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Erin Burnett Outfront
Deputy FBI Chief Considering Resigning Amid Clash Over Epstein; Camp Mystic Survivors Speak; Putin's Drone Attack. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 11, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:29]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news on this Friday: the FBI's deputy director tonight considering turning in his resignation. Dan Bongino did not show up for work today after a clash over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Plus, Camp Mystic survivors breaking their silence. OUTFRONT has obtained also tonight, more dispatch audio where you'll hear the first responders desperately trying to save as many lives as they could that night.
And the breaking news this hour, Russia unleashing a new major drone attack right now on Kyiv. Officials are warning residents to take shelter right now.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, the deputy director of the FBI tonight threatening to resign. Dan Bongino did not show up to work today. And this is according to multiple sources. He's told people that he's considering stepping down amid what is now a major clash between the FBI and the Justice Department.
What is it about? It is about Jeffrey Epstein. And sources are telling CNN that Bongino had a heated confrontation with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, about her handling of the case.
And you may remember, I mean, this has been an insane week with this story. It started on Monday when the agency denied that the government was keeping files about Epstein's so-called client list secret. The DOJ also claiming that there was no evidence that Epstein was murdered while behind bars, so no evidence of anything bad on that front. And no client list.
Well, those are two conspiracy theories that much of Trump's base has been obsessed over, and that Bongino himself has pushed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BONGINO, FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: The questions surrounding this alleged suicide are numerous and are worth entertaining and worth getting to the bottom of quickly.
What the hell are they hiding with Jeffrey Epstein?
Why do they want to make this Jeffrey Epstein story go away so bad?
I'm not ever going to let this story go because of what I heard from a source about Bill Clinton on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not letting it go, ever, ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, maybe those final words say it all. I mean, Bongino's boss, the FBI Director Kash Patel, has also accused the DOJ of concealing crucial details about the Epstein case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are. We have an election coming up, and we need to adjudicate this matter at the polls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And adding to the suspicion, the DOJ released surveillance video from outside Epstein's jail cell on the day that he died. All right? So, they released this video. But here's what you see on it -- at one point, the video jumps forward and cuts out 60 seconds. So, the release, the video and then 60 seconds are missing. Well, 60 seconds is a chasm when it comes to knowing what happened, right?
And Bondi blames that on an outdated recording system, but that explanation, as well as the Justice Department claiming that there's nothing else to release when it comes to a so-called client list, is angering many in the MAGA world who do not accept this. Here are just two of the biggest names.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CLARKSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Like they're not fooling anybody. So, I feel like we're at a dangerous point now.
LAURA LOOMER, FAR-RIGHT ACTIVIST: I mean, look, at the end of the day, we were promised one thing, and we have not received that promise. So, I hope that President Trump will fix this by firing Pam Bondi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And when you see Laura Loomer there, look, she has a direct line to Trump. She's had a lot of influence when it comes to national security matters. So, what she says might matter a lot. And she's not letting up on her call for Bondi to be fired, tweeting this afternoon, President Trump, please listen to your base. We love you. And we're respectfully asking you to fire Pam Bondi. That's what she refers to her as.
The knives clearly out for Bondi, who back in February suggested that this alleged list, the client list of Epstein's powerful friends that had ties to his sordid activities, including those with underage girls, was on her desk and would be released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS HOST: The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients? Will that really happen?
PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, she has since backtracked and said not releasing it. No list. And that is what is not going over well with Trump's top friends and top leadership at the FBI, who before Trump was even president, of course, had accused the Biden administration of a cover up on Epstein.
Evan Perez begins the coverage OUTFRONT live in Washington.
Evan, you are the one who broke the news about Bongino considering a resignation. He didn't go to work today. What more are you learning at this hour?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Erin, at this point, the Justice Department, top officials at the Justice Department are hoping that Dan Bongino spends the weekend perhaps cooling off and comes back to work next week, because, as you can see, there's a -- there was a tweet today or a post on X from Todd Blanche, who is the deputy attorney general who is pushing back on Loomer.
And Loomer was reporting that there was a lot of -- a lot of dissension between the FBI and the Justice Department over the memo that you referenced on Monday, the one where they said that they were not releasing any more information and then really knows nothing more to see here. And what Blanche was saying in this is that, you know, he said that the Justice Department and Patel and Bongino all worked together on -- on that memo on Monday. And if you notice there, he says, the idea that this suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo, is patently false.
