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Erin Burnett Outfront
Now: U.S. Launching New Strikes Against Iran; Top Backers Say Platner Should Quit Race Amid Allegations He Denies; NYC High-Rise Buckling. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 07, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:23]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, the United States just launching new strikes in Iran. Officials telling CNN the strikes are punishment and won't end anytime soon. So, what was left of the, quote/unquote, "ceasefire" under serious threat tonight? We'll go live to the ground in Tehran.
Plus, Graham Platner's campaign teetering on the brink of collapse. The Democrat who could replace him in what is a must-win race for the party is our guest tonight, as one of the nation's top political forecasters lays out whether Dems can beat Susan Collins.
And the breaking news out of New York -- a midtown high rise at risk of collapsing. Everyone evacuated, buildings around that evacuated, a whole section of midtown Manhattan shut down. We'll go live to the scene.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
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BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news. The United States launching new major strikes against Iran tonight. The ceasefire, as fragile as it is, is facing its most significant test yet.
The United States also announcing it is reinstating sanctions on Iranian oil. The country has netted tens of billions of dollars because those sanctions were taken away in recent weeks. A U.S. official tonight telling CNN that the strikes won't be over for a bit.
Well, the attacks, the sanctions, coming after the United States accused Iran of targeting three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
I want to begin our breaking coverage tonight by going to the ground in Tehran, where Fred Pleitgen is there.
I note that CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the government, but we maintain full editorial control of these reports. Fred, what are you learning? What are you hearing and seeing? As I see
cars behind you in the early hours of Tuesday morning, or Wednesday morning in Tehran, what are you learning about these attacks?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Erin. Well, this could very well still be an ongoing situation with those strikes that the U.S. is conducting. But we're hearing from Iranian media, from Iranian social media, and then also from some videos that are coming in on the ground that apparently there have been some pretty heavy explosions that have been reported in towns that are around the Strait of Hormuz. Specifically, one of them is Bandar Abbas, which, of course, is one of the main support towns that's also used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. A lot of explosions were reported from that area.
Also, possibly the town which is sort of on the eastern edge of the Strait of Hormuz. But it's unclear because these towns are so close to one another, whether these are sounds that are going from one town to the next or whether these are really a series of major explosions. Certainly, several explosions have been reported from that area down in the Strait of Hormuz.
Also, Iranian officials are commenting on all of this as well. You mentioned the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticizing the move on the part of the U.S. to revoke those sanctions waivers against Iran. There's also an Iranian Foreign Minister, Erin, who has come out tonight and heavily criticized that military action by the United States, calling that a breach of Article 1 and 2 of the Memorandum of Understanding that, of course, is supposed to enforce a ceasefire between Iran and the United States.
And finally, the Iranians are saying that they are willing to take all necessary measures and reserve the right to take all necessary measures to ensure what they call their national interest there.
BURNETT: And Fred, what does that mean in terms of retaliation? We know with the most recent strikes just days ago, they struck U.S. assets and bases. What are you hearing about what they'll do now?
PLEITGEN: Yeah, they struck those very quickly in the past couple of times that incidents or similar incidents have happened. Certainly, we haven't heard from the Iranians so far whether or not they are going to strike back. But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps certainly has said that in cases like this, their finger is on the trigger.
And of course, we know especially U.S. assets in the Gulf countries could be at risk from Iranian retaliation. One of the things, of course, that's different this time that we have to take note of as well is that we are in the ongoing proceedings for the funeral the supreme leader of Iran, the slain supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
One of the interesting things that's been going on tonight, Erin, is that large parts of Iran's political leadership and some of their military leadership are actually in Iraq, not just that in Karbala, where the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has arrived. So, it's unclear whether or not that changes the game for the Iranians, but they certainly have said that their military is on full alert, even as these proceedings are going on. And again, they say their finger is on the trigger all the time, Erin.
BURNETT: Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. How important that you are there on the ground in Tehran tonight.
And this report incoming as Trump lashes out at allies and cozies up to a strongman, the president of the United States, arrived today at the NATO summit in Istanbul and gave some of America's closest friends the -- well, he's holding on what he thinks about them, while embracing Turkey's authoritarian leader.
