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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Set To Sign Epstein Bill After House's 427-1 Vote Sends Message; Sen. Schumer To House Speaker: Send Epstein Bill "Right Now"; Trump Hosts Saudi Crown Prince For Dinner For Dinner After Day Of Pageantry. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 18, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:22]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, the bill to release the Epstein soon heads to Trump's desk after quick action on Capitol Hill tonight. Will the Epstein files finally see the light of day?
Plus, the royal treatment. Trump pulling out all the stops for the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, from horses to fighter jets. Why? Is it all about money for him and his family?
And first OUTFRONT, KFILE uncovering a Trump nominee's history of targeting Muslims as she vies for a key diplomatic post. Even once suggesting Obama was an idiot from Kenya.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news -- the rush to release the Epstein files after a stunning and overwhelming vote in the house 427 to one. The bill to release the Epstein files is heading to Trump's desk. Senators agreeing by unanimous consent to send that bill straight to Trump. The Senate just waiting on the House to formally send along the bill.
So, here we are. It is an incredible moment. After months of effort, Trump's effort to stop this, here we are. There was even a government shutdown that lasted 43 days, remember, preventing the final vote necessary to move an Epstein files vote to the House floor. Months of personal attacks from Trump. There were only four Republicans willing to do this.
Tonight, you had 427 congressmen to one.
And tonight, Trump had no choice but to crumble, to sign the bill, to do something that he had fought tooth and nail to avoid. And the pressure was showing as he snapped today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter.
As far as the Epstein files is, I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. You just keep going on the Epstein files.
I'll tell you something. I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake, and it's so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, the chairman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, it's pretty incredible. I mean, today something happened to Trump that has never happened before. He lost every single Republican but one in the entire House and the entire Senate on something he had forbidden them to do.
That is just not a small thing. Every single time with Trump. Eventually, they all come around and get in line. But this went the other way.
And in a frenetic effort in recent days, he put every single thing he had into stopping the release of these e files.
So, tonight, when he posted, and I quote, I don't care when the Senate passes the House bill, whether tonight or at some other time in the near future. That is not true. In the past few days, even he lashed out at Republican Thomas Massie, who, of course, was leading the charge to release the files. He called him a loser, weak and pathetic.
And of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who also has stood up for the release of the files. He called her wacky. Marjorie traitor brown, saying, remember? Green turns to brown where there is rot involved.
And even this weekend, when a reporter asked him why he wouldn't release the files if he wasn't incriminated, he had this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: If there's nothing incriminating in the files, sir, why not take --
TRUMP: Quiet. Quiet, piggy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So tonight, Trump has no choice, forced by his own party, he will sign the bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile files. But let's be clear. It never needed to get to this point. He could have released the files on his own at any time, much like he did when it came to the files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. And the fact is that even after Trump signs this bill, the files may
still be under wraps. And that is because of the attorney general, Pam Bondi. She could use the investigation into Epstein's ties to Democrats to say ongoing investigation. We can't release anything. An investigation, of course, into Democrats launched by Trump, even as he simultaneously calls the Epstein files when it comes to anyone on his side of the aisle a hoax, today saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUIMP: It is a Democrat hoax to try and get me not to be able to talk about the $21 trillion that I talked about today. It's a hoax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.
And, Kristen, what more are you learning about Trump's plans to sign this bill, a day that he never thought would come?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, I mean, I think there was at one point where none of us covering this thought that this day would come because President Trump was pulling out all the stops.
[19:05:05]
And as you said, particularly in the second term, he has been able to kind of wield himself as a puppet master when it comes to Capitol Hill. And that's what apparently at one point seemed was going to happen here. But here's what we know. We know that this is expected to come from the Senate, to the House, to the Senate, to the president's desk tomorrow morning.
And when that happens, President Trump, we are told by multiple White House officials, is going to sign this to release these documents. Now, there are a couple of questions. You raise the investigation in New York. It's not going to be just Pam Bondi who might put her foot down. It could also be someone in the Southern District of New York.
