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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Silent As Putin Launches Second-Biggest Attack Of War; Both Children Killed In Catholic School Shooting Identified; Sources: RFK Jr.'s Deputy Expected To Replace Ousted CDC Head; Fed Governor Files Lawsuit As Trump Attempts To Fire Her. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 28, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:27]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, Trump silent tonight after Putin unleashes one of the most powerful strikes on Ukraine since the beginning of the entire war. World leaders slamming Putin, except the president of the United States. A member of Ukraine's parliament is our guest.

Plus, the killer's chilling plot. Police uncovering hundreds of pages written by the shooter who killed two children at a Catholic school mass. As the father of an eight-year-old boy who was killed speaks out.

And a special report tonight on the man who is leading the investigation into the Fed's Lisa Cook and other Trump critics. It's a crucial role. Who is he? And how did one tweet land him a job with the president?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett, OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, Trump silent. As of now, the president of the United States has not said a word after Putin launched one of his most powerful strikes against Ukraine. More than 20 people in Kyiv killed by hundreds of Russian missiles and drones.

And as Trump was silent throughout the day, we did hear from the White House. This is what we heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Whoa, both sides. Putin struck Ukraine overnight, hitting Ukraine with 598 drones and 31 missiles. This is not a both-sides issue. Not last night, not tonight, and not since February 2022, when Putin invaded a sovereign country with the intent to topple its government and take it over and make it part of Russia.

But maybe the both-sides talk comes as a result of the fact that Trump has publicly given Putin's space on his war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended.

He says he wants peace. He does.

I believe Putin wants to do it.

I think President Putin wants peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Here's the reality, though. Just to say it in black and white. Putin clearly doesn't want peace. He wants victory. So if those two things come together, sure. But otherwise victory is what he wants. Peace and victory are two different things.

Take the statement that you just heard from July 15th, where Trump says of Putin, quote, he wants peace. He does, 24 hours after Trump said that Putin launched a massive drone attack across Ukraine, striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure in less than two weeks after Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for Putin, right? We're not being figurative here. Literally happened in Alaska.

Clapping for the Russian president, gave him a ride in the presidential limousine. You have Putin overnight launching the second biggest air assault on Ukraine since the beginning of the entire warm, 21 people were killed, children. Putin also targeted buildings belonging to America's allies, the European Union and the British Council, and today, America's allies did stand up to Putin. They didn't hold back.

French President Emmanuel Macron posting, "629 missiles and drones in a single night over Ukraine. This is Russia's idea of peace, terror and barbarism."

Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada. By murdering, when he should be talking, Putin demonstrates in the most horrific manner that his mission to subsume the Ukrainian people under his tyranny continues.

And the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, who, of course, has the largest land border with -- in Europe, with Russia, says the only thing president Putin understands is power. The only thing that can bring him to the negotiating table is pressure. And yet, from Trump, public silence.

Now, while Trump surely will say something surely is going to come out, he's going to post, he's going to say something. Expect that will happen. But his behavior so far all day is consistent with Putin's red carpet welcome.

And that may be why one European leader, the president of the Portugal, said this yesterday of Trump. I quote him, he said, the leader of the world's greatest superpower is objectively a Soviet or Russian asset. He's been serving as an asset.

It's a pretty incredible thing to say that he's a sitting leader of a European country, saying that.

Now, tonight, Trump's team is approving $825 million of extended range missiles to Ukraine. But even that headline comes with an important caveat. Trump has been talking for months about Ukraine's need to be able to strike inside Russia. He was saying all of that, but what he was doing was different.

"The Wall Street Journal" reported that Trump's Defense Department during that time was blocking Ukraine from using long range missiles. But Trump may very well soon speak out and talk tough. He has done that before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But we're very, very unhappy with him, and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs.

[19:05:01]

There will be very severe consequences.

It will not be a world war, but it will be an economic war. And it's going to be bad for Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, he said over those things, obviously over many months. The important thing to note, though, is that so far, all of that has been word. So far, Trump's threats have been all bark and no bite because as we speak right now, this very second, there is a bipartisan bill that has been ready to go for a long time that senators say would really put the nail in the coffin on Russia's economy.

Hard to imagine there's still sanctions to be put on. Thats kind of another conversation. But there are. And so here we are.

