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Erin Burnett Outfront

Now: U.S. Bombing Iran For Third Night In A Row; DHS Breaks Silence Nearly 12 Hours After Fatal ICE Shooting; GOP Sen: Graham Toxicology Report Needed To "Rule Out Any Foul Play". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:22]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, major explosions rock Iran as Trump makes a major and jarring claim.

Also breaking this hour, a deadly mistake. Maine senator says the man who was killed by an ICE agent was not the intended target of an immigration operation. It is the second ICE-related killing in less than a week in America.

And a terrifying attack. A massive bison tosses a grandfather into the air, seriously injuring him. The man who saw it all is our guest.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

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

And OUTFRONT, tonight, we begin with the breaking news. Trump bombing Iran for the third night, running major series of strikes, as President Trump is officially notifying Congress that the war with Iran has resumed. And he also gives this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're attacking them tonight. And we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait.

We're going to hit him very hard tonight, and we're going to hit him hard tomorrow. We'll probably give Pickaxe a shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, what exactly a shot at Pickaxe means is unclear, because Pickaxe Mountain is where Iran has a suspected nuclear facility buried deep underneath that mountain. The White House told Congress that the U.S. is targeting missile launch sites, air defenses, military, maritime assets, military support infrastructure, and command and control capabilities, which is quite an extensive list. And it does raise a really important question, because isn't this what

Trump has already said again and again and again was already accomplished by his 136-day war? After all, Trump has claimed all those things that I listed have been wiped out and eviscerated, destroyed by the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have eviscerated them militarily.

Iran today has no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft capability, no radar, virtually no manufacturing. Their rocket launchers have been cut by 90 percent.

We have Iran in a position where their military has been totally wiped out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Of course, that is not true. And just on some of the basic numbers, right, we know that Iran still has about 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile, and it has 70 percent of its launchers, even though you heard him say they've cut the launchers by 90 percent.

In fact, Iran tonight claimed that it targeted what it called a, quote, "hostile" U.S. vessel with cruise missiles today. All of this is a big escalation, and it comes as Trump says the U.S. is about to take over the Strait of Hormuz, which is another oddity, because if it were easy to do, obviously, given the disruption economically around the world, the U.S. would have done it a long time ago.

But Trump today said the U.S. will be, from this point forward, known as caps, "The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait". But as such, and as a matter of, again, in all caps, fairness, will be reimbursed at the rate of 20 percent on all cargo shipped for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world.

Now, I mean, just to state the obvious, right, slapping a 20 percent fee to go to the United States to do that is bizarre.

Iran's foreign minister came out and mocked Trump's post, writing, "POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the guardian of the Strait and will remain so forever. Twenty percent is, of course, too much. We will be fair."

Now, of course, that's a mocking post, but the whole idea that the United States is going to charge essentially a toll on the Strait of Hormuz, it's something that has been dismissed out of hand, not just by the entire rest of the world, but by the United States, by Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who's made it very clear that this is something which is not allowed in any case, not by Iran, certainly not by the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That's existing international law.

I know of no country on the planet that supports tolling or a fee for the use of the Straits. There is zero support, zero support among the Gulf countries for any sort of toll or fees or anything that charges for the use of international waters. The president's made it clear that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It was those last words, the president's made it clear that that's not going to happen. Well, that was just a few days ago, so I guess things have changed. Now Trump wants to stop a 20 percent fee.

Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House to begin our coverage.

Kristen, I know a few moments ago in the Oval Office, the president once again said he thinks the deal is still possible, which, of course, he says with regularity, but he's also officially notified Congress this time around that the war has resumed.

[19:05:05]

So what's going on?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly feels like whiplash, and it feels like we've been in this place time and time again. Now, what's unclear is that President Trump is just trying to pull every single lever that he can to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, or if this ceasefire is completely decimated and we are heading back towards a heightened conflict like what we saw before the ceasefire.

Now, what's really remarkable about Marco Rubio's words there just a few days ago is he specifically notes the Gulf countries wouldn't want to pay any kind of toll. Well, President Trump just moments ago said that's exactly who would be paying if they were going to charge this 20 percent service fee to various countries. And obviously, we know that's something that they have adamantly said they don't want to do.