The fact that they're the ones looking into these Democratic ties to Epstein, what gets released when it gets released, those are all going to be the big questions. But again, what we are being told right now is that President Trump is not going to stand in the way of anyone of any of this. He is going to sign this as soon as it comes to him. We're not sure if this is going to be some kind of pomp and circumstance where he does it on camera like he does so many other things, or given how he feels about this, maybe it's something he just does quietly behind closed doors and then it will move forward to the Justice Department. And that is where we'll wait to see what actually gets released again, and when.
BURNETT: Yeah. That's right. And what's redacted and what's really there. All of these unknown questions.
Kristen, thank you. And I want to go now to the top Democrat on the House Oversight
Committee, Congressman Robert Garcia, to talk about some of those questions.
Congressman, you won this vote overwhelmingly. This is a day I don't -- I mean, I would imagine you didn't even think what happened 427 to one in the House when you had four Republicans on this lonely little island for months. And Trump had everyone else going along with him and refusing to do this.
Now Trump's going to sign it. But then there's this other question, whether you believe the Epstein files actually will come out and see the light of day after all of this, do you?
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I do, and let me tell you why and how were going to get there. First, this is an important day for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and just the horrors that they have been through. And I've been talking to a lot of them throughout the day. And this is an incredible day for them and something that they fought for. And I think that's something important that important that we should always uplift.
Look, the president has spent the last few months doing everything that he could to stop the Epstein files from being released. There's a subpoena our committee has for the files. DOJ has slow walked that. He continues to try to lobby members of his own party to stop the release of the files.
And all of that was put to rest over these last few days by releasing the last group of 23,000 documents that our committee and as Democrats forced Republicans to do, we also made sure that people recognize that there is a connection between Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and a relationship where there are questions that need to be answered. So, I commend Republicans for taking this courageous stand.
A few days ago, we thought we could get maybe a couple dozen. It looked like maybe we were up to 100 just the day before yesterday. And now we have almost every single Republican voting yes, sailing through the Senate, and now on to the president's desk.
But the president can release the files right now. He did not even need a bill. And he's got to end this White House cover up.
BURNETT: So then then that leads me to another question, right? I mean, there's the issue of redactions. And then there's also the issue of, well, well, you know, when were presented with files and maybe video and who knows what else, what is that really? I mean, do you have concerns that the files may have been in any way messed with, tampered with?
GARCIA: Of course, I have those concerns, and obviously I don't trust the Trump Department of Justice. But let me lay something else out, which is important to that point. We know that right now the president has a choice to make. He could be honest. He could come clean and release the files to the American public and with justice to the survivors. What we expect he's probably doing is by launching this kind of new
sham investigation, where he's only going after his political enemies or Democrats. He may use that as an excuse to try to stop or delay further release of the files, because right now they haven't done anything to the public. So that is a real concern. So, we have to watch that investigation. That investigation in no way should slow down the release of the files to the public.
Now, as far as the files and what's in there, I'll say this -- there are hundreds of FBI agents and law enforcement officials that have worked to put these files together. We've heard from some of them.
The idea that the president or anyone is going to direct some type of destruction or removal or, or that we're not going to get the information or its going to come to us in a different way, there are plenty of good American patriots that have worked on this. They know what's in the files, and we're not going to allow that to happen. Those survivors deserve the truth and justice.
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BURNETT: So, when you said today and you've said this many times, Trump could release the files anytime he wanted, right. And you said he refuses to do so, which, of course, he has. And that's just a fact, right? Otherwise, he would have he would have done so.
Obviously, he hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing. But those emails that came out that were released by your committee did show his name, right? It did show that there -- there was a relationship between the two men, which we all know to have been the case, right? They were friends over a long period of time.
Why do you think back to the question that he was asked by that reporter, if he's not incriminated in the files, and again, he's not been charged with anything, why do you think he hasn't released them?
GARCIA: Well, that's a good question. And I want to remind the president, you know, he likes to underplay their relationship and lie about all sorts of things. I mean, look, he said the birthday note didn't exist. We proved that to be the opposite, of course.
He has said he wasn't very close to Jeffrey Epstein or didn't know him very well. Jeffrey Epstein called him his best friend of ten years. There was a photo of the two of them on Jeffrey Epstein's desk.
Now, you know, he wanted to release the files. Now he doesn't. So all of that goes back to the question, and it leads back to the White House. Why the lies? Why are we not just telling the truth? What are we actually hiding?
