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Erin Burnett Outfront

Commanders Briefing Trump On New Military Options In Iran; Trump: GAS Will "Drop Like A Rock", Prices Up 44 Percent Since War's Start; MAHA Influencer: "We Are On The Brink Of Falling Apart". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 30, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:25]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, the president briefed by top Pentagon officials on new military options in Iran tonight, including a new series of short and powerful strikes, according to "Axios", as Iran tonight mocks Pete Hegseth.

Plus, the price of gas soaring. Inflation today hitting the highest rate in three years. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, meantime warning of a looming crisis. The former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is our guest.

And is MAHA angry at Trump? Some members of the movement say that they are let down and their votes are now up for grabs. We have a special report.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

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

And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news President Trump at this hour is getting briefed by the CENTCOM commander and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, both there, the topic new military options in Iran.

Now, "Axios" is reporting that among these options are a new series of, quote/unquote, "short and powerful strikes," as well as a plan to take over part of the Strait of Hormuz, which could involve using American ground forces. These things are still on the table, on the table right now as Trump is being presented with these ideas.

And it all comes as Trump is continuing to say that the current blockade of Iran's blockade is incredible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The blockade is incredible. The power of the blockade is incredible. They're not getting any money from oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, just as one important reminder to something he said there, "The Financial Times" reported about a week ago that Iran had already moved oil through the blockade, worth close to $1 billion. And that was about a week ago. So that's just important context here.

Now, the reality right now of what's happening from port to port and for those ships is virtually impossible to know. But Iran tonight is quick to dismiss Trump, mock his defense secretary, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, leader of the negotiations, posting this message, quote, "If you build two walls, one from New York to the west coast and the other from L.A. to the East Coast, the total length will be 7,755 kilometers, which is still about 1,000 kilometers short of Iran's total borders. Good luck blockading a country with those borders, and then puts a smiling emoji.

He then took one more swipe at Hegseth, "P.S. for Pete Hegseth one kilometer equals 0.62 miles."

Now this mocking and trolling coming after Iran's new supreme leader spoke out. And I use that word. It was a statement. Obviously, we still have not seen him, reportedly calling America "great Satan". Iran, obviously, that's consistent with the way Iran has been since any of us can remember. Great Satan referring to the U.S. and little Satan to Israel. Iran clearly showing no signs right now of giving in to Trump, despite this from President Trump today

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've already won but I want to win by a bigger margin. Iran is talking and they want something to happen.

I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal. I can only tell you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: This spin from the president coming hours after Pete Hegseth faced more blistering questioning from Congress second day running of this. Here's Senator Mark Kelly asking about Americas dwindling weapons stockpile because of the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Can you tell us how many years, specifically, is it going to take to replace these systems? Tell me --

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What this budget does, I mean, months and years, vast.

KELLY: Years?

HEGSETH: I mean, we're building new plants in real time.

KELLY: So just to replace what we have expended --

HEGSETH: I said months. KELLY: And then you said years.

HEGSETH: Well, it depends on the weapon system. But two to three, four x of what we have today.

KELLY: So we fired years worth of munitions. And it is clear that where these are being expended to try to achieve some objectives, that was the plan. But, Mr. Secretary, this war is stuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It's pretty incredible back and forth. And Hegseth was then grilled on why the Trump administration has not sought congressional approval for a war that is required by law after 60 days. So he offered this quite stunning rationale. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: Ultimately, I would I would defer to the White House and White House counsel on that. However, we are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire. So that's our understanding, just so you know.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Okay.

[19:05:00]

Well, I -- I do not believe the statute would support that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And Hegseth, for the second day running went after members of Congress as the enemies. Listen to this exchange with Senator Richard Blumenthal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I know you have characterized this war as a astonishing military success, to use your words yesterday, but the American people aren't buying it.

HEGSETH: We are two months into a historic military success in Iran, and you want to call it a defeat. And it's defeatist Democrats like you that cloud the mind of the American people, and would otherwise fully support preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Senator Blumenthal is going to join us in just a moment.

But first, I want to go to Kristen Holmes. She's OUTFRONT outside the White House.

And, Kristen, obviously, this is a very significant moment. All of that happening today and right now, top military leaders of the United States are briefing President Trump on military options. And some of them possibly we see the "Axios" reporting involving ground troops.

