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Erin Burnett Outfront

Air Force One Iran Threat; Wife Of Soldier Killed; D.A.: Testing Finds Substance In ICE Shooting Van Was Not Drugs. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 24, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:27]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, "The New York Times" reporting tonight on an Iranian security threat to Air Force One and Trump that forced the president to abruptly swap jets on his way home from a summit. This all developing as Trump weighs a, quote, "massive attack" on Iran tonight.

Plus, an OUTFRONT exclusive. The wife of Sergeant Michael Swinton, who was killed in the Iran war, is speaking out. What she says her husband told her just before he was killed.

And more breaking news this hour, a major twist in the fatal ICE shooting in Houston. The FBI accusing the victim of potentially having drugs in his van the morning he was killed. Well, the D.A.'s office says the lab results are back, and it's not drugs.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett on this Friday.

And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a security threat to Trump and Air Force One. "The New York Times" reporting tonight that an Iranian threat to Air Force One is the reason Trump abruptly ditched his new plane and flew on the old presidential jet back to the U.S. from Turkey.

Trump's flight to the NATO summit was his first overseas trip in the new $400 million jet given to him from the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. But according to "The Times", while Trump was in Turkey, a threat emerged that Iranian proxy forces were targeting him in Air Force One from inside Turkey from Istanbul. So, Trump left on the old Air Force One, which is more secure.

Now, at the time, this is why Trump said he was swapping jets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases, where we can show it to the people, and we'll be going home by a normal methods, but we have it going to Europe to a couple of bases, actually one in particular, but it's going to go to a couple of bases stop so the soldiers can see it because it's truly magnificent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, that was a lot of detail, you know, that it was going because the soldiers wanted to see it and it was magnificent, but it turned out to not be true. That day, though, Trump did allude several times, perhaps to the real truth, which is that Iran wants him dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They want to take out the U.S. leader, me. I'm on every list. I saw things this morning. I'm on every single one of their lists.

I'm number one on the kill list for Iran. They're lovely people. I'm number one.

I may be gone too because I'm their number one target. It's out all over the place. I'm their number one because they're scum.

REPORTER: Are you aware of any credible threat by Iran against Air Force One?

TRUMP: Well, I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list before you. But if I go, you go, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: In a moment, I'm going to speak to "The New York Times" reporter who broke this story about Air Force One, because it comes as Trump says the U.S. military is, quote, "locked and loaded, ready to go," waiting for him to give a green light for a massive onslaught against Iran, something he talked about today as he met with top advisors at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal, and they want to make a deal. I just don't think they're ready yet, but they do want to make a deal. We're locked and loaded and ready to go, but we're talking to them. So, I think while we're talking, we'll see what comes of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Of course, it's worth noting that every time that Trump has done massive attacks against Iran, it has been while there are talks and negotiations ongoing, and the attacks have been escalating on both sides. Trump has hit Iran for what is now 13 straight days, and those bombings haven't stopped Iran, which still maintains more than two- thirds of its missile capacity. They are going ahead with precision strikes against U.S. sites and bases across the region. And today, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan intercepted waves of Iranian

strikes targeting other U.S. assets in the region. A top Iranian military official raising the stakes now with all of this with an alarming new warning saying, quote, "For every Iranian citizen killed, one American service member will be sent to hell. We have prepared free, direct tickets to hell for you."

Tyler Pager of "The New York Times" joins me now. He broke the story I mentioned a moment ago with new details on the Iranian plot to kill President Trump.

He's OUTFRONT at the Correspondents Dinner, where Trump, of course, will be tonight as well.

[19:05:04]

Tyler, I appreciate your taking the time to do this before this event tonight. What new details are you learning about this specific threat against the president?

TYLER PAGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah, Erin, thanks for having me.

And what we're -- what we have learned is that there was a specific credible threat that U.S. officials identified from an Iranian proxy group. targeting President Trump and Air Force One from inside Turkey. So, this was what caused that swap in planes, a very specific threat that officials determined was credible, causing this switch, which has obviously created a lot more questions about the security of the Qatari jet that has been serving as Air Force One.

