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Erin Burnett Outfront
New: Trump Aide Natalie Harp Once Rode In SUV Trunk To Join Him At Court; Ossoff Not Backing Down, Calls Trump "Draft-Dodging Crook"; Soon: First Election Results In Closely Watched Florida Races. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 18, 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:
New details about Trump aide Natalie Harp and the lengths she's going to for the president, including riding in the trunk of a vehicle. Natalie Harp's estranged brother Preston is our guest.
Plus, it's election night in America. Right now, polls are closing in Florida. A Republican turned Democrat who's hoping to be the next governor of Trump's home state is our guest.
And breaking, new details about actress Hayden Panettiere and the day she suddenly died.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT, we begin with the breaking news tonight. It is election night in America, with polls just closing in Florida. And we're going to be bringing you live results on several key races there. And it comes as we are getting new breaking details about Trump's fiercely loyal personal aide, Natalie Harp.
Our Kristen Holmes reporting tonight that Harp is physically close to Trump at all hours of the day. Sources also telling Kristen that Harp once jumped into the trunk of a vehicle in Trump's motorcade when she was told there was not room for her to travel with him to a hearing in a New York City courthouse in 2023. Now, Kristen is just breaking these new details, and she is going to be with me in just a moment.
It comes, though, as Trump today is getting hit again by Democrat Jon Ossoff, who has been coming out very aggressively and took his attacks somewhere that no other Democrat has dared to go, bringing up Trump's relationship with Natalie Harp.
Not long ago, Senator Ossoff was somebody that very few Americans knew of. But he is trying to change that. This is perhaps part of that strategy.
Tonight, he is going viral again, not letting up against Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): The draft-dodging crook president who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win. I've got two little girls at home, and I do not want Eva and Lila. to grow up in a world defined by the values of Donald J. Trump.
Remember the president promised to bring down prices on day one? I would address the president's few remaining supporters to contrast his promises with the results you've been delivered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ossoff is in a tough reelection fight in Georgia for the Senate, right? But Democrats have been really casting about trying to find a great white hope, and so some are talking about him as a potential 2028 presidential candidate already.
And Ossoff's feud with the president all started when he said this about Natalie Harp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSSOFF: He doesn't want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And that hit a nerve. When Trump was asked about it, he called Ossoff Pee-wee Herman. A White House aide compared the senator to a feminine theater kid, and another aide called Ossoff a nickname that is too vulgar to repeat on this show.
But Harp's role does matter because anyone who spends as much time as she does with the commander-in-chief and has an important role as she does, she matters. She's now one of Trump's closest and most trusted personal aides. She writes a lot of his social media posts, which, of course, have come to define his legacy.
The series, "The Art of the Surge," showed this happening in real time during the 2024 DNC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do not limit access to birth control, or IVF. That is a lie.
KAMALA HARRIS, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we trust women.
TRUMP: I trust women also.
HARRIS: To restore reproductive freedom.
TRUMP: And I will keep women safe. HARRIS: -- of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.
TRUMP: She won't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Harp first came on Trump's radar in 2019 when she said that his right to try policy saved her life as she at the time was battling bone cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE HARP, TRUMP AIDE: I'm not dying from cancer anymore thanks to President Trump. I'm living with cancer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And then about a year after Trump left the White House, that's when Harp began to work for him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. And since then, she has been by his side. She was one of just a few staffers taken in the catering truck with Trump away from Air Force One. Cabinet secretary stayed behind, but she, along with others, including Dan Scavino, were on that other plane.
Now, I'm going to speak with Harp's estranged brother Preston in a moment, who is raising concerns about his sister's relationship with the president, his sister he says he loves very much.
But I want to begin with Kristen Holmes OUTFRONT. She is live at the White House with new breaking details.
So, Kristen, what more are you learning about Natalie Harp tonight? I understand you've got a very specific story here that sheds some light on this very important staffer.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it just shows you how much she cares about President Trump and how she wants to be in proximity to him. This was back in 2023 when President Trump was in court in New York and he was going down to head to the courthouse and the motorcade was waiting outside of Trump Tower. When staffers realized that there weren't enough seats for Natalie Harp, they had an accountant that she would be going down to the courthouse and she was told that.
Now, a screaming match then ensued in the lobby of Trump Tower at that time with essentially Harp saying that the president had personally asked her to go and she was determined, so determined to not be left behind that she actually got in the trunk of one of the SUVs that was part of the motorcade and sat there. It's almost like a cargo hold and that was according to multiple sources and to a photo that I obtained and reviewed that showed the space that she had been in and her sitting there.
It was really an extraordinary moment for so many people around President Trump who really, things come and go in Trump world in terms of who gets a seat where, whether it's on the plane, whether it's in the motorcade. But she was so determined she was going to get that seat and go down to the court with President Trump.