What can you tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And we do know that at least the larger part of that meeting seems to have started to disperse. We just saw seconds ago the vice president leave, the head of the CIA leave. But we do know that Chairman Kaine, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, they are all still there, huddled in the White House.

These are still seemingly the same military options that have been on the table. The potential for boots on the ground, the potential to seize Kharg Island, to continue these strikes. We are waiting for a detailed readout as that meeting fully disperses.

But one thing we are continually told by people close to President Trump is that he is still looking for an off ramp here, and he really alluded to that today when he was in the Oval Office. He was asked specifically a question about breaking through the ceasefire because he was growing angsty. Is that something he would consider?

And in the past, of course, we've seen him say things like, I'm going to destroy an entire civilization. He is not shy about it, but this time he tempered his words. He ignored the question he started saying about how the Iranians want to make a deal. As we have reported, there are U.S. officials who believe his heated rhetoric is not helpful during all of this. And here we saw a very tempered Donald Trump ignore the question of resuming strikes in Iran, take away that threat, that bluster. But they do feel like they have leverage when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz right now, because of that blockade.

So we are still reaching out to our sources to see how receptive President Trump was, but going into that meeting, we were told that he was not looking for any kind of next military action. But still but still is focused on trying to get those negotiations in the right place to move forward there.

BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much at the White House.

I want to go OUTFRONT now, as promised, to Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut, on the Armed Services Committee. And we just watched you in that heated exchange earlier, Senator.

So among the military options, the president was just reportedly briefed on, as we understand. And you heard Kristen reporting the defense secretary, Marco Rubio, are still there. But we understand it was a series of short and powerful strikes against Iran, among other things, as well as taking perhaps part of the Strait of Hormuz and something that could involve U.S. ground troops.

Do you believe that that there's a coherent strategy here at this point? When you hear about options like that being presented to the president tonight?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Erin, there really is no coherent strategy, which came across very vividly and graphically in the hearing today with Secretary Hegseth. And it comes across in the president's comments, which oscillate between seeming open to negotiation and then foreclosing it entirely and threatening destruction of civilizations. I do have the impression from some of the briefings that I have received, as well as other sources, that an imminent military strike is very much on the table, which is deeply disturbing because it could well involve American sons and daughters in harms way and potential massive casualties.

But what you saw, even from the brief clips that you played, was Secretary Hegseth essentially dissembling and evading pointed questions on the draining of munitions, on the cost of the war, as well as on this absolutely incredible and absurd theory about a pause in the 60 days, which is an absolutely ridiculous interpretation of the law.

But bottom line here, no strategy, and the conflicting and contradictory objectives stated by the president have not been accomplished. None of them really either as to the enriched uranium or the change of regime, or even as to the missile and drone production.

[19:10:05]

BURNETT: Senator, I want to follow up on something you said there. You said from your sources as well as briefings you had. I understand you -- you're saying that there are the potential for a real strike imminent. One -- one is very much on the table.

You then continued to say one that could involve a potential it sounded like, from what you said, a serious ground presence, many American troops and forces. Is that accurate?

BLUMENTHAL: What I just told you, as my impression is an accurate statement and I cant be more specific because I received at least one of these briefings, several of them in classified settings. But I'm not saying with any certainty as to when it would happen, but very much on the table as a potential plan. I don't think that should be surprising anyone, because the military leaders involved in this effort have talked about it for some time.

BURNETT: Yes. No, I understand it may not be surprising, obviously, though, given the public perception of this war and the willingness and you're talking about the use of U.S. troops and the way that that you are, its a very significant thing to say. Trump earlier said, Senator, that he is considering pulling American troops amidst all of this from Spain and Italy. That was the day after he said he would do the same, possibly from Germany. And specifically, he threatened Germany. Hours after a phone call with Vladimir Putin and after the German chancellor said that Iran was, quote, humiliating the United States in the Iran negotiations.

So in that context, here is the reason that Trump gave today for his threat against Spain and Italy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Italy has not been of any help to us. And Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible. You know, NATO, it's not even the fact that they're bad. Its one thing if they said nicely or if they said, okay, we'll help, but the help is a little slow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you say to that rationale? If they had said it nicely, just that that entire rationale for the potential of pulling 50,000 American troops from core NATO countries?

