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Erin Burnett Outfront
Congress Releases Epstein "Birthday" Letter, Trump Denies He Wrote It; Supreme Court Allows Trump's Aggressive ICE Patrols To Resume; Politico: Treasury Chief: "I'm Going Punch You In Your F**king Face". Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 08, 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:
Breaking news, the House getting a trove of Epstein documents tonight, including the crude happy birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's signature. What more are House investigators learning tonight? We're going to speak to a top Democrat on the front lines.
And the Supreme Court giving Trump the green light on immigration patrols as ICE announces what it's calling Midway Blitz targeting Illinois. The mayor of one town already publicly warning his residents. He's OUTFRONT.
And, quote, "I'm going to punch you in your f-ing face." That's reportedly from America's treasury secretary to another top Trump official in an exclusive restaurant in Washington, an opening night. The reporter breaking the story has new details about Scott Bessent tonight.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news of the infamous Jeffrey Epstein birthday book, the one with a letter bearing President Trump's name at the crude drawing. This has now been made public, released by the Epstein estate to the House Oversight Committee.
Also, for the first time, we're actually seeing the letter. "The Wall Street Journal" had first reported on it. Of course, you remember, this is the letter Trump said doesn't exist. And he's still denying that he had anything to do with it.
But let's show you it, because its now on the screen with the crude location of the signature, several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand drawn with a heavy marker. Trump's signature is a squiggly Donald right below her waist.
The letter says, quote, "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey," and concludes, "Happy birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret." Now, the White House tonight is still claiming this letter is phony. The deputy chief of staff for communications posting on social media, quote -- and I quote, "Time for News Corp to open that checkbook. It's not his signature. Defamation."
Now, the image that were showing here is not from News Corp, which is the parent company of "The Wall Street Journal". That's what -- who Trump is suing the organization. The company Trump is suing for publishing the existence of the letter.
But this letter is not there, as they are not the ones releasing it. This letter that you are looking at is coming from the House Oversight Committee, and it came directly from the Epstein estate. So, whatever happened here, it isn't something "The Wall Street Journal" made up.
But Trump's spokesman included examples of Trump's signature in his social media post, claiming that they do not match the one on the letter to Epstein. So we'll show you the signature side by side. On the left, one of the signatures released by the White House. On the right, the signature on Epstein letter.
Now, the signatures are about two decades apart. Recently, I was shown one of my signatures from 20 years ago, and I did not recognize it. But look, we're not handwriting experts. We're just going to show you how these things look. One, maybe a thick sharpie which obscures any details in the signature.
But if you want to go back in time to around the time that Trump or that this letter that's in the birthday book went to Epstein, let's go back in time. Trump's signature is everywhere. So around the time of that, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani sends a letter to him in 1996. That's the same Rudy Giuliani Trump says he's going to give a Presidential Medal of Freedom to now.
So, if you look at the signature there on the left, seven years before the Epstein book was made, you can compare those. They look pretty similar.
And sure, that's just two signatures will give you another one, though, a letter Trump said to George Conway, George Conway once was somebody Trump liked. Since then, obviously the opposite.
But back in 2006, Trump liked Conway. He lived in Trump Tower. Trump thanked him for his work on the condo board. So the signature is on the left, and we can compare that again to the signature on the right. From the Epstein letter, side by side.
So, let's put them all together. The Giuliani letter, the Conway letter and the signature on the Epstein birthday book, and they do all appear to be pretty similar.
Now, of course, signatures aside, Trump hasn't been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, but he has stood in the way of disclosing the Epstein documents and called the whole thing a hoax, even though more than 1,000 women say they are victims of Epstein and other men around him. So, the House committee has obtained today more things from the
Epstein estate, the last will and testament that Epstein had, 2007 non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and that U.S. attorneys office in south Florida. That is crucial. That is crucial, that is Acosta. Entries from Epstein's address and contact books, crucial, all the way from 1990 to 2019. And information about Epstein's known bank accounts.
Now, these last two, particularly important, but the last one could show who was helping finance Epstein's lifestyle, raising questions about what they knew.
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And I'm going to speak with Congressman Ro Khanna, who knows a lot more about all of these documents in just a moment, because he has a lot more information for us because there's more to come. The bipartisan group of staffers on the committee is going to be traveling to New York City later this week to meet with lawyers representing the estate and to view unredacted documents related to the investigation, which is crucial because the more people who see unredacted documents, the bigger likelihood that we all find out what's in them.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill.
