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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump: Options Are "Make A Deal" Or "Blast The Hell Out Of Them"; Gas Prices Spike; "Apprentice" Reboot? Aired 7-8p ET
Aired May 01, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:26]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, is Trump about to strike Iran again? The president warning he could, quote, "blast the hell out of them" after slamming Iran's latest proposal to end the war.
Plus, prices at the pump spiking up, almost 10 cents in 24 hours. Trump says the higher costs are worth it. Do Republican voters agree?
And a top Amazon executive talking tonight about "The Apprentice" possibly returning. Former "Apprentice" contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman is our guest. What does she think?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, treason. Trump just now saying that anyone who criticizes his war in Iran is, quote, treasonous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We get the radical left to say, we're not winning. We're not winning. They don't have any military left. It's unbelievable.
It's actually -- it's actually -- I believe it's treasonous. Okay? If you want to know the truth? Its treasonous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Treason is punishable by death in the United States.
But another thing you just heard the president say, there was right that they don't have anything left. It's important in that context to note that Iran still has nearly 60 percent of its missile launchers and 40 percent of its drones, according to CSIS. Seth Jones of CSIS will be with us later this hour.
And Trump's threat tonight of treason coming as we are awaiting his formal response to Iran's latest peace proposal, a proposal the president earlier today said he wasn't satisfied with. And that is clearly left him frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever. Or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the options.
REPORTER: Do you want to go blast the hell out of them and finish them forever?
TRUMP: I'd prefer. Not on a human basis. I'd prefer not, but that's the option. Do we want to go in there and just blast them away, or do we want to do something?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Go in there and blast them away.
Well, I talked to Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told me that an imminent U.S. military strike is very much on the table from what he has learned, it is a mission, he said, that could include U.S. ground troops. So that's obviously hugely significant, as the president's been getting briefing from top military advisers and the discussions with Iran come, as Trump told Congress today. And I quote, the hostilities that began on February 28th, 2026 have terminated.
Now, that's really important. I mean, he's talking tonight about going in there and blasting them away, which does seem to contradict that a bit. But to say the least -- but under the War Powers Act, the president has to get congressional approval for any military operations that last longer than 60 days. Well, guess what today is. Today is day 60.
So despite Trump claiming hostilities have terminated, which obviously seem to be necessary, technically it doesn't fit with things like going in there heavy and blasting them away or what he said to describe the war earlier today
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Gasoline is high. Other prices are way down, but gasoline is high. But when this is over, you'll have a world without a nuclear weapon with Iran.
You know, we're in a war. We're not going to leave early and then have the problem arise in three more years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He just said were in a war and we're not going to leave early. That's interesting.
The war with Iran obviously clearly is not over, even in his own mind. And by the way, Iran's supreme leader, who, by the way, we have not yet seen in public even now, after more than seven weeks, 60 days, issued a second message in two days saying that Iran is, quote, "emerged as a military power," just a sign of the defiance that is coming out of Iran. It comes as a majority of Americans, 61 percent, say it was a mistake for the United States to go to war with Iran, which is on par with the 59 percent who called the war with Iraq a mistake back in 2006.
And Joe Rogan obviously was key to getting Trump elected is tonight expressing the frustrations of many Americans who disagree with the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: What we did to Iran -- what if Iran nukes New York City? Those kids that live in the Bronx, they had nothing to do with what happened in Iran. So like, is that okay? Like, what are we talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a mess.
ROGAN: It's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) nuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House to begin our coverage tonight.
And, Kristen, what are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, I've talked to a number of White House officials, and it seems as disappointment with the latest proposal from Iran is permeating throughout the White House. Two days ago, I was told by a senior White House official that they all felt pretty good about where this was headed. They thought Iran was making its way towards the same page that the U.S. was on, and that they were going to come to the table with a solid deal.
[19:05:03]
Obviously, that is not what happened. Now, we're hearing President Trump once again dipping into this threatening, blustery language, talking about blowing them up, talking about taking them on militarily. And at one point, he actually said this. He said they've made strides, but I'm not sure if they'll ever get there. That is a level of frustration that we haven't heard from some -- for some time.
President Trump has continued to say that Iran is making a lot of progress, that they were working towards what the U.S. wanted.
That is a very serious change in the rhetoric. And it goes to show you where this White House is right now. And there are a lot of questions as to what the next step is going to be, because every official that I have spoken to has said that President Trump does not want to go in militarily. He does not want to resume the strikes. He wants this to be over. He wants his team to be focusing on the
economy. He wants everyone to turn their focus to the midterms. He is done with what's going on with Iran.