BLUMENTHAL: Absolutely absurd and abhorrent, but also very much against our own national security interests. Those troops are there for our national defense and our national security. They're not there to enjoy the Italian sunshine, or because the Italians want them for their economy in Germany, in all the countries where we have NATO ties and alliances, our national interest is served.

What President Trump is doing to NATO is to roll back and destroy literally decades of relationships and commitments. One of the most moving parts of King Charles's address when I heard him in the hall of the Congress was when he recalled how Europe and NATO invoked Article Five in the wake of September 11th, the first time Article Five had ever been invoked in defense of the United States of America.

They've stood by us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now to resort to this foreign policy of vengeance and vanity. If they're not nice to me, I'm taking away my soldiers is more characteristic of a five year old. And it certainly can be made laughable. But it is very, very serious in terms of our national security.

And I would just point out that in that same press conference this afternoon, he recalled, or yesterday, I should say, his conversation with Vladimir Putin. And he has concluded, he said, that Ukraine has been, quote, militarily defeated. Absolutely wrong, and I asked Secretary Hegseth about it today. He wouldn't respond, but I think it is just plain irresponsible and wrong.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Senator Blumenthal, we appreciate your time, and thank you very much for being with us tonight.

I want to come straight now to Karim Sadjadpour.

Karim, a lot to ask you about, but let me just start with you, with what the senator was sharing that he is, you know, saying that there is the possibility for a major imminent strike that he's hearing and that, you know, he's saying that's consistent with where this administrations been, but imminent. That would obviously clearly involve many U.S. ground troops. He couldn't share more.

But does Iran think that's a real threat?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I thought that was significant what Senator Blumenthal said, because I think Iran feels that we've gone from a hot war to this policy of mutual strangulation with Iran trying to choke the global economy, spike the price of oil, and hope that American public opinion is going to restrain Trump from continuing to prosecute this war. [19:15:02]

And Trump is obviously trying to do the same thing to squeeze Iran, to try to force it into capitulation. And I think Iran is not anticipating this idea that there will be a return to military action. But what they know with President Trump is he's obviously unpredictable.

BURNETT: So, you know, when you look at the response from Iran today, Ghalibaf, speaker of the parliament, leader of the negotiations, you know, constantly trolling and mocking, and he trolled and knocked today of the U.S. and you could build a wall from L.A. to NYC and back, and you still wouldn't have all of Iran's borders with the smiley face, and then the mocking of Hegseth.

So, you know, these posts stand out. Ghalibaf stand out. Other posts stand out as well, you know, from Iranian embassies across Africa that have been quick and fast to, to be, to troll. But this specific account, you learned more about.

SADJADPOUR: Yeah, that account is likely run by one of Ghalibaf's former aides who lives in Los Angeles, which is probably a violation of U.S. sanctions, that he's doing propaganda.

BURNETT: Someone from Los Angeles is posting all of these things for the Iranian lead negotiator.

SADJADPOUR: It's clear that that is not Ghalibaf. Ghalibaf doesn't speak like that, but it's a reflection of the fact that Iran is really trying to speak the lingo of American public impact, American public opinion in a way that were not doing, Erin. We're not trying to impact Iranian public opinion the way they're trying to impact U.S. public opinion.

BURNETT: No. Well, that's actually a fascinating point, right? That they -- however, this is happening, that they're doing it. And those African embassies in the American style.

RADJADPOUR: Yes.

BURNETT: But this being posted from L.A., I just have to say, I hope people heard that. That is unbelievable.

Okay. The ayatollah, the supreme leader, puts out a rare statement today. Still haven't seen him. He says in part refers to the U.S. as great Satan, saying foreign actors have no place in the Persian Gulf except the depths of the waters, and vowed that Iran will safeguard its nuclear capabilities.

Obviously, that is the core of everything, right? That core, you know, abdominal power of Iran. They're sticking with, so that statement stood out to you, though, for a couple of reasons I know.

SADJADPOUR: Well, as you alluded to, Erin, we haven't seen or heard from Mojtaba Khamenei for two months. He's speaking the language of the Revolutionary Guards, much more than a cleric. And at this point, Mojtaba Khamenei for me resembles more someone like Osama bin Laden, leader of a kind of a terrorist cult in hiding, bent on revenge. Then he does a leader of a nation state that's focused on governance and advancing the interests of his population.