Now, the one thing that President Trump has stressed over and over again now is that they are returning to this posture of having the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. This is incredibly important because this is what these U.S. officials that I'm talking to believe is one of theirs, if not their greatest asset, because they want to strangle Iran economically.

So they clearly here are trying to do whatever they can to bring Iran back to the negotiating table. But we are told on the other side of all of this that these strikes are going to last several days. And of course, as you noted, he has now mentioned this or wrote this formally in a letter to Congress. BURNETT: All right, yes, indeed.

All right, Kristen, thank you very much. And I want to go now to President Trump's former defense secretary, Mark Esper.

Secretary Esper, I very much appreciate your time.

So with this notification to Congress that the war is back on, such that it is, you know, the formal notification went out, do you think that more military strikes, the way that we're seeing this all play out, will do anything to end the war?

MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER TRUMP: Well, look, I think the news today is important. I agree with the president. I think it's the right move to reinstate the blockade. I think that the solution here, if there is one short of boots on the ground, is going to be through the economic strangling of Iran.

So, it's -- the military strikes are helpful in the sense that it takes -- it takes care of the capabilities that Iran is using against commercial shipping, but that alone is not going to end the conflict and not restrict them from threatening the straits.

So, I think the imposing more economics, reinstating the blockade, of course, withdrawing licenses, as he's already done, are important. And look, I'd like to see the administration explicitly walk away from the MOU. It was not a good MOU. Of the 14 points, only one mentioned the nuclear side of this angle, and even that pushed the issues off until much, much later.

So, I'd like to see them walk away from this MOU and put the pressure back on the Iranians.

BURNETT: So, Trump said tonight, you mentioned the nuclear issue, that the U.S. would take out Pickaxe Mountain, which is one of the suspected nuclear sites. Here's specifically what Trump said, Secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just did.

TRUMP: We're coming, okay? There's not anything they can do about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I understand, Secretary, that experts have said that that specific underground facility is buried so deep that it may well be beyond the reach of even the most powerful bunker-buster bombs. But this goes in the category of a lot of threats, whether it be wiping a civilization off the map, boots on the ground, lots of threats that have not actually ended up with action. Do you think something like this, a threat like this, is in that same

category? Can you tell, knowing him and having been in these important positions, can you tell which it is?

ESPER: Well, I think the U.S. military did a great job last summer around this time with Operation Midnight Hammer in terms of attacking the primary nuclear sites of Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. And at the time, it was reported that there was a lot of success there, but Pickaxe Mountain was not attacked.

And, you know, there's obviously some intelligence that that was being prepared as a future site for the nuclear program. Maybe something has come out in recent days or weeks that suggests they're trying to rebuild that site, despite the MOU saying that all work on these types of things should be frozen. So maybe he's getting intelligence that they're trying to build there and he wants to shut it down by, for example, closing the entrances might be something that they're trying to do.

BURNETT: All right, so can I ask you about this all with the straight, again, in the category of Trump often says a lot, and then what happens is actually different. So when he's saying the U.S. is going to, his words today, and I quote, Mr. Secretary, We're taking over the strait. So he says that, and then he says they're going to charge a 20 percent fee, essentially, to anyone who goes through it in exchange for U.S. protection.

Obviously, it would seem if the U.S. could have done that and done that easily for just economic reasons, it would have been done a long time ago. So I'm a little bit confused by that. I'm also curious as to your take when you contrast that with what Marco Rubio said, which is the status of international law and the status of U.S. support, which would be for absolutely no toll or fee of any kind on international waters, which this is.

[19:10:02]

ESPER: Yeah. Look, I think if you go back over the last four and a half months or so, the president has said something along those same lines before, and then it's coming, it's gone, it's passed. And I think at the end of the day, look, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has it right and others within the administration that it would be counter to international law, counter to the law of the sea, and counter to what the United States has long talked about with regard to freedom of navigation.

So -- look, I've been saying now, consistent with that, since the beginning of the war, to me, there are going to be at least two metrics to guide us as to whether the United States will be successful. One is a status -- a return to the status quo ante with the Strait of Hormuz, which means open, free for navigation, no charges, no tolls by anyone, a return to the status quo ante. And secondly, he has to get a deal better than Obama's JCPOA, at least for political purposes.