BURNETT: Yeah. So many more questions and I mean what you already lay out here. Tyler is very specific, right? A threat from an Iranian linked group inside Turkey to Air Force One. Like I said, that's already very specific, but it sounds like there were -- there were even many more details. I mean, how specific was it?

PAGER: Of course, this was the first international trip he took with this new Qatari donated plane. And so, it has raised questions about the security systems on that plane, which had already been raised months before the president even took his first flight. In terms of more specific than that, I think that is as granular if we've gotten at this point in Iranian proxy group inside Turkey, making threats that clearly caused concern for U.S. officials and prompted the Secret Service to urge the president to take the old Air Force One that has been in service flying presidents around the world since the 1990s.

HANNITY: So, we've heard the president publicly talk about this threat now multiple times. How did he react when he found out?

PAGER: Yeah, what we know is what we saw in public from the president. President was told about this and obviously the change was made publicly. The president said it was. because he wanted to send the new Air Force One to a military base in England to show it off for the troops. But it was clearly on the president's mind throughout the day at the NATO summit earlier this month. Hours after he found out about this very specific threat, he talked

openly about Iran wanting to kill him, saying he was number one on the list and alluded to some new information that he had seen. He did not get specific into the threat. And in fact, Erin, on the plane back to Washington, reporters asked him if there was a specific security threat that prompted the change in plane, and he said no.

But then when he returned to Washington a week later, he then told reporters that the new Qatari jet was going to go under some -- go out of service for a little bit to be maxed up. And what we have learned is that the plane will be out of service to get additional enhancements and upgrades. The White House has declined to specify what those are, but it's clear this prompted even more conversation and introspection within the administration about the safety and security of the presidential aircraft.

BURNETT: All right, Tyler, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

PAGER: Thanks so much for having me.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, Colonel Cedric Leighton and Iran expert Holly Dagres.

I appreciate both of you.

Colonel, let me just start with you. You hear Tyler's reporting Iranian proxy group inside of Turkey, OK? And it's obviously specific, right, to whatever aircraft the president's on. One of them was secure, one of them was not.

So, what do you think that means in terms of what this strike could have been? And what do you make of the fact that Trump had traveled to Turkey on the unsecured jet to begin with?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, that's very interesting, Erin. You know, what I think we're seeing here is that there was clearly a perceived increase in the threat level against the president from these Iranian proxy group or this Iranian proxy group, depending on exactly what which entity it is.

The Iranians have a very practiced effort where they go out into their neighboring countries, and they have sleeper cells in many different areas, too, include in Turkey. And so, they -- you know, combined with their intelligence services and, you know, potentially other groups that they that they work with, they are a viable threat. So, I think the threat was probably Not detected as he was coming to the NATO summit in Ankara, but they realized that while he was there, while he was there, that there was something brewing and quickly moved him to the other aircraft to the original Air Force One.

BURNETT: So, Holly, Trump has talked a lot about Iran trying to kill him. Of course, after the start of the war, right where the U.S. and the Israelis killed the Iranian Supreme Leader and so many of the leadership of Iran, let me play some more of what Trump has said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They want to take out the U.S. leader, me. I'm on every list. I saw things this morning. I'm on every single one of their lists.

I'm number one on the kill list for Iran.

[19:10:01]

They're lovely people. I'm number one.

I'm the number one because they're scum.

I'm number one on their list. for you. But if I go, you go, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Holly, you have tracked Iran's threats against Trump for a long time. You know, how much, I guess, how central of a focus is this for this Iranian regime and its proxies? How much do they want to get Trump?

HOLLY DAGRES, SENIOR FELLOW, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE: Erin, this threat predates that Iran war. It started after the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020 in Baghdad after a U.S. strike, and that that threat has grown over the years.

It's not just President Donald Trump. He's got dozens of former U.S. officials, including National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook. Two of those, Bolton and Pompeo, had foiled plots against them.

