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Erin Burnett Outfront
Jeffries: Trump Team Lied Or Engaged In Cover-Up Over Epstein; Coach: ICE Questioned Kids; Trump To Putin: Make A Ukraine Deal In 50 Days Or Face 100 Percent Tariffs. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 14, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:17]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Where are the Epstein files? That's what the top House Democrat is now demanding an answer to, suggesting a possible cover up, sounding a lot like some MAGA supporters tonight.
Plus, a face off. A youth baseball coach says he confronted armed ICE agents after they came to practice to question middle and high school baseball players, all of whom he says are American born. So, what happened next? He's our guest.
Also breaking tonight, new video of a Ukrainian hospital after a devastating Russian strike, as Trump gives Putin another ultimatum. Will he actually follow through this time?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, release the Epstein files. That is the demand coming from the top House Democrat tonight. Hakeem Jeffries joining MAGA voices saying that the American public deserves to know the truth. And Jeffries offered up two explanations as to why he believes the administration may be involved in some sort of a cover up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Option one, they lied for years. Option two, they're engaging in a cover up. At this point, it seems reasonable that can only be one of the two things. And so, its congress's responsibility in a bipartisan way to ask the questions and try to get answers on behalf of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Again, that is the top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is obviously an incredibly rare thing. This might be, in fact, the only time that he's been on the same page as some of the biggest names in the MAGA universe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALEX JONES, RADIO HOST: Coming out and saying there is no Epstein list. And so, forget about it. After promising to release all the information, it's just flip-flopping in 180.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The unholy alliance. Hakeem Jeffries and Alex Jones, that's Alex Jones today, who then posted that quote, evil forces are afoot.
And then there's Laura Loomer, who is telling "Politico" that she is now calling for a special counsel. The quote is so that people can feel like this issue is being investigated, and perhaps take it out of Bondi sands, because I don't think she's done. She has been transparent or done a good job handling the issue.
Well, look, the war over Epstein is one of the biggest rifts between Trump and his most loyal and powerful reporters that we've seen. And Trump right now has taken a clear side, which is not releasing information.
This image says it all. Trump invited the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to the FIFA World Cup finale over the weekend. As you can see, he appears to be giving a thumbs up to her. He brought her there. That's really what the picture says a thousand words.
Bondi, of course, is the same person who said that Epstein client list was on her desk nearly five months ago, and now says there was actually no list and there's nothing to see.
Meantime, Trump's deputy FBI director has taken a stand over the handling of the files. Trump acknowledging the civil war that's erupted inside his inner MAGA base but making it clear that base, making it clear that that base, while at the same time he's trying to keep the pressure off of his attorney general, he posted, "What's going on with my boys and in some cases, gals, they're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a fantastic job."
But of course, when it comes to Trump's boys and gals who are on the opposite side of Bondi on this, they say they want to know the truth when it comes to Epstein to just release any information. And after all, it all comes down to this just to remind everybody, Jeffrey Epstein , who you see on the screen, was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking minors. Let's just say it the other way, underage girls.
That same year, officials say he died by suicide in his solitary confinement prison cell while awaiting trial. And since then, more and more details of Epstein s alleged activities have come out. And they are disturbing, including allegedly luring underage girls to his homes where he sexually abused them.
Now, while he died before he went to trial, his partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently serving a 20 year sentence after being found guilty of sex trafficking, and Epstein had hundreds of millions of dollars of money he was ostensibly managing for really rich and powerful people. There's a lot we do not know about him. We do know, though, that he was friends with a lot of rich and famous people, including President Trump and former President Clinton, and a whole bunch of other billionaires.
Now, none of them have been accused of wrongdoing. But given that Epstein was able to carry out these alleged crimes for so many years, Trump should be the one pounding the table. Put out the information, make sure something like this never happens again in the United States. But right now, he's not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:05:00]
BURNETT: Well, Trump says he wants to move on now to end the war that's dividing his base. And now getting Democrats on board, too. But there are still many with very serious and important questions.
And Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live at the White House to begin our coverage.
And, Kristen, you've got some new reporting tonight on what Trump is doing. I mean, there's a split between the Department of Justice, his attorney general and his deputy FBI director. I mean, this is meaningful even in the Trump inner circle.
What are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And just to be clear here, you know, we talked a lot about the deputy FBI director, Dan Bongino, but it's also been a rift between the FBI Director Kash Patel and Pam Bondi as well, both of them, Patel and Bongino have been unhappy, complaining privately about the way that Bondi handled the Epstein files. The Epstein case in general, and particularly the rollout.
That was something we heard across the board. Even some of Donald Trump's closest advisers were upset with Bondi. But when you talk to the president himself, sources say that he is supporting Bondi 100 percent. And part of the issue here, though, is this idea that President Trump doesn't want it to look as though his administration is falling apart over this issue. And that's why you saw over the weekend, Vice President J.D. Vance spending an enormous amount of time talking to Dan Bongino, to Kash Patel, to Pam Bondi, to playing -- playing some kind of role as peacemaker, to try and defuse the situation.