However, the country is not done because we are still involved in this back and forth, and we have put so many resources into Iran. There are serious questions as to what the United States is going to get out of this, if anything. And I do want to note one other part of this, which is the criticism that we are seeing from the rest of the world when it comes to this Iran, particularly our allies in Europe.
And President Trump now seems to be hitting back at some of those critics. Earlier tonight, they announced that the president was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany after the German chancellor criticized the war in Iran and the U.S. role in it.
Now, this seems to be mostly symbolic, because there's still going to be 30,000 troops on the ground in Germany. But he's clearly trying to send a message to our allies that he's taking this seriously, and they should get on board, whether it's just publicly. He clearly doesn't want the criticism.
BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much.
Of course, you know, reducing troops by 15 percent because what was it Merz said that Iran had -- humiliated Iran on the negotiating stage is obviously notable as an act of an American president.
Everyone is here with me, and I want to talk about that.
But, Ryan, I also want to start with you here because you were a special counsel at the defense department. And so, you know the laws. Trump has just said that he views anybody who is, you know, says the U.S. isn't winning the war or, you know, heavily criticizing the war is treasonous. So it's a loaded legal term.
Okay. What do you make of his use of the word?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: So it's a loaded legal term. And President Trump himself in the past has noted that treason comes with the death penalty. He's fond of saying that.
BURNETT: He's noted that, right. So he knows -- he knows the penalty.
GOODMAN: Yeah. So there is a dark period of American history in the World War One, in which there were the Alien Sedition Acts, and they did prosecute individuals who had spoken out against the war. There was the purpose of it. But that's a dark period.
The Supreme Court would strike any of those laws down today. And the treason statute itself has nothing about speech. It's really about materially assisting an enemy at a time of war with intelligence information or something like that. Nothing like what the president is talking about. What he's talking about is rhetorical, but it's still kind of sets a tone.
And if it ever were pursued, the Supreme Court would eliminate it I think 9-0.
BURNETT: And I think just also, you make the point that he's used that word and that's punishable by death, that he makes that connection all the time, right? So he's not just saying it casually, not knowing what it means. He does know. And it's something he's emphasized.
Alex. It comes in the in the context, as you know, Trump says hostilities are over, which may just be a technical gaming of the calendar. It's unclear. Well see. But then he leaves open the possibility of blasting the hell out of Iran. And as I said, what he said just a few moments ago is go in there heavy and blast them away is on the table. Do you think there is the possibility of a major strike?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I do think a major strike is a possibility, and the Iranians have misread the president at every opportunity since before the war began, going back to the 12-Day War and again, speaking to mediators in the weeks beforehand and then in subsequent conversations afterwards with GCC partners, with folks in Iran, there was still this question of whether or not the presidents resolve was going to be there, and they've misread him. So the warning has been clear.
You know, we've seen air bridge going into theater. Whether that means a potential strike is still on the table is unclear.
BURNETT: You mean just more air power going in?
PLITSAS: Yeah, yeah. More air power going in and resupplies and whatnot. So even though we've had a break in hostilities, which allowed the president to speak to the 60 day window for the War Powers Act and saying that were out of hostilities. Now, this is by no means over at this point.
So, there are really only a couple of options. It's either the persistent stare. We basically back off, meaning we stare at the nuclear facilities and if they try to touch them, we bomb.
U.S. Central Command has said 13,000 to 16,000 designated targets. President can walk away and say, hey, we hit all the offensive capabilities. We'll leave a stare at this thing. The strait belongs to somebody else. It's their problem.
Or the problem is today, the statement that he made regarding not wanting to go back in three years and deal with this again, which really means the enriched uranium and the enrichment needs to be dealt with.
BURNETT: So, Nazila, when you see two statements out of the supreme leader in two days and I -- and I know, you know, from your analysis and other experts that that is very much clearly has the fingerprints of the IRGC commanders on it, regardless of the status of the supreme leader himself.
[19:10:10] Is Iran ready for another attack? I mean, you know, I was just sharing those numbers about missile launchers and drones. I mean, they've spent this break in fighting, preparing themselves as well. But that's one thing. Do they really think that's going to happen or do they really perceive this to be, quote/unquote, "terminated", as Trump said earlier?
NAZILA FATHI, FORMER NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT BASED IN TEHRAN FOR TEN YEARS; Erin, I think they were expecting another round of military strikes for, for clearly two reasons that were, that were very obvious to them. First of all, the military buildup in the Persian Gulf, which has been going on even since the cease fire, and also because the Americans don't have a clear end game for this conflict.