And, Manu, I know you are getting new information tonight. What are you learning?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, just moments ago, the House Oversight Committee actually just publicly released the 356 pages that were included from the Epstein estate that was sent over to the House panel today. That includes all those different categories that you just referring to, including those contacts that Epstein apparently had over a certain time frame, as well as bank account information as well as this prosecution agreement that was viewed as a really too lenient of a plea deal that he had reached back in 2007. All of these details, all have now been released by this committee.
But what's getting a lot of attention, of course, here on Capitol Hill is the news that came out earlier today, of course, of that birthday book, the 50th birthday book that from 2003, in which they was included. And apparent letter from Donald Trump to Epstein that you were referring to just moments ago.
Now the White House is denying that it is Donald Trump's signature on all of this. So, they said that this is not Donald Trump much different. I asked a lot of Republicans today if they believed what the White House was saying, or if they plan to probe that issue further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Don't you want to learn more about Trump's relationship or friendship with Epstein? REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): No, I want to have Director Patel in next week, where we'll ask him about all kinds of things. I haven't seen it. Don't buy it.
RAJU: Do you think it's believable that someone came in and forged Donald Trump's signature and sent this letter to --
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I think -- I think unlikely, but anything's possible.
RAJU: Should they investigate Trump's relationship with Epstein, too?
BACON: I think it's going to be -- every file -- we're going to push for every file to be made open, and we'll go from there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But as this investigation is ongoing, there is that legislative dispute that continues to roil the GOP here in the House, that is to force a vote to release all of the Epstein files. The Republicans were trying to move this ahead. Need six signatures, six supporters on the GOP side to circumvent the house Republican leadership and get that bill on the floor. That bill, of course, Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie calling for the release of all those records.
But, Erin, at this moment, they are still short two Republican signatures in order to force that vote. Meaning at the moment, that bill will not come to the floor -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much.
OUTFRONT now, Congressman Ro Khanna, member of the House Oversight Committee. He has led the fight to get the birthday book released to the public. He is part of the bipartisan push, also with Congressman Massie, to get all of the Epstein documents released.
And, Congressman, I appreciate your time. So, I know your committee is just getting all this new information from Epstein's estate. So, beside the birthday letter, what's the most significant thing or significant revelation in all of this so far?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Well, candidly, the lawyers are still going through it and they first looked for the birthday book. Obviously, they found the letter that "The Wall Street Journal" reported on.
I think the vice president, Vice President Vance should be asked to retract what he said, defaming "The Wall Street Journal" reporter. He said it was fake. Now we have the letter. And I also hope that the lawsuit will be withdrawn against that journalist, $10 billion lawsuit. Now that there is the letter.
BURNETT: So, you know, okay, on that front, you were the one who initially requested the Epstein birthday book, right? You requested that back in July, Congressman Khanna, and we all see it. I'll put it up here, signed with Trump's name. It says a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday. And may every day be another wonderful secret, wrapped with a drawing of what appears to be a naked woman. The signature falling in obviously a significant spot there.
So, Trump has vehemently denied the letter, and the White House press secretary says it's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it. So, when it comes to withdrawing that defamation lawsuit, as you were saying, it looks like they're tripling down. I mean, do you have any reason to doubt after getting this from the Epstein estate that that is Trump's signature, Trump's drawing.
KHANNA: There's no reason for us to doubt it. "The Wall Street Journal" reported that they believe it is Donald Trump's signature.
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And the sad thing here is that this is hurting the survivors.
I just heard from the survivors' lawyer. Many of them bravely told their stories, and they find that every time that President Trump attacks things as a hoax or as false, its really disrespecting them.
No one really cares about the details of the letter. Yes, it's crude, and it's unfortunate. The bigger issue is the transparency and justice for the survivors.
And I wish President Trump would just listen to the survivors. I wish he would meet them. That's what they've asked for, and I wish he would just direct for the release of the full files like he promised the American people.
This is not against him. It's not an effort to embarrass him. This is to stand to protect Americas children and to stand with our survivors.
BURNETT: Right. Right. And to hold justice for those who knew or participated. And you meet with the survivors. I know Nancy Mace, your colleague said, you know, when she did, you know, you got to defend what's right here. There's a right and there's a wrong.
I know you got bank records from Epstein's estate in those records. And again, I know lawyers are combing through it, but do you believe it's going to reveal the names of people who were giving Epstein money?
KHANNA: I do. I believe that there's a lot to uncover in terms of how Epstein was getting this money. Was it dirty money? Was it foreign money? What was the motive of the money that was given to Epstein? Did people know that Epstein was abusing underage girls while providing him that money?
All of these things need to be answered. This is a beginning of it, but it's not sufficient. As the victims lawyers said, Bradley Edwards said, we need documents from Treasury, we need documents from the CIA, we need documents from the FBI.