And who are the powerful men that are being protected right now in the Epstein files by the Trump White House.
BURNETT: Which your colleague Congressman Ro Khanna referred to today, he said, what comes out? His words will shock the conscience of this country. Do you agree? GARCIA: I do, and I think -- I think that what we're going to learn is that there are very, very powerful men in this country, and there were some around the world that did horrors to women and girls and children at the time, and they right now there is zero consequence. And I have talked to women across this country, girls across this country who are watching what we are doing right now and asking themselves the question, will their government stand up for them if a horror occurs to them? If someone is abused in our country, they need to know that the government and the highest levels of their country is going to protect them, is going to look out for them and is going to hold those accountable, which is why this case and this investigation is so important.
We are not going to stop until we get the truth.
BURNETT: Congressman, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.
And my panel is here. We're going to be joined by Haley Robson in just a few moments. A survivor who is in Washington today for that for this momentous vote.
Barry, that vote, 427 to one, even a week ago, days ago, nobody would have thought such a thing could happen. And here we are. You know, I mean, talk about a tsunami. You know, domino doesn't even capture what has just happened. Did you ever think you'd see this?
HARRY LEVINE, AUTHOR, "THE SPIDER": You know, Erin, this is really a special, special day for the survivors. I remember sitting when Judge Berman allowed two dozen of the survivors to come into his court after Jeffrey Epstein's death to make victim impact statements. It was very, very emotional, very moving.
And today, the lawmakers applauding the survivors who were up in the House gallery and they in turn applauding the lawmakers below. This was really a special day. And now, it's time to do the work. Now, it's time to get into those files. And despite the redactions, let's really see what's in there.
BURNETT: And to see what we get.
Now, Tara, to this point, you published a brand new piece in the red letter on your Substack, which I hope everyone will read in full, but in it you say you're worried that today may be in your words, short lived, and that Trump or the DOJ could find ways to not release the files, right? Then there's this issue of redactions.
You know what if something like this happens, right. Either its slow walk or there's massive redactions, or would the level of outrage force the issue as it has now with the vote itself?
TARA PALMERI, REPORTED EXTENSIVELY ON EPSTEIN AND MAXWELL: I would hope so. I mean, I know that a lot of people who are dedicated to this story and to justice have already been very furious about the fact that all we have seen so far when the DOJ hands over anything is just redactions, black lines, black lines, useless papers, documents and documents that are completely useless. "Bloomberg" actually reported back in august that when they FOIA,
which is a freedom of information request, they asked the FBI to hand over Epstein documents. They actually redacted President Trump's name files that previously had his name were redacted. So they've already been working on this. Right now, hundreds of people have been going through and looking at the names of prominent men.
So, I have to assume that those people who are working on the freedom of information request, which is our freedom and right as Americans to know what the government is holding on to, have already started this process back in July, when they announced that there was nothing here, case closed. Although now the case has been reopened. And that's another way they could stop this.
BURNETT: Right. Which is a crucial point that I know you've raised.
I mean, Barry, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said -- said this about, you know, who the people that from what he knows.
[19:15:05]
Now, keep in mind what Massie knows, Garcia knows, Khanna knows is what the House Oversight Committee has seen. And that is important stuff. But it is nothing compared to what the DOJ has. It's not as if they've seen that and can't talk about it. They have not seen that.
So, from what he has actually seen, he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): That list also includes at least 19 other individuals. One Hollywood producer worth a few hundred million dollars, one royal prince, one high profile individual in the music industry, one very prominent banker, one high profile government official, one high profile former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician. At least six billionaires, including a billionaire from Canada. We know these people exist in the FBI files.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And we also know that there are likely many more than the ones he just described, right? Again, back to your crucial point. If you don't get just sheets of paper with black.
LEVINE: Well, listen, Erin, Representative Massie was referring to the SDNY summary statements of witnesses and suspects. They're aware of. 20 individuals. And we need to see the files to see what the FBI has done over the years in an attempt to corroborate the stories of the survivors against these men.
BURNETT: Right.
LEVINE: That material I know is buried in those files. We may not get the names, but we hopefully will get a sense of what they did to apprehend these individuals. And if nobody else besides Ghislaine Maxwell was apprehended, in addition to Jeffrey Epstein, then why not?
