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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump On Sailors Enduring Record Deployment: "Not Early Long Enough"; Luigi Mangione Speaks Out; 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Indonesia, Tsunami Warning Issued. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 14, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Trump says the USS Abraham Lincoln should be deployed even longer amid reports about sailors jumping overboard, dire conditions and low morale, as Trump threatens to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, even though almost no ships are able to transit it.
Plus, quote, "I shot Mr. Thompson and he died," end quote from Luigi Mangione, speaking extensively for the first time after the murder of the United Healthcare CEO. The sketch artist inside the courtroom was there. She saw him and she's going to tell us what she noticed.
And on breaking news this hour, a massive earthquake in Indonesia. A tsunami warning just issued, and we're going to get you new information just as soon as we get it here.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT on this Friday, the breaking news, quote, "not long enough." President Trump and his first comments about the dire conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, with reports of multiple sailors jumping overboard and a lack of basic food, basic necessities. personal hygiene items, says that the aircraft carrier, which has been deployed for a record nine months because of his war with Iran, 250 days without a call at port.
He says, though, that it has not been deployed long enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: The family members of U.S. service members are concerned about the conditions onboard the USS Lincoln.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, no, that ship is moving. No, they're not. That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it's being replaced with another very similar ship.
REPORTER: Has the deployment gone on too long? Are you worried about the mental health concerns?
TRUMP: No, no, no. Not nearly long enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Not nearly long enough. Hard to understand why he chose to do that in that moment.
Obviously, deeply insulting and insensitive. It's hard to understand why he chose to do that. Obviously, we've learned a lot from those on board. Our Pamela Brown has done extensive reporting, even in May, about the frustration and morale.
And here's how the wife of a service member who is currently aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln is describing what her husband is experiencing. She told Jake Tapper about it today.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
USS LINCOLN SERVICE MEMBER'S WIFE: My husband is appalled at the conditions on this ship. This is not his first deployment. This is not his first time being out there. And he is saying that it is the worst deployment that he's ever been on. And he also says that his shipmates say the same.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: And so then she had a chance to respond to Trump saying the deployment hasn't been nearly long enough. And here's what she said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
USS LINCOLN SERVICE MEMBER'S WIFE: It's infuriating, essentially saying that families are lying and service members are lying, even though the proof is right here on my phone, it is not fabricated, nobody is lying. Everybody is -- it's infuriating that they're not taking accountability and not having any sort of sympathy for our service members that they claim to scream and shout that they support when it's politically, you know, sound for them to use support our troops, support our troops until our troops need support. And now, suddenly, everyone's lying and it's a fabrication and it's a misrepresentation. It's infuriating.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Trump's words are stunning and it's hard to imagine, like I said, why he would have said such a thing. And it's a little bit different than what we're hearing from the Navy secretary tonight. There's acknowledgement there. He acknowledges that the sailors have been, quote, "pushed to their limits".
But the commander-in-chief, President Trump, and his defense secretary have reacted very differently. Pete Hegseth made no comments today, but when these reports really started to surface yesterday, he called it completely misrepresented, you know, as if it wasn't real. He called the reports earlier this year about food shortages on board fake news.
And, of course, all this has borne out to be true. They just say that it isn't. And for Trump to say that the U.S. troops haven't been deployed nearly long enough, again, stunning thing to say. And he's saying that to the 5,000 men and women who are currently deployed aboard the Lincoln who've said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S. SAILOR: Moral is low because we haven't hit a port in about seven months. The last time I was off the ship on dry land would have been Guam in December.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now the only reason that these 5,000 crew members have been deployed for this long, right, that it keeps getting extended, 250 days without a land call, with all of these shortages, there is a reason for it.
[19:05:05]
And that reason is the war with Iran.
A war, of course, that they weren't prepared to go this long. That's why it keeps getting extended, because the commander in chief said that the war would only last weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks.
REPORTER: The U.S. will be gone or done with the war?
TRUMP: I think two or three weeks. Yeah.
We were in there for two months. And you know what? We're going to have victory very shortly.
I thought it would take four to six weeks, and I was right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And now Trump is saying they haven't been deployed long enough, as we're getting there the sixth month of war. It seems he's signaling that there is no end in sight at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He said that just today. Pretty stunning, because you only have a few ships a day going through now versus well over 100 on a normal day prior to the war. So, all of that doesn't add up.
And that kind of declaration, if it's true at this point, could mean a much longer deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region.