And what I learned through this reporting today is she's really made her role with President Trump indispensable. She is the one who deals with lawmakers and allies and government liaisons. She is texting them messages from President Trump, articles that President Trump wants these lawmakers to see and vice versa. They are reaching out to her if they want to get in touch with President Trump, if they want him to see something.
She's known as the human printer, in part because she is constantly printing out information for him until he has it at his fingertips. One of the things that a source told me is that he's often used how fast Natalie Harp is. Now, part of that is the fact that she is in proximity to President Trump all of the time.
We often see her when we go to these Oval Office events. She's standing just on the periphery of the room, smiling, nodding along as President Trump is speaking, and it really goes to her devotion.
Now, I did talk to some people who said that she has ruffled feathers throughout her tenure with him both on the campaign and at the White House, in particular because she insists that her boss, that she only reports to President Trump, but she is actually a White House staffer, and there are a plethora of other White House staffers who actually operate within the chain of command, but she seems to exist kind of in a different plain here given the role that she's carved out for herself. And she is uniquely influential in this White House, and particularly when it comes to President Trump.
BURNETT: And as you point out, Kristen, someone who's uniquely influential with the president of the United States is an important person for everyone to understand who they are and what they are.
So, thank you very much. I appreciate it, Kristen.
And everyone's here with me.
So Paul, Kristen has a photo, OK, of Natalie Harper in the trunk of that SUV right in that back kind of crawl space you know between the back seats I guess and the back it's tight back there to go along with the president because she said that he wanted her there she reports to Kristen on the screaming match that it happened in the lobby of Trump Tower.
So, okay, how concerning is this?
PAUL RIECKHOFF, HOST OF THE INDEPENDENT AMERICANS PODCAST: I think it's pretty concerning. I mean, it's disconcerting, it's troubling, it's potentially -- I mean the woman was in the trunk of a vehicle? I think there's a security concern. I'm surprised the Secret Service allowed it.
And I think -- I take a bigger step back. Politically, I think she is fair game because she's in such close proximity to the president. He's the commander-in-chief. We're at war. The public has a right to know who she is, what her role is. But I think about the standards here. He does not have a good record
on how he treats women. If that was my daughter and I found out she was in the trunk and she's been asked to do that, I would question everybody involved.
BURNETT: I mean, Marc, it's interesting here, as in the context here of who she is, what Kristen's reporting, she's the person that world leaders will text when they want to make sure that something gets in front of the president because she has this unique access, right? She has a really important role. Maybe Americans are just finding out about it because of Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and the catering truck, but they should know about her. She's important, stories like that are, I think you're right, they are disconcerting and disturbing.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Look, I, can't really know what, as far as her being in the trunk of the car. I know from been a lot of different motorcades, we never asked a female staffer to sit in the trunk of a motor -- of a motorcade, but --
BURNETT: Well, it sounds like Kristen saying she certainly wasn't asked who she got there, because --
SHORT: She may -- I don't know, maybe she said, I'm going to make myself go, and I'm that's where I'm going to sit. I don't know, but the reality, the reality is that -- we know that President Trump is incredibly unorthodox in the way he manages the White House. And there's a lot of people who he's had close to him that he has to do a lot of things and engage with international leaders.
[19:10:00]
He did that with Dan Scavino a lot in the first administration.
I think it's a fair point to say, look, if these are important people they're having these conversations with, that should have public transparency and accountability of the American people. But I think it is kind of the way that he had been in the first administration.
BURNETT: So, I mean, what do you say to that, Jamal?
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, I was a personal aide to a cabinet secretary in the Clinton administration. Traveled a lot with that person all over the country, all over the world, in fact. and never rode in the back of the trunk of a car, right? There's always another vehicle to get into. You can always find somewhere to squeeze in and to get where you want to go.
This just seems very inappropriate. I got to tell you, all of it makes me kind of queasy to even think about it because we're not talking about the things that are actually affecting rural Americans' lives, like costs are going up and childcare is 20 percent of what people pay and their monthly salaries. And instead, we're consumed by the president's personal habits because the president is the one who operates on this sphere. It's not like people are coming and talking about the president and
using this language because or using these stories because the president's so high-minded. The president's the one who operates kind of in the gutter level of politics including the official statements that came out of the White House going after Senator Jon Ossoff, the elected representative of the people of Georgia using language that we cannot use on the show --
BURNETT: Too vulgar.
SIMMONS: I wouldn't let my child use that term --
BURNETT: Whatever, we -- I said those things but the other things I'm not even going to quote.
SIMMONS: I wouldn't let my child use that language Let alone seeing a White House official use that kind of language in public. It's pretty disgusting.
