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Erin Burnett Outfront
Voters In Four States And D.C. Head To Polls For Pivotal Races; Trump Touts "Very Powerful" Iran Agreement Almost Nobody Has Seen; New Details On The Conditions Inside Ghislaine Maxwell Prison Camp. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired June 16, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:17]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, polls are closing right now in Georgia. The president is making a last minute endorsement. Will it pay off?
Plus, Trump is bragging about his agreement with Iran. So why isn't he letting the public see it?
And more breaking news, House staffers are visiting the minimum security facility where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held. So what did they find?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, in for Erin Burnett.
The breaking news, it is election night in America. Polls just closed moments ago in Georgia.
And President Trump's power over the party is facing a major test once again tonight. Republicans are deciding who will be their nominee to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. He needs to win, and he needs to hold his seat. He needs to win if Democrats have any hopes of flipping the Senate. This is a very closely watched race.
President Trump jumped into this one, though, quite late, endorsing Congressman Mike Collins, a 2020 election denier only just this past weekend, pitting himself then against the popular Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, who has long backed another candidate, former college football coach Derek Dooley.
So all of this comes as the president's facing new headwinds with some of the very Republican voters going to the polls tonight, over half of Republican and Republican leaning voters nationwide now disapprove of President Trump's handling of the key issues, inflation and rising prices, his highest disapproval ratings of his second term.
And elected Republicans are not staying quiet. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): When I talk to folks at home, they say our prices are too high. We need some relief.
E.J. ANTONI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: It's not good. There's no way to sugarcoat this. They're up at the fastest rate since the Biden administration. So, again, not good news here.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), FORMER HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: It's pretty hard to take from a billionaire president when he says he loves inflation, brought on the American people because of a war that he decided to pursue. And, you know, that one's going to come back and bite him.
REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): We shouldn't be talking about ballrooms. We shouldn't be talking about DOJ slush funds. That's not what our country wants us to be taking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Also in Georgia tonight, Republicans are deciding who they want as their nominee in the governor's race. Both Trump and the outgoing governor, Brian Kemp, have endorsed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones to face the former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.
Mayor Bottoms will join us here in a moment with her -- with her take on all of what's happening tonight.
But first, Dianne Gallagher is in Atlanta at Senate candidate Mike Collins headquarters.
Dianne, polls just closed. What's the sense, the feeling for the Senate candidate that President Trump has now endorsed?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kate, like so many Tuesdays this year so far, we're waiting to see if that 11th hour endorsement from President Donald Trump will be enough to pull Mike Collins over the finish line tonight. The people who are starting to gather in this room here, of course, certainly hope that will be the case. Trump's Sunday night sign off set up sort of a proxy contest, if you will, between sometimes friends, sometimes political foes, Trump and Governor Brian Kemp, who, of course, has long been back in Collins rival in this runoff, former University of Tennessee had football coach Derek Dooley.
Now Derek Dooley has cast himself as an outsider in this race who says he didn't vote in 2016 or 2020, something that Trump took note of in his endorsement of Collins.
Collins, meanwhile, has presented himself as a reliable and longtime Trump and MAGA ally. He has supported the president through just about everything, including the president's false claims he won the 2020 election. Now, both candidates did court Trump for his endorsement, but this is Georgia, so that doesn't guarantee a win. Nobody knows that better than, of course, Governor Brian Kemp, who won reelection back in 2022 after Trump endorsed his opponents.
Now, what we're really paying attention to tonight is looking at the original primary back in May. Collins finished that with about 40 percent of the vote, duly behind him with 30 percent of the vote. But what I'm going to be looking at are the returns from the rural southeastern part of the state, because that's where Representative Buddy Carter finished strongest. He came in third in that May primary, and those are going to be where those votes potentially are there to, of course, change and see if there's any impact that Trump's potential endorsement may have had on those voters here at the last minute.
Now, look, Democrats picked their candidate, as you mentioned, back in May.
[19:05:00]
So Jon Ossoff, the incumbent senator, has had the fundraising and campaigning advantage, and we're talking fundraising. Look, he is a significant advantage no matter who wins here tonight. We're talking about, according to FEC documents here, around $32 million cash on hand. Dooley and Collins both report less than $2 million.
BOLDUAN: Wow, quite a delta there. All right, Dianne, thank you so much. She's going to be watching this and we're all going to be bringing you the results as they come in and they will be coming in. So we'll keep a close eye on that.
Everyone is here with me.