And to me, those are the two yardsticks I'm going to continue to hold up to whatever we do and whatever the outcome is whenever this conflict ends.

BURNETT: So we have some new video and Secretary Esper of Iran launching. What it says are cruise missiles at U.S. targets in this back and forth. So I don't know if you ever turn and you can see this, but they are saying -- this Iranian state media is saying that's a launch of a cruise missile.

What -- you know, in terms of understanding what the reality is for U.S. bases, and I guess, what do you think the tolerance is for this to go on? I mean, is it essentially indefinite?

ESPER: Well, they are targeting U.S. bases in Gulf Arab state countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, and others, Qatar. You know, obviously, the Arab states don't like this, and they're going to put pressure on the administration to, again, try and cut some deal with the Iranians because it's disrupting their cities, it's disrupting their economics, it's disrupting their commerce.

And we know previously, you know, President Trump announced that there would be an escort -- of Navy vessels escorting commercial ships through the strait, and that ended after 24, 48 hours because the Arab Gulf states did not want to see that happen. They were, again, concerned about Iranian retribution.

But we've moved far beyond that at this point in time. So this is where I go back to. If I was sitting in a Situation Room now, my recommendation would be reinstate the blockade as he's done, keep it on there, but also cut off all other avenues, whether it's air routes into that country, ground routes, whatever it takes to sustain their economy.

One thing we got to recognize is their economy is at the worst it's been since the 1980s. Inflation is over 88 percent. It's never been that high in the 47 years since the revolutionary -- since the revolution in 1979. They are in bad shape economically.

And I understand that's going to hurt the Iranian people first, but it's going to also impose a big impact on the regime, and also prevent them from reinforcing their proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It's going to hurt them from rebuilding their military, their ballistic missiles.

So I would focus on the economic blockade of the country, strangling the country, and at the same time as the Iranians attack commercial shipping or the Gulf states responding with military force to go after those missile launchers, those drone sites, whatever it is on the shoreline opposite the Strait of Hormuz to make sure we tamp that down as well.

BURNETT: All right, Secretary Esper, I appreciate your time and thank you very much for being with us tonight.

And we have more breaking news coming in now. New details are emerging about a second ICE-related killing in just less than a week. Maine senator says that the man killed now was not the intended target of this immigration operation. DHS is just acknowledging the incident moments ago. So we have some new details just coming in here.

Plus, a top Republican senator -- a top Republican senator just came out and said this about Senator Lindsey Graham's sudden death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I'm just saying they need the toxicology tests to rule out any foul play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And Republicans demanding an investigation after America's oldest veterans group put out this eye-catching cartoon. Why are Republicans so upset with the VFW?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, the Department of Homeland Security breaking its silence 12 hours after a second ICE-involved killing in less than a week. The latest shooting happening in Maine and leaving a Colombian man dead after an officer fired at him.

DHS saying, and I quote them, "On July 13th, 2026, at approximately seven o'clock a.m. Eastern Time, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop.

The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon. The driver of the vehicle was struck and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries."

Well, it comes, as we are now learning, the man who was killed today in Maine was actually not the intended target of whatever the immigration enforcement operation was that was going on, but he was not the target. That is according to the Maine Senator Angus King, who says the DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, reversed himself after earlier telling King that the victim was the target of the operation. So he says that that has now flipped.

Jason Carroll begins our coverage tonight OUTFRONT in Biddeford, Maine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, state and federal authorities are investigating another ICE-involved shooting. this time in Biddeford, Maine. Maine Senator Angus King saying he spoke to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who shared that the victim of today's federal law enforcement shooting, identified as a 26-year-old Colombian man, was not the target of the warrant.

[19:20:01]

This, in contrast to an earlier conversation in which Senator King shared that Secretary Mullen told him the victim was the target. Witnesses tell CNN shots rang out early Monday morning around 7:15.

EM AKERLEY, WITNESSED AFTERMATH OF SHOOTING: I was getting my DoorDash, and I thought I heard a car backfiring and asked the DoorDash driver if that was a car. He said he didn't know.