Kevin Liptak is OUTFRONT, live outside the White House.
And Kevin, what is the latest you're learning about the White House thinking on all of this? And I'm wondering if anyone that you're speaking to is privately stunned that the president of the United States chose to respond to this, saying that this deployment should have been a lot longer.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: When you talk to people in the military, there is a degree of stunned when you hear what the president said. But when I went to the White House today to ask if they had any context or wanted to clarify any of those president's comments. They said that they were just going to point back to what the president said, which is really kind of remarkable. I thought it was notable when the president was answering these questions. He was almost visibly irritated that he was being asked them. He kind of snapped after that first answer.
And after the last answer, he sort of abruptly turned and walked away, which is not his norm when he's speaking on the tarmac and all of it I think underscores what is the concern that you hear consistently among American officials which is just how long this war has gone on and these lengthy historic deployments only remind the American public that the president's initial projection of six weeks was absolutely wrong.
And this is not the only example that we have of this lengthy war this very intense war raising some real questions about American readiness you also hear concerns about the munitions stockpile and the worry that you hear from military officials is that the longer these deployments go on, the greater the toll will be, both on the people but also on the ships. You know, gears wear out, replacement parts are hard to come by.
And it was notable in that statement from the Navy secretary today, which in a lot of ways was trying to dismiss all of this. He did acknowledge that, yes, the meal plans have been interrupted, that, yes, calls back home have been interrupted for operational security, and that's all part of the reason why you hear, you know, described in these private conversations among officials, including with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine, the need to find an off-ramp to this conflict.
But President Trump, at least for his part, does not seem like he's ready to take that off-ramp. He's talking today about taking the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory.
Yesterday, we heard Pete Hegsess say that the U.S. would be able to maintain the blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely. All of that would require a sustained American military presence, including with aircraft carriers in the region, which is a pretty striking turnabout for a president who talked about never entering a forever war -- Erin. Yeah, and I mean, he's saying, you know, a couple weeks till it's over, and we're days away from the six-month mark. And the Strait of Hormuz is essentially right. It's still closed, and obviously Iran can control that.
Kevin, thank you very much, reporting from the White House.
And I want to go now to the former Veterans Affairs secretary under Presidents Trump and Obama, Dr. David Shulkin, along with retired General Randy Manne.
And I appreciate both of you very much.
General Manner, you heard the president of the United States, you know, talk about his words were not nearly long enough in terms of the deployment for the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Can I just ask you obviously, he was frustrated in that moment, but what does a commander-in-chief saying that in the context of what's happening right now actually mean to the United States military and the crew of 5,000 people on that ship?
MAJOR GENERAL RANDY MANNER, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Think about if you had a son or a daughter on that ship and the commander in chief dismissed your concerns and basically said, oh, you know what isn't even long enough, I will tell you unequivocally that all my 36 years of service, if any Navy chief or non-commissioned officer or officer or admiral or general had ever said those kind of words, they would have been relieved within minutes and I mean that literally.
[19:10:20]
It is totally inappropriate that the commander in chief of our military show continued disdain and disrespect for our military members and for their family. This is unacceptable whether it's talking about Gold Star mothers and fathers or whether we're talking about the -- those young men and women on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. This is unacceptable by any commander-in-chief or any military leader.
BURNETT: It's interesting you say that someone, if they were in the military chain of command, would be relieved from duty within minutes after saying something like that.
Secretary Shulkin, let me just play again so everyone can hear the full exchange of what Trump said in response to questions about what's happening on the ship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Has the deployment gone on too long? Are you worried about the mental health concerns?
TRUMP: No, no, no. Not nearly long enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Secretary, you served under President Trump in his first administration. Obviously, you've served under presidents of both parties. But when you hear this today, I mean, what do you think happened? Why do you think he said such a thing?
DR. DAVID SHULKIN, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS UNDER TRUMP AND OBAMA: Well, I can't speak for the president, but I do know that we should all be very concerned for our men and women who are in this situation. The 5,000 sailors are on the Abraham Lincoln, but remember, we have 50,000 men and women who are stationed in that conflict zone in the Middle East.
And one of the things that I dealt with President Trump during the first term was the men and women who were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And we saw the devastating effects of mental health issues and behavioral health conditions that population, we know from history that about 15 to 25 percent of them will over time have some type of behavioral health care condition. And, of course, the issue of veteran suicide remains extremely critical even now.
So, we're going to be seeing these types of consequences from these conditions for decades to come.