So at stake in this race, guys, I mean, you've got Trump endorsements. That test being put to test again. You've got Senate balance of power that is now in the spotlight again. And you've got this whole dynamic about -- of Georgia and the -- an election in Georgia and all eyes on election in Georgia. Trump talking about in like a tele-rally about the 2020 election loss, though he says obviously went back to the same playbook again.
So there is a lot at play here. But I just wonder, with the criticism he's also now facing, which is different, from his party, not completely, and it's not, you know, a tidal wave, S.E.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Mm-hmm.
BOLDUAN: But on the reflecting pool, the ballroom, the DOJ slush fund, and more, is he-- do you think-- does this translate to him being weakened as we go deeper into the primary season?
CUPP: Well, yeah. I mean, you just heard from a bunch of Republicans in that package, talking about the issues that really matter to voters.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
CUPP: And of course, it's the economy and prices. And what is Trump and what is Mike Collins talking about in Georgia, election fraud from -- that didn't exist from six years ago? That is such a losing argument.
It's losing everywhere, but really losing in Georgia. Georgia has --
BOLDUAN: They must be like, "What? We're exhausted."
CUPP: They've done three audits, none of which found election fraud. The attorneys that went after this have been sanctioned. A lot of people have been indicted over these claims. The claims of election fraud have been worse for the accusers than anyone else.
So, it's just -- going back to this well over and over again at a time when even Republicans are acknowledging it's the economy, stupid, get back to the economy, is just a really -- it's a dumb idea.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, you know, let's talk about said economy, and let's talk about said inflation because that -- getting back to, as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul, was talking about in that sound bite about how Trump said that he loved inflation, the vice president was asked about that statement and that declaration. He was asked about that today. Let me play what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA NAVARRO, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": He just said he loves the inflation.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What he said, Ana, what he said is that he loves the fact that the inflation is going to come down when this war is over. That's what he said.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": That's not what he said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That wasn't address --
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Wait, are you his interpreter or are you his vice president?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Like, I already have a lot of hats. Let us just play that actual exchange of what the president was asked and said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number, which came out this morning? Could that be --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Is Vance helping this situation?
PAUL RIECKHOFF, HOST OF THE INDEPENDENT AMERICANS PODCAST: No, not at all. I mean, inflation is extremely unpopular, the Iran war is extremely unpopular, tariffs are extremely unpopular, and J.D. Vance is extremely unpopular.
So sending out J.D. Vance to try to move people is pretty much the worst possible strategy, especially --
BOLDUAN: But Paul, he's got a book. He's got to talk about the book.
RIECKHOFF: Yeah, which I also -- I don't know when the last time a sitting vice president wrote a book and was out selling it on the campaign trail, but that's where we are right now in 2026. But I think there's a bigger issue today, which is that the day is going to be dominated again by partisan primaries, where the parties are running the show and hundreds of thousands of independents are going to be blocked out of closed primaries, in Georgia in particular. So you're likely to see a motivated extreme base, the right-of-center base.
And in D.C., you're going to see the opposite. You're going to see the motivated socialist base because in both places, they're closed. And in Oklahoma alone, 500,000 independents will have no say today. So the real bellwether is going to be when they get to the general election, when they have to talk about inflation, they have to talk about the economy, and independents haven't had a say the entire time.
They're going to define this election as we saw from CNN today, they're also the highest numbers we've seen in a decade. 47 percent of this country is now independent, and they're not buying a lot of what Trump's pushing right now.
BOLDUAN: I want to ask you guys about kind of what that means with this explosion and growth of people who identify as independent.
But, Jamal, what do you think first of just the vice president going on "The View", having this conversation, and I don't know his demeanor and that exchange of like him translating for the president on that statement, because Kamala Harris had a bit of a rough go.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I have no experience with a vice president having to go out and clean up things for the president.
BOLDUAN: Yes, none whatsoever.
SIMMONS: It's never happened before. Look, this is kind of -- this is kind of the job of the vice president to try to help out the president on one of these things.
[19:10:04]
But sometimes when the president does something, you just have to acknowledge, yeah, that's probably the right thing to say and keep moving on.
Here's what's happening, I think, with the independents. We're all losing, all the institutions are losing the favor of the American public and I think it's familiarity breeds contempt. The more people see about what's happening inside the internal workings of whether it's the news media, the church, the military, political parties, people start to fall away.
Social media is doing that, investigative reporting is doing that. People have more information about the people they see. They used to hold up on a platform and now they know more about what's happening on that platform and they don't like to see what it is that they're finding.