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From the minute Trump arrived at the summit, he was performing some of his NATO insults from threatening to take over Greenland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's what hurt my relationship with NATO. It was Greenland that -- and it continues to be, that should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's Groundhog's Day, and for any European country that thought that maybe he had moved on -- no, back to that again. And he also criticized fellow NATO countries for not spending enough on defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump also downplayed the four-year war that Russia started against Ukraine, which, of course, Europe has donated more to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It doesn't affect us. It's really, you know, it's far away. It affects Europe much more. We're there to help Europe, but it doesn't affect the United States. We have an ocean in between.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
At the NATO summit, there was also the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, of course. Now, Trump, of course, has been slamming her recently. You'll remember -- and she shocked much of the world by her cozying up to Trump in her early days as a leader. But now this has changed completely. She's one of his top targets because she does not fully support his war against Iran.
Trump was asked about Meloni today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had a bad relationship. It became a little bad because she refused to help us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A little bad doesn't describe the public battle between the two leaders right now. Though Meloni had backed out of attending the American Embassy's 4th of July celebrations because of Trump's personal attacks on her. It goes back to Trump who claimed about Meloni at the G7 that, quote, "She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her."
Meloni responded, accusing Trump of making it up, insisting she and Italy never beg.
And it deteriorated from there. Over the weekend, Trump escalated the public spat, posting this meme of Meloni looking up at Trump with the caption, restraining order needed. Obviously bizarre.
Now, when pressed today, Meloni would only say that the relationship was, quote, cordial, taking the high road.
There's one man that Trump did not slam today, and that is President Erdogan of Turkey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I was very disappointed with NATO. And, frankly, if it weren't held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it's possible that I wouldn't have attended. I would say the relationship with Turkey right now is better, probably, than it's ever been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump even says he's considering selling Turkey F-35 fighter jets, which has faced bipartisan opposition. In fact, if Trump did that, he would be reversing a ban that he imposed seven years ago, he said at the time, because of important security concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I can tell you, many people, including the people sitting right here, thinks, you know, Why wouldn't we do that? We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey's been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, today, Trump threatened again to take over Greenland, slammed Italy, Denmark, the U.K., and France, but lavished praise on a man whose government is totalitarian, the same man who arrested dozens before the NATO summit and even last year arrested the mayor of Istanbul, a powerful political opponent, in a dawn raid of his home.
It's no surprise that Trump's actions since he's been back in office perhaps have spurred now an emergency meeting, we've learned, among U.S. allies.
According to "The Wall Street Journal", this is new reporting tonight, they're saying this meeting included the leaders of France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, and it took place just days after the new year. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that France was ready to go to war in order to protect Greenland. And Meloni, who first told the group that while they may not like Trump, he could still be reasoned with, later rescinded that comment, telling leaders in March that, quote, "Trump is not reasonable".
Everybody is here with me.
I mean, Seth, just on the heels of that, I think Giorgia Maloney, right, that he's reasonable, and then coming back to make a point of saying, actually, no, he's not. You speak to NATO officials every day. What do they, at this moment, with this conference in Istanbul on the line, what do they really think of Trump at this moment?
SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, DEFENSE & SECURITY DEPARTMENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, Erin, there's no question, uh, And they've said this publicly. There are big disagreements about Greenland, which has come up again. Big disagreements about whether they should have provided assistance to the U.S. during Operation Epic Fury. They argue, understandably, that they were never seriously consulted before the war began.
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But I would just say at the end of the day, that virtually every NATO intelligence agency assesses that Russia is a serious threat and will pose a threat over the next several years. I think they still need and want U.S. ground support with combat brigade teams or brigade combat teams, U.S. nuclear deterrent help. And so, I think there's this back and forth with political disagreements, but a recognition that that the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence agencies do provide a helpful deterrent to NATO.
BURNETT: So, Nick Burns, obviously your former U.S. ambassador to NATO. And I mentioned a few moments ago that "The Wall Street Journal" was reporting this about this emergency meeting about Trump. Obviously, he's returned to the Greenland issue today, right, when he gets to NATO. Does anything come out of this?
NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO AND CHINA: Well, I think the irony here, Erin, is that, you know, President Trump can legitimately take some credit for the fact that he has pushed the NATO allies to spend more on defense. Most of these allies were spending below 2 percent of their gross domestic products on defense. They've all committed to spend 3.5 percent, an additional 1.5 percent on military infrastructure. This is a major achievement.
He won't take the win. It's as if he's talking about a Europe of three or four or five years ago, not the Europe of today that is really focused on the threat from Russia. And I think, you know, you cataloged the abusive comments he's made, the sarcastic comments, the critical comments personally about a number of NATO leaders.