BURNETT: General Manner, so you've got the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the entire U.S. military dismissing all of the concerns, right, the mental health concerns, the very real ones, and we talk about people jumping overboard, as well as the deep and serious morale and questions for all Americans about there isn't enough food for there's been moments of not enough food for 5,000 sailors, which is stunning. secretary of defense then doesn't weigh in today, but when he did weigh in, it was to say that this was, you know, essentially when it was the food shortages, that that was fake news. In this case, it's all being misrepresented.
So, you've got the secretary of defense and the commander in chief responding. What does this actually do to the troops, and does it have an effect, General, on the military readiness of, for example, a carrier like that, which is now front and center in the war?
MANNER: Absolutely positively. It negatively impacts morale. I used to say that the president and the secretary of defense were spewing propaganda. Unfortunately, now they're actually spewing lies. In the interest of transparency, any good commander would say that we are deploying a team immediately to land on the USS Abraham Lincoln to assess the situation and to ensure that we have -- that we properly address the issues that are there and we will bring media with us in all transparency.
This administration wants to say there's nothing to see here. All the families are lying there. There is no issues on it and that is absolutely not the case. In every case, when you have junior men and women in the military around the world, as I was once upon a time, obviously, you don't always have the right food. You don't always have the right conditions.
And that does not -- BURNETT: Senator Shulkin, what does a deployment -- no, not at all. I
mean, Secretary, what does a deployment this long, with all of the costs that have come with it, I mean, when you talk about the food, shortage of personal hygiene items, which matter in day-to-day life, but a deployment that's been extended and extended and extended, OK, what does that alone do to troops?
SHULKIN: Well, it makes it extremely difficult. The isolation from people's families and their normal lives makes the conditions very tough. But you have to remember, this is a conflict that we haven't seen before. This is a conflict that is largely being fought with drones and missiles.
And that type of hypervigilance, when you're in that is a conflict that we haven't seen before. This is a conflict that is largely being fought with drones and missiles. And that type of hypervigilance, when you're in that area of conflict, never knowing where something's going to come from, where there could be blast injuries, where people around you may be injured, all adds up to these what we call invisible wounds of war.
And we know from past history that if we don't take this seriously, if we don't do the right type of assessments, if we don't get the early types of treatment interventions, if we make people have a difficult transition when they're leaving the military into civilian life, all of that doesn't go away. But we see it with very severe consequences for a long time.
So, we need to be preparing for this. When you enter a conflict like this, you have to begin to start preparing for resources to be there for a long time after people return into civilian life.
BURNETT: And of course, obviously the message from the top is essentially toughen up or you're making it up.
All right. I appreciate both of you. Thank you very much.
We have some breaking news just coming in right now. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake has just struck Indonesia. Now, we had just gotten news of it, and we're getting more information.
Now, you look at the map here. We understand that this earthquake hit the northern coast of the country, so that's where it actually hit. Now, there is a tsunami warning in place following the massive quake. There have been two powerful aftershocks so far that we are aware of in these past moments.
I want to go OUTFRONT to Gage Goulding, who's following this breaking news.
And, Gage, what are you learning about this, obviously it's a massive earthquake, but the size, where it is, and when we talk about a tsunami warning, what does that mean?
GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yeah, hey, Erin, you raised a really good point. This is an incredibly strong earthquake, but let's not downplay the fact that these two aftershocks in and of themselves were incredibly strong as is. If they were earthquakes on their own, they would be strong.
And then you bring up the fact that, yeah, there is a tsunami warning out for this area, the earthquake hitting just off the coast of -- the northern coast of Indonesia. creating that concern of a tsunami. But I want to make sure that we're understanding that this is an area that sits along the Ring of Fire. It's an area of the world that's very prone to these earthquakes and can experience them quite frequently.
This one hitting just before 6:00 a.m. local time, Saturday morning off the coast of Indonesia and about according to the USDS half a million people could have been in that area where there was what they define as extreme shaking. So this very much so only within the first hour and a half, it's in the infancy of this situation, so exactly learning the more of what this tsunami could if there is one looking like, there's a warning out, and then obviously the on the ground there in Indonesia in the communities impacted were any buildings impacted.
This is all still very early on. But nonetheless, a very strong initial earthquake followed by two very strong aftershocks, Erin.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right.
Well, Gage, and Gage obviously is in the region. I understand he's in Hong Kong.
