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Erin Burnett Outfront

Ukraine Says It Hit Vital Russian Bridge After Massive Aerial Attack; Musk Calls Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" A "Disgusting Abomination"; White House: "Friendly Reminder" To Countries Best Offers Due Tomorrow. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:17]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news: Putin's prized bridge attacked by Ukraine with underwater explosives, just after Ukraine's massive attack on Russian air bases. Investigative journalist Christo Grozev dubbed the man Putin wanted dead with new reporting tonight.

Plus, open warfare. Elon Musk publicly tearing into Trump's so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill", calling it a disgusting abomination.

And Mike Lindell's day in court. The MyPillow CEO says he'll testify to defend his baseless claims about the 2020 election. And wait until you hear what he just told our own Donie O'Sullivan outside of court.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, Ukraine striking again. A massive underwater explosion targeting Putin's only bridge to Crimea. Take a look at this video of the blast. We'll show you what we can see.

I mean, it obviously looks stunning there. That is an underwater target of the pillars supporting the 12-mile bridge. Ukraine filmed the whole thing. They want the world to see it, as we've got some new video in tonight of Ukraine's spectacular attack deep inside Russia.

And the videos we're about to show you reveal how Ukraine pulled this off so deeply in so many different places in Russia. So, look at this. This is video here of a drone moments before it launches a strike on a Russian air base. So, this base you're looking at is actually 2,800 miles from the front lines.

This drone is there, though. It's hovering over the Russian bomber. And then we can actually. And they have the entire video of it. Watch it strike that bomber right there in in what would be the most vulnerable part of a bomber's wing. And, you know, as you watch a drone do this, this is one of nearly 200 drones.

So right after the drone strikes, that bomber, we'll show you what happens next. Actual footage from the ground that shows more drones. And they all just are sort of rising up from containers that appear to be just a few miles from that base. Now, that's that one base, as I said, 2,800 miles away from the front

lines. Let's look at another video of a different attack. An attack at another airbase, this one in northern Russia.

And this video was recorded by one of the drones. It shows several bombers engulfed in flames after those drones had attacked. And then, you know, as we go through this video, you could actually see them on the drone.

Look at this last video. One of the trailers that was carrying the drones that it self-destructs, you see a massive fireball. And then in this other video, you see again, charred remains from another trailer. So, these trailers that are transported the drones, then they destroyed those, the evidence.

So far, Putin has still not commented on the mass attack on his bomber fleet or the strategic imperative Kerch Bridge to Crimea.

And the White House today was also pressed as to why we have also not heard anything from President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: He said that Zelenskyy didn't have the cards when they met in the Oval Office a few months back. Does Zelenskyy possibly have some cards that the president hadn't known about?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I spoke to him about it just this morning. Is he remains positive at the progress that we've seen. Again, he urged both leaders to sit down and talk directly with one another. And they did that.

REPORTER: Was President Trump informed in advance by Ukraine that the attack is coming?

LEAVITT: He was not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Of course, Putin and Zelenskyy have not talked if that's what she's talking about the two leaders talking directly.

The White House did acknowledge, though, that Zelenskyy kept Trump out of the loop on this attack, and that's obviously hugely significant. But then also, you heard her say Trump, quote, remains positive at the progress on a peace deal. If that is the case never mind the actions that we see every day.

Perhaps the person who summarized the situation most clearly today was long time Putin ally, top Russian security official, former prime minister under Putin, Dmitry Medvedev. He posts online: The negotiations in Istanbul are not needed for a compromise peace on unrealistic conditions invented by someone, but for our speedy victory. For our speedy victory, that's what this is all about.

The Russian regime actually honest there in that case, that what they're looking for is not a peace by any sign of ceasefire. They're looking for a victory.

And on the actual front lines, Putin's new offensive launched amidst these peace talks is paying off, Putin's army quickly closing in on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, where civilians were killed in Russian strikes. Today, Putin's unrelenting push for total victory and targeting of civilians has pushed many Senate Republicans over the line. About four dozen senate Republicans are now backing a bill that would add even more sanctions on Russia.

[19:05:02]

By the way, a person sponsoring the bill, Trump's close ally, Lindsey Graham, lead sponsor of the bill. But as for Trump, he is silent.

Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House to begin our coverage tonight.

And, Kristen, I know you're learning new information right now as I talk about Trump being silent, he has publicly been silent on these sanctions, but you're learning more about where he actually stands on them.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Erin. I'm told that he's really sitting back here to watch this entire situation unfold. They are saying that its unlikely he's going to issue any sanctions, despite the fact that Karoline Leavitt today up there during this press briefing, essentially said that senators, those people on Capitol Hill, know that he is the commander in chief, that they should defer to him.

But it seems unlikely that there's going to be any deal anytime soon. And we know that was one of the reasons that Donald Trump was waiting to impose these sanctions, or at least said so. He didn't want to impact any deal.

