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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump: Iran "Agreed To Everything", Iranian Source: "Alternative Facts"; Trump Slams Mamdani For Plan To Tax The Rich; U.S. Ramps Up Drone Warfare Training To Defend Arctic From Russia & China. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 17, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:28]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Iran using Trump's own words against him even as he claims Tehran is all but agreed to a deal. The two countries facing off over nuclear enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz.
Plus, Trump versus Mamdani. Was the love affair between the two men always too good to be true? Hear why Trump says the mayor is now ruining New York.
And award winning. This picture from a Trump press conference when an attendee collapsed went viral. The photographer is about to be honored for it in front of Trump himself.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Iran publicly contradicting Trump as the president claims the two countries are close to a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This process should go very quickly and that most of the points are already negotiated and agreed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Thirteen minutes after Trump said that the speaker of Iran's parliament, who is leading the nuclear negotiations for Iran, posted, quote, "The president of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false." And then Tehran went on to contradict President Trump on crucial key sticking points, which include this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The USA will get all nuclear dust. You know what the nuclear dust is? That was that white powdery substance created by our B-2 bombers, those great B-2 bombers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The center of it all I see appears. He's referring to the uranium. Tonight, a spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry telling state TV that that's just not true, saying Iran's enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere.
Now, it is a bit unclear what Trump means by nuclear dust all-in. I mean, you just heard him say that it meant powder created by Americas B-2 bombers could mean, you know, the leftovers of everything bombed in nuclear sites. But he has used the term many times, sometimes seemingly clearly referring to actual enriched uranium stores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're going to give us the nuclear dust.
I call it the nuclear dust. I use the term nuclear dust.
We want the nuclear dust.
You'll get nuclear dust. We'll all get nuclear dust.
You know that nuclear dust blows across oceans very quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. We spoke to the former IAEA chief nuclear inspector for Iraq, Robert Kelly, and we asked him what he makes of Trump's comments, this nuclear dust. He said, quote, and I'm quoting him, "If he can't get his arms around highly enriched uranium, he looks like an idiot. There's no such thing as nuclear dust."
And the uranium, the nuclear dust is not the only hang up, although it is crucial at the center of everything. There's also the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the biggest sticking points in Trump's war with Iran. Trump claims everything is back to normal. He said Iran has just announced that the strait of Iran -- the strait of Iran. Interesting. That's interesting. I guess he just gave them the strait. Ostensibly, he met Hormuz is fully open and ready for full passage. Thank you.
It's a Freudian slip there he put. But a tanker CEO, by the way, told me tonight that they're sitting tight. Absolutely not moving toward the strait because it is not open. They're waiting for more word from the U.N. They say the Iranians haven't given them any indication of it being open.
And the speaker of the Iranian parliament, who I just mentioned, had said that those claims of a deal are false, posted, quote, "With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open," although I'm sure he'll be thrilled that Trump called it the Strait of Iran.
Only a handful of ships crossed the strait today, according to ship tracking data. And so, look, the whole situation at best as we're speaking here right now on Friday night at 7:03 eastern is at best messy. And of course, if Trump is right, and a final deal with Iran is on the verge, as "Axios" is reporting. That's fantastic. It is good news. Even if that deal isn't as good as the deal the U.S. had with Iran well before the war, especially because Trump was threatening to annihilate an entire civilization just last week.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.
And, Kristen, what is the latest you're learning there on where things stand?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, White House and U.S. officials have been very quiet since President Trump has kind of taken this leadership role in terms of a public spokesperson for what this deal actually is. And we have been hearing from these U.S. officials, kind of walking us through what was on the table at one point, telling us that it was considering part of the consideration had been to potentially unfreeze billions of dollars in assets to Iran.
President Trump, in a series of interviews saying that wasn't true. There was going to be no money changing hands. Nothing was going to be unfrozen.
And since then, it's been relatively quiet on the front with these U.S. officials.
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And that's likely because they are just going to let President Trump take the lead on this. We've seen this before.
Now, the question, of course, is what is the actual deal that they might be close to making? And I will say, from talking to White House officials and U.S. officials for the last two days, they do seem more optimistic than ever. They do feel like they are on the verge of a deal. But what's actually in the deal? And that's going to be the big question.
Of course. Obviously, as we have seen, we cannot trust Iran at face value -- face value. They clearly have some kind of indication that they're working towards something. Just given what happened today with the Strait of Hormuz.
