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Erin Burnett Outfront

Pritzker Blasts Trump's Plan To Deploy National Guard: "Do Not Come"; Abrego Garcia Back In ICE Custody, Facing Deportation To Uganda; Prosecutor Who Made Epstein Deal To Be Questioned By Congress; Trump Warns Of "Very Big Consequences" If Putin Does Not End War. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 25, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:30]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, a showdown over Trump's crime crackdown. One governor telling Trump to stay out even as Trump is expanding his powers.

Plus, denied. A judge blocking the Trump administration from deporting the Maryland father who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, at least for now. His attorney is OUTFRONT.

And the prosecutor who gave Jeffrey Epstein a wildly criticized plea deal is now set to be interviewed. So, what will he actually reveal?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, "Back off". That is the message to Donald Trump from the governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker. In a fiery speech, Pritzker slamming Trump's unprecedented crackdown on crime, as Trump calls it, and Trump's threats to send the National Guard to Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals. There is no emergency in Chicago that calls for armed military intervention. There is no insurrection. There is no insurrection. Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.

(APPLAUSE)

PRITZKER: You are neither wanted here nor needed here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, well, that's pretty loud and clear. Pritzker doesn't want the National Guard in Chicago. Well, that used to be enough to not get the National Guard sent to

your city. But not anymore. Trump has been giving himself more powers to expand his use of force across the country. And right now, he has set his sights on Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made the statement that next should be Chicago because, as you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now, and they don't acknowledge it. And they say we don't need them. Freedom, freedom.

I mean, I see Pritzker saying we don't want them. In the meantime, the city is being shot to hell. And they do that politically, and they probably do want it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Trump railing against the crime in Chicago. But just a quick basic fact check of the situation. Chicago is a city that has seen a substantial decline in the number of homicides, something that Pritzker and the mayor of Chicago have pointed out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRITZKER: Thirteen of the top 20 cities in homicide rate have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO, IL: Chicago is not in the top 25 of the most dangerous cities in the United States. And these facts -- these facts are indisputable and widely acknowledged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Another city seeing a decline in violent crime as of late is Baltimore. Yet Baltimore is also on Trump's radar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Baltimore is a horrible, horrible death bed. It's a death bed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He calls Baltimore a death bed. And yet, in the same breath, Trump then went on to tell a story about -- I mean, this is an incredible story because he says that he met the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, who, by the way, infamously grew up in Baltimore, now the governor of Maryland. So he meets Wes Moore at a football game, an Army-Navy game. And this is what Trump says happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He came over to me, he hugged me, shook my hand. You were there. He said, sir, you're the greatest president in my lifetime.

(END VIDEO CILP) BURNETT: Maybe if he'd gone a little shy of greatest, if he'd retold the story of, he said, you're doing a good job or something, that might be more believable. But here's the thing, that's kind of hard to swallow. And a short time ago, Governor Moore responded to Trump's claims.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GOV. WES MOORE (D), MARYLAND: I'm a person who takes my integrity very seriously, and I spent the past six months before that election campaigning as to why I did not think that he should be the next president of the United States. So when I say that that that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened -- I mean, that conversation never happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Moore. Pritzker, Gavin Newsom, governor of California, all saying no to Trump on using the military in American cities. But their words don't seem to matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: What is increasingly becoming self- evident to anyone with eyes wide open and any level of objectivity, a private army for Donald Trump, owing an oath only to him, not the Constitution of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:05:18]

BURNETT: So, Newsom says that. What's interesting is that is a claim that Trump does not seem to be shying away from at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm chief law enforcement officer, believe it or not. You know, I don't like to go around saying that, but I am. That's the position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Interesting thing to say, right? He's not talking about commander in chief, which isn't something one would usually just be out talking about as president anyway. But he's phrasing it, chief law enforcement officer.

Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT live outside the White House beginning our coverage this evening.

And, Jeff, there are signs today from Trump that he plans to take this law enforcement takeover, right, in certain -- in certain Democratic cities even further.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president signed a series of executive orders, Erin, and one of them was designed to do just that. He's instructing his defense secretary to create specialized units as he described them inside the National Guard for rapid nationwide deployment in areas that were law and order is needed.

Of course not. Many specifics on that. But look, the National Guard is used for emergencies and the question here is, is this an emergency?

But you would be mistaken if you thought that President Trump was concerned by any of this Democratic pushback. In fact, this is clearly one of the strategies at play here.