This bill is sponsored by Trump's good ally, Lindsey Graham. And in fact, the bill itself is backed by more than 80 senators. It doesn't get more bipartisan than that. And in this day and age, literally nothing gets more bipartisan than that. That is a miracle.

And Democrats, yeah, Democrats and Republicans are united on slapping 500 percent tariffs on any country that buys Russian energy. That's India and China. That's bite.

This bill has been at Trump's fingertips, and he has so far refused to sign it.

Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT live outside the White House to begin our coverage.

And, Alayna, we have not yet heard from Trump today on all of this. Obviously, were now 14 16 hours past the second worst set of attacks on Ukraine by Putin since the war began. What's going on?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, part of this, Erin, I think, is, frankly, the president is very frustrated. I know we've heard that repeatedly from White House officials, but I think at the core of this is he doesn't have anything to tout for the work that he has put into this.

I mean, when I talk with White House officials, they privately acknowledge that the speed and kind of urgency that they were moving after that Alaska summit with the Russian president has completely slowed. And there is still, from my conversations with Trump administration officials, the president has not made up his mind yet on whether or not he wants to actually impose sanctions or any sort of consequences for Moscow if they do not agree to end the war.

From my conversations, he's kind of gone back and forth on wanting to continue to try and directly insert himself into the conversation of setting up that bilateral meeting that he had promised European leaders who all came to the White House just a week or so ago or letting leaving this now to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to work out.

And I think what's really important as well is and that montage, I think sums this up perfectly is we did hear the president last week say that he was giving Russia two weeks before he would make a decision on sanctions, on these consequences. Again, we've heard him say that multiple times. So, it's unclear how seriously the Kremlin is actually taking this.

But I also asked him last week in the Oval Office directly, he had mentioned, you know, perhaps there's a chance he does nothing. I said, is that actually a serious possibility that you would do nothing to kind of punish Russia for not ending the war? And he said, yeah, but we'll have to see how this goes.

And I so I think his silence here, and I know we did hear from the press secretary earlier today saying that we should expect some sort of answer or response from the president on this, that he was watching the developments of these Russian attacks, one of the deadliest nights for Ukraine since this war began. He was watching it intently, that he would speak on this later.

We have not yet heard from him. I haven't gotten an answer. If were actually going to. But I do think all of this stems from his frustration with not being able to make any real progress.

BURNETT: Yeah. Of course. And you say sometimes silence -- silence says a thousand words.

Thank you very much, Alayna, for your reporting and that context on all of this.

You know, so Putin's massive attack on Ukraine, on Kyiv killed more than a dozen people, left mass devastation and destruction across the capital of Ukraine. So, what does that really look like at this point? To talk about the second worst attack since the war began? Well, Melissa Bell is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Kyiv under attack once again, with Russia unleashing over 600 air attack weapons on the Ukrainian capital, killing more than 20 people, including at least four children, and what appears to be the second biggest aerial attack since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Video from a Kyiv resident shows her apartment in complete shambles after the drone struck one floor below hers. Her father had to knock down doors to get out and prevent her from suffocating from the smoke.

Footage from the ground shows families huddling for safety as missiles fall on buildings across the city. Search teams still digging through the rubble around buildings hit in the strike, with the full extent of the damage still being assessed. Families are still searching for their loved ones.

[19:10:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I came out, everything was covered in dust and smoke. I looked up, the roof was gone and the floors from the fourth to the first were completely destroyed. As of now, my wife hasn't been found.

BELL: Some of those damaged buildings belonged to the European Union and the British Council. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling the strike a clear response from the Kremlin to calls for cease fire talks and for diplomacy between the two countries.

Russia says it is still interested in peace talks, but its so-called special military operation is still ongoing. A conflict that continues to shake Kyiv residents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God forbid anyone ever has to go through this. You know, my worldview has changed. You realize that you survived, that you're alive. And that alone is already something.

BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine's parliament. She lives in Kyiv.

Inna, of course, early hours now a Friday morning for you. A sleepless night last night with the attacks just complete exhaustion for you and for so many others. As of early this evening now, U.S. time, President Trump has not said anything about it publicly. He has said nothing.

What does that mean, Inna?

INNA SOVSUN, MEMBER OF UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT: Well, we're still waiting for him to say something. But of course, it feels wrong. After the terror of the last night here in Kyiv with people waking up multiple times to missiles, explosions in different parts of the city, with four children being killed. It does look like something that would require reaction from the leader of the free world.