But as you also noted, Donald Trump, the White House here acknowledging confirming that Ukraine did not give them a heads up before the drone attack over the weekend. But we still haven't heard from President Trump and I have -- I am told that this is all part of one strategy, which is just to see exactly how this plays out.

You are right. It is not -- there has not been a situation in which Zelenskyy and Putin have sat down and had direct talks. However, the White House looks at this as some sort of a win. When you see the two sides talking directly, that they were not talking before, now you have them sitting down together. You have the United States kind of pulling out of that.

Remember, we didn't send a representative to those talks in Istanbul. Again, what they want out of that doesn't seem as though what Donald Trump is saying is going to come out of those talks. Obviously, when you hear Russia saying, this is all about their ultimate victory, but they are looking at this as a step-by-step process. And one of the things that we have to note, Donald Trump has systematically been trying to pull himself out of this, out of the negotiations. He is trying to say, this is Russia's war. This is Zelenskyy's war, that this is Biden's war.

Clearly here, trying to take the United States out of this situation. But as you said, there is this bill on Capitol Hill. There are these senators who are trying to push through these sanctions, trying to make Russia be held accountable, whether or not Donald Trump can just sit on the sidelines for an extended amount of time remains to be seen.

BURNETT: All right, Kristen, thank you very much, with that new reporting from the White House tonight.

And let's go straight now to Christo Grozev, the focus of a new feature titled "The man Putin couldn't kill" in "The New York Times". He's an investigative journalist. He's on Russia's wanted list. Of course, the man behind the unveiling of the Putin efforts to kill Alexei Navalny with Novichok.

So, it is good to see you, Christo, and to be here with you together in person.

So I guess let's just start with the bridge attack coming on the heels of the bomber attack. This is the third attack on the bridge. And you're -- you've got new reporting on it.

CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, I mean, it's the third and not the last one, but what we know is that there's a competition among the security services in Ukraine, including the military special operations services, to deliver a continuous flow of attacks on the bridge. I -- we don't see a scenario in which the bridge will be completely destroyed. The bridge is something that Putin will essentially prioritize over everything.

BURNETT: Right. They fix it every time.

GROZEV: They will fix it every time. But it's just something that symbolically is very important for the Ukrainian army to continue attacking, because that does of all the symbols of Russian desire to own Ukraine, that bridge that connects Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, is the most valuable symbol. And that's why Ukraine prioritized that. Theres competition among the services to deliver this. I think we're going to see more of these.

BURNETT: But -- and also, that and the strategic bombers, I mean, the Russians were unable to penetrate that, right? This was going on for 18 months. They didn't penetrate the Ukrainian security services to know what was happening. They didn't penetrate the process as it was happening.

I mean, that in and of itself is stunning, but all of it together feels rather humiliating for Putin.

GROZEV: That is correct. I mean, as we speak, there is an actual soul- searching, postmortem, call it whatever you want, at the Kremlin. People are being yelled at. People are worrying for their jobs and maybe for their lives over what did not happen. What -- how they did not discover what was happening for a year and a half. This is not something that Putin forgives. So I do expect major

changes at the top, obviously with a delay, because Putin doesn't like acting or reacting in real time because that shows weakness. But within a couple of months, we're going to see.

BURNETT: To see whether people are fired, whether people are --

GROZEV: Fall off windows.

BURNETT: Fall off -- fall out of windows.

All right. Youve got new reporting on one of the Russian GRU units, which is crucial. This is unit 29155. And it is known for a long list of assassination and sabotage attempts, including Sergei Skripal, the poisoning in the UK, the former KGB agent who had been recruited by British intelligence, right?

But this is the unit GRU 29155 who was behind that effort. And you're now learning more about that group and what exactly they are doing right now, hacking.

GROZEV: Correct.

BURNETT: Your reporting is having huge consequences in Russia as well. So, what's happening here?

[19:10:01]

GROZEV: Well, first of all, we've been following that unit back at the time, I was still with Bellingcat. We discovered the existence of this sabotage terrorism unit. Essentially, they traveled all over the world, explode things, kill people, try to poison people with Novichok.

So, it was a terrorism chaos-sowing unit. What we didn't know is that they were doing the same sort of terrorism in the information sphere. They were hacking and leaking and inventing stuff in order to create confusion and animosity towards the United States, towards -- within the West and so on and so forth.

We discovered the existence of this information hybrid warfare subunit of that unit, and what we found on their servers, which were left unsecured for a reasons that are very, very typical of Russian corruption and nepotism. And a friend of the family was running the server that was used for targeting and they were left unsecured.

So, we benefited from being able to see their work in real time. Their preparation for attacks on American companies. And that was amazing. We watched --

BURNETT: To see who they were targeting.