BOLDUAN: Let's take a pause. I'm just being told by the control room, getting some of our first numbers coming in from Georgia. Let's throw these up.
Let's start if I think we're going to throw up the Senate race with this again, this is the Republican runoff race. So far, I mean, look, you've got, you know, drop the banner. What is that, eight percent? Eight percent reported in.
So we are early on, folks. But right now, Derek Dooley is up by -- oh, a little bit. So this is one of the things we have to watch is, again, Derek Dooley endorsed and supported by the very popular Republican governor of the state, who's been essentially campaigning with him for almost a year at this point.
And he is --
CUPP: He recruited him.
BOLDUAN: And Derek Dooley, not an election denier.
CUPP: Yeah.
BOLDUA: And then you have Mike Collins, which is very much an election denier, and he's got some baggage that could be following him into the general election from his time as a Republican member Congress. But let's keep tracking this and we'll see this one. Let's see what they're let's put up with the race for the governors right now and see what comes in here.
Rick Jackson -- OK, so that's so Burt Jones has been endorsed by, as we've been talking about, as Dianne was telling us, Burt Jones endorsed by both Donald Trump and the governor of Georgia. And right now, he is behind. But again, eight percent of the vote coming in.
We'll see. I mean, there's no way to say this indicates anything other than we're getting votes in and we're seeing where we're standing right now, Jamal.
SIMMONS: Yeah, Kate, one of the things that happens in the Republican Party right now is that the party is moving further and further away from where the mainstream public is because they have to say that they believe in these things that everyone knows aren't true. So they're taking themselves away from -- most people have witnessed things with their eyes. We know that the election happened.
BOLDUAN: Right.
SIMMONS: We know that Donald Trump didn't have the largest crowd on inauguration day. We saw all these things on television. So people know that. So it means you can win a Republican primary but it's hard for everybody else.
Donald Trump looks authentic because they know that he's kind of like a wacky dude he says stuff that people don't believe in but everyone else looks craven everyone else looks like they're folding to the emperor and won't tell him he's not wearing clothes instead of the guy who's in charge who's like listen I'm just running the show I'm the circuit that circus master and everybody else is dancing.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Independent question.
CUPP: Yeah, right. And I think you have to include you're absolutely right and there's no bigger like Republican critic than this former Republican.
But I think the reason so many people are moving to the independent or the center is because they're also is affected with the Democratic Party as well because Democrats looked them in the faces and lied to them in 2024. They said crime is down. You are safe in your cities. Our cities are great, defending the status quo.
There's no migrant crisis. Immigration is not bothering you. And if it is, you're racist.
And the economy, it's strong as hell. What do you mean, economic grievance? That must be code for something else.
That was awful as well. And you never tell voters that they're wrong about how they feel. Republicans, I think, are making similar mistakes now by Trump just completely ignoring the issues that his own voters are telling him are important to them.
So I think the problem for a long time now has been voters are watching politicians get elected to not solve problems, to get rich and famous, to grandstand, to hold these performative hearings that do nothing for me, do nothing for you, solve no problems.
And in fact, the intransigence becomes the point. What bills can you stop? Who can you block? That's not inspiring to voters.
RIECKHOFF: They hate all of it.
CUPP: They're leaving. They weren't opting out.
RIECKHOFF: Independents are none of the above.
BOLDUAN: But do you think it's going to bring about change? You still have a primary --
(CROSSTALK)
CUPP: That is a bad change. RIECKHOFF: And that's actually really important because the primaries are the problem right now. You're going to have low turnout, you're going to have generally the extreme wing of the right, end of the left, they have it in the after everybody's already gone, schools are closed, but they continue to use public funds for private elections, and this needs to be changed.
When you have truly open primaries, then everybody has a vote. On the left, the same thing is happening in D.C., where 1/5 of D.C. voters are independent, and they actually passed a referendum. Seventy-five percent of people in D.C. wanted an open primary, but the Democrat- controlled city council blocked it. They went against the will of people, and right now you won't have an open primary.
So the future is open, and the future is independent.
CUPP: You also need to -- you have to be careful, though, because independent is also broad.
[19:15:03]
Independent doesn't necessarily mean moderate --
SIMMONS: Yes.
CUPP: Yeah.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: -- I don't like it.
RIECKHOFF: It doesn't mean no to the GOP and no to the DNC, especially with young people, 60 percent of young people are saying none of the above. The future is independent, but with how hard they work, there's still only 27, 26 percent --
CUPP: But it does --
SIMMONS: They're saying no to the label of Democrat or Republican because we do see they tend to vote one way or the other they just don't want to --
RIECKHOFF: But usually because they only have one or two options.