And so, this predates this war, but we've been hearing a lot more rhetoric actually coming from Tehran, especially during Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral just in recent weeks. The mouthpiece of the supreme leader, Kayhan, actually put $100 million bounty on his head just two weeks prior.

So, this is not something new, but it's becoming more present because of the Iran war.

BURNETT: So, Colonel Leighton today Trump met with his advisers and as he said, locked and loaded and we've seen that, right? We've seen a mass additional material, whether it be planes, special forces, medics, all getting into place for some sort of a massive operation, which could include significant ground forces, if that's what he chooses to do. It's all ready for him to do something like that.

How worried are you about it?

LEIGHTON: I'm very concerned, Erin. And the reason I'm concerned is not that the U.S. forces can't do a magnificent job.

BURNETT: With whatever they're told to do.

LEIGHTON: With whatever they're told to do. But the problem is this, what is that actually going to be? Is it

going to be going and securing the Strait of Hormuz as one of the things that could potentially be the case. But then how long do you hold it? What is the commitment?

And then if there's a second front that opens up, what I'm referring to there is the Bab al-Mandeb, the entrance to the Red Sea, the southern entrance to the Red Sea. If that also becomes an active war zone, that is going to stretch the forces that we have in the Middle East pretty thin.

And yeah, we've got the planes that are coming in, especially the fighter aircraft. We have the medical, as you mentioned, we have tanker aircraft, we have other assets coming in. And of course, the Navy is in position there. So they are capable of doing a lot of things, Erin.

But the problem is, how, you know, what is the actual campaign plan for something like this? And what exactly do you plan to capture? And then if you're also going to do something like the targeted Pickaxe Mountain, then it becomes a much more serious long-term commitment that you will have to have at least one area of Iran.

BURNETT: Holly, obviously, the extensive reporting Seth Jones, you know, has been doing at CSIS, and, you know, we've seen from reporting out of the CIA. that Iran retains an incredible amount of power. They were hit severely, but they have two-thirds of their missiles, missile launchers, and even since those numbers, they've been doing a lot of rebuilding and moving and shifting things around, okay, that they've been prepared for another wave.

So, the question is, Holly, is the Iranian regime afraid? I mean, are they worried about what Trump might do? They see all this lining up. Is it impacting them?

DAGRES: I think that's a really important question, Erin. And the truth is, the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran think that they both won this latest iteration of the war. And they're escalating because they think that they have the upper hand because they were able to close the Strait of War moves and had a chokehold on the world's economy.

And so, you know, between that and this narrative of victory that they've been putting out effectively because they've managed to survive not just one, but two wars, against by their two biggest foes, the United States and Israel. They're operating in this hubris that they are going to continue to have the upper hand.

But to your point, you know this is there's bigger issues at hand, domestically speaking, there's systemic issues. There's power outages. Iranians overwhelmingly are still anti regime, and so the question of winning is maybe winning in this moment in their view.

But in the long run, how long are they going to be able to keep this going?

BURNETT: Yeah.

All right, well, thank you very much. I appreciate both of you.

And next, I'm going to speak to the wife of Sergeant Michael Swinton, who was just killed in Iraq. What stood out to her about one of their final calls?

Plus, measles cases just hit a 35-year high -- 35-year high with something you can vaccinate against.

[19:15:06]

The massive outbreak of the parasite that causes explosive diarrhea is also still spreading. Yet Trump is backing HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

Plus, quote, "unifying yet vicious". That's how the White House is describing Trump's speech tonight at the White House Correspondents Dinner. That's interesting. Unifying yet vicious is not usually two words that go together.

Max Rose and Gretchen Carlson do go well together, and they have something to say about that. Look at that. They're next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:09]

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump is just arriving at the White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington, D.C. He is expected to speak soon. Nearly three months to the day of when he was rushed offstage and the event was called off after a gunman opened fire outside the event. It also comes just one day after Trump's DOJ said it would drop its subpoenas against "The New York Times" for reporting about security concerns with his new Qatari-donated Air Force One plane, far from the only legal action that Trump has taken against the press.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered this preview of Trump's speech, saying in part, quote, "The president's speech will be a combination of unifying yet vicious."

