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Erin Burnett Outfront

Iranian Official Mocks U.S. Blockade As Trump Calls It "Genius"; Trump Hurts Comey Case?; KFILE Uncovers Candidate's Deleted Posts Amid Crucial Senate Primary. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 29, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:20]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Iran mocking Trump at this hour, making fun of the U.S. blockade in a post just now as Trump's defense secretary faces a brutal clash with lawmakers, with his own words coming back to haunt him.

Plus, Trump weighing in on Comey. And did he just weaken his DOJ's case?

And an exclusive KFILE report OUTFRONT here tonight shakes up one of the most watched Senate primary races in the country. We'll tell you exactly what happened and who's deleting what.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

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

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Iran mocking Trump in a post just now. The lead nuclear negotiator, the speaker of Iran's parliament, in a new post tonight dismissing the president's naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, writing about Trump's decision to block ships, saying it's the, quote, "kind of junk advice the U.S. administration gets from people like Bessent, who also pushed the blockade theory and cranked oil up to $120 plus. Next stop, 140. The issue isn't the theory, it's the mindset."

Of course, this post from Mr. Ghalibaf, coming just after Trump patted himself on the back for his blockade

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, the blockade is genius, okay? The blockade has been 100 percent foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is. I can tell you that. Nobody's going to play games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Of course. Obviously, details matter, right. And ships that have evaded the blockade. But Trump made that comment right after speaking to Vladimir Putin on the phone for an hour and a half. Trump really didn't say much about the call at all.

It's a really long call. It's a really important call. We don't get readouts anymore, Trump says Putin offered to help end his war on Iran.

Now, keep in mind that is the same Vladimir Putin who, according to sources, provided Tehran with specific intelligence on striking American targets to kill American soldiers. Now, the phone call between Putin and Trump took place on the same day Trump's defense secretary faced blistering questioning on Capitol Hill about Trump's 61-day war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated, underground. They're buried, and we're watching them 24/7.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

HEGSETH: So we know where any nuclear material might be.

SMITH: Reclaiming my time for a quick second here.

HEGSETH: We're watching that.

SMITH: We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated?

HEGSETH: They had not given up their nuclear ambitions, and they had a conventional shield of thousands of --

SMITH: Well, Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance. It left us in exactly the same place we were before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Midnight Hammer, of course, was the operation last summer where Trump said he obliterated Iran's nuclear program. Hegseth then lashed out at claims that Trump got the United States into a war with no clear exit plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): The president has got himself in America stuck in a quagmire of another war in the Middle East.

HEGSETH: Calling this a quagmire two months in. The effort, what they've undertaken, what they've succeeded, the success on the battlefield that create strategic opportunities, the courage of a president to confront a nuclear Iran, and you call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Now, of course, you know, you may have heard him say a nuclear Iran, but, you know, obviously in the other questioning, he said that the program had been obliterated. So there's that just fundamental confusion about all of this.

But just also on this point, Trump initially told "Axios" he could end the war in two to three days. He then promised it would be over in four to five weeks. It will be nine weeks on Saturday. There is no end in sight.

Hegseth is clearly agitated. He again praised Trump for confronting Iran. But when lawmakers ask questions, Hegseth said that they, American lawmakers, elected representatives who are asking these questions today that they are the greatest adversaries that the United States of America faces.

Democrats and Republicans who have challenged Trump's justification and end game for this war. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: The biggest challenge -- the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: That's the biggest adversary. There were American troops who were killed. The biggest adversary is Democrats and Republicans who are saying, you got to tell us why we're going to war as a country and why those soldiers are dying?

It's quite a thing for someone to say, especially the defense secretary of the United States. And when it comes to what the United States considers a victory in this ill-defined situation.

[19:05:02]

Listen to this exchange about the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, Iran is controlling right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): OK, so do you call Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning?

HEGSETH: Well, I would say the blockade that we hold that doesn't allow anything to come in or out of Iranian ports is always in our portfolio to use.

(CROSSTALK)

MOULTON: OK. So, we've blockaded their blockade, so they blockaded us, and then we blockaded their blockade. That's like saying, tag, you're it. Or, you know, if President Madison had said, well, the British just burned down Washington. But don't worry, were going to burn it down as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I'm going to speak to Congressman Moulton in just a moment. But first, I want to go to Kristen Holmes OUTFRONT, live outside the White House.

So, Kristen, how is Trump reacting to Hegseth's performance on the Hill today? I mean, obviously, Trump had a long phone call today, but Hegseth's -- that blistering series of exchanges was over six hours on Capitol Hill.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And he's certainly seen the clips, Erin. But you have to remember that when you talk to President Trump about Pete Hegseth, he will tell you this is why he hired Pete Hegseth. Sure. He's the secretary of defense, which is an enormous position. But what President Trump wants from him is a guy who likes to go on TV, who likes to have this kind of verbal altercations, whether it's with the press or with lawmakers.