We've never had an American president do that. Can you imagine Truman or Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan criticizing in personal terms the Italian prime minister, the French president, the German chancellor, the British prime minister? That's all happened. in the last two or three months.
And I think what he's done on Greenland, he's broken the bond of trust that is at the heart of the NATO alliance. As you mentioned, I was the American ambassador at NATO on 9/11 when New York City was attacked in Washington, D.C. The allies rushed to our defense. Within 24 hours, they had pledged to defend us. Every single one of them went into Afghanistan.
So, we really need NATO. NATO's important to the United States, and the threat now is Putin and Russia. So, when the President says somehow the Atlantic Ocean is going to protect us in the 21st century from Russia, he's just badly mistaken. He's living in some other century, but not the century we're living in.
BURNETT: Well, especially when we talk about reporting about how easy it is to get drones off the coast. And the world has changed dramatically so. Warfare has changed. Even in recent months, we've seen that.
Seth, Trump said he might not have even gone to the NATO summit if it weren't for his strong friendship with Turkey's leader, of course, the authoritarian, Erdogan. And now he's going to -- may sell Turkey those F-35s that they really want. He had banned for security reasons, okay?
So, to that point, that Trump had banned it. Maybe at the time, he was listening to his then-friend, Prime Minister Netanyahu.
I want to play part of what he said about that F-35 sale today to our Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think that everybody understands that, notwithstanding the personal friendship that President Trump has with Erdogan, it doesn't make Turkey a friendly or a friendly state to the United States. To the contrary, it's a regime that's infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the United States.
He harbors Hamas, the Hamas terrorists. He supports them. He finances them. He's thrown his opponents in jail, all of them. He throws more journalists in jail than anyone can understand. So, he's not exactly a model ally of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Prime Minister doesn't do many interviews, Seth. So now with this, he felt it important he wants to talk about that, okay? And yet, you know, it appears he's lost the ear of the president. Does this now just fall on deaf ears, Netanyahu, when it comes to Trump?
JONES: Yeah, Erin. I mean, the Netanyahu-Trump relationship has definitely deteriorated somewhat. I mean, it could get resurrected, as it does with many leaders. But it has deteriorated. And I suspect we're seeing right now a buildup of Hezbollah activity in southern Lebanon, we easily could see the Israelis strike targets and the ceasefire becoming unhinged.
But I think, you know, the big issue on the F-35s was the when the Turks bought the S-400, among other -- it's a Russian air defense system. It was a red line for a number of NATO states, including the United States. It is worth noting, by the way, that in the Turkish air defense system right now, they are not using that S-400 system as part of their what they call the Steel Dome.
So, the Turkish response to that is we're not using the S-400 right now.
[19:15:01]
So, time to sell us F-35s.
BURNETT: All right, thank you both very much. I appreciate your time tonight.
And next, the breaking news, Democrat Graham Platner's campaign unraveling, in a sense, a surprise. It's lasted this long, but now one of his biggest backers urging him to drop out of the Senate race in Maine. A top Democrat in Maine who just filed the paperwork to potentially run if Platner is out, is OUTFRONT next.
And the Trump curse, the term trending. That's actually trending after Team USA's loss to Belgium. Today, though, Trump is uncharacteristically silent about it.
And a shocking and deeply disturbing twist tonight, a mother who publicly claimed that her twins died after a routine vaccination, anti-vax fears, has now been charged with their murder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:00]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Democrat Graham Platner's campaign on the brink of collapse tonight. Platner suffering a major blow earlier when one of his biggest backers, Senator Bernie Sanders, joined a growing number of Democrats demanding he leave Maine's Senate race. It came after a woman told CNN that Platner raped her. Platner denies that allegation, but it has upended one of the most closely watched and important Senate races in the country. It is one that Democrats must win to take back control of the Senate.
This is a must-win situation, and the clock is ticking for Platner to make a decision. He has to, if he's going to get out, do it by Monday in order to be replaced on the state ballot. Even if that happens, there is no known process to put someone else on that ballot.
OUTFRONT now, Troy Jackson. He's former Democratic president of Maine's state Senate, who has now filed campaign paperwork just today to possibly replace Platner if he drops out.
So, Senator Jackson, I appreciate your time.
I guess you know here we are maybe not where you expected we would be even, what, 36 hours ago? Do you believe at this point, Platner will end his Senate campaign before Monday's deadline?