BURNETT: Right.
LEVINE: And we need to know the answers to that.
BURNETT: And you look at Larry Summers. And you think of a life that was just completely upended because of the emails that came out from the estate, to think about what could happen to so many more individuals, way beyond those 19 that Thomas Massie is referring to.
The commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, you know, in that interview that he gave where he talked about how he went in that house and was offered, you got to get the massage the right kind. How disgusted he was. He had a theory about what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, which goes right to the heart of these files. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: I assume way back when they traded those videos in exchange for him getting that 18 month sentence, which allowed him to have visits and be out of jail. I mean, he's a serial sex offender. How could he get 18 months and be able to go to his office during the day and have visitors and stuff? It must have been a trade.
So my assumption -- I have no knowledge, but my assumption is there was a trade for the videos because there were people on those videos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, do you think there are a lot of videos and that's part of this? I mean, that's a totally different sort of thing to consider what that would be in terms of release.
PALMERI: Oh, that's absolutely a part of the evidence that they are holding on to right now. Even when they raided his House before the first arrest in Palm Beach, they took out tons of video footage. The survivors that I've talked to have said that they always felt like they were being recorded.
If you look inside "The New York Times" article, when they just did an expos on his house, you saw cameras everywhere. And even in the bedrooms there he was. He was running a almost KGB style blackmail operation.
Now, is this something that the government found to be useful? We also know, based on reporting from Vicky Ward and others, that he was actually an informant for the FBI on the Financial Towers Ponzi scheme, that he was a partner in. Steven Hoffenberg, his partner, spent the rest of his life in prison. Jeffrey Epstein did not.
And then he helped with another case of Bear Stearns case, which is in which is an actual FBI file. So, he may have been a helpful asset, like a Whitey Bulger type. And that would be something that we could see in the files. No, definitively, if they saw him to be an important enough source or asset, or maybe they were working on cases that involved these men.
I mean, it does -- it's not going to make the Department of Justice look good. Whatever they did. And well find out soon enough, hopefully.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Well, thank you both very much. On this momentous day, the breaking news next, a key Republican now threatening to reveal the actual names of Epstein's clients if the Justice Department doesn't release the Epstein files with that information available. That's a huge development just happening.
And Trump hosting the Saudi Arabian crown prince, even as the country has incredibly close ties to the Trump Org.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have nothing to do with the family business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Really?
And breaking news, a tense situation tonight. Federal agents unleashing tear gas on a crowd protesting an apparent ICE raid.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:24:26]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling on House Speaker Johnson to send the bill to release all of the Epstein files to the Senate right now. Schumer just saying, his words, there is no reason that it can't be on Trump's desk in an hour after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Senate won't receive it until tomorrow morning.
And tonight, a key lawmaker is warning that if the files are not released as the legislation calls for that, he could go out and just put the names of the powerful men that he's aware of already, put them all out there himself.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT live from Capitol Hill.
[19:25:01]
And, Manu, what is the latest that you're learning on this?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- just told me moments ago he does expect the House to formally transmit this bill over to his chamber tomorrow morning. This after, in a blink of an eye, the Senate agreed to pass that bill as soon as it comes over to the house, something that very rarely happens in the United States Senate. Just showing you the complicated politics that have engulfed Republicans who have been dogged by this issue, that has divided the party for months.
But now, after this 427 to one passage in the United States House, the Senate unanimously greenlighting this bill to go over to the president's desk. Now, the question will be when it becomes law, how long will it take the Justice Department to comply? Will the Justice Department to will comply?
The law calls for 30 days for compliance. What happens if it doesn't? That's the question that I asked Thomas Massie, who of course, led this effort to get this bill passed through Congress. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: If he resists this, if the DOJ release this, could you go to the floor and read these names?
MASSIE: We absolutely would do that. Marjorie would do that. I would do that. There are Democrats who would do that. And but that's not the right path forward. That's the last effort if we hit all of the walls. But so far, we're making it through the walls and over the walls, and we're getting this done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And I asked Massie about the why he believes there's been whiplash here in Washington from the president opposing it to supporting it. The speaker opposing this bill, to supporting it, and to seeing it approved unanimously in both chambers of Congress. He said the president had pitted the Republicans against our base, and that was a big reason why Republicans ultimately bucked the president and force Trump to go on their side -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much.