The Justice Department has all of these files, and that's why we're calling for full transparency. And that's what Massie and my bill does, which we now have 218 signatures on it by September 23rd and seven days later, it will force a vote in the House of Representatives.
BURNETT: All right. So just explain that again, because I know there are some who say you don't quite have the votes that this effort of yours and Congressman Massie, bipartisan is not going to go anywhere. But you say, no, you've got the numbers and you've got the math, and it's going to happen.
KHANNA: We do have the numbers. First of all, I want to recognize Congressman Massie's courage, but also Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's courage, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's courage, Congresswoman Nancy Mace's courage.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace was so shaken after talking to the victims because she's a survivor herself. She has signed this. That's four Republicans. All current 212 Democrats are signing it. Congressman Swalwell had lost someone in his family. He's going to sign it this week. That gets us to 216.
There are two vacant seats, one in Arizona and one in Virginia. Both of them are going to be filled by September 23rd. And both of those candidates have said they're going to sign the discharge petition. That gets us to 218, and that will trigger a vote one week later in the House of Representatives.
BURNETT: So now that you've laid that out, Congressman, obviously, it's a very significant development. I do want to ask you about one more thing, though, because your committee has just posted another letter that references Trump, and here's what it is written by a longtime Mar-a-Lago member. And it makes a crude joke about a woman that Trump and Epstein socialized with back in the 1990s. I'll show it to everybody.
The note shows this photo, and in the photo, Epstein is holding a big check. The check is mocked up to say that it is from Trump to Epstein. And then there's a handwritten note below, which is not written by Trump. But the note jokes about selling a, quote, fully depreciated woman for $22,500.
Now, the woman's name is redacted, and obviously it's unclear whether Trump knew anything about this.
But, Congressman, you know, this is just coming out. I mean, do you -- what do you know about this? And do you think that Trump is trying to hide things like this?
KHANNA: It's just disgusting. Anyone who cares about the dignity of women in America should just be disgusted by the crudeness of this.
You know, one of the things that really hit me after the press conference, I got so many notes, emails, texts from women across this country saying, you know, I was raped when I 30 years ago, I was assaulted. I had this happen to me, and I was genuinely moved.
We have a culture of dehumanizing women in America. We have a culture of not treating people who are survivors with respect, and that's got to change. And if there's one thing that I hope this conversation triggers around America is how do we respect women more and how do we honor people who have faced assault and survivors more?
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That's really what this is about. And I hope it's a wake-up call for the culture in our country that's allowing this kind of behavior.
And where people are saying -- where rich people are saying, you can be -- if you're rich, and if you have political connections, you can take advantage of young girls. It's not just Epstein. Theres a broader problem in this country that we need to address.
BURNETT: Congressman, thank you so much.
KHANNA: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. Barry Levine is here with me now, author of "The Spider: Inside the Criminal Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell".
So, Barry, on the signature -- obviously, Trump's press secretary is denying it, right? They're pushing ahead, they say, with defamation, saying Trump didn't draw the picture. Trump didn't sign it.
Interestingly, Republican Congressman Don Bacon has just come out and said it is unlikely that the signature is forged.
Youve been studying Trump's signature on letters that go back more than 20 years. So, this issue of time and when something was signed is one, you know, well, you do believe the birthday book signature is legitimate.
BARRY LEVINE, AUTHOR, "THE SPIDER": Oh, yes. Absolutely, Erin. I mean, and Trump, of course, tonight is pushing back as he always does. This is from the playbook of his former mentor Roy Cohn, which is deny, deny, deny dispute, dispute, dispute, dispute, and sue.
However, if he takes this the whole way and we know that this is legitimate, he will face a deposition under oath by "The Wall Street Journal", not only just about the signature and the birthday book letter, but he'll also face questions about his relationship with Donald Trump.
So I don't think at the end of the day, it's a smart move to continue down this road. But, you know, we'll see how far it goes.
BURNETT: All right. Now as -- as we're speaking here, just had a chance to print out and look at the non-prosecution agreement. One of the things just released by the committee, this is significant.
This is the agreement between Alex Acosta, who ended up resigning in his role as Trump's labor secretary in his first administration, about over this, over his role in Epstein, between him and Jeffrey Epstein. About when he had to register as a sex offender. And then people were not prosecuted.
Okay, a few things stand out as you go through these, I guess let's start with one of the most important, which is I saw this and was wondering what you thought about it. Barry, in this deal between the U.S. government and Jeffrey Epstein, the sweetheart deal, the United States will provide Epstein's attorneys with a list of individuals whom it has identified as victims. It continues to say that Epstein's counsel may contact the identified individuals.