TROY JACKSON (D), FORMER MAINE STATE SENATOR: Well, I do. I think Graham is going to you know drop out because it's about the issues that aren't so important and you know, somebody else has to pick that mantle up and I think Graham's going to do the right thing and drop out.
BURNETT: Obviously, you have a lot of experience in politics in Maine, and you ran for governor. You came in third in the Democratic primary there. And you told a local reporter in Maine, and I quote you here, if Graham's stepping away, I am very, very interested and think I'm the best person to replace him.
But as I mentioned, Troy, there's no known process to get anyone on the ballot whose name isn't Graham Platner at this point, right? It's an unknown. I mean, would you even have enough time to do this, to get it together, to pull off a win if you got in in the next few days?
JACKSON: Well, I think it's definitely a challenge, you know, a shorter timeline. But I think that, again, you know, there's a movement here in Maine and across this country of people that are fed up with health care not being offered to everyday people, you know, with prescription drugs, workers' rights. I mean, and we're seeing that here in Maine.
And I think that is going to carry whoever is a nominee to victory over Collins, because she doesn't offer any of that. And so that's what I think. I mean, short timeline, obviously money and all that is going to be a challenge. But I definitely think it's doable because the message, the movement is right, and that's what's important.
BURNETT: So, another ex-girlfriend of Platner's, Lyndsey Fifield, whose alleged Platner was physically abusive to her, spoke out just within the past hour to Jake Tapper. And I wanted to play some of what she said, Senator.
Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNSEY FIFIELD, PLATNER ACCUSER: The things that he does in private in his relationships with women, the things that he has done to women, coercive control, lying, deception, abuse, and really horrible things that we know about him, sorry, we know that you can't be that way in private and not have it translate into how you would govern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The Platner campaign told CNN that Fifield's allegations are categorically false, comes from a person with a well-documented political agenda.
I'm curious, Senator, from, I mean, you're obviously as connected as it gets in the Maine Democratic politics, right? You're the president of Maine State Senate.
So, is there more to come? I mean, every time he's been asked, he says no, and then we learn something else, right? Is there more?
JACKSON: Honestly, I don't know. I mean, you know, I mean, we had conversation about this being like one of the biggest races ever. I mean, yes, I have had a lot of experience in state legislative races, and I've had to ask candidates to step down when we found out stuff about them.
But, you know, my conversation with him was there was nothing. Now here we are with, you know, things coming out, and I don't know if there's more, I really don't. But it doesn't matter, the thing is that A woman came forward, said she was sexually assaulted. That's the end. I mean, that's the red line that, you know, I mean, that's why Graham Mass set down. It shouldn't matter if something else is going to come out. There's already been enough come out.
BURNETT: Well, Senator Jackson, I appreciate your time, and thank you very much for coming on.
I want to go now to Dave Wasserman of "The Cook Political Report".
And, Dave, you've got new analysis based on this breaking news. So, you know, we were just talking about it with Senator Jackson there, right? There's no process. If Graham Platner gets out by the deadline, his name's on the ballot. So now you're an unknown chart. There's not a rules process for Democrats to get someone on because he already won the primary.
So how does this go? If Troy Jackson were able to get in the race or someone else, if they were able to figure this out, do Democrats because he already won the primary. So how does this go? If Troy Jackson were able to get in the race or someone else, if they were able to figure this out, do Democrats have a path to victory against Collins in Maine at this point?
DAVID WASSERMAN, SENIOR EDITOR & ELECTION ANALYST, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Yes, they very much do because Donald Trump's approval rating in the state is still in the mid-30s and she's a Republican running for reelection. Look, what Democrats are losing here if Platner withdraws is charisma because he lit the Democratic grassroots on fire. He tapped into an independent voter in Maine who was more aligned with Bernie Sanders. His Democratic primary competitors, including Governor Janet Mills, couldn't light up a room with a blowtorch.
That said, Troy Jackson is a name we should be getting used to because he's now the odds-on favorite to be the nominee, the most important surrogate here --
BURNETT: So, you think he has a good choice that we just heard from, right?
WASSERMAN: That's right. Bernie Sanders endorsed Troy Jackson's campaign for governor. And Democrats know that in order to win this race, they're going to need the support of progressives. They can't have a split party.