And I want to go OUTFRONT now, as promised to Epstein, survivor Haley Robson. She spoke at the Capitol ahead of today's vote.
And I know you've said that Epstein assaulted you when you were 16 years old. He gave you an ultimatum to bring him a girl every day. Horrific to even contemplate, Haley, what you lived through. And you are now fighting for the full transparency on.
Manu, as you heard, is reporting that Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman who led the effort here, says that if the files don't come out, he's going to read aloud the names of the men in the Epstein files that he's aware of.
That's what he will do. He doesn't want it to get to that point, but he will do it. Do you believe that we will finally know these names and the many additional ones that are in the actual Epstein files?
HALEY ROBSON, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I think we will. I think our -- I think we will, but I think there will be specific names redacted heavily. And I'm not talking about the survivors. It's unfortunate that it's come down to that. But when you lose trust and you play the flip flop in the back and
forth, and especially with, you know, women and survivors that have already had misplaced trust and have lost hope in our government to do the right thing, you know, what else do you want from us? You want us to believe that this is all like moving fast. There's no hidden agenda, and this is just going to be handed to us on a silver platter.
BURNETT: Yeah.
ROBSON: Like, we have to be very honest with ourselves. And this is just one more obstacle that we've overcome. But we do have a long road in front of us. And I did say today at Capitol Hill, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, if they want to, you know, if it gets to the point of them going to the floor of the House and reading the names, I would be more than happy to support them and stand with them in solidarity because they championed this for us.
If it wasn't for Virginia Giuffre and for the select few that have dedicated and authored this bill, we would not be sitting here today. And I am extremely blessed for that opportunity to read those names with them on the floor. If it comes down to it.
BURNETT: Haley, I know that you voted for President Trump, in no small part because he said he would release the files and then when he won, obviously he tried for months in every possible way to block them from being released. You were in the House gallery today with other survivors during that vote, 427 to one. A week ago, no one would have thought such a thing could happen, right? And you were there for that moment. What was it like in that room for you?
ROBSON: I mean, I think majority of us kind of felt like after speaking to certain senators and members of Congress that pledged to make sure this goes through, we were very skeptical of what to receive.
BURNETT: And then when we actually got into the voting and that 15 minutes and you see the little clock ticking and you see all the people that are voting yay or nay, and I have to say, I was astounded about how many yays that we did receive, which is incredible, because like you said, I mean, you go back a couple of weeks ago, the narrative and the demeanor is -- was very different.
[19:30:04]
So, it was, you know, 50/50, it could have gone either way. And we -- I mean, the pressure was on.
BURNETT: So, today, President Trump was visibly angry when he was asked about the Epstein files. I just wanted to play one exchange he had with a reporter. Haley, for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?
TRUMP: Well, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter.
And what the Epstein is, is a Democrat hoax to try and get me not to be able to talk about the $21 trillion that I talked about today. It's a hoax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Haley, it just gets me back to the fundamental question, which, of course, is that Trump can release the files himself. As the reporter pointed out, at any point, he could have done so right. We didn't need any of this. He didn't need to champion it. He could have just done it.
Why do you think, as a survivor of what you survived, why do you think he's refused to do it?
ROBSON: I know why he refused to do it now. And I will say that I am very skeptical of his position, flip flopping. I think the reason why the government was shut down for 50 days and why there's been so much delaying in the procedures of getting this passed, has been because there has been somebody or several people or maybe a thousand, that's redacting his name as we speak. That's my opinion. That's what I believe.
And I think you heard it and saw it in the emails. He's the only hit -- dog, you know, that hasn't barked yet. And I don't know what's true. I don't know what's not true. The files have not been released as of yet.
But I will say, why would you not want to clear your name? To be tied to something this diabolical, I would be doing everything I can and taking every avenue to clear my name, regardless of what it took.
BURNETT: Haley, thank you so very much. I appreciate your time. I know this is a truly -- a monumental day for the country and for you and for other survivors. So, thank you very much.
And of course, as always, I'll note that Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Next, Trump welcoming the Saudi crown prince to the White House -- fighter jets, horses and a red carpet. Why such an extravagant welcome? Is it really about the money?