BOLDUAN: So on one --
RIECKHOFF: Options they vote we.
SIMMONS: You don't have any independents in Congress that would argue against that.
RIECKHOFF: Look at right now, how Seth Bodnar is doing in Montana when they have an option for an independent. He's doing well. He's competing with a Republican and the Democrats are the spoiler. You're going to see that.
CUPP: Sometimes.
RIECKHOFF: -- in South Dakota, Montana.
CUPP: Sometimes.
RIECKHOFF: Sometimes, but more and more.
CUPP: When people in the middle or people who are not identifying with either party, when they opt out, we get more polarization not less. But that's the problem.
RIECKHOFF: Also being driven out. Like today, hundreds of thousands of them can't vote they are blocked from this entire process and that's un-American.
CUPP: Yeah.
RIECKHOFF: And I think more and more people want to see that change primaries and everyone gets an equal say.
CUPP: There's just one image I think I want to end on just because it kind of speaks to the issue that we know the president has been very focused on and people keep being asked about but that voters you one must assume this goes into the category of this doesn't affect me why the heck are we talking about it or why the heck is the president focus on it, which is the reflecting pool.
He's now -- we've now seen there are these images of workers pouring hydrogen peroxide into the reflecting pool because -- remember, the president called it disgusting. It had an algae bloom, and it was green, and so he repainted it and said it was going to be perfect after that. Well, then it was hot and muggy in DC over the weekend, and the algae bloom continues. And they do say that there's systems in place, and they put these pumps in place, and it's all going to get better, but it definitely was not right.
CUPP: What a metaphor. It's a perfect, obvious metaphor, right, for the stuff that this administration is focused on, which is not important.
BOLDUAN: Fourteen million dollars.
CUPP: They're spending too much money, and they're not solving the problem.
SIMMONS: It's still not working.
CUPP: And they're not fixing it.
RIECKHOFF: And everything they touch gets worse.
BOLDUAN: And I have to say, even if even if like in a week these bubbler pumps do work, it still just kind of gets to the point of like, why?
SIMMONS: Well, I mean, we're facing that question in Iran. We may end up in a war in Iran that takes us back to a place basically where Barack Obama was after the 2015 JCPOA, and maybe even worse, maybe even giving Iran a stronger strategic advantage than they had before Donald Trump launched the world.
BOLDUAN: And now Iran has tested the theory of, can we shut down the Strait of Hormuz? And the answer is yes. So that has been answered, which is different.
Thanks, guys, for being here.
RIECKHOFF: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: All right. So OUTFRONT next, Trump defiant in the face of blistering criticism, some of it from for not realizing, not releasing, rather, his agreement with Iran. What doesn't he want the public to see then? Is that where we are?
Plus, how staff are spending hours at Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, her prison camp. What did they find?
Congressman Robert Garcia, whose staff was at the camp today, is my guest.
And we're watching for more numbers coming in from Georgia on this election night America. Harry Enten is going to bring us some of the first results and what we're seeing and where. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:37]
BOLDUAN: Tonight, the administration is still refusing to release the text of the U.S. agreement with Iran, one that the president has called a very powerful document and one the vice president says is only about a page and a half long.
The latest reason that still no one has seen it, J.D. Vance says that it's due to, quote, "sensitivities" that exist in the Arab and Muslim world. It is unclear what he is getting at. Vance himself admitted today that even he doesn't fully understand it.
President Trump, meanwhile, from the G7 summit, says that he is preferring to, quote -- he's preferring a, quote, "formal setting for the occasion", though not the formal G7 summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Why not release it before Friday?
TRUMP: Well, because I'd like to get a formal setting first before we do that. But I have no problem with that. It's a great document. Actually, I'll not only release it. I'll probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT now, David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent with "The New York Times", and Nazila Fathi, former "New York Times" correspondent who was based in Tehran for a decade before being forced to flee.
David, you had a nearly 30 minute phone call with President Trump just days ago where he kind of laid out much of the thinking and the agreement and the reasoning to you. We're now learning from our White House team that the administration is now trying to downplay this document that no one's seen.
Give me a sense of, I don't know, your insight from that conversation with the president, your conversations with sources, why they're resistant to putting out this text if the agreement has been agreed to.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, look, sooner or later, they're going to have to put it out and various versions of leaked out, which is going to make it even more important to get the real version out, Kate, right? There's nothing worse than having multiple versions around.