And no matter the severity of the allegations against Graham Platner, and no matter who Democrats nominate, there's always going to be a faction of Platner supporters who believe that D.C. establishment Democrats pushed him out of the race. And so that makes it difficult to unite the party battle against college. But Jackson represents probably Democrats' best chance, given that some of the other people in the mix could be portrayed as having shallower roots in Maine, whereas Jackson is a logger from Allagash, even if he's not as charismatic a candidate as Platner has been.
BURNETT: So, we're still, what, 119 days away from the midterms. But, we talk about Maine being a must-win for Democrats or Texas or other ones, plus a map that isn't that friendly, right, which creates these must-win situations for them if they want to take back the Senate. What are the odds that they actually succeed?
WASSERMAN: Well, it's going to come down to a handful of very close races. And Democrats know that in order to win back the Senate, they don't just need to flip two purple states held by Republicans, Maine and North Carolina, they also need to win at least two pretty red states that voted for Donald Trump by more than 10 points in 2024.
That means that if they fall short in Maine, they need to win most likely three out of four of Iowa, Texas, and they need to win, they need to hold on to Michigan, they would need to win Alaska and/or Ohio. And so, to hold on to those chances, Democrats need to run perfect races in these red states. They're probably best positioned right now in Ohio, followed by Alaska, but Iowa and Texas are going to be hard for them to win.
And Michigan, where a progressive, Abdul El-Sayed, is running ahead of Haley Stevens in the primary, could give Republicans an outside shot at nabbing a Democratic seat. So, there's going to be a lot of money focused on just a handful of these races, and I still put Democrats' odds in the Senate somewhere in the 40 percent range.
BURNETT: All right, somewhere in the 40 percent.
All right, well, Dave, you know, I love talking to you. Thank you so much. Great to see you.
And next, the questions growing over Senator Mitch McConnell. And where is he? His health. It has been three weeks since he was hospitalized, and we still don't know why or what his condition is.
Plus, a leading candidate in a closely-watched Senate race defending his decision to delete tweets about defunding the police. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I deleted all the tweets because I didn't want them to be taken out of context like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's obviously Abdul El-Sayed, who Dave Wasserman was just talking about. Our KFILE found those tweets, and you'll see what they said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:46]
BURNETT: Tonight, growing questions over Mitch McConnell's mysterious hospitalization. Now, it's been three weeks since the Republican senator was hospitalized after an EMS call revealed emergency responders were called to his address for a cardiac arrest call that required CPR.
However, McConnell's office still will not say why he was admitted to the hospital or what his condition is, right? So, we merely know that call was made to his address. They've never given details.
Republican Senator Mike Lee today admitted he's in the dark, saying, "Many of us aren't speaking about Mitch McConnell's condition because we know nothing about his condition."
Former Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene said to TMZ that it's time for McConnell to step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN: Shame on every single person in Washington, D. C. does -- that doesn't call this out and demand that Mitch McConnell's family step up and announce his resignation and take care of their family member because there needs to be a new election held in Kentucky where they can have a functioning person serve as a senator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: McConnell represents 3.4 million voters in Kentucky. He is not seeking reelection in November.
Now, Republicans, of course, do hold a majority, 53-47, over Democrats in the Senate with McConnell's seat.
S.E. Cupp and Jamal Simmons are both OUTFRONT.
So, S.E., what is going on here? I mean, three weeks, and we've been told nothing.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, this seems to me to be part of a trend I've been watching over the past few years, spanning multiple administrations where the entitlement of the political class is such that they don't owe anyone answers.
And it's not just about the gerontocracy, you know, folks getting too old for the job, but you know, you'll remember we didn't know that Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden's Secretary of Defense, had gone off and gotten some -- some surgery and had been hospitalized for a significant period of time until after the fact. Obviously, we didn't know about Joe Biden's cognitive issues. A lot of people around him were actively hiding those. I don't think anyone believes we know everything there is to know about Trump's health.
I mean, going back to Dianne Feinstein, you know, California senator who served until she was 90, but kind of barely -- barely there.
[19:35:05]
It feels as if the political class has decided they are no longer public servants accountable to us where they owe us these kinds of answers. We saw Tom Kane, a New Jersey congressman, also refused to tell his own constituents where he was. For months, this is part of a pattern, and when we, the voters stop demanding that they answer to us, well, we slowly erode our rights, our democracy, our power as voters. We need to remind these people that they are public servants, and just because the political stakes are high, that doesn't justify this total opacity.
BURNETT: So, Jamal, Mike Lee came out and said many of us aren't speaking about Mitch McConnell because we have no idea. We know nothing about it. But some of his allies have been, right after Mike Lee said that, spoke out.