And our KFILE digging up posts from a top Trump nominee someone picked to become one of America's top diplomats, who has a history, KFILE has discovered, of pushing some pretty incredible remarks. Wait until you see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:37:25]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump welcoming Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back to the White House tonight. A dinner in his honor will begin shortly. Trump giving the royal treatment to the crown prince throughout the day. Mounted horses escorting the crown prince to White House grounds. F-35 fighter jets, the same jets Trump says he is selling to Saudi Arabia. Flew over overhead. Trump even showing MBS his many White House renovations, the presidential walk of fame, the one he was showing. And during a meeting in the oval office, Trump dismissed any concern over why he is extending such a welcome of MBS to Washington. This is MBS's first visit, important to say since the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, right, who was chopped up with a bone saw.
A Saudi journalist and American legal residence. He was dismembered in 2018, dismembered, chopped up with a bone saw in a Saudi consulate in Turkey, a murder that the CIA assessed that the crown prince likely approved in advance.
Trump, denying any wrongdoing on MBS's behalf, though, saying today that, quote, things happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about, whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Again, the CIA says that MBS not only knew about Khashoggi's murder, but likely approved it in advance. And being a controversial figure, of course, does not lead you to things happen being chopped up by a bone saw, just to say the obvious.
But Trump escalated the flattery by praising the crown prince's human rights record. Now put aside the bone, saw the human rights record in Saudi Arabia. Well, they execute more people per year than almost any country on earth, except for Iran and China and the State Department has highlighted credible reports of torture, repression and unlawful killings inside Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm very proud of the job he's done. What he's done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, to actually bring up human rights in that context, why would Trump offer such demonstrably false praise for Saudi Arabia's future ruler? Plenty of things you could say about him, but he had to go there. Why? Perhaps it's about money.
OUTFRONT now, Dan Alexander, a senior editor at "Forbes" who's done extensive reporting on Trump's financial ties to Saudi Arabia.
Dan, Trump says his family has done very little business with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And you say that's false. DAN ALEXANDER, SENIOR EDITOR, FORBES: Yeah, it's not true at all. I mean, look, Saudi Arabia has its tentacles in various parts of the Trump Organization right now. So, first of all, if you look at the real estate licensing empire that he's built overseas, the main growth engine behind that right now is a Saudi firm.
And they've now done or announced seven deals, principally around the Middle East with the Trump Organization. And then it also extends into his golf business. So, his golf business has collected roughly $6 million from LIV Golf, which is backed by the Saudi government. Now, that's not a massive amount of money for Trump, but what it also did is it brought back relevance to Trump's golf properties, which had lost the PGA Tour, lost the Royal and Ancient, which oversees the British Open after January 6th. LIV Golf and the Saudis behind it helped bring professional golf back to Trump's properties, adding that prestige that he's always looked for.
BURNETT: So then, you know, when you lay this out, I mean, that's pretty stunning, right? When he says his family's done business with Saudi Arabia. So that, as you point out, is false. Trump then claims that while he doesn't have anything to do with his family business, and I know you and I have talked about this over many years, it wasn't true in the last administration. Is it true now?
ALEXANDER: No, it's total nonsense. I mean, look, if you own the business, you've got something to do with the family business. I mean, a lot of people who are in their late 70s who discover other passions in life, decide that they want to delegate the day to day responsibilities to their kids. That's what Donald Trump has done.
But he discloses in federal filings the structure of his business empire. And we can see in those that he still owns these assets of the licensing deals that I was referencing earlier in Saudi Arabia, his family members owned 20 percent of those deals. Donald Trump still owns 80 percent. There's one of the deals in which the family doesn't have any cut at all. And Donald Trump still owns 100 percent. Of course, he still has a lot to do with the family business.
BURNETT: Those are stunning numbers today. In fact, the Trump Organization or yesterday, sorry, Dan, said they're building a hotel in the Maldives, those beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean, with the help of a major Saudi Arabian real estate developer called Saudi DAR Global. How important is that to Trump?
ALEXANDER: DAR Global is essential for Trump. You know, that's the real engine behind a lot of his growth in the Middle East and now extending into other parts of the world. One interesting part of this, too, is that they announced as part of that deal that they're planning to tokenize this real estate.