Unfortunately, we're not hearing that. Maybe it will come a bit later. We have heard the reaction of President Trump's press secretary which is all over the news in Ukraine. This evening. I think everybody is very much appalled, with what has been said, what we have heard was basically saying that Ukraine and Russia are basically the same. Ukrainians are destroying Russian oil refineries, so they don't want peace. Russians are doing something similar, which is killing Ukrainian civilians, including children.

The very fact that that this was said that this is okay to say is very painful and very unfair. So maybe there will be some other action.

BURNETT: You know, the Trump's press secretary did speak out. And among the things she said about the strikes was this -- she said, quote, perhaps both sides aren't ready to end this.

Both sides aren't ready to end this. How do you even hear such a thing?

SOVSUN: Well, painfully. Look, for those -- if you haven't heard that on the news, I can maybe explain how it feels to live through that. So, I woke up at around one in the morning. My son came rushing to my bedroom. He said, mom, did you hear that? Did you hear the explosions? He was terrified. He was scared.

He said, we have to go to the wardrobe to hide so that we are not near the windows. We hardly slept up until 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, waking up from different explosions in different parts of the city. There were, of course, families who have suffered through much more. There were families who didn't wake up this night. There were -- there were four children being killed this night. The whole building collapsed.

And equating that to the action of undermining basically Russia's economy, that is what hits on oil refineries. It's just something that you can't even imagine how someone would come up with such, such a wording. It seems like, well, lack of empathy is -- the, you know, the mildest version of what I can say, which is very, very surprising to put it very, very diplomatic.

BURNETT: Inna, thank you so very much for being with us, on yet another sleepless, exhausting night of for you and everyone in Kyiv and Ukraine. Thank you.

SOVSUN: Thank you for having me.

BURNETT: Seth Jones is OUTFRONT now.

Seth. So, you know, as you track this, what message is the White House sending Putin right now? SETH JONES, FORMER ADVISER TO COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. SPECIAL OPS

FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Well, Erin, I think what's important here is to recognize that actions actually are what are important, not words. And the actions right now, coming from the White House are -- they are not sanctioning despite bipartisan support, as you noted, they're not sanctioning the Russians for continuing these actions and stalling on peace negotiations. And they're not ramping up on weapons to Ukraine itself.

So, this clearly is a message that looks like the White House is weak right now, not strong.

BURNETT: And you know, in that context, I want to read again what the president of Portugal said, just because this is a sitting European leader. He said about Trump, the leader of the world's greatest superpower is objectively a Soviet or Russian asset. He's been serving as an asset.

Now, I don't believe he was being literal. He was being. Well, I think he was being literal and sort of that the actions -- Trump's actions are helpful to Putin. He was not saying that he was acting as some sort of a spy or something like that. It was not literal in that sense.

It is, though, to just come out and say those words, a pretty stunning thing for a sitting European leader to say.

JONES: Yeah, it is. It is stunning. I mean, I've heard a number of other European leaders say things along those lines in private.

Look, it's an overstatement. I don't think there's any evidence along those lines. But what is interesting is the Republican Party historically, particularly individuals like Ronald Reagan, have been very strong in dealing with this kind of aggressive behavior, including coming from Moscow.

And it's just inexplicable at this point. The Russians have shown really no serious inclination to cut a deal. They're dragging the president along. The president has said this repeatedly that it looks like Putin is dragging. And yet we still don't see action.

And that that is -- it's inexplicable in many ways.

BURNETT: So "The New York Times" is reporting about these weapons deliveries that you referred to, their reporting that Russia or perhaps Russian proxies are flying surveillance drones over routes in Europe that the U.S. and allies are using to move military supplies, which is, you know, pretty -- I mean, no, drones are being used everywhere, but that they're actually flying them over Europe, over these routes.

What are you learning about this?

JONES: Well, Erin, this is really interesting because what it shows is the Russians aren't just engaged in warfare in Ukraine, but they're engaged in a pretty aggressive campaign in Europe. They've been blowing up companies that have provided weapons and other material to Ukraine. They've struck pipelines and undersea cables, particularly against countries that are doing that. They've been assassinating individuals in Europe.