So we kind of went down to the corner and saw a bunch of vehicles pull up at the same time marked and unmarked. I heard a rapid fire of gunshots afterwards. I got up and went to the window and that's when I saw the little white car being driven in a circle, like it was circling the intersection with two officers pressed up against his driver's side door.

CARROLL (voice-over): Video from the scene shows officers hanging from the side of a white Kia sedan, and moments later, a second video shows agents and vests providing aid to a man on the ground.

The victim had work authorization in the United States and was issued a Social Security number, that according to the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition.

"We are grieving, we are furious, and we will not allow his death to be treated as routine or inevitable," the organization said in a statement.

REP. CHELLIE PINGRESS (D-ME): No one should be shot by ICE under circumstances like this. We have also heard that the individual's family was nearby and that a young child was there. A lethal killing is never justified, in my opinion, in a case like this, but we don't know exactly what went on, we don't know if the individual had a weapon, none of those things have been made clear to us, we've asked for a thorough investigation.

CARROLL (voice-over): According to the Maine Attorney General, the man was attempting to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer before he was shot.

This comes just days after another fatal case in Houston, where officials say an ICE agent shot and killed a 52-year-old Mexican national. Both shootings have sparked protests and calls for accountability across the country, with many questioning ICE's tactics during traffic stops. CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And, Erin, right now, a vigil is taking place for the man who was killed by ICE agents. Those in the community here still have a number of questions about what happened here at this intersection, why the ICE agents were not wearing body cameras, why the situation escalated to the point where these ICE officers felt as though their safety was at risk.

Just some of the many questions that folks here in this community now have for the Department of Homeland Security -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Jason, thank you very much. And this coming, Jason's reporting, days after an ICE agent shot and

killed Lorenzo Salgado, Araujo in Houston. The father of three, whose death is now the subject of multiple investigations. DHS has said that he weaponized his van by trying to run over ICE officers.

But his brother, Victor Salgado Araujo, who was there and witnessed the shooting, gave a sharply different account of those final moments. And investigators, at our last check, had not been given the van to even look at it.

OUTFRONT now, Ruby Powers, attorney for Victor Salgado Araujo, Lorenzo's brother, and an eyewitness to the shooting. Victor remains in ICE custody tonight.

Also back with us, Juan Proano, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens. He's been supporting the Araujo family and also providing support to the family in Maine.

And I want to start there, if I can, Juan. We'll get to Houston in a moment. The DHS has just issued this statement about the main shooting saying ICE was conducting targeted surveillance of the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. They go on to say an illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. They attempted a vehicle stop, but then the vehicle attempted to flee and that the officer was fearing for public safety, and that's why he fired.

Is that your understanding of what happened after you have spoken to the victim's family?

JUAN PROANO, CEOF LULAC; ORGANIZATION IN CONTACT WITH FAMILIES OF ICE SHOOTING VICTIMS: It is, and it's been very clear because it's been widely circulated, obviously, on video. You know, he is Colombian. My mother's from Colombia.

He has a wife, and he has a three-year-old daughter. Another senseless tragedy, another senseless murder on our streets, and those officers were never in danger. They were clearly on the side of the vehicle. They were neither in front of the vehicle or behind the vehicle, and there was no high-speed chase that was actually involved.

The same tactics, the same excuses, we're tired of hearing them.

BURNETT: So when -- you're talking about the vehicle, and as you can see it moving, Obviously, it sounds like when ICE is giving that secondary part of our statement, which is that they say the officer feared for public safety because the vehicle was coming at him, and that's why he discharged the weapon, that does not add up as you see it.

PROANO: That's correct. You can see the vehicle there, for example, no damage to the front of the vehicle, no damage to the side of the vehicle.

[19:25:02] I understand the fear that our community lives in every single day, but Biddeford isn't your typical Latino community. It's a small town. It's a town of 22,000 people. There's only about 500 Latinos that live there, about 2 percent.

And if they are in these small towns targeting our community, can you just imagine what they're doing in cities across the country with larger Latino populations? This will continue to escalate until we finally put a stop to it, and every single agent must have a body cam on them at all times.

BURNETT: So, Ruby, when you think about what happened in Houston, this is the second shooting now in Maine in a week. Lorenzo Salgado-Araujo was fatally shot by ICE in Houston. It was early last Tuesday morning. He was on his way to work.