And of course, you pointed to some of this, this idea that he said that the biggest adversary was Democrats and their language, he grew acrimonious at points. He mocked the questions from Democratic lawmakers. President Trump likes that from Pete Hegseth. That's why Pete Hegseth does all of these briefings.

Lawmakers on the Hill, Republicans have said they want to hear more from General Caine. They believe they could get more information about the war. President Trump likes to hear from Pete Hegseth, even though half the time he is just arguing about the media or arguing with the media, saying the coverage is bad and that everyone is against President Trump.

And I do want to point to one thing he said. He said specifically, it's been two months. You want to talk about a forever war? Yes, it has been two months, and yes, it has been longer than he -- than President Trump said he was going to be. But now we're looking at it being even longer than that because we know that President Trump is telling his aides he wants this blockade to continue pretty much indefinitely at this point.

We are hearing from team members who are putting together, laying the groundwork to make sure that they have enough resources to continue this blockade and to continue for the Strait of Hormuz to be closed for an extended period of time. This is not just going to end tomorrow. When you hear him saying, it's been two months, this is clearly something that is ongoing, and President Trump believes this blockade is what he has, gives him the most leverage over Iran will bring them back to the negotiating table, which means we don't know how long this is going to continue -- Erin.

BURNETT: No. And obviously, just such a crucial question when you think about just the tip of the iceberg that the world is now seeing when it comes to energy prices, fertilizer prices and what might be coming.

Thank you very much, Kristen, at the White House.

I want to go to Fred Pleitgen. He is in Moscow tonight.

And I want to just say here, Fred, this is crucial. Trump and Putin talked today for an hour and a half. Trump says that Putin offered to help end his war on Iran. And of course, this is the same Vladimir Putin who, according to sources, provided Tehran with specific intelligence on striking American targets.

What are you learning tonight, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Russians and the Iranians certainly have never made a secret of the fact that they are very close allies as far as defense is concerned, but also, of course, politically as well. And in many ways, that seems to make this phone call possibly even more important. You alluded to the fact that it was very long, 1-1/2 hours, but it also comes just days after Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was here in Russia to brief Vladimir Putin on how he thinks that standoff and that war with the United States has been going on.

And one of the interesting things that were seeing, you're absolutely right. There's no readout from the American side, but there was certainly information coming from the Russian side. And while President Trump said that most of the call dealt with Ukraine, the Russians are saying that most of it actually dealt with Iran. They say that Vladimir Putin praised President Trump, extending the cease fire with Iran. But at the same time warning that if this goes back to a shooting war, if there's an aerial campaign again, by the Israelis and the Americans, that that would have devastating consequences, not just for Iran and the Gulf region, but, he says, for the entire international community, Putin also, apparently -- and again, this is according to the Russian information -- warning against a possible ground invasion of Iran, saying that that would be unacceptable, and at the same time also very dangerous.

But of course, the two sides both acknowledge that they did also speak about Ukraine as well. And one of the interesting things that we picked up there is that President Trump said that he wanted a ceasefire in Ukraine as fast as possible. The Russians offering that on victory day, which is, of course, May 9th, where they celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany.

But the Russians have already scaled back their parade for that day, because right now, the Ukrainians are conducting a massive aerial campaign against Russian infrastructure and industrial targets that's really making it difficult for them to protect that parade -- Erin.

[19:10:01]

BURNETT: Yeah, which is a really incredible thing that they have pulled back the plans. They're not something obviously done lightly.

Fred, thank you very much, in Moscow tonight.

And I want to go OUTFRONT now to someone that you just saw questioning Secretary Hegseth in that hearing today, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton. He is an Iraq war veteran.

And I appreciate your time.

And, congressman, I want to play more of that first, though. You know, Fred reporting from Moscow that that Putin says that this call was really about Iran. Obviously, Trump saying it was more about Ukraine. But, you know, what do you -- what do you make of what we're hearing here?

By the way, 90 minutes is a really long call to not get a readout from members of Congress who are charged with overseeing this or for Americans themselves. What do you make of this call?

MOULTON: Well, I mean, Putin is like Trump's best buddy on the international stage. So, of course, they don't want to give a readout on the call because it would be embarrassing to the United States, to our allies and to our troops.

Let's remember, there have been a lot of reports of Russia helping Iran target our troops in the Middle East. We've been doing this to Russian troops for years in Ukraine. We've handed them this opportunity that now they get to target us.

I would like to hear that the president brought that up with Vladimir Putin, but to be honest, I doubt it.

BURNETT: Right. And obviously, he didn't give any information about that today.

Now, you heard Congressman Hegseth's response to the suggestion that this war is a quagmire, right? He said it's nothing like Iraq and Afghanistan, which he called quagmires. And of course, those wars lasted decades. This war, he said, okay, look, it started two months ago. Fine. Initially, they had said right before it started, it would be just a few days and then a few weeks. But you actually served in Iraq.