The numbers are down a little bit right now, but probably because there are negotiations. But just to be very clear, the Russians are conducting a very aggressive campaign in Europe. That is -- it is deeply connected to the war in Ukraine. Another example from our conversation, Erin, about what the Russians are doing.

BURNETT: It really incredible and I think so important, as you point out, that this goes beyond Ukraine. And it isn't just an errant missile hitting in some place like Poland, right? That this is across Europe. Just unbelievable, but crucial for people to understand.

Thank you so much, Seth.

JONES: Thanks, Erin.

BURNETT: And next, we have breaking news. We are just now hearing from the family of the second little child who was killed when a gunman opened fire on a Catholic school.

Plus, the CDC tonight is in chaos. RFK, Jr. is expected to name a new director of the agency amid a massive clash over vaccines.

And border patrol agents tonight arresting two firefighters who have been battling a massive wildfire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:38]

BURNETT: Breaking news, we are just learning about the two innocent children who were killed in the mass shooting at a Catholic school mass. We'll show you a picture of Harper Moyski. Her parents just shared this picture of her. Harper, they say, was a loving big sister whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her.

Eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel also was killed in the shooting at the Catholic school in Minneapolis. Fletcher's father actually spoke out tonight amid that family's incredible heartbreak and unbearable grief.

Whitney Wild is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSE MERKEL, FATHER OF 8-YEAR-OLD VICTIM FLETCHER MERKEL: Yesterday, a coward decided to take our 8-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us. Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emotional words tonight from the father of eight year old Fletcher Merkel, who was killed in the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church.

MERKEL: Please remember Fletcher, for the person he was and not the act that ended his life give your kids an extra hug and kiss today. We love you, Fletcher. You'll always be with us.

WILD: The family asking for privacy and space to grieve as they deal with the loss of their son following the shooting on Wednesday.

MERKEL: While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time our family can find healing. I pray that the other victim's family can find some semblance of the same.

WILD: Outside, a memorial grows for the two students who were killed and the 18 others who were wounded, 15 of them children.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Glass was broken from when people got in. And when we got out, all of us went to like different rooms. My group went to the gym and that's where I saw my little sister. And then when we got out, there were like a lot, like a lot, a lot of police cars. And there were some ambulances and fire trucks.

WILD: Danielle Gunter tells CNN her 13-year-old son was shot in the stomach and survived surgery. In a statement, she says our hearts are shattered not only for him but for everyone who was harmed.

[19:25:01]

We grieve and we pray for the others who were shot, for their families and for those who lost loved ones.

The Minneapolis police chief says officers recovered approximately 116 rifle rounds from the scene. One live round from a handgun and three shotgun shells.

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Literally hundreds of pieces of evidence have been recovered thus far, which include electronic devices that will be further searched and processed.

WILD: The motive remains under investigation, but officials say the shooter was obsessed with the idea of killing children and had a deranged fascination with previous mass shootings.

JOE THOMPSON, ACTING U.S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA: The shooter left behind hundreds of pages of writings, writings that describe the shooter's plan, writings that describe the shooter's mental state and, more than anything, writings that describe the shooter's hate. Pure, indiscriminate hate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILD (on camera): Erin, there were so many heroes yesterday. Some of them were children. One of them is a child named Victor. He shielded his friend from the gunfire and in the process was shot.

Here's a statement from his family, "Victor is one of the brave victims who survived the tragedy that unfolded. His selfless acts helped to save many, but he and his sister were injured in the process." His family said -- his family says that the family has now started their long journey to recovery, Erin.

BURNETT: Whitney, thank you very much.

And now, our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller is with me.

John, so CNN's reviewed a journal written by the shooter. He left a lot. He left a lot of tracks online, written. And at one point and this stood out to me in the video, too, you kept talking about his family in a positive way, that there was a good relationship there.

And in the -- in the journal, he said, I feel like my mom would have seen it coming due to my rocky past with violent threats. Now here we are. More than 24 hours, 36 hours, almost after this horrific shooting. And the police say they haven't been able to reach her.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Yeah, they've been seeking to talk to her. They have reached out to her. My understanding is she's been in Florida.

Don't know whether she had plans to return to Minneapolis, either, to collect the body of her son or make other arrangements. And the chief of police, Brian O'Hara, said today, despite our efforts, we haven't been -- we haven't been able to talk to her.