BURNETT: This is incredible. As you say, it sounds like Revolutionary Guard. Perhaps that's who's writing that. I mean --

SADJADPOUR: Absolutely. It's the Revolutionary Guards who are the power behind him.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Karim Sadjadpour.

And next, the CEO of Americas largest bank, sounding an alarm warning about a looming crisis. Janet Yellen, the former treasury secretary, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, is our guest.

Plus, Trump weighing in on reports that his son may host an Amazon reboot of "The Apprentice".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a good guy. He -- probably good. He's got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And RFK, Jr.'s ally, a vaccine skeptic, out as the surgeon general pick. What do we know about the woman that Trump's now picking to take her place?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:38]

BURNETT: Breaking news, gas prices soaring tonight, jumping nearly 30 cents a gallon this week alone across the U.S. It's an incredible jump. And it is adding fuel to an inflation spike. Today, the Fed said inflation surged to its highest rate in almost three years, and Trump's war in Iran is driving energy prices.

Trump, though, is making this promise tonight

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The gas will go down. As soon as the war is over, it will drop like a rock. There's so much of it. Its all over the place, sitting all over the oceans of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Janet Yellen, the former treasury secretary and former chair of the Federal Reserve.

Secretary Yellen, Chairman Yellen, of course, there is not gasoline sitting on ships all around the world. But the question right now is how much worse will things get and will prices drop like a rock when the war ends, however that's defined?

JANET YELLEN, FORMER CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Well, I think there's been some damage to the energy infrastructure and things will not go back to the pre-war state, even if the strait reopens. So, but probably gas prices and oil prices will drop somewhat, but they've risen quite a lot as it seems as though this trade is going to be closed for the indefinite future. There's no imminent plan to reopen it.

And if it is very long lasting closure, oil prices could go a lot higher. Fertilizer prices as well will begin to affect food prices. And there will be other supply shortages. So it definitely feeds inflation.

BURNETT: You know, just thinking about, you know, this week, American Farm Bureau was saying 70 percent of U.S. farmers say they cant even afford fertilizer. It's affecting what crops they plant. That affects how much food is available for to grow meat and chickens. And I mean, the downstream impacts of this, we are just at the beginning of.

And Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was talking about the bigger picture. I don't know if you saw this Chair Yellen, but he warned about an even bigger crisis this week. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO OF JPMORGAN CHASE: We haven't had a credit recession so long. So when we have one it will be worse than people think. The way it's going now, there will be some kind of bond crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:25:07]

BURNETT: Do you share his fear of a crisis?

YELLEN: Well, of course, I'm worried about downside risk from credit. We've seen a pullback from private credit. We have seen some unexpected difficulties there. Bankruptcies of firms. It's not very transparent what's happening with the quality of the lending. Is there exactly what the spillovers could be to the banking system?

I don't expect a private credit financial crisis anything like on the scale of what happened in 2008. But there could be problems there. And he's warned that, his senses that there will be more defaults and losses in private credit than we have seen so far.

BURNETT: Obviously, you are chair of the Federal Reserve, and your successor is Jerome Powell. He has been targeted by Trump, including Trump's obvious criminal investigation of Powell, because he was angry that Powell did not cut interest rates.

So Powell just said that he's going to remain a voting member on the Fed after stepping down as Fed chair this spring.

YELLEN: Yes. BURNETT: Which is an incredible thing. That has not happened, Chair Yellen, in nearly a century. And Powell spoke about it. He spoke about the threat to the Fed. I'll play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: These legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113-year history. And there are ongoing threats of additional such actions. I worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk the thing that really matters to the public, which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political factors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Have you ever seen as big a threat to the U.S. Federal Reserve as we're seeing right now from President Trump?

YELLEN: No, I think what President Trump is doing is unprecedented. And the most recent and the most disturbing, in a way, is what he's done to Chair Powell in really weaponizing the Department of Justice against him in order to try to induce him to leave.

And I think his decision to remain until all of these charges are dropped with transparency and finality, this is something that he's doing to protect the independence of the Fed. And I can't stress how important that is. All advanced countries now have independent central banks and all the research that's been done shows that economic performance is much better when monetary policy is conducted without political interference, and simply on the basis of the best information and reasoning to provide settings that best promote the goals that Congress has set, namely price stability or low inflation and full employment.