LEVINE: You know, this is so upsetting, Erin, to see this now finally in print from these, you know, unredacted documents that have been released to the oversight committee from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. The fact of the matter is, is that Jeffrey Epstein agreed to the plea deal, which was a solicitation of a minor.
BURNETT: Yeah.
LEVINE: Okay, we're talking about one victim. And from these documents, from these brand new documents that we're seeing now for the first time, the government is rolling over to Jeffrey Epstein, and he's -- and they're providing him with a list of all the victims, which is absolutely unfair to these victims.
BURNETT: Right. And then he could go after them and threaten them or all sorts of things. I mean, I was shocked to see that you would be given a list.
LEVINE: And we do know -- we do know that that some of these victims were threatened. In fact, he was able and his defense team was able to get ahead of the ball of possible, lawsuits filed by the victims against him. They were able to dig up -- attempt to dig up dirt on these children before they made any type of legal maneuvers against Jeffrey Epstein at the time.
So, this is wrong.
BURNETT: And one other crucial thing -- you have focused so much on coconspirators and what happened with that, and that is laid out in here that the United States will not have any criminal charges against any potential coconspirators of Epstein, any.
Now, some of these names here listed are individuals that you have known their names before, but this says any potential coconspirators.
LEVINE: Yeah. And what's significant here, of course, in these unredacted documents from the estate is that it's specifically -- we know the names of these four women who were identified by the Palm Beach police initially as coconspirators. They were schedulers. They worked for Ghislaine Maxwell.
These were women who actually, talked to the girls and scheduled when they would be coming in and so forth. What's significant is that they are named here in black and white. And now I think it opens the door for the oversight committee to extend subpoenas to these women.
BURNETT: Because they are named.
LEVINE: Because they are named. Yes.
BURNETT: Right. And they would know so much. That's crucial.
LEVINE: Yeah. Now, while they -- while they possibly could come in, you know, under some type of immunity, it would be important to bring them in, to fill in some of these pieces and they would be speaking now for the first time under oath if, if in fact, the oversight committee goes that way. So, we are seeing at the very beginning here tonight, bombshell information from these documents.
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BURNETT: All right. Absolutely. And these -- and these names listed. All right. Thank you very much, Barry.
And next, more breaking news, "The New York Times" with new details about how one of the biggest banks in America enabled Jeffrey Epstein. The lead reporter on this years-long effort, is next.
And a major Illinois mayor warning his entire city that ICE raids could begin any moment as the Supreme Court okays Trump's tactics in his crackdown. Can anything be done? The mayor is here live.
And horrific new video of a Ukrainian refugee's murder caught on camera. It is absolutely horrific. Trump is now seizing on this to push his nationwide crackdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, a new investigation, how the biggest bank in America enabled Jeffrey Epstein. And this is from "The New York Times" tonight. And they spent years on this, getting access to thousands of pages of internal bank records, sealed deposition transcripts, financial data, interviewing key people directly involved.
[19:25:05]
One of the reporters who put in all of that work and broke this story joins us now. David Enrich, deputy investigations editor of "The New York Times".
David, I really, really appreciate your time. So we're talking here, J.P. Morgan, the bank continued working with Epstein even after he had pleaded guilty to a sex crime, right? So we've been talking about that in our prior segment. Now we're seeing that agreement between him and Alexander Acosta.
But Epstein was under federal investigation for human trafficking. They continued to work with him at the bank, even though there were major concerns among people who worked there about the relationship.
So, I guess just to start off first, David, because the money trail is everything here. How extensive was the relationship between Epstein and J.P. Morgan?
DAVID ENRICH, DEPUTY INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it was essentially a financial lifeline for Jeffrey Epstein at a time that very few, if any other major banks in the United States were willing to do business with him. And starting years before he pleaded guilty to a sex crime, people inside the bank started getting really concerned about what they were seeing. And what they were seeing, in part, was that Epstein was withdrawing millions of dollars in cash from his accounts and was using J.P. Morgan to zap his money all over the world, including to countries and banks where he was known to be procuring women and girls, in some cases for his sex trafficking operation.
So, there were a lot of red flags waving in everyone's faces at the bank, and people saw them and decided to essentially look the other way and continue doing business with him because he was a lucrative client.
BURNETT: It is pretty incredible, though, what you're saying, though, you're saying that all these red flags that you're laying out, zapping money around the world, as you describe it, to places where he was known to have trafficked women.
Were there -- I understand you've learned there were some there were some in the bank, who saw this and really, really did put their hand up, right? There were some who didn't. There were some who did. What have you -- what did you learn about them and what happened to those efforts?