This was put on full display yesterday during testimony and Iranian newspapers wrote about it. So I think they were expecting another military strike, which may justify why Iran is so intensely engaged in diplomatic efforts.
In addition to the three day the three countries that Iranian foreign minister visited last week, he's been on back to back calls with foreign ministers in the region. And I think even though they -- they keep on saying that theyre ready for another round of attacks, their launchers are ready, but theyre also trying to see if they can divert it diplomatically.
BURNETT: Alex, I know you would not be surprised if there were more whatever. We like to use eliminations or assassinations in particular of General Vahidi, who is running the IRGC, and perhaps -- perhaps has his finger more than anyone else on the ultimate lever of power in Iran right now.
PLITSAS: Yeah. So I think the presidents comments are often misunderstood, or sometimes people think he's just being bombastic. From what I've heard from GCC partners and others, is that the general assessment is, in fact, correct, that there are IRGC leaders, particularly with Vahidi at the top, who have been very hard line pressing for the blockade to continue -- to sort of undermine the Iranian civilian leadership.
And there's a chance that theyre going to pursue the same strategy, which is if you can't change the game, change the players. And anybody who's staying in the way could get hit infrastructure targets inside and potentially military targets along the Strait of Hormuz.
BURNETT: Right. It sounds like what you're still talking about is the same strategy up to this point, right? Change the players and air power.
PLITSAS: Yep.
BURNETT: Ryan, you know, when Trump said hostilities have terminated, right. And then we just he said that earlier and that had to do with the War Powers Act. You know, they expired today. But then he's telling that crowd down in Florida where he's speaking specifically, he said, we're in a war. We can't get out early. So what -- what -- what does that mean? That -- that's a direct
contradiction. Does it have any meaning or does that just depend if Congress is not going to act like a eunuch?
GOODMAN: So it has meaning. The big issue for the war powers resolution is if the United States is still in hostilities at day 60, then the 60-day clock expires and the president of the United States, any president has to terminate the military operations. So we're at day 60 today. The way theyre trying to say --
BURNETT: So he, quote/unquote, "terminated".
GOODMAN: Yeah. So he says, no, no, no, it was terminated on April 7th at the beginning of the ceasefire. But then today he's saying, no, we are in war. That's a contradiction. And on top of it, the State Department just recently said on April 21st that we are in an ongoing armed conflict with Iran.
An ongoing armed conflict is what would trigger the War Powers Resolution to kick in. And that was just recently, well after April 7th. So I think theyre in deep trouble, as well as the fact that the hostilities have not terminated. There is a military blockade that is an act of war. The United States military has fired on Iranian flagged vessels. That's acts of war as well.
And the definition under the war powers resolution is not even firing upon. But it says there's a state of confrontation. There is obviously a state of confrontation between the United States --
BURNETT: Well, there's a -- U.S. has been -- you call a ceasefire or not, they've been enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
GOODMAN: One hundred percent.
BURNETT: That entire time.
Nazila, what are you hearing from inside Iran? Of all the many people you're speaking to there?
FATHI: The people are worried. I mean, as life is gradually going back to normal, people tell me that like large cities like Tehran are seeing more and more people come back, you see more people on the streets. Despite the price fluctuation, crazy inflation you see life going back to normal.
But people are holding their breath. They are not sure that -- you know, the military strikes are not going to happen again. People are talking about apocalyptic descriptions about what happened during the 40 days of military strike, especially in Tehran. I mean, the stories that they say is, is quite traumatizing. And they definitely don't want to go through it again.
BURNETT: Yeah, it's just interesting when you think about Joe Rogan, his comment about the Bronx, right, to bring home what it is like for someone when it happens in their city.
All right. Thanks very much to all of you. I appreciate you.
And next, unprecedented destruction, a CNN investigation revealing the widespread damage to U.S. military sites from those Iranian strikes.
[19:15:04]
Plus, a major U.S. airline reportedly preparing to shut down in just hours. So what does that actually mean for all the people booked on that airline? As gas prices are going even higher? Just a big jump overnight, Trump says the spike is going to be worth it in the long run. But what do his supporters think?
Harry Enten is next and he'll tell us something we don't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump just telling Americans to be patient with gas prices that have skyrocketed because of the Iran war.
[19:20:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The only thing -- we got a little raise with gasoline. It's going to come down lower than what it was. It's going to come tumbling down. There is so much oil out there. It's pent up. It's locked up in the Strait of Hormuz. When all of that stuff comes out, you're going to see prices dropping on gasoline like you've never seen
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, Trump and his energy secretary have both said that gas prices could remain high until the end of next year. I mean, here's Trump when he -- I mean, sorry, the end of this year.