And by and large, the Fed has done a good job and politics doesn't enter its decision making. And now you have a situation where members of the policy setting committee have to worry that if they make decisions that President Trump doesn't like, they could have the DOJ weaponized against them. Or in the case of Lisa Cook, he's trying -- trying to remove a governor for cause that seems really very flimsy.

So I definitely worry about the independence of the Fed. It's under great threat.

BURNETT: I want to ask you about one other thing tonight in the context of this incredible trial going on involving Sam Altman and Elon Musk. And you know what we've been hearing about A.I. and so much of it apocalyptic. There was a sneaker company, Allbirds. I don't know if you heard of it or ever wear them, but it's a sneaker company. It was once valued at $4 billion.

Secretary Yellen, it lost almost all its value. So the boss is literally said, hey, sneakers aren't working. We're going to do A.I., they changed the name to Newbird A.I., stock goes up 600 percent in a day.

I mean, it's a bizarre story. It's a crazy story. Is it a canary in the A.I. coal mine?

YELLEN: Well, what it suggests to me is that A.I. is so hot that its generating companies trying to associate itself with A.I. in any way they can in order to see their stock go up.

[19:30:04]

Here's a company that made sneakers that has no obvious expertise in A.I. infrastructure. But by saying that it wants to become an A.I. infrastructure company, to see without its having undertaken anything at this point or having any obvious competence in this area, when its stock goes up, that tells you that there's bubble-like activity in this sector.

It's something we saw in the dot-com era. It's something we saw with crypto and we're seeing it with A.I. as well.

BURNETT: All right. Secretary Yellen, thank you very much for being with us tonight.

YELLEN: Thanks for having me.

BURNETT: And next, MAHA moms talking to CNN saying that Trump has betrayed some of them, warning that the movement itself is in danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we are on the brink of falling apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, Trump with a warning tonight for ABC if it doesn't fire Jimmy Kimmel, after Kimmel skewers the president with a brutal skit. Charlie Dent, Sabrina Singh are here and you'll want to hear what they have to say. They'll be here, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:33]

BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump weighing in on reports that Amazon, founded by his pal Jeff Bezos, is considering bringing back "The Apprentice". That's the reality show, of course, that brought Trump to fame, but this time it would be with Don, Jr. as the new host.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, we had a great success 14 seasons and "The Apprentice" was a tremendous success. So I've been hearing that a little bit. So well see what happens. He's good -- he's a good guy. Probably good. He's got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. He'd be probably good a little charisma. That's his endorsement for Don, Jr. Now, this would be far from the first time that Jeff Bezos and Amazon have done something that makes Trump really happy in his presidency. Bezos, by the way, was invited as an honored guest this week to Trump's state dinner honoring King Charles and Queen Camilla and Amazon spent about $75 million on the film about Melania Trump that it released earlier this year, a movie that was made with her full participation and editorial control, despite being called a documentary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, U.S. FIRST LADY: Now that I will be first lady again, I fully intend to break old norms to elevate the position.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: She represents the country so beautifully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And Amazon, it will not surprise you given all of that, is one of the top donors to Trump's White House ballroom project that he says is $400 million.

Charlie Dent and Sabrina Singh are both OUTFRONT.

So, Sabrina, "The Apprentice", obviously is very near and dear to Trump's heart. And we went through the other things that Melania film, the white, the ballroom donation. But this -- this is -- this is big and shows that Amazon is now putting out another significant effort.

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. I mean, "The Apprentice" is what made Donald Trump the showman that he is. Of course, he was an investor in real estate, but "The Apprentice" launched him into this TV figure that we know him as is this reality star. This investment -- potential investment by Amazon, I think shows just how close the relationship is between Jeff Bezos and this administration, and probably is to curry favor further with this administration.

I mean, as you were reading out, Jeff Bezos is someone that sunk so much money into the Melania so-called documentary and now potentially relaunching a show with Don Jr., with the former -- "The Apprentice" title and everything. It just shows how much they -- there's a closeness there, and that should make everyone a bit uncomfortable, because that's not something that most CEOs of major studios would do, especially when a president, a sitting president for his son.