However, at the other side of this, we know that enriched uranium was a huge sticking point. In fact, what we were just talking about last night was the biggest sticking point was whether or not Iran would agree to any kind of time frame in which it would not enrich uranium. The U.S. had said 20 years, Iran had said five years. Now we're talking about a whole other scenario where there is no enriching of uranium at all, which really wasn't even on the table to begin with.
So, there are so many facets of what president Trump is announcing that we are trying to understand and get details of, and really get to the bottom of what this means. Now, of course, what we've been told is that Vice President J.D. Vance
would be leading this delegation. We don't have any indication that he's on the move. As of now, he will likely take a press pool with him. They would likely go back to Pakistan.
But again, when I'm talking to these officials, they are still in a very positive headspace about the potential for a deal in the next couple of days.
BURNETT: All right. And of course, we'll see. You know, there's always a lot of posturing that you see. And, you know, going to be some not truths coming from all sides, possibly publicly in negotiation.
Thank you, Kristen.
Everyone's back with me.
Brett McGurk, let me just start with you because you've been there. You've sat there across the table from the Iranians during negotiations and the Obama administration. And as I said, if there's a deal, that's great, because we were talking about annihilating a civilization last week, even if the deal is -- is much less robust than the deal that that you negotiated the Obama administration. Nobody wants -- nobody wants this war.
But you hear the person leading the Iranian side tonight saying the president, United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which are false. They're saying that they have not -- and that they are -- Iran's enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere. But how tenuous are the negotiations at this point when you hear things like that? I mean, you've heard things like that before.
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah. Erin, you've heard the term "fog of war". I guess this would be fog of diplomacy. I've never really heard it put that way, but I think just your lead in, fog of diplomacy.
The thing about the Iranians and you're right, Erin, I've actually squared off with some of these guys even more recently in the Biden administration. Even if you're sitting at the table with an Iranian official or counterpart and you agree to something and it's on paper and its detailed, and you have the fine print, it's really not done because their system has so many different factions. And the Revolutionary Guards kind of filters things to make sure whatever they're agreeing to protects the revolution and advances the cause they have. So, it can take time.
Even more complicated here, because who's actually in charge in Tehran is not entirely clear.
And over the course of today and you had you had an incredible moment where the foreign minister, Araghchi, who kind of he's the English speaking guy who comes out and is very nice to everybody, said, hey, the strait is going to be open. He suggested on their rules. And then the Revolutionary Guards and state media came out and said, actually, no, it's not. He's totally wrong. So, you can see that fissure. So, but if you back up, the fact that
ceasefire is holding, there's all this diplomacy going on, I think the Pakistani military chief, Munir, has been like basically living in Tehran the past few days, clearly communicating with the White House. And I think he's probably putting a positive spin on things as we head in, possibly talks. But a lot of uncertainty, murkiness, use whatever term you like.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, Nazila, it is incredible, right? And as Brett's talking about, right, these fissures of who's in charge and also what the Revolutionary Guards want and what they said on the Strait of Hormuz versus Araghchi hugely significant. Just and again, just saying from shippers, they're not moving yet. They're looking to what they see as the ultimate arbiter, one of the U.N. agencies over the strait.
And they are saying that the message there is we're hearing no confirmation from Iran. It's open. Sit tight with the message that that I got. So, they don't see it as open as of yet.
But Nazila, when you see Ghalibaf, the speaker of the parliament, leader of the negotiations from Iran, such as we understand it right now, just coming out 13 minutes after Trump said, it's basically done. It's going fast. Everything is agreed to and said the president of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false. Okay?
And then he proceeded to kind of break them down and go one after the other and talk about lie after lie. What do you make of that? Of those series of posts coming from Ghalibaf now?
NAZILA FATHI, FORMER NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT BASED IN TEHRAN FOR TEN YEARS: Erin, as you said, I think a lot of it is public posturing, but the Iranians also want to control the narrative here, especially because of the way Trump is putting the details of how they're going to move forward and what Iran has agreed to.
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So, I think everyone inside Iran is competing for a control over the narrative. But Ghalibaf especially because he's been part of the negotiations, he's the man who is leading the talks right now, and he's very well aware of what caused the impasse during the first round of talks in Islamabad.