Here's Trump when he was asked if gas prices would be lower by the midterm elections. So that's November. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It could be or the same or maybe a little bit higher. But it should be around the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Well, that's different than what he said today. And right now the average price of a gallon of regular gas hit $4.39. That is an incredibly high number. And it rose 9 cents overnight. It is up 33 cents from just one week ago. This is stunning. And it's hurting Americans.
And since Trump started the war, gas prices have soared nearly 50 percent. But all of these facts are not stopping some of Trump's most loyal defenders in the GOP from going out publicly to push what happened to be false talking points.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): You can even feel in our environment how good things are getting. Gas prices continue to come down.
REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): People will remember -- you go back two years ago. We were paying almost $6 a gallon for gasoline. Right now, it's in the threes. Obviously, we've seen a jump with the Iran conflict.
JOE KERNEN, CNBC ANCHOR: When were we paying six?
SCALISE: Well, two -- two and a half years ago.
KERNEN: I don't think --
SCALISE: We would look at --
KERNEN: That wasn't the average price.
SCALISE: -- where we are now.
KERNEN: You must have been on vacation in California, I think. I think two years ago, in April of 2024, we were at about $3.65.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Just the facts are the facts. I mean, both of those comments are obviously just completely counterfactual.
So, Harry Enten is here to tell us something we don't know. I'm just going to say, Harry, it is incredible that really smart, thoughtful people as both of those people are go out on television and say those things which are just patently false because there is still something that people think if you're going to go out and say something like, gas prices are coming down so fast, we can feel it, or they were six, you wouldn't say that if it were just blatantly false --
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Apparently --
BURNETT: But it's false.
ENTEN: Apparently you do now.
BURNETT: So, Trump is telling Americans now to be patient, although he said they could be a little bit higher by midterms. And now he's saying they're going to drop like a rock. Be patient though. He says it will be worth it.
Okay. Do Republican voters agree with him?
ENTEN: No. Republican -- we're starting to see real cracks in the Republican coalition right now. And it comes to the cost of living Republicans. Their patience is running out. I mean, just take a look whether they think Republicans that the country is on the right track or the wrong track when it comes to the cost of living. Look at this, pre-war, 54 percent say we were on the right track, 30
percent say we were on the wrong track. Those numbers are now flipped. A plurality of Republicans, this is Republicans that we're talking about, 45 percent say that the country is on the wrong track when it comes to the cost of living. Just 39 percent say the right track.
Of course, this is a Republican base that is stuck with Donald Trump through thick and thin. But when it comes to the cost of living, theyre feeling the pain at the pump and they're taking their anger out.
BURNETT: Well, that is something that you can go say whatever you want on television, but everybody can go and look for themselves at what the truth is, right? That's not something that you can say is far away and no, no, no, everybody can see it.
Okay. But you talk about his base and obviously that's a crucial -- that's crucial for him. Its crucial for Republicans in the midterms. But it's not the only group of supporters that he needs to be worried about right now.
ENTEN: No. I mean, just take a look within that base. Look within that base. Look amongst the youngest Republican, excuse me, the youngest Trump voters. These are people who voted for Donald John Trump back in 2024.
But look at this -- their approval rating of Donald Trump, 92 percent at the beginning of his term. Look at that. Were talking about just 57 percent now of Trump voters who are under the age of 35, who now approve of Trump. People have been waiting, wondering, hey, when is there finally going to be some breaks along this coalition lines you see on the cost of living, and you see it amongst the youngest Republicans, the one who, of course, are most susceptible because they tend to be the ones who are in the lower rungs of the income ladder.
BURNETT: That is an incredible deterioration, though.
ENTEN: That's -- what is it? That's a 35-point drop.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right. So tell me something else. I don't know.
ENTEN: I'll tell you something else you don't know. You know, you mentioned in the opening the amazing rise that we've seen in gas prices since the beginning of the war. Well, I looked at AAA's numbers going all the way back since the beginning of the 21st century, the rise that we have seen in the last two months, the highest rise ever, is happening right now.
This is the largest increase that we've seen in a two month spike in gas prices this entire century. That is a 47 percent increase in just two months time. The numbers don't lie, Erin Burnett.
[19:25:02]
BURNETT: This is incredible. And we are 26 years into this century.
All right. Thank you very much, Harry.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And I want to go to "Forbes" senior editor Dan Alexander.