And that was more not only a warning or a pushback on Loomer, but a warning to Dan Bongino that if this continues, the Justice Department has information and they certainly have the receipts, as they say, that indicates that he was on board with that statement that went out on Monday. They all signed off on it. They it was unsigned publicly, but they all agreed that it should go out.
Now, that doesn't really cover up the fact that there has been behind the scenes a lot of anger at the FBI because they believe that Bondi screwed this entire thing up and they're having to own something that she messed up. If you look back to February, all of this begins in February when she does that event at the White House where she brings in these social media influencers from MAGA world and gives them that those binders, which were supposed to have documents, new documents. It turned out most of those documents had been out publicly for years,
and it was an embarrassment that really has spiraled over the last few months. So, I'll say this. One last thing I will say is that Bongino and Patel are both trying to figure out how to extricate themselves from this mess that is really tied to Bondi in their view.
BURNETT: All right, Evan, thank you very much.
I want to go straight to former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb.
So, Ty, I guess just to take a step back when we're in a moment here where you are seeing a deputy director of the FBI not show up to work, possibly considering resigning director of the FBI, obviously with a very clear record on the Epstein files as well, and against the DOJ and the attorney general.
Are you surprised that it's this issue that the Epstein files are what is causing this schism?
TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I think it's very odd that it's the Epstein files, because I just don't think in -- so I certainly don't believe the president ever thought the Epstein files would be this problematic for him. Not because, you know, he's not implicated.
There are seven trips that he took on the Lolita Express. The records are out on that. There are many pictures of him surrounded by 13-year- old girls on the plane. And all weekend, all week long. Weve seen him and Epstein, you know, in pictures together and talking and recordings of, you know, their affection for each other.
But I think the theory that this would be what the circular firing squad would form on, I don't -- I don't think anybody saw that coming.
Now, the one person, though, who clearly figured out that this is this is a place where she might have leverage is Laura Loomer. And if you take a step back, go to 30,000 feet. You know, the way the day started was her leaking the fact that, you know, Bongino was mad and not at work, and her later call on Patel to also join Bongino in calling for Bondi's firing.
Clearly, she has an agenda. I think Patel clearly has gotten the message because he's sort of silently sat on the sidelines and rallied behind the team concept that the White House and the Justice Department are trying to sell. And I think what you'll see is that Bongino either has to I think Evan's right. Bongino either has to come back from the weekend, you know, and say, you know, geez, sorry I had a bad day. And, you know, looks forward to working with, you know, his esteemed colleagues and moving forward or he's gone because Bondi is not going and --
BURNETT: So, Bondi versus Bongino to Trump. You have no question that Trump would choose Bondi.
COBB: That -- that's true. And for a specific reason, which is Bondi like Hegseth is very senior to the, you know, other people in their departments who are screwing up.
[19:10:08]
And while they've both been a huge embarrassment and done some just astonishing things, and for the history of the country, if he terminates, one of them, he picked him and he put him in those senior positions, and it'll be a huge embarrassment to him. So, the further down the pecking order you go, if you're Trump and his thinking if somebody leaves, that's, you know, further down. If it's not the top dog, it's not as big a reflection on him.
BURNETT: So, you know, you talk about obviously Trump and Epstein knew each other. They were certainly friendly. Many pictures together, trips together. All of that exists. We know that.
And -- but yet Trump himself stoked some of the conspiracy theories about Epstein's death, right? Whether he committed suicide or whether he was murdered, as some believe. Here's an interview that he did with Tucker Carlson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Do you think it's possible that Epstein was killed?
TRUMP: Oh, sure. It's possible. I mean, I don't really believe -- I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with, you know, beautiful homes and beautiful everything. And he -- all of a sudden, he's incarcerated and not doing very well.
I would say that he did. But there are those people. There are many people. I think you're one of them. Right. But a lot of people think that he -- he was killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, so, you know, I mean, I sort of classic Trump style there, Ty, saying I don't really believe it, but there are a lot of people who do. You're one of them, you know, that sort of, you know, allowing the air in the room, although it didn't seem like he believed it himself.
This week when it came up, though, in his cabinet meeting he was mad, you know, he said to reporters, you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein, the creep, when he was asked about this whole brouhaha earlier this week. Do you think that Trump ever thought that any of this would ever see the light of the day, whether there is any information on clients, client list, whatever you want to call it?