I know, Ruby, that at this time you've now been able to speak with his brother, Victor, four times, including yesterday. And the DHS story there is that Lorenzo used his van as a weapon as ICE tried to pull them over.

But Victor was sitting in the passenger seat. He witnessed his brother shooting -- his brother's shooting. He was in the van, which, of course, we understand other investigators that have been trying to see it haven't been able to see it yet. ICE hasn't released it. So what does Victor say happened?

RUBY POWERS, ATTORNEY FOR BROTHER OF ICE SHOOTING VICTIM LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO: They were being chased by these -- pursued by these unmarked vehicles, a few of them. There was no indication who they were. There was no signs or anything. They thought they could have been gangs or bandits or criminals. They were really unclear.

And then, after some pursuit, an officer got -- or an individual got out of a vehicle, walked -- came up to the passenger side of the van, said, stop, and then shot. The bullet passed through Victor's face, Victor's body, and went to his brother, Lorenzo.

They were in shock. They didn't realize what had happened. Lorenzo was holding his wound. Victor thought that he had gotten shot. It was right next to him from the passenger window.

Victor wants people to know that no officer was in danger. They didn't even know they were officers. It was not until the shooting that he was pulled out of the vehicle. Victor was pulled out of the vehicle and he saw a lanyard that said ICE. He had no idea.

BURNETT: He had no idea it's ICE.

POWERS: They did not --

BURNETT: So I just want to make sure I understand something, Ruby, went -- just because the words here, you're saying that they the ICE came up to the -- unidentified, right, but came up to the passenger side which is where Victor was sitting and shot asked Victor, but --

POWERS: He's --

BURNETT: OK, OK, but he's not injured. I mean, the bullet didn't hit him, right? It just it went straight and hit Lorenzo.

POWERS: It did not hit him. It went -- it's hard to imagine what happened because it's such a small cabin in a van and coming from a window.

BURNETT: Yes.

POWERS: But yeah, it went -- the bullet hit. Unfortunately, it hit Lorenzo and he died later that day.

And Victor, they were pulled aside and handcuffed and they were identifying them and then he was yelling out to please call for help for his brother and he wants people to know it took about 20 or 30 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and he's -- he just really wants justice for his brother. There's a lot of I think more questions that remain about what happened on that day.

BURNETT: Well, especially 20 to 30 minutes. I mean, that's perhaps the greatest tragedy of it all. That's a long time.

Juan, as Ruby was speaking, we just got some new video in, and I want to share it with you. This is new video of what happened in Maine, the aftermath of the shooting. It is disturbing, but we've just gotten it in, so I want to give you a chance to see it and talk about it.

Federal agents pull the victim out of his vehicle. We can see that we're blurring him. Obviously, his body is limp. What do you see here, Juan, when you look at this? This is right in the aftermath, and it appears, obviously, that he's already dead.

PROANO: I saw this video, Erin, earlier, and I wish you could play with audio, because to hear his body fall out of the car, clearly, instantly, He must have been gravely injured. It is inhumane -- inhumane to see something like that on a city street on a morning, early morning day.

This is not a criminal. Don't call him an illegal immigrant. He had legal status. He had a Social Security number. He had work permits.

He had a family, he had legal status. He had a Social Security number. He had work permits. He had a family. A U.S.-born child is now without a father yet again.

[19:30:02]

How long are we going to accept this as a country, as a society, that is supposed to be, you know, a leader in the world? We're not leading. We're not leading.

BURNETT: Juan and Ruby, I appreciate both of you, and thank you for taking the time to speak with us.

POWERS: Thank you. BURNETT: And next, a video you can't unsee. There is a happy ending here, but a grandfather was tossed into the air by a massive bison. He was seriously injured. He is okay now, but it was an absolutely incredible incident. And the man who saw it all will tell you about it.

Plus, one top Republican calling for a toxicology test after Lindsey Graham's sudden death, while another Republican senator is raising questions about whether this picture of Mitch McConnell is real. These are Republicans.

Former Congressman Max Rose and Gretchen Carlson are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:49]

BURNETT: Tonight, Republican Senator John Cornyn saying a toxicology report on Senator Lindsey Graham should be released to rule out any foul play in his sudden death after he returned from a trip to Ukraine.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CORNYN: Given where he was and the sorts of things he was advocating for, I think, we just thought to resolve all those questions by seeing what the toxicology reports show.