BURNETT: Also very interesting just to point out, because you say CEOs and Bezos, actually there is a CEO of Amazon, it's Andy Jassy.

SINGH: Right. Bezos. Yeah.

BURNETT: No, no, no, but I mean, as the chairman, as the founder, the power that he wields, right, despite what people running Prime, et cetera, you know, may think about any of these as business endeavors from a shareholder perspective. So that's hugely significant.

Charlie, the Don Jr. part of this, when Trump -- I mean, maybe he was tired. Okay, I don't know. But, you know, it was a little flat. I would probably be good. He's got a little charisma going.

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Unenthusiastic is what --

BURNETT: It was unenthusiastic.

DENT: It was like, yeah, I know him. Yeah. He's okay. He could do a good job. Maybe he's got charisma, you know.

No, it's not a very ringing endorsement of your son. But, you know, look, if Amazon thinks they can make money on this, it might be a good business move to reboot "The Apprentice". It was a popular show.

The problem, of course, is if they want to bring in Don Jr., fine. But I would do that after Donald Trump is president. See if its still a good idea, then, you know, they've had A-list celebrities before host that show, Schwarzenegger and Martha Stewart. So, I mean, so from a business standpoint, it might make sense, but its clear that there's -- there are other --

BURNETT: Well, especially because Don Jr. is only being done for one reason, right? If you're picking a big business executive with a lot of charisma, that's not who you pick. Whatever you may think about Don Jr., it's a political statement.

SINGH: Yeah.

BURNETT: Half the country is not going to watch it.

SINGH: Yeah.

BURNETT: So it's not your best marketing move.

SINGH: Right. And it could be a launch pad to raise the profile of Don Jr. I mean, there's, you know, Donald Trump is pretty smart. He does have these calculations, you know, further down the line. But I think this is also just a business investment for Amazon and for the Trumps.

BURNETT: Right. Well, and also, you know, we hear a lot about it. There is a real push for Don Jr. in the GOP.

DENT: Yeah, I'm sure there is. But I were talking off stage, you know for 2028, it's going to be a change election. And you know, the president's numbers aren't like he had a whole lot better. And if you're going to run for Donald Trump's third term, that might not be the ticket forward. And what will likely be a change election.

[19:40:02]

So, you know, good luck with that. But it's -- but -- yeah, would elevate him.

BURNETT: Yeah, it would, I mean, right. And we'd say, all right.

So, Sabrina, Trump is also demanding now to ABC and he's pounding the table here. So he's renewing it to fire Jimmy Kimmel. He posted today, when is ABC fake news network firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel. People are angry. It better be soon.

And it came hours after Kimmel, as part of all this, called Trump unwell on his show and aired a mock ad disparaging Trump, which I will play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: The good news is help is a TrumpRx prescription away

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody said getting older was easy. You're struggling to stay awake. Your memory is fading. It's time to make yourself great again, with resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, is Kimmel playing this right?

SINGH: I mean, he's exercising his freedom of speech, First Amendment rights that I mean, it was funny. And I think, you know, the president is so thin-skinned about this stuff and he always goes after his so- called perceived enemies or someone that criticizes him, especially someone like Jimmy Kimmel, who has a big platform.

And you can disagree with the taste of the jokes. Maybe it wasn't funny to him, but to use taxpayer resources to now try going and going after ABC, it's just not a good use of taxpayer resources and funds.

BURNETT: And they're using taxpayer resources because the head of the FCC, Brendan Carr, who last time around with the last fracas with Jimmy Kimmel, said, we can do this the easy way or the hard way is now saying he's going to challenge all the ABC licenses, basically strip them of their licenses and, you know, neuter the entire company.

DENT: Yeah. Look, I think I think you're right that, you know, the president is very thin skinned here.

Kimmel is really mocking Donald Trump's age. I mean, Republicans had a great time mocking Joe Biden for his age, and he was slipping and dementia and all that sort of thing. You know, turnabout is fair game. And you're right, Erin.

BURNETT: I mean, God knows, if it was just putting every time Biden fell asleep, that was covered constantly or tripped or stumbled or anything.

DENT: And turnabout is fair play. I mean, you know, he wasn't, I think everybody's overreacting to this. Kimmel -- Kimmel's on. He's fine. He's allowed to crack jokes. I'm not sure its smart to continue this, but he's having a good time with it.