COBB: I think that's an excellent question and I -- and I wish I knew the answer. I -- I could -- I could believe either way that he was oblivious to it. The possibility or that, you know, or that he or that he was concerned and I think that's the real $64,000 question here, is why?
Why did all the impetus, you know, the Bongino statements, the Bondi statements, the Trump statements about, you know, releasing and being transparent? Why did they go south? Why was Bondi put in a position by the bureau where the documents they gave her to release initially were already public documents humiliating for her?
She got angry. She sent a demanding message back to the bureau saying, I want all those records from the New York field office, and I want them tomorrow. And then she got them, and she said they were on her desk and now she's saying, what desk? It's baffling. It's embarrassing. It certainly doesn't suggest that there is an effective law enforcement operation in the country or that anything is going smoothly at the FBI or the -- or the justice department.
BURNETT: Ty, thank you very much. Ty Cobb, as I said, former White House attorney.
COBB: My pleasure, Erin.
BURNETT: And I want to go to Andrew McCabe now because he is former deputy director of the FBI.
So, from where you sit, Andy, you know, so Dan Bongino, you know, he didn't go to work today. He's got to decide whether he wants to go to work in the job that that you used to have, whether he's going to show up on Monday.
What does all this -- impact does all of this have -- this heated confrontation that Evan is reporting that actually happened -- threats of resignation, not showing up to work, schism between leadership at the FBI and the DOJ? What does it all mean?
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: It's some form of Shakespearean absurdist tragedy. If you're a -- if you're an agent in the FBI right now, or a leader in the FBI or anyone in the FBI, you're watching this. This circus take place at the absolute highest levels of the organization, and you're asking yourself, like, these are our leaders, like we are supposed to protect America and uphold the Constitution. And the deputy director himself might resign over some manufactured conflict about people who are angry about a conspiracy theory that didn't work out the way they liked.
I mean, this thing is, it's absurd. I can tell you that Dan Bongino is going to have even if he comes back, this is going to very negatively impact his credibility with the workforce, which was already under threat, right? He comes in as someone who is an outsider, very clearly not one of us, and into a role that has always been filled by a senior FBI agent.
And, you know, he's been pretty public about his comments, about how hard the job is and how he doesn't really like it. And it's been hard on his family and all those sorts of things. So, on top of all that, now he disappears one day and is, you know, allegedly considering resigning.
[19:15:04]
I think he's going to have a hard time proving to the men and women of the FBI that he's willing to work as hard as he needs to make them work.
BURNETT: So, can I just ask you about the whole situation to begin with? I mean, obviously, the Jeffrey Epstein case is deeply disturbing, right? And it involves serial, you know, predatory abuse of underage women and possibly a whole bunch of other people, some of whom might be very high profile, who may have known about it or been involved in it, right? I mean, that's the core of it. Disturbing to anybody.
But at our reporting at CNN, you know, Bongino's frustration comes down to that surveillance video. It's 10 hours, 60 seconds of it are missing. Bondi now says, oh, that was a glitch in the system. She had said, there's a client list on her desk, which again, I just referenced to the possibility of who could be in that.
And now, suddenly, oh, guess what? Theres no such thing. I mean, I guess just to take a step back here, will the Epstein issue ever be put to bed? Is there the possibility that there really was a cover up to protect some of the most rich and powerful in this country?
MCCABE: I think that possibility is maybe non-zero, but infinitesimally small. But the problem here is the answer to your other question is no. It's never going to be put to bed. The conspiracy theorists out there are going to keep this fire burning no matter what DOJ or Dan Bongino or Kash Patel says next.
And the people that that really bear the blame for that are Kash Patel and Dan Bongino and everybody else who's been feeding this fire, they lit this bonfire of conspiracy theories of baseless allegations against people, and now it's about to consume their house. They have only themselves to blame.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, the reason that it even exists as a discussion point, obviously, is because in no small part because of those two individuals specifically. Well, Deputy Director McCabe, I appreciate your time and thank you so much for coming on a Friday.
MCCABE: Thanks.
BURNETT: And next, first OUTFRONT, we have a dramatic first-hand account from girls who were at camp mystic when it started to flood. They survived. They witnessed this and they are going to tell their story.