And we heard that Dan Bongino, who did not go to work on Friday because he was really protesting Bondi's handling of this. They had a blowup on Wednesday in the White House that he did show up for work on Monday. Now, his future is uncertain. There is a general belief that he is not long for this world, amid the administration. He himself has said that he doesn't actually like this job.
But President Trump wants it to be on different terms, not him leaving because he's angry about the Bondi rollout and this. Now we see what the next steps are, is the administration going to respond to any of this calling from the MAGA base to release more information. Right now, it seems unlikely.
BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much, at the White House tonight.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
Congressman, I appreciate your time.
I know that you have been clear where you stand on this. You have said Trump should release all of the Epstein files and put an end to this, to use your words exactly. Then the DOJ comes out with this memo saying there is no client list. Epstein wasn't murdered. We're all good here. Let's move along.
Why don't you believe them?
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, for one thing, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said that the client list was on her desk. Then you had Donald Trump in a tweet or in a truth social missive saying that all of these files were actually created by the Democrats, thereby decisively implying that the files actually exist.
And of course, Trump and Bondi and J.D. Vance and the FBI director, Kash Patel, all of them were demanding that the government release everything that they had on it. And suddenly the president performs a complete about face on the matter and says that there's nothing to see here, and let's move on and wants to sweep it under the rug.
And so, you know, look, I have no idea what's in those files. I do know that this case has been mishandled from the very beginning. Donald Trump's former labor secretary, Mr. Acosta, was the assistant U.S. attorney when they gave Mr. Epstein a very sweetheart deal, where he pled guilty to one charge of solicitation when they had all of these underage female witnesses testifying about his basically trafficking in girls.
So, you know, it's been very weird from the beginning, but I don't know what's in their files. So, either we're going to confirm everything that Donald Trump and his team have been saying all along, which is that there is this extensive child sex trafficking ring among power elites, or it will explode the whole thing as a conspiracy theory and mere propaganda.
But at this point, the president owes it to the country to put it to rest one way or the other.
BURNETT: Well, of course, you know, as you pointed out, not just what Epstein had been convicted for, but what he was on trial for. I mean, Ghislaine Maxwell is serving 20 years just for aiding and abetting. One part of that, the crimes here are horrific. And if anyone else was aware or involved, the American public should know.
In fact, the MAGA faithful, as you point out, have been pounding the table on this, calling for it repeatedly. Here are a few of the biggest names.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: How is it that my father could be convicted of 34 crimes, but no one on Epstein's list has even been brought to light?
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.
DAN BONGINO, DEPUTY FBI DIRECTOR: What the hell are they hiding with Jeffrey Epstein?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:10:03]
BURNETT: I mean, it's the president's son. It's the head of the FBI. It's the deputy head of the FBI now. I mean, those are the three people making those statements.
I mean, I guess I'm trying to understand it would make sense, wouldn't it, that Trump would want to release this, if not just to assuage his base? I mean, why not put something out there if it exists?
RASKIN: Well, he was with them in demanding that these materials be released to the public. And now all of the questions that his son was asking and that Kash Patel was asking Dan Bongino asking are now directed at Donald Trump himself and at attorney general Bondi. They want to know why now that you have the reins of the government, you're not just going public with it.
And so, look, at this point, I think the president has helped to spin large parts of the country into an absolute paranoid tizzy about all of this. Again, we don't know what's there and what's not there, but we need to resolve it. It's kind of getting to be an ungovernable situation.
And the president should go ahead and release whatever they do know about whether there are outstanding sex abusers out there who have not been picked up for the crime.
BURNETT: Yes. And now there are some Republicans, you know, Hakeem Jeffries joined you today, now saying, "put it out there". He wants it out there.
But there are some Republicans. Your fellow congressman, Tim Burchett, among them, who is saying this about the Epstein files.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I think the files existed at one time. I think they were destroyed in the previous administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I don't know what the implication is. They're destroyed by the Biden administration to cover up prominent Democrat billionaires on the list. I'm not sure what the backup to that is, but what's your reaction to the allegation?
RASKIN: Well, perhaps another conspiracy theory. I don't know if my friend Mr. Burkett has some basis for saying that. It's certainly at odds with what Donald Trump said in his social media posting the other day, where he said, you know, he's seen all of this stuff, but he thinks it comes from the Biden administration and Hillary Clinton and so on.
And look, at a certain point, you can't run a democratic government based on conspiracy theories and falsehoods. We need facts. And that's what the justice system is all about. The justice system should deal in facts and not in falsehood and superstition and propaganda.
And, you know, I'm just very afraid of a situation where Attorney General Bondi is firing prosecutors just because they worked on the January 6th investigation. She promised to come clean with this information. And she's not coming clean with it.