His former aide Scott Jennings, who obviously a contributor here on CNN, spoke out and said, quote, "I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning. He's still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes about Iran, Ukraine, the unfolding situation in Maine, my visit to the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history."
Majority Leader Thune's office also said that Thune and McConnell had a lengthy and substantive conversation covering a variety of topics, including national security.
Okay, I mean, is this -- you can't imagine these people just coming out and making things up. But, I mean, if that's the case, okay, then why is the office of Mitch McConnell not saying anything? Why are we not getting a video or an audio statement from Mitch McConnell if he's talking about all these issues with Scott Jennings and John Thune?
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's a very good question, Erin.
I don't disagree with S.E. much on this show, but I'm going to disagree with her a little bit here. This didn't just start in the last few years. This has been going on for a long time. I mean, obviously, Franklin Roosevelt was in a wheelchair, and people didn't talk about it for a long time.
Jack Kennedy had really bad back problems. People didn't talk about it for a long time. Strom Thurmond was basically living at, you know, a health facility from what some people have told me about his last few years. So, this has happened.
I pray for Mitch McConnell. I pray for his health. I hope that he's okay and he's going to be okay. But I got to tell you, somebody who was in the White House when Kamala Harris got COVID, and I was her communications director, we put out a photo of Kamala Harris to let people know that she was okay back in the beginning when people thought COVID was going to be tougher.
When Donald Trump had COVID --
BURNETT: Yeah.
SIMMONS: -- they put out photos of Donald Trump. It actually took him on this weird drive-around with the Secret Service agents in that sealed car. But people saw that Donald Trump was alive and that he was engaged.
So, I think it's going to be on Mitch McConnell's staff to not just put out words. They've got to show us Mitch McConnell. They've got to let us know in some way that he's OK. Otherwise, it's really a disrespect to the people of Kentucky and the people of the country at this point.
BURNETT: So, S.E., I want to ask about something else here in light of the unfortunate event for America that happened last night. I'm referring to obviously the soccer game.
So, the phrase "Trump curse" was trending after the US men's soccer team lost to Belgium. And that happened right after Trump had called the president of FIFA and asked him to review the red card call against the U.S. player, who wouldn't have been a US player if Trump's birthright citizenship had passed.
So, it was just a few weeks ago that Trump was booed when he became the first sitting president to go to an NBA finals match at Madison Square Garden. That was the Knicks loss. It was their only loss in the finals, their only loss in 46 days.
First sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. He praised the Chiefs, said they would win, they lost. First sitting president to attend the Ryder Cup. U.S. team loses to Europe.
Okay, S.E., it's just in the zeitgeist right now that you would see the phrase "Trump curse" actually even trending.
CUPP: Yeah. Yeah, I've been calling him the typhoid Mary of U.S. sports because it does -- it does seem to be that if he -- if he goes, it's not going to go well.
No, I'm not a superstitious person and these are I'm sure I'm sure are coincidence -- coincidences, but he's got a full plate. There's like a lot going on right now, right, with our economy, with the war that's not wrapped up, with the midterm election. He doesn't have to go to any of these.
And if he's -- you know, if he's constantly putting himself in situations where he's going to be booed, where it's going to be clear, Americans don't necessarily want him there, or where he's going to be on the bad end of a loss and blamed. I mean, these are voluntary decisions. He doesn't have to do that, and I would suggest he stops.
SIMMONS: Yeah, Erin. Erin, the real curse to me is that we had this moment where everybody was just united around World Cup soccer.
[19:40:02]
You talk about it in the makeup room here at CNN. You talk about it with the driver downstairs in the car, being in a taxicab. We talked about it with anybody else in the country because everybody was focused on it. My kids were staying up too late watching it.
And then, all of a sudden, here comes Donald Trump, and he plops himself right in the middle of it. And since everybody's scurrying to their partisan corners, and now here we are, like, arguing about Trump, when really this is about the great athleticism of these phenomenal athletes and this great series of contests that are happening in the United States for weeks on end, I just think that's the real curse of the moment.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. And next, the breaking news. A high rise in New York now at risk of collapsing. Entire city blocks evacuated. Crucial beams just suddenly started to buckle, terrifying and bizarre.