So, do you see an equivalency here?

MOULTON: Absolutely. I mean, this is another war of choice in the Middle East that we're in very grave danger of getting drawn into further, because there's no exit plan, there's no way out. And remember, just before Hegseth said, it's not a fair comparison to compare Iran to Iraq, Iraq being a war that both Trump and Hegseth have decried for years as being a quagmire. Right before, he said that, he said, actually, you've got to give us more time in Iran because look at how much time Iran or the Iraq war took. The Afghanistan war took and Vietnam took. So he's actually justifying extending this war longer, giving him more chance to turn it around because he's obviously losing the war right now by comparing it to these other conflicts that turned into quagmires before then saying, oh, no, no, I didn't mean to say that. Actually, I don't want to compare Iran to Iraq.

BURNETT: So, you know, I played a moment ago your exchange over the Strait of Hormuz when you talked about a blockade of a blockade and likening it to, I guess it was the war of 1812. So, I want to play another exchange you had with Secretary Hegseth today. Different topic, but very important. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOULTON: You said we will give them no quarter, no mercy. An order for no quarter or no survivors is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. You understand that's murder. Do you stand by that statement?

HEGSETH: The Department of War fights to win, and we ensure that our war fighters have the rules of engagement necessary to be as effective.

MOULTON: So just to be clear you called Democratic members of Congress to be tried for sedition, for reminding our troops to follow the law. But when you tell them to commit a war crime, you stand by yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Do you believe that the secretary of defense is guilty of war crimes?

MOULTON: Absolutely. I mean, he's clearly behind the operation to shoot all these boats in the Caribbean when its very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called narcoterrorists, a term the administration invented to justify this action, are even on the boats. I mean, in fact, there's a lot of evidence that these are just fishermen, you know, getting jobs, piloting these boats, trying to feed their families.

There's been press reporting on some of these individuals who've been killed who are clearly not war criminals. And on top of that, we then have the strike where they came back in and hit it again. A double tap, just purely to kill these survivors who were clinging to wreckage.

You know, it's interesting, Erin, another historical analogy back in World War Two, the allies tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing. And guess what the conclusion was? They got executed. Listen to that, Mr. Secretary.

BURNETT: So let me ask you one thing that just posted here, Congressman, if I may, the president has been very active on social media in just the past few moments, and he just posted this. He says the United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with the determination to be made over the next short period of time. Obviously, those troops are, are, are central to NATO and to American operations way beyond that field.

This -- this comment, though, about pulling back troops there comes just after the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, angered Trump.

[19:15:00] He said in part, "Americans clearly have no strategy. The Iranians are obviously, obviously negotiating very skillfully, an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian state leadership," obviously referring to the United States.

Do you believe, Congressman, that President Trump coming out and talking about a proposed troop reduction in Germany is related to Merz's criticism?

MOULTON: Actually, I'm not sure if its related to criticism or it's related to his 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin, when Putin probably convinced Donald Trump that this was a good idea to further weaken NATO.

I mean, this is Trump's playbook from day one. Do anything he can to alienate, alienate our allies, to weaken NATO, which is all a gift to Vladimir Putin

BURNETT: Congressman Moulton, I appreciate your time, and thank you very much.

MOULTON: Good to see you, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. You, too.

And next, Trump celebrating a Supreme Court ruling that strikes down a part of the voting rights act, a crucial part, and could increase the odds of Republicans keeping the house.

Plus the name of one of the world's highest paid magicians, David Copperfield, appears many times in the Epstein files. What do we know about Copperfield and Epstein?

And Trump defending his Justice Departments decision to indict James Comey, insisting anyone who knows anything about crime knows 86 means to kill somebody.

Goodman, Schneider, Ehrie, who knew Comey from his time at the FBI -- they're all on deck. They're coming out here they come. It's like a phalanx over there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:42]

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump defending his DOJ's indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly threatening the president. This post from a year ago, he posted a picture of some seashells on a beach that he saw that says "86 47".

Now, going against the longstanding presidential practice by weighing in on his own DOJ's indictment of one of his top political enemies, he spoke about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: If anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86. You know what, 86. That's a mob term for kill him, you know? You ever see the movies? Eighty-six him. the mobster says to one of his wonderful associates. 86 him, that means kill him.

REPORTER: But do you really think your life was in danger?

TRUMP: Probably, I don't know. You know, based on based on what I'm seeing out there. Yeah, the -- people like Comey have created tremendous danger, I think, for politicians and others. You know, Comey is a dirty cop. He's a very dirty cop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, Trump's comments coming moments after Comey surrendered to law enforcement in Virginia using a side entrance, turned himself in, also faced a judge for the first time in the case during a brief hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes.

