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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Posts New Warnings For Iran: "Not The Agreement We Have!"; White House Officials Stunned By Timing Of Melania Trump's Epstein Remarks; Now: Artemis Crew Nearing Earth, Splashdown Tomorrow. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 09, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:26]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, Trump lashing out at Iran just now saying, quote, "This is not the agreement we have," as Iran limits traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. And the supreme leader now vowing revenge.

Plus, First Lady Melania Trump in a rare public statement, distancing herself out of nowhere from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. So why now?

And the historic return. The Artemis II crew now preparing for the most dangerous part of their trip, 25,000 miles an hour, coming back to Earth.

Astronaut Charlie Duke was the youngest person to ever walk on the moon. He's OUTFRONT.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. I quote, this is not the agreement that we have. That quote is from President Trump, a message to Iran tonight where he writes, Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable, some would say, of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have. President puts his names in caps. Donald J. Trump.

Now, according to Trump, the ceasefire hinges on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, right? That is the core of it for him. It is the case when you look at the waterway today and the satellite, the truck, the ships moving, traffic is barely moving, and just a handful of ships were reportedly allowed to cross. That includes only three oil tankers. There are 500 vessels trapped. The three we've been tracking, among them waiting to get through. Iran says, well, you need escorts. And it's complicated because there's mines and all of that, but it's a standstill. The country's lead negotiator is sending Trump a message in the

meantime, saying time is running out. He's the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mr. Ghalibaf. He shared part of the 10-point proposal that he says the Trump administration agreed to, which, of course, Trump had referenced. The White House had mentioned a 10-point proposal. Just appears to be that everyone's talking about a different one.

The one that Ghalibaf is stating says Lebanon is part of the ceasefire, and that's a proposal that the Trump administration says no, we rejected. Lebanon isn't part of it.

Well, Iran says it is. And they say that the dishonors on the other side, they say time is running out as we are now just over 24 hours from a series of high stakes meetings in the actual negotiations themselves. Talks that Trump has said he's optimistic about inside Iran, though the -- they appear more defiant than ever in his first statement since the ceasefire was announced, the new supreme leader vowing to get revenge after the death of his father, didn't say this. Obviously in person, we haven't seen him. It was a statement, but he promised to, quote, bring the management of the Strait of Hormuz into a new stage.

As we just said, it's pretty clear what that stage is. Its Iranian control as that strait is essentially shut after Israel's widespread strikes on Lebanon, there were more than 100 of those strikes in ten minutes yesterday. Reports of more today. And of course, Iran says those are a violation of the ceasefire.

Today, President Trump, meantime, on the phone, desperately trying to save the fragile agreement, calling reporters, including NBC News, where he said, quote, "I spoke with Bibi," the prime minister of Israel, "and he's going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key."

It is appearing that he's talking about Lebanon, and it is not clear, though, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is listening to Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want to tell you, there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, and we will not stop until we restore your security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Pretty clear that that's not low key. That's not trying to be nuanced about it. That's saying this is how I see it and go and jump off a bridge if you don't like it. That's the tone. But let's see what happens.

Jeremy Diamond is OUTFRONT live in Tel Aviv.

So, Jeremy, okay, that's the tone. He's speaking to an Israeli audience there, right? He did. That was not done in English, just to speak directly to Americans, for example. What is the latest you're learning there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that the Israeli prime minister is defiant tonight. We have seen beyond the rhetoric from the prime minister, Israeli strikes taking place in Lebanon. And moments ago, we saw had air raid sirens go off here in Tel Aviv due to incoming Hezbollah rocket fire. And so, it is very clear that while the ceasefire is taking hold in a fragile manner between the United States and Iran, between Israel and Iran, the northern front here in Israel, between Israel and Hezbollah, has certainly not quieted down at all.

[19:05:01]

And that's despite the fact that we are now seeing the Israeli prime minister saying he's willing to engage in direct negotiations with the Lebanese government to talk about disarming Hezbollah, to talk about establishing peaceful relations with Lebanon. But still, that defiance on his right, he believes, to continue striking Hezbollah. And the issue is, you know, whether Israel will actually pare back these strikes in Lebanon is going to determine a lot, because President Trump, were told in a phone call with the prime minister yesterday, urged the prime minister to engage in negotiations with Lebanon and also to pare back his strikes against Hezbollah.