If you look at how Donald Trump has made his money over the last few years, a lot of it isn't necessarily from creating super profitable companies or new companies. It's from finding new people who will buy his stuff, much of which loses money.
So, this happened with the Trump media and technology group, the parent company to truth social. It happened with World Liberty Financials tokens, and it happened with the meme coin. Many of those assets have gone down since Trump sold them, but nonetheless, he's gotten away with a ton of money from them.
If he can figure out how to apply that same logic to real estate assets, basically creating a lot of buzz around it, getting his supporters, getting foreign investors excited about this stuff, it could mean that the valuations of his real estate businesses shoot up to the moon, and that could get Trump a ton of money.
BURNETT: Dan, thank you very much for your incredible reporting on this of dance on this for so many years. Well, that's why you can just come out and lay out, lay it all down like that. Thank you.
Harry Enten is now OUTFRONT.
I mean, Harry, Dan couldn't have been more clear.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah. No, he couldn't.
BURNETT: Saudi Arabia is really important.
ENTEN: Yes.
BURNETT: Trump has everything to do with the business and Saudi DAR Global is crucial.
So, Trump's welcome of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mohammed bin Salman is going to Saudi Arabia for the rest of our lifetime, for sure.
How do Americans feel about him? Do they feel as kindly towards him as Trump?
ENTEN: No, I would say absolutely not. Americans' feelings are as ice cold as Trump's feelings are quite hot. What are we talking about here? Well, take a look at Gallup polling over the last few decades, negative net approval ratings. Gallup has been measuring this since the beginning of the century.
Look at this, 24 consecutive years in a row, Saudi Arabia has had a negative net approval rating among Americans. That is even more even more than Russia at 13. Of course, Americans don't like Russia at all.
And you, of course, pointed out how Trump feels about Saudi Arabia. And it turns out we went back through the record books and we looked at, okay, who are the first foreign leaders that Trump visited in their country during his first and his second term? Well, guess what? In both of those cases, he went to Saudi Arabia.
That is where he went in both of those terms. Well, this is the net approval rating on Trump at this point, which we will get to in a second about that. You're going to get a second.
BURNETT: But fascinating that the first meetings both times -- there we go. ENTEN: There we go.
BURNETT: With Saudi Arabia, his father and of course now the crown prince. I guess there's what I put an asterisk, refer back to Dan Alexander.
ENTEN: Exactly.
BURNETT: Okay. And now to that other screen, I want to give you a chance to get to the detail.
[19:45:01]
So, Trump has been focusing on foreign policy, right? Marjorie Taylor Greene has been pounding the table on. Why are you doing that? I voted for America first as part of their whole giant fight over the Epstein files.
Is this focus on foreign policy? His focus on that and on ending wars, is that helping him?
ENTEN: It actually is. This, I think, is the most interesting little nugget, which is Donald Trump has struggled so much on the economy. Remember, that was his strength during his first term, his net approval rating on that was always above his overall approval rating.
This term, the economy is dragging him down. Foreign policy is actually picking Donald Trump up a little bit. Look at this. His net approval at this point is 16 points higher in term number two than it was in term number one when he was way below.
BURNETT: Still negative, but huge improvement.
ENTEN: Still negative, but a much better improvement for him versus the economy, which has been awful for him.
BURNETT: Right, right. Wow. And you can see that that decline.
Harry, thank you very much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, exclusive reporting you'll see first here OUTFRONT. KFILE uncovering old posts from a top Trump nominee attacking Muslims and former President Obama.
Plus, breaking news, protesters taking to the streets of Raleigh as Trump's immigration crackdown is now spreading across North Carolina.
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[19:50:21]
BURNETT: Breaking news tonight. New CNN reporting reveals a pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric and conspiratorial claims from a Trump nominee who could soon hold one of the most important diplomatic posts in the United States government. Tammy Bruce, the current State Department spokeswoman, faces a Senate confirmation hearing tomorrow to become a deputy U.N. ambassador.
In the years before she entered government, Bruce used her platform to promote inflammatory comments about Muslims, baselessly suggesting that former President Barack Obama was secretly Muslim and questioning the loyalty of American Muslims.