Plus, the White House standing by one of Trump's top picks for a top job. Even after KFILE has uncovered a history of controversial comments and posts, the administrations defense of it all, though, doesn't add up. And KFILE is here tonight.
And tonight, we also remember a dear friend known to all of you, David Gergen. David Gergen has passed away at the age of 83.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:46] BURNETT: Breaking news, Texas right now, facing the threat of more flash floods on this Friday. Forecasters right now are saying that there's a storm system that could dump a significant amount of rain in a short period of time. The conditions ripe for flash flooding, which is, of course, what happened a week ago today, the night of the terrible tragedy.
A summers worth of rain one week ago tonight fell in a few hours. More than 120 people are known to be killed. And that number is going to go higher. It could more than double because 160 people are still missing. No one has been found alive since last Friday.
President Trump on the ground saying the catastrophic damage firsthand today, when asked about why residents were not warned earlier about the flooding. Here was his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Only a bad person would ask a question like that. To be honest with you, I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, it's important to get the answers to that so that something like this wouldn't happen again.
I want to go straight to Shimon Prokupecz, who is on the ground in Kerrville, Texas.
And, Shimon, what is happening where you are as there are so many people who are rightly pushing for answers so that such a horrific loss of life doesn't happen again.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and, you know, I think sometimes people think it's just reporters that are pushing for these answers. And while we're not getting an opportunity to speak to many of the family members here, I can tell you I've -- today, I've been talking to community members who have those questions and who believe that there were failures and who believe that there were warning signs that should have been given much sooner.
They're not bad people. They're not evil. They are taking this seriously, and they want answers to that because they have lost everything and they have lost friends and they have lost family.
So those questions for them, they expect to be answered. And in the coming weeks, they're going to be investigations by the state legislators and other committees that are going to be set up. But as for now, here today where I am in Kerrville, there was a search. They came back to this RV park here where I'm standing, a team from Mexico that has been here since almost the beginning, was back in the water here looking because this RV park lost some family members. Some children were lost here and other. And so, the Mexican authorities were here. They were in the water
behind me. They just left. They were here for hours. We didn't see them remove anything.
But this just tells you that many of the search teams, Erin, are going back to scenes that they may have already checked, and they keep going back, and they're going to keep going until they can hopefully find some of these bodies.
BURNETT: Just to give the -- the relief to the families to know, to know where their loved ones are, which sadly seems to be the case at this point.
Shimon, thank you very much on the ground in Kerrville, as we also have breaking news tonight, on that night dispatch audio that we have just obtained here at OUTFRONT. This is audio that we've obtained as a show, of first responders. And they are talking as the flooding started to get out of control on July 4th.
The audio was recorded by John David Trolinger. He's the former IT director of Kerr County. You heard him on the show last night.
[19:25:01]
And he has provided so much important audio of that night for the first time here.
And Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: There's no way we can get them. The water's over the river, and we are all stuck.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the early morning hours of July 4th. It was already painfully clear to first responders they were facing an uphill battle.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: Just advising, we received a call from Camp La Junta, 1661 highway 39, advising they did have a building collapse, cabin 14. Unknown if kids are out of the building, they believe so. They're trying to get a head count.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: Scott Fineske from Camp La Junta just called in and said they have 36 children that are also in jeopardy of water, under water.
CARROLL: Emergency dispatch audio obtained by OUTFRONT showed with each passing minute that morning, more calls came in about people. Many of them children, desperately needing rescue as the Guadalupe River flooded campgrounds and RV parks in Kerr County, Texas.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: We do have audible screams from what sounds like a possible female child and an adult male.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: We're getting multiple reports. People are being swept away. We're trying to get a team down to see if we can catch some people.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: Had a female pass us. She was still above water, hanging on a driftwood, waving her arms around, screaming for help.
CARROLL: Just after 6:00 a.m., emergency crews braving a deadly wall of water in an effort to save anyone they could.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: I got multiple people in backyards hanging onto trees yelling at us, but we can't see them.
CARROLL: 6:31 a.m., a Kerrville fire tactical call about Julian Ryan, a father of two who punched through a window to save his family trapped in their trailer home. His arm injured so severely he did not survive.
KERR FIRE DISPATCH: Be advised. We're getting reports of a confirmed deceased patient, 27 year old male, cut off his arm.
CARROLL: Questions now about whether more people could have been saved, had more known. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning alert for parts of Kerr County at 1:14 a.m. July 4th.