But the thing about a document like this, particularly one that is as vaguely worded as it is, is that there's something in it for everyone to dislike and to really dislike. So Republicans, MAGA Republicans, just Iran hardliners will think that it's too vague. It doesn't require the Iranians to limit the size of their missile arsenal or their ranges. It says very little on the nuclear program other than that they will dilute or down blend, as they call it, the stockpile of near bomb-grade uranium.
[19:25:07]
It doesn't talk at all about the other 10 tons of uranium. It leaves it basically leads to the next negotiation everything that's hard. And on the other hand, for the Iranians, it isn't specific enough about when they would get sanctions relief, when they would get their funds unfrozen. And for the Gulf States, it basically commits them to a $300 billion investment fund in Iran that nobody knows who's going to finance.
So, all of the hard issues are being left for the next negotiation. And the president said today, oh, I don't think that one's going to be that difficult. He said the same thing to me. I actually think that's going to be a lot harder than this one was.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, I think that's a -- yeah, yes, I believe that it's going to be a lot.
SANGER: I'm sticking my neck out there, Kate, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: I think so, on that one.
New Zealand, one of the points that David was making, the president earlier today seemed to back away from some of the firm statements that he has made from going to war, which was that he wanted to take control and in some variation talking about removing Iran's highly enriched uranium.
Let me play what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You could make the case why you even bothering, because it's not really valuable. It's, you know, it's probably half a million dollars. It's not very valuable stuff. But I think psychologically we want to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The vibe he's kind of giving is like this isn't a big deal, but I mean, like how critical is this one to the Iranian side? What are you hearing from your sources just about this issue?
NAZILA FATHI, FORMER JOURNALIST FORCED TO FLEE IRAN: I'm hearing that this is really the red line for Iranians inside the country. A lot of hardliners have made it clear that there is no way that they would hand over the enriched uranium. They consider it as a sovereign, non- negotiable right under NPT. They also see it as a deterrent for the country.
And on the other hand, Iranian officials have openly said that they believe that enriched uranium is deeply buried underground and digging it out is going to be complicated. So my sense is that perhaps President Trump is distancing himself from the importance of the enriched uranium because he's realizing that realistically it will be very hard to dig it up, and the topic might be too explosive inside Iran.
SANGER: Kate, can I just make a quick point on this?
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
SANGER: I thought it was interesting the president said, well, it's not very valuable, it's half a million dollars. The importance of the most enriched uranium, this half-ton of 60 percent enriched is not its value. It's the speed with which it could be re-enriched or improved to make 10 to 12 nuclear weapons.
And that's why there was a concern about it before it was bombed a year ago. And that's the argument the president made in February for starting the war, that we needed to get this stuff out. So, if it's not so important now -- well, what was the imminent threat that he was dealing with prior to the war and that's I think the question he's trying to get out that he made an argument to me that look I'm not in a big rush on this because they can't -- the Iranians can't get at it and he's right they can't, which doesn't raises the question why did the war start?
BOLDUAN: Yeah, but saying now that it's not a big deal or trying to say it's about value in the kind of monetary sense. SANGER: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: Kind of like missing the point, and a little bit. I don't know if this is also kind of missing the point or a distraction as well, Nazila, but the president also is saying that the United States isn't going to pay any but any money into this $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran that David had mentioned earlier. It's kind of a little bit of like regardless of where the money comes from, how crucial is it that Iran have this as part of the agreement?
FATHI: You know, Kate, I think Iranians were willing to even further choke the economy of the Gulf countries and the financial markets by keeping the strait closed in order to get this financial relief, because their survival depends on it. Iran's economy is in a terrible shape. The president has said repeatedly that this was not just a military war, it was also an economic war.
And, you know, there are new leaders who are running the country and they have to establish legitimacy, they can't do it without stabilizing the economy. So getting financial relief and compensation to rebuild their legitimacy, they can't do it without stabilizing the economy. So getting financial relief and compensation to rebuild the infrastructure that was destroyed during the war has been, again, another non-negotiable part of this agreement.
BOLDUAN: Yeah. And let's see what is first in this agreement when we will see it.
David Sanger, you're likely to be the first to see it, buddy. You can bring it right to me. I appreciate it. Thank you both very, very much.
OUTFRONT for us next, inside Ghislaine Maxwell's prison camp, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, is now telling OUTFRONT his staffers they just toured the facility. He's going to join us next, tell us what they've seen and heard and found out.
We're also getting new results out of Georgia on this election night. The Democratic candidate for governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, is our guest.