A special report on that ahead. NRK file uncovering a number of posts from a leading, a front runner in the closely watched Senate race in Michigan. Posts which contradict what he now says about one of the most controversial issues in American politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:19]
BURNETT: Breaking news, a 33-story building in the heart of Manhattan tonight in danger of partially collapsing. It's an incredible situation, so dangerous that New York City officials have shut down several blocks of midtown Manhattan, the biggest city in America.
So, we'll show you the structural support beams inside the building so you can actually see them buckling. This is on the 21st floor that we're showing you right now.
Contractors had been adding 11 new floors on top of a 22-story section of the building. Now, when this happened, many of the surrounding buildings then were also evacuated.
Gloria Pazmino is as close as she can get, just outside the evacuation zone in midtown Manhattan. Gloria, absolutely incredible here, what we're seeing. What is
happening on the ground there or above you right now?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, let's start right where you left off, which is talking about just how massive this evacuation area is around the building. At least nine buildings around where the incident occurred this morning were evacuated. We are just hearing in the last few minutes that residents of one building have been told they can return inside, so that's certainly a move in the right direction.
Officials also confirming to us that the building in question has finally stopped moving. There is a team of city officials that was able to access the building and specifically the 21st floor in order to assess the safety and efforts to begin shoring up the building have officially started. So that's all good news that that means that they're getting the process of stabilizing this building started.
What's concerning is what the images that we saw from early this morning. This started right eight o'clock in the morning. I spoke to workers here who told me they were evacuated from the site after, as you see from those images, two supporting beams essentially bent that was leading to the floors collapsing right underneath those beams and leading to this massive evacuation of both the building and the surrounding area.
This building also very importantly, you mentioned it, it's the former headquarters of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals here in New York City. It was in the process of being converted from offices to apartment buildings, and so now the city is investigating whether the addition of those several floors on top of the building that was in existence has led to the buckling of these beams. That's going to be part of the investigation, but officials just a short while ago telling us that they expect this to go late into the evening and certainly tomorrow.
So, the big question here is how much longer are all these apartment buildings and office towers that are in this area going to continue to be evacuated and how soon will people be able to get to where they need to go -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Wow. Gloria, thank you very much.
And more breaking news now. High-stakes debate happening as we speak in the state of Michigan. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a former state health official, and Congresswoman Haley Stevens are vying for their party's nomination. It is another one of the most closely watched and must-win Senate races in the country. For Democrats, they've got to hold it.
Tonight, our KFILE has exclusive reporting on El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat, and currently the frontrunner for Michigan's open Senate seat, who insisted he never, ever called for defunding the police. He told CNN just last week his tweets were taken out of context.
Listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EL-SAYED: I deleted all the tweets because I didn't want them to be taken out of context like this. And I think this debate about 2020 and the ways that tweets are going to play are really nice on CNN if you want to get clicks. They're not that effective and nobody really asks me about them on the streets or in communities in Michigan.
So, if you want to talk about housing or healthcare or corporate dominance in our politics, I think those are a lot more legitimate questions that people are actually asking me about what they want their next senator to do in the state of Michigan rather than for clickbait in D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, our KFILE has uncovered interviews of El-Sayed from 2020 repeatedly making the case for defunding the police after a KFILE report last year that revealed a dozen deleted tweets from El-Sayed in support of the movement. KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is OUTFRONT.
So, Andrew, what more did you find?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, Erin, what we found that in 2020, El-Sayed didn't just tweet about defunding the police, he defended the idea in multiple interviews, including one where he plainly said, "We do need to defund the police."
Now, you mentioned this in your intro, but I want people to look at first look at what he told the Detroit News late last year. He said, quote, "I want to be clear. I actually never, never called for defunding. My goal in that conversation was to help everybody understand what we were talking about. Law enforcement exists for a reason, but ideally, you want to make sure that there are folks out there -- not folks out there committing crimes in the first place."
[19:50:05]
So, El-Sayed's argument was that he was not calling to defund the police. He was trying to explain a broader policy idea, funding things like social services, public health, education, and anti-poverty programs to prevent crime before it happens.
But what we found in 2020 is that El-Sayed actually went further than that. In interviews at the time, he didn't just describe investing in other services. He also explicitly said that meant spending less on police. And in one interview, he said directly that police should be defunded, and less money should be spent on police. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EL-SAYED: I believe that we do need to defund the police, insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets. What if we were to invest in social services? What if we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries? What would the world look like there? And I think that has to be the way we go. And that means both
investing more in these services, and it also means investing less in police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: So that was just one of several interviews that we reviewed, Erin. And part of why this matters is because he is running in a true battleground state. Donald Trump won it in 2024. And it's where Republicans are almost certainly going to make crime and policing a central issue and where defund the police, you know, a poll that we looked at showed, for example, that just 27 percent of respondents supported the defund the police movement in April 2021. We saw that 70 percent were opposed to it.