During a Tuesday briefing, Kerr County sheriff says he was made aware of flooding when the emergency call started coming in hours after the National Weather Service had issued its alert.
LARRY LEITHA, KERR COUNTY SHERIFF: It was between 4:00 and 5:00 when I got notified. Okay. But prior to that, in that 3:00 to 4:00 area, my understanding is and were in the process of trying to put a timeline, you know, that's going to take a little bit of time, as I've told you several times, that is not my priority at this time.
CARROLL: When pressed about the county's emergency alerting timeline, the sheriff's department says their focus continues to be on the victims.
A former associate administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency says it's crucial for the public to receive National Weather Service alerts as soon as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to second guess, but I mean, when those emergency notifications. So, when you get information from the Weather Service and they are saying there's a warning, that needs to be taken seriously 24/7.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (on camera): And, Erin, in addition to questions about early warnings that happened or did not happen, county officials have also not been able to confirm with CNN who, if any, was in charge of the emergency management that night of the flood.
So, as you can imagine, still a lot of unanswered questions out there.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right. Jason, thank you very much. And as Jason was talking here, we were just getting new numbers. I'm
sad to tell you that the death toll in the Texas flooding has now increased. The known death toll has gone up to 128. When we came to air here, it was 121. So they have confirmed that seven additional people are known to have died. Obviously, the missing is well over 100 still. We just are waiting to see when they will find people.
It comes as three campers from Camp Mystic who survived break their silence to our pamela brown. A dramatic firsthand account of what happened that night with these young girls. The race against time, the race and fear to escape from inside their cabins.
And Pam is OUTFRONT now.
And, Pam, you've done such incredible work on the ground in such a story that I know is so personal, because, you know, that camp you went there and now you've had a chance to speak with some of the survivors. What are they telling you?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Erin, I spoke to three brave little girls today. A 12-year-old and two nine- year-old siblings, and they described the heroism displayed in those overnight hours at Camp Mystic as the water was rushing in.
And one of the cabins, called Bug, and it's the closest one to the water, the 12-year-old told me that she was in there, but she was awake from the storm. It was just so loud with all the thunder, and she noticed water was coming in on the ground. Her counselor noticed it, too, and then left the cabin to get help and to alert the office.
After that, a camp staffer came, told the girls, hey, stay put, that water should go back down soon.
[19:30:00]
But a few minutes later, Erin, I'm told by that 12-year-old camper that the staffer came back in and another one they urgently told the girls to evacuate. They had the trucks ready to go outside and they drove them to rec hall. As the water swiftly rose.
So, things escalated really quickly I was told. The campers waited there, watching the water rise close to the second floor. They overheard their counselors whispering that they might need to swim, but at that point, I'm told there was no indication among the campers and rec hall in those early hours, anyone was missing until a little bit later when they did roll call.
Now, the nine-year-old I spoke with told me that the water was quickly rising in their cabins, and one of the little girls started collecting her friends' lovies and stuffed animals from her top bunk to keep them safe. While her friends were taking shelter on top of their trunks, telling me the water started getting in our cabins and everyone was screaming and crying. That's when someone said, maybe we should climb out of the window to go to the mountains, because the mountains were like right behind our cabin. So, we climbed out of the window. The water was really high, and we
went over to the mountain part. It wasn't dry, and so we went to the mountain part and we climbed up -- Erin.
BURNETT: I mean, Pam, just to think about that and to think about that, they didn't realize anyone was missing until roll call. And this -- what was happening in those moments to those children who didn't make it.
You know, you talked a little bit about the counselors there and how some of the girls were hearing them whispering. And you can only imagine counselors are young themselves, right? And I'm sure they were so scared.
And they displayed such heroism trying to save these young girls. I mean, what did they tell you? And did they -- did they feel that help was going to be coming?
BROWN: Yes, I'm told they did. And you're right, Erin, these counselors were teenagers, right? But no question, the quick-thinking counselors helped save many lives at that camp.
The nine-year-old little campers told me, quote, that they thought Dick was coming. Dick Eastland was the owner to rescue them in his car, and then they saw his car coming up. And they say it like it was like floating away. And so that's when they say, like panic. They panicked and they started screaming for help and breaking the window. That's when the counselors carried them out of the window one by one, with the rising water, placing them safely at an elevated area called Sky High.