GROZEV: Yes. And I'll list some of the -- I will not list companies but the type of companies. But we've been watching them for about six months. What we discovered in terms of history of their operation is, is

crazy. They were behind the whole bio labs invention, the conspiracy theory that the American government was sponsoring --

BURNETT: We're running bio labs in Ukraine.

GROZEV: The bio labs in Ukraine.

BURNETT: Yeah.

GROZEV: And unfortunately, that grew legs and people believed in that, and even members of the American administration were parroting that completely invented story. And now we have the origin story, how it was created, not the origin story of the bio labs or of the viruses, but of how it was invented.

And they sponsored Western journalists, actually, purveyed this story for the rest of the world. We discovered that they were behind an effort to stimulate a civil war in Ukraine in 2021, before the invasion, before the actual invasion took place.

They tried to trigger internal strife in Ukraine. They tried to assassinate people on both sides of the political spectrum there in order for this to start a civil war so that Russia would come in as a peacemaker.

And we discovered a lot of other crazy things. But let me move to the hacking part, because that is something that is still ongoing and has potential to damage. We discovered a list of 165 companies or websites that are on their hacking plan, on their hacking targeting list, and those included companies that you would expect from a malign actor like Russia, the Ukrainian ministry of defense, the Ukrainian atomic agency, and so on and so forth.

But we discovered things that should not be ever -- have any legitimacy to be targeted, such as Colorado State University. Thats the only one I will mention as a because, not a company. But why would the Russian hacker --

BURNETT: Colorado State University, and a lot of American companies.

GROZEV: Yes. Well, pharma companies, biotech companies, the main IT provider to the Pentagon, drug discovery companies, something that is very scary, DNA database in the United States, quantum computing companies and even the doomsday clock. We have no idea why they would want to hack the doomsday clock.

BURNETT: So, you know, before you go here, Christo, we're together and we're not usually together. Usually, you're in various places around the world, and that is in part because of your own security situation. "The New York Times" column about you was, they titled it "The man Putin couldn't kill".

You're here in New York City. You have continued to do your work despite threats on your life, right, which, you know, have been investigated in other countries. And you deal with this every day. You hold Putin accountable.

Do you feel you can protect yourself anywhere that you are at this point, or even in the in this United States?

GROZEV: Well, I can't lie and say that I feel as comfortable here as I did a year ago. I do feel like I still have to find a home, and I thought I had found a home away from danger for a while.

I have not experienced any difficulty myself, but I do see colleagues and Russian journalists who had found refuge here, and they are no longer able to continue their status the way that they expected they would be. So again, without saying that there is imminent danger, I don't feel as comfortable as I did before.

BURNETT: You did before. Christo, thank you very much, and I am glad to see you and be here together with you.

Next, Trump's so-called "first buddy" turns now launching an all-out war against what Trump calls his big, beautiful bill. Elon Musk calls it a disgusting abomination.

Plus, Democrats trolling Trump with a taco truck as America gives America's trading partners just hours, he says, to turn in their best and final offer for a trade deal. Or it's all off. So what's really going on here?

And buzzkill. Texas passing a law that bans cannabis products. We're talking vapes, gummies and edibles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an industry that is thriving and creating jobs within Texas. Why would we take it away?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:18:51]

BURNETT: Tonight, quote: Disgusting abomination. Elon Musk openly breaking with Trump and the strongest of terms on one of Trump's top priorities, his so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. That's actually the words they put on the bill, Republicans have.

Musk posting, quote: I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it. You know you did wrong. You know it.

Well, according to the CBO analysis, Musk is not wrong. And you know, anyone who's looked at this says it will add a lot to the debt. CBO says nearly $4 trillion to the national debt. Several White House officials tell CNN, though, they have been caught off guard by just how public and scathing Musk made his post.

It is, of course, so shocking because it is such a big turn from this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: I --

INTERVIEWER: You love the president.

MUSK: I think -- I think President Trump is a good man.

Not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong.

I think this could be the greatest administration since the founding of the country.

The Oval Office has finally has the majesty that it deserves, thanks to the president, though., so I look forward to continuing to be a friend and advisor to the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:04]

BURNETT: All right. Everyone's with me.

Gretchen Carlson, it is -- it is a -- it is a stunning turn to go from that to disgusting abomination, talking about Trump's signature piece of legislation.

GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I guess that's what happens when you're not in charge of DOGE anymore and you're not living in Washington, D.C., and you actually go back to Tesla and look at some of the policies, and then you really just tell the truth.

What I'm waiting for is on Truth Social to see when Donald Trump says something about this, or will he? Because he usually says something about anyone who comes out against him, including Senator Rand Paul, who says he's going to vote against the bill today. And Donald Trump immediately came out on --

BURNETT: Oh, and that was a nasty hit. Yeah.

CARLSON: It was a nasty hit. But will he actually do that?

