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Erin Burnett Outfront
GOP Senator: Iran Nuke Site "Obliterated," But Problem "Not" Over; Iran's Ayatollah Breaks Silence, Emerges After Going Into Hiding; NYC Mayor Adams Launches Reelection Bid, Attacks Dem Mamdani. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired June 26, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:31]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Trump accused of not telling the truth. The Democratic senator saying that Iran's nuclear program was not obliterated after receiving a closed-door intel briefing. Republicans, though, are coming to Trump's defense, not on everything.
Plus, my guest tonight, Zohran Mamdani, whose stunning victory against Andrew Cuomo in New York, is sending shock waves around America. And tonight, he responds to the breaking news just in to CNN that Andrew Cuomo is not dropping out of the race yet.
And the star studded $50 million wedding. Oprah, Tom Brady, a lot of others in Venice for the Jeff Bezos extravaganza.
CNN is there, too. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, the first classified briefing on Trump's Iran strike. Senators have just coming out of that meeting, and they are talking about what they're learning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated. To me, its appears that we have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: As for Trump, he is standing by the total opposite view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They hit the target, and the target has now been proven to be obliterated.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Of course, there is no proof that anyone has seen as of yet, but he's sticking by that word, and we just don't know until we get more information.
And Trump's core group of senators, including Lindsey Graham, are sticking with Trump after this classified briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I don't want people to think that the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated. It was. But having said that, I don't want people to think the problem is over because it's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: As to how people who are sitting in the same room getting the same briefing could reach such different conclusions as to totally obliterated versus several months -- I mean, that is actually deeply troubling. I mean, you're sitting in the same room, you're intelligent people. That chasm is a problem.
But, you know, for those who are in the briefing as former Iraq weapons inspector Robert Kelly laid out on this program, for what they would have gotten in that briefing, even though it's very preliminary, there are a lot of details that experts can see even just on the satellite images that we have all seen. They can say, well, what building was ruined, what building wasn't.
But there is one thing that no one knows yet, and that is whether Iran successfully moved its mother load from the sites in time and mother load were talking about, as it's highly -- its supply of highly enriched uranium, 408 kilograms of it. Now, enough theoretically, according to experts, to make nine nuclear weapons. And Vice President Vance, of course, has already indicated that Iran's uranium may still be intact. And in Iranian control.
Trump, though, is insisting that nothing was moved prior to the strike from the Fordow nuclear site. He says the cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of the facility would take too long. Too dangerous, very heavy and hard to move.
Of course, that is different than what the Iraq weapons inspector told us, actually, said you could move it all in a van sort of size. But all of this is speculation.
One of the questions, though, is, is how this is going to be interpreted. Republican senators are coming out.
And listen carefully, because part of what they're saying is very different than Trump's obliteration that he keeps insisting on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: I don't know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists, but it wasn't part of the target set.
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I will say it was not part of the mission to destroy all their enriched uranium, or to seize it or anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's actually really significant what they're saying, because they're actually acknowledging and saying that with maybe it is all still there, but it wasn't part of the target set, and that may be fine, but it does possibly change and quite significantly so, the definition of obliterating a nuclear program.
And these lingering questions have the administration tonight on defense. Listen to the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Of course, we're watching every single aspect. But, Jennifer, you've been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, we just went through that. And you just heard Republican senators that moving -- that destroying the highly enriched uranium wasn't part of the target set.
[19:05:02]
So, they're not denying at all that it wasn't moved. Who knows?
But the secretary of defense in this case, when he said, Jennifer -- Jennifer is Fox's chief national security correspondent, highly respected national security correspondent. He's going after her in addition to attacking a whole lot of other media institutions, including CNN, NBC, "The New York Times", anybody who actually, in this case has reported on the basic known facts at this time.
The Trump is now also pointing the finger directly at the Democrats posting online. The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the perfect flight to the nuclear sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted.
Kristen Holmes begins our coverage tonight OUTFRONT live outside the White House.
And, Kristen, I know you've got new reporting right now on discussions going on inside the White House on what classified information they plan to share with Congress going forward.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And it's not just what classified information. It's also who they're going to share it with and how they're going to share it. And the White House is having conversations with other administration officials, as well as their allies on the hill, as they try to assess how they distribute classified information.
Remember, one of the things here is that President Trump and you see it there in that post, fundamentally believes that this leak of this preliminary intel report that showed that Iran nuclear sites may not have been substantially damaged, came from Congress. They believe that it came after it was posted by intelligence officials onto a system that is used to share classified information with congress, and that there are people, Democrats, as well as people who don't like Donald Trump. Again, this is according to administration officials I talked to who have access to that system, and they are the ones who shared this to make the president look bad. Again, this is what I'm hearing from White House officials.