We're told by sources that that is the plan from the Israeli government. But what that actually looks like on the ground isn't entirely clear, particularly as were continuing to see this back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah tonight.

And it's also not clear that paring back those strikes is going to be enough for the Iranians, who have insisted on a full ceasefire being in effect between Israel and Hezbollah in order to proceed with the broader portion of the ceasefire agreement, in order to open the Strait of Hormuz, which clearly is not opened anywhere close to capacity at this hour.

So, a lot still hanging in the balance of all of this. And again, we will see how that all impacts the negotiations set to take place tomorrow in Islamabad -- Erin.

BURNETT: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much, live in Tel Aviv tonight.

Everyone's here with me.

General Kimmitt, let me start with you.

You've got Trump saying Iran is dishonorable, that they're not honoring the ceasefire because oil is not going through the strait. Iran's lead negotiator is saying, essentially, Trump's being dishonorable because Israel is still attacking Lebanon. And that's a violation of the ceasefire. He says time is running out. Does this thing hold?

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS FOR COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ: Well, I think it does. It's interesting that the only person who's not being called dishonorable is Bibi Netanyahu, who in fact, is continuing the war taking care, as I would expect, Israeli interests. But Israeli interests and American interests may overlap, but they're not identical. And I think that's where the problem is.

I think Iran expects the Americans to bring Bibi under control. Bibi is not being left under control. So, this is where we find ourselves at this point in time.

But in a lot of ways, this is like before a boxing match where the guys are weighing in. Both sides are just kind of looking at each other and they're putting their fists up. And what they're trying to do is intimidate each other.

The first round is not now. The first round is when the negotiations start on Saturday.

BURNETT: All right.

KIMMITT: So, let's see how that works.

BURNETT: So, we'll see.

So, Harrison Mann, you're a former army intelligence officer. And I know you resigned in protest over American support for Israel during the Hamas War. So, when Trump said today, "I spoke with Bibi and he's going to low-key it," referring to Lebanon, to the Lebanon issue, okay, do you think that Netanyahu will heed Trump when clearly he doesn't agree, right? Is the -- general just said he's doing what he thinks is best for Israel. And right now, he believes that's attacking Lebanon.

MAJ. HARRISON MANN (RET.), FORMER DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY OFFICIAL: No. And the reason the Lebanese front is so central to these negotiations is, as the general indicated, it's really a test for both Israel and Iran to see whether Trump is actually serious about reining in Netanyahu.

And until he does that, until Iran is convinced that Trump will actually prevent Netanyahu from breaking any deal they sign, they're not going to take these negotiations seriously. They're not going to reopen in any capacity the Strait of Hormuz. And I'm frankly very surprised that Iran's delegation would leave the safety of their bunkers and risk assassination by Israel, which we know wants to spoil these negotiations when were still in a phase where clearly Netanyahu can shape Trump's decision making.

BURNETT: Well, it's interesting. I mean, Trump has acknowledged that that there have been times during this war where the people that the United States thought that they could deal with from the very first day were eliminated by Israel. So that is true.

Nazila, what about -- how -- what do you hear about that point, about their willingness to come out of the bunkers and come do these negotiations, given the eliminations that have happened in this war? As you're speaking to people inside Iran, what are you hearing? BURNETT: I think that shows, Erin, how important these talks are also

to the Iranians. And as you mentioned earlier, Ghalibaf has also gone to Islamabad, who is also a former member of IRGC. He's the speaker of parliament. He's a former mayor. And I think that shows that they are adding political and also military weight to these negotiations.

And the fact that they have gone -- there was the news that they have already arrived there. I think this shows the significance of these talks to the Iranians and how they are pushing for the pressure on Hezbollah and on Lebanon to be lifted. I think it shows that this is their red line, or at least this is the red line that they want to draw.

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And they see Hezbollah as one of the most capable strategic, strategic partners in the region. And they want to make sure that Lebanon is part of the ceasefire as well.

BURNETT: So, General Kimmitt, the Strait of Hormuz is obviously now central. And to everyone involved, and Iran has a position there that they did not have before the war, which is complete and total control.

