linking Oswald famously to Ted Cruz's father. Okay?

ENTEN: I remember that one.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being, you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. I mean, what was he doing with what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting? It's -- it's horrible.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay. That theory I just want to note, was based on a "National Enquirer" story that the former publisher testified during Trump's trial last spring, was made up. But -- but Trump is not just speaking for himself.

ENTEN: No, he's not. I feel like Regis Philbin. It's all bonkers things that are going on. Look, the percentage of Republicans who believe in the conspiracy theory that JFK was killed by more than one man is up significantly over the last decade. Look at that, from 49 percent to now with a clear majority, 71 percent, while Democrats have fallen from 64 percent to 55 percent.

And that is because the Donald Trump base, right? The non-college graduates, they are the most likely to believe in the conspiracy theory, right? Seventy-three percent of them, compared to just 57 percent of those who just have a college degree and 44 percent postgraduate degree.

BURNETT: And this isn't the there are more conspiracy theories as we were talking about. People believe them.

ENTEN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, we mentioned that JFK one, but how about Obama not born in the U.S.? A quarter of Americans. How about vaccines cause autism. That's up. That's nearly a quarter of Americans.

And then you get 10 percent of Americans who believe the Earth is flat. What? It's crazy.

BURNETT: Two of them are here.

ENTEN: Yeah, it's -- I don't -- I don't even know what to say, but the numbers are the numbers.

BURNETT: It's hollow earth under the flatness.

All right. Thanks so much.

And thanks to you.

Anderson starts now.