So now there are ongoing conversations about what exactly they're going to share, who they're going to share with, and how that information is going to be filtered. President Trump and his team want a really close lid on information, in part because they want to know who also has this information.
So, if it does get out there, they know who's putting that information out there. You could tell just how angry President Trump was at this leaked assessment, which, by the way, he said he admitted existed. His only argument was that it was inconclusive and preliminary -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much. And of course, it is preliminary. That's why they start with preliminary ones. As they get more information, they update it.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, retired navy captain, flew combat missions and space shuttle missions as well, of course, as anyone watching knows.
And Senator, so much appreciate your time.
So, you were in the senate briefing today, what can you share about what you learned?
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Well, I'm not going to share any classified information. I was actually surprised some of my Republican colleagues started talking about target set and stuff like that. I'm not going to go there.
What I will say, Erin, is I think the briefing on one hand was rather comprehensive. There were some things that stood out for me, though. One is that particularly from the secretary of defense, you hear something different in private than you see him share with the general public and the media, as in like the briefing he gave this morning, we get a different set of talking points. And it's not consistent with what he has said. And the president said about this target getting obliterated.
I think it's important that the president and the secretary of defense be honest with the American people. And this is a -- if you want to call it a crisis. This is a crisis of their own making because the president made a decision to get out in front of the analysis. I mean, way in front, like at least 24 hours in front and do his own bomb damage assessment, do his own analysis, say what he thought the results were.
And that's not consistent with the data. And that is a problem.
BURNETT: Well, it also sets the expectation that the expectation was obliteration. When it sounds like the Republicans who are speaking out, perhaps out of turn, but they're saying that wasn't the goal, that there were certain things not on the target list.
KELLY: Well, Erin --
BURNETT: Yeah?
KELLY: You also see my colleague Lindsey Graham also said severely damaged or obliterated. Those are two different things. I mean, I think some folks need to get out the Webster dictionary and look at the definition of these words, because the words actually matter and they can matter a lot, especially when they come from the president.
BURNETT: Well, they do matter. They matter a lot. And they set they set an expectation.
I just want to be excruciatingly clear, though, Senator. It sounds like what you're saying is that when they briefed you, they did not say -- they're not telling you obliterated. They're not making those claims because they have to have data backing it up. They're saying that publicly where they don't have to have data, but that's not what they're telling you.
KELLY: That's accurate. Yes. Yeah. That's accurate.
The assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency was an early assessment.
[19:10:02]
They don't have all the information they would like to have. They're going to modify this assessment going forward. You might see some changes.
It might go in one direction and back in another direction. I will say that the pilots that executed this strike did a fabulous job. The air force pilots, as a navy guy, sometimes hard for me to say. They did a fantastic job at this. They got the weapons on target.
What happens after that? First of all, not their responsibility, right? And they're not going to know what happens. The president did not know what happened that night, and he got ahead of the intelligence. And that is always a mistake.
BURNETT: Right. Well, and of course, you know, they did what they were supposed to do and they executed the mission perfectly to conflate that with what the targets of the mission were and what happened on the ground is obviously -- it's absurd. I know there's been efforts to conflate those two things.
KELLY: And, Erin, here's my big worry right now is and this is the question I don't think was answered up front before the decision was made to do this. First of all, I think they should have exhausted every diplomatic option and then considered what is going to happen after this strike, especially if there is some capability left. Are the Iranians going to rush to develop a nuclear weapon?
They -- we don't know. That's a -- that's a question -- that's unanswered. They might still do that. So, we might find ourselves in a worse situation than we were a week ago, or possibly not. We're going to were going to have to see. And I give a lot of credit to the intelligence community. They do a really fine job. They give us, give us the information.
We've got to be as transparent as we can with the American people about what that information means.
BURNETT: So, you know, the supreme leader who had been completely absent, we understand, was not even was in a bunker during the decision making on a ceasefire, right? So, he wasn't present, which is really significant. Now, all of a sudden, he's out, his social media account. You know, he had a video, and he says the Americans didn't gain anything in the war.
And, you know, nonstarter to have no enrichment at all. You know, all of the bombastic, bellicose rhetoric that we are accustomed to from him is back. But it had been absent for a couple of days.