Former Congressman Max Rose and Gretchen Carlson are both here with me on set.

Okay. Anyone --

GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: It's a dichotomy.

BURNETT: -- a guess of what unifying yet vicious can be.

CARLSON: Well, look, I think that every president makes fun of the press corps when they go to this event. That's sort of a standard thing.

BURNETT: Right. CARLSON: I kind of hope somebody else has written this speech so that

it's funny, and I think that somebody probably has, and it will be funny, but it will be vicious. So, I think that that's what she's talking about. Unifying? I'm not so sure if I would agree with that.

What I'd really love to see happen tonight is that actually somebody would call Trump out for how he treats reporters in general, how he treats specifically female reporters, how he calls them piggy and fat and stupid and continues to demean them. And I would love for the press corps tonight to stand up and say that they're not going to tolerate that anymore.

Do I think that's going to happen? No, because everyone wants access to the president, unfortunately. But that's what I hope would happen tonight.

BURNETT: Unifying yet vicious.

MAX ROSE, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: He's incapable of one and highly capable of the other.

BURNETT: I mean, is Jon Stewart giving the speech?

ROSE: I mean, look, we should take a step back, though, and note that this is the venue where Barack Obama famously made fun of Donald Trump and said that he had no place at the adults' table. And Donald Trump has largely been on a vengeance tour ever since. to try to assert his own legitimacy. So, he is best when he is playing a victim. That is when he is most effective as a political agent, an amoral one.

That's why he's never won a midterm when he's in power, and he's never won reelection to the presidency, nor will he ever. So, he will certainly use this as an opportunity to say that the powers that be are against him. I don't know how you can be unifying and do that, but -- we'll see very soon.

CARLSON: The other thing is, he wants to do this. He was the first person, even after an assassination attempt to say, I want to have this event.

BURNETT: Rescheduled, which is a good thing.

CARLSON: Yes, but as much as he dislikes the press, he loves the press. He loves the adoring attention of the press. And he's loving this right now.

And I think it's an interesting dichotomy because there's never been a president who has come after the press. to the extent that he has, where the First Amendment is actually in jeopardy and the freedom of speech. People, I hope, are paying very close attention to that.

So, this is an interesting dichotomy tonight. He's coming after the press, but he loves the event tonight.

BURNETT: So, there's a couple of other things that happened today that I have to ask you both about. So, the United States hit a milestone today, okay? Which I don't think qualifies for a golden age, all right?

And that is measles cases in the United States hit a 35-year high. OK? There have been more measle cases recorded in the United States -- you guys ready for this? -- in the past 18 months than in the past 25 years combined, combined.

Why is that? Because we have a vaccine and now with vaccine skepticism on display at HHS. People are -- more people are choosing not to vaccinate. Kids are getting measles.

I mean, Gretchen, this is -- this is just one of those moments where you say that's not something that a society moving forward should have on its checklist.

CARLSON: It's not MAHA. I know that for sure.

BURNETT: No.

CARLSON: It's not making anything greater about America.

As a mom of an immuno-compromised child as well, I mean, I take this very personally, and there's tons of us out there. She can't get the benefits of some vaccines. And so, these people are in jeopardy when other people don't get the vaccine.

BURNETT: She's relying on the herd, on everybody else getting the vaccine.

CARLSON: Of course. Of course.

BURNETT: And so I think that that is something that people don't talk about a lot. But the other thing is America is like the greatest power in the world, not necessarily for their military, because they were at the forefront of creating all these vaccines, of saving millions of lives across America.

And now, we should be ashamed of the fact that people are dying, and it's going to become an epidemic potentially across the world again.

[19:25:01]

BURNETT: Well, RFK Jr., HHS secretary, right, is a known vaccine skeptic.