But altogether, I totally agree with you, Brett, that, you know, today we are in a much better place than we were previously. I think what everybody was celebrating today, despite the disagreements that we heard, is that the fact that there is a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and that was the biggest obstacle to the talks. That was the reason Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz.
BURNETT: Right, right. And of course, that was Trump putting the kibosh on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. I mean, he is -- he did that. That is why that aspect moved forward with Lebanon.
Dan Lamothe, you are the Pentagon reporter at "The Washington Post". And I just want to bring you in here because I know you've got some new reporting on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, which is central to all of this as well, because, you know, Dan, you went through the satellite images. These images are from Thursday. So just yesterday showing three Iranian tankers docked at Kharg Island.
And you say that those three tankers, we're looking at them right there on the screen, loaded a combined five million barrels of crude oil. And then you said there were five ships with a combined nine million barrels of Iranian oil that had been at another Iranian port. And they are also now gone.
Now, you're looking at the satellites and you're saying this happened during the blockade. Can you explain what -- what you see here?
DAN LAMOTHE, PENTAGON REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes, I can. Thank you.
So those tankers at Kharg Island and really anything within the Gulf, the navy appears to largely be leaving those alone. And basically, so long as they stay where they are, they can't cross the blockade line farther out in the Gulf of Oman. Basically, they're trapped there as the way the Navy is looking at it.
Those other tankers, the ones that were in Chabahar, are much closer to being out in the free ocean. Those departed, I'm told they departed prior to the blockade taking effect. The Navy is actually shadowed those tankers out. Three of the five that were there in that satellite image have since either turned back or actually return to port. And the navy is actually continuing to shadow the other two.
I'm told that they are well into the gulf -- well into the Gulf, and perhaps may even reach the Indian ocean by the time the Navy is able to get those to turn around.
BURNETT: Brett, I want to ask you about Trump's post when he is claiming that the Strait of Hormuz, as it is called, is open. Obviously, we're saying in practice right now, it is not, right? Shippers are not yet moving through it. We didn't see that traffic.
Now, that could change. But that's the actual situation on the ground right now. But Trump posted, "Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran is fully open and ready for full passage. Thank you."
You know, Brett, I understand it's a tweet, right? But it is nonetheless an important, perhaps Freudian slip the president of the United States just referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the strait of Iran, given that what we have seen, which is that they did not control it prior to this war, and they seem to. He certainly acknowledging it, their control, it now.
MCGURK: Yeah, I hope that was just a misprint. It's the Strait of Hormuz, the international passageway, which is not in Iranian waters, needs to be the main passageway. That's where the U.S. Navy put two destroyers through last week and was working on clearing mines out. Right now, it's a passageway up on the -- into Iranian waters. And I think that should be unacceptable. I mean, he -- the president put that statement out around the same
time that Araghchi put his statement out. And it looked like this morning there was kind of a breakthrough. But the thing about the Strait of Hormuz, I think Dan's reporting is very important. You know, there's its empirical. You can actually count the ships and whether or not ships are going through.
So, everybody can say it's open, it's closed. We actually can tell. We know.
I will say just one final point. I do think the blockade is working and putting -- it will put real pressure on Iran, particularly as they have to shut in their production of oil as the days go on here. So, I do think it has gotten their attention. It surprised them. It might be one reason for some of this diplomatic progress, but the Iranians will never acknowledge that they will always present themselves as coming from a position of maximum strength.
BURNETT: And, Nazila, that economic pressure you are hearing about. I know from people inside Iran nonstop. Yesterday you were talking about the price of potatoes and the surge, and even wealthy people were suffering. What are you hearing now?
FATHI: The same thing, Erin. The economy is under enormous pressure. And Iran did call the blockade as a breach of the ceasefire. So, yes, the blockade is doing what it's supposed to do.
[19:15:01]
It is putting a lot of pressure on the Iranian economy, and they will not acknowledge it publicly, but it is what they will discuss behind closed doors that matter more.
BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you all three very much. I appreciate it on this Friday.
And next, breaking news. President Trump just threatening to bring a new dawn to Cuba. So Cuba -- is Cuba next? Is it now in the offing? New target?
Plus, it's the photo that was seen across the globe. President Trump staring straight ahead. Someone had collapsed next to him.
The picture went viral. The photographer is now about to be honored in front of Trump. He's our guest.