What does the fact that, that, that, that he is back, that those around him are, you know, allowing it, enabling it, whatever it is. Does that say anything to you?
KELLY: Well, it means he's still alive. I mean, he's back. He's going to say these same things.
I wouldn't believe anything that Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, says he runs a terrorist organization. You know, I would trust the intelligence community. And I got to give a lot of credit to the chairman of the joint chiefs. If you saw him this morning or right after this strike, he is being, in my view, very transparent about what occurred, about what we know and about what this means going forward.
BURNETT: All right. And that is something, of course, to be applauded, just to give people the facts as we know them at the time, knowing that they will change as we get more information. And, Senator, thank you so much for your time. I always appreciate it.
KELLY: Thank you. Erin.
BURNETT: Next, the supreme leader, as I said, breaking his silence, he is speaking out for the first time since the ceasefire. But we're going to look at the video. There is a new video. What does it show about his whereabouts? That bunker, his health right now? Plus, 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani took down a political dynasty in America's biggest city, defeating Andrew Cuomo in New York. He's my guest. And tonight, facing a blistering new round of attacks from his likely opponent in the general election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: This election is a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a soup silver spoon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Oprah, Ivanka Trump and a whole lot more. They are all gathered together for a giant party, the Venice party for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's $50 million wedding and we're on the ground there tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:21]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Iran's supreme leader breaking his silence after a mysterious, prolonged absence from public during a moment of international crisis and existential crisis for Iran, amid growing crisis, about his questions about his health and where he actually is. Supreme Leader Khamenei, speaking on camera for the first time in eight days. And think about what an eight days it's been.
And he is -- well, perhaps he's still in a bunker because he's claiming victory against Israel and the United States.
Now, remember, in recent days we have heard from virtually every top Iranian official except the supreme leader, everyone, the foreign minister, the president, the head of the IRGC, all of them. Khamenei suddenly coming out, not just with the video also reemerging, so all at once on social media with a series of posts which sound much like he always used to sound, a warning that, quote, the Zionist regime must know that attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran will result in a heavy cost for them.
Fred Pleitgen begins our coverage tonight OUTFRONT in Iran.
And, Fred, what else are we hearing from the supreme leader?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Erin.
You know, ever since the ceasefire went into effect, the Iranians have been saying that they believe that it's a big victory for them. They say that they believe that they essentially forced the Trump administration and the Israelis into the ceasefire. And now, the supreme leader has taken to the airwaves for the first time since the fighting ended. And he also praised Iran's military for what he calls a big victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMANEI, IRAN SUPREME LEADER: I would like to congratulate the great nation of Iran who with all those claims that the Zionist regime were making.
[19:20:05]
They were almost crushed under the blows of the Islamic government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: At the same time, Erin, the supreme leader, also lashing out at the United States and specifically President Trump, saying that President Trump had called for Iran's unconditional surrender and that that simply isn't going to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHAMANEI: The U.S. president said that Iran should surrender. A great Iran and the word of surrender, they don't match. They don't match with each other. It's a joke. It's a ridiculous thing to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Of course, Erin, we know that the supreme leader is the highest and final authority here in this country. But in general, the clergy plays a huge role in shaping the doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
And today, we went to Iran's second holiest city, the city of Qom, where there's a lot of religious seminaries, a lot of religious schools. And we asked clerics there how they feel about the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): "If Trump ever has goodwill, do not mess with countries and let people live their lives," he says.
"This promise has been made by god," he says, "that if you believe in god, he is the one who guides your arrows to the hearts of the enemy".
And he says, "They think they're able to stop us from our chosen path through bombing, killing, and terror. This is why these terrors and wars will only strengthen our faith instead of weakening us."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, you can see there, members of the clergy in the city of Qom saying they're not willing to give an inch and that they are going to continue to confront what the U.S. and Israel -- Erin.
BURNETT: Fred, thank you very much, in Tehran tonight.
An OUTFRONT now, Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American who was wrongfully detained for eight years in Iran's notoriously brutal Evin prison. Siamak, I am grateful for your time tonight. And, you know, just as
you look at this, do you believe that you know what? The supreme leader comes out and makes these statements big victory. All the stuff that we would have heard from him ten days ago before the world so dramatically changed for Iran. It's as if he doesn't even know about any of it, with the way that he's talking.
Do you think anyone in the Iranian government believes anything that he's saying?
SIAMAK NAMAZI, IRANIAN AMERICAN WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED FOR 8 YEARS IN IRAN: I don't think anyone anywhere believes what he's saying. I don't think he believes what he's saying.