Here we are nearing the end of August, and President Trump has spent the lions share of this month at least talking about domestic matters, making the issue of law and order of crime and justice. And he has quite literally turned this into a new and nationwide issue.

Yes, crime existed before, but he is proudly wearing that hat as the law enforcement commander in chief. That is what he wants to be seen as wants to be known as. So, he was bragging and crowing about the -- what he says are changes in the Washington, D.C. crime statistics, ever since he federalized the police, he was giving homicide statistics from the oval office. It's something we've really not seen before at all.

But yes, he is going to at least think about discussing sending the National Guard to other cities. But there are limitations to what the National Guard can do in Baltimore. In Chicago, yes, they can protect a federal buildings. They can protect federal assets, but they cannot serve as law enforcement officers.

However, is this going to be a legal challenge? It certainly seemed that way from Governor Pritzker. But again, you'd be wrong if you think President Trump is bothered by any of the criticism -- Erin.

BURNETT: Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. And, of course, you start one place and you end in another. People don't push back.

Everyone is here with me now.

So, Lulu, you have obviously spent a lot of time in Washington, D.C. You were at Union Station today, National Guards there, right? So they're stationed.

And, you know, I mean, I remember seeing them in L.A. a lot of them are young guys. They're doing their jobs, right? It's not about individuals. This is about the fact that they're just there in large numbers now.

And you took some pictures that you have shared with us. So, these are Lulu's pictures from today. What -- so what was it like? What stood out to you there?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, it's strange right now in D.C., because it feels like a city that's being strangled. Right now, the District of Columbia, which is home to. Let me remind you, 700,000 people more than the population of two states, has the highest unemployment rate in the country because of what has happened with the federal workforce, restaurant reservations are down some 30 percent in some places. You can't get deliveries because so much of the enforcement has targeted delivery drivers that they are afraid to come out. The Latino community, the Latino community is afraid.

And every conversation I have with people in D.C., they all say that it feels like an occupation. This is not a city that is welcoming. What is happening. It is a city that is afraid of what is happening because it is very unusual in America to see armed military on the streets of an American city. And this isn't just any American city. This is the capital of this country.

And so, what does it say when you have federal forces on the streets of our capital city? You know, Democrats say it is a power grab. Donald Trump says it's about crime, but he wants to export it to other cities.

What I can tell you from living in D.C. is that this is a very, very uncomfortable. And people feel dangerous time.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, I mean, as you say, sometimes when you see a law enforcement everywhere and yet you don't feel safe that the -- the true awkwardness of that moment that, that you're talking about.

I mean, Governor, what's your reaction to what Lulu is saying?

[19:10:03]

TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Well, we should remember that Donald Trump campaigned on aggressively and boldly tackling the decay and danger that he saw in America's major cities. And so, this is a fulfillment of a campaign promise. I don't think he got into the details of exactly how he was going to do that. But directionally, that's what he said.

Number two, you know, how much of an emergency do you need after years and decades of high crime and danger in these cities without any real sustained period of turning it around? Yes, crime is down a little compared to a high base from a couple of years ago, but still in our major cities across this country, public safety and not backing law enforcement is a major concern.

And President Trump has boldly, maybe over the legal boundaries, we'll see, but boldly gone in to try a case study in D.C. and by the way, the early results for the first two weeks, per the D.C. police, it's working. There's a significant reduction in significant crime in D.C. since this started.

BURNETT: Well, I know, Lulu. They were saying there had been a stretch here of what was it, two weeks or something? There was a longer stretch back in March where there hadn't been a homicide.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, what you're hearing from the wards, where there is a lot of crime what you're hearing from those wards is that the criminals are staying home because they're not going to go out in the streets or. Sure. There's not going to be a murder right now because they know that there's military out on the streets.

But is this really a long-term solution to the crime problems in our cities? Is the federal government going to take over every city in America? And also, what does it mean when these people are beholden to this president? And he's only targeting blue cities?

I mean, as some of these Democratic governors have pointed out, a lot of the cities are in red states. Why aren't they being sent there?

BURNETT: Yeah. Paul?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. He didn't get elected to fight crime. Let's be honest. He got elected to lower the cost of living.

And hamburgers, $6.12 a pound. Highest in the history of hamburger.

Vegetables, but so maybe you become a vegetarian. Vegetables are up 40 percent. So I don't know what we're supposed to do. Eat dirt?

So Trump changes the subject. He doesn't want people to talk about his refusal to release the Epstein files. I don't know why, I think he ought to.

He doesn't want to talk about the fact that he's failing on cost of living. So here's the headline, convicted felon suddenly cares about crime.