KFILE found all this reporting.
Andrew Kaczynski joins me now to discuss.
Andrew, this is a really important post that Tammy Bruce is up for in her confirmation. What did you find?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, Erin, we dug into her old blog post ahead of this confirmation hearing, and for some context, again, this is one of the most important diplomatic posts in the government -- I want, and we found a very clear pattern in her writings from the early 2000s and 2010.
And one, we found multiple blog posts where Bruce repeatedly cast out or questioned the loyalty of American Muslims in the aftermath of 9/11. Two, she also had a history of criticizing Muslim majority countries. And this is really important to note, because right now the U.S. is working hand in hand with Muslim countries, not just over Gaza, but Iran and other issues in the region.
She harshly criticized Saudi Arabia, for instance. She called for regime change. If you see this post right here, she said, the Saudis need to be, quote, vanquished from this earth.
And three, Bruce repeatedly amplified unfounded conspiratorial claims about Barack Obama. She falsely suggested numerous times he was a secret Muslim. She also repeatedly made comments that suggested he may have been born in Kenya, saying multiple times, quote, somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing its idiot.
Barack Obama, Erin, was, of course, born in Hawaii, and this is the sort of thing we saw on right wing blogs at the time that she was blogging. And she was --
BURNETT: She was posting, and this is all so fascinating, fascinating what she said about Saudis, that they need to be vanquished from this earth.
KACZYNSKI: And we had all those meetings today, right, exactly, with the Saudis.
BURNETT: Yeah, really incredible.
Okay. You also found blog posts where she repeatedly questioned the loyalty of American Muslims. You know, just by being Muslim and American was something to question.
KACZYNSKI: In the aftermath of 9/11. That's right. And in several posts dating back to the early 2000, she suggested that American Muslims needed to prove they were loyal Americans after the 9/11 attacks, including saying in one blog post it was a reasonable question to ask if Muslims were bad people after 9/11.
For instance, a July 2002 column, we found, Bruce wrote since the attacks on our country, we have been indeed kissing the proverbial derriere of the American Muslim establishment. And it's time we stopped. It is now their turn to do the right thing and go out of their way to show us that they are American first and foremost.
The Muslim establishment in this country should be tripping over themselves to prove they're with us and are loyal and sympathetic, she added. Also, it's time we get off our knees and make clear to the American Muslim establishment that we have a few requirements of our own, and its time they put up as America first, or shut up and perhaps even get out if they haven't bothered to renew their visas.
From what I've seen, the fat cat Muslim elite in this country are indeed loyal, just not to the United States. Another post we found that was actually very revealing about how she viewed Islam was that she attacked the empire state building, which lights up for various causes all the time, for lighting up for the -- for Ramadan. If you look at her blog post right here, she called it an insult to everyone who died in both 9/11 and those subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and referred to it as pandering to the, quote, enemy talking about the Empire State building there, Erin.
So, she's probably going to get asked about these things at her hearing. We did reach out to the White House. I want people to look. We reached out to Bruce and the State Department. Neither of them got back to us. White House did get back to us with a comment and said, quote, Tammy Bruce was an effective spokesperson for the state department because of her steadfast loyalty to president Trump, which makes her an effective voice for the president and the ministrations views on important issues.
So tomorrow, we'll see that hearing. And she could get questioned about some of these things that we dug up.
BURNETT: She certainly will. And I'm sure even just in the very moment of the contrast between MBS today and the Saudi comments, even that I'm sure will be in the questioning.
KFILE Andrew Kaczynski, thank you.
And next, breaking news. Protesters tear gassed as crowds gather in St. Paul, Minnesota, over apparent ICE raids. The breaking news next.
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[19:59:37]
BURNETT: Breaking news, new video just into CNN of federal agents firing tear gas into a crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota. The crowd protesting an apparent ICE raid. At one point, a law enforcement officer can be seen tackling a protester to the ground. Witnesses then attempt to intervene. ICE says that the operations were court authorized.
Tonight, CNN is learning that roughly 250 border agents are now expected to arrive in New Orleans within the next two weeks. And we're getting new protests. Video of protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, where federal agents, of course, were conducting new immigration raids, as this continues to spread to more cities.
Thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