ENRICH: Well, over and over again, people -- whether they were anti- money laundering specialists or lawyers or compliance experts at the bank, said that they were seeing things that really troubled them and that Epstein should simply should not be a client of the bank. He was not an honorable person. He was a known criminal, a registered sex offender, and he the type of customer that J.P. Morgan should be doing business with.
And those efforts and those calls to remove him as a client were over and over again met with resistance from the very highest executives at the bank who repeatedly went to bat for Jeffrey Epstein and managed until 2013 to keep him as a client. And that's a service that was absolutely essential to the sex trafficking operations that he was -- we now know he was running all over the world, which involved money being moved all over the place.
BURNETT: Yeah. So, a spokesperson for J.P. Morgan told you that the banks relationship with Epstein, and I quote, was a mistake. And in hindsight, we regret it. But we did not help him commit his heinous crimes. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was engaged in an ongoing sex trafficking operation.
I guess, David, it's important to note the word ongoing there because as you point out, that the bank did continue working with Epstein, even after he had pleaded guilty for a sex crime with an underage minor. So that that word ongoing takes a lot of weight in that sentence.
Do you buy it?
ENRICH: I mean, I buy that not everyone at the bank realized the full scope of Epstein's crimes. But look, we have seen internal communications, lots of them, where people are fully aware that not only has Epstein admitted to being a sex criminal, but there were ongoing federal investigations into him trafficking women all over the world. And yet even knowing that they affirmatively chose to keep doing business with him and keep serving him as a client.
So, to me, those words ring a little bit hollow. But obviously I would let readers reach their own conclusions, as always.
BURNETT: All right. Well, David, I appreciate your time and thank you so much. I know that you and your team put years and years incredible effort into this, and it should be recognized as such, incredible reporting. And thank you.
ENRICH: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, an Illinois mayor sounding the alarm tonight. ICE raids about to start in his city as the Supreme Court greenlights Trump's crackdown. The mayor joins us live.
And an explosive clash between Trump's top economic officials in public. The treasury secretary reportedly threatening to punch another official in, quote, you're f-ing face, quote. The reporter who broke the story with every excruciating detail is here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:50]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the Supreme Court greenlighting President Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown across the United States. The nation's top court ruling that ICE can, for now, resume its so-called roving patrols in southern California, where masked agents pull aside Latinos, including U.S. citizens, to determine their immigration status. This comes on the same day that the administration told Illinois it's next.
DHS announcing what they call operation Midway Blitz, continuing with the war terminology that Trump was so happy to trumpet this weekend, saying in part, quote, this ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.
Daniel Biss is OUTFRONT now. He is the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, a suburb, right outside Chicago, home to 10,000 international students at northwestern university, among others.
So, Mayor, I appreciate your time. I know you just warned your entire city publicly that ICE operations are imminent, and I should also state that you are running for Congress as a Democrat as you and I sit here speaking.
But, Mayor, you say this is imminent. So, what else do you know? Or are you also basically in the dark? I mean, what do you know about what's about to happen over the next few hours and days? MAYOR DANIEL BISS (D), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS: Well, first of all, I am absolutely in the dark. The Trump administration wants to keep us guessing, wants to use our uncertainty to keep us afraid. But the reason that we communicated with our residents this morning is that I got information from a senior state official last night indicating that they had good intel, that they thought it was likely that ICE would be coming to Evanston today and in the coming days, and we just felt that we had a responsibility to let our residents know so they could work to protect themselves.
We've been doing everything we can to protect our residents from before Donald Trump took office, passing strong sanctuary laws to make sure our police are not cooperating with federal civil immigration enforcement. Protecting our data, switching off our license plate cameras when we learned that that data was being shared. But we also need to make sure our residents know as much as possible so they can take the steps they need to protect themselves.
BURNETT: So, Mayor, the DHS announcement comes on the same day that the Supreme Court made -- it was a stunning decision. Okay, they have given President Trump a green light for ICE to continue its roving patrols, right? And to pull people aside any reason they want to. Is there anything your residents can do if this is what ICE starts doing now that there's been this ruling?
BISS: Well, we need to be really clear about what we can and cannot do, and we want people to be aware of the risks so that they can make appropriate calculations. It's part of why we communicate the way they do. And I know that there are people staying home. I know there are people keeping their children at home from school. There are businesses unsure about whether or not they should operate, and they're making their own calculated decisions.
But we have to do everything we can. And so we're doing that both as a city and frankly, as individuals. I got trained in rapid response. So now when ICE comes to town, I get a text. I'm able to go immediately to the location, share rights that individuals have with them, and inform them of their rights. Videotape, bear witness, hold ICE officials accountable.
We all need to do what we can in this moment. We're only going to be successful in protecting our communities from these attacks in solidarity.