I mean, if you want it -- there's a federal role in crime. I worked for President Clinton. We helped -- we led the largest drop in crime in American history. Not by sending the National Guard, who are great guys and gals, but they're trained for catastrophes, emergencies.

BURNETT: Yeah.

BEGALA: They're not law enforcement. They're not allowed to arrest.

So, here's what we need to do. The feds could do a lot here. They could help governors. They could help mayors. First off, 60 percent of all the guns used in crime in Chicago come from out of state. The state of Illinois can't stop that. But the federal government can. They could pass new, tougher gun laws and then enforce them.

Then they could help the cops. Do you know this big, beautiful bill Mr. Trump signed his budget. It cuts law enforcement assistance by $820 million. The program has been put in place by presidents of both parties in Congress, of both parties that have reduced the level of crime. That's why crime is down, because community policing, engaging with the community actually lowers crime. Not a bunch of really nice guardsmen from South Carolina.

You know, we need more cops and fewer guns. We do not need Mr. Trump and his private army of National Guardsmen.

BURNETT: So, Governor, to the -- to this point, why is if this is really about crime, right. If that was the core thing, why is Trump not going after. Well, I'm going to look at the cities with the highest crime rates and go after them, right?

I mean, you look at Chicago. Chicago is not in the top 25 most dangerous cities in the United States. 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rate of Republican governors. None of them are Chicago.

So, what about those -- other big cities in red states? Some of the cities are blue, right? But these are cities in red states. Memphis, Cleveland. Both of them have higher crime rates than Washington, D.C. Why wouldn't they be on the list ahead of Washington if this was about crime?

PAWLENTY: Well, if you were to stack rank areas where some intervention might be tried as a case study, Los Angeles and D.C. wouldn't be irrational choices.

But to your point, Erin, there's obviously a little politics that goes into the early selections here. If he does ten of these and all ten are in blue states and none of them are in red states, I think your point is well-taken, but we'll see as this unfolds further, both in the courts and more broadly.

To Paul's point, it is not fair to say President Trump didn't run on crime. He did. He had a whole slew of events around back the blue, be pro-police, pro law enforcement, pro public safety featuring illegal immigrants conducting violent acts. And so, I don't think that's accurate. And by the way, if this does work as a case study --

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: But then he released the animals who beat our D.C. cops. He released those animals who tased Michael until his heart stopped.

BURNETT: Let Governor Pawlenty finish.

BEGALA: You can't get away with that.

PAWLENTY: Yeah. If this works, Erin, if this works and there's a dramatic drop, you will not have in the future the militarization of American cities. But what you will have is a call to say, dramatic increases in police and law enforcement presence makes a big difference.

[19:15:01]

And to the party that was defund the police, catch and release soft on crime, out of control borders, they should hear that message.

BURNETT: Paul, go ahead.

BEGALA: Forgive me. Forgive me for interrupting, Governor. I shouldn't done that, and I apologize.

I mean that, but I'm passionate about this. I know Michael Fanone, I know Harry Dunn. These are hero cops. Harry Dunn on the on the Capitol Police Force. Michael Fanone, 20 years on, the D.C. Metro Police Force. By the way, Fanone -- Officer Fanone voted for Donald Trump, and these animals beat him and tased him until his heart stopped and Trump let them out of jail. Okay?

You cannot tell me or any thinking American, that Mr. Trump backs the blue. It's, in fact, Mr. Trump, who has defunded the police. As I noted, when you were governor, governor, I know in Minnesota crime went down. You didn't put the National Guard on the streets. You had community policing. You had cops engaged with the neighborhood.

So, we need more cops and fewer guns. And Mr. Trump, his pardoning of those terrorists who attacked cops should discredit him in the eyes of all of us who support law enforcement.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can I -- can I just say one final thought, which is, as we're sitting here tonight, yes. Perhaps Donald Trump will take away federal forces from American cities, but instead, what he's talking about is expanding that. And so that should worry everyone.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

And next, the Trump administration's efforts to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda. Why Uganda? But thwarted for now. So, what is next for the man who was already mistakenly sent to El Salvador? His attorney next, that story developing as we speak.

And a former top Florida prosecutor who happened to be Trump's former labor secretary, is about to sit down with lawmakers and tell all about the plea deal that he made with Jeffrey Epstein.