Now, Comey never spoke. He didn't enter a plea, though he was allowed to go home without any conditions. And everyone's here with me now.

So, Greg Ehrie, let me just start with you, because you've known James Comey for a very long time. You worked for him at the FBI the entire time he was there, right? So, you know who he is. President Trump repeatedly calling him a dirty cop. So, I guess there's that.

And then there's the insisting that everybody knows that 86-ing somebody is killing them. By the way, it can mean that, but it also can mean to get rid of, to cancel. And that's why there's merchandise saying "86 45", 46 and 47. So I guess a lot of people would be threatening to kill several presidents.

Did this all ring true to you, what you hear him saying?

GREG EHRIE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: It's troubling, but no, it did not. The director, as you mentioned, I worked for him for his entire time in the FBI. He was not a political figure. It was a very serious director. I never saw a slanted point of view, and certainly never saw anything that would indicate that he would incite violence.

And the piece I'll have to respectfully disagree. I've been working for 35 years in law enforcement. I have never heard a drug cartel. I've never heard an organized crime figure. I've never heard any criminal use the term 86 to mean kill somebody.

I'm sure there are examples out there, particularly in the movies.

BURNETT: Maybe in the movies that he's saying, but you actually never. And this is important, I think, in the context of what an FBI director would see when he saw that, which is what Trump is saying.

You're saying that in your role in law enforcement, 35 years and at the FBI, you never heard any of those mafia drug cartels use it in that way? EHRIE: No, never.

BURNETT: I mean, Ryan, that's pretty significant, right? Never mind the merchandise. And that it is obviously used to say to cancel, get rid of void, impeach whatever. Impeach actually is how it's used in cases with presidents many times.

You heard Trump didn't definitively say that he believed Comey put his life in danger. He said probably.

Does that affect the case?

RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: It does. If I were on the defense counsel, I can imagine the defense counsel are potentially high fiving when they hear him say that, because it really hurts the case. The case is based on the idea that James Comey himself posed a direct threat to the president.

The president then asked, do you feel like he posed a direct threat? And the answer is probably, I don't know. Yeah. That's not the answer.

If the answer were yes, that's good evidence for the prosecution. But the answer that it's probably, I don't know. Yeah. That actually suggests that it's not perceived as a threat. As everybody knows, James Comey is not going to carry out a physical attack against the president.

And the president had to answer it that way because it's not real. And then he actually deflects because he then says, well, Comey is creating an environment in which others might threaten me. That's not what the criminal charge is. It's the criminal charge is about James Comey himself carrying out that assault.

BURNETT: Which is interesting. He wasn't -- wasn't aware of what the actual indictment said.

GOODMAN: Right.

BURNETT: Because that that other point is a point, but it's not the point they made, which is hugely significant. Stacy, as you're a longtime criminal defense attorney, you know, Trump, obviously. Well, you were on "The Apprentice".

So, Todd Blanche, who's the acting attorney general under whom all of these charges were brought that Trump had wanted brought before, and they were not. So, we're almost a year post this post of "86 47". What -- here's what Blanche said, defending the indictment overall. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Do you have proof that the former FBI director knowingly and willfully threatened the life of the president?

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: A grand jury indicted Mr. Comey yesterday. Grand juries hear evidence. That evidence is not something that that anybody can talk about today. But when you talk about whether proof exists, the proof that we have is in the fact that the grand jury returned an indictment. Remember, that is not the Department of Justice charging James Comey with a crime. That is a grand jury returning a two-count indictment

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you make of that?

STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that was a real sidestep. The question was about what proof do you have of Comey's intent to threaten the president, saying that he should have answered? We presented certain forms of proof to the grand jury, and they handed up an indictment. He just says, well, the grand jury took care of it, but he completely contradicted himself from yesterday when he came out in a press conference announcing the indictment, and a reporter asked him, how are you going to show intent that he intended to cause harm to the president?

From the seashells in the sand that he posted on his Instagram account while he was walking along the beach, and even had a caption saying, this is what I saw on my beach walk. And he, Todd Blanche, said, we've been investigating this case for 11 months. We have documents and we have witnesses.

And when I heard him say that, I thought, this guy is auditioning to be the next attorney general because the alleged crime itself is posting a threat. That's it. What kind of documents and what kind of witnesses are going to testify about the shells on the beach? That's going to add any credence to this case.

So, this is a real sort of like a clown show, in my opinion.

BURNETT: So, Greg, one of the trending searches today after the indictment was whether Comey is a Democrat or a Republican. And it's just interesting because Trump today also accused Comey of trying to cheat in elections and trying to help Hillary Clinton, which is actually a pretty incredible thing to say, given the impact that Comey's announcement of Hillary Clinton had on that race, right? I don't think anybody would say it helped Hillary Clinton.