BURNETT: So, Paul, on that, you know, Kristen's also reporting, you know, Jon Ossoff's getting under Trump's skin. He is. And he sort of came out of nowhere. I mean, there was a few months ago, I remember, there was a certain sitting senator who said, I'm looking at Jon Ossoff, right? Democrats sort of casting about, trying to find somebody if there were some who had pointed Ossoff.
Now, all of a sudden, he's exploded, okay? And that's because he's taking on Trump. And it started with Natalie Harp, okay, that got their attention, and now it's thing after thing. But he has not been shy about attacking Trump on a whole bunch of fronts, okay? Here's something else he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSSOFF: I don't think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging crook president who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win, tried to imprison this man who embodies American heroism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: By the way, just what occurred to me as he was speaking, he knows not. Okay? There's an intellectual level to Jon Ossoff, which is not really that present in American politics right now. But the person he was talking about there was Senator Mark Kelly, which is interesting, because if he's running for president, Mark Kelly could probably also, right? So, he's coming to the defense of a guy who might be his rival.
But there's something different about Jon Ossoff that is catching people, the way that he's taking on Trump. What do you think it is?
RIECKHOFF: He's young, he's charismatic, he's dynamic, he's kind of a multi-sport media athlete, that the Democrats mostly only had on the far left, like a Mamdani or an AOC, and he's more moderate compared to a lot of the other party, and he's willing to punch. And I think Mark Kelly is a good example because Trump elevated Mark
Kelly by choosing him, by focusing on him. He elevated him, and Mark Kelly's been hitting him back ever since.
BURNETT: Mark Kelly was part of the video saying you don't have to follow illegal orders.
RIECKHOFF: Right, and he attacked an astronaut who's a Navy fighter pilot, not a great person to try to stand against. And now standing against Ostov is a clear generational difference that I think is really important, but also a line that the Democrats are now willing to cross. They're willing to get in the mud. They're willing to punch, in part because people want to see fighters. They want to see people punch back at Trump.
And everything else the Democrats have been doing has been losing against Trump. So, it's about time, I think, they try something else to try to move the needle.
BURNETT: It's interesting, though, Gavin Newsom's done it, okay? But now Jon Ossoff's doing it and it somehow is hitting a little bit of a different chord. And even with the president, who somehow seems to, I don't know, admire maybe Gavin Newsom, he doesn't seem to like -- Jon Ossoff makes him mad.
SHORT: I'm not so sure that Democrats have been unwilling to fight with Trump. I think in reality, I think what Ossoff's doing, I say this not as somebody who's a fan of Ossoff in a way, but I think what he's doing differently than a lot of Democrats is he's focused on the corruption. He's focused on corruption in the second administration. Even that line you have on Natalie Harp, everybody's focused on Natalie Harp, but I think his real punchline was intended to be the end of the statement when he talked to them flying around on the Qatar jet.
I think he's trying to focus on the corruption angle, and that's where I think he was actually breaking through. I'm not so sure the Natalie Harp thing is as smart because at the end of the day, look, it's an indictment on our party that we've lost two Senate seats in Georgia. That shouldn't be the case. But he's going to probably need swing voters to win in Georgia. He's probably going to need some Republicans to win in Georgia.
So, some of this isn't without risk. But I think really the reason it was taking off is because he was focused on a corruption angle in ways that others -- a lot of the energy the Democrat Party has been on the Democrat socialist side on really crazy policies on Medicaid for all, eliminating police, et cetera.
[19:15:07]
He's been focused on a corruption angle.
BURNETT: Yeah, which, by the way, worked in Hungary. That's why Viktor Orban is not there, right? And Magyar made a very -- didn't have to get into the details of every single incident of corruption, right? It was just he's -- I mean, so do you think that's what's resonating?
SIMMONS: Oh, the corruption angle is resonating, and one of the things Democrats in the House are talking about is we're going to go after the crooks, right? They're talking about going after the crooks, which is important.
Here's the thing. We were talking about Mark Kelly a minute ago, and I can just get back to that. Mark Kelly has really been one senator who has benefited from this fight with Trump. He's raised $25 million that he has cash on hand.
BURNETT: Wow.
SIMMONS: He's given $10 million away to other candidates in other parts of the party. He just did a gift to the DNC that I think is going to help them with some of the debt. Mark Kelly is clearly thinking about running for president, and we talk about him as a Navy pilot and the astronaut. He's also the husband of an American hero and Gabby Giffords.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SIMMONS: So we cannot take that away from the picture he's going to present to the country.
BURNETT: All right. much. And next, Natalie Harp's brother speaks out, her reaction to his sister's role in this administration and with the president and the new reporting that she once jumped into the trunk of that SUV.