And then Trump with a new message for Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There might be very big consequences, because this is something that has to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Is it a case of crying wolf?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:24]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Kilmar Abrego Garcia must remain in the United States, at least for now. So, a federal judge just told the Trump administration that it cannot deport the Maryland man to Uganda or any other foreign country. But that's not where the sentence ends. The sentence has another clause until it is determined if his due process rights were violated. So there's an "until".

ICE taking Abrego Garcia into custody this morning, but not before he spoke at a rally and made this plea to supporters promise me this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA, MISTAKENLY SENT TO EL SALVADOR (through translator): Promise me this. Promise that you will continue to pray, continue to fight, resist and love not just for me, but for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Abrego Garcia was briefly reunited with his family three days ago after being released from a jail in Tennessee. That is where he was sent after being wrongly deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia is still facing charges in a federal human smuggling case.

And OUTFRONT now is Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, his attorney. One of Abrego Garcia attorneys who was with him today at the rally before he was taken into custody.

Simon, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to speak with you again. I mean, so you're now at a situation where you were with your client today? He's, you know, was looking at possibly being deported to Uganda, you know, within hours. Possibly. That's not the outcome, right? They're saying they cant send him to another country yet until the outcome of the case.

Would you describe that ruling, though, as a victory?

SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG, ATTORNEY FOR KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: It's certainly a partial victory. The government wanted to remove him from the country as early as Thursday. And they can't do that now.

The judge is going to come up with a schedule for a hearing. The hearing could be as soon as Friday, but it may be pushed into the following week. And she has required that he not be moved actually out of Virginia, where he's currently being detained until that hearing, right?

The fact that I have to file a lawsuit to, you know, make sure that someone isn't deported while they're waiting for a hearing on whether they can be deported is pretty crazy. But that's where we are these days.

BURNETT: And, I mean, I guess that's why this is a temporary pause, at least for now, right? I mean, it's temporary. I mean, so what is your next move, Simon?

SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: Well, when push comes to shove, our contention is that if they want to deport him to any country, they have to make sure that that country is not just going to be a brief way station, you know, practically a layover on the way right back to El Salvador, where he was tortured earlier this year in the infamous CECOT prison.

Whether that country is Uganda, whether that country's, you know, Spain, what have you, right, there is one country that has offered guarantees that they will give him refugee status, that they will allow him to remain at liberty, that they will not deport him, and that countries, Costa Rica, which was on the table as recently as last week. But now the government has decided that they want to send him to Uganda instead, which is clearly just punitive.

BURNETT: All right. So I guess that's the question I want to ask you. So do you think that this is now -- I mean, essentially personal, right. That somebody the government, you know, because he's a headline and he's a name, that they have it in for him.

SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: Well, it's been personal since day one to him, right? I mean, they're the ones who made a mistake and brought this upon him. He never asked for this. Right. This is not someone who was an activist.

This is someone who understood himself to have been completely out of the woods. You know, after he won his immigration case in 2019. And since day one, they've treated him with the full force of every branch of U.S. government, just bringing the hammer down as far as possible, hard as possible.

[19:25:03]

This is just yet more of the same, unfortunately.

BURNETT: So, Attorney General Pam Bondi talked about Abrego Garcia today. Here's what she said. Let me play it, Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: He will no longer terrorize our country. He's currently charged with human smuggling, including children. The guy needs to be in prison. He doesn't need to be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I want to give you a chance to respond to what she said.

SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: Yeah. I mean, this case has been before how many courts now? I've lost count, right? It's the immigration judge in 2019, the federal court in Maryland, the fourth circuit court of appeals in Richmond, the United States Supreme Court, two different judges in the middle district of Tennessee. Not one of them has agreed that the government has sufficient evidence of their allegations of, you know, gang membership and what have you.

BURNETT: Well, also, I mean, when I read their filings, right, they charged with things and then they included a lot of other things that they didn't have any or enough evidence for to charge pretty, pretty heinous crimes in the documents, but they didn't even attempt to charge them.

All right. Thank you very much, Simon. I appreciate your time.

SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG: Good to be back.

BURNETT: All right. And next, KFILE uncovering photos that have rarely been seen that shed new light on the Clintons' ties to Jeffrey Epsteins associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Plus, Trump with a new deadline for Putin to end the war in Ukraine. A deadline we've heard before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: So, we'll see what happens over the next week or two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:12]

BURNETT: Breaking news, a key figure in the Jeffrey Epstein case is set to be questioned by Congress. So, the House Oversight Committee has just announced late today that they will interview Alex Acosta. So you're looking at him there. He's an important person in all of this.