The fact that he is trying to project strength from a bunker and says it all, you know, you're saying that we're victorious. The world is afraid of us. We've projected power, and yet he's afraid to step out in the public I think says more than I can ever say.
BURNETT: Yeah, the images and the silence. The silence spoke more than anything possibly could. You know, the one thing that we saw, even though we didn't see him? Siamak, was we saw people on the street. Our Fred Pleitgen was there, you know, who were supporters of the regime. And they had his picture up in the flags.
And, you know, in recent days, he was not to be seen, but they were with his with his image. Do you think that that the number of people in Iran who support him, who support this regime, that there has been any notable shift in that given these events?
NAMAZI: I think that the regime has very little public support. It had a legitimacy crisis to start with. It's a -- in Iran, what we have is a brutal kleptocracy that imprisons its own people, torments and tortures its own people. It makes trouble for its neighbors.
It's a regime that if the people had any sort of ability to project, their will would be far gone very, very, very soon. But it's also a regime that has -- it may not be able to fend off Israel or the U.S., but it has the ability to brutalize its own people.
BURNETT: I know you're very worried about the activists that -- on the ground in Iran, what is your biggest concern tonight?
NAMAZI: My biggest concern is that after all of this has happened, that the regime is going to turn its brutality towards its own people because it knows it's in a weak position, because it knows that this ceasefire is akin to perhaps the end of the Iran-Iraq war. And what then-supreme leader Khamenei, the founder of the revolution or the Islamic Republic, said that it was the drinking of the poisoned chalice.
But at least he admitted that. And now we have a very weakened Khamenei, worried about what's going to happen. And I'm worried about the activists who are probably going to take the brunt of the brutality pretty soon. I'm worried about vulnerable groups like the Bahais who traditionally get brutalized when something like this happens.
And, of course, the prisoners who are there.
BURNETT: And those prisoners you have endured something that that very few people in this world can relate to and none of us can truly understand.
[19:25:08]
That is the time that you serve -- the eight years that you served in Evin prison, and then in the past few days, you saw the Israeli strike, that prison. It seemed there were people. People then leaving. Obviously, you know, people who are still there.
What do you think is happening with them? And with that prison now?
NAMAZI: Well, what we know is that the prison was hit hard with the images of the casualties and the names are coming out. The political prisoners have both the men and the women were moved to a far worse prison in terms of facilities in the outskirts of Tehran called the grand Tehran prison, and the women to prison. They've been incommunicado. Their families are extremely worried.
But also, some of the facilities that were hit, like Evin, is a compound. It's basically a series of prisons within a compound, including some detention centers. Section 209, which is controlled by the ministry of intelligence, was hit and my former cellmate and Olympiad physics gold winner Ali Younessi was in 209, among many others.
So, I can just imagine what that family is going through right now, wondering what's happening to their son. We know that some people who were visiting the prison were killed, and so we're waiting to see, you know, who's who survived that. Yeah.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Siamak, I appreciate your time. And thank you so very much. I look forward to speaking to you soon as we learn more of these -- these -- just so little visibility on the truth on the ground there. Thank you for your time.
NAMAZI: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And next, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani who shocked the political world after defeating Andrew Cuomo. He is our guest tonight responding to the breaking news just into CNN that Cuomo is not dropping out of the race to be mayor.
Plus, Jeff Bezos's wedding actually interesting when you pair it to this story, right? A $50 million wedding. Who needs that? Underway tonight in Venice. And not everyone is rolling out the welcome carpet for the billionaire and his star-studded guest list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:00]
BURNETT: Tonight, an epic battle.
New York Mayor Eric Adams formally announcing tonight that he's going to go head to head with the Democrats new rising star, Zohran Mamdani, as an independent candidate in the mayor's race in the biggest city in America. Now we're going to speak to Mamdani live in just a moment.
But first, take a listen to Mayor Adams' attacks right out of the gate today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: This election is a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a soup silver spoon. A choice between dirty fingernails and manicured nails. This is not a city where you use idealism to stake your giving everything to everyone for free.
There's no dignity in someone giving you everything for free. There's dignity in giving you a job so you can provide for your family and the opportunities that you deserve. So, this is not a city of handouts. This is a city of hands up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Adams taking direct aim at the core of Mamdani's campaign, Mamdani has made economics the heart of it. Right? Things like freezing rent on nearly half of the city's apartments, free bus service, free childcare for children under five and city run grocery stores.