And Harry Enten is joining us at the magic wall, of course, with the latest numbers. The Senate runoff is neck and neck. We're back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:08]
BOLDUAN: Breaking news coming in now. There are new numbers coming in from Georgia's Republican primaries, polls closing just 30 minutes ago. With 24 percent reporting, President Trump's endorsed candidate for Senate, Mike Collins, you see there, is leading right now. But -- and in the governor's race, Trump-backed candidate, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, is currently trailing.
Let's get straight to Harry Enten at the magic wall -- with me at the magic wall.
Let's start with the center. What is -- what should people take from this and can they still not take from this?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Okay, what can't they take from this? Most of these early returns are early vote. The Election Day vote may look different from the early vote, but we're still going to take a look at what we see in the patterns right here. We have to wait for those Election Day votes.
One of the things I think is so interesting is you're seeing a clear geographic divide, right? So Mike Collins, who is in the lighter Derek Dooley in the darker red. You could see Derek Dooley is doing quite well in and around Atlanta, right? And a lot of that vote is coming in.
Look to the southeast part of that, though. There's still a lot of gray on the map going on here, right, folks? And what do you see on here, though? You see pretty much all down here. We've got a little bit more of that vote. You see light red for Mike Collins.
So to me, it looks like more of Mike Collins's vote is still out compared to Derek Dooley's vote. And of course, at this particular point or going into this race, right? the Trump endorsement.
The other thing that I will note is you go back to round number one, right? Mike Collins got more votes than Derek Dooley did in round number one.
BOLDUAN: Again, this is the runoff because they were the top two candidates in the first round of voting.
ENTEN: Correct. Exactly right. There was a third candidate, Buddy Carter, and Buddy Carter did very well down right here in Southeast Georgia, right, right around Savannah. What does that look like right now, however, when you look at the results, you see that we're seeing a lot more of that Mike Collins red that's going on here right now so it seems to me that Mike Collins is pulling in many of those Carter voters.
BOLDUAN: That means Mike Collins has some room to run then if he's pulling in more than Buddy Carter.
ENTEN: Exactly right. He has room to run at this point. So Mike Collins ahead I think he'll maintain ahead but of course, we'll just have to wait and see.
BOLDUAN: And this again is a bit a bit of a battle of the big name Republicans President Trump has endorsed late Mike Collins and the very popular Republican governor of the state, Brian Kemp, has been endorsed and been campaigning with Derek Dooley for months and months now. So this is one of the kind of storylines that we have to watch all throughout this.
Let's talk about the governor's race.
ENTEN: Let's talk about absolutely. Let's go to the governor's race. This is a different ballgame altogether.
So if in the Senate race, right, Donald Trump's candidate was doing well in the governor's race, something entirely different. Burt Jones backed by both the governor Kemp as well as Donald Trump.
And what do we see on this map right now? What we see on this map right now is a whole heck of a lot more light red than we see dark red. And I just want to sort of fill you in on this. You know, let's go to, let's go to Fulton County, right, Atlanta.
Look at this lead that right now, Rick Jackson has. It's a 33 point lead. Compare that to round number one, right? Where what was it? Rick Jackson was only at 31 percent of the vote. What we're seeing throughout this race right now, at least in the governor's race, what we are seeing is that Rick Jackson is outrunning what he did in round one. We'll see if the win and see if it holds.
BOLDUAN: However, yeah, I mean, this is last round to make sure we end on the today.
ENTEN: There we go.
BOLDUAN: Twenty-seven percent reporting right now. So, a lot more to run, but there's some interesting storylines happening here.
Thanks so much, Harry.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Looking at the governor's race right now, OUTFRONT now is the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Mayor, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming in.
So, obviously, as Harry and I were just running through, votes are still being counted. It's still coming in. But from what you see and what you hear on the ground, do you think you'll be facing President Trump's pick in the general election in November based on these early numbers?
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR: You know, we don't know. It's too early to tell, but I can tell you they are both pretty extreme MAGA Republicans. Burt Jones, of course, has already received the endorsement of President Trump. And then you've got Rick Jackson, who has spent over $100 million of his own money seeking to get the endorsement of Donald Trump. So they really are one in the same. Rick Jackson has said that he will be Donald Trump's favorite governor and Burt Jones is an election denier.