ROSE: Sure.

BURNETT: Right? And he has that -- that has -- those seeds have been planted in fertile ground.

ROSE: Sure. I mean, and he's been given a long leash to really pursue these policies. Now, you go back to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, right, he said he'd be against forever wars. said he would ardently address the affordability crisis, and he said that he would platform and promote anti-vaccine policies and beliefs.

Of all those pledges, the one that he honors is the anti-vaccine stuff? I mean, it's utterly wild. The war in Iran happens. He says, okay, forget about that pledge. Has completely forgotten about anything about affordability.

But for some reason, unbeknownst to me, he's honored this policy all the way through.

BURNETT: So, there's also -- so other health issues happening because of regulations swept back. The whole explosive diarrhea coming from this little parasite on lettuce and other vegetables is on the list. They still don't know, Gretchen, all the sources of it.

They know one possibly the shredded lettuce. They don't know. They say several others. And so, Trump gets asked about it today. Peter Doocy at Fox News asked Trump about explosive diarrhea today.

CARLSON: Oh, Lord.

BURNETT: It happened. And here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There's this nasty parasite that is giving people in nine states explosive diarrhea. When is it going to be safe to eat lettuce again?

TRUMP: I don't know. I haven't thought about it. It's the first time I've been asked that question. Are you eating lettuce recently?

DOOCY: I should always have more lettuce.

TRUMP: Because if you are, get out of here, Peter! No, it's a very interesting question from you. I didn't think you'd ask that kind of a question. Nobody wants to ask that question, but -- well, it's exciting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Does he not know about this?

BURNETT: Well, I mean, that's a question. He's like, I haven't thought about it. Now, granted, that question probably shocked him coming from Peter Doocy. But he did say I haven't thought about it.

CARLSON: And he loves McDonald's and Diet Coke, so maybe he doesn't eat a lot of salads. So maybe that's why he doesn't --

BURNETT: They don't put shredded lettuce on a quarter pounder.

CARLSON: But this is indicative of all the money being drawn back from the NIH and money at institutions to do research and keep the money flowing into our health Was there waste there? Potentially. Every American wants to get rid of the waste. They don't want America to crater into health crises like we're seeing right now.

ROSE: I'm like a 12-year-old inside. I can't talk. And then you said waste -- CARLSON: You have little kids.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: We're living in a world where so many things happen that we never would have thought would happen in this line of work. Getting to say explosive diarrhea again and again and again on the air.

CARLSON: Let's just all hope we don't get it.

ROSE: I didn't sign up to have to keep a straight face when --

BURNETT: You know where the bathroom is, right?

Thank you both.

CARLSON: OK.

BURNETT: All right. Next, the wife of Sergeant Michael Swinton. She is going to join us. He was killed in Iraq this weekend in the Iran war, and she is going to tell us about her husband and what he said to her that is taking on new significance tonight.

And breaking news this hour, the FBI accusing the man killed by ICE agents in Houston of having drugs in his van. Now, the D.A. says that after, I think it's been a full week, the test results are back, and it was not drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:41]

BURNETT: Breaking news, a day after the Pentagon suddenly changed its casualty count in the Iran War, excluding four soldiers who were just killed last weekend, the websites that track war casualties still has the wrong number posted. You can see here just 14 fatalities listed. To be clear, 18 service members have been killed in the Iran War since Operation Epic Fury began. The number of listed casualties was correct earlier in the week, and the Pentagon is now blaming the discrepancy on a temporary data disruption. They are denying there was an intentional effort to mask the war's toll.

Sergeant Michael Swinton is one of the names no longer listed. He was killed on July 19th at the Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

His widow, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, is speaking out for the first time on national television, saying she feels robbed over the loss of her husband. She describes him as a loving husband, said that Sergeant Swinton longed to return home to be with his family as the Iraqi base where he was stationed came under heavy bombardment. The 30-year-old father from North Carolina had served for nearly a decade.