REPORTER: You're concerned he was poisoned or as a precaution?

CORNYN: I'm just saying the needs of toxicology tests to rule out any foul play.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Of course, there are already preliminary findings from a medical examiner which found that Graham died from a tear in his artery, and officials say there is no foul play suspected.

But that's not stopping the chatter and the conspiracy, and it didn't stop the FBI from sending agents to Graham's house today.

For now, former Congressman Max Rose and Gretchen Carlson, and there's a lot more of this.

So, Max, what's the significance, though, for a sitting senator, a serious person, John Cornyn, a very serious person, to suggest -- not to suggest -- to say given where he came from, okay? So to suggest maybe he got poisoned by somebody while he was in Ukraine and that's why he died. I mean, that's what he's saying.

MAX ROSE (D), FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Yeah, look, going viral is really one hell of a drug. And these folks can't resist it. Heck, even when they're not up for reelection, when they're staring down the barrel at the end of their political career and they have no need to continue to burnish some type of image, they still say such ridiculous things. And I think that does speak to this awfully insane feedback loop in

our politics today. Now, the problem here with a statement like that is it's not just viral, it is also incredibly dangerous.

We're talking about extraordinary geopolitical implications here should what he is even alluding to be true that Russia is murdering a sitting United States senator, which makes this one of the more irresponsible things that a national politician has said.

GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I would agree with being irresponsible. However, I know Senator John Cornyn very well. I've worked with him on my legislation, and he's not the kind of guy to want to be viral.

He is not the kind of guy to not think through, as a former lawyer and, I believe, judge, what he is saying before he says it. Now, is he more unleashed now because Trump knocked him out of the race and he's not going to be a senator anymore? Maybe, but I would pay very close attention to what John Cornyn is saying.

BURNETT: So, Max, Republican senators are also raising questions about Mitch McConnell. It's all coming from Republican. This is Republican on Republican.

So, Mitch McConnell released the photo that we have all by now seen after weeks of speculation. And he's sitting there with his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, revealing -- and he put out a whole state -- there he is. OK, so let's keep this up for a second-- that he was hospitalized because of a fall and a mild case of pneumonia and saying, I'm older, and I should have told you, and I didn't. OK, it was a sweet message.

But here was the response from some Republicans today.

Is it coming?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORNYN: I think we need some transparency. I wish Senator McConnell had done that earlier.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Well, I just heard from some other sources that was an older photo. So I really don't know. I haven't talked to Mitch. I certainly wish he and his family well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, so the reference to an old photo is that there was this identical photo taken years ago and he looked the same. And yeah, the newspapers, the sports section from "The Washington Post" this weekend, but A.I. can put that in there.

I mean, we're now in Prime Minister Netanyahu with six fingers in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv in the first days of the war here.

ROSE: We've gone down the rabbit hole. BURNETT: I mean, it's very scary.

ROSE: Well, I would actually say that this is a situation that Republican leadership has created. Senator Mitch McConnell is clearly in a very dire health condition.

[19:40:04]

BURNETT: Uh-huh.

ROSE: If he wasn't, he would have done a very simple thing, which every single staffer, even a political amateur, would suggest, just call in to a news station. Do a phone interview. It's all okay, we understand.

BURNETT: Like our Kasie Hunt, when Scott Jennings said he spoke to him, Kasie's like, why don't you just have him call in, right?

ROSE: Exactly. I mean, this is too easy. We understand you're a little banged up. You can't do a video interview. Call in.

But instead, what we have is sitting United States senators, heck, members of the leadership team on the Republican side saying, Oh, my God, I just talked to him for 20 minutes. And not only was the conversation perfectly eloquent, he actually FaceTimed me and he did backflips during the conversation.

I mean, these have been such ludicrous assertions that they have made, lying to the American people as if they are idiots, that it does fuel these conspiracy theories.

BURNETT: I mean, conspiracy theories are everywhere. I mean, that's what I'm sort of terrified by, Gretchen. There's nothing that can't go down the conspiracy rabbit hole and have really sane people sitting there going, well, could it be?