And the new letter, which is purportedly from the supreme leader, which, by the way, that's why I said it's a -- it's a letter. It's a statement. We have not seen him. We do not know anything about his condition. But this is -- this is what he put out. He was quoted saying Iran will bring management of the Strait of Hormuz into a new phase. Okay?

What -- what do you -- what do you read into that? Given that it's coming from the supreme leader and whatever condition he may be in, the point is that his name is on it.

KIMMITT: Right. And in the agreement for the negotiations, it also said that it would be under the control of the IRGC. So basically, what they're trying to do is turn the Strait of Hormuz into the Triborough Bridge. It's a toll booth. And it's not unwise for them to do that, because this is their way to avoid sanctions. They're going to get millions and millions and millions of dollars every day, usually in crypto, perhaps in yuan, to go around the sanctions that we've set up.

BURNETT: Right. So, they got a lot more money.

KIMMITT: A lot more money.

BURNETT: They get to trade in a currency that's not the U.S. dollar, which also hurts the United States significantly, given that oil is still technically priced in dollars. So, all of that. Yeah.

KIMMITT: And wait until the first U.N. sanction goes against them. They will raise that price. Wait until somebody -- wait until somebody votes against them in the United Nations. They'll raise that price. Pretty clever. BURNETT: So, Nazila, what -- what are you hearing and what do you

make of this letter that -- you know, that purportedly comes from the supreme leader, that it comes from him, that it comes now, that it's about the strait?

FATHI: So, the letter came on the 40th day since his father, the supreme leader, was killed. And this is a sort of mourning milestone in Shiite Islam. So that was the occasion for the statement.

But, you know, it's very interesting. We haven't heard from him. We haven't seen him yet. The words were powerful. He thanked the Iranian people for showing resilience, and he called on them to stay out in the streets.

So, I think he's trying to -- or whoever is behind him, they're trying to position him as a central figure in Iran's politics. But whether he will have as much authority as his father had is a big question, if we're not going to hear from him or see him, I think he is alive because I don't think they could keep his death a secret for such a long time.

But it's still a big question. Why aren't we hearing from him? Why aren't we seeing him?

BURNETT: Yeah. And, General, you know, to that point, what's also interesting is that they have been able to withstand a lot of pressure and constant speculation. And I understand that, you know, the internet is shut down in Iran, but around the world about him. And they have been able to do that and just say he's fine and put these statements out. And it seems to have been enough.

KIMMITT: Well, neither his father nor his father's predecessor were out in the streets every day. I mean, his father never left the country. He had never left the country in his entire life.

So, the supreme leader is somewhat like the pope. He's not a public figure. He talks infrequently. But I am surprised, like many, that we haven't seen him at least in a Friday prayers.

BURNETT: Right, right. Even if there is an injury, in a sense that something you could at this point from their perspective, be proud of, right? That you know, and we not --

KIMMITT: He's a martyr.

BURNETT: Right, a martyr.

Harrison, I just want to, you know, we talk about what Trump posted about the Strait of Hormuz. So, I think it is only fair for people to understand what he has also. And frankly, when it comes to post spending, a significantly more serious amount of time on which is other social media posts, he put out an extremely long one on social media this evening, Harrison, where he took on a number of his supporters. Okay?

I wanted to put the whole thing up so everyone can see if you need reading glasses to read it, go ahead and then your mind can start spinning.

He is -- a take on Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, all of whom were die hard MAGA supporters who have been very critical of him lately. And Trump then takes each of them on. He writes in part, "They have one thing in common, low IQs. They're stupid people. They know it. Their family knows it, and everyone else knows it, too. He calls Tucker a hand flailing fool, Owen's crazy." You get the point, if you don't want to read the whole screed.

Harrison, as someone who served in the military, what do you make of the fact that the commander in chief is doing this and spending this, this amount of time?

[19:15:01]

He's obviously very wrought up and emotional about this topic to take this post in this moment.

MANN: Two things from this really long post.

One, I think it does show how sensitive the president is to the unpopularity of this war. It's clear that he understands that this war is really unpopular, both in his base and in the rest of the country. Whether or not he's seen accurate polling to that degree.