OUTFRONT now, Mia Gonzalez Swinton, the widow of Sergeant Michael Swinton. They share a four-year-old daughter.

And, Mia, I am so terribly sorry for your loss.

Can you just tell us about Michael and what he was like?

JAMIAH GONZALEZ-SWINTON, WIFE OF SGT. MICHAEL SWINTON, KILLED DURING IRAN WAR: He was so goofy. Anybody that met him, they would say he could roll a joke right off of his tongue like he didn't even have to think about it. His comebacks -- oh my goodness, he would have everybody laughing.

With work, he knew his job inside and out and I think you know he was so respected for that and you know when he spoke people wanted to listen because he knew what he was talking about. And then at home, he was so sweet. Like to our daughter, he was like a big teddy bear to her. They did everything together. He was the favorite. Yeah.

[19:35:00]

BURNETT: I know Mia that you met at Fort Hood. You were both serving there and you've talked about that you fell in love really quickly. You were stationed in Bahrain together at the time.

You know what was it about him? And I can only imagine in these past few days. Of paralysis that you've maybe thought about this. What was it about him that made you want to spend the rest of your life with him?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: I noticed him at first because he was so handsome. And then the more I paid attention to him, you know he was funny. And then I saw how much he cared for people and how protective he was of those that he cared about.

And I just felt like I could spend my life with him. You know, I'd be safe. I'd be cared for. I'd be loved.

BURNETT: You know, you shared a picture with us of the last time that your four-year-old daughter Aleia was able to hug him and it was the last time you saw him in person. But obviously none of you thought that right. You thought everything was ahead of you, life, more children, everything.

What was it like watching them together? Watching him be a father to your daughter?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: It was beautiful. You know, he does have a son, so it wasn't his first time being a parent, but it was his first time being, you know, a girl dad. And I did wonder what he would be like, but he turned into like a big mush ball for her, and it was beautiful to see their bond. Their bond was so strong.

BURNETT: I know you said your last video call with Michael was just three days before he died and that was on July 15th. But it felt different and I just wanted to ask you, what -- gosh, what do you remember about it? And now when you look back, what was it that was different about it?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: He just sounded different like I don't want to say he sounded scared but the way he spoke he you know he said that he loved me, he wanted to talk to our daughter and he was asking me if I was okay and the conversation didn't even last a minute and I just I was like and even the time of day that he called was really early in the morning for him and it wasn't like him, to call at that time, so I was it just the whole thing just felt off.

BURNETT: I know that you -- you'd said in those final days he sounded exhausted, too. Do you think that that he knew that things really had -- just become so much more dangerous in these past days.

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: I didn't share this yet, but he had sent me a message and he said, you know, if I die, just make sure that my kids know that I love them. And that was maybe a month before this happened. So I think we all knew that things were getting pretty serious. I just didn't think this would be the outcome. I don't think any of us did. No.

BURNETT: Well, you can never imagine such a thing actually happening. You know, you mentioned that everyone listened to him at work, and I know that he had spent his career training to protect other soldiers from drone attacks. He was exceptional at that.

What have you been told me about the circumstances of how he died?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: I know they're still investigating so far. From what they could gather was, you know, I guess the type of ground like the area was in just made everything ricochet. And that's I really don't know much more than that.

BURNETT: Mia, something happened this week that we don't really understand the full details here. You may know more. The Pentagon, you know, removing Michael and the three soldiers who also died this past weekend from the public casualty count of soldiers and troops who have died during the war. Now the Pentagon does say it's a glitch.

Has anyone spoken to you about this or told you anything about it?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: Nobody has reached out yet. Well, I kind of don't have words for that.

BURNETT: Yeah, I can imagine. I know you know me and in these past days you talked about how he was, you know he had. He had reached out that that last call so early in the morning, but I know you talked about this maybe being the last deployment and that the two of you had so many plans for the future. I can imagine it's hard to talk about it now, but is there anything that you want to share about what the two of you were planning for?