BURNETT: All right. Now, you know, there's a lot we could talk about that. And what's actually going on there, but let me just focus in on when they do speak to her. How important is it to speak to her? Because this, as we say, his -- there's a history here.

And he himself says they should have known he had a loving relationship with his mother, signed off on the papers when he wanted to change his name from Robert to Robin, right, I mean, she was clearly a loving presence in his life.

MILLER: And when he writes his note that he leaves behind to friends and family --

BURNETT: Yeah.

MILLER: -- you know, he apologizes to his parents. He says, you know, I'm sorry. And he goes out of his way to say, it wasn't you. You've been good parents, and I've seen that before.

But there is -- I mean, I think what you're getting at, there is an element here where in the Michigan case, in the Georgia case, where you've had shooters, where the parents, you know, in those cases actually provided weapons, knew about weapons.

BURNETT: I mean, this kid was really, really depraved and sick. It didn't come out of nowhere.

MILLER: No.

BURNETT: I think we all know that.

MILLER: This wasn't -- this was not an overnight thing. But I also have to say, you know, this is a parent who's living in Florida. At least a parent that he said was, you know, a devoted parent. There are people who -- and I mean, think about this among teenagers, there are people who have, you know, their lives, their hidden lives, the troubles that their parents know about, the demons that they don't -- it's hard.

BURNETT: Yeah. And so, we did hear, some chilling comments from the acting U.S. attorney today about the shooter, right? Just when we talk about depraved and we're all seeking for words and we find the word evil because that's what this is.

Here's what the U.S. attorney said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: More than anything. The shooter wanted to kill children, defenseless children. The shooter wanted to watch children suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And if you hear him, that's what he talks about, right? Oh, I'm sorry to my family, but then makes the point about the people that he's targeting. And it is. That is what is so evil.

He also wrote that he looked online a month ago, more than a month ago, I think a month and two days ago that he said I looked online because of the schedule is publicly available, and that makes it easy for me because I can see it that he actually went online and talk about premeditation.

MILLER: And then he went there and he basically did a dry run. He, according to his writing, went to the church, went in the, you know, the front entrance, looked at the south doors, the ones that he would barricade, you know, on the day of the shooting.

[19:30:04]

But according to the investigators I was speaking to today, their feeling is he likely intended to -- want to do that shooting from inside the church. And I shouldn't say he, he's legally known as she, but the shooter wanted to do the shooting from inside the church. And when you look at that diagram that the shooter created, it is a very detailed schematic drawings.

BURNETT: Yeah, the inside of the church.

MILLER: But what it doesn't show is the windows. If it was the intention of the shooter to open fire from outside, that diagram would have would have very likely included each window and where it was. The chief of police said today publicly a couple of times that when the mass started, they locked the outside doors. He may have had to improvise from a plan that was far more terrible to have a trapped audience where he had barred from the outside the emergency exits in open field of fire to a church packed with children with multiple weapons and nearly unlimited ammunition.

And what he ended up doing and, I mean, you can't say this is a good thing because the result is still terrible, but what he ended up being forced into, if that was his plan, was shooting in the blind through stained glass windows to targets he could not see. Which is why this wasn't worse as the shooter probably intended it.

BURNETT: Clearly -- well, clearly intended it to be.

And then the outcome here, John, of what happens once again, this country goes through what is going to be nothing on gun control. And now there's going to be a whole set of focus on depression and all of that, all of which is, by the way, should happen to. But does anything actually come of it?

MILLER: If and I've been covering these since Columbine all of them, almost without exception, either as a journalist or as a member of law enforcement. Responding to them. If there is some definitive action that came on gun control rules, bump stocks that turn pistols into machine guns, all those things that have been pushed aside, it would be one in a row.

BURNETT: Yeah. All right, John, thank you.

MILLER: Thanks.

BURNETT: And next, mass confusion tonight inside the CDC. RFK, Jr. is moving full steam ahead with naming a new director. The current director, though, is refusing to step aside.

Plus, he met Trump after asking for a retweet. And now he's at the center of trying to take down some of the presidents perceived enemies and critics. Who is he?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:21]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. expected to name his deputy to be the new director of the CDC, sources telling CNN tonight, which comes after the White House said it was removing the current CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, from that job. She was only sworn in four weeks ago.