And the second thing, like you, you brought up this administration overall has not really been concerned with conducting this war responsibly, caring about the welfare of service members. The war was a crime and a bad idea, either way. But you've both seen Trump and secretary of defense Pete Hegseth on social media talking about totally unrelated topics, when you would think they would be concentrating on bringing the war to an end.

I served under Trump, right, during his first term, and it's pretty disturbing to understand that somebody like that will decide whether you live or die.

BURNETT: Thank you all very much.

I appreciate your time tonight. And next, our breaking news coverage continues. We are learning of new strikes in the region, Kuwait reporting key sites hit, causing major concerns, violation of the ceasefire. What's happening here with oil.

Plus, First Lady Melania Trump summoning reporters to the White House for a surprising statement that appears from all the reporting to be out of the blue about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

And the Artemis II crew is about to begin what may be the most dangerous part of their mission, coming home, coming back to Earth's atmosphere. I'm going to speak to former astronaut Charlie Duke.

Well, he knows firsthand. He walked on the moon. He knows how risky all this is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:21:21]

BURNETT: Breaking news, new strikes against a key American ally in the Gulf. Kuwait, revealing just how it's been targeted by hostile drones. They say that violated or that targeted vital facilities. Kuwait's national guard is reporting damage to some buildings. No injuries or casualties, though.

OUTFRONT now, Jim Bianco, economic analyst and president of Bianco Research.

And, Jim, I know as you are watching this fragile ceasefire, specifically these strikes on Kuwait are something you're focused on right now. What do you see there?

JIM BIANCO, ECONOMIC ANALYST AND PRESIDENT OF BIANCO RESEARCH: We're supposed to be a ceasefire. And it's important that we get everybody to stop shooting, especially the Iranians, so that we can give shipping the confidence, shippers, the confidence to start thinking about sending their ships through the Strait of Hormuz and get trade flowing again.

If they're going to continue to shoot, no one's going to go anywhere. And we're not going -- we're not making any progress towards opening the Strait of Hormuz.

BURNETT: So, Trump today demanded that Iran stop charging tolls for tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had said that they were able to do that, right? So, this is part of the whole disagreement. But Trump posted, there are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the strait. They better not be. And if they are, they better stop now.

We know that Iran had had had felt that it could charge, what, $2 million a ship or something like that, split it with Oman. They had a whole system that they were floating with.

What does this do to oil prices, which have already now been incredibly elevated for an incredibly long period of time

BIANCO: Well, first, it sets a horrible precedent, because if we're going to start saying to countries that happen to have a coast near a naturally choke point or a narrow strait anywhere in the world, then all of them can do it. The Strait of Malacca, maybe Tangier could do it with Strait of Gibraltar. We could go on and on down the. Maybe the United States could do it. You know, if anybody wants to go past Greenland, you know, the imagination keeps going.

So, it would be very bad for shipping in the long term. It would be very bad for world trade in the long term. In the immediate, what you're going to find happen is the amount of movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz is going to be restricted. It's going to be restricted by Iran.

It's not just going to be, pay your money, you get to go. It's going to be pay your money. What's your cargo? Who is it destined for? We don't like the United States. We don't like Israel. So, anything

related to them you can't go through ever.

It's going to be all kinds of restrictions like that. Restrictions mean less oil. It means higher prices. So, it's incumbent for the whole world and the way that shipping works, that we maintain what this strait has always been. It's been international waters and it's been free flow of trade without any restrictions.

BURNETT: You know, as part of this, everything that's announced, ceasefire or not, it is -- it is always timed around. It feels the market opening and closing, right? And the president is very cognizant of market opening closings and market reaction. Right. So there's a method to that.

There also though, has been a lot of -- suspicious is a very generous word. I'll use it, but it's generous to describe some of these trades. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that newly created accounts on Polymarket placed incredibly large, highly specific bets on the ceasefire, and they did so just hours before Trump publicly announced it. And in those trades, they earned more than $600,000.

[19:25:00]

Now, that's just one. I mean, I can give you hundreds of millions more. Okay. If we were to go through this, as you and I both know. But, you know, I guess the question for you, Jim, is how big of a problem is all this? Do you think that there's any chance that anyone ever gets to the bottom of it? And if there are people who are doing things that, frankly, are against the law, if this is insider trading that are ever going to be held to account?