And the FCC, by the way, the Democrats have the White House someday and they'll control the FCC and I don't think Republicans would be too happy if Republican comedians who are on network air would be censured or censored in this way. I think that would be considered a human rights violation. And so, here we are. Everybody's got to take a deep breath and let Jimmy Kimmel be Jimmy

Kimmel.

BURNETT: Trump will be Trump and Kim will be Kimmel.

SINGH: Right.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you both.

And next, a growing sense of betrayal inside the MAHA movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot tell Americans to eat real food while protecting the cancer causing chemicals sprayed on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, David Culver on a historic flight from America to Venezuela months after the capture of Nicolas Maduro. We're live in Caracas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:18]

BURNETT: Tonight, is RFK, Jr. losing influence? Trump pulling the nomination of Kennedy's longtime ally, Casey Means, for surgeon general. She had echoed his views on vaccines during her confirmation hearing and those views being skepticism, and failed to win over key Senate Republicans as a result.

So Trump's moved on. He's now tapping Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and Fox News contributor, who has actually said RFK, Jr. may not be the best messenger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. NICOLE SAPHIER, SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE: Secretary Kennedy may be doing some great things in terms of getting our food healthier again, but the messenger is going to be polarizing. So whenever he goes in front of the camera, all of a sudden, you will start seeing half of the country not wanting to listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And this comes as some MAHA supporters are talking to CNN and telling us that they feel betrayed by Trump and that their votes are up for grabs in the next election.

Meena Duerson is OUTFRONT

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD: People versus poison! People versus poison!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot tell Americans to eat real food while protecting the cancer-causing chemicals sprayed on it.

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to fight, fight, fight!

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're at the people versus poison rally in Washington, D.C., where a group of some of the biggest names in MAHA have gathered together to protest against big companies that they say are poisoning Americans with chemicals.

DUERSON (voice-over): A year and a half after the Make America Healthy Again movement helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency, it's facing a big test.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's be honest, we wouldn't be here right now if President Trump didn't sign that executive order.

DUERSON (voice-over): MAHA's coalition of health and wellness influencers, vaccine skeptics and environmentalists united under Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a champion of their causes, as an environmental lawyer, he helped win a landmark settlement against the makers of the weed-killer Roundup, arguing its chemical glyphosate caused his clients cancer, a claim the company denied.

But this week, the Trump administration supported the current manufacturer of Roundup, Bayer, in a Supreme Court case over whether Americans can sue for alleged harms from chemical exposure. And in February, Trump signed an executive order protecting glyphosate as crucial to the national security and defense.

DUERSON: How did you feel when you saw that executive order?

ZEN HONEYCUTT, FOUNDER, MOMS ACROSS AMERICA: I was disgusted, I was literally sick to my stomach.

DUERSON: A lot of the speakers here are people who were very active in helping RFK Jr. campaign for President Trump. There's a lot of conversation here about whether those promises are actually being followed through on.

What is your sense of the movement?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm saying we are on the brink of falling apart. I'm like in red rover right now. Okay, I am diehard conservative, and I got this group of moms and I'm trying to keep us together.

HONEYCUTT: There were millions of Democratic and independent moms in particular that voted Republican because they believed Trump, that he was going to do something about pesticides in the food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MAHA is feeling betrayed and completely dissatisfied with what the administration has done.

DUERSON (voice-over): The momentum of the MAHA movement has given many of its leading voices unprecedented access to a presidential administration. ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: In just 15 months, HHS has

delivered historic wins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people --

DUERSON (voice-over): And they're not ready to give up that proximity to power, even as the pesticide issue threatens to overshadow their other gains.

HONEYCUTT: I don't regret any of the boost or, you know, the power that is has been had because there's a lot of amazing things that have been done.

DUERSON: How could they do this stuff at the same time as listening to what's so important to so many women and moms like you?

VANI HARI, "FOOD BABE", ACTIVIST: I don't think they understood what they did. They kicked the hornet's nest, and now I think they're starting to realize it.

DUERSON (voice-over): As the midterms loom this fall, the pressure to please MAHA voters is on.