And I want to show this video that I obtained. You can see in the video the rough terrain that they escaped to through those back windows. Remember, Erin, it was pitch black. It was raining cold. The girls told me about their counselors, quote, whenever they were cold, they kept giving us hugs. And when we were crying, they would always comfort us. They brought waters for everybody.
Those little girls told me that even though it was all so scary that they loved Camp Mystic so much that they would go back and they said that they hope it reopens, but that it might feel a little scary if it rains. Understandably, we did reach out to Camp Mystic for comment -- Erin.
BURNETT: Just hard to hear, but incredible to hear too. And the heroism of those counselors, those young girls, too. Pam, thank you so much, and for your incredible reporting this week.
BROWN: No problem. Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, the breaking news, a massive Russian drone attack taking place across Ukraine right now, at this moment, officials are ordering people to take shelter as those drones are coming in, they have sent obviously air defense have picked that up.
Plus, the Trump administration defending a top Trump nominee that, according to our KFILE, shared a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Their defense is flimsy at best. You'll see the full story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:37:46]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Russian drones right now are attacking multiple locations across Ukraine. This is according to the air force in Ukraine.
On this Friday night, officials are ordering people to stay in shelters. They are saying that these drones are moving chaotically. That's how they describe it. And again, multiple locations.
It comes as President Trump is promising, quote, you'll be seeing things happening. An ominous threat, his response to a Russian military strike on a Ukrainian maternity ward. It has been a week of unrelenting strikes from Moscow against Ukraine. A series of unprecedented attacks launched at Ukraine all week, coming as the Russian foreign minister arrived in North Korea today.
A top Ukrainian official telling "Bloomberg" that North Korea is now supplying at least 40 percent of Russia's ammunition for the war.
Fareed Zakaria is OUTFRONT now, host, of course, of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS".
And, Fareed, the quote from President Trump, you'll be seeing things happening. What do you think this means?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Well, it's so far, he's frankly been bluffing. And Putin has called his bluff. Putin has gambled, guessed that Trump talks tough but doesn't do anything. And so far, Putin has been right.
Trump has not provided Ukraine with much in the way of military assistance. He's not asked Congress for more aid. If anything, he's paused aid and paused intelligence. And Putin thinks he's on a roll.
And I think the story is, as you began. Russia is beginning to win because, you know, American support for Ukraine has flagged under Trump.
BURNETT: Russia moving forward, of course, the front, the front line there pushing the Ukrainians back. What do you think about this top Ukrainian official telling Bloomberg, North Korea is now supplying at least 40 percent of the ammo. We know that they've sent up to 35,000 soldiers to help Putin.
But 40 percent of the ammo coming from North Korea to Putin?
ZAKARIA: It tells you two things. One, the Russians are in trouble, that as long as if we were to actually help Ukraine properly the way were not, they would be more pressed. And the second thing it tells you is, what do you think the Ukrainians are getting? What do you think the North Koreans are getting in return? What they're getting from the Russians is the one thing Russia can give North Korea, which is more advanced nuclear technology, know-how and support.
So, it's a -- it's an unholy alliance. It means that North Korea becomes an even more dangerous nuclear power.
BURNETT: Fareed, I also want to ask you about a really consequential interview that you just did with Jensen Huang. And he may not be a name that everyone knows, but he might run the most important company on the planet, that is Nvidia, which is the leading provider of the chips that are powering A.I. first public company on the planet with a market value of $4 trillion. I mean, it is absolutely stunning.
So, you had a conversation with him where you asked him about a crucial question whether what's happening in A.I. is going to eliminate a lot of jobs, specifically white collar jobs. And here's what he told you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENSEN HUANG, CEO OF NVIDIA: I would say if the world runs out of ideas, then productivity gains translates to job loss. But over the course of the last 300 years, 100 years, 60 years, even in the era of computers, not only do productivity go up, employment also went up.
Now, the reason for that is because if we're -- if we have an abundance of ideas, ways that we could build a better future, if we were more productive, we could realize that better. Now, of course, in a world of zero-sum games, if you have no more ideas and all you want to do is this, then productivity drives down, drives, you know, it results in job loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You know, he's optimistic about it. He's right in what he talks about in the past, of course, Fareed. But, you know, we're also in a world where the people who are leading A.I. say that, you know, anything A.I. is going to be smarter than any human being. And that's going to happen really soon. So, is this an overly optimistic view of the world?