BIANCO: Well, first of all, I don't think its insider trading because prediction markets are not defined for insider trading. It probably falls closer to like Congress trading their own personal accounts. That is also not insider trading either. But the bigger issue is it goes to the integrity and confidence of the markets, and it goes to integrity and confidence of any administration.

Be careful what you wish for. If we're going to continue to see big trades being put in these markets hours before events, someday somebody is going to put in a big trade and the administration and administration would say, were not planning on doing anything, but the markets will freak out as if something is happening and you will have manufactured a crisis out of whole cloth just because were reacting to prediction markets, not because were reacting to actual events on the ground.

So, if this is happening, it's got to stop because in the long run, you're just not going to like what happened. Sure, you might make $600,000 now, but the damage it will cause in the long term will be orders of magnitude larger than that.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, the confidence and trust in the market, as we all know, those things are easy to destroy and incredibly difficult to build. Chad Bianco, thank you very much. And next, the breaking news. First Lady Melania Trump, in a surprising

statement claiming she was not Jeffrey Epsteins victim or friend. Where did that come from? Why now? New reporting from the White House next.

Plus, live pictures of the Artemis I crew about to reenter the Earth's atmosphere. 24 hours. We are going to be all in watching this, a homecoming. Incredible to watch. But of course, with serious risk

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:15]

BURNETT: Breaking news first lady Melania Trump in a rare and remarkable public appearance, denying she's had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, this just sort of was came out of nowhere. Nobody expected it. It is unclear tonight what prompted those surprise comments from the first lady, who went on to ask congress to allow Epstein's victims to testify publicly.

Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT tonight from the White House.

And, Kristen, obviously, I know this was a big surprise. You've got new reporting here on exactly what happened. What are you learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, I mean, I'm told by a number of White House officials that they were just absolutely stunned, particularly by the timing of these remarks. In fact, it sparked rumors all across the White House campus that she was trying to get ahead of something that most people must not know about. That's the only way she would get out there and do this now.

Now, I am told by people who are close to her that they were a little bit less surprised because in private, Melania Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with the online chatter about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and she's never actually come out and flat out denied it. And she wanted an on the record denial.

And I was told that even within the sources that are close to Melania Trump, who were talking to the team about this, there were some concerns about the timing of this, particularly the fact that this story had all but died down. The White House had spent months trying to get away from this narrative on Epstein. They've only been able to really do so in the last month and a half, as we've been at war with Iran. So, the timing would bring this all to the forefront. But some sources said that for Melania, this was in the forefront,

that she'd been seeing this online chatter, she'd been seeing these stories circulating in various online news reports about her relationship with Epstein, much of it, or most of it all speculation, but that she wanted to have this denial.

Now, of course, Donald Trump did a quick interview with MS NOW in which he told a reporter he had no idea what she was going to say. A senior White House official told me that as well, although we do have one source in the West Wing saying Donald Trump was aware of these statements.

BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much.

Let's go OUTFRONT now to Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. He of course, you know, instrumental to getting the files such that we have released so far. Obviously, I know there's still a lot of fight to get a lot more.

So, Congressman Garcia, do you have any indication about why Melania Trump made these, these statements that were surprising to all the reporters in the room who expected nothing on this topic? Do you know why she did that now?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): We don't. And in fact, we were as surprised as everyone else as to why she made these comments today. Why she made these comments? Is there information that she may be aware of that we are not?

And so, no, it was pretty stunning to actually see these remarks. And I think for us, what was really clear is also the distance she was trying to put herself. I mean, look, it was just two days ago that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche essentially said to the press and to the -- to the American public that this investigation was over and that somehow the DOJ was not going to move forward with anything else as it relates to the Epstein files.

It's been, of course, the president has called this investigation a hoax. And so, the fact that she comes out and addresses the country in this way and certainly talks about the survivors, I think was pretty stunning. It was a -- certainly pushing away from what the White House has been doing.

[19:35:03]

But look, I also think what's important here is to be very clear that we've got to refocus this back on the White House cover up. And at the end of the day, it's President Trump that's been leading that. It's Pam Bondi who we still want to testify that's been leading that. So those are the issues that we've got to focus on moving forward.