Somebody can tell me the answer to that. They're going to win $1 million, because I just don't think that Trump is actually going to be baited by this. But we'll see, because I think Musk is going to continue to do this.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, David, I mean, he's not mincing words. I mean, this is the way Elon Musk talks, but -- and he's also not doing it behind closed doors.

Disgusting abomination -- I mean, I do -- it is kind of fun to say it. I mean, to put those words together. But it is -- it is an incredible moment. DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. Well, this

abomination has been -- it's been forming for quite a while, but obviously he feels now unchained and free to speak, and I have no doubt he feels that way. I think he believes it.

What he showed when he was the head of DOGE was that he, you know, that chainsaw was not a just a symbol. It was a philosophy. He thinks that, you know, most of government should be eliminated and that, and I'm sure he believes, as a lot of people believe, that the debt is getting dangerously high.

He's never proposed that people like him might pay a little bit more in taxes to help defray that, so you don't have to take health care away from people or food support away from people. But I have to say, I think some of this is back and forth that happens between boys. You know, over the weekend, the president pulled the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a good friend of Elon's, his candidate to run NASA. I'm sure that was felt. And so, this may be the response to that.

BURNETT: Well, I suppose, and that could be. I mean, that and to your point, I mean, some of this -- some of this will the reality of it is, is a juvenile world that we all, unfortunately, have become used to living in.

Lulu. You know, here's the thing. Trump hasn't responded. But the Republicans that Musk funds, all of their campaigns, they actually are stepping up on behalf of Trump and they are slamming Musk. I mean, here's a few of ones who -- well, they owe Musk a lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: My friend Elon is terribly wrong about the One Big, Beautiful Bill. I know that the EV mandate is very important to him. That is going away because the government should not be subsidizing these things.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: We have an agenda that everybody campaigned on, and most notably, the president of the United States, and we're going to deliver on that agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, I'll just take a pause and say, I don't know how Speaker Johnson can call it one big, beautiful bill and not laugh. I mean, there is something to be said for the fact that he's saying that with a straight face and he actually, you know, he's not -- he's not joking. He's calling it that.

But what do you make of the fact that they are standing up to him when he is the one, by the way, one of the largest funders for Republican primaries and campaigns in the country.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is the richest man in the world. And let's be frank, the reason that he has so much power is because he's the richest man in the world, and he wants to fund campaigns. But this is a bromance that has long been predicted is going to go

wrong, because why? There can be only one. You know, this is Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and it was a marriage of convenience. And that convenience seems to have frayed.

And where the power really lies is with Donald Trump. Yes. Elon has the money and yes, he could use it, but the limits of that have been seen already by what he did when he was trying to, you know, finance that judge. And so, you know, I think the calculation is that Donald Trump wants this. And so, Donald Trump should get it.

And what Elon wants, might, wants, might be less important.

BURNETT: Yeah. Which, David, there's also the reality. And you know, I heard you when you said you know believe he really thinks this. I think that's clear. He does really think this. He said it from the beginning.

It is also the reality that he went back to Tesla. And taking this kind of a stance on a Trump bill, when, you know, your auto sales are plunging by 50 to 80 percent around the world, your company's falling apart isn't a bad idea if you want those people to start buying your cars again.

AXELROD: Not at all. It's called rehabilitation. I think that a little distance from Trump is a warranted right now. Theres a lot of concern on his board at the company about what's happened to it.

This has been a costly venture for Elon Musk. His foray into politics and the closeness to Trump has really hurt him.

[19:25:03]

Sales in Europe in April, down 49 percent. So, there's no doubt that there is -- there is that as well. I'm sure that's part of his calculation.

BURNETT: Gretchen, it's fascinating, though, on a certain level, it seems that Elon Musk believed that there were people in Washington who actually did care about cutting spending.

CARLSON: Yeah, well, I think Trump originally felt that way, right? I mean, and you got Rand Paul out there saying that he's not going to be responsible for 5 trillion being added to the debt. You have Ron Johnson out of Michigan saying the same thing.

They only need four people to sink this bill in the Senate. And so, I'm not so sure that this thing won't be -- will pass. But it also could be ratcheted down to be able to get it passed, whether or not that includes reducing the increase to the national debt is still under --

BURNETT: Right, or by how much or maybe a little bit, but whether they just to siphon off a couple of those votes, not addressing the overall disgusting abomination, I'm sure, whatever happens there. Lulu, I want to switch gears and ask you about something that I don't

know if anyone, I don't -- I don't know, Ax and Gretchen, if you know this, but, you know, we talked to lulu often about her podcast and her interviews with people like J.D. Vance. But in her latest episode, she has a personal and very wide-ranging conversation with Miley Cyrus.

And you may say, why are we talking about Miley Cyrus?

I mean, Lulu, I did not know this. You talk about how you did the same type of therapy, EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization -- desensitization, I'm sorry, and reprocessing, which is used to overcome trauma. It's an incredible thing you talk about with her. Here's part of it.

(BERGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILEY CYRUS, SINGER/ACTRESS: I found myself on a mountaintop in a place that I had experienced a lot of trauma in the snow in Montana. And I saw all these people that had brought me so much peace and love, all of a sudden, show up. So my dog that died a couple years ago, my grandma, my mom, it'll get me. My boyfriend that I have now. And they all grab me by the hands and we started playing "Ring Around the Rosie". And I came out of it and I've never had stage fright again, ever.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Wow.

CYRUS: I don't have stage fright anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, it's an incredible moment you reveal a lot, Lulu, about yourself, about this therapy as well.

What did you learn in this conversation?

GARICA-NAVARRO: I mean, there was so much there. But in regards to EMDR, you know, I had PTSD after spending a lot of time in the Middle East covering the conflicts there. And when we were talking about this, the context within which it sits and, you know, it's not really in the interview, is that she got terrible stage fright and she did not want to perform anymore in stadiums in front of people. It really, really hit her during and after the pandemic.

And so, she went to do this therapy that is for people with post- traumatic stress disorder to kind of get to the bottom of it. And it really helped her in lots of different ways, including with her own family and one of the visions that she sort of had during this therapy was about this intergenerational pain that she'd been carrying because her mother was adopted. And so, there's really a lot there. It's a fascinating interview, and she was very open.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I'm glad to hear about it. I know, I know, the three of us want to hear it, but I hope everyone watching will as well.

And thank you so much, all three, for being with us.

And next, China trolling Trump, mocking the president with a video saying he's losing his own trade war with China.

Plus, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in court for his lies about the 2020 election, lies that a former executive says led to death threats. Our Donie O'Sullivan just spoke to Lindell, and he's going to tell you what he said.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:45]

BURNETT: Tonight, Taco. The DNC parking this truck outside the Republican National Committee in D.C., to taunt Trump with his new Wall Street nickname, TACO, which means Trump always chickens out, a reference to the many times that he has retreated from his trade war threats, right, promising something and then lowering them without a negotiation. The truck, obviously featuring an image of Trump as a chicken.

This is the White House says Trump has sent out letters to major U.S. trading partners, and they have demanded their, quote/unquote, best offers by the end of the day tomorrow. The move is an effort to -- well, it's unclear to try to get a deal done. Deals don't happen that way, but to get something started before Trump's deadline, which is now just weeks away.

The president taking to truth social today to celebrate his tariffs, claiming, quote, because of tariffs, our economy is booming. Just hours later, though, a different picture came from the OECD, which slashed its U.S. growth forecasts, bringing global expectations down with it, as the world's biggest economy.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook adding more caution after Trump's post, warning tariffs could reignite inflation and drag down unemployment.

Tonight, Will Ripley is OUTFRONT on exactly how China right now is viewing Trump's trade war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This A.I.-generated anime is going viral in China, portraying U.S. President Donald Trump as a tariff wielding superhero. It's one of several recent videos mocking Trump's trade war policies, many of them created with A.I.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): You taxed each truck, you taxed each tire. Midwest's burnin' in your dumpster fire.

RIPLEY: China's English language broadcaster produced this video blaming Trump's tariffs for U.S. inflation and global instability. The video echoes Beijing's official stance.

Since the U.S. imposition of the unilateral tariff measures, it has not resolved any of its own issues, she says, and has instead severely undermined the international economic and trade order.

China's Xinhua news agency produced this A.I. animation, featuring a robot named Tariff programmed to impose trade restrictions.

ROBOT: I now choose death to end the harm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please don't do this.

ROBOT: Goodbye, Dr. Mallory.

RIPLEY: The robot self-destructs rather than obey orders to raise tariffs.

[19:35:03]

A.I.-generated clips like these showing Trump and Elon Musk hard at work in factories, have been flooding Chinas tightly controlled social media platforms for months, all untouched by Beijing's army of online censors designed to push Chinas narrative. The U.S. is making a fool of itself and, more importantly, losing ground to China in the global trade war. President Trump started.

China's foreign trade has been able to withstand the difficulties, he says, maintaining steady growth and showing strong resilience to maintain competitiveness on the international front.

China's bureau of statistics put out numbers claiming exports are actually rising despite the trade war, partially due to a surge in orders before the tariffs kicked in. Outside observers often question the accuracy of Chinas numbers, which are impossible to independently verify.

At this Chinese textile plant, the director says the U.S. no longer dominates their strategy.

The trade war made me realize the U.S. is just a small part of the global market, he says. Wed rather bring Chinese products to the rest of the world, reasonably priced, high quality, and let more people benefit.