And it seems like all of it is completely political, and they have no respect for what the actual facts are or what the rule of law is.
BURNETT: Congressman Raskin, I appreciate your time and thank you so much tonight.
RASKIN: You bet all right.
BURNETT: All right. Van Jones, Shermichael Singleton are with me.
Shermichael, so -- I mean, the problem is, when you are the cheerleader and the pounding the table for there's a conspiracy at best here. And so, release it all, and then you're in control of the releasing, and suddenly there's nothing there to see. That sounds really strange.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, that's why I think Dan Bongino and Kash Patel, specifically Dan was probably fuming, was pretty angry and upset. The president did run last year on transparency as it pertained to this. Pam Bondi in the Fox News interview said the documents were on her desk, and the expectation was that there would be a level of transparency.
And I don't really see this, Erin, through a partisan lens, even though I'm a conservative. I think every American would be highly concerned about the fact that you had this guy, Jeffrey Epstein, who accumulated a significant amount of wealth. He didn't have any peculiar insight or skills on investment that would -- that would lead one to believe some of the wealthiest individuals, who I presume are pretty intelligent, pretty clever people to amass billions or hundreds of millions would go to Epstein versus someone at a BlackRock or some other talented investor in this city to say, hey, manage a portion of my portfolio. They went to that guy.
And it just seems odd and strange to me. And so, a lot of Republicans who are saying, no, we want transparency here, I think are 100 percent correct. Who are the individuals that were partaking in harming young women who are now survivors? And many of the young women have stated that there are other men out there. Why aren't we looking into this?
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, MAGA had been took, had, bamboozled, I don't know, like you. Look, you have everything you just said. Every Republican was saying. And now, nothing to see here.
So Hakeem Jeffries is 100 percent correct. Either, they were lying the whole time saying they had all the goods and all these rich people, or they're lying now and covering it up.
[19:15:02]
Either way, if I were in MAGA, I might think to myself, what else are they being dishonest about? Somebody tricking somebody? Are they being dishonest when they say that there are tens of millions of violent immigrants, and therefore we should have people snatched off the streets? What else should you start asking questions about? Because obviously the people in charge of the Republican Party and the people in the White House are not being honest with you about this.
SINGLETON: That's a little a little conjecture.
JONES: I don't know.
BURNETT: I'm not saying --
(CROSSTALK)
SINGLETON: I will say, Erin, I mean, the previous administration --
JONES: Oh, here we go.
SINGLETON: No, I am going to say this, for years, and I was -- I was an opposition researcher. If I were a Democrat and there was something within this list of files that could implicate a Republican, I absolutely would have advised my Democratic counterparts at the time to say, let's release all of them, because this is going to obviously harm Republicans.
They didn't do so probably for a reason, because there's probably a lot of Democrats.
BURNETT: Well, that's my point. Is the reason that it's mutually assured destruction?
JONES: Look, I have no idea. All I know is this, Pam Bondi said to the whole world, there is a list. It is on my desk. I'm reviewing it.
BURNETT: Epstein list on her desk.
JONES: I mean, and now they're going back and saying, no, no, she was talking about all the files. She was talking about all the files.
No, look at what she said. So, she was either lying then or she's lying now. And that should be. And by the way, when you have Laura Loomer and Hakeem Jeffries on the same side, somebody doing something.
BURNETT: Shermichael, here's what I don't understand. What -- do they -- they just think they can -- they can blast through this. I mean, let me just play what Lara Trump said today. Okay? So, this is the president's daughter in law talking about this issue.
And she actually seems like she's for releasing them. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: There needs to be more transparency on this, and I think that that will happen. I mean, look, I don't know what truly exists there, but I know that this is something that's important to the president as well. He's going to want to set things right as well.
So, I believe that there will probably be more coming on this. And I believe anything that they are able to release that doesn't, you know, damage any witnesses or anyone underage or anything like that. I believe they'll probably try to get out sooner rather than later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SINGLETON: She's right.
JONES: She's wrong. She should go tell that to Bondi, because that --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: But then they could have just put it out. I mean, I know Shermichael's not defending their decision, but I mean, they had a decision.
SINGLETON: Of course not. I don't agree with this at all.
BURNETT: Of course. No, know, but I mean, if they're sitting on your desk and there's nothing interesting, have 'em.
SINGLETON: No, we need to know. And maybe this is complicated. I have no clue. But what I do know is, at a minimum, even if you're afraid of damaging unfairly individuals who may have taken a flight like some celebrities to go do some great work. I understand not wanting to cause unnecessary harm, but let's investigate.
BURNETT: I mean, we know President Trump and President Clinton, for everyone seeing those images together, they've been accused of no wrongdoing, right? And they -- and Trump is president, right. You couldn't damage --
SINGLETON: You could, but you could investigate --
JONES: But hold on a second. SINGLETON: -- and then file charges.
BURNETT: Yeah.