So, Dan, you know, when you hear President Trump downplaying the sky high gas prices and saying theyre going to drop like a tumbling down, come down like a rock, former Fed Chief Janet Yellen was telling me, you know, that even if the war does end straight reopens, that's not how its going to happen. But you say that this is classic Trump.
DAN ALEXANDER, SENIOR EDITOR, FORBES: Donald Trump is a master salesman. He always has been. So even if there's a lot of uncertainty and nobody knows what's going to happen in the markets, you can count on Donald Trump always giving his best sales pitch
BURNETT: So, you know, and he does it even when, you know its counterfactual, right? He said prices are going to be up now. He says theyre down. And, you know, he doesn't -- he doesn't mind when we play those things side by side. I know that you have a brand new report out, Dan, as part of some of the other focus that's going on here of the incredible financial gain that Trump, his friends and his family have experienced this administration, you've done incredible reporting on it.
You now have a new report where you conclude that Eric Trump's bitcoin business, it's called American Bitcoin is making him a whole lot richer, even as the company investors are losing money. So I guess let's just look at it this way. From your reporting, Dan, how much money do you say eric Trump has made off of this company alone?
ALEXANDER: Well, I'm estimating that Eric Trump's personal net worth has gone up about $90 million from just this one company to about $280 million. And that's happened at a time when the value of the company, since it went public is down about $12 billion. And if you isolate just sort of the everyday traders who got involved with it because they were excited about the sales pitch at the start, it looks like they've lost about $500 million.
BURNETT: That is incredible, $90 million your estimate in his net worth going up from just one company. It is a company that he has praised. And as, of course, having tremendous potential. You talk about that sales pitch. Here's part of what we've heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC TRUMP, SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do believe that were going to be one of the true great bitcoin companies anywhere in the world. I think, in fact, we already are.
We could not be more excited about our growth. I truly believe that were building one of the great crypto companies anywhere on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So just to be clear, you're estimating he's gained $90 million. And investors have lost half a billion.
ALEXANDER: That's correct. Every day investors, other investors have lost even more. But yeah sort of mom and pop investors down a half billion
BURNETT: Okay. It's just incredible. Now he's given a lengthy response to your reporting, Eric Trump has, and he says in part, Dan, just over a year ago, American bitcoin did not exist. Seven months and 25 days ago, we went public on the Nasdaq. Today we hold over 7000 bitcoin and stand as the 16th largest publicly traded bitcoin company in the, all caps, world. He also went on to call your reporting, quote, politically motivated propaganda.
What's your response to him?
ALEXANDER: Look, my reporting is based on math and the problem that this company has is that the numbers that it has been pitching just don't add up. Eric Trump has been saying since it went public that it can mine bitcoin for about half the value that bitcoin is worth.
But right now, if you add in all of the expenses that he's leaving out, you know, the cost of buying machines overhead at the company, all that sort of stuff, it looks like it costs them about $90,000 to mine a single bitcoin. Bitcoin right now is trading at $78,000. So it looks like theyre actually mining at a loss rather than mining at roughly 100 percent profit, which is what he has been telling investors.
The other problem is that most of the money, most of the bitcoin that theyre accumulating, isn't even from mining, its just from selling this overpriced stock that people have gotten really, really excited about taking the cash proceeds of that and then going out and buying bitcoin with it. The problem is that the timing on those purchases has been really bad. And so they've blown about $135 million of investor cash through that.
So there are two ways of accumulating bitcoin. Both of them, when you look strictly at the numbers, are losers.
BURNETT: Okay. And we talk about $90 million as you are estimating that he has made just from this one company. But that's just I don't want to say a drop in the bucket, but I guess it kind of is when I look at your reporting overall of the Trump family, Eric, siblings, his father, and how much money they've made since Trump came back in the White House.
ALEXANDER: Yeah. Overall, you're talking about billions of dollars. But one of the things that's interesting here is that Donald Trump, unlike most real estate tycoons who are of his age, didn't give his kids significant stakes in his real estate assets.
What's happened over the last, call it, year and a half, is that Don Jr. and Eric have gone out through international licensing deals and through various crypto plays, and gotten significant fortunes of their own. So we had Eric Trump before the election at roughly like $50 million.
Now we've got him at 280 million. What that means is that he now has a large pile of cash that's not subject to financial disclosure that he can use to deploy in other investments. I think you're going to see a lot more stories about things that Eric Trump and Don Jr. are investing in now that they have significant money of their own.
BURNETT: That's just absolutely incredible. All of it. And stunning.
Thank you very much. Dan Alexander, incredible reporting.