Gage, as you get more information, we're going to bring you back this hour because obviously it's very opaque right now. We know that it's massive. We know that there's been warnings of a tsunami. You talk about half a million people in the extremely affected area.
So, we'll see if any information starts to come out. Obviously, communications will be dramatically impacted. But thank you, Gage. We're going to come back to you.
We also have more breaking news we're following this hour. Luigi Mangione with a shocking admission, shocking admission to the killing of the United Healthcare CEO. So he admits to it, but is it possible that he's never actually convicted of the murder?
Plus, Trump's pick for Senate in Texas now begging for help, struggling to compete against his Democratic opponent, James Tallarico, in one of the nation's most important races.
And a face-off between two major militaries as one government essentially shuts down the internet in order to prepare for an invasion by China.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:09]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Luigi Mangione speaking extensively for the first time about why he shot and killed a healthcare executive in midtown Manhattan. And I phrase it like that because he pleaded guilty today to doing just that. He pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges and the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, delivering a 279-word statement to the court. He spoke so quickly at one point that the judge asked him to slow down.
Now, Mangione's lawyers are trying to dismiss state murder charges against him, citing double jeopardy, the whole idea of being tried twice for the same crime. It could be extremely significant on the outcome, though.
And Shimon Prokupecz is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCDONALD, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Just a few moments ago, Mangione pled guilty to his heinous act.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Luigi Mangione admitting today in a New York federal courtroom to stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare's chief executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, telling the judge, quote, "I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died. I knew what I was doing was illegal."
He went on to describe why he did it.
"After years of enduring severe pain from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system, and witnessing similar experiences of countless others, I learned that United Healthcare would be holding its annual investor conference in New York City on December 4th, although the specific location was not publicly disclosed," and revealing for the first time how he tracked down Mr. Thompson and discovered where he would be that early December morning.
Quote, "In November of 2024, I traveled from outside of New York State to Manhattan. I then emailed United Healthcare leadership posing as an investor at a firm managing over $50 billion and assets and requesting information about the conference. Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour.
Thompson's family was in the courtroom for the first time today, fighting back emotions as they heard prosecutors say Thompson turned to face Mangione just before the deadly close-range shot.
Following the proceedings, the family said in a statement, quote, "Today's guilty plea marks an important step towards justice for Brian and for our family. While nothing will leave the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable. Now we look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime. We remain mindful that additional proceedings in New York and Pennsylvania are still to come, and we will continue justice Brian deserves."
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, LUIGI MANGIONE'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: With today's guilty plea, Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Mangione received no deal for his plea, and his fate is up to the judge, who could sentence him to life in prison.
His defense team explained its strategy after court.
AGNIFILO: New York law does not permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime under a statute that governs successive prosecutions. also known as the double jeopardy law. Today's guilty plea triggers the statute, and we just filed our motion in state court explaining why the state charges must be dismissed under New York's double jeopardy protections.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): But it will be up to the state judge to make that final decision.
Although the state case is scheduled to begin on September 8th, it will likely be delayed by the legal battle. Federal prosecutors saying justice was done today.
MCDONALD: This was not a spontaneous act of violence, it was deliberate, calculated, and premeditated. We have consistently pursued the maximum penalties under the law as necessary and just punishment for these crimes. The result achieved today now allows our office to seek the maximum penalty allowed, life imprisonment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Shimon, I mean, I know that there's legalese in here, but when he pleads guilty and he directly says that he did it, that he shot and killed Brian Thompson, is there a chance with all of that he may actually not be convicted of murder?
PROKUPECZ: Yeah, on the state case, that murder charge that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office brought where he was facing 25 to life, there is a chance that that gets dismissed and that the murder, the actual word murder doesn't get attached to that case and to his name.
However, he did come into court today and did admit to killing Brian Thompson. And given everything that this family, the Thompson family experienced today in this courtroom and the excuse that Luigi Mangione came, I'm not sure, quite honestly, that they may want to endure a full trial. It's really tough.
And whatever the sentence here is going to be, it's going to be severe. And that's going to have to be a decision also made of whether or not bringing a state case is even worth it, especially with the idea that he could be facing the rest of his life in prison.
BURNETT: All right, Shimon, thank you very much.
And, you know, Shimon mentioned that Brian Thompson's family was in the courtroom. Christine Cornell was there as well. She's a sketch artist who was there for Mangione's hearing, and she's OUTFRONT. So, Christine, just I want to share some of your sketches, because
Mangione did this unexpected thing. He addressed the court directly. His lawyers looked on. He spoke.