JONES: What you're saying is, is reasonable and it makes sense. And they could just say that. They could say, listen, we have the stuff. We're concerned about reputational damage and were going to be prudent. They're saying there's nothing here.
SINGLETON: Yeah. No one believes that. Nobody.
JONES: Hold on a second now.
BURNETT: There's something there.
JONES: You would have to be weapons grade stupid to believe that there's nothing here. But that's what they're saying.
So, again, MAGA, you've been took. You've been hoodwinked. You've been had. And you're welcome to come over here, where at least we honor and acknowledge we make mistakes.
SINGLETON: I don't know about that, but I think there are good people like Loomer and Bannon and others who are not going to leave this alone. They're going to keep putting pressure on Pam Bondi.
The American people need to know the survivors of this. They need to have justice.
BURNETT: Yes.
SINGLETON: They need to.
BURNETT: Well, I mean --
JONES: We all agree, except for the attorney general.
BURNETT: Right, and you're talking about underage girls, these people whose lives have been damaged from this.
SINGLETON: Absolutely. What kind of society doesn't protect innocent women. These are children.
JONES: I believe your attorney general disagrees with you, sir.
SINGLETON: Well --
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much, Van. Thank you for the term weapons grade stupid. A new --
SINGLETON: That's a new one, right?
BURNETT: A new term for the English lexicon.
And OUTFRONT next, a youth baseball coach coming face to face with ICE agents after they start questioning some of his young players when they're going to practice on the field. Wait until you hear what happened next. The coach is with me after this.
And the DOD paying Elon Musk big time. What's up? I guess they were going to pull all the contracts. Nope. There is a new one, a new $200 million contract coming Elon Musk's way from the defense department for his A.I. model Grok. Wait until you hear about it.
Plus, war breaking out again between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell. Trump is threatening to revoke O'Donnell's U.S. citizenship in a feud that stretches back for decades.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, COMEDIAN: It was like Mount Vesuvius erupting. He's like the ever ready, comb over bunny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:58]
BURNETT: Breaking news the Trump administration asking a federal appeals court to pause a judge's order that forced it to stop making immigration arrests without probable cause. And this comes after a series of dramatic raids in southern California at legal marijuana farms, where DHS says immigration agents made more than 300 arrests. Those raids that led to standoffs between protesters and those agents.
But it's not just in California, where the stepped up immigration raids and arrests are causing widespread fear. In New York, a youth baseball coach saying he was forced to step in. He saw ICE agents approaching and starting to question kids that were on the field practicing baseball, all of whom, he says happened to be American born.
That coach Youman Wilder is now OUTFRONT. He is the founder of the Harlem Baseball Hitting academy.
Youman, where you are, this is about kids going through high school, kids getting into college who want to play baseball, and you're in the middle of practice with a new, new kids who are coming in just the other day and tell me what happened. You see armed ICE agents?
YOUMAN WILDER, HARLEM YOUTH BASEBALL COACH: Well, actually, at the end of practice and my kids, you know, the basketball court close.
[19:25:01]
So they're saying, hey, you can't -- you can't play basketball anymore. You're old. And I'm like, who taught Steph Curry had a how to, you know, shoot. It's me of course.
So I go over there and I just see the agents coming by and I'm not paying any attention to it because I've been up when I've seen them up in Washington Heights. And all of a sudden, I see them make a beeline to my kids. And I said, whoa. And I went over that way, that direction. And then I
just hear, what's your name? Where are you from? You know, are your parents from here? And I said, these are inappropriate questions, and I'm going to tell my kids to invoke their Fifth Amendment right, right now.
BURNETT: So, so they're armed. And they're with labeled uniforms.
WILDER: Yes.
BURNETT: How many of them? I can just imagine --
WILDER: Six.
BURNETT: Six of the agents --
WILDER: Six.
BURNETT: -- come over to these kids.
WILDER: Out of nowhere, it's like puff. They just came in and it just was like a whole tantrum of who are you? What are you doing here? And telling people, get back, you know, and yelling and --
BURNETT: Yelling.
WILDER: Yeah, it was -- it was -- it was -- it was a thing of I'm here and I'm in control. I'm in control of this.
BURNETT: So what was the reaction of your kids? I mean, did they I mean, obviously these are these are armed, armed law enforcement agents. On one hand, I mean, they got to be scared. They start answering the questions. I mean, what happens?
WILDER: I got some tough New York city kids. So for them to be scared is means somethings really happening. So I just told them there's one way into the batting cage and one way out. So I said, everybody get your stuff, get your gear, and go to the back of the batting cage. And I whispered to them, I said, listen, I'm not going to let them get through me.
I said, if you guys got to climb this fence and get out of here and you know, that's what I have to do. And I just said to myself, I'm willing to die to make sure that you get home.
BURNETT: So that they could get home to their parents.
WILDER: I'm willing to die today.