China's top diplomat is also firing back, Wang Yi reportedly telling new U.S. Ambassador David Perdue, the U.S.-China relationship is at a critical juncture. The Chinese readout of the meeting also says, David Perdue stated that President Trump greatly respects President Xi Jinping, far from tough talk, China claims ahead of that likely crucial call between Trump and Xi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): They certainly do have a lot to talk about. The 90-day trade truce they brokered in Geneva, that's unraveling, Erin, as you know. At stake, rare earth minerals vital for U.S. tech and defense, which China is still restricting.

Washington's latest retaliatory moves include tech sanctions, student visa bans. Both sides are now accusing the other of undermining the agreement. So this, as you've been covering extensively, is putting global markets and supply chains on edge, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. Will Ripley from Taiwan tonight.

And OUTFRONT now, Torsten Slok, chief economist for Apollo Global Management.

Torsten, I'm glad to see you again.

So, you know, when we hear this reporting in Will's piece, the narrative emerging from China tonight. Right? So, this is -- this is the narrative they want out there. They're mocking Trump ahead of this call with Xi. They portray the U.S. as increasingly isolated economically and losing ground.

Now, just on those two points, increasingly isolated economically and losing ground, is there any truth to that?

TORSTEN SLOK, PARTNER & CHIEF ECONOMIST, APOLLO: Well, if you look at the daily data for the number of containers coming from China to the U.S., that is actually still relatively low, and that's quite surprising. When they signed the trade deal on May the 12th, you would have expected to see a rapid increase in the number of containers traveling from China to the U.S.

So, what has been most surprising, really here is that we're still seeing somewhat of a reluctance among U.S. corporates to import things from China, and that's telling you that so far. Yes, it is likely that we will see some rebound in trade. But the data that comes in every day continues to be weaker than what the market has been expecting.

BURNETT: And with the market has been expecting and maybe has a rude awakening. I want to ask you more on that in a moment, but, first, just this this issue with tomorrow. Right? The White House says that Trump wants final offers tomorrow from everybody. You know, kind of give me your best and final with a -- with a yet undefined or else.

Now when you hear that in the context of right, Trump put 145 percent tariffs on China. And then without a negotiation, put them down to 35, or he put 40-something on Vietnam and puts it down to ten. You know, these things that we've seen him do. Is he giving himself an off ramp here with this best and final tomorrow? I mean, I know the Wall Streets been using the acronym TACO, but, you know, is that -- is that what this is?

SLOK: Well, the challenge here is, of course, that it is not easy to just quickly make a trade deal. Trade deals are not only about the tariffs on goods, it's also about non-tariff barriers. It's also services.

It's also all kinds of other things that normally go into negotiations, such as anti-dumping. It's labor standards, environmental standards. So, I think that the backdrop really here is that normally it takes quite some time and the clock is ticking for markets. We have the 90-day deadline that he imposed, of course, on April the 9th. That means that we have to get to July the 8th. Then, we'll figure out what will go on with tariffs, of course, on a number of different fronts.

And China, of course, has a separate deadline that is more like August the 8th. So yes, we should expect to see some progress. But the bottom line is that of course, as we know, trade deals are very difficult to complete. So, I think it's fair to say that expectations, at least on when it comes to what well get in terms of a trade deal, should be probably more limited.

BURNETT: When you talk about expectations being a little bit out of whack, then you could add to that, you know, this Big, Beautiful Bill as it has been called by Republicans formally that could add up to $4 trillion to the debt, right?

[19:40:05]

There's a lot out there that the market is right now blithely you know, sort of whistling past the graveyard about.

Ray Dalio, today, the billionaire investor said, quote, we should be afraid of the bond market.

And it came on the heels of Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase. Recently warning about a crack in the bond market. And he said it in a very clear but ominous way.

Let me play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: You are going to see a crack in the bond market, okay? It is going to happen. And I tell this to my regulators, some of whom are in this room. I'm telling you, it's going to happen and you're going to panic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Do you think he's right? It's going to happen. And there will be panic. And what's going to be the trigger for it, Torsten?

SLOK: Yeah. No, I think this is a risk. I mean, the first thing we just talked about here, of course, is there's some issues around what will happen to the economy in the near term as a result of the trade war. That, of course, is on its own somewhat worrying. In particular, if the trade war drags the economy down as though OECD were saying in their new forecast today.

But the second thing, as you're highlighting, Erin, is exactly in the background. That has nothing to do with the trade war. We have a fiscal issue that is quite significant. And to your question, where could these cracks appear? What might we see?

Treasury auctions run throughout the week. For example, every day there is -- or every other day, there is an auction at 1:00 p.m. where the treasury is selling seven-year government bonds, 20-year government bonds, two-year government bonds, and the statistics that come out of these different auctions potentially could be very important.

And when Jamie Dimon talks about a crack, one area where we could see a crack is that some of these statistics have been weakening, in particular foreign participation in buying U.S. government bonds in auctions has been going down in the last two months. So there's a number of areas when it comes to the specifics of who are the buyers, what is the demand for U.S. government debt relative to the significant decrease in supply coming partly also because of the Big, Beautiful Bill?