He's the former U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida, and he is the one who oversaw Jeffrey Epsteins plea deal in 2008. And that deal is crucial because it allowed Epstein to leave prison nearly every single day for 12 hours, do whatever he wanted to do, to only serve 13 months in prison. All he had to do was register as a sex offender of children, and the deal ended the investigation into a sex ring and broader pedophilia actions by Epstein.

Now, Acosta was Trump's secretary of labor in his first time. He was not included in the initial subpoenas that the GOP led committee sent out weeks ago. Oversight Chairman James Comer also announced today that he's subpoenaing the Epstein estate for a number of documents, including that so-called birth date book. You may remember that when "The Wall Street Journal" reported on it, a reported collection of letters that were given to Epstein on his 50th birthday, which included a note with Trump's name. Again, that was, according to "The Wall Street Journal".

OUTFRONT now, Arick Fudali, an attorney who's representing 11 Epstein accusers. I want to emphasize in the documents, we know there are at least a thousand then, many of them girls mentioned.

And Barry Levine, former editor of "The National Enquirer" and the author of "The Spider", about the Epstein investigation.

So, I appreciate both of you being with us tonight.

So, we're finding out here they want to hear from Acosta, Barry. Now, we know he's crucial. As I said, he did that deal. He actually resigned as labor secretary when he was under Trump over questions related to, that seemingly insane deal that he made with Epstein.

How important will it be to hear from him now that they've added him?

BARRY LEVINE, AUTHOR, "THE SPIDER": Well, Erin, I think it's, you know, I applaud Comer in the fact that they're bringing him forward. He is crucial to helping us understand this and that deal. Of course, was in violation of the -- of the Crime Victims Rights Act. It was found to be illegal. They didn't tell the victims that they were going ahead with that ridiculous slap on the wrist, non-prosecution agreement.

So they're bringing him forward. BURNETT: Where he could go out 12 hours a day and whatever sordid,

heinous crimes that he would have committed, he could continue to commit them.

LEVINE: Yes, Erin. And in fact, in my book, I reported that while he was out, on work release, he had an ankle bracelet. And in fact, he had sex with one of his victims while he was officially serving his time, which is absolutely disgusting. Okay, but with Acosta, we need to zero in on what he said about Jeffrey Epstein's ties to intelligence, what he meant by the fact that he was told that Epstein was a part of intelligence. How did that play into --

BURNETT: Foreign intelligence gathering?

LEVINE: Yes. Was he -- was he an asset? You know, an intelligence asset of some sort? Theres a lot of good questions for him.

And also, the interaction with his deputy, Ann Marie Villafana, who in fact wanted to, come up with 45 counts against Jeffrey Epstein. And, of course, that was nullified by Acosta. Acosta got that slap on the wrist. Instead of Epstein going to jail for many, many years, if he had been convicted of those 45 counts.

BURNETT: Right. And many -- and many girls, then assaulted, raped after that as a result of that.

So, Arick, I guess that's the question here. Can you trust what Acosta will say?

ARICK FUDALI, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING 11 EPSTEIN ACCUSERS: Not in my opinion, no.

And just to build on what you just stated, Alex Acosta as a law enforcement officer, as a state attorney or district attorney, had the opportunity to do what every law enforcement officer wishes they could do.

[19:35:04]

The career goal, stop a child predator in their tracks, prevent the abuse of so many countless more women and young girls. He had that opportunity and he failed. And not only did he fail, but he failed an extremely suspicious and shady circumstances. So no, I can't trust him because there is so much that must have gone into that deal that allowed Mr. Epstein to continue to abuse that I don't trust Alex Acosta, and I also not sure if I even trust the committee to really aggressively ask him the questions that need to be asked.

You know, we saw what happened with Ghislaine Maxwell that they just sort of gave her a platform. I'm a little concerned that's going to happen with Alex Acosta. Hopefully some of the questions will be a little more aggressive, though.

BURNETT: And that what we saw certainly in the interview with Maxwell.

So, Barry, you do think that the committee has others they should add to the list. That could be very important. The two co-executors of Epstein's estate are top of your list. How come?

LEVINE: Well, I mean, listen, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, who was his longtime accountant and lawyer, these are gentlemen that the attorney general in the Virgin Islands, Denise George, said were the indispensable, captains of his criminal enterprise. Okay, these gentlemen, the executors of his estate, were never specifically charged with any wrongdoing.