BURNETT: And President Trump, of course, for months and months and months and months, refused to put any of the files out and only agreed to do so when it was clear that it would be an overwhelming bipartisan vote in congress to force him to do so. So, the first lady's comments are putting Epstein back into the

headlines. As Kristen said, we hadn't -- it took the Iran war to get them out of the headlines. Right? We haven't heard about it much for 40 days. There's a reason, 40 days has been the length of this war in Iran, and that is something that the extremely influential podcaster, Joe Rogan, who was instrumental in Trump's election and has been critical on several important issues as of late.

But Joe Rogan suggested that this whole timing may be intentional. Let me play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: The Epstein files comes out. We go to war with Iran. It's -- it's a good way to get people to stop talking about certain things. You give them a new problem to think about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you say to that?

GARCIA: Look, first, I don't put anything past Donald Trump. I think he's the most corrupt person to ever be president. And so, nothing -- I don't put anything past him. There's no question that he wants -- he does not want anyone in the country to talk about the Epstein files to someone that tried essentially say the investigation was over a year ago.

He tried to get his DOJ to bury the investigation. He has refused to meet and listen to survivors directly. He's in everything in his power to make this go away. But it's not.

Until there are prosecutions, until the survivors see justice. They see prosecutions, and until we get the rest of the files released, remember, 50 percent of the files have still not been released to the public, half of files. And so, until we get that, were going to continue pushing this forward to ensure that the American public and the survivors get the justice that we deserve.

BURNETT: And I just am glad you said that, because I think every time we say this, I just want people to understand, right? Yes, a whole lot. We're finally put out. Finally, finally, finally. But only half, right? What you just said.

I just think we got to -- keep -- it needs to be repeated again and again. You mentioned Pam Bondi, former attorney general, and the Justice Department says, well, she's not attorney general anymore. So that's why she doesn't need to come in for her under oath. Deposition with your committee. That's it. So, we're done here. We're moving on.

Is there anything that you can do about it? I know that you are not alone. There are other Democrats and Republicans who want her to testify. Your chairman, James Comer, the Republican, he's going to be central here. Have you had a conversation with him about what he'll do with Pam Bondi? GARCIA: Our teams have been talking, but I want to go back to

something that James Comer said. He made it very clear that Pam Bondi had to testify. This was weeks ago. He also hasn't ruled out her still coming to testify as a private citizen. And the excuse that the DOJ is giving is just B.S.

The subpoena, when made on the floor of the committee, was for the person. It's for Pam Bondi, whether she's attorney general or not. We have interviewed former attorney generals like Bill Barr, former secretaries of state like Hillary Clinton. I mean, it's ridiculous that now, because she's not in her position, she somehow absolved.

Pam Bondi knows more about this cover up and why the botched release of the files happened the way they did, and doxing survivors and putting their information out there, not protecting their identities. Pam Bondi must testify. That is her legal obligation.

So, James Comer can't make the decision unilaterally to not have her come in. You have to bring that vote back in front of the committee. We will not support that. I think there's enough Republicans that also agree she has been subpoenaed. A legal subpoena.

The DOJ and Todd Blanche continue to cover up for Donald Trump, continue to want this to go away. We're going to continue to push every single day.

BURNETT: Congressman Garcia, I appreciate your time and thank you.

And next, Artemis II, the crew is about to undergo what may be the most dangerous 14 minutes of their mission. A former astronaut who's been there, he knows firsthand just how it feels, just what it's like to go back to earth at 25,000 miles an hour. And he's next.

And what may soon be the missiles used in American wars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is this the first cruise missile that was entirely 3D printed? Yes. And that's not being done by anybody else?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:44:12]

BURNETT: Tonight, the Artemis II crew gearing up for reentry, pivotal and perilous moments where the Orion spacecraft will reenter Earth's atmosphere at an unbelievable speed and impossible to imagine speed, frankly, of 25,000 miles an hour.

And that is what happens right before splashdown. And that will be just about 24 hours from now. We will be covering every second of that incredible journey home, live here with you.

And OUTFRONT now is former NASA astronaut Charlie Duke, one of only 12 human beings to ever walk on Earth's moon. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 16 in 1972, and at age 36, Charlie made history, the youngest person to ever walk on the moon.

And, Charlie, just an incredible moment that that you are seeing this now.