Okay, well, the Adams news comes as our Isaac Dovere is just reporting that former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who, of course, was crushed in that primary, who conceded it to Mamdani, will not drop out of the race before tomorrow's deadline. So now this raises crucial questions about whether he will also be running in the general election as an independent.
But Mamdani's likely and seismic win over Cuomo in the primary is generating national headlines about him being a new political star, creating a movement from the left leaning "Nation" magazine, they write the Democratic Party establishment should follow Zohran Mamdani's example.
OUTFRONT now, New York state assemblyman and presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani.
And so much appreciate your time. A whirlwind week for you. I think, to put it lightly.
Okay. So, you know, everyone else is putting their view on this of what this means. Okay? Your victory, what do you think it means?
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I think it means that we are ready in the most expensive city in the United States to have five boroughs that New Yorkers can actually afford. And this entire race was about the question of affordability. And ultimately, I have run a campaign that speaks about the tools that city government actually has to deliver that affordability in the wealthiest city, in the wealthiest country in the world. And it's time that we have a mayoral administration that follows through and actually delivers that.
BURNETT: All right. So, I want to talk about some of that. But first, the breaking news, Isaac-Dovere is reporting that Andrew Cuomo is not dropping out of the general election race, right? And it's kind of a will he or won't he? But the deadline is tomorrow. Is this a surprise to you?
MAMDANI: Ultimately, Andrew's decision or my decision matters less than the decision that voters already took on Tuesday night where we won from Bay Ridge to Dyker Heights to Harlem to Washington Heights, we saw a mandate delivered for a new generation of leadership.
[19:35:03]
And I am so proud and excited to continue to build on that mandate with an ever expanding coalition, one that has now included the endorsements of Congressman Jerry Nadler, of State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Manhattan borough president soon to be comptroller Mark Levine. And ultimately, that is a coalition that will continue to expand through November.
BURNETT: Right. So, you're saying no matter what. I mean, if Andrew Cuomo is in, it's not like a redo where you're worried?
MAMDANI: No, not at all. I mean, we did it once and it turned out pretty well.
BURNETT: All right. So now can we talk about the policy. The policy is what stood out to a lot of people.
But, right, I said the freezing -- the freezing rents on half of the apartments, free bus service, the free childcare and the city run grocery stores. How do you pay for that?
MAMDANI: Let's go through it. So, for the first thing, freezing the rent, that's not something that requires any fiscal output from the city. It's something that's determined by the rent guidelines board, composed of nine members. The mayor picks each of those members. They determine each year whether rents rise or whether they stay the same.
The previous mayoral administration froze the rent three times. So, this has clear historical precedent.
When it comes to city run grocery --
BURNETT: Even Adams, so you're saying Adams?
MAMDANI: No, this is prior. He's the current one who has raised it 9 percent on those same New Yorkers, pushing them out of their homes.
City run grocery stores have proposed a pilot program of one store in each borough. These are five stores in total. The total cost of this is $60 million. This is less than half the cost of what the city is already set to spend on a subsidy program for corporate supermarkets that has no guarantee of cheaper prices or collective bargaining agreements, or even accepting.
BURNETT: So, you're not looking at some, like Soviet Union grocery stores on every corner that are going to be run by the government.
MAMDANI: No, what I'm looking at is how to solve the very clear twin crises of affordability. When you go to the grocery store and food deserts, which disproportionately impact Black and Brown New Yorkers across the five boroughs where I've heard directly from New Yorkers who say, why is it that I can find six fast food restaurants in a five block radius, but I can't find a place to buy groceries.
BURNETT: But five -- but five boroughs, five grocery stores? But that can't be the goal.
MAMDANI: Well, I mean, the idea --
BURNETT: Is the goal you want them on every -- I mean, not, I mean, but in New York things do go. There's a nail salon every corner. There's grocery store on almost every other corner.
MAMDANI: I think ultimately I'm guided by outcomes. If this pilot succeeds in guaranteeing cheaper groceries, as I think it will be, then yes, it should scale up. If it doesn't succeed, then no, it shouldn't, because what New Yorkers want are results.
And then it comes to making busses free and universal childcare.
BURNETT: Right.
MAMDANI: These are things that cost around $700 million and let's say about $5 billion or $6 billion significant amounts of money.
BURNETT: Huge amounts of money.
MAMDANI: But have to be understood in the context of a $113 billion municipal budget, a $252 billion state budget. And we put forward a plan to pay for these and more to start Trump proofing our city through two major revenue streams.
BURNETT: Yeah.