ALEXANDER: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, for the first time, we can show you the widespread damage that Iran caused to U.S. military sites. Sources telling CNN they've never seen anything like it. Wait until you see this report with the satellite images.
Plus, former "Apprentice" star Omarosa Manigault Newman is our guest. What does she think about bringing back the show "The Apprentice" with Don Jr. as the host?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:37]
BURNETT: Breaking news, unprecedented destruction, a CNN investigation discovering Iran has caused extensive damage to a majority of the U.S. military sites in the region. Precise Iranian missile and drone strikes, aided by sophisticated Chinese technology hitting some of America's most crucial military assets in the Middle East. The extent of the damage unknown until now.
Our Tamara Qiblawi is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER/WRITER (voice- over): Camp Buehring, Kuwait. American soldiers enjoying a karaoke night at one of the biggest U.S. military hubs in the Gulf.
That was then. This is now.
A once bustling American micro city in the desert, nearly empty and heavily damaged after a week's long barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. One of many U.S. military facilities in the oil rich Arabian Peninsula targeted by Iran even as the U.S. and Israel pummeled the Islamic Republic's large arsenal.
So what impact have Iran's strikes had on America's footprint in the Middle East?
A CNN investigation found evidence of unprecedented destruction. We can reveal that strikes damaged at least 16 U.S. installations across eight countries. According to our analysis and sourcing, that's the majority of American military positions in the region, and some of them are virtually unusable now.
A U.S. source familiar with the situation told us that they'd never seen anything like this at American bases, that these were rapid, targeted strikes using advanced technology.
Iran's main targets, multimillion dollar aircraft like this Boeing E-3 sentry, which gave the U.S. a huge amount of visibility over the Gulf. It's out of production. And in today's money, it's worth nearly half a billion dollars.
Critical communications equipment. Look at these giant golf balls. They're known as radomes, and they protect satellite dishes vital for data transmission. In this space alone, Iran destroyed all but one of the radomes less than a month into the war.
And crucially, radar systems, highly sophisticated, expensive, difficult to replace and critical to air defense. A second U.S. source, this one a congressional aide familiar with damage assessments, described these as the most cost effective of the targets.
"Our radar systems," they said, "are our most expensive and our most limited resource in the region."
QIBLAWI: For U.S. allies in the region, there's a dilemma. In some ways, Iran's show of force makes the US's presence in the region even more necessary to Gulf security. But there's a new reality here, which is that U.S. military installations previously seen as formidable fortresses have turned into sitting targets.
As a Saudi source told me, the war has shown Saudi Arabia that the U.S.'s longest standing Arab ally, that the alliance with the U.S. cannot be exclusive, and it is not, in their words, impregnable.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): To get a sense of just how vulnerable U.S. facilities have become, have a look at this. It's the war room at Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base. The theater command and control hub for U.S. air power across 21 nations struck not just once, but twice and according to a U.S. source, causing significant damage.
The base had been largely evacuated at this point, and no casualties were reported.
Iran's visibility over its targets has never been clearer. In 2024, according to "The Financial Times," Tehran secretly acquired a Chinese satellite known as the TEE-01B, a massive upgrade from its satellites. That means that Tehran went from looking at images of this quality to this.
This is the first time America has fought an adversary with satellites that capture high res imagery, almost as detailed as its own.
As the scale of the damage comes into focus, many will wonder whether America's presence, once a protective shield in the Middle East, has turned into its Achilles heel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QIBLAWI: Responding to our findings, a Pentagon official said that the defense department does not discuss damage assessments, but that U.S. forces remain fully operational with the same readiness and combat effectiveness.
We also understand from our sources that the vast majority of U.S. troops evacuated their positions in the Middle East, with many working from the relative safety of hotels and apartments in the Arabian peninsula -- Erin.
[19:40:01]
BURNETT: All right. Tamara, thank you very much. It's really incredible just to look at those images and especially the images of Tamara just out of Camp Buehring before the karaoke night. And now, just completely eviscerated.
I want to bring in Seth Jones, president of the defense and security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
And, Seth, I know that you have, you know, looked at so much of this data and information, you know, but watching that and her reporting, you know, she's saying some of those facilities are virtually unusable at this point, extensive damage to the majority of U.S. bases. Just to state the obvious, this is not something that the Pentagon has disclosed or anyone from this administration has been honest about.
What stands out to you about all this?
SETH JONES, FORMER ADVISER TO COMMANDING GEN.,U.S. SPECIAL OPS FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Well, Erin, you know, what's interesting is that the U.S. intercept rate is likely somewhere in the 95 percent level right now. These look predominantly like drone strikes. That's our assessment. The Shaheds that did this, rather than Iranian ballistic missiles.