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: Yes, so if anybody knows Michael, he was a homebody, you know, he just liked being home with his family, but this time he said he wanted to come back and go on a big family vacation with everybody. He wanted to be with his friends, he wanted to go fishing, he just, he made plans with so many people, you know, he wanted to be out and about, he wanted to spend time with everyone. He wanted to make more memories. BURNETT: Mia, I am so. So very sorry. That. We won't be able to do that. I know that you are so lucky you and your daughter to have his memory. And thank you for sharing with just a little bit of him with all of us.

GONZALEZ-SWINTON: Thank you for reaching out.

BURNETT: I'm so sorry.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:34]

BURNETT: Breaking news, a major twist in the investigation into the fatal ICE shooting in Houston. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant, father of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7th. The incident happened as Salgado Araujo was driving to work early in the morning.

But tonight, the family is pushing back on an FBI search warrant. Now, that warrant had claimed illegal drugs could have been inside the van Lorenzo was driving. The warrant specifically read, "The packaging and appearance of the controlled substance in the target vehicle is consistent with methamphetamine."

Now, according to the Harris County District Attorney, who is conducting an independent investigation, the preliminary test results are back and show that it was not drugs.

Ruby Powers is OUTFRONT now. She is the attorney for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's brother, who is in ICE custody, was with him that day, and is -- and is in ICE custody.

And I want to ask you about him because it's been almost three weeks and he's still in custody. Ruby, I just want to start off, though, with the fact that I know you've had a chance to speak with Lorenzo's family. What have they told you about this report and the results on this substance?

RUBY POWERS, ATTORNEY FOR BROTHER OF ICE SHOOTING VICTIM LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO: Well, it is very late breaking. Just this afternoon, I was speaking with Lorenzo's family, and they gave me the news that they had heard that it was not a narcotics, not a listed drugs. And we both said, well, we knew that already, so -- but now it's official.

And so, now, we're letting the world know, and there'll be official lab results available on Monday. But we had previously said that it was only crystallized salt used for electrolyte mix.

BURNETT: And when you said that, in fact, I know that Lorenzo's family had said that this is something that they had been making for a long time when they go to work jobs and sites in the summer because of the incredible heat that they use it to sort of hydrate and that the substance was a granulated salt used to make basically an electrolyte mix, right, to give you energy.

Is that what the report shows?

POWERS: Well, we know definitively it's negative for narcotics and controlled substance. I believe the result Monday or the lab result will tell us what it actually was. But what matters is, you know, that that there, you know, I think this was all used to discredit the Lorenzo and the witnesses, unfortunately, or to act as a red herring and distraction.

So, ultimately, it's not a narcotic or controlled substance.

BURNETT: It certainly did add confusion because they had initially said, oh, it was a case of a mistaken identity, but then they were saying, oh, there were drugs in the van. Now there's not drugs. By the way, it took a long time to get these results back.

POWERS: That's true.

BURNETT: That is a little hard to understand. In that context, Lorenzo's brother, whom you represent, he was a witness. He was there. So, he was a witness to his brother's being killed.

He has been contradicting ICE's version of events and whether the van was used to ram, which they have said, even though the van was not given to the D.A. for their investigation, for a very long time. I don't even know when they actually got it.

Do you know if or when Lorenzo's brother's going to be released from ICE custody, where he's been for almost three weeks?

POWERS: I think -- no one knows the answer to that.

[19:50:02]

But we are pursuing multiple avenues between federal lawsuit for habeas as well as pursuing an immigration court, a victim of a crime and witness visa -- with U Visa and a parole.

So, we're hoping that one of all of these many approaches will work. But, you know, ultimately, from today's congressional hearing, the D.A. Sean Teare said that my client was one of the most material witnesses. And I still question to this day why, if the most material witness in the shooting is still detained in immigration two and a half weeks after this this unfortunate event?

BURNETT: All right. Ruby, I appreciate your time and thank you very much. It is -- it is a major development and important to get it out there and thank you.

Next, after a major curveball, Democrats have a new candidate in an absolutely must-win Senate race. But is it too late? A special report, next.