CNN's reporting that Monarez clashed with RFK, Jr. over vaccines and refused his demands to fire a longtime CDC officials. That puts Americas public health agency envy of the world, plunged into chaos because Monarez's attorneys say that she is not going anywhere unless she's fired directly by President Trump. And several veteran high level CDC officials then resigned in protest over Monarez's treatment.

So, OUTFRONT now, the Democratic Governor Josh Green of Hawaii, a medical doctor who in 2019 responded to that deadly measles outbreak in American Samoa, where Governor Green, you've talked about what you saw with Kennedy and Kennedy's spreading misinformation about the outbreak that affected vaccine rates, illness and death in American Samoa.

So, when you hear this tonight, Governor, the CDC, it was already -- it was already chaotic under this new administration. Monarez is in for four weeks now. They want her out. She's refusing to go. People are resigning in protest.

How concerned are you by what's happening at the CDC?

GOV. JOSH GREEN (D), HAWAII: I'm extremely concerned. The CDC matters so much to our country. It helps keep us safe. It protects children

from outbreaks. It protects adults from outbreaks. It's in full freefall right now because of Secretary Kennedy, because of his anti- vaccination stance.

We've seen it like you said, overseas, when 83 people died in Samoa because he basically torpedoed their vaccine confidence, then he's done it since. And we see the outbreaks happening in 39 states across America. We actually detected measles in our water supply yesterday in Hawaii. That means it's everywhere.

We now then have seen him have hearings in which he demonized the vaccine for COVID. I was the expert witness on the other side of the argument. They spread a ton of misinformation there.

Then, he curtailed the COVID vaccination access. He then, because of his animosity to vaccinations, torpedoed RNA technology, which puts us into really a dangerous space from a national security position. He got rid of all the people that vet vaccines, and now this.

Now, he's destroying the CDC. And when it goes, we will not have any capacity to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, this is something that many of us saw coming. And humbly, we would ask the president to take action because this is going to cost us lives.

[19:40:01]

BURNETT: So, Kennedy was asked about the CDC director's firing today, and he declined to comment on it directly, which is interesting given that, of course, she's refusing to do it unless Trump acts. We're waiting for -- I mean, there's -- there's clearly a vacuum in there and some uncertainty.

But he said the CDC has problems, and he listed some of them. So, Governor, I want to play for you what RFK, Jr. said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: Today on CDC's website right now, they list the ten top advanced -- the ten greatest advances in medical science. And one of them is abortion. The other is -- another is fluoridation. Another is vaccines. So we need to look at the priorities of the agency if there's really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Well, Governor, if anyone has any question about what he was saying about vaccines there, you know, when he's listing the greatest achievements as abortion, fluoridation, we know what he thinks about fluoride and water and vaccines. You know, essentially saying it's bunk that they're some of the greatest achievements of advances in medical science.

What do you say to that?

GREEN: Well, he's pandering to the MAGA base. He's making assertions to distract from the fact that mostly he's against public health.

Remember, this is a gentleman who has no public health experience, no training. He's not a physician. He's not a nurse. He's not a social worker. He's never been involved in real public health work.

He just demonizes any effort to keep people safe. I can't for the life of me understand why he would pivot to abortion. But I can tell you that he is trying to be a deeply, functional disrupter for the president.

And I will also say this -- he's not doing the president or the administration any favors whatsoever. Young women, because of their soon to be lack of access to reproductive health care, will be hurt. He's also going to hurt what has long been safe science on so many fronts. And we all saw this coming that he was going to try to destroy the vaccination program.

In the coming months, we are told he's going to create false assertions and connections between vaccines based on his new data, vaccines and autism, which is absolutely false.

BURNETT: So can I jump in there --

GREEN: And that's going to -- yeah.

BURNETT: I just want to jump in because I wanted to ask you about that, that that issue on autism, because he did say he's going to make an announcement on the root causes of autism, as if that there's suddenly been a breakthrough in an answer on that. And I want to play exactly you're referring to it, but what he said, Governor.

GREEN: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: Finding interventions, certain interventions now that are clearly almost certainly causing autism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, Governor, he's using the word there interventions. Obviously, I don't have to tell you or anyone watching that Kennedy has a long history of suggesting childhood vaccines could cause autism, despite the fact that such links have been thoroughly debunked by scientific research. But here he's referring to interventions. What do you expect this announcement to be governor?