His statement was about 300 words long, right? He makes this admission. And you're watching all of this. What did you notice?
CHRISTINE CORNELL, COURTROOM SKETCH ARTIST IN MANGIONE HEARING: You know, I've been watching Mangione now through many hearings. In the very beginning, there was something a little bit distancy about him. He carried himself not exactly cocky, but as if he was somehow out of touch with what was going on around him. I thought he looked like a husky, you know, nice markings, but what's going on up here?
Today we saw that crack. His voice shook when he put his hand up close to his face. Honestly, I think he was right on the verge of crying, although he did not. He was feeling it though.
I mean, you said, oh my goodness, the man actually has empathy and has a sense of what he's what he's admitting to here. So, it was -- I guess it was something. It was very surreal, but it's kind of a relief.
BURNETT: Yeah, I mean, when you're talking about his voice shaking, verge of crying, he didn't actually cry, use the word empathy. Brian Thompson's wife was there, his mother was there. Brian Thompson, of course, Luigi Mangione says that he killed him.
[19:30:02]
He shot him on the street in midtown Manhattan.
So, did you see or hear how they reacted and was -- did he look at them? Was there any relationship between what he was saying and the people whose lives he so destroyed?
CORNELL: Luigi never ever turned to look at anyone in the audience today, he was completely focused on what he was doing here. I unfortunately could not see the family. There was a very large lectern blocking my vision. And when I heard that they were in the room, I knew exactly where they'd be. And I said, I know where they are, but I can't stand up to look.
BURNETT: Yeah. So, did you see -- I mean, could you tell whether he was playing the room in a sense? I mean, you use the word empathy. I'm just curious, Christine, obviously, you know, obviously you can't be inside someone's mind, but did you see it as remorse or possibly that he was playing up the moment to the judge? Could you tell?
CORNELL: Absolutely not playing up the moment. Absolutely not. I thought it was the first time I saw him have a, to maybe even think a thought that didn't have to be about him. They were discussing a little bit the details of the crime, how the man spun around to look at him. And yes, he was aware that he had caused suffering and that it resulted in-- there was something there where he seemed to be acknowledging that there was something brutal that he was responsible for.
And I really thought it was genuine. Especially since it didn't turn into tears, you know? He held himself back.
BURNETT: Right, right, because he controlled, that's an interesting point, that he could do, yes.
All right. Well, Christine, I always appreciate talking to you, so thanks so much for taking the time, talking to me.
CORNELL: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, is a Democrat on the cusp of winning a Senate seat in Texas? You know, something that for so many years, Democrats had said they could do, and every time they say it, it doesn't happen. Well, now it is Ted Cruz who says it's a real possibility.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I do think he has a chance. I think this is a real race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, breaking news, new video just coming in of the major earthquake we told you about 7.7 on the Richter scale rocking Indonesia early Saturday morning as people were still sleeping. We're going to go back to the region live.
More details now starting to come in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:36:41]
BURNETT: Tonight, Trump's handpicked candidate for the Texas Senate race is in major trouble, and he's admitting it he's pleading for help. Ken Paxton, that's Trump's pick, is admitting that he's struggling against the Democratic candidate James Talarico.
Now, I will just highlight that some prominent Republicans predicted this after Trump backed Paxton over the 23-year incumbent John Cornyn, who did not come saddled with all the legal and personal indignities of Ken Paxton. It is a race that not only could decide which party controls the Senate, but if a Democrat wins, it'd be the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988.
And now, Fox News is grilling Paxton about the state of his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: And, of course, this is a state that President Trump won. Why is this race so close, and what are you doing about it?
KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Yeah, look, it's -- you know, it's a different environment. We're trying to get help from all over the country. So, go to kenpaxton.com and help us because we need help. We need help now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Paxton's home state of Texas conservative podcaster, Michael Berry, also asking Paxton some questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BERRY, CONSERVATIVE PODCASTER: I know there is a lot of frustration. I hear it. What's the -- what's the Paxton campaign doing? What's the path to victory? There's been some concern. Will there be the money there to run the campaign it takes to win?
PAXTON: As of June 1st, I had zero dollars. He had thirty million. So we've been trying to accumulate to raise the money. But we definitely need -- we do need some outside help.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: So recent polls show that Paxton does need help. The race is within the margin of error.
OUTFRONT now, former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who lives in Texas, and diehard Texan Paul Begala.