But it does show if the intercept rate is somewhere around the 95 percent level, that 5 percent or so are getting through, and they are having damage. So the system that the U.S. has in place is not foolproof. It's very good, but it's not foolproof.
And I would just say sort of big picture. If you shift to the indo- pacific with the PLA, the Chinese People's Liberation army rocket force, U.S. bases across the region, Japan, Philippines and other places are going to be at much more severe danger than what we're seeing now in the Middle East.
BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely. And then when you talk about what the damage done by the drones, right, that that the missile interceptor rate may be, you know, exceptional 5 percent can cause huge damage. But then there's the drones.
You have done incredible reporting. You and all of CSIS on the depletion of U.S. offensive capabilities, missile inventories specifically as well. Trump was asked about that earlier today. Seth, I wanted to play part of what he said
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: All over the world, we have inventory and we can take that if we need it. But all over the world, we have tremendous amounts of inventory. The best, for instance, were stocked and locked and loaded. Right now, we have more than double what we had when this started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: More than double what we had when this started, and tremendous amounts of inventory. I mean, what do you even make of such comments? Obviously false when it comes to things like tomahawks, but what do you make overall?
JONES: Well, I think what's important is that not all missiles are created equal. I mean, one of the advantages the U.S. had over time in Iran was that it had air dominance. It could use short range missiles like joint direct attack munitions or JDAMs.
The problem that the U.S. has in the Pacific right now is its going to have to use long range missiles, because the Chinese have such extensive capabilities to hit targets in what we call the first and second island chains, like out to Guam. And there, the U.S. stockpiles of long range munitions, like Tomahawks, like JASSMs, like long range anti-ship missiles, LRASMs, they are in very limited supply right now, and the same thing with interceptors.
So what really matters in this discussion is not missiles per se. It's not helpful to talk about missiles in general.
BURNETT: Yeah.
JONES: It's the missiles you need to deter in specific situations.
BURNETT: Which I think is just so crucial. And what you lay out there is so important. And its important for Americans to understand all of this, and the truth. Obviously, you know what he said. There is at best extremely misleading about something so important for national security.
He also talked today, Seth, about something about Iran, right? What is Iran really have left? Okay. The military. And he was very specific. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We get the radical left to say, we're not winning. We're not winning. They don't have any military left. It's unbelievable.
It's actually -- it's actually I believe its treasonous. Okay. You want to know the truth? It's treasonous
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And he said that, that that Iran is they've got nothing left. Okay. You've looked specifically at that and you've found that Iran does still have a lot left. When you look at drones, you look at missile launchers.
JONES: Yeah. Erin, I mean, look, there's no question, first of all, that Iran has -- has -- its capabilities across the board are degraded. The video you showed of U.S. bases, what the extent of the damage in Iran is much more significant than what U.S. bases have received.
Nevertheless, despite that damage, the Iranians have hid stuff underground, so they still have 40 percent or so, our assessment, of their drone capabilities left, and then maybe 60 percent or so of their missile launchers.
So they do still have the capability to fire missiles and drones. And that makes it -- that makes them still a dangerous adversary. And as you just noted in your reporting, they're getting help from the Chinese. And I would add the Russians as well.
BURNETT: All right. Seth Jones, thank you very much.
[19:45:01]
I appreciate it.
JONES: Thanks.
BURNETT: And next, a major U.S. airline reportedly about to cease operations in just hours. Rising fuel costs from the war, huge part of why.
Plus, a top Amazon executive talking about discussions to bring back "The Apprentice". Former apprentice star Omarosa Manigault Newman has a lot to say about that. She's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, a top Amazon executive refusing to shoot down rumors of a reboot of "The Apprentice". The company's head of unscripted shows telling "Dateline" today that its not an active development, choosing to remain a bit coy after "The Wall Street Journal" reported that the Jeff Bezos founded company is looking to bring back the reality program and not just to bring it back, to bring it back with the Trump as the host, specifically Donald Trump, Jr.
OUTFRONT now, Omarosa, otherwise known as Omarosa Manigault Newman, former "Apprentice" contestant, former senior advisor to President Trump, and also the author of "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House".
[19:50:05]
So, Omarosa, I really appreciate your time. You know, when you saw this, I wonder what your reaction was. I mean, you competed on three seasons of 'The Apprentice" and "The Celebrity Apprentice".
OMAROSA MANIGAULT NEWMAN, FORMER "APPRENTICE" CONTESTANT: Three seasons.