MAMDANI: Increasing the top corporate tax rate of New York to match that of New Jersey, that raises $5 billion. And increasing income taxes on the top 1 percent of New Yorkers who make $1 million or more a year by 2 percent.
Both of these things after they come to fruition, you're still paying less than you did before Trump.
BURNETT: Okay, on the city tax, though, and I know that takes effect with people right now, the top rate of people of 50,000 or more. So, if you're going to be adding 2 percent to people at a million, that just did the math, right? Well, but that's going to be an increase of 51 percent of what they pay. Now, I'm not saying cry for them. I'm saying if they leave, you're not
going to get that money. And when you increase someone's taxes by 51 percent, aren't a lot of people going to leave?
MAMDANI: We're saying we're increasing it by 2 percent of what it is right now. And ultimately, I'm guided by the facts. The fiscal policy institute did an analysis of the top 1 percent of New Yorkers and found that they leave the city at one fourth the rate of other income categories.
And when they do leave, they leave to what are called high tax states. New jersey, California. So, what it then comes down to is why are they leaving? Is it fiscal policy or is it actually quality of life? And I've heard that time and again from wealthier New Yorkers, from all New Yorkers.
BURNETT: So, it's talk. They're going to go to Florida. And all you think is talk.
MAMDANI: In 2021, when I came to the state assembly, we had the same fight to fund public schools, to raise taxes on billionaires and corporations. We were told millionaires would flee and we now have more millionaires.
BURNETT: Yeah.
Okay, so "The New York Times" is saying that Mayor Adams is trying to gather business leaders to support him, to say, this is this is going to be bad. And Bill Ackman, billionaire hedge fund manager, of course, you know of him. New Yorker, he said he agrees with you that the city is broken okay. But he has a real problem with your economic policies.
He said the ability for New York city to offer services for the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorker, is entirely dependent on New York City being a business-friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days the amount you need to be taxed and assume the associated tax burden.
Unfortunately, both have already started making arrangements for the exits.
So, you just think that that isn't going to add up. And by the way, that corporate tax rate that you're talking about, that's a big increase.
MAMDANI: That's matching 7.25 percent going to 11.5 percent. And the point of it is that if it works for our regional neighbor, why can't it work for us?
And with Bill Ackman, this is someone who put $500,000 into Andrew Cuomo's super PAC, someone to whom clearly money is not an issue.
And ultimately, even for him, life would get better. Because what I'm looking to use this money for is to make the quality of life across the city better.
BURNETT: Okay, so when people say Democratic socialist, right? And I'm curious what you think this means.
[19:40:01]
I mean, do you like capitalism?
MAMDANI: No, I have many critiques of capitalism. And I think ultimately, the definition for me of why I call myself a Democratic socialist is the words of Dr. King decades ago. He said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of god's children in this country.
And that's what I'm focused on, is dignity and taking on income inequality. And for too long, politicians have pretended that we're spectators to that crisis of affordability. We're actually actors, and we have the choice to exacerbate it, like Mayor Adams has done, or to respond to it and resolve it like I'm planning to do.
BURNETT: Okay, so, you know, for people who say that America was built on and a lot of that, a lot of immigrants, and obviously you speak from an immigrant experience. I mean, you came as a young child, but you spoke to -- speak to a lot of people who came much more recently that they come to America because they believe in capitalism. They believe that if they work hard and make a lot of money, that that's part of the American dream.
Do you think that's not part of the American dream?
MAMDANI: I think the dream at its core is a dream for stability in one's life. And what you're saying that you work hard enough and that you then reap the benefits -- too many New Yorkers and Americans for that matter, are working eight hours and then still feeling like they haven't made enough money to keep living in the city they call home.
And ultimately, what I'm focused on is making the city affordable for everyone, not to win an ideological argument, but to deliver on the mandate of --
BURNETT: So, when Mayor Adams -- you just heard him come out and he said, soup, silver spoon. He talked about manicured nails to refer to you, right? You were -- I was looking at them.
MAMDANI: They're not looking great right now.
BURNETT: You show them to everybody.
What do you say to him?
MAMDANI: You know, I understand what he's doing. He's trying to distract from his own record. His is a record where he raised rents on more than 2 million New Yorkers by 9 percent, and he's considering another 8 percent increase.
His is a record of raising the water bill to the highest it's been in 13 years, supporting Con Edison when they wanted to increase New Yorkers gas and electric bills by $65 a month. I would much rather talk about me than I would about his record if I was him. And so that's what he's going to be doing over the next few months. And we will continue to remind New Yorkers what's on the ballot, it's affordability.