So, both of you know of which you are about to speak.
Adam, Congressman Kinzinger, how much trouble is Ken Paxton in right now?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'll say Paul probably knows Texas way better than me because I think you have to be like seventh generation to actually be considered a Texan.
So -- but look, he's in real trouble and keep in mind this summer, what was he doing? He was caught in the United Kingdom on vacation and I got to tell you, I think back to my elections. If I'd had a tough election and decided to take a vacation, all my staff would have quit, or they'd have thrown me in like campaign jail.
He's in real trouble. There's a lack of enthusiasm for him here. I've definitely sensed that you're seeing a lot more kind of Talarico signs and bumper stickers, which in and of themselves don't really tell you much except for excitement, and so, it is definitely going to be a close race.
I think Democrats have to be very careful not to assume that he's going to win because this is Texas, but certainly Republicans could not have elected a worse candidate than Ken Paxton. And all is begging on TV, by the way, just to just to be clear is what they do to raise money. You could be a senator with $80 million in the bank and they're going to go on TV and say that they're being outspent and beg for money, but he is in real trouble. BURNETT: So, Paul, Senator Ted Cruz now is actually coming in to say this race is in jeopardy. Let me just play what he said about Talarico.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CRUZ: Unfortunately, I do think he has a chance. I think this is a real race.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
[19:40:01]
BURNETT: And look, you got Larry Sabato, top election forecaster. He said to me, I'm starting to believe it's actually possible this year when it comes to Democrats flipping a Senate seat for the first time since 1988. I'm just curious, Paul, as to what you make of the fact that Ted Cruz is saying that, why he's choosing to speak out, whether he really believes it, what's going on there?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Senator Cruz has a lot of things, but nobody's ever accused him of being dumb. He's been through this. He had a near-death experience in 2018 against Beto O'Rourke. And I went back and looked at that race.
Despite only winning by 2 1/2 to three points, Senator Cruz led in 90 percent of the polls over that year. At this stage of the race, Senator Cruz was ahead by six. Paxton is behind by four. By the way, the last 10 polls, Paxton's only led in two of them. Talarico's led in seven. One of them, they're tied.
Midterm elections are about three M's -- motivation, mood, and message. All of them are trending toward Talarico and the Democrats. And I know it's been 38 years, and I'm a Texas Democrat.
I think Talarico has capacity to get some of those Adam Kinzinger Republicans, people who put country ahead of party, because he's reaching out. He's not running a very partisan, left-wing, divisive message as we've seen in some of my party's primaries. He's doing, I think, a very good job of reaching out.
BURNETT: Yeah, nobody would say he's a member of the DSA. Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be light about it, but I mean, that's the reality.
I mean, Adam, he's also though, he has weighed in on some issues that could matter. So, he was vocal speaking against a ban on THC products across the state.
So, he took a stand on that, right? There are people who care about that -- care about that. Joe Rogan saw that and said, okay, that could be it. That could be what makes Texas go blue.
Here's Joe Rogan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: The THC thing. Here's what Texas doesn't understand. You will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) this place up, and you will turn the whole thing blue. Kids will turn on you. If you tell them they can't smoke weed, they know weed's not killing anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Adam, okay, what do you think about Joe Rogan weighing in on it? And I guess at this point, when you look at Ken Paxton, I mean, that's not even something it could just come out and flip on, right?
KINZINGER: No, I mean and his whole persona is being this kind of old school, hard-edged conservative, you know, steals pins by the way. And so, I think he can't flip on it.
And you think about the interesting thing I've noticed in Texas that's different than Republicans in the rest of the country. At least you know where I'm from Illinois is you would have a strain of kind of moderacy in some Republicans. You know they may be for legalization of marijuana. They may be, you know, they'll have these kind of different things that may be an outlier from the general Republican Party that the Republican Party is pretty forgiving of.
You don't get that in Texas and Texas is about as hard line as you can get, and there's been again this move against THC and marijuana where the rest of the country is actually going the opposite direction. And even if it only affects the youth five or eight or seven, you know, percent difference that is enough in a close race like this to make -- not in kind of your typical year, but a year like this.
I think -- I think Talarico's got a real shot if he sticks to those local messages as well.
BURNETT: Right, which he's been doing. He's also been the focus though, Paul of -- yeah, go ahead, go ahead, Paul.