But she said that they were aware of the sex trafficking and, in fact, had built all these corporations, 158 different bank accounts to muddle the situation so Epstein could get away with doing what he did. I think it's extremely important that I know they're going after the estate documents, which is important to see, because, you know, we know for a fact that the estate found video and pictures of, of, pornography. Now, where did they find that material? How come that material wasn't in the hands of the FBI and the police? Why is he estate finding material? Theres so many questions for these guys.

BURNETT: And what are your clients saying, people who, women -- now women, then possibly girls who were assaulted, raped by Epstein. What are they telling you now?

FUDALI: You know, the same thing they've been telling me for a few years now is all they've wanted through all of this through decades is just closure. They've wanted accountability. They wanted exposure of those who have enabled, facilitated and perhaps even join Epstein in his abuse of young women.

But really, what they want, they want closure. They want to be able to turn on their TVs and stop having to see Jeffrey Epstein's face, turn on their phones and stop seeing his picture all over social media. They want closure. They want justice.

You know, the one person who actually had justice and accountability, Ghislaine Maxwell, is now getting special treatment from the White House and is in a, you know, a cushy resort prison. So, they want true justice, but they really just want closure so they can move on with their lives.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much. And I will say prison consultant who actually spent time in that prison, his clients have said that among the things she can do are yoga and Pilates classes at the -- at the current facility.

Gentlemen, thank you both very much. I appreciate you.

And also tonight, a CNN exclusive photos, video and documents show that Ghislaine Maxwell was an honored guest at a prestigious Clinton event in 2013, years after she first faced public allegations of sexual abuse through civil lawsuits and a media interview with one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I have all of you who we are honoring today? Please stand up so that you can be recognized. (APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, well, that was the year 2013 and that was at the Clinton Global Initiative. It was at their annual conference at the time, an incredibly prestigious thing to be there. And she was one of the handful of honorees who you can see standing up there. That's Ghislaine Maxwell.

You see her there in the far-left corner, recognized along with a small group of other so-called commitment to action leaders, again at the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative.

KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski joins us now.

And, Andrew, this is an interesting discovery that you've made, given what was already public about Maxwell at the time, right? So, we're talking about 2013. So, what more can you tell us?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. It really is, Erin, because by 2013, allegations that Maxwell had helped Epstein recruit, recruit and abuse underage girls had been reported in both U.S. and British press, though she did deny them at the time. Now, a source familiar with the inner workings of the Clinton Global Initiative told us that it was a rare, prestigious and an honor to be acknowledged. The way that maxwell was at that CGI annual meeting, which was actually a very big deal at the time, and documents that we reviewed, shows that Maxwell was granted complimentary access to that conference, access that a source told us would have been personally approved by either Bill or Hillary Clinton.

Now, that was disputed by a representative for the Clinton Foundation, who told us that there were more than 600 comp tickets that year and that decisions for that were made at the staff level, which did also include the office of former President Clinton, and that Maxwell was one of more than a dozen commitment to action honorees that year.

[19:40:13]

Now, Maxwell was there, representing the TerraMar Project. This was an ocean conservation nonprofit she had founded the year before. Her group was pledging to include oceans in the United Nations priorities and that nonprofit, it actually really didn't do much. It didn't give out any big charitable grants that we found in documents.

And critics really came to view this as sort of a rehabilitation project for maxwells image. It kept her visible on elite stages, something that that CGI recognition really helped her do. She also did a Ted talk, interviews with major outlets like National Geographic and CNN during this time. And at the time of that 2013 CGI conference, allegations that Maxwell -- against Maxwell had already really been publicized, he was, in fact served a subpoena for a victims lawsuit in 2009, and that, ironically, occurred at that years Clinton Global Initiative conference when she was leaving. This was covered in the New York post. And in 2011, a series of articles came out describing Maxwell's alleged role in Epstein's abuse.

One of the most high profile articles that year was an interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre in "The Daily Mail". She detailed allegations against Maxwell that she had recruited her as a teenager, and that she even had taken part in her abuse. Now, Maxwell denied those allegations. At the time, she even threatened legal action against some of the publications, which she never took.

But during that same year, we found a key member of Clinton's staff became aware of this. He sent an email that was meant to bar Maxwell from official Clinton events. According to information that we reviewed. That also was disputed by someone representing the Clinton Foundation. That said, if that had happened, then it wasn't communicated very widely.

BURNETT: I mean, it's really -- it's really stunning. And as you point out, important to emphasize that in these years, the CGI was such a central, you know, pinnacle of, you know, that whole September U.N. week and the international circles, the style set.

So, Andrew, this wasn't Maxwell's only connection to the Clintons, though, right?