When you worked with him, did you ever see -- I mean, you're saying you didn't ever see him be political. You know, you worked with him for many years. You never saw or heard anything political that would have indicated anything.

EHRIE: Listen, Director Comey, I didn't always agree with every one of his decisions, but I do remember that, especially during some of these decision points where he would brief FBI executives. One of his quotes that stuck with me was, we have the Republicans and the Democrats both equally angry with us, and that's exactly where were supposed to be.

So, he was never slanted. One way that I saw one way or the other. And his other famous quote is called the balls and strikes as they come in. And that's what -- BURNETT: And he lived by that, as you saw.

EHRIE: In my experience. Yes.

BURNETT: And by the way, I think it's important what you said, you didn't agree with everything he did, maybe a lot of things you didn't agree with. But this is talking about a person's integrity and whether he handled himself. Apolitically you're saying that he did.

Ryan, I know that you think this case is going nowhere and in fact, that the lawyers who are bringing it could end up being disbarred. I mean, this is serious, serious business. But one of the reasons that you think it's going nowhere is a Supreme Court case that goes all the way back to Lyndon Johnson. What do you mean?

GOODMAN: So, it's actually a landmark case, and the facts are very similar in a certain sense. The court got a case in which an individual who wanted to avoid the draft to Vietnam said the quote, if they ever make me carry a rifle, the first man I want to get in my sights is LBJ and the U.S. Supreme Court said, that's free speech. That's not a direct threat. If that is not a direct threat, obviously what Comey did, which is like symbolic --

BURNETT: Eighty-six forty-seven, right?

GOODMAN: Yeah, symbolic with the seashells, et cetera., is nothing close to that. And that didn't even meet the mark for the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a threat against the president of the United States. So, it's obviously another indicator. This is just a loser of a case.

BURNETT: And you're also hearing, you know, Jonathan Turley, obviously incredibly respected legal expert, also a Fox News legal analyst, a conservative to state the obvious. You know, he was a GOP witness in Trump's impeachment. He called this out. Andrew Napolitano, who's a Newsmax expert conservative, also called this out. It's hard to find anybody who isn't.

SCHNEIDER: I know and, you know, I would urge any lawyer, a criminal defense lawyer, a former prosecutor who is practicing today to call this out. Anyone who has a platform who's a lawyer should be calling this out because this is so abusive of the criminal justice system to even imply that there's a case here, that there was intent on Comey's part when he walked it back and said, if I offended people, I'm taking this down. And I did it.

To make it out like, James Comey is a terrorist, somebody who would threaten the life of the president of the United States, who served in the country, whether you like him or not, it goes beyond the pale. And I think the bar should speak up about it even more.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much, I appreciate it.

And next, one of the most important senate primaries in the country upended after an exclusive KFILE report that you're going to hear here thousands of tweets from a top contender deleted. KFILE, though, found them.

[19:30:04]

Plus, President Trump celebrating a Supreme Court ruling that weakens the voting rights act. Van Jones, Charlie Dent are here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump celebrating after the Supreme Court ruled against a key part of the landmark Voting Rights Act, a ruling that could help Republicans keep the House. Here's the moment Trump heard the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: I want to go back to the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. I know you said you haven't seen it.

TRUMP: When did it come out, just now?

REPORTER: No, it came out this morning, but basically very much narrows the Voting Rights Act.

TRUMP: Was it considered a win for who?

REPORTER: A win for Republicans.

TRUMP: I love it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Trump later posting, quote, "Thank you to brilliant Justice Samuel Alito for authoring this important and appropriate opinion. The Supreme Court was tossing out Louisiana's congressional map that added a second majority black district in a state where a third of the population is black.

[19:35:08]

It is an epic nationwide battle that this is a part of between Republicans and Democrats over redistricting, not in the normal time frame -- redistricting in the middle of a decade. And it could determine who wins the midterms. And so, this ruling is now front and center because precedent matters.

OUTFRONT now, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent and Van Jones.

So, Van, this is a blow to the landmark Voting Rights Act. And the president obviously celebrating it because it's a win for Republicans to get more -- more House seats, right? How big is this moment?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's huge. I think it's devastating. It's the end of an era. This is the bill that John Lewis was beaten almost to death to get passed. This was the crowning achievement of the civil rights era, the crowning achievement of Dr. King's life's work. It's part of why he was murdered. It brought America out of this horrific past that we've been stuck in for 200-plus years of enslavement, 100 years of racist Jim Crow terror, lynchings, no rights, no protection.

This was the moment that we really became a democratic republic, in the full sense of the word. Dr. King kind of becomes the final founder of this republic in that moment, to take that ball it up and throw it in the toilet, flush it, and have the president crowing about it is devastating because these states -- I'm a southerner. I grew up in Tennessee. These states still have that unfortunate legacy where everybody's not treated fairly and everybody knows it.