[19:45:01]

And we are now hours away from perhaps the most dangerous, certainly one of the most dangerous parts of this mission, reentry. And, you know firsthand what that moment is like. We've got your mission, Apollo 16, reentering Earth's atmosphere. Video of that now.

What will it feel like inside the Orion spacecraft when we're talking about speeds of 25,000 miles an hour?

CHARLIE DUKE, APOLLO ASTRONAUT; WALKED ON THE MOON: Well, first line is when you hit the atmosphere, you start seeing flashes outside. If you start ionizing the atmosphere and then the G level builds up really quick. And four and a half -- let's see, seven G's pushing you back into your seat and but that's no problem. You don't black out with that kind of G level. And it doesn't last very long.

And the spacecraft comes in, with heat shield. The lift vector up. And then as it starts to skip out again, it rolls over and puts the lift vector down. And then that brings you back in and you get captured. And from then on, it's just riding it out.

BURNETT: I like how you describe it. That's no problem. Perhaps for you.

But what is the most stressful part of the reentry for the crew.

DUKE: It's the -- G level builds up and but that's not so much stressful. You're getting pushed back in your seat. What you're really concerned about is, is the vehicle starts to hit the atmosphere. It wants to skip like a rock across the water. And so you need to watch that very, very closely. And as it starts back out, if the autopilot doesn't roll it over and push it, pull it back in, you have to take over manually and roll it over yourself.

BURNETT: Wow. I mean, it is going to be just incredible to watch this.

You know, Charlie, you hold the record for the youngest person to ever walk on the moon. Weve got video of you and your fellow astronaut, John Young, driving around in a rover.

It's funny, I remember watching this actually on exhibit at the Met with my children at one point, almost 54 years ago to the day this video was taken. And I want to play something that you said to John then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUKE: Wow, what a place. What a view, isn't it, John?

JOHN YOUNG, ASTRONAUT: It's absolutely unreal.

DUKE: We really come up here, Tony. It's just spectacular. I -- I have never seen it. All I can say is spectacular. And I know y'all are sick of that word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What's it like to hear your own voice then? I mean, you were so young, but, you know, I don't know. Theres just a there's an enthusiasm and a joy in your voice that's infectious there.

DUKE: Well --

BURNETT: Yeah.

DUKE: I was just going to say, well, we were so, so excited. And, it was -- it was just enthusiastic for both of us. Look at this. Every step was almost something exciting to see.

BURNETT: You know, what does that moment mean to you? Now, when you look back, you know, at 90, looking back at a 36-year-old man at the time and, you know, still the youngest man to ever walk on the moon, to know that was you.

DUKE: Well, it's a very proud moment. I was very honored to have been selected as a lunar module pilot. There were 27 astronauts. Only 24 went to -- get to go to the moon, and only 12 of us got to walk. So, it was a very big honor for me to be selected. And, I was eternally grateful for that moment.

BURNETT: And when you think about it, maybe at the time you would have assumed that was the beginning of the next thing that, you know, a lot more people would have walked on the moon and maybe there'd be, you know, colonies up there for a long time at this point. But yet, no, no one ever went back.

And now, NASA's expected, expected to land astronauts on the moon next year for the first time since 1972. And we'll see if they stick with that timeline. But even so that would be 1972 to 2027. Can you really believe that it has taken this long to go again?

DUKE: Well, it was not that we weren't able to go again. It was so successful that they canceled the last three missions on Apollo. And so, we had six landings and 12 of us walked on the moon. And then they said, we -- it's all so successful. We stop.

And so, they decided to spend the money on space shuttle and then on space station and over that. And those programs lasted 20, 30 years each. And so now, we're back with Apollo and with Artemis, I should say.

[19:50:02] And we're ready to go again.

And next year, we'll be landing on the moon, hopefully on another south pole region, which is very exciting. Be exciting, exciting orbit and exciting landing spot.

BURNETT: Well, it will be amazing, amazing to see. And I can only imagine what it must be like for you to imagine watching that moment. You know, one of the -- one of the few. Thank you so much. Yeah.

DUKE: Sure. I'm on -- my pleasure being with you. Thank you.

BURNETT: Yes. You, too. And thank you so much, Charlie.

DUKE: Have a good evening.