GREEN: I think what he's going to do is a meta-analysis of data and pluck the data he wants to make a case that doesn't exist. He's going to cast doubt, further doubt on vaccinations because that's what he wants to do. And we will drop from 95 to 90 to 85 percent vaccination rates. And you will see massive outbreaks of measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, diphtheria.

This is a mission for him, and none of us really know why he's on a mission to effectively jeopardize the health of young people, but it's in his mind that he must do it. And that's why I say he's not doing the president any favors whatsoever. We've had decades and decades of peer-reviewed studies. We've had decades of research and all of the pediatric community virtually believes that vaccinations are safe and have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

It is incredible that he would go this place to this -- to this great extent as a secretary of health with no training, and I do have to say, the secretary really does need to step aside and let someone probably of conservative ideology under the president step in and protect the CDC, protect the FDA, protect the people of America.

And I'm sorry, I would like to believe that there is something significant the secretary can offer, but he is now doing harm. He cannot be allowed to do this. I hope that the Senate subcommittee which pushed him forward revisits what he has done. I hope that they reach out to the president.

I will tell you, I've witnessed it firsthand. I've witnessed it in testimony. I've testified against him. I've tried to meet him somewhere in middle ground on issues that involve nutrition or processed foods.

He can advise the president in some areas. He cannot advise the world on health care matters, and he certainly cannot come up with a solution on autism in a few short months, when people who actually are trained and who have the intellect to do that research have not seen that.

This is a catastrophe for -- a catastrophe for American public health and ultimately global public health, because where America goes, others may follow.

[19:45:04]

BURNETT: Yeah.

GREEN: In fact, they likely will follow. He should be focused on mental health care to help prevent some of these tragedies, like we just saw with gun violence. He should be focused on getting more people well. He should not be doing these things.

And I humbly ask that all of his team and the president take him aside and talk about a different role for Mr. Kennedy, because this role is going to kill children or elderly, and it's going to cost us dearly. BURNETT: All right. Governor Green, I appreciate you. Thank you.

GREEN: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, Trump's attack dog, the man leading Trump's investigations into his perceived critics. Someone who met Trump, thanks to Twitter. Who is he?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, the White House vowing to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after she filed a lawsuit to keep her job. Cook saying Trump has no power to remove her from the Central Bank.

[19:50:01]

It is a high stakes legal battle. It centers on allegations of mortgage fraud, allegations that were dug up by an obscure administration official who is targeting other prominent Trump rivals. So who is he?

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL PULTE, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY: Mortgage fraud is a huge issue in this country.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From atop the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte is pressing the attack on Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, telling his 3 million followers on X, if you commit mortgage fraud in America, we will come after you. A conviction could carry up to 30 years in prison and Lisa Cook should resign immediately.

PULTE: She claimed to be living in the state of Michigan. She took out a loan and then she went and took out another loan in Atlanta and said that both of them were her primary residence. That's a big no, no.

FOREMAN: Cook, who has not been charged, is suing, saying the Trump administration is trying to illegally fire her. But in Trump's attempt to seize control of the independent Federal Reserve by trying to push out Chairman Jerome Powell and now Cook, Bill Pulte is relentlessly spinning unproven tales of incompetence and extravagant renovations at the Fed's office.

PULTE: Where is Jerome Powell? This guy is supposed to be the money manager for the world's biggest economy, and it doesn't even look like he can run a construction site.

FOREMAN: Like Trump, Pulte came from a rich construction family. He expanded his wealth by starting an investment firm and then, through his philanthropy, courted Trump, posting in 2019, if Trump retweeted one of his messages, Pulte would give $30,000 to a veteran. Trump did, and now he's given Pulte a job where he is toeing the MAGA line. PULTE: The other thing is, we need to look out and figure out where

we can eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.

FOREMAN: And also raising mortgage fraud accusations against California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both Democrats led investigations into Trump and both deny the claims.

And even though Pulte has said little or nothing about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who reportedly claimed three homes as his primary residence and has not responded to CNN's request for comment on the matter, Pulte denies being a partisan hatchet man.

PULTE: I'm not going to be intimidated by the media or the politicians. They can say whatever they want. If it's a Republican who's committing mortgage fraud, we're going to look at it. If it's a Democrat, we're going to look at it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on camera): Well, that may be true, but if he has found any Republicans committing mortgage fraud, specifically, any big supporters of Donald Trump, we're not hearing about that, Erin.