BURNETT: All right, Assemblyman, please stay with me. Our conversation with Zohran Mamdani continues right after this, because the truth is, his rise in the Democratic Party has been meteoric.
And tonight, ICE Director Tom Homan is weighing in on Mamdani's win, somebody that Mamdani has confronted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: Do you believe in the First Amendment? Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:34]
BURNETT: We are back with Zohran Mamdani, who is poised to win the Democratic primary for New York city over Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor.
Before we continue the conversation, I just want to play because that's what this is, play more of Mamdani telling his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: To quote the words of a famous New Yorker, allow me to reintroduce myself. I was born in Kampala, Uganda, in East Africa. I was given my middle name, Kwame, by my father, who named me after the first prime minister of Ghana.
I moved to this city when I was seven. This is the city I fell in love with, the city where I got my citizenship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He's been in the New York assembly for four years, and before that, he was an aspiring rapper under the name Mr. Cardamom. Listen.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BURNETT: Once you do it, it's out there.
MAMDANI: It's there.
BURNETT: It never comes back. It's there.
MAMDANI: Didn't think it was going to be on CNN.
BURNETT: It's there. And there it is. So, what do you say to people who look at your background and they wonder, they say, okay, rising star, you may be, but this is the largest city in America, $112 billion budget, 8 million people and a hell of a lot of problems.
And they say, okay, whatever the future may be, you're not ready now.
MAMDANI: I would say that a campaign offers a glimpse of what an administration would look like. And we built a campaign, the likes of which the city has not seen in a long time. We started with two full- time employees, and now are managing 50,000 volunteers.
At the beginning of this race, there were questions of whether we'd get 50,000 votes, and yet we had 50,000 --
BURNETT: Fifty thousand volunteers.
MAMDANI: Fifty thousand volunteers who knocked on 1.5 million doors, made 2.1 million phone calls. And ultimately, it's a story of not only being able to inspire people, but absorb that inspiration and build an organization. And I think that's also the story of what it means to run a city that you are ultimately responsible, but you're also determined by hiring the best and the brightest.
And that's what I will be doing in city hall. I'll be hiring those that have a clear track record of excellence, of results that come from a wide variety of mayoral administrations and finally, bring public excellence back into the public sector.
BURNETT: All right. So, you caught a lot of attention for confronting Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, about the deportation policies, which have a lot of impact here in New York. Here you are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: How many more New Yorkers without charge? Do you believe in the First Amendment? Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So that moment went viral.
All right. Then, after the primary, Homan was asked about your plan, which is on your website. You said that you would end the city's cooperation with ICE agents that has been going on under Mayor Adams.
And he has spoken out. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: Good luck with that. Federal law trumps him every day, every hour of every minute. We're going to be in New York city. Game on. We're coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Game on. He's coming. What do you say?
MAMDANI: That I'm going to be here to stand up and fight back. And unlike the current mayor, I'm not going to be working alongside the Trump administration to build the single largest deportation force in American history. I'm going to actually represent each and every New Yorker, and that includes immigrant New Yorkers. And that means standing up for the laws of this city, like our sanctuary city policies, which have kept New Yorkers safe for decades and were defended by Republicans and Democrats alike for years, until we got this mayor who fear-mongered about them so extensively.
[19:50:02]
BURNETT: Does that involve the NYPD?
MAMDANI: It means that the NYPD would actually serve New Yorkers and not assist ICE in their operations. We recently saw ICE agents --
BURNETT: So, they would not assist ICE.
MAMDANI: Not assisting ICE because ultimately their job is public safety. And I know officers who are signing up to take on serious crimes, not to be a part of the force that is arresting a pastor who's peacefully observing the arrest of a migrant at federal plaza.
BURNETT: All right. So, a moment ago, you talked about how you didn't know if you'd get 50,000 votes and you ended up with 50,000 volunteers. They knocked on doors.
There are many in the country who might look at that and say, okay, that makes me think of somebody else, somebody else who took on a -- I'm trying to think of the right word to use, but somebody who expected to win and therefore didn't campaign that hard and lost, and the person who did that was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, right? Famously, also here in New York.
She endorsed you early. She helped you. She just spoke to Manu Raju, our Manu Raju, a few moments ago. She said the Democratic Party needs to pay attention to your success right now.
Here's what she just told him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We have a choice to listen to that message that people are sending us or not. This isn't just about Mr. Mamdani as an individual. This is about the message that the people of New York City are trying to send to our party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, there's now talk, you know, that hurt. Your victory puts her in a whole new light, right? It puts her in Bernie Sanders. Not that they were seen as fringe, but they were seen as a wing of the party. And that instead of being a wing that becomes more of the center and that you are part of that.