BURNETT: Now, you know, we called ICE to ask them about what happened here. Okay? They haven't responded to exactly what happened. They haven't responded. So, the best we could do was to try to understand what the borders are.
Tom Homan is thinking about what gives a cause to go into a baseball field and approach a bunch of kids playing baseball. So here's what he said recently about what reasons they need, what cause they need to go up to somebody. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol, they don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain and question them. They just need the totality of the circumstances, right? They just got through their observation. You know, get our typical articulable facts based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, six of them, you say, come out of nowhere to a baseball field in Harlem.
WILDER: Upper west side, 72nd Street.
BURNETT: Seventy-second -- it was on 72nd Street.
WILDER: Seventy-second Riverside Drive.
BURNETT: Seventy-second Riverside Drive.
WILDER: Right.
BURNETT: My kids played on that baseball field. I know exactly where it is.
Okay, so what about that location? These are kids. They're playing baseball. Their physical appearance. What was it?
WILDER: We have kids from Africa. We have kids from Central America, Mexico. We have, you know, kids from you know, from those places where I guess they're not really interested -- people are not interested of them being here anymore.
Did I feel that we were targeted? You know, we're on 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. You know, it's a beacon of liberal Upper West Side Manhattan. And I understand that. But I think it would have been if it wasn't me there, it would have been somebody else. Who was that?
BURNETT: But they were just waiting for someone to come up.
WILDER: I just thought there was a bunch of people who happen to be white people, and we happened to be Black people and Latino people, and they just came right to us, because I don't think anyone else was stopped or, you know, of.
BURNETT: Yeah.
WILDER: Anything.
BURNETT: And I -- and I -- and I almost -- I almost hesitate to ask because it kind of --
WILDER: Can I answer his question? BURNETT: Yeah. Yeah. Answer his question, yeah.
WILDER: You know, I'm very fortunate to have a law degree and for this man who is desire of the United States to bypass the Fourth Amendment and regulate it to nothing, it's insulting. You know, we still have rights and people still have rights in this country. And for that man who's deserving of this country, of immigration to bypass that and bypass the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment of the people that have to be safe and secure in their persons is ridiculous.
BURNETT: So how are those kids? And I guess just to state the obvious, I know I said it leading into the segment, but to remind everybody they all happen to be here legally, they are allowed to be here. They're all here legally.
WILDER: Harlem Hospital, Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.
BURNETT: Born here.
WILDER: Born and raised.
BURNETT: Born and raised here. How are they doing? I mean, what does something like this do to them and to their view of the world they're living in?
WILDER: Well, you know, we always had 15, 20 kids at practice.
[19:30:02]
I've had one kid in the last four days, we haven't -- we haven't had --
BURNETT: They're not showing up to practice.
WILDER: No.
BURNETT: Even though they are here legally, they're still scared of being taken into custody.
WILDER: Today, you know, the place that we are practice at?
BURNETT: Yes.
WILDER: There was absolutely no one there today. There was no one in the entire park.
BURNETT: Wow.
WILDER: And this is in the middle of 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. Knowing the park, when I left there this afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
BURNETT: Wow. Very sobering.
Youman, I appreciate your taking the time. I know it's been a long, long day and I know you're going with some of your kids on college tours tomorrow. WILDER: College tours tomorrow, and summer baseball. We hope to -- you
know, this is all very interesting to get it forward, to have people think about it. But it's really important to start these kids back on the journey of getting them on the track to be better human beings and better people and good jobs and good careers. That's what we're about.
BURNETT: All right. Youman, thank you very much. I'm grateful. Thank you for coming and taking the time.
WILDER: Thank you so very much.
BURNETT: And next 50 days, that's how long Trump says Putin has to end the war. So does Putin take Trump seriously? It's a real question. And I'll show you exactly why. We'll lay it out.
Plus, Elon Musk getting a huge contract with the Department of Defense. A new contract even after the implosion of his relationship with the president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:36]
BURNETT: Breaking news, new video just into OUTFRONT showing what's left of a Ukrainian hospital after a massive Russian strike. The video also showing Ukrainian firefighters trying to put out a fire at a residential building that went up in flames after another attack. And it all is in the context of President Trump telling Putin to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, or else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are very unhappy, I am, with Russia. We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs that are about 100 percent, you'd call them secondary tariffs. We want to see it end. And I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago. But it doesn't seem to get there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump also announcing that the U.S. will now sell key weapons to European nations, who will then in turn send them to Ukraine.
But will Trump actually follow through with his sanctions threat? It's a really fair question, right? This is not just a rhetorical question, because in January and March, so all the way back seven months ago, right. Trump twice threatened sanctions if there was no ceasefire, he wrote that he would, quote, have no other choice. So that was in January. Then again, in March. Didn't happen.
Then, April 27th happened. And Trump said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you trust President Putin? TRUMP: You know in about two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So that was two weeks. Of course, something happened after that time frame. A month later, Trump said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you still believe that Putin actually wants to end the war?