KACZYNSKI: No, it wasn't. Maxwell had been in the Clintons' orbit for years in the 1990s. She was documented visiting the Clinton White House with Jeffrey Epstein during Bill Clinton's presidency. In 2002, Maxwell accompanied Bill Clinton and Epstein on an overseas trip that was tied to Clinton Foundation work. The following year, in 2003. You can see it right there, she was photographed with Clinton outside of Epstein's planes, and that is just one of the flights that Bill Clinton took.

As you can see from these flight logs that we reviewed, Clinton took a total of at least 16 flights on that plane in 2002 and 2003, though some of those were multiple legs of a long overseas trip. Also in 2003, Maxwell was listed as the host of a on a committee for a fundraiser for the Clinton presidential library that was just getting built at that time and reporting even noted that her, quote, likely date for that event was Jeffrey Epstein.

Let's fast forward to 2007. She was co-hosting a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and we actually reviewed a draft letter that was prepared for Bill Clinton to send to Maxwell, thanking her for helping organize that event, though its unclear if that was ultimately sent. She also donated that year the maximum amount to Hillary Clinton's campaign.

In 2009, Maxwell vacationed with Chelsea Clinton. In 2010, she attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding, something that a Clinton spokesperson told us was because Chelsea was actually friendly with Maxwell because of a mutual friend that they both had. They said it wasn't until 2015 that Chelsea became aware of the horrific allegations against Ghislaine Maxwell, and she hopes that all of the victims find justice.

BURNETT: So, Andrew, of course, Maxwell is in prison, although we know that after her interview with the deputy attorney general, she was moved to a different facility, extremely minimum security in a residential neighborhood. Things like Pilates during the day made available to inmates.

How does your new reporting fit into the wider scrutiny of her case right now?

KACZYNSKI: Well, that's right. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. She's now serving that 20-year prison sentence.

But these new details, her access to the Clintons, her publicly being recognized at CGI even after those allegations were widely known, show just how long she was able to remain a part of elite circles, even as questions swirled around her. It raises questions about Clinton's world decision to allow her into their orbit, even after staff had banned her two years earlier.

And this story really isn't over. The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed both Bill and Hillary Clinton as part of their ongoing investigation into Epstein's network, with depositions scheduled for October. Now, we reached out to the Clintons for comment.

[19:45:00]

And a spokesperson told us, quote, this is about someone working on ocean conservation, attending a charitable conference 12 years ago, along with thousands of other people, and nothing more. As we have consistently said, the Clintons know nothing about Jeffrey Epstein's terrible crimes.

BURNETT: All right. Andrew, thank you very much. Incredible reporting, all of that.

And of course, not least actually the fact that she's being honored after doing something that, as you point out, had not actually done anything, no money given out. No, no achievements for such an honor. Thank you so much.

And next, Trump claiming Putin's trip to Alaska proves that the Russian president wants peace. I mean, okay, let's see how Putin sees it.

Plus, U.S. warships on the move tonight as Venezuela's leader warns that they are now preparing for an invasion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump's new warning to Vladimir Putin if Putin doesn't end the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There might be very big consequences, because this is something that has to end.

So, we'll see what happens over the next week or two. And at that point, I'll step in very strongly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Two weeks. We've heard that threat before without any action.

And Trump's latest threat to Putin comes 12 days after he had promised, quote, very severe consequences if Putin didn't agree to end the war at the Alaska summit.

Of course, Putin didn't agree to end the war.

[19:50:01]

He hasn't done anything to end the war since that face-to-face meeting. And even on Russian state media, there's actually shock, shock that Trump is not being tough on Putin.

Russian media monitor Julia Davis pointed this out. Take a look at this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, for several weeks, we have been carrying out massive strikes against Zelenskyy's infrastructure. Meanwhile, there was not one critical word toward us from the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's amazing they're even commenting on that. OUTFRONT now is Andrei Soldatov, Russian investigative journalist, author of the new book "Our Dear Friends in Moscow".

So, Andre, Trump also praised Putin today for flying to Alaska, saying that it was, quote, not easy for Putin to do that. Right. I guess so many time zones, that complicated thing. And then Trump said that's a sign that Putin wants peace. Is that what it is?

ANDREI SOLDATOV, RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: No, it was not the way it was seen in the Kremlin and in Moscow, to be honest. It was seen as a proof that finally we see the end of Russia's isolation. And Putin was extremely pleased with his invitation. And that's how it was sold to the Russian public.