And Trump and Mamdani, the two did seem to find common ground despite being, you know, politically opposite. But that goodwill is gone. Max Rose and S.E. Cupp are next. And you will want to hear, as always, what they have to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump is warning Cuba -- hey, Cuba, you may be next -- saying this to a friendly conservative audience just a few moments ago. Listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Very soon, this great strength will also bring about a day 70 years in waiting. It's called a new dawn for Cuba. We're going to help them out with Cuba. We have a lot of great Cuban Americans. Not too many people in this audience, I don't think.
But you go to Miami, we have people, Cuban Americans, people that were brutally treated, whose families were killed and brutalized. And now watch what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump's comments came just minutes after he took credit for ending numerous wars, including the war in Iran, which he, of course, started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I ended eight wars, and it may be a little early to say this, but if we add Iran and Lebanon, that will be ten wars ended.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Former Congressman Max Rose and S.E. Cupp are both here with me now.
S.E., okay, I want to ask about that, of course, but I want to start with the fact that he's saying, Cuba, you're next.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.
BURNETT: So now that he feels that he's on a verge of a deal in Iran, it's -- what's the next place.
CUPP: And he and others have been doing this for some time. He was threatening Colombia right after Venezuela. They've been threatening Greenland. You know, I mean, Canada was going to be invaded at one point. I mean, it's easy to end wars when you're starting conflicts all over the globe, both with our enemies and our and our allies.
So, it seems the psychiatrist version of this would be that he's bored and getting, getting restless in Iran. But you can also just see it being his last term. It feels like he's got a bucket list of things he wants to do, and he's going down the list like depose a dictator, start a war. And it seems because he can, because he has the power and Republicans aren't trying to stop him from doing anything he wants to do, he's throwing this out there. Like, what if I do this? Who's going to stop me?
BURNETT: I mean, Max, it is it is pretty incredible, though, that to say that he's getting -- ending 10 wars once -- he's -- once Iran and Lebanon would get him to nine and ten.
MAX ROSE, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Sure. BURNETT: Right? I mean, so I guess if you start one and then you end
it, you can it gets counted on the ending ledger.
ROSE: Sure, for your stats. What was also incredible was the crowd reaction when he mentioned Cuba. Now Turning Point is supposed to be their political base. MAGA central, young people says we're going after Cuba. The silence was deafening.
And what I think that was, was an illustration of the fact that Donald Trump's foreign policy is dramatically different from where his base is and where his campaign was at. Of course, he campaigned on ending forever wars. I would also just say this about these comments. We have a tendency when Donald Trump says things to say, oh, that's just Donald, right? He must just be looking for a reaction from all of us.
This is a man that in this year, this calendar year has invaded two different countries, both without constitutional approval, recklessly, Iran and Venezuela. So there's every reason to take him seriously here.
CUPP: But it's really interesting because on most issues, Trump's base, believes him even when he lies.
On Iran, though, if you look at polling, despite his rosy view of we've won, were about to win, we've been winning, were going to win some more. Everything is going to be great. Polling suggests no one believes him. Very few people believe Donald Trump, including inside his base, that he has a handle on this war.
And that's really saying something because most of the time Americans tune out for foreign policy, unless we're really actively engaged. I think Americans are really worried both economically and about what boots on the ground might mean for us and our families that they're very engaged in in this war, and they have their own ideas on whether were winning it or not.
BURNETT: Max, it comes as Trump is -- you've got Mayor Mamdani coming out in New York and talking about raising taxes on complicated details, but certain wealthy people. That upset Trump, who, of course, used to live in New York.
And Trump posted, "Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is destroying New York. It has no chance."
And then he doubled down. Let me just play what he said here
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look at New York. I mean, he's a nice guy. He calls me all the time, says hi, but his policies are no good. He's chasing people out and causing a lot of harm to everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And, you know, of course, we remember the Oval Office meeting the infamous moment when Trump was very funny, actually said he thinks I'm a fascist.
[19:25:03]
He said, you can go ahead. You think I'm a fascist, right? And he's like, yeah.
And they were friendly. You know, it was this sort of bizarre thing. And now is that -- is that over?
ROSE: Well, every time they interact, I feel like I live in a simulation. So I'm happy that we're returning to some level of political normalcy here. First of all, this was always inevitable. There's too much of a political incentive for at least Donald Trump to go after Mamdani.
What has been --
BURNETT: Vice versa, maybe.
ROSE: What's that?
BURNETT: And vice versa, maybe. Right? It's advantageous to both.