BOLDUAN: Burt Jones has also made it clear that he plans to use your time working for President Biden against you if he is who you are up against in the general election. Let me play this for you, Mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURT JONES (R), CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR: She did a terrible job while she was mayor. She went to the Biden administration after electing not to run for reelection as mayor, and I don't think she got any good training from the Biden administration while she was there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:40:07]
BOLDUAN: Do you worry that your -- do you worry that your ties to the Biden administration to President Biden could hurt you with Georgia voters?
BOTTOMS: Not at all. I will put Biden up against Trump's record any day of the week, especially in the way he delivered for Georgia.
Listen, Burt Jones is an election denier. If you were to ask him if Donald Trump won the 2020 election, he would say yes. This is a man who is living off of his daddy's petroleum fortune. He has put in millions of dollars of his own money.
He's not talking about any of the things that the people on the ground care about. He's still relitigating 2020. Meanwhile, the people of Georgia are talking about the cost of living. They're talking about grocery costs. They're talking about health care costs, 500,000 people in this state opted not to get health care after the big ugly bill.
Those are the things that people care about.
BOLDUAN: It was just a few months ago, though, when the now outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was in Fulton County while the FBI seized 2020 election records. And since then, President Trump has talked about wanting Republicans to, you know, take over elections.
Let me play this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Republicans should say, We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least many, 15 places, the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked, and they're counting votes. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. Now, you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with the court order, the ballots. You're going to see some interesting things come out.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Are you actually worried about the Trump administration getting involved in your state's elections?
BOTTOMS: You know, anytime the Trump administration touches anything related to voting, we should all be concerned just about the integrity of our democracy. He has raided the Fulton County Election Office. He has just caused havoc for two women in this state who were working on Election Day in 2020, and he knows no bounds. So it's not -- you know, it's more of a concern for me just in terms
of where we are with our democracy and how far will the president go to interfere with the right to vote. This is why we are reminding people they need to show up and vote in record numbers. We don't need thin margins again in Georgia. We don't need Rick Jackson or Burt Jones, and we're asking people to support our campaign no matter where you are.
Even if you're Georgia, of course, vote for us. But if you're not, you can go to keishaforgovernor.com. You can sign up to volunteer for our campaign to donate to our campaign because this election should matter to all of us.
BOLDUAN: Mayor, thank you so much for your time. It's a Republican runoff underway, votes still being counted and coming in as we speak.
OUTFRONT for us next. Beautiful landscaping with a waterfall. Little to no security. House staffers just touring the prison camp that Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to after her interview with President Trump's Justice Department. And they questioned the warden directly.
Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on House Oversight, is our guest.
And new details about the investigation into California Governor Gavin Newsom's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER NEWSOM, WIFE OF GOVERNOR NEWSOM: I love championing and focusing on uplifting and supporting women and girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: What we know about her nonprofit work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Breaking news, Democratic House staffers just wrapped a visit at the minimum security prison camp where Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently being held.
Maxwell, who's serving a 20-year sentence for, quote, "conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors, was transferred to the facility after sitting down for an interview with the then Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche." President Trump has, of course, now nominated Blanche to be the next attorney general.
OUTFRONT now is Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
Congressman, thanks for your time. Tell us what your staff did at the facility today, what they found.
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Well, we had team members here today from both the Oversight and the Judiciary Committees, and I've been briefed by our entire team. I mean, really stunning what they have learned.
One, to be very clear, this facility is being described as a community college, trees. There's fountains. It's relaxed.
People are walking around. They said it's it looks like a pristine park like community college setting.
This is the least of the entire Bureau of Prison system. This facility is essentially the least restrictive for movement. It is a minimum security facility, what Ghislaine Maxwell is at.
And perhaps something that we didn't know before that might be the most interesting and damning at the same time is we asked the warden today about Ghislaine Maxwell being essentially a sexual predator, being a sex offender. He mentioned to us that she is the only, of the 600-plus women that are there, she is the only convicted sex offender at that facility. And he could not answer and does not know why she was actually moved there.
So the warden, no idea why she's there, and the team there admitted that she's the only convicted sexual offender there. That is outrageous.
[19:50:00]
This is a cover-up, and Todd Blanche should explain who directed the move and why she's in this facility.
BOLDUAN: So, on the facility, we spoke with a former employee at that prison, Noella Turnage, and she says that she was fired for sharing Ghislaine Maxwell's emails. She talked about that prison warden specifically, saying that they personally handled Maxwell's mail, just as one example. Let me play this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOELLA TURNAGE, FORMER EMPLOYEE AT PRISON WHERE GHISLAINE MAXWELL IS HOUSED: There was also the warden's personal handling of her mail, which may not sound like a big deal to some people, but the other inmates in those prison in that prison, Erin, they have a hard time getting out their regular mail, much less anything needed for court filings and things such as that. So for them to go out of the way to make sure that Maxwell had that -- that opportunity was pretty disgusting to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Your staff again spoke to the warden. How did she seem? How did she respond? What did she say?