Do you see it that way? And do you see those who say, look, your victory propels her to a presidential run in 2028? MAMDANI: She's been an inspiration and it's been an honor to be
represented by her as an assembly member in Astoria for many years. And I think about a senior who works at a childcare center that I met in Sunnyside, Queens, who told me that I'm not a progressive. But I realized when I looked at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, they were the only ones who were willing to fight for me.
BURNETT: Yeah.
MAMDANI: And that's what so many New Yorkers and Americans understand is that these are the two individuals who have been willing to take on this oligarchy and actually stand up for dignity for Americans.
BURNETT: Before you go, one last thing, Bill Ackman. I just mentioned him as -- as -- right. He's the billionaire hedge fund manager, but he's not alone. There are a lot like him. Whether it's Ken Griffin or CEOs of big banks.
Would you meet with them?
MAMDANI: I'll meet with anyone. I will meet with them and I'll explain why. I believe in the necessity of raising the top corporate tax rate. And I'd also tell Bill Ackman that I firmly disagree with his attempt to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion across the country because it's not only against the morals of so many, it's also against the actual bottom line for so many businesses. And as a businessman, he should understand that.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Assemblyman, thank you very much. We appreciate your time.
Obviously, right now, center of discussion in the Democratic Party.
And tomorrow on CNN, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will be on "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper. That will be at 5:00.
And next, we take you to Venice, where capitalism rules with Jeff Bezos' $50 million wedding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:06]
BURNETT: Tonight, a $50 million wedding kicking off. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, his fiancee, welcoming the world's biggest celebrities to Venice in Italy.
And our Melissa Bell is there OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Italy's floating city of love, flooded with A-list celebrities, from Ivanka Trump to Oprah Winfrey and Kim Kardashian, they're all descending on a sweltering Venice for the multi-million-dollar wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former news anchor Lauren Sanchez. Other big names include Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom and Mick Jagger.
Details of the nuptials are shrouded in secrecy, but we believe that 30 of the city's elite water taxis have been booked for the occasion, which is unfolding from Friday through Saturday, as well as every yacht port. Several accommodation venues have also been reserved for the 200 or so guests, including five Venetian luxury hotels and the Madonna dell'Orto church, where "Reuters" reports the first night's open air festivities are taking place on Thursday.
Bezos's $500 million superyacht Koru was expected to be one of the main wedding locations, but it's just too big to be allowed anywhere near the city's most scenic waterways and will be anchored in the Venice lagoon instead.
That didn't stop paparazzi, though, from getting photos of Lauren Sanchez having a foam party with friends on board. Some local officials in Venice are taking it all in stride.
LUIGI BRUGNARO, MAYOR OF VENICE: We're used to having weddings and celebrations. We had the G7 last year. The Holy Father came.
This is a city that was born to do diplomacy and trade. This is the history of Venice, the meeting of people and cultures.
BELL: But not everyone is celebrating. Activists from Greenpeace rolled out a massive banner in San Marcos Square on Monday, criticizing the lavish extravaganza.
Tommaso Cacciari leads the "No space for Bezos" protest group.
TOMMASO CACCIARI, "NO SPACE FOR BEZOS" ORGANIZER: The message of this wedding party is that "I am superrich, and I can buy all Venice".
BELL: Altogether, the festivities are expected to cost somewhere between $46 million and $55 million. That's according to the president of Venice's local government.
In the last few days, the couple have reportedly donated to several charitable foundations here in Venice devoted to architectural and cultural preservation. And according to a portion of the wedding invitation that was broadcast by ABC's "Good Morning America," they've suggested that guests not bring gifts, saying rather that donations will be made to these causes on their behalf.
For now, all eyes are on the tech billionaire and his bride, and whether or not they'll be able to tie the knot in relative peace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (on camera): Erin, one things for sure is the couple will be celebrating their wedding in the scorching heat nearly 90 degrees here in Venice today, and that's set to continue over the next couple of days.
We expect to see a lot more in the way of celebrations, a lot more of comings and goings from celebrity guests, but also a lot more in the way of a lot more of comings and goings from celebrity guests, but also a lot more in the way of protests. The big one is now planned for Saturday, Erin.
BURNETT: Well, the heat may be out of the foam parties all about.
All right. Melissa Bell, thank you so much for joining us.
And thanks so much to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