ZAKARIA: Look, he's a brilliant guy and he really I have a lot of respect for him because he's run this company for 30-plus years. This is his moment. He made crucial bets 10, 15 years ago that are playing out.
His point is, look, you are creating the thing we have never been able to create before, which is human intelligence. And we're going to create superhuman intelligence. Imagine what that can do in terms of curing diseases, finding new industries, dealing with climate change.
So that's the optimistic case. There are the doubters, but he comes with pretty good pedigree. And you know I found the interview one of the most fascinating I've done for the reason you said. He's a remarkable man.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Yeah. A fascinating interview. As I said, such a consequential interview. But I think the context you said they're so crucial. He's been doing this for 30 years. Right. And now the moment where it is the most valuable company on the planet, I mean, it's truly incredible. So, Fareed, thank you very much. I hope everyone will watch Fareed's full interview with the CEO of Nvidia. It is on GPS, which is Sunday at 10 a.m.
And next, the White House now claiming some Jewish groups back a controversial Trump nominee, someone who does have ties to a holocaust denier. But as archive file has uncovered, some of those Jewish groups do not even know who the guy is.
And we remember a dear friend who our audience, all of you watching, know well, David Gergen. David Gergen has passed away. He was 83.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:46]
BURNETT: Tonight, a KFILE exclusive. The Trump administration standing by its controversial nominee to lead the office of special counsel, Paul Ingrassia, even after KFILE reported on OUTFRONT last week about Ingrassia's history of racist social media posts and ties to a prominent white nationalist.
A senior administration official is now telling CNN that Ingrassia has the backing of, quote, many Jewish groups. So, CNN contacted those groups. Two said they don't support his nomination. Some say they haven't heard of him at all. Two initially said they opposed Ingrassia, but then later backtracked.
So, at the center of all of this is a 30-year-old attorney with less than a year of government experience now in line to lead one of the federal governments top watchdog agencies.
KFILE first reported that Ingrassia once claimed that straight white men are the most intelligent demographic. He also attacked Trump's rivals on social media, including calling Nikki Haley a quote, insufferable bitch, and referring to Ron DeSantis, who is not gay, as DeHomo.
Well, KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski joins me now with his latest reporting.
Andrew, all of that, of course, disturbing to sit here for me to actually read those posts that somebody actually put out there.
What is the administration saying in response to your reporting in defense of Ingrassia?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, Erin, the administration has defended Ingrassia by saying that he had the support of, quote, many Jewish groups. I want people to look at the statement that a senior administration official gave CNN last week. It says, quote, he has the support of many Jewish groups and has been a steadfast advocate for Jewish causes and personnel during his time working for the Trump administration.
So naturally, we asked the administration for the names of these groups. And ahead of the story, they gave us the name of two groups that they said were supporting Ingrassia. One was the Holocaust Memorial Council. That's the board that oversees the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. but that group is a nonpolitical, nonpartisan body. It is a 501c3 nonprofit, and its chairman told CNN this, quote, "The museum and the council do not take positions on nominees. We're a nonpolitical and nonpartisan organization."
The administration also pointed towards the Zionist Organization of America and its leader, Mort Klein.
[19:50:02]
Now, when CNN first reached out to a spokesperson for Klein, they told us not once but twice, that Klein had never heard of Ingrassia, that he had not endorsed him. Then, after publication of our story, we got a new statement from Klein clarifying that after speaking with Ingrassia, he was now supporting his nomination.
The administration subsequently, after our story, then gave us the name of two more groups that they said or supposedly said were supporting Ingrassia. One was an organization called the Israeli defense and security forum, that is, an Israeli based advocacy group, and their CEO and international relations director told us two things.
One, that they had never heard of Ingrassia, and two, that they only focus on Israeli security issues. Telling us we wish that we could be more helpful. But as you probably know, IDSF is an Israeli NGO that focuses on Israel, Israeli national security. We're really not a relevant organization to be addressing the viability of a candidate for the Office of Special Counsel. None of us in the IDSF staff had even heard about him, Paul Ingrassia, before you mentioned him.
And then lastly, Erin, this last group was the Israel Heritage Foundation. I spoke to their executive director last week on Thursday. He said he didn't even know who Ingrassia was. They weren't supporting him. Then a few days later, the group's president called us and reversed course, and said that the group was actually supporting him.