BURNETT: And tomorrow, we'll have special live coverage of the Artemis II return to earth. From the moment they enter the atmosphere to the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

And that all starts right here on OUTFRONT at 7:00 Eastern tomorrow night. All the live moments from the mission experts, special guests with us. It will be a special night.

And next, we'll take you to one factory where, with all the pull down in Tomahawks and the loss of Tomahawks in this war, what is the U.S. going to do about it? We found a place that may show us the answer. This special report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:52]

BURNETT: New tonight, Tomahawks under pressure. The United States reportedly firing at least 850 Tomahawks in the Iran war so far, nearly nine times the number the military is expected to receive the entire fiscal year, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It's a serious problem that threatens American security, and the Trump administration is trying to find another way to produce long range cruise missiles.

Elex Michaelson is OUTFRONT

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUKAS CZINGER, CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CEO, DIVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES: We'll call this really the world's first low cost cruise missile.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are designing and 3-d printing future weapons of war at Divergent Technologies.

MICHAELSON: Is this the first cruise missile that was entirely 3D printed?

CZINGER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: And that's not being done by anybody else?

CZINGER: No.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): This cruise missile made 10 times cheaper than previous models, and designed and built in weeks instead of years.

CZINGER: We engineer, manufacture our own printer.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): CEO Lukas Czinger gives us an exclusive tour of company headquarters in Torrance, California, where U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recently visited.

MICHAELSON: What was his big takeaway from this?

CZINGER: His takeaway was, we need more of it.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): The company was founded 12 years ago. At first, they focused on 3D printing auto parts, but soon discovered they can do a lot more than that.

CZINGER: You can go from a suspension part for auto to an airframe for a cruise missile, to a part for a fighter jet, all using the same machine.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): So real simply, what is a 3D printer?

CZINGER: So, when you think 3D printing, think additive manufacturing. Instead of starting with a block of material and shaving it down to reach your final form, you are growing the part layer by layer, starting from nothing and constructing the final shape.

MICHAELSON: For security reasons, we can't show you the missiles being printed, but we can show you these auto parts which are made in the exact same way.

So, if you look in this window right here, you see individual layers being printed one at a time. And this screen shows you the progress. It's about 80 percent of the way done right now, about a 16-hour process. And it's about 4,000 layers to make that part a reality.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): The process starts with Divergent software powered by A.I., creating a design much faster than traditional modeling methods. For example, Divergent partnered with Mach industries to create this drone.

CZINGER: We went from whiteboard session to first flight in 71 days, and that was the fastest on record that had been achieved in the industry.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): Divergent supplies companies, including Lockheed Martin, RTX and co aspire on defense.

MICHAELSON: Has there been an increase in demand with the war with Iran? CZINGER: Oh, yes, yes. We are -- we focused on munitions starting

three years ago. And that was a good bet.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): The same machines printed all of these parts for Czinger's car company.

CZINGER: All of the aluminum you see here, all of the primary structure.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): They partner with brands like McLaren and Aston Martin to create a car already setting track records in California.

MICHAELSON: And that's all thanks to the 3D printing technology.

CZINGER: Yes.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): Three-D printing technology Divergent wants to eventually replicate in factories across the country, producing the weapons of the future.

MICHAELSON: This is really a game changer for war.

CZINGER: Yes

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Elex, it's incredible. We think about drones, right? And how low cost they are versus some of the most sophisticated missiles in the world, those Tomahawks.

I mean, are the missiles that you were just showing us 3D printed? I mean, are those -- are those a matter of future? Are those now? Are they being used in the Iran war now?

MICHAELSON: So, for national security purposes, they're not allowed to say. But if you look at the facts, it certainly seems that way. The fact that the defense secretary came there, the fact that they're supplying all of the major defense contractors that are part of putting out the missiles, and the fact that they have so much demand right now, in particular -- Erin.

BURNETT: I mean, it is -- it is really incredible to look at that and just think about the complete change in warfare and these seemingly antiquated production lines for those traditional missiles. It is stunning.

Elex, thank you so much.

And don't miss Elex on "THE STORY IS" weeknights, midnight Eastern, 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time on CNN. Excellent show. I hope you'll watch it tonight.

And thanks so much for joining us, in the meantime.

"AC360" with Anderson begins right now.