ALEX CLARK, HOST, "CULTURE APOTHECARY" PODCAST: A lot of these moms held their nose and voted for Trump in 2024. And they're not sure that they're willing to vote red in the midterms again. It's very important for the -- for the GOP to recognize that MAHA voters are not loyal to a certain political party. MAHA voters are a coalition that's up for grabs.

HARI: It makes us actually women with children especially, sit at home instead of going to the ballot.

ALEXANDRA MUNOZ, PH.D., TOXICOLOGIST: MAHA is looking for any representatives that are willing to stand up against corporations and put their foot down.

DUERSON (voice-over): And Democrats are recognizing there's power in embracing MAHA messaging.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This has got to be a movement that grows, does not divide, but multiplies.

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Well, I've spent a lot of time telling my Democratic colleagues, I know this issue isn't on the top of your list, but pay attention to it.

DUERSON: Is this an opportunity to kind of get some of those voters back?

PINGREE: Absolutely.

ROSIE HOFFMAN, INDEPENDENT VOTER: If anybody is supporting the things that I align with and that and the health and wellness space, and they probably have my vote. CLARK: This is do or die. This is sink or swim. This is the Titanic

is going down. Hundreds of thousands of free boats that fell out of thin air in 2024 have vanished.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DUERSON: And, you know, despite some of those setbacks that MAHA has experienced over the past few months, today they are celebrating what they see as a huge victory. They were able to get these protections for pesticides that were in the farm bill taken out before Congress passed that today. So, they're cheering that as evidence that they are a huge force to be reckoned with. And, you know, not to be ignored ahead of the midterms.

BURNETT: Yeah, clearly they are.

All right. Thank you very much. I mean, it's just incredible to hear them and all those conversations you had.

And now, months after Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro was captured by the U.S., right, in prison awaiting trial in New York, there was a historic moment today between the U.S. and Venezuela. And our David Culver was there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:25]

BURNETT: Tonight, for the first time in nearly seven years, commercial flights between the United States and Venezuela are back in the air.

And our David Culver went on the first historic flight. There were U.S. officials on it, the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, who was going from Miami to Caracas.

All right. So, David Culver is right now standing in Caracas.

And, David, really, this is a historic moment.

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is historic. And what's interesting to me, Erin, is when you look at the relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela and what has changed since January 3rd and the capture of Nicolas Maduro, is that, yes, repression has seemed to subside a good amount, corruption. You talk to local folks here. They say things have eased significantly.

And yet you still have, with the exception of Maduro, the same individuals for the most part, running the country, at least in theory, they're the ones still in charge. And I think what was really telling for me is that our team here, that's based here in Caracas, and our colleague local producer Mary Tarini (ph), was at the airport before we even touched down on that American Airlines flight. And that same aircraft is going to return to Miami.

And some of the passengers there were asked about the returning flight. They spoke openly about that. They're excited. They're looking forward to it. It's going to make travel easier.

However, Erin, when they're asked about the relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela, they were hesitant and ready to move on away from the camera. And it shows you there's still an uneasiness about what repercussions could come.

BURNETT: An incredible uneasiness. And, you know, the opposition leader, of course, Maria Machado, gave her a Nobel Peace prize to Trump, right. In an apparent effort to assuage him. And that was required in that moment, has been signaling a potential return to Venezuela. Is there support there for her to lead the country?

And is there even -- would she even be safe to return? You know, you talk about that fear people have of talking. I'm sure that comes from a palpable fear of reprisal.

CULVER: She has said absolutely. She will return before the end of the year, and she has suggested it's linked to the multi-phase plan on the u. S s part to move Venezuela forward. However, as we know, President Trump early on in January said that she lacked the support and the respect here.

What I can say about politics domestically is it seems to not really be the primary focus. It's the economy. That's what really is the most concerning for folks. And just today, Delcy Rodriguez, who's the acting president here, made a huge announcement of increasing the minimum wage.

Now, get this before this announcement, the minimum wage roughly averaged to about $150 to $300 a month. She stabilized it at $250 a month. That's with a bunch of bonuses added in. But, Erin, the average month costs folks here, you know, more than $600. So, it still doesn't meet the need the needs, they're having to work. You know, doctors multiple jobs, driving rideshare, doing what they can to make ends meet.

BURNETT: All right. David Culver, thank you very much. This is stunning chasm.

Thanks for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.