ROSE: Well, what's interesting here about the other side is traditionally for Democrats, it has been a total third rail to go anywhere near Donald Trump. But for some reason, Mamdani base has given him a total pass. Because of course, when you stand next to Donald Trump, this is what Democrats have heard for a decade. You are establishing a permission structure around his fascism.
You are condoning it. You're condoning all the vile things that ICE does, the reckless invasion of Iran. You're establishing that as okay. And Mamdani base has been totally fine with him standing with him.
BURNETT: Yeah, although interesting, today, Mamdani gave an interview with NPR was very interesting. I was listening to it this morning, and about the fascist issue. Okay? And Mamdani doubled down on it.
All right, I'll play it. It's an interesting clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: When you were campaigning, President Trump did have names for you. He called you a communist lunatic. And you had names for him. You called him a fascist.
Now that you've met with him, that you've spoken with him multiple times, do you still think he's a fascist?
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: And do you tell him that?
MAMDANI: Yes
(END VIDEO CLIP) (LAUGHTER)
CUPP: Listen, they seem to have a good relationship. And let me just say about the exchange, what Trump said about Mamdani, which was nice enough guy. I've met him, but I disagree with his policies. I wish he talked like that always. That's totally fine to say. That's an okay thing to say.
And Trump should be weighing in on tax policy in New York city in this very appropriate way. Unfortunately, Mamdani is really like one of the only ones that gets that kind of treatment. Everyone else gets the typical treatment, which is just invective and awful, awful insults.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both.
ROSE: Every time --
BURNETT: You're done, he said.
ROSE: He comments on Mamdani's looks, too. He's a beautiful guy. I mean, it's --
CUPP: I think he likes him. I think he likes that he gets a lot of media.
BURNETT: Well, he appreciates --
ROSE: I mean, clearly motivated by professional --
BURNETT: Physical appearances is important to him.
All right. Thank you both very much.
And next, the breaking news, President Trump just sounding the alarm about the midterms after an unabashed Democrat just won big in a special election. Congresswoman-elect Analilia Mejia is my guest, next.
Plus, I'll talk to the photographer who's about to be honored for capturing this dramatic moment in the Oval Office, where Trump is staring straight ahead after one of his guests had collapsed. It's an unbelievable picture. The photographer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:15]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump bracing for losses, just declaring at an event with young voters in the key battleground state of Arizona, quote, "We have to win in the midterms."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: For some reason, a president, Republican, Democrat, the party does poorly in the midterms. It doesn't make sense. I'm still trying to figure it out. We'll go out. I think probably hire a couple of psychiatrists. What
the hell is going on in your mind? How does that happen?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Steve Contorno is OUTFRONT in Phoenix, where Trump just spoke at the Turning Point USA event.
Steve, it's interesting, you know, he is trying to position this as you know, this always happens. And in fact, it is true, right, that the party in power loses the midterms most of the time. But what we're seeing now in terms of where things are very, very much in advance is, is a is something perhaps even bigger than that? Who knows how it's going to turn out? But that's the fear among a lot of Republicans, right? What are they telling you?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Absolutely. Erin, I spoke with a Republican operative here in Arizona shortly after Trump spoke, and this person said, look, if the election was today, it would be very, very bad for Republicans. Now, they said there is still time, obviously, but they need Trump to go the next six months without mentioning a foreign country. That's those exact words that this person told me because they, the base voters and many, many midterm voters want to see Trump focus back on the issues here at home.
And that is certainly something I heard over and over again when I spoke to attendees here at this event. In fact, I've been talking to Republicans at events like this across the country over the last six months. It is hard to find a young person who is supportive of this war with Iran. They want to see mass deportations. They want to see this affordability crisis come under control.
And they don't believe that Donald Trump, so far, is delivering on this promise. And the fear among Republicans is that especially these young people, young men who were so critical to Trump in 2024 are either going to sit out this election or potentially even vote for Democrats.
So that is the fear. And Trump obviously spoke to some of that today, not only that quote that you just played, but he also made these sort of vague promises that prices are going to come down, that we're going to start soon to see oil prices fall as well. And that will lead to lower gas prices.
But the fear is that won't -- that Trump is not quickly enough, turning the page to an economic and an America first message instead focusing too much on what's happening abroad.