CARLSON: Well, yeah, especially with A.I. now.

BURNETT: Yeah.

CARLSON: I mean, those two things, you merge conspiracy theories and A.I. together, and you have, where is the truth, right?

BURNETT: You actually got Mitch McConnell doing backflips.

CARLSON: Well, yeah, but I think the interesting thing about the 20- minute conversations that three Republicans had with him was that nobody apparently asked him about his health, which is what the American public wants to know about when you've been missing for a month.

And this is on the heels of Representative Tom Kean in New Jersey, being gone for months, also on the Republican side, having nobody say where he was until he reappeared again. At the very least, other than calling into a radio station, McConnell's staff should have at least said something to the American public in that month time. Now, you have a Republican, Ron Johnson, who's actually questioning

and saying that he heard from a source that that photo is an old photo.

BURNETT: Right.

CARLSON: I'm just telling you right now, this is opening up Pandora's box on both of these issues. McConnell and Graham were aligned on Ukraine. They were aligned on Israel. Let the questions begin.

BURNETT: Oh, my gosh.

Okay. Thank you both very much. I don't feel any better out of this conversation.

CARLSON: No, no.

BURNETT: All right, but next --

CARLSON: Let's go do backflips.

BURNETT: Shocking video of a Bison launching a grandfather nearly eight feet in the air at Yellowstone National Park. He is injured but recovering. But I mean, the man who saw it all film this video is next.

And some Republicans are so offended by this cartoon from one of America's largest veteran groups that they're now calling for an investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:18]

BURNETT: Tonight, the grandfather, who was tossed eight feet in the air by an angry bison in Yellowstone National Park, says he's in the hospital recovering after his femur broke in four places. He told CNN it wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been, so he is recovering. But the terrifying attack was captured in dramatic and graphic video that is now, you've probably seen it. The victim was out on a walk with his grandson. He says he was about 100 yards away from the bison before the animal got agitated and charged after him.

And Mike MacLeod is OUTFRONT now, photographer who filmed the video that you just saw.

So Mike, obviously, you're a professional here. So you're in one of the most beautiful places in the world to film. So you're there. You're in Yellowstone.

Your wife says there's a bison walking near your campsite. So you grab your camera. So what did you see before this horrifying moment? Before you started taking the video, what did you see?

MIKE MACLEOD, PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CAPTURED BISON ATTACK: Sure. Thanks for having me. When my wife said, hey, there's a bison, grab your camera. I first was

taking pictures of the bison approaching a group of boys who really weren't instigating anything. They weren't too close. The bison charged the boys, they scattered, and then the bison ran into a campsite of a young couple, forced them away from their dinner, and then just started rolling in the dust. And just there you go, very agitated.

And then he sat down and he was looking towards the road, and that's where the two victims come into the scene behind the bison.

BURNETT: So, he then just charges, the bison does, the man and his grandson, chasing them around a tree. How fast did all this happen?

There's this one moment, Mike, where you're looking -- you know, you're behind the bison, right? And you see the grandfather and the grandson, then the bison kind of rolls around. And you're looking at it from behind. So you can't see the expression on his face, nor, I guess, would it necessarily have indicated something to the human eye.

But was there something in his behavior where, right after that white truck passes, he jumps up and he seems to just specifically aim for the grandfather and his grandson?

MACLEOD: You know, I wish there was. And I've been around bison quite a bit, lived in Montana for 35 years or so. But I would have called this one wrong. I thought that they were safe and I was really surprised because you see that pickup truck ran in front or drove in front first and I thought the bison was going to get angry at the pickup truck and I was really surprised when he went after the people.

BURNETT: So yeah, so there was nothing from all of this -- I mean, it almost sounds like from what you're describing, because he went through multiple campsites that the creature was obviously agitated before this.

[19:50:08]

So --

MACLEOD: That's -- that's right. It's the rut. So all the -- they all want to fight each other.

BURNETT: Yeah, OK, OK. You mean the mating season? So --

MACLEOD: That's right. It's just the beginning of mating season, so all the males want to fight anything.

BURNETT: Right, okay. And I guess that context, obviously, is very important.