BURNETT: President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, was on with Jake yesterday. He defended it. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: We're going to war with illegal aliens, public safety threats that raped children, that raped citizens, that committed armed robberies, that distribute narcotics that kill Americans. We're at war with the criminal cartels. And Governor Pritzker protects criminal, illegal alien public safety threats every day in that state, along with Mayor Johnson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Mayor Biss, what do you say to that?
BISS: It's absurd. I'm so proud of our police department. I'm so proud of how they have worked successfully to make our city safer and safer. We are fortunate to have gone two and a half years now without a homicide in Evanston for the first time in my lifetime.
And the last thing we need is for our police officers to be distracted from the actual job they do phenomenally well to terrorize our people, the very people they're supposed to be keeping safe. So, it's just dishonest. It's inaccurate.
And real efforts to keep our people safe are not only okay, they're important. They're critical. It's what I do every day as mayor. It's the opposite of what ISIS is trying to achieve.
BURNETT: Mayor Biss, we appreciate your time and thank you very much. As I know this, as you said, could be happening here in these next few hours in Evanston. Thank you.
And also breaking tonight, as we're speaking, the president seizing on the horrific murder of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte. It is absolutely horrific, unbearable to even imagine. And it was caught on camera.
Iryna Zarutska was sitting on a light rail car when surveillance video shows she was stabbed from behind repeatedly. She was only 23 years old. She had recently come to the United States to escape the war in Ukraine. Trump tonight saying this about her murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's right on the tape. Not really watchable because it's so horrible, but just viciously stabbed. She's just sitting there. So, there are evil people. We have to be able to handle that. If we don't handle that, we don't have a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It all comes, of course, as Trump is seizing, trying to seize control of other cities that he says are not safe.
Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The images captured on surveillance video begin routinely enough as Iryna Zarutska boards the blue line train in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22nd, just before 10:00 p.m. She takes her seat. We stopped the video here because of what happens next.
Unprovoked, the man who was sitting behind her, identified as Decarlos Brown Jr., fatally stabbed Zarutska. According to police, the train travels for approximately 4-1/2 minutes before the suspect pulls a knife from his pocket, unfolds the knife, pauses, then stands up and strikes at the victim three times.
[19:40:00]
Zarutska was 23 years old. Her family described her as a gifted and passionate artist. According to her obituary, she emigrated from Ukraine with her mother, sister and brother to escape the war, and she quickly embraced her new life in the United States.
While that attack happened last month, the Charlotte area transit system released the surveillance video this past week reigniting concerns about violent crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel safe riding public transportation, but I got to go to work. Obviously, you know, you see, you get your few -- your few people here and there that may cause some type of concern. Like yesterday, I did get followed, actually on the train.
CARROLL: The suspect is in custody and charged with first degree murder. He has an extensive criminal background. Court records show he has 14 previous arrests in Charlotte alone. He served at least five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon.
In January, police arrested Brown for misusing the 911 system after he called saying manmade material controlled when he ate, walked and talked. His mother telling CNN Brown struggled with mental illness and was living in a homeless shelter. When she heard about the arrest, she said I didn't think it was him. A judge has ordered Brown to be evaluated for 60 days in a local hospital, and while numbers show violent crime in Charlotte is down 25 percent in the first half of this year, the attack has become a political flashpoint with Republican leaders attacking the state's Democrats for being soft on crime.
The president posted on Truth Social, "What the hell was he doing riding the train and walking the streets? The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer's knife. And now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats, who refuse to put bad people in jail."
Charlotte's mayor responded to critics late Monday, saying in a statement to CNN, what we know is that this was a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates. Our police officers arrest people only to have them quickly released. She went on to say, we need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions, and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (on camera): And, Erin, the mayor, also telling us that security personnel will be redeployed for a stronger presence in the area. She also said that Charlotte police will also be increasing their patrols. And we also have to tell you that the mayor -- that the governor of the state also weighing in on this issue, saying more police are definitely needed. He also said this is why his budget has called for increasing more police out there on the streets -- Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely, unbelievably horrific story. Jason, thank you.
And next, we do have new details coming in on an explosive fight between Trump's treasury secretary and another administration official. We don't use the words lightly. Scott Bessent threatening to take it outside, erupting at one of the most exclusive and lavish restaurants in Washington. The reporter who broke it with incredible details is with us.
And I'll introduce you to my "Champion for Change". She's turning land conservation into a fight for healthier food and stronger kids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You grow your own tomatoes?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yeah, but not this year. Our garden got destroyed by mint.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:42]
BURNETT: Tonight, and I quote, I'm going to punch you in your effing face because it's not me saying it. It is a quote from the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a threat made, apparently to the top federal housing official, Bill Pulte, after Bessent heard that Pulte had been badmouthing him to President Trump.