BEGALA; My friend Willie Nelson, 94 years old. Nobody likes weed more than he and he's the patron St. of Texas and I'll take Willie even over President Trump. He President Trump is golden in Texas just two years ago, won by 14 points.
Today, he's 13 points underwater. He has completely collapsed. I hope, as a Texan, as a Democrat, I hope President Trump goes and campaigns. I think the Democrats should buy him another plane, because the Qatari plane seems to be broken.
Democrats should buy President Trump a plane and send him around. He is about as popular as that, you know that cyclospora lettuce that gives everybody exploding diarrhea? That's about how popular Trump is.
BURNETT: All right. I appreciate both of you very much. Thank you.
And next, the breaking news out of Indonesia that we are following, that powerful 7.7 earthquake just reported with two massive aftershocks. We do have new video and some details coming in about what this might mean. Half a million people live in this immediate area. There is a tsunami warning. as well.
Plus, a Trump-backed prosecutor with a shocking admission tonight after the FBI claimed it found a controlled substance in the van of a Houston man killed by ICE. The story tonight, very different.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:48]
BURNETT: Breaking news, new video just coming into OUTFRONT right now, capturing the moment a massive 7.7 earthquake hit Indonesia. You see the panic here, people screaming, trying to flee the scene, a massive earthquake, buildings violently shaking before they collapse. The quake then followed by two powerful aftershocks, which would be massive earthquakes on their own in the northern coast of Indonesia. Tsunami watch now.
Gage Goulding is back with me.
And, Gage, we're just -- I mean, this is the first video we're getting and obviously, communication is incredibly disruptive. What else have you been able to learn here?
GOULDING: You know, learning that there's a third aftershock again, quite a strong magnitude. Let's go from the top. There is this original 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck just before 6:00 a.m. local time in Indonesia. So just as people are getting up, followed by a 5.9, 5.6 and a 6.1 magnitude aftershock, all of which, by the way, would be of enough of an alert that could cause damage.
But I really want to put this into perspective. There's roughly 500,000 people in an area just near the northern coast of Indonesia that according to the USGS could have felt very strong to severe shaking. Comparing that to the Colombia earthquake that we had earlier this week, there was about 6 million people in that severe shaking category.
But not to downplay this whatsoever because several hundred miles away in Bali, there's reports of folks there feeling that shaking. This is an area that is very familiar with earthquakes sitting on the Ring of Fire there. So, it's about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes actually hit in that area, but still very early on.
But you can see damage reports started coming in, Erin.
Yeah, yeah, and obviously the fear and panic and so little. We know, right, because the wireless, everything gets disrupted. So just this first video that we have in, we're going to keep watching this as we try to get more information. Gage, thank you in Hong Kong.
Also tonight, a major admission from a Trump-backed federal prosecutor, Aaron Reitz, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, is now confirming to the Texas Tribune that a substance found inside the van of Lorenzo Salgado, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, is now confirming to the Texas Tribune that a substance found inside the van of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, he was the man in Houston, shot and killed by ICE officers on his way to work.
What he had in the van was not methamphetamine. That's what the FBI had suggested, though. You'll recall a week after the shooting, the FBI wanted a search warrant of Araujo's van after finding what agents described as a, quote, "crystal-like substance in small plastic bags." The FBI agent wrote in the warrant that based on the appearance and packaging, he believed the substance, quote, is consistent with methamphetamine. So they put all this out there without an actual test.
The family, who had been maligned by this, said it was not drugs. It was salt used with lemon and water, basically a homemade electrolyte that building crews would use in the Texas heat when working on projects, which is where Arajo and his team were going.
Ruby Powers is OUTFRONT now, the attorney for Lorenzo's brother, Victor, who was inside the van when his brother was shot. Victor is still in ice custody tonight. It has been more than a month since this incident and his brother's death.
So, Ruby, I just want to start, you and I have been talking a lot about the substance because there was that warrant which said, well, it looks like this, it could be this, using the word methamphetamine, right, without any test. The family had said from the beginning that this was this homemade electrolyte. Thirty-eight days after Lorenzo was killed, the U.S. attorney, who I know is backed by Trump, has come out and confirmed what you said. No, this is not methamphetamine. This is lemon and whatever else it is.
How significant is this admission coming from a Trump-backed DA?
RUBY POWERS, ATTORNEY FOR BROTHER OF ICE SHOOTING VICTIM LORENZO ARAUJO: Well, we're grateful for the admission. You know, it's a little late. We already got that confirmation a couple of weeks ago, but, you know, it would have been nice if (AUDIO GAP) whatever it was, but there was there was those few date those couple of weeks where we didn't where everyone was wondering at the same time we were trying to grieve Lorenzo and everyone was in shock.