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Torsten. I appreciate your time. I know its late in Copenhagen, so thank you so much.

And next, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in court, a trial that revolves around his lies about the 2020 vote, telling our Donie O'Sullivan they spoke and he's telling him about the massive hit that he is taking for pushing Trump's claims.

Plus, high hopes not in Texas, the state passing a law banning products with cannabis that includes edibles and includes vapes. There's a joint effort to get the governor to veto the ban.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:36]

BURENTT: Tonight, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, the Trump loyalist who built his business through those infamous infomercials, is back in court over his lies about the 2020 election. Lindell is being sued for defamation by Eric Coomer, a former Dominion Voting Systems executive who says he was forced into hiding when bogus conspiracy theories about Dominion rigging the 2020 election led to death threats.

Coomer charged in the lawsuit that Lindell and MyPillow were, quote, among the most prolific vectors of the lies.

Donie O'Sullivan is OUTFRONT in Denver. That's where the trial is.

So, he's out there covering it, and he actually spoke to Lindell, which, Donie, is so hugely significant in the context of a trial going on, right, that you would actually be able to get him. You did. What did he say to you?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Erin. Yes. No. Great piece of journalism on my part, I'm afraid, if I'm being honest, to get Mike Lindell to speak to us.

He is very much using this trial as a publicity tour. In fact, just a few minutes ago, he was live broadcasting on his own online television network, Lindell TV, where actually Rudy Giuliani has a show, and he was sort of walking through what happened today in court. So he's very much viewing this as an opportunity to continue spreading, believe it or not, conspiracy theories about the election. He is still very hung up on 2020.

One thing that has been alleged and point out, pointed out in this lawsuit is the allegation that Lindell is profiting from election conspiracy theories because by driving these viral online rumors about the election, bringing people to websites that then promote his pillow codes. And that's what I asked him about.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: The lawsuit paints this picture of you making money through election conspiracy theories by these pillow promo codes. Is this a grift for you? Are you making money off of all of this?

MIKE LINDELL, MYPILLOW CEO: I lost everything I had in my life. I had, I worked hard, I'm an entrepreneur, former crack addict, lived the American dream. I had $40 million, probably, you know, saved up in all this stuff and was giving it to charities and stuff when this came about. It's all gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: So that's what Mike says. And look, this is significant, Erin, because this is Mike Lindell's first time face -- it's a jury trial facing a jury, which many observers are pointing out. This would be the first time that he could potentially be held truly accountable for sharing election conspiracy theories for years. But as you see there, he's pretty upbeat.

BURNETT: Yeah. And obviously, making his argument to you there.

All right. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much in Denver covering this.

And Harry Enten is here now to tell us something we don't know. We know Donnie is a very humble person. That's one of the reasons we love him. But he did such a fantastic job there.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes.

BURNETT: And he got Mike Lindell to reveal something about himself in what he said, which is why Donnie is so amazing. Okay, the hit, though, when he said to Donnie, oh, I've lost everything. I've lost. I had this $40 million saved. It's all gone. It's all gone.

The rise and fall of Mike Lindell has been pretty spectacular.

ENTEN: It's been very spectacular, Erin. You know, according to Mike Lindell, get this, by 2023, the number of sales or the percentage drop in sales for MyPillow, get this, drop 95 percent.

[19:50:03]

This used to be $100 million company, well north of $100 million in terms of sales. He now claims that by 2023 that sales had actually dropped to, get this, just 5 million. Now, again, that's according to him. We can't independently verify it. But according to Mike Lindell, this whole election conspiracy stuff

really made him take a hit in his wall and his company's wallet as well.

BURNETT: Which is sort of fascinating because, you know, we look at, you know, Dan Alexander from Forbes was running numbers and saying, you know, Trump's net worth has surged higher than it has ever been before. He is minting money with his crypto and a whole lot of other things. But as for some of those who supported him, who were millionaires or billionaires before, not the case.

ENTEN: No, not the case at all. I mean, Mike Lindell is not the only one who's seen backlash. You know, someone who either owned or was the CEO of a company, right?

Obviously, we know about Elon Musk and Tesla. Right. But how about the CEO of Goya, who was essentially forced out a little bit after, in fact, he had been backing Trump, right? Or of course, we know Jeff Bezos at "The Washington Post," the sales of "The Washington Post", the amount of revenue that they have, have dropped significantly, especially since Bezos tried to change the editorial spin of that editorial page.

BURNETT: All right. So, the MyPillow, though, as you point out, it was omnipresent about a decade ago. I mean, it was everywhere like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDELL: You get exactly what you need for you as an individual. Its amazing. It will change your life. Theres nothing like it on the planet.