And yet now the Supreme Court says were going to turn a blind eye to that, not just history of discrimination, but the present tense of it. Not good.

BURNETT: And the implications -- I mean, you're talking about something obviously existential in many ways. The implications practically, Congressman, are such that could actually affect the way these midterms go. It's been quite a while where if you looked at any betting market or polls or whatever, when it comes to the House, never mind the senate, but the House Democrats had a huge advantage that could shift, right?

You're seeing this happening in state after state, and you had Marsha Blackburn today. She is now calling for the elimination of all Democratic seats in the state of Tennessee. Your home state.

JONES: Absolutely.

BURNETT: Okay. As a result, you talk about the Voting Rights Act going to make that entire state red with her proposal, Florida lawmakers today passed Governor DeSantis push, which would attempt to give Republicans four more seats in Florida. That could mean the House. I mean, this -- this could be game, set, match.

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, I think in the short term, there will be limits as to what states can do, because voting has already begun in many places. Now, Florida tried. They're going to try to squeeze out four seats. Now. I think it's a big lift.

Ask the guys in Texas. They think they're creating five additional Republican seats. They'll be lucky to win three of them. So that's a problem.

You just pointed out. Tennessee. Tennessee has one African American majority district that's in Memphis represented by a white congressman, Steve Cohen. So yeah, this is a setback for the Voting Rights Act. By the way, I voted to reauthorize it in 2006.

That was the last time for 25 years. And obviously, there have been these intervening court rulings. And here we are. By the way, it was an overwhelming vote. It was a Republican Congress, Republican President George Bush. So, we've come a long way.

BURNETT: Well, it shows how things have changed. JONES: And I just think it's so important to recognize that because

when it was time and you were a great hero in this, when it was time to reauthorize it, Congress looked at it and said, you know, we think there's still problems here. We need to reauthorize it.

And it was bipartisan, massive majority. George W. Bush signed it. So, what you have is in that short period of time, a decade or so, a different bunch of Republicans decided, we just don't care. We would rather win seats than to make sure we have a democratic republic that treated everybody fair.

BURNETT: It is pretty incredible, though. And what you point out, I think just so everyone realizes this isn't something that's always been on party lines.

JONES: No.

BURNETT: It's a really crucial point.

DENT: But -- yeah, but, you know, redistricting, you know, I -- when I was involved with redistricting as a state legislator twice in the '90s and 2000s, then as a congressman later on, and, you know, the rules were this, you have to protect majority/minority districts, essentially black districts. You have to protect them, and then you can do whatever the hell you want. That was kind of the rule.

Now, I'm not sure what the rules are. But remember though, you know, we -- I think that a lot of folks, you have to move these voters somewhere. And so, Republicans may end up through redistricting, diluting some Republican seats, finding that they might not be that winnable for Republicans. They might replace an African-American Democrat, perhaps with a white Democrat or a Hispanic Democrat in some places.

So, I'm not so sure that they're going to -- the win will be that significant.

BURNETT: And perhaps Texas may show some of that.

Van, I want to ask one other thing that happened today. This is something Erika Kirk -- obviously, Charlie Kirk, her husband, was assassinated. She said something today that stood out. I know to both of you, but let me just play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIKA KIRK, CEO, TURNING POINT USA: There has never been a president who has faced this many assassination attempts in America's entire history.

[19:40:04]

And after each one, the reaction from the far left has been, at best, a shrug and in some cases, a sick disappointment that the shooter was unsuccessful. We are all human beings, and if you can just -- if you can just pause and just take a minute and ask yourself, how would you feel if even just one person made cruel jokes about the attempted murder of your loved one?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I know this stood out to both of you. Tell me why.

JONES: Well, first of all, you know she's a grieving widow, and I think she has tremendous moral authority in this country. And if she wants to unify the country against violence, she has an opportunity to do that. But if she's only going to chastise one side and not talk about the fact that Nancy Pelosi's husband was almost beaten to death with a hammer, that that we lost two Democratic state senators in Minnesota.

BURNETT: So that horrific --

JONES: Horrific murder. So, so, look, I think she has a tremendous opportunity to be a unifying figure against violence. But she's going to pick only one side to chastise. I think she undermines her cause.

DENT: I agree with Van. Look, she's right that there's too much dehumanization going on. And she's correct that three attempts on President Trump's life is horrific.

But neither side has a monopoly on this dehumanization. Unfortunately, both sides have done as you pointed out in Minnesota. I remember Gabby Giffords, of course, Steve Scalise, the Republican side. I've seen plenty of violence, George. I think a -- Gerald Ford, I think there were two attempts on his life, and he was only president for a couple of years.

BURNETT: Right.

DENT: So, I mean, she's right about the dehumanization, but it's not one-sided.

BURNETT: Right. Well, look, if you talk about dehumanization, go ahead and say that too. But also wiping civilizations off the map is dehumanizing, right? These things all to the point that you're making all of these things --

(CROSSTALK)

DENT: -- I think said that.