BURNETT: All right, Steve, thank you very much. And of course, you say that the Republican telling Steve, don't mention a foreign another foreign country. And the president, of course, just said Cuba's next up to bat.
[19:35:03]
A landslide Democratic victory in New Jersey, meanwhile, is one of the specific races stoking some of those fears among Republicans. Progressive community organizer Analilia Mejia winning New Jersey's special election to fill Governor Mikie Sherrill's House seat by 20 points. Now that's a really big margin, and it's really big when you consider it in contrast to Kamala Harris, who did win the district but only won it by nine.
So, Analilia Mejia doubling that. Her win signals the district is pushing left. And she was backed by Bernie Sanders and AOC. She ran a progressive platform that included things like abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, national minimum wage of $25 an hour. And Elizabeth Warren's ultra millionaire tax on net worth over $50 million.
Mejia was also the only Democrat in the primary to raise her hand and say she believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. And she says her victory is part of a bigger movement ahead of the midterms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANALILIA MEJIA (D), NEW JERSEY REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: I deeply believe that we, we are at a turning point in this nation, my people. Do you feel it? Do you want it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Analilia Mejia is OUTFRONT now.
And, Congresswoman-elect, I appreciate your time. So, you know, I went through some of the things that you have on your platform, a progressive platform. Let's start with this question.
Is your victory -- put a Republicans aside for a second - is it also a warning sign for moderate Democrats, right, that you ran on that platform and that one?
MEJIA: Well, I will say, I -- my district is a mix of working class, middle class, even affluent constituents. And at every turn I would hear the same thing affordability. I would hear the backside of our democracy. I would hear concerns about this president and what they want are fighters.
They want individuals who are going to step up and say, you know what? We're sick of this. We're not going to follow politics as usual. We're going to step up and speak to the concerns of everyday people. And I think progressives actually have been doing this for quite a time, and I think my message resonated across this district. And I think we will see more of it through the midterms.
BURNETT: Which is obviously very significant as we come into more primary races for Democrats across the country. What do we see there? And that obviously comes before those midterms.
You posted photos of yourself with protesters at a no kings rally holding anti-Trump signs, and obviously the no kings rally are about the democracy issue and about Trump. The former editor of "The National Review", Bill Kristol, says the Trump factor in your race was huge. How much do you think the president's actions impacted turnout? MEJIA: I think the president's actions and the capitulation of the
Republican Party is clear as day to most voters. I think, again, people have been watching the American government turn its guns on the American people. People have been watching a president bumble into, bluster into a war that's costing upwards of $2 billion, and then turn around and tell us that we have to make do with less.
People have experienced an increase in their health insurance. Health care costs 175 percent. In my district, people have experienced an increase in energy costs by 5 percent, housing by 6 percent. So, folks are just feeling the pinch across the board.
You add a doubling of gas price, gas prices, and folks are fired up to do something different. Again, I think progressives have been at the forefront calling out this president and calling out the capitulation of both sides of the aisle, to be honest.
BURNETT: So, in your victory speech last night, you called House Republicans specifically cowards, and you specifically noted their reaction to some of these images that Trump has been posting, right? That when he posted the one where it was clear to anybody looking at it that he was Jesus Christ.
MEJIA: Yes.
BURNETT: And you called on Congress to stand up to this madness. Okay. I put the image up here so everybody can see it, just to remind everybody, Trump said he thought that he was --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: What do you plan to do about this? Because I understand the frustration that people have with Congress. But when you're in there, what can you do?
MEJIA: See, the members of Congress actually have two levers. The first one is the ability to legislate. And obviously, until we flip the House, we're not going to be able to advance many of the policy ideas that regular, everyday Americans really want congress to tackle.
But members of Congress have a second lever. They have the ability to educate. They have the ability to convene. They have the ability to engage their constituents.
When I was running in the primary and in this general, I held trainings against -- for constituents to understand authoritarianism so that they could see what is happening in this administration through an informed lens. I am bringing experts to talk about different policy issues.
[19:40:01]
How can we actually impact our health, our education? How do we understand the impact of A.I.?
I think Congress members -- actually all elected officials, can do more to engage the electorate, to better inform them because people are hungry to not only understand what levers of power they, in fact, have, but to understand what is happening so that they could intervene more effectively.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Congresswoman-elect. I know you're going down to Washington. You said Sunday and that you anticipate being sworn in on Monday.
All right. Thank you very much.