So politically, this has not been a phrase that's been popular even at the time.
BURNETT: Yeah, and obviously, as you're pointing out, something people care about in that race, which is contradictory to what he said in that interview clip we aired in the introduction to you. What is El- Sayed and his campaign saying now in response to your reporting?
KACZYNSKI: Yes. So, Roxie Richner, that's a spokesperson of the campaign, pointed to El Sayed's public health experience working with local law enforcement in Wayne County, Michigan. And he told CNN -- they told CNN in a statement that his perspective has become more nuanced.
They said, quote, "One simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a complex challenge, as complex as a criminal legal system just as he did in Wayne County in 2023, Abdul believes that we need to improve law enforcement recruitment retention or retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from communities they serve.
He also believes we must reject militarized policing past the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act and opt for community violence intervention behavioral health response and improvements in public health to reduce violence and protect the lives of communities and law enforcement alike -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. KFILE, Andrew Kaczynski, thank you very much. Obviously, as we said, another must-win Senate seat.
OUTFRONT next, a chilling twist in the story of a mother who blamed childhood vaccines for the deaths of her 18-month-old twins.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:56]
BURNETT: New tonight, an Idaho mother who claimed her 18-month-old twins died after getting vaccines. is tonight in a shocking twist, under arrest and charged with murdering them. Her arrest coming months after she spoke to an anti-vax group founded by RFK Jr. Whitney Wild is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty- three-year-old Andrea Shaw of Payette, Idaho, is facing murder charges in the death of her toddler twins, according to her attorney.
JOE FILICETTI, ATTORNEY FOR ANDREW SHAW: Well, obviously, I was shocked. What I heard was she had been arrested. Law enforcement was at her house, and she's quiet, she's soft, she's loving, she's kind. She and her husband have a good relationship, have a good marriage. You know, they loved the twins and they loved their newer baby, too.
WILD (voice-over): Shaw was arrested last week --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First degree murder.
WILD (voice-over): -- just five days after giving birth to her third child.
The mother, according to prosecutors, suffocated her twins, 18-month- old Tyson and Dallas in May 2025 before she became pregnant again.
The Payette Police Department issued a statement on Facebook saying Shaw was arrested after a lengthy and thorough investigation.
But Shaw's says vaccines were the cause of her toddler's death.
ANDREA SHAW, SUSPECT: They got Hep A, the DTaP, and the flu shot.
WILD (voice-over): Appearing last year, a few days after the children died on an Internet show produced by the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group. Shaw said the twins were born prematurely but healthy until just after they received their 18-month vaccinations. Within two days after their shots, she says both her son and daughter got very sick.
SHAW: She was almost falling asleep while I was changing her and I had, you know, moved her out of the way so I could then change her brother. She just laid on the carpet in the living room and wouldn't move or get up. And her eyes kept rolling back like she was trying to go back to sleep.
WILD (voice-over): Shaw said she took them to the emergency room and says they were checked, given Tylenol and sent home. Shaw told the host of CHD the next morning she found the babies lying on their bellies and they were cold.
SHAW: They looked as if they had gone in their sleep. They -- they were in their sleeping positions. I think it's called rigor mortis. They were -- their faces were in sleeping faces.
WILD (voice-over): Shaw is facing two felony counts of first degree murder and is pleading not guilty to the charges. Her attorney disputes the evidence used to indict her. FILICETTI: But they don't have a confession. They don't have anything other than the same evidence we have, and they came to a different conclusion. Their conclusion is she suffocated them. Our conclusion is the vaccines cause the kids to suffocate.
WILD (voice-over): CHD is an anti-vaccine activist organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., although he's no longer affiliated with them. The CEO says the group is standing with her family to support them. And they are partnering with Shaw in a lawsuit accusing the American Academy of Pediatrics of racketeering and defrauding American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule.
According to the lawsuit, the twins died eight days after they had their vaccinations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILD: Shaw's husband is taking care of their newborn baby while she's in custody. If convicted, she could face up to life in prison or even the death penalty -- Erin.
BURNETT: Whitney, thank you.
And thanks so much to all of you for joining us tonight.
"AC360" starts now.