BURNETT: These things are -- none of them are okay.

JONES: Yeah, but she has tremendous moral authority. And I think as a grieving widow, people take her very seriously. And I just hope that she continues to try to unite the country against violence.

BURNETT: And she can do it.

All right. Thank you both very much.

And next world famous magician, David Copperfield's social life was closely intertwined with Jeffrey Epstein's. So, what do we know about their relationship? The CNN investigation is next.

Plus, our KFILE uncovering thousands of posts that were quietly deleted by a top Senate candidate. Our KFILE is next with his report that is disrupting a crucial race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:42]

BURNETT: Tonight, exclusive reporting from CNN's KFILE, upending one of the most watched Senate primary races in America, a race which could determine party control of the Senate. Democrats in Michigan are determined to hold the seat, but their primary has now been disrupted after KFILE uncovered thousands of tweets, old tweets quietly deleted by one of the leading candidates, state lawmaker Mallory McMorrow, including messages disparaging the state she now wants to represent.

So, KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski joins me now.

And, Andrew, this is obviously crucial reporting and is upending a very, very crucial race. So, you went through thousands of these deleted tweets by McMorrow. I mean, what did you find?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, look, first off, this is a must win senate race for Democrats. It's must win because this is one of two states in 2026 that are up -- that are in states that Trump won in 2024. One of them is Michigan. The other one is Georgia. So, this is -- they can't control the Senate if they don't win this Senate race.

And this has been a bruising primary. You have Abdul El-Sayed who's running on the far left. You have McMorrow, who's sort of a rising star in the Democratic Party. Then you have Haley Stevens, who is a favorite of centrists and establishment Democrats. And they're all basically in a lot of these polls, tied. It's very, very tight. It's very, very tight.

We already have seen some of the candidates reacting to this reporting that we put out. Now, as you mentioned, there were 6,000 or so deleted tweets that we found we can't go through --

BURNETT: That's a lot.

KACZYNSKI: It is a lot of them. We can't go through all of them here. I'd encourage everyone to sign up, subscribe to CNN.com, read our story. There's a lot more there.

But, let's go through some of the ones that are making a lot of waves today. Some of these tweets, and here's the context. As she moved from California to Michigan in 2016, when she's making a few of these tweets, I want people to look at this first one that we found.

This is the ring tweet she wrote. This is a December 2016 tweet. She wrote, "I had a dream that the U.S. broke off into the ring coast, Canada, Mexico, parts of Texas and Michigan and middle America. And then she follows up on this same thread and said, oh, and the ring nominated Obama as prime minister, and everyone was given $1,000 and six months to pick a side."

I asked her campaign about this tweet. They didn't respond initially when I asked, was she talking about an actual dream? Or like, you know, like a dream of something you want to happen? And they did clarify after reporting that she's talking about an actual dream.

So, okay, next week I want people to look at is this is another one that is generating a lot of discussion online, especially among her opponents. There is a tweet in January 2017 in which somebody writes, California should have diplomats to protect it from morons on the other side of the country. This is very -- this is right before Trump is inaugurated. So, it's January 2017 and she goes, these are the days that make -- make me miss California even more.

The other thing we found that's very interesting, Erin, is if we put up the line from her book, he wrote in a book in 2025 that she said she moved to Michigan in 2014. She said she made this leap. She loved Michigan so much that she moved there and relocated there permanently.

[19:50:02]

But we found a whole bunch of tweets from her that she actually continued to vote in California until summer of 2016, including voting in that state's primary.

BURNETT: So, this is causing a lot of issues in the primary she's in now. You reached out to her campaign for comment, as you referenced on some of these tweets. You talked about their response on the dream, but what did they tell you? I would imagine they were actually probably some of them, completely unaware of some of these tweets since you found them deleted.

KACZYNSKI: Well, actually, she deleted these tweets after she started running for senate. So, these tweets were up in 2025. And then there was a story in the New York post on a few of them. Then she deletes all of them. And the response from her campaign spokesperson. The first response was, they said, this is pretty standard for candidates to delete tweets.

I've actually never seen a candidate because she got elected as a state senator in 2018. I've actually never seen somebody delete all their tweets after they've already been elected to office. And this is the other statement they gave us on all this. They said, quote, "These are normal tweets by a normal person. As Michigan's Senate majority whip, Mallory has spent the past eight years fighting and delivering to make people's lives better, higher wages, universal pre-K, no kids going hungry in schools, comprehensive gun violence prevention laws and more. And she tweeted about that, too." So that's the response.

BURNETT: All right. But the race is upended. And that is crucial, all because of your reporting, KFILE. And you can get more on CNN.com for the full report.