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[19:55:39]

BURNETT: Tonight, in one of the most closely watched and competitive Senate races, another curveball. Democrats racing to appoint a new nominee in Maine after Graham Platner's dramatic exit.

Troy Jackson expected to formally secure the nomination tomorrow, but that means he'll only have 101 days to hit the trail and convince voters to back him over Susan Collins, a 30-year incumbent and the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history. Not easy, as Kamala Harris learned.

Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT in Maine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So just looking around at some of these signs here. I'm struck by just, obviously, this is how quickly things have changed. I mean, he was running for governor. There's a Graham Platner sign. I mean, things have changed dramatically here.

How do you think voters have processed all this?

SARAH BIGNEY MCCABE, MAINE AFL-CIO ORGANIZING DIRECTOR: I'd say whiplash. It's been a roller coaster.

ZELENY (voice-over): That roller coaster could determine control of the U.S. Senate, as one of the most consequential races of the year is set to start over, 100 days before the midterm elections.

This weekend, Maine Democrats are selecting a new candidate to try what others have been unable to do for three decades -- defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins.

TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: My name is Troy Jackson. I'm a fifth-generation logger from Allagash, a card-carrying union member and the former president of the Maine Senate.

ZELENY (voice-over): One of the most picturesque summertime states in the country has endured one of the messiest Senate races in memory, with Troy Jackson set to replace Graham Platner, whose campaign imploded after months of controversy.

JACKSON: We're not from the left. We're not from the right. We're from the bottom. And we are rising.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jackson is a logger from the Northwoods of Maine, who found his way into politics nearly a quarter century ago. He came up short in the June primary for governor, but he quickly coalesced support as Democrats scrambled to find a new Senate candidate.

MCCABE: We're not just voting for Troy. We love Troy. We respect Troy, but this is a vote for all of us. This is a vote for the issues that we care about for health care, for childcare.

ZELENY (voice-over): His long record now faces fresh scrutiny, including a conservative to progressive evolution on same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

Crystale Lapham, a volunteer organizer for Platner, says she trusts Jackson and is all in for his campaign.

ZELENY: Do you like Troy Jackson?

CRYSTALE LAPHAM, DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZER: I think in many ways Troy is kind of the original in the state of Maine, the original kind of political outsider fighting for a different type of government that works differently for Mainers.

ZELENY: But he's been an elected official for couple decades.

LAPHAM: Yeah, at the state level, which is very different than at the federal level.

ZELENY (voice-over): There are still signs here of the Senate race that might have been, amid questions about whether Democrats are united as they work to win over independent voters and turn the focus back to Collins.

DAN KLEBAN (D), FORMER MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: There is such an appetite to send her back home and put someone new down there, then I think that's going to go a long way towards galvanizing folks.

ZELENY (voice-over): Dan Kleban is the co-founder of Maine Beer Company. He ran for Senate last year, dropped out and jumped back in after Platner's collapse. He said meddling from Democrats outside Maine hurt their goal.

KLEBAN: Everybody up here on the Democratic side wishes that this primary didn't play out the way that it did, and I hope we've learned our lesson so we don't do it again.

ZELENY: So, has this made it easier for Susan Collins to win reelection?

KLEBAN: I mean, obviously, I don't think we did ourselves any favors.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Bangor, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is opening up about his stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis in an emotional conversation with Jake Tapper. Sasse was told last December that he only had three to four months to live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SASSE (R), FORMER NEBRASKA SENATOR: I felt the heaviness of death being terrible, and obviously not wanting your wife to go through being widowed or your kids to be orphaned to lose their dad. But I -- I just felt at peace that death is real. I've always known we're all on the clock and to get a finite number felt horrible, but not surprising. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He has become an inspiration for so many. And you can see the full interview on "THE WHOLE STORY" this Sunday night at 8:00.

Thanks for joining us.

Special coverage of the White House Correspondents' Dinner with Laura Coates and John Berman starts now.