BURNETT: I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks. Within two weeks, we're going to find out very soon. We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not okay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That two weeks actually was six weeks ago. So when Trump says Putin has 50 days, it is a fair question to say, what does that actually mean? Is this time different?
Well, Matthew Chance is OUTFRONT in Moscow tonight.
And, Matthew, that leads to this question, which is, is Putin taking this new threat from Trump with this 50-day deadline seriously?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's -- it's -- look, I'm taking it seriously, probably. But I mean, is he going to do anything in terms of changing his policy or his strategy? I mean, unlikely. I mean, I think it's actually quite extraordinary that, you know, in, you know, a world where, you know, two weeks is considered a long time and so much can happen. President Trump has now given 50 days for Russia to get to the peace negotiating table and to end the war in Ukraine. Otherwise, there'll be -- there'll be sanctions.
And so, it's understandable if there are Kremlin insiders here. And by the way, they haven't commented on it formally yet.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHANCE: Who are a bit dismissive of that.
Certainly, Russian state television has said, look, this is just what President Biden tried to do, you know, sell weapons to Ukraine or give them to Ukraine to try and force Russia to the negotiating table. It failed for him. It will fail for you, too.
BURNETT: All right, Matthew Chance, thank you very much, live in Moscow tonight and I want to go now to Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of the top Putin critics and Russian opposition leaders who was freed from a brutal Russian penal colony after being arrested for condemning Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
So, Vladimir, look, Trump has threatened tariffs and sanctions. We know that all the way back to January. And that is why it is unclear now what this 50 days means. Now it's a time frame he hasn't given before, right? He said, I'll tell you in two weeks. I'll tell you in two weeks.
Fifty days is a specific number. Does Putin take this seriously?
VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, FREED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON AFTER CRITICIZING PUTIN: Well, first of all, thank you so much, Erin, for having me on your program. It's always a pleasure.
I don't understand what the 50-day figure comes from and frankly, why Mr. Trump needs another 50 days to see what Putin's intentions really are. I mean, he's had six months of his current administration to see it. We've all had almost three and a half years of the full-scale war of aggression that Putin's been leading against Ukraine, the largest military conflict on European soil since the Second World War.
And we've also had 25 years to see who Vladimir Putin is, to see him repressing and terrorizing his own citizens, our own people in Russia, to see him attacking and going to war against a peaceful neighboring countries.
[19:40:03]
It's, you know, there's no question. There's no mystery as to who Vladimir Putin was and what he's planning to do.
But I think today was remarkable in another sense, though, it was an important day because as far as Mr. Trump's character traits allow, for the first time, he admitted basically his mistake in perceiving Vladimir Putin. And in this way, he's sort of been following in the patterns we've seen with previous American presidents that were in the White House during Putin's rule.
I mean, you remember how George W. Bush began his presidency with looking into Putin's eyes and seeing his soul? You remember how Barack Obama began his presidency with pushing a reset button with Vladimir Putin and so on. And of course, they ended their presidencies on a very different note and admitted that essentially they got Putin wrong and that he was not somebody who he claimed to be.
You know, Putin is a former KGB officer, as we all know from his biography. His favorite job in the KGB, by his own admission, several years ago was recruiting. He was supposedly a good recruiter.
To be a good recruiter, you have to essentially be a good liar. You have to be able to charm your interlocutor and to make your interlocutor believe that what you're telling them is true, even if it has nothing to do with reality. But that tactic has limits, because, you know, there's only a certain time that can pass between these outright lies come into conflict with reality. And this is very clear, one of those cases.
You know, President Trump said today that he thought on four different occasions that he had to deal with Vladimir Putin to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. And yet here we are with, you know, according to official United Nations numbers, June of 2025, last month being the deadliest month on record in terms of Ukrainian civilians, civilians being killed or wounded as a result of attacks from the Russian army.
And, you know, this is not a question that is open to discussion or different opinions or interpretations. There either is a ceasefire or there isn't. Putin either stops killing Ukrainian civilians, killing Ukrainian children, bombing residential areas and hospitals, or he doesn't. And he very clearly doesn't.
So, this is one of those cases where actually Donald Trump's well- known personal ego begins to work against Vladimir Putin because nobody, nobody enjoys being lied to. And it looks like today, six months into his second term, Donald Trump finally realized that Vladimir Putin has been lying to him all this time.
BURNETT: Yeah, nobody -- nobody likes to be made to look a fool. You mentioned the deadliest month for civilians. And we have seen the escalation in this war with those strikes, drone and missile against Ukraine. And now Ukraine has just announced that it killed the Russian agents, the specific Russian agents that were behind.
I'm going to show it again, because many people watching the show may have seen us play this last week. This was a top Ukrainian intelligence officer. He's walking across the street in Kyiv and he is murdered. And he is murdered right there in broad daylight. And now by a shooter you can see approaching him on the left.