Plus, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigning in Iowa -- campaigning in Iowa amidst the war with Iran. Army veteran and Democratic Congressman Jason Crow is our guest, and we're just getting some new results out of Florida. Polls -- a lot of polls closed there already here at the top of the hour. Top House Democrat is fighting for her political life because Republicans redrew her district. We'll bring you the very latest here as these numbers come in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:58]
BURNETT: Welcome back to a special edition of OUTFRONT, election night in America. We're watching several key races as polls close in Florida. We're going to bring you results as soon as we get them.
But first, in another major story, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is campaigning in Iowa tonight. You may think maybe I got the name wrong and I'm talking about somebody else, but no, it is Pete Hegseth. He is in Iowa at the Iowa State Fair, which is a traditional stop for people who are running for president. And he is going there to stump for Republican Representative Zach Nunn.
Hegseth said this to the crowd there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: President Trump needs the type of leaders who understand why a $1.5 trillion budget, a one-time generational investment, is what is necessary to ensure that my kids and your kids, that your grandkids and my grandkids live in a free country defended by the most powerful military in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, the Defense Department says Hegseth was in Iowa in his, quote/unquote, "personal capacity". Of course, it is a fair question to ask why there's time now for things in a personal capacity, given what's going on with, obviously, the carriers and the fact that the United States is in the midst of the Iran war.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, who's on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committee, also a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So, Congressman Crow, what do you see in this? The defense secretary is in Iowa campaigning for a Republican congressman. Is that okay right now in the context of his job?
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Why should we be surprised that a grossly incompetent and corrupt TV personality with zero experience running a major national security agency, let alone our Department of Defense, is failing to do the job? There are 100-plus other places around the world where Pete Hegseth needs to be, managing wars, managing conflicts, checking on the health and welfare of our troops instead of campaigning in Iowa. But none of us should be surprised because this man was actually hired to play the Department of Defense secretary on TV and not be one.
BURNETT: So, you mentioned the strain. Hegseth's decision to be in Iowa comes in the context of that tremendous strain. A guided missile destroyer recently lost power for four days in the South China Sea. That left the crew in blistering heat, without air conditioning, working toilets, or kitchen services. That power was gone, my understanding is, for four days.
And then, of course, there's the USS Abraham Lincoln crew, 5,000 on board over these past months at various times, facing food shortages, shortage of basic hygiene needs, and obviously deep morale issues and mental health crisis for some, and multiple service members have reportedly gone overboard. These things are very disturbing.
The military is dealing also, of course, as you know, with a dangerously low level of key munitions that it needs to defend itself. Missile defense systems in the Middle East, many of them, all but one of THAADs taken out in the early days of this war.
So, our -- from where you sit, right, when you're on the committees that you're on. Are you hearing about all these things? Are you even getting the information you need to get about what's really going on, what the real situation is?
CROW: Well, we're absolutely hearing about it, Erin, but we're not getting it from the Department of Defense because this administration has stonewalled and cut off oversight. They've stonewalled and cut off media. They've kicked media and most journalists out of the Department of Defense because they don't want people to know what's actually happening.
You know, when I started my career in public service as a paratrooper and Army Ranger, I did three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the fundamental basis of military leadership is you suffer with your troops, you work with your troops, you never ask them to do anything that you wouldn't be willing to do yourself.
[19:25:03]
And yet here we have Pete Hegseth, who spends his time cutting performative workout videos, who spends his time building a makeup room and TV studio in the Pentagon, instead of being out there checking on the health and welfare of our men and women who, in the case of Abraham Lincoln, are now on station almost twice as long as they're supposed to be, and they're suffering the consequences. It is appalling, and every American should be deeply disturbed by this.
BURNETT: The longest deployment for a carrier in history. I want to ask you about another piece of news here. We're just breaking OUTFRONT right now, Congressman, and this is that Air Force Major Jason Watson, I don't know if the name rings a bell, but he was the man who was arrested last month because he called for President Trump's impeachment on the U.S. Capitol. right? He was in his uniform, 17 years in the Air Force.
He was detained today, detained by the military. So, we have just learned this, Congressman. And it came just hours after he came on this show and told us why he was speaking at a great personal risk, right? He knew the risk he was taking, and here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. JASON WATSON, U.S. AIRMAN ARRESTED AT CAPITOL AFTER CALLING FOR TRUMP'S IMPEACHMENT: If I don't sacrifice something, if I don't give something up, then it's just words and words are easy to ignore. So, if I don't put myself out there in a big way, then it's just noise. And there's plenty of noise that we're all listening to every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, we spoke out last night, and we understand he's been detained today. Do you know anything about it, and what's your reaction to this?
CROW: I don't know about this news. I'm just hearing it for the first time. The political persecution of this administration, against folks like me, against Mark Kelly. You know, I was part of that group of service members, as you indicated earlier in your show, who filmed that video. That led to multiple attempts to indict us and throw us in prison simply for reiterating what the