You can be that 1 in 30. Tanya, you take the pillow, you do it like this, you tuck it and you know what? No more snoring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Tell us something we don't know. Something I don't know about the pillow guy.

ENTEN: You know, at its peak, that infomercial back in 2012 was airing about 181 times. This is me telling you something you don't know, Erin. About 181 times on local and national television networks back in 2012. It looked quite comfortable, right?

BURNETT: Per day.

ENTEN: Per day, 181 million --181 times per day.

BURNETT: I didn't know that.

ENTEN: There you go. I did it. Boom.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you, Harry.

And next, Texas taking a blunt approach to cannabis, one that could lead to a ban on vapes, gummies and edibles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:05]

BURNETT: Tonight, a crucial bill in Texas that could set a precedent across the country. Right now, a bill that would ban all consumable products with THC, which is the main psychoactive substance in cannabis, is sitting on the governor of Texass desk waiting to be signed. The question is whether a $5 billion plus THC industry in Texas is about to be decimated.

Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fly over the Texas Hill Country and you might stumble across an unexpected sight. This hemp farm where a cannabis company called Hometown Hero grows roughly 10,000 pounds of hemp a year.

HOLDEN HIGHLANDER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, HOMETOWN HERO: I typically grow around 3,000 plants a year.

LAVANDERA: The farm's operations manager, Holden Highlander (ph), says in September, these plants will be harvested and turned into THC infused gummies and oils.

HIGHLANDER: It would be like a big hedge,

LAVANDERA: Yeah.

HIGHLANDER: About nine or 10 feet tall.

LAVANDERA: But by then, all this could be illegal. Texas lawmakers have voted to ban the production and sale of consumable THC products, and the company that coast guard veteran Lukas Gilkey started, along with another 8,000 THC stores across the state or at risk of being shut down.

LUKAS GILKEY, CO-FOUNDER, HOMETOWN HERO: This was a huge economic windfall for Texas. This industry generates $264 million of tax revenue a year. It's an industry that is thriving and creating jobs within Texas. Why would we take it away?

LAVANDERA: In 2019, Texas lawmakers essentially legalized the sale of hemp products. These edibles and oils contain less of the psychoactive ingredient, THC, found in marijuana that gets you high.

The industry is booming. One report shows that cannabis related companies in Texas generated more than $5.5 billion in revenue last year, $2.1 billion in wages, and employ more than 53,000 people. Texas lawmakers now say the law opened the door to the sale of dangerous synthetic products.

LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK (R), TEXAS: Nothing is more important than stopping a kid getting a hold of this junk.

LAVANDERA: Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has launched a tirade of criticism on the state's cannabis producers.

PATRICK : Anybody want this bag? Catch. You want it? I don't think you want it.

LAVANDERA: Patrick claims many of the cannabis products on the market exceed legal THC levels, or are made with dangerous synthetic ingredients. He flashed a bag of edibles produced by Gilkey's cannabis company.

PATRICK: What, are you crazy? You want -- you want to go home and eat a bag of this tonight? See if you're here tomorrow.

LAVANDERA: You've been sparring with the lieutenant governor on social media.

GILKEY: I want to make him think about what he's doing and the people that he's harming. Lieutenant governor is holding a press conference and just spitting out lies like he always does. He said the ingredients, we don't know what's in it. All of the ingredients, every single ingredient, are right there.

LAVANDERA: The lieutenant governor is saying that you guys are selling poison, that you're hurting kids.

GILKEY: Our products are sent to DEA partner labs. They go through and test our products for every single thing in them. We do everything that we are required to legally. If we had done anything wrong, I would be in jail.

LAVANDERA: Supporters of cannabis producers wield in boxes of letters and petitions signed by more than 100,000 people, urging Governor Greg Abbott to save the industry by vetoing the ban.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That no one dies from cannabis use.

LAVANDERA: But there are also parents who say THC products have ravaged their families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what began as harmless habit quickly spiraled into mental health crisis.

LAVANDERA: Back on the hemp farm, Lukas Gilkey says if he's forced to shut down, he'll probably move his company to a different state.

GILKEY: I don't understand how Texas politicians can decide they're going to create something. And then on a whim, six years later, decide, hey, we don't like how this went. We're going to completely wipe it out.

LAVANDERA: They know this might be the last harvest.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LAVANDERA (on camera): And, Erin, the governor is now the one that will ultimately decide what happens with this bill. But it's not clear what he's going to do. He has until June 22nd to decide whether or not to veto the bill.

We reached out to his spokesperson, who simply said that the governor will, quote, thoughtfully review the legislation sent his way.

But the politics around all of this, Erin, is incredibly complex right now. You have liberal Democrats who support the ban. You have conservative Democrats who voted against it. So, the pressure is mounting on the governor.

BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely.

All right, Ed, thank you very much.

And thanks so much to all of you.

Anderson starts now.