So, this happened just a few days ago. Now Ukraine says it's killed the Russian agents who killed their top intelligence officer. How much further do you think Putin will go in this regard? I mean, this is brazen. This is broad daylight in Ukraine.
KARA-MURZA: Well, Putin's tactic is very clearly terror in the most direct sense of this word. I mean, if you look at what he's been doing in this, in this war of aggression, overall, it's clear that, you know, he's not putting an emphasis so much on what's happening in the battlefield as he's trying to terrorize Ukraine into submission by bombing hospitals, by bombing residential areas, by killing families, by killing children.
I mean, this is somebody who is a war criminal, and that's not a figure of speech. As you know, he's been indicted as a war criminal by the international criminal court. But I think one of the most important issues here, one of the most important issues facing the democratic world, including the United States of America, is the issue of responsibility. Just a few weeks ago, 46 European countries, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, have established an international tribunal, a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Something modeled on the previous international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, for the genocide in Rwanda, and so on. And it is very important that the international community stands united behind the idea of justice and responsibility.
Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to get away with everything he's done these past three and a half years, these past 25 years. There must be justice and accountability. And we know from history that it is possible. You know, 30 years ago this month, there was a genocide in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war and both main instigators, Karadzic and Mladic, are now serving life sentences in The Hague.
I hope it's only a question of time before Vladimir Putin's joined them, and it is important that the international community stands together behind this effort.
BURNETT: Vladimir, thank you so much. I always appreciate talking to you and thank you.
And next, Elon Musk getting a new a new $200 million contract from the U.S. government, when you thought Trump was going to take the contracts away. But this is a big one.
[19:45:03]
And this time, it's for a totally new product. It's for Grok, Musk's A.I. controversial technology. And Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell. Trump now threatening to revoke O'Donnell's U.S. citizenship. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:27]
BURNETT: Tonight, Elon Musk getting a new big contract from team Trump. The Defense Department agreeing to use Grok, Elon Musk's controversial A.I. model paying up to $200 million for this, and the pentagon going in on Grok even though the chatbot has had some recent scandal, it was firing off at one point, antisemitic rants and invoking Hitler. Then Musk said, that was fixed. So here we are.
OUTFRONT now, longtime tech stocks analyst Dan Ives, who covers Tesla and Musk, and Peter Tuchman, one of the most recognizable traders on Wall Street.
So, a lot to talk about. Let's start with this deal, Dan.
Inner circle of Trump's administration has scorn for Musk, scorn. It's the one thing you are allowed to say in public, and no one will come after you. If you hit Elon Musk, that's all good.
So, there's been fear, rightly, that he's going to lose contracts in business, right. That's been the whole threat. So then, all of a sudden, whoa, you wake up, he gets $200 million from the DOD. I mean, will that stick?
DAN IVES, GLOBAL HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: Look, I think, you know, it speaks to some of the fears that, in terms of Trump going from BFF to essentially an enemy or frenemy, you know, that they were going to be on the outside looking in when it comes to contracts.
But when it comes to A.I., you need Musk. And it goes back to Trump needs Musk. Musk needs Trump. And I think this shows that they're not going to be iced out of deals.
And I think it was a bullish moment for broader xAI and where Musk is going. But obviously, you know, there's definitely going to be backlash in terms of what he's going through.
BURNETT: Yeah, I mean interesting. You know, when you look at Tesla, obviously an important harbinger. But for A.I. that Grok would get this. It obviously has had some controversial moments.
But what does that mean for the market for something that Musk, who's supposed to be under assault comes scores a victory like this?
[19:50:03]
PETER TUCHMAN, TRADER AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: Well, you know what, I think -- you know, I think we've seen a lot of maturity on Mr. Trump's part when and the and the trading community when it comes to all these -- these combative atmosphere there.
I mean, for some reason, you know, we've engaged -- we're so happy to be back here. We're obviously -- we're engaging tariffs once again.
BURNETT: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: And the market is not reacting to them the way they did back on February 19th when we were here to start. And so, I think, you know, the fact that they need each other, they're both realizing that, you know what, we're going to have our spats and we're going to have that. But at the end of the day, business is business. And this isn't personal.
BURNETT: I'll be curious how this one plays out. I mean, only because Grok has its own -- Grok has some peccadilloes, shall we say. There are other choices, but I don't know. Theres got to be a story behind the story.
IVES: So Grok (ph) is going to continue. It's not ending.
BURNETT: But you bring up the tariffs. Okay, Dan, let me ask you about these seven or eight in the past week, I sort of lost count because, you know, there's a bunch of, you know, it's this country. It's that country. It's 30 percent. It's 100 percent. It's all over the map as its been. And maybe that's why the markets just don't pay attention anymore. Right? On so-called liberation day, remember?