But we're grateful that he confirmed what we learned a few weeks ago. And, you know, just I think that this has just been a red herring, unfortunately, distracting us from ultimately releasing the witnesses.
BURNETT: So Ruby, okay, 38 days have gone by. The FBI publicly raised the possibility of meth in that warrant before they tested the substance. They could have tested it, gotten an answer, known it wasn't meth, and never said a word about it. Okay, but that's not what happened. They put in a warrant that it looks like this, it could be this, it suggests, it looks like it's this. And then weeks went by, we didn't hear anything. You got the results, as you said, and shared them with us on the show. Now you've got the Trump-backed DA confirming that.
But why do you think the FBI did this and put these insinuations and allegations in a warrant the way that they did?
POWERS: Well, I want to believe in the goodness of everyone, but I think this is becoming the modus operandi of certain administration.
BURNETT: Looks like we're just having a little bit of a freeze here with Ruby's feed. So we'll see if we get it back here in just a quick second. If we don't, just waiting for a second here. Lindsay will let me know if we're going to have a shot at it because I wanted to give her one more question if I could.
Ruby, sorry, you're back. I just wanted to give you a chance if we can. I know your shot's been freezing a little bit.
But to finish what you were saying as to why the FBI did this, and let me just ask the other question I was going to ask is, have they acknowledged to you or apologized to you for the mistake?
POWERS: No, I think that the -- I think this is a modus operandi to discredit witnesses and victims, unfortunately, and we were able to come out with the truth as soon as possible, even though the family --
BURNETT: All right, I think this time, the third time is not a charm, but we gave it a shot. I appreciate Ruby's time, of course, as always.
And next, a major city brought to a halt. Cell service essentially shut down as they prepare for what could be an invasion by China. Wait until you see this special report by our Will Ripley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:09]
BURNETT: Tonight, Chinese officials speaking out for the first time since Taiwan launched massive military drills aimed at protecting the island against Chinese invasion. China accusing Taiwan of recklessly stoking war panic.
Will Ripley is there on the ground OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Taiwan's capital, a jarring reminder of how quickly things can change. Every phone gets the same alert. Missile attack, seek immediate shelter.
In less than two minutes, Taipei is silent. This may be a drill, but it doesn't feel like one.
China's military is actively training in the waters and skies around Taiwan, practicing blockades, joint combat operations, and rocket strikes.
RIPLEY: It's surreal to see the busiest intersection in Taipei, or at least one of them totally dead. Everybody's pulled over and hunkering down underground or inside.
RIPLEY (voice-over): On top of that, mobile Internet slows to a crawl. Sending a text takes several minutes testing how Taiwan could cope if its communications came under fire.
These are the island's biggest annual military exercises. The major focus this year, preparing the entire society for what a Chinese attack could really be like.
BEN LEWIS, CO-FOUNDER, PLA TRACKER: It's very likely that in the event of an invasion, China's going to strike critical infrastructure in Taiwan, but also use its cyber capabilities to degrade Taiwan's network connections in an attempt to cause chaos.
RIPLEY (voice-over): PLA Tracker co-founder Ben Lewis travel from Washington to observe all 10 days of Taiwan's drills.
LEWIS: The United States has a very significant interest in ensuring that Taiwan can stand and fight on its own to ensure that there is a deterrent against China that doesn't totally rely on U.S. intervention.
RIPLEY (voice-over): And increasingly, many Taiwanese believe they may have to stand alone.
One recent survey found less than a quarter of voters here see the United States as a trustworthy ally.
RIPLEY: Do you trust that the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China were to attack?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taiwanese also, they need to believe themselves, like no matter -- if the Trump or the USA they will help us, we still need to have a courage or to do some action.
RIPLEY (voice-over): "I think not because Trump is the president. He prioritizes his interest, America's interest first . Plus, if you just watch what's going on in Iran, you'll know that the US is not reliable. I also don't think we can rely on the U.S."
A tiny democracy preparing for war with a superpower, a war Taiwan hopes will never come, but is preparing to fight with or without American help.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Incredible just to see that in those empty streets and to hear less than 25 percent find the U.S. trustworthy of Taiwanese voters.
Thanks so much to all of you for being with us on this Friday night. We'll see you next week.
"AC360" begins now.