And next, a CNN special report. We're going to take you to north Alaska, where the U.S. military is now preparing to take on Putin should he set his sights on the Arctic. This is an incredible report from our Jim Sciutto.
Plus, I'm going to talk to a photographer who took what is now an award winning image of President Trump, an image that went viral. What is it about it that caught the world's attention?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:38]
BURNETT: Tonight, you're looking at what is now an award winning image of President Trump watching, looking forward, as you see, as a man has collapsed just feet away in the Oval Office. The photographer who took that picture is about to be honored in front of the president himself at the White House Correspondents Dinner. I'll play the original moment. It happened back on November 6th during a White House event on lowering the cost of weight loss drugs. The person you see speaking is the CEO of a weight loss drug company, Eli Lilly, Dave Ricks.
You can see a guest who is standing just feet behind the Resolute Desk, suddenly collapsed and within seconds aides are rushing in. White House medical staff is helping. Dr. Oz is helping, and the president, you see him there, then turns and is staring ahead.
The Getty photojournalist Andrew Harnik captured the moment. Now important to note. Most importantly, the person who fainted is okay. President Trump also made a statement as soon as the event resumed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So, he went down and he's fine. He just sent him out. He's got doctors care, but he's fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, the photographer who took that photo, Andrew Harnik from Getty as I said.
And, Andrew, you know, you took this picture, right? It's obviously an odd moment, a jarring moment. Somebody might be, you know, it's not okay. Turns out he ended up being okay, right? But at that moment, nobody knew. And you take this this photo of where you see the man on the floor and
everyone around him and the president, they're looking in your direction. And an hour or so after you took it, it's around the world. It's viral. Everyone's talking about it.
And I -- I'm wondering, you know, you take so many pictures and you have such a sense of what might resonate and what is a moment. Did you realize how powerful this image would be when you took it? Or were you surprised?
ANDREW HARNIK, PHOTOJOURNALIST, GETTY IMAGES: Thanks for having me, Erin. You know, I had a -- I had an inkling that it would be something, but I really didn't have any idea of just how much of an impact it was going to have.
You know, our cameras move incredibly fast. I use Sony cameras and they can send a picture back to our office in a matter of seconds after they've been taken. And from there, they'll go to an editor and out to the world.
So, when this happened, I sent these photos a few minutes later, we were actually held outside of the oval, for quite some time, and then brought back in to finish the event. So, by the time I got back to my phone, my computer. It had been an hour and a half since those photos had gone out. And I really had no idea until I got back to my -- you know, checked the Internet. I mean, it was just, it was just everywhere.
BURNETT: It was, I mean, because there's something about it. It's quite powerful. It resonates.
I mean, can you just take us into the moment there? Because it's not as if there's just a few people over there around someone who had fallen, right? There's, I know a lot of people are in that room. You're talking about the other photographers like yourself, reporters, right? There's confusion. Someone falls, there's a medical emergency.
I mean, what more can you tell us about this moment when and the chaos in a sense that was going through when you have that that contrast with the president standing there staring ahead?
HARNIK: I think it is important to realize to folks who are not doing this job that you know, behind the camera, there are lots and lots of people. The press, the press group that goes to the Oval Office is a group of 13 rotating journalists. Of that, there's six to seven still photographers. There's Secret Service, there's Trump administration officials all behind the camera.
And so, when something unscripted like this happens you know, it was a chaotic scene. And, you know, I -- you know, a lot of luck comes into this as well. You're shooting, you know, I'm working alongside some of the best photojournalists in the world. They are incredibly talented. Politics is very, very difficult to make something interesting and compelling and newsworthy because usually you're just dealing with somebody delivering a speech behind a podium.
[19:50:03]
And obviously this was, of pretty significant visual moment. And I just happened to be at the far side of the room at the time. And so, as everybody was escorted out, I just happened to be the last one in the room.
BURNETT: Well, it is, as I said, it is incredibly powerful. You know, "Saturday Night Live" put their own spin on it. Here's how they portrayed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. Oh, hi. Didn't see you there. Someone was dying in my office. I think I'm playing this very normal. Just stand there and stare like a sociopath. Didn't even pretend like I was going to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, pop culture, right? "Saturday Night Live", you're going to be getting this award for the photo. Do you think it will be awkward receiving it? When you think about moments like that and its viral role in pop culture, considering Trump's going to be there in the audience when you get the award?