BURNETT: You know him. You know the family, all of them. What do you think of it possibly coming back with Don Jr. at the helm?
NEWMAN: Well, first of all, glad to be back with you always. I have to tell you that I'm not surprised about the talk of resurrecting "The Apprentice", because it was a really good show. I'm surprised that theyre considering Don, Jr. as the host. That was the most surprising aspect of the story.
BURNETT: And let's just talk about why. But I'll give everyone some context here that you sat numerous boardrooms with the Trump family, including Don, Jr. Okay? Let me just play part of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: Omarosa, in "Apprentice 1", I remember you selling lemonade and I remember the women crushed the men because sex sells. You have one of the most beautiful athletes ever, a Playboy centerfold, and one of the best supermodels of all time.
NEWMAN: You remember from the first season that we were heavily criticized for using our sex and not using our brains. So I learned that lesson from the first season, and I balanced that with what my marketing team wanted to implement in this particular task.
PRES. TRUMP: But they killed you, Omarosa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So -- so, I mean, that is a very young Don, Jr. and a much younger Donald Trump himself there. But when you say you were so surprised about Don, Jr. Okay, how come? I mean, you know, obviously people are saying, well, this is a being, you know, giving him a platform to advance what is widely seen as his bigger political ambitions.
NEWMAN: Because, Erin, the reason "The Apprentice" worked and it was so successful is because Donald Trump was a businessman who had all these different avenues, from his golf courses to his hotels. I mean, what will Don Jr. talk about in terms of his business successes? Of course, he's worked for his father, but I don't know that he had his own individual success.
Now, there is someone from the Trump family that I think could be successful, and that is Ivanka Trump. I said in the boardroom with her season after season, episode after episode, and she has a different level of charisma and she has good business acumen. She's had her clothing line, her jewelry line, her planet harvest that she's working on now. She has lots of business successes, and she's really sharp in the boardroom.
Between the two of them, I would choose Ivanka as the host if the show actually came back, too. BURNETT: I guess if you're going to do "The Apprentice", it's so
associated with Trump, perhaps that's what to do, but it is obviously so political to bring any of them, right? I mean, you're picking a certain audience, but the president loves to talk, as you know, Omarosa, about the ratings and the accolades of the shows he's appeared on. But "The Apprentice" first among them, 14-season run. Every time it comes up, he talks about that.
Okay. Then yesterday he was asked about this news. What do you think about Don, Jr. taking over hosting the show? And I just wanted to play for you so you could hear what he said and how he said it, Omarosa.
(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: Interesting he brings up charisma. But no, it wasn't. It didn't seem that way, did it?
NEWMAN: No. But if you ask him about Ivanka, I guarantee you his reaction will be quite different. And he could also go outside of the Trump family. I mean, a little known fact. Ron DeSantis once tried out for "The Apprentice". You know, he's going to be out of a job soon. Maybe he could be considered for host.
There's so many other dynamics folks who could take on this hosting role and deliver the numbers, the ratings that you need to carry a franchise like this.
BURNETT: Ron DeSantis -- not -- I wouldn't have had that on my bingo card, but we will see.
NEWMAN: I -- random conversation with him at Mar-a-Lago, and he shared that he had applied, and it was just one of the most fascinating aspects of the franchise. I had no idea until he shared that with me.
BURNETT: You know, Omarosa, I like to think that we can all learn something new every day. I do learn something new every day. I learned a lot new today, but I did not know that Ron DeSantis had applied to be on "The Apprentice". And I don't think pretty much anybody knew that. So that's -- there you go.
Thank you for that. Omarosa, it's always great to talk to you.
NEWMAN: Good to be with you.
BURNETT: All right.
NEWMAN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, a major U.S. airline expected to shut down in hours. They've been hoping for a half billion dollar bailout from Trump. It was all because of rising fuel costs with the Iran war. We'll tell you the very latest here. We could be hours away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:59:29]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Spirit Airlines preparing to shut down tonight. The low budget airline, which flies to over 70 destinations expected to cease operations in seven hours. That's according to "The Wall Street Journal". Now, the airline had been in talks with the Trump administration to secure a half billion dollar bailout. Talks, though, seem to have fallen apart. The administration wanted to take a stake of 90 percent of the airline.
Spirits' collapse was in no small part because of the rising fuel prices from the Iran war, which made a turnaround nearly impossible. Now, Spirit has continued to sell tickets in an effort to try to keep the company running, but doesn't seem to have been enough.
Other carriers are now saying they may help Spirit ticket holders if the airline does in fact shut down, but we're perhaps only seven hours away from finding out.
Thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" begins now.