I mean, it was terrifying. It was one of those moments, like in the financial crisis when you were worried you couldn't get money out of the atm. People were justifiably, terribly frightened. Now it's like a liberation day every four days, and the market just ignores Trump and is like, let us know when there's something to know. I mean, they don't listen to him anymore.
IVES: Look, I think it's ignored, but essentially it's a game of chicken or it's a game of poker. And they're basically saying, I'll call your bluff, that these --
BURNETT: The TACO trade.
IVES: The TACO. Essentially saying that these tariffs where you've put in, it's chalk, its pencil, it's not real. Markets basically saying they're going to be a lot lower. You're going to kick the can down the road. And that's why the markets reacting the way it is because its a sort of game of poker going on between the market and Trump.
And ultimately, you know, the markets been right in terms of really gaming out the sort of system, despite the tough talk from the beltway.
TUCHMAN: You know what? I'm totally intrigued. The way the market is responding. Think about it. As of two or three days ago, before we engaged the tariffs again, we were once again trading at record highs across the board.
BURNETT: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: Since we three have been together, we watched the market go from February 19th down into that terrible hole that we talked about. We were here talking about it, was down 20-plus percent right on April 9th. And then the president said, time to buy the market again. Weve rallied back in almost half the time it took to sell off. Right?
BURNETT: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: And then the market -- so we talked about it. We're trying to analyze how could we -- it would be easier to sit here and try and analyze what's going on. If the market was down 1,000 than where it is, with all the uncertainty still happening, we believe and we've talked about it a bunch, is why is the market still trading at record highs with all this level of uncertainty?
We believe that a lot of the big players have are under invested in the market. A lot of the hedge funds and institutions are playing catch up. A lot of people are forward looking. They're realizing that while we were all focused on the wars going on around the world, that there was a lot of backdoor diplomacy going on and that these deals are done.
And worst case scenario, 15 percent, best case is ten. And that's kind of where it feels like it's going to lie. And that's what the markets are trading. Thats what the markets pricing in, as you would say.
BURNETT: A lot of sound and fury.
IVES: Look, I think --
BURNETT: It's signifying nothing.
IVES: Look, and I think the reality is that you're getting to a point markets are going to ultimately need to see what these deals look like, especially when it comes to China. India.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both.
IVES: Game of poker.
BURNETT: And next, the feud between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell boiling over tonight with a threat of citizenship -- citizenship revocation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:07]
BURNETT: Tonight, Donald Trump versus Rosie O'Donnell. An ugly feud that goes back decades. And now Trump is threatening to revoke O'Donnell's citizenship.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I don't know about Rosie. I watch Rosie, Rosie is a mess.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Donald Trump is lashing out against the comedian and actress, who has long been his nemesis, posting online, "Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interest of our great country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her citizenship."
And O'Donnell is hitting back, "The president of the USA has always hated the fact that I see him for who he is, a criminal con man, sexually abusing liar out to harm our nation, to serve himself."
The latest clash comes hard on the heels of a post online about the Texas floods, in which O'Donnell said Republican cutbacks cheered by Trump have damaged public safety systems, including weather forecasting.
ROSIE O'DONNELL, ACTRESS: People will die as a result and they've started already. Shame on him.
TRUMP: I mean, this woman is a disgrace.
FOREMAN: But their feud has been flaring for about two decades, spurred by sharp exchanges over Trump's Miss USA pageant, his company's bankruptcies, his failed marriages, criminal charges, convictions and more.
O'DONNELL: Donald, sit and spin, my friends.
TRUMP: Rosie is a very self-destructive person. Rosie is basically a loser.
O'DONNELL: It was like Mount Vesuvius erupting. He's like the ever ready, comb over bunny.
TRUMP: She's a mess. But she left our country, which is a good thing. Not a bad thing.
FOREMAN: That's true. Just before Trump was sworn into office, O'Donnell moved to Ireland, saying she did not want to stay and watch him pursue a far right agenda.
O'DONNELL: And it's as bad as they promised. And even a little bit worse. And it's been heartbreaking and personally, very, very sad to watch.
FOREMAN: While such talk clearly infuriates Trump, who is calling O'Donnell a threat to humanity, the Supreme Court said in 1967 the plan Trump is now proposing would be flatly unconstitutional in our country, the people are sovereign, just as Hugo Black wrote, and the government cannot sever its relationship to the people by taking away their citizenship.
Still, Trump's dislike of O'Donnell has been intense and unwavering, even in a presidential debate.
MEGYN KELLY, DEBATE MODERATOR: You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --
TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
FOREMAN: And O'Donnell has never stopped taunting him. Even now posting a photo of Trump with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein tagged. Hey Donald, you're rattled again?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: O'Donnell has applied for Irish citizenship, but that does not necessarily change her status here. Indeed, Erin, what she has said is, hey, I miss my home country. And maybe when Donald Trump is not the president anymore, I'll come back.
BURNETT: Tom Foreman, thank you very much.
And thanks to all of you.
Anderson starts now.