HARNIK: Look, everybody is going to approach this photo with what they're bringing themselves. Everybody's going to have their own opinions. And you know, my job is really just to capture what happens in front of me and report it out. And you know, it's a privilege to be in these -- in these spaces that the general public rarely gets a chance to be in. And it's my job to be the eyes of the press corps.
BURNETT: Yep. And it is -- it is important to have people who take their job with such, with such seriousness and thoughtfulness as you do.
And, Andrew, thank you very much.
HARNIK: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. And next, a CNN special report. We're going to take you to one of the most remote parts of the U.S., where the U.S. military is now preparing for what could be a new threat from Russia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:37]
BURNETT: Tonight, an exclusive look at how the 11th Airborne Division call themselves the Arctic Angels are training in northern Alaska for potential attacks from Russia and China.
Jim Sciutto has this special report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): In the frigid landscape of Northern Alaska, troops from the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division are training to defend the Arctic from Russia and China. They call themselves the Arctic Angels.
MAJOR CRAIG BARNHILL, 11TH AIRBORNE DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: We're prepared to, you know, address any threat that were needed to, that the nation asked us to. Specifically, we are focused on the Arctic.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): The weather is unforgiving. Temperatures dipping to 50 below zero waist deep snow and winds that could bring frostbite within minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Launching.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): But now, there is a new threat hovering above their heads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two and three. Good job.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): These soldiers are training for the dawn of drone warfare.
LT. COL. DANIEL LUDWIG, 11TH AIRBORNE DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: So, this year was the first year that we got as much emphasis and as much push on it. So, we have more drones now than we ever had in the past. We've had drones before, but the emphasis is definitely ramped up, given the technology and world events, how everything is maturing.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): This is the new reality for the U.S., its allies and adversaries, demonstrated in deadly terms by the war in Ukraine, where drones now account for the vast majority of casualties. Ukrainian and Russian forces now deploy airborne drones, which can ram into and destroy aircraft, blow up tanks and armored vehicles, and even rain down flammable chemicals on personnel.
Now, the U.S. is integrating drones into every aspect of training for war. And in the Arctic, they are being battle tested.
Drones operate in hunter-killer pairs. A surveillance drone spots the target. A killer drone takes it out.
SGT. AUSTIN FANDEY, 11TH AIRBORNE DIVISION, U.S. ARMY: This would be something that you would strap right on the bottom of the drone here. This was something I 3D printed just before coming out here.
SCIUTTO: Do you feel like as you fly these around that you're the soldier of the future to some degree, or really, it's the present?
FANDEY: I think so, working in tandem with the hunter as the killer, for example. It's really hard to get away from these, and being on the receiving end, it's kind of a little scary.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): And here's why. Killer drones can hit 70 miles per hour.
SCIUTTO: There's no outrunning this?
FANDEY: There's no outrunning them.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Launch, launch, launch.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Once you're detected, it's probably too late. And the hunters can detect you in more ways than one.
SCIUTTO: The thing about drones is that they've got two ways to spot you. Not just seeing you on camera, but sensing you, sensing your heat signature. And that's that red spot you're seeing right now on his screen. That's me standing in the middle of the road and below freezing weather, and they can spot you from more than a mile away.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Hunters and killers. Hunter identifies the target, killer destroys them.
SCIUTTO: The field of view is just amazing. There we are on screen. That's us, sitting ducks.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Hyper-visibility in drone warfare requires hyper-mobility.
SCIUTTO: So, this is the CATV cold-weather all-terrain vehicle.
LUDWIG: We can move under tree cover into the forest pretty easily. So, any vehicle that's going to give you that kind of mobility and allow you to get to places that are less suspected to have people and equipment, that's going to be a great opportunity to survive.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Fact is, U.S. and NATO forces still have a great deal to learn.
In the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran, multiple Iranian drones have penetrated U.S. and allies' air defenses, one striking a U.S. base, killing six U.S. service members. And when NATO went head-to-head with a Ukrainian drone unit it exercises last year, just 10 Ukrainian drone operators defeated a force of thousands, destroying more than a dozen armored vehicles. That was just an exercise.
SCIUTTO: Do you feel like you're playing catch-up to some degree?
BARNHILL: I wouldn't say we're playing catch-up. I think we're using lessons learned there to drive the directions we go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: That was Jim Sciutto with that incredible report.
Thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