BURNETT: All right. So all of these calls in this information coming, of course, because of your reporting, Andrew, and you reported on the show last week about Paul Ingrassia's history of racist rhetoric and extremist views. I mentioned some of that in the introduction. But tell me more.
KACZYNSKI: Well, as you mentioned, he's just 30. He just passed the bar last year and has only government experience, is a little bit over six months as a political appointee in this Trump administration. And then he had done an internship during Trump's first term.
Now he is being nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel. That is an agency that is really meant to be independent from politics and protect federal whistleblowers. And what we found that while his resume is pretty thin, his online footprint really is not. We found a pattern of very long pattern of racist, sexist and conspiratorial rhetoric.
I want people to look at a little bit of it that included defending conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, sharing 9/11 truther content, tweets from a podcast that he had hosted that was calling for martial law after the 2020 election.
And, Erin, this is really what triggered the administrations pushback to our story. We reported Ingrassia's ties to Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist and Holocaust denier that included video of him at a Fuentes rally, which Ingrassia said he just stumbled on, post defending Fuentes after he was banned from Twitter, and then anti- Israel rhetoric from Ingrassia's podcast in 2020 that was attacking the GOP for giving money to Israel, saying the GOP needed to, quote, stop shilling for Israel and that money for Israel added, quote, salt to the wound.
We did reach out to the administration. We asked about all this yesterday. We asked in the comment. They didn't comment on the record.
Ingrassia, after our story, did an interview with Fox News where he called our article a, quote, hit piece and said that he was not an antisemite. But as it goes with some of these things, he did not dispute any of the facts in the article.
BURNETT: All right, Andrew, thank you. And of course, as you said, you know, he referred to Ron DeSantis as DeHomo from your reporting and had claimed straight white men are the most intelligent demographic. So all of that, amidst the other reporting that you just shared today.
Thank you, Andrew.
And next, the sad news tonight, a very well-known face to all of us. David Gergen has died. His legacy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:26]
BURNETT: And on this Friday, we end the show on a sad and personal note. David Gergen, of course, a beloved member of the CNN family for so many decades and a dear friend of this show from the very beginning, so loyal and true, has passed away at the age of 83.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT with more on David Gergen's truly incredible life and legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Listen, I can assure you that there are lots and lots of people out there who are better equipped to do it than I was.
ROBERT COSTA, JOURNALIST : But there aren't a lot of people going between R and D.
GERGEN: There are not a lot of people. And if you want to see the results, I can show you the scars on my back.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the explosive world of Washington politics, David Gergen was an island of calm, for decades, respected by Republicans and Democrats alike even as the chasm between them grew.
GERGEN: And this started long before Trump and our -- it's curious to me about what held us together before and why we're not holding together now.
FOREMAN: Born in North Carolina, deeply educated at Harvard, Yale and beyond, Gergen began his national political life as a speechwriter for Richard Nixon. Long after the scandal that took Nixon down, he admitted regrets in his political career.
But --
GERGEN: I didn't feel that so much about Watergate. I really felt most of us did not understand until pretty close to the end. And once we understood, it was over.
FOREMAN: With Gerald Ford, Gergen found a fresh start.
GERGEN: Ford was honest, and he felt that transparency and trust were the glue that held the system together. And he tried to practice that.
FOREMAN: And when Ronald Reagan was trying to unseat Jimmy Carter, Gergen crafted one of the most immortal lines in modern campaigning.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
FOREMAN: He went on to serve Bill Clinton and Gergen advised so many others, posing in photo after photo as a trusted ally on both sides of the aisle.
GERGEN: So the only thing was that I -- it looks like I've been wearing the same tie for 20 years.
FOREMAN: Gergen laughed easily, and as he shifted more to media, writing books and teaching, he spoke fearlessly.
GERGEN: I don't think anybody comes out of this looking good. I -- frankly, it's a national embarrassment.
FOREMAN: Whether talking about federal budgets or presidential behavior, he said what he believed.
GERGEN: I think in the end of the day, the president is going to have to answer questions under oath. How they get there. I do not know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (on camera): And for all of us here at CNN, David was part of the family. He will be missed deeply -- Erin. BURNETT: I'll always remember David's incredible kindness, how
personally welcoming he was to me when I came here to CNN. His loss of a wonderful man, a truly wonderful man.
Thanks so much to all of you for being with us on this Friday.
"AC360" starts now.