Now, this is according to my next guest, who's bombshell reporting details how Bessent confronted Pulte at an exclusive Washington dinner club that has a half $1 million membership fee. So, this is a very exclusive group here. To state the obvious, several Trump cabinet members are nearby, and this all goes down.
Bessent reportedly saying to Pulte, quote, why the F are you talking to the president about me? F you, I'm going to punch you in your F-ing face.
Well, the two officials were then apparently placed at opposite ends of a large table in order to stop the expletive-laden tirades and allow the dinner to continue.
But it comes after Bessent reportedly got into a heated clash in the West Wing with Elon Musk in April, a class that ultimately turned physical over leadership at the IRS.
Rachael Bade is OUTFRONT. She is the reporter who broke the story for "Politico" with all of the incredible details.
Rachael, this is your work here. So, you know the context here. Most people see Bessent, as you know, depending on how they see the administration in general. But you will hear things like, he knows what he's doing. He's a grown up. He's the adult in the room, on and on and on.
They don't -- you don't generally always hear in general circles, that he would be somebody that would be making threats like this. That sounds like you're basically in a high school locker room. I mean, can you just explain what even led to this scene? What is the relationship between Bessent and Pulte?
RACHAEL BADE, POLITICO CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF & SENIOR WASHINGTON COLUMNIST: Yeah, it's a good question, Erin, because if you go just back a couple of months ago to May, President Trump was tweeting that these two men were going to work together to basically privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants. And here you have them almost coming to blows like this was it looks like weeks in the making. And it's basically a classic dc power struggle, a turf war.
Bessent, according to people who are close with him, feels that Pulte is sort of using this newfound fame he has right now with Donald Trump because of these investigations, he's been letting into Trump's critics to sort of try to bend the ear on policy matters that Bessent feels are in his own territory, and that he shouldn't be speaking to. Pulte has felt, according to people close with him, that Bessent is trying to bigfoot him when it comes to housing issues, and these two have been at odds on some big matters recently, including this notion of whether President Trump should fire Jerome Powell. Bessent has been, you know, cautioning that if he did that, it could destabilize markets.
And then you have Pulte, who's got 3 million Twitter followers going on Twitter all the time, sending hundreds of tweets encouraging Trump to fire him and get rid of him.
But I think the thing that really set Bessent off on Wednesday night, when this happened last week, was this notion that he was hearing from multiple people that Pulte was trash talking him to Donald Trump. He went up and he had a story on his phone and specifically asked him, why did you show the president this story? Well, the story was actually a headline that said something along the lines of Bessent being against firing Jerome Powell.
So, look, it just unraveled from there. And it is shocking, given that, you know, the public persona of Bessent is that he's this sort of soothing, calming sort of voice --
[19:50:05]
BURNETT: Yes, Southern gentleman.
BADE: Yeah. Not last night.
BURNETT: So not that night, but also, you know, he -- obviously, there's been other times before you know, we've talked about his relationship with Musk. But you know, this night -- I mean, just to think about this. This -- it's incredible to see something like this. I've never seen two people behave like this to adult grown professional people in a professional setting in my life. You report that they're at this incredibly fancy club. Half a million
dollars to be there, opening night and, and this happens. And then Bessent wants Pulte kicked out.
I want to read some of your reporting, Rachel. You say it's either me or him, Bessent says to the co-owner of the club. You tell me who's getting the F out of here. Or we could go outside.
To do what? Asked Pulte, to talk?
BADE: Yeah.
BURNETT: No, Bessent replied. I'm going to effing beat your -- I mean, this is -- this is incredible. This is a jaw on the floor sort of thing to imagine happening.
BADE: Absolutely. And it took the club co-owner actually separating these two guys to sort of get them to calm down. They put them, as you noted, at the top of the segment on opposite ends of the table.
Yeah. And I would say it took people by surprise in the room, people who like, you know, both men and just thought this, this sort of manner. Was it just unprofessional?
I mean, I guess the question is, does it make a difference in terms of how Bessent is viewed by President Trump? And I'm really not convinced it does. I mean, the president very much -- he likes -- he likes both of these guys, honestly, and he sort of sees Bessent as this sort of Wall Street whisperer. You can see that he has given him a lot of latitude and is listening to him when it comes to not firing Jay Powell right now.
So, yeah. Will it impact things? Probably not, but it certainly is a rather ugly.
BURNETT: Well, it shows a level of how things that are operating in this administration that it's important for the public to know, because -- yes, it's entertaining, but it's also dead serious when it comes to this is how things are being handled and people are conducting themselves.