BURNETT: No. All right. Thank you very much.

FOREMAN: You're welcome.

BURNETT: It's really fascinating to look at this.

Van Jones is here.

So, Van, okay, Bill Pulte from the Pulte Homes family, ultimately. Now has this job because he asked Trump to retweet a tweet. He tweeted. So here he is in this job and he's gone after Lisa Cook. He's gone after Adam Schiff, he's gone after Letitia James.

What do you make of it?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, this is exactly what Trump said he wasn't going to do. Weaponization of the law. That was his whole thing, is that people are using the law to come after me.

And the reality is, you know, show me the person as they say, I can find you a crime. So, this is why --

BURNETT: Who you go after really matters.

JONES: Exactly, who you go after. Like. And so this is -- this is not playing fair.

Here's the thing. I think Americans aren't thinking enough about. If you love Trump and you think this is wonderful, you're eating a popcorn, you're happy, you're laughing it up. Tomorrow always comes. And at some point, it's going to be a Democrat sitting in that White

House. And if they start behaving this way, rummaging through every sock drawer to find anything that they can just to go after people who are Republicans, I don't think people are going to like it.

This is what happens in a banana republic. Whoever is in charge, whoever is out of favor, they don't just get voted out of office.

BURNETT: They come after you.

JONES: You then have to worry about taxes. You have to worry about everything. This is not --

BURNETT: Chris Christie, he goes on TV the other day and criticizes Trump. And now all of a sudden, Trump's like, well, what about that investigation closed 13 years ago?

JONES: Exactly. And so this is -- I just think that, you know, if you're a patriot, if you love the country, if you think were the greatest in the world, there's a reason for that. We don't do stuff like this. We haven't done stuff like this for 200 years.

And if you say you're conservative, you should be trying to conserve these principles that say you don't -- you rule -- you have rule of law, not rule by law. This is rule by law. You take the law and you use it as a weapon to rule, as opposed to having rule of law where everyone is treated the same.

BURNETT: You think about rule of law and what it means in this country going back to January 6th and the -- and the insurrection on that day. The air force is now saying they're going to give full military funeral honors to honor Ashli Babbitt.

JONES: Yeah.

BURNETT: She was a veteran. She was a pro-Trump rioter. She was shot and killed by a police officer. She breached an area of the Capitol, where congressional members were evacuating, and she again, she was the one who was shot there.

[19:55:06]

Trump administration agreed to pay $5 million to her family, even though the fact that the officer who shot Babbitt was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

So, what do you make of this? What do you make of full military honors?

JONES: Look, I'm somebody who spent most of my career -- I graduated from law school in 1993, and I immediately started doing police misconduct cases because in those days, those cases were not being taken on by anybody.

If Trump wants to be concerned about police misconduct, if he wants to make sure that people who have been mistreated by cops, you know, get $5 million, please start doing that. And there are very few people like Ashli Babbitt who were brazenly trying to violate the law, who some people would say were committing an act of treason.

There are a lot of other people in this country who have a much cleaner case, who have not gotten a penny, not a penny, not a nickel, not a dime, not an apology, not an acknowledgment from the president, a governor, a mayor, or anyone. And those people are out here hurting.

And they're watching this, they're saying, hold on a second. How is this woman who, you know, the cop was cleared. You have cops that are guilty and families don't get a penny. They're looking at this, they're saying, this is not fair. This is not fair.

BURNETT: Yeah. All right, Van, thank you very much. Great to have Van here in person.

JONES: Here we are.

BURNETT: And next, Trump's immigration crackdown targeting two firefighters in the midst of battling a massive wildfire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, two firefighters battling Washington state's biggest wildfire have been arrested by Border Patrol agents. According to authorities, the two firefighters were in the United States illegally. And officials say the Border Patrol agents identified the two after requesting the names of everyone working to fight the fire.

Crews battling the Bear Gulch Fire say they are aware that border patrol agents are on the ground, but they claim those officers aren't interfering with efforts to contain the flames. The Bear Gulch Fire has been burning since July 6th. As of tonight, only 13 percent contained. But two of the people risking their lives to fight it have now been taken into ICE custody.

Well, thank you very much for being with us.

"AC360" starts now.