GARCIA: Well, first, they were very clear that the wording was not forthcoming, would not answer a lot of questions, felt was defensive, talk to -- would not really -- understand why Ghislaine was there. And I think it's really interesting that no one in that facility, not a single person, could actually explain to us why Ghislaine Maxwell is the only sex offender that's been convicted in that actual facility. What they did describe was park-like conditions. Conditions that that
allowed everyone to walk folks to walk around. And so we've yet to understand why she was actually moved there and why the warden, who won't answer questions as to why, whether it's questions about the mail, whether it's questions about the facility, with questions about why Ghislaine Maxwell was there, none of that was provided.
And of course, Ghislaine -- they're not providing access to Ghislaine Maxwell either. And so, but uniformly, by the way, all the staff came back with the same conclusion, which is that this is a park like campus and Ghislaine Maxwell should not be there.
BOLDUAN: So I want to read in response to CNN's exclusive reporting on other Bryan prison inmates saying that they were punished for speaking out. A Bureau of Prison spokesperson said this in part, the Bureau of Prisons is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, impartiality and professionalism in the operation of its facilities. They went on to say that the Bureau of Prison staff are prohibited from, quote, "providing preferential treatment to any inmate."
But the mystery does remain. Who transferred Ghislaine Maxwell to this minimum security facility? Did you find anything out?
I mean, the warden would have to know when someone's coming in, but who was actually making this happen?
GARCIA: Nobody will tell us, or they claim that they have no idea, which is why it's so important that Todd Blanche has not only asked this question in his confirmation hearings, but actually testifies in front of the oversight committee, a request that we have made to Republican and to Chairman Comer directly. He has to come in front and explain who made the order for Ghislaine Maxwell.
Now, we asked Pam Bondi, the former A.G., and she put the blame on Todd Blanche. She said she had no idea. And so it is time for the truth, and Todd Blanche deserves to give us the answer as to why and who ordered Ghislaine Maxwell to be transferred to this facility.
BOLDUAN: It does seem that your team's left with many more questions than answers. But thank you for bringing these insights on. I really appreciate it.
OUTFRONT for us next, new details about the federal investigation into the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom and why it was launched in the first place.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:36]
BOLDUAN: New tonight, California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling the Trump Justice Department investigation into his family a fishing expedition. This is we are learning new detail about the investigation itself.
Paula Reid is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California's governor and potential 2028 presidential contender Gavin Newsom, is currently under federal investigation for possible tax crimes. The full scope of the investigation into the first partner is unclear. The documentary filmmaker founded Representation Project, a nonprofit focused on gender equity in media.
J. NEWSOM: I love championing and focusing on uplifting and supporting women and girls.
REID (voice-over): She also owns a film production company called Girls Club Entertainment, which is listed as a contractor on the Representation Project's tax returns. And she co-founded the California Partners Project, a nonprofit that works to get more women onto corporate boards, address the gender pay gap, and make tech safer for children.
Critics have raised the possibility of self-dealing for years, despite no public evidence of wrongdoing. While it is unclear what exactly investigators are focused on, they have recently interviewed potential witnesses, including people close to the first couple.
Sources tell CNN that the governor is not directly under investigation, but he has framed the probe as politically motivated and targeting him.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Donald Trump isn't just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He's coming after me because I'm considering running for president.
REID (voice-over): The tax probe is not the only recent investigation into someone in Newsom's orbit. His former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was recently prosecuted related to corruption. She pleaded guilty to three charges earlier this year.
President Trump has made it clear he wants his Justice Department to pursue his political enemies. Just last year, he called for Newsom to be arrested and has attacked him repeatedly.
TRUMP: He's ruined California, gives health care to anybody.
REID (voice-over): CNN has learned the current investigation was launched last year by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento based on a whistleblower report.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to answer questions Monday on Capitol Hill.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: General Blanche, can you confirm -- can you confirm if this Justice Department is investigating Gavin Newsom, if the president directed you to do this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
REID: Well, Blanche is not going to be able to escape questions in a few weeks when he is expected to face a contentious confirmation hearing where one of the biggest issues is going to be how the Justice Department has been used to pursue the president's adversaries -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Paula. Thank you so much.
And thanks so much for joining us tonight.
"AC360" starts now.