So, Rachael, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
And next, my father spent his life protecting farmland, including our own, and my "Champion for Change" is trying to do the same. That's what she's doing, using the land to teach kids, too, how to eat better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Do you know how to harvest this? She was telling me. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go. Good job.
BURNETT: Awesome, Max. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:46]
BURNETT: And finally tonight, "Champions for Change".
All this week, we're going to be focusing on extraordinary people who are heroes in their communities. My champion is Kara Hartigan Whelan. She is preserving farmland to ensure that kids have healthy food to eat, reminding me of my own father, who spent decades preserving farmland in Maryland.
Here's my "Champion for Change".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: Wait, can you do this pepper, too? Your hands are so full. What's your name?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Max.
BURNETT: Max.
Okay. Do you know how to harvest this? She was telling me. I don't know how you do it. Okay.
Max is learning to grow real food in real dirt.
I almost got it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go. Good job.
BURNETT: Awesome, Max.
Something rare in America today.
What are these? Do you know what you're watering? Collard greens. Those are delicious.
Kara Hartigan Whelan leads the Westchester Land Trust.
KARA HARTIGAN WHELAN, PRESIDENT, WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST: Westchester Land Trust is one of 1,300 land trusts in the country. Together, we protect more than 60 million acres of land.
BURNETT: Sixty million?
WHELAN: Yes.
BURNETT: Wow.
She's turning conservation into a fight for healthy food and stronger kids.
WHELAN: I think children like to have ownership, and they like to have a say. And so, if you invite them into the work early, there's a lot of buy in that you may not see otherwise.
BURNETT: Kara has literally helped hundreds of kids get their very first taste of healthy food.
WHELAN: I made a commitment that I would spend the rest of my life trying to protect natural areas that other people could benefit from and experience. The land that we protect safeguards our communities.
BURNETT: Like Stuart's Fruit Farm, family run since 1828.
BOB STUART, STUART'S FRUIT FARM: My dad's been around since the '50s about selling the place, big corporations to small developers. And I said, no, we're not going to sell.
BURNETT: Kara fought for 10 years to save it.
BETSY STUART, STUART'S FRUIT FARM: One man gave me a proposition. He said, oh, you've got two days to look it over. And I -- and I said to him, hmm, let me look at it. I took it and ripped it right in front of his face. I said, I need two days. I only needed two seconds.
BOB STUART: My dad passed it on to me, and we're going to pass it on to the next generation.
BURNETT: Farms like this are becoming increasingly rare. It is really hard for them to survive.
BOB STUART: Mother Nature is can -- can be good and it can be cruel. Two years ago, it rained every weekend, which hurt business. Cut it down about 40 percent. We had $100 left in our savings --
BETSY STUART: We made it.
BOB STUART: We got through.
BURNETT: What happens when something like that is lost? Suddenly, it becomes a development.
WHELAN: Just across the street from Stuart's, actually, there is a development. So, a farm was developed fully and so you can actually see what happens. I visited Stuart's as a child in school. And to see that farm finally permanently protected, words can't describe how meaningful it is.
ERIN BURNETT'S DAD: Oh, how are you doing?
BURNETT: How are you feeling?
ERIN BURNETT'S DAD: Good.
BURNETT: For me, this is personal. My dad spent decades protecting farmland in Maryland, including our own. The fence. This -- this is where I had one of the schools in my
imaginary town. This was the school.
Your mommy used to cut the grass.
I actually recently asked my dad why he did that. He said it just felt good that the place that I loved is never going to change. It can never be turned into a development. It was that love of land that my father had that has always inspired me and given me an appreciation for what conservation can do.
Your need is increasing right now. But the funding has gone down. I mean, it's part of all of the cuts in Washington and the things that are happening. I mean, how significant is the cuts been for you?
WHELAN: Its put pressure on our other fundraising sources. And it's also just led to just an unknowing that leads to anxiety and just trying to figure out if, when we're going to need to replace the fence.
BURNETT: What do you want people to know, to sort of understand about the connection between eating healthier food and preserving the land, land conservation?
WHELAN: We need land to grow food on. It's just that simple. If we don't have these farms, we won't have that local food.
BURNETT: You grow your own tomatoes.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Yeah, but not this year. Our garden got destroyed by mint. The mint took over the garden.
BURNETT: Oh. The mint. Oh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Government cuts have taken away the funding for the Westchester Land Trust. And so many of the across the country, making funding a crucial issue now.
Don't miss "Champions For Change," one-hour special Saturday at 10:00.
And thanks for joining us.
It's time for "AC360".