OUTFRONT next, magician David Blaine and Jeffrey Epstein, we found out a whole lot more. And you'll hear about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, in a major turn of events tonight, former Attorney General Pam Bondi will now testify before Congress on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files.

Now, this move, it's a big one, comes just after Democrats filed contempt charges against Bondi for refusing to testify at a previously scheduled committee deposition. This comes as the Epstein files are revealing new details about Jeffrey Epstein's relationships with celebrity magician David Blaine and David Copperfield.

Now, neither Blaine and Copperfield have been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein, but MJ Lee tonight is OUTFRONT with new details on how close they were.

[19:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID BLAINE, MAGICIAN: Have decided to add fish to the equation.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTEPRISE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was magician David Blaine in 2013, training for his next big act. It appears to have been part of the ABC special "David Blaine: Real or Magic?" What Blaine never mentions is that he filmed that segment from inside of Jeffrey Epstein's New York city townhouse.

But CNN compared the footage to photos of Epstein's mansion, released in the justice departments Epstein files and confirmed matching distinctive decor next to a tub and the same white cabinets in the kitchen.

There was also correspondence from 2013 discussing Blaine visiting Epstein's home for a shoot. Epstein emailed Woody Allen's wife in April that Blaine wanted to do the goldfish trick tonight for woody and film it in October. Epstein's assistant reminded Epstein that Blaine wanted to stop by Epstein's house to finish his Woody Allen shoot. He needs to film himself walking up your stairs and going into your bathroom, Lesley Groff wrote. Epstein responded, not until I am back.

CNN found that Epstein and Blaine exchanged dozens of messages, had numerous phone calls and planned for in-person meetings, primarily between 2012 and 2016, years after Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Blaine is one of the world's best known stunt artists, drawing huge crowds to his daredevil tricks like being frozen inside of a block of ice for more than 60 hours, or staying in a Plexiglas box over London's River Thames for more than a month.

Blaine has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. He is one of many celebrities revealed in the files as having socialized with the financier after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea. Epstein frequently invited Blaine to social gatherings alongside Hollywood and tech bigwigs such as Allen and Bill Gates. Epstein also seemed eager to connect Blaine with political figures.

Any interest in visiting White House? Epstein texted Blaine in 2015. In September of that year, he told the illusionist there would be many world leaders at his house later that month.

At times, Epstein showed interest in getting together with Blaine and girls. In 2013, he inquired about a fun place to go with Jean-Luc, Boris, David Blaine and girls, while in 2015, Epstein emailed the magician you missed some amazing girls last night. The age of the girls Epstein was referring to is not clear.

Also in the Epstein files are at least two FBI 302 forms that mention Blaine from the summer of 2019, soon after Epstein died in prison, one redacted individual told the FBI she was 18 when she met Blaine, and that Blaine introduced this person to Epstein by taking her to his mansion. She went on to have dozens of interactions with Epstein. She told the FBI.

By 2017, Blaine was facing a serious allegation of his own. A former model accused him of raping her in 2004, prompting British authorities to open an investigation. Blaine denied those allegations and the probe was eventually dropped. Soon after the publication of this page six story, Epstein reached out to his friend with a message of support, writing, "I'm there if you need anything."

Blaine wasn't the only magician who ran in Epstein's social orbit throughout the Epstein files are mentions of David Copperfield, one of the world's best-known illusionists. Copperfield left numerous messages for Epstein in the 2000, and he is shown in multiple photos, including several with Epstein's coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Multiple FBI 300 twos describe Epstein and Copperfield having overlapping social lives, one person told the FBI that Epstein offered her tickets to a Copperfield show, and that she spoke to the magician on the phone once while at Epstein's.

In 2007, while Epstein was under a sex trafficking investigation in Florida, Copperfield, too, was being investigated by the FBI for a sexual assault allegation in Washington state. Internal FBI memos show that officials wondered at the time whether the two men engaged in illegal activity together, questioning if they shared a predilection for minors.

Copperfield has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. The 2007 federal probe into Copperfield was closed in 2010, and the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her was charged with prostitution and making a false accusation in another case.

DAVID COPPERFIELD, MEGICIAN: That's my job to transport the audience and make them forget a little bit about the reality of the day.

LEE (voice-over): Two women that the FBI Seattle office wanted to interview about Copperfield had already been interviewed for the Epstein investigation, according to one memo. One of those women said she had worked for Epstein and had been groomed by him. Last month, Copperfield announced that he would end his 25-year residency in Las Vegas. His final show at the MGM Grand is on April 30th. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: And, Erin, representatives for David Blaine, David Copperfield and ABC did not respond to CNN's request for comment for this story, and a spokesperson for MGM Grand declined to comment on Copperfield's final performances at the hotel -- Erin.

BURNETT: MJ, thanks very much. And I guess that final performance is supposed to be tomorrow.

Thanks so much for joining us.

"AC360" with Anderson begins right now.