BURNETT: So certainly not as -- not as a sign of peace here.

So. Okay. Trump recently said, Andre, that Ukraine can't win the war if it couldn't, quote, play offense and attack Russia, right? So his words were, you know, gosh, they should be able to attack. They should be able to, be offensive strike in Russia. But even as Trump was saying that, Andre, according to the wall street journal, what he was doing was the exact opposite of what he was saying. "The Journal" is reporting that the Pentagon, in fact, was preventing Ukraine from using American made long range weapons against Russian targets, even as Trump was saying that they should be able to strike.

And you actually say, Andre, that those Ukrainian attacks that Trump is reportedly trying to stop actually were and were impacting Russian life.

SOLDATOV: Yes, exactly. We all see that the mood in Moscow, in not only in Moscow, but in many Russian towns, is quite gloomy because there was really high expectations that Trump could deliver some sort of peace. And that obviously is not going to work. That is very feasible and obvious for the Russian public. And at the same time, these drone attacks, they create a climate of fear and of constant disruption of daily lives of so many people, especially the most active part of the population, because you have airfields and airports under attack and transport systems.

So, it's not easy. So, if you add to that missiles attacks which could have happened, of course that would have a huge impact on the mood in Russia.

BURNETT: So, Andre, Trump is also, you know, expressing optimism, at least publicly, that Putin and Zelenskyy are going to meet this bilateral this whole thing is going to move forward. Will Putin never meet Zelenskyy one on one?

SOLDATOV: I don't think so. That is very important for the Kremlin because they want to have a say in the political future of the country, of Ukraine. And for that they need to insist on the presidential elections and basically to get rid of Zelenskyy. And if Putin in such a climate would agree to meet Zelenskyy, that in the eyes of the Kremlin would give him legitimacy, Putin would never agree to that.

BURNETT: Yeah. Wow. All right, Andre, thank you so much, I appreciate it. I know it's late in London, so thank you.

SOLDATOV: Thank you.

BURNETT: Next, U.S. warships making their way to Venezuela. An important story we're watching where maduro is now calling up -- ready for this? -- millions and millions of troops.

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[19:57:07]

BURNETT: Tonight, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro rallying nearly 5 million militiamen, 5 million,, as U.S. navy ships and military personnel are heading to the region.

Patrick Oppmann is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a small armada of U.S. Navy ships heads towards Venezuela, the most significant escalation of tensions between the two countries in years, embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro says he's preparing for an invasion.

Maduro is activating his national militia and imploring regular citizens to enlist to fight off a potential U.S. attack. And Maduro is not letting a crisis go to waste, whipping up support in a country exhausted by years of economic decline and political strife.

PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELA: I am enlisting because I love my homeland. Join with your family. Join with your community. Enlist and join the ranks. Long live Venezuela!

OPPMANN: Thousands sign up over the weekend vowing to keep Maduro in power.

ROGELIA MARTINEZ, SOCIAL WORKER: We defend our people and we, one way or another, are going to defend ourselves.

OPPMANN: But even as he claims to have more than 4 million soldiers, police and militia members ready to do battle, Maduro may be outgunned.

The Trump administration has sent at least three U.S. Navy destroyers, a submarine, attack aircraft and 4,000 Marines to stem the flow of drugs to the U.S., which they say Maduro is responsible for.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles and more. Yet Maduro's reign of terror continues. He is one of the largest narco traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.

OPPMANN: Maduro denies any role in drug trafficking, but he is under federal indictment in New York for allegedly running a shadowy cartel of army officers turned drug lords. This month, the Trump administration doubled the price of Maduro's head to $50 million. But collecting that reward likely would require U.S. boots on the ground.

Venezuela's roughly one and a half times the size of Texas, with dense jungles and sprawling slums controlled by heavily armed gangs. Occupying the country, would be a massive undertaking. And even more complicated if Maduro makes good on his promise to arm citizen militias armed conflict may still be far from certain, but a showdown is brewing off the coast of Venezuela, with neither side appearing to back down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN (on camera): And, Erin, even if the U.S. doesn't have the firepower in the region to actually invade Venezuela, clearly the Trump administration is hoping that the added pressure on maduro will force him from power. The only problem with that is that many of the people around Maduro, his inner circle, are also wanted by the U.S. for drug trafficking -- Erin.

BURNETT: It's incredible. It's such an incredible report. Patrick, thank you very much. Joining us tonight from Havana in Cuba.

And thanks so much to all of you for being with us.

"AC360" begins now.