So, when this happens, though, the bison actually has contact with a human being, and this man is flung up into the air. And as I said, thank God he is recovering. He is injured. He broke his femur in multiple places, but he's going to be okay. But then what happens? Does the bison, just what does it do? MACLEOD: Yeah, so that was the scariest part of the whole thing, because the bison, you know, wild animals in general, if they're not going to want to eat you there and they attack you, it's because they're usually being territorial or they're trying to eliminate some kind of danger. And so once he hit the grandfather and the grandfather was laying motion -- motionless on the ground, he was looking for some other threat. And what I was worried about is that he wasn't going to find any other threat there, so he was going to go back to the victim and really do him in.

BURNETT: Gosh. Thank God he didn't. When you saw the man, obviously at that point he's probably stunned, he's in pain, he's terrified. I mean, so many emotions. What happened when you got over there and you saw the man, the injured man?

MACLEOD: Sure. I started running over there. I stopped filming, ran over there, and a bunch of other campers ran with me and we hazed the bison away. He ran off.

And then the victim was on his side. He was complaining of really severe pain in his leg, and the first thing he asked is, "How is my grandson?"

BURNETT: Wow, wow. Well, thank God his grandson's okay. He's okay. I know you and your wife have been speaking to him and his family, and thank goodness he is okay. It's just unbelievable to watch this.

Mike, thank you so much. I appreciate your sharing the story with us.

MACLEOD: My pleasure. Thanks for telling Carl's story.

BURNETT: All right. And next, some Republicans now calling for an investigation into a cartoon by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And tonight, two Republican congressmen are demanding an investigation into the VFW for inciting violence as the VFW sells t- shirts with this cartoon depicting a firing squad aiming at U.S. veterans. The VFW says the point of this is a protest to the very sharp cuts to veterans' benefits.

Brian Todd is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stark, eye-catching cartoon, men in business suits labeled bureaucrats and media in a firing squad aiming their rifles at veterans. The cartoon is issued by one of America's oldest and largest veterans advocacy groups, Veterans of Foreign Wars. The VFW says its cartoon is meant to protest cuts to veterans benefits, but the powerful Republican chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is demanding an investigation.

REP. MIKE BOST (R-IL), CHAIR, VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Part of the charter that each one of our veteran service organizations have, they're not to do anything to incite violence. That cartoon incites violence.

TODD (voice-over): Congressman Mike Bost is now asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to look into its relationship with the VFW. In a letter to the VA obtained by CNN, Boston asks the VA to review the organization's accreditation and its financing arrangements for merchandising. The VFW is selling T-shirts with the cartoon image and says the proceeds will help fund veterans' mental health and suicide prevention programs.

The group insists the cartoon does not incite violence.

RYAN GALLUCI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VFW WASHINGTON OFFICE: What this cartoon does is it points to history to demonstrate that, you know, after a war, many times veterans find themselves in the crosshairs of cuts to veterans benefits.

TODD (voice-over): The VFW points out it's used variations of the image in cartoons for almost 100 years, including this one from 1956, and this one from 1933, each time protesting efforts to cut veterans' benefits. As for this latest version, Bost's letter blasting it was sent just after the T-shirts went on sale.

GALLUCI: Apparently, Congressman Bost saw this cartoon, thought it was about his bill, and then decided to issue a public statement and send a letter to VA calling for a review of our professional services program. And it's disappointing. I think it's a distraction from the policy discussion.

TODD (voice-over): The VFW has come out against a bill introduced by Bost and his Republican Senate counterpart that would cut some money for veterans' benefits to pay for other benefits.

BOST: No veteran that receives their benefits today will any way, shape, or form lose any benefits for tomorrow.

TODD (voice-over): The VFW says this latest cartoon was not issued specifically to protest Bost's bill. But the controversy has sparked a wider debate over free speech for political satire, which Bost says he's not trying to quash.

BOST: Everybody has the right to have their freedom of speech. I stand for that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: We reached out to the VA to ask how they would respond to Congressman Boston's letter and whether the agency will review VFW's accreditation and its financing. The VA has not responded to us -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Brian, thank you very much. Fascinating, though, as you point out, that there's been that exact same cartoon used multiple times in history, indistinguishable from this one. That was fascinating.

All right, Brian Todd, thank you so very much. And thanks, as always, to all of you for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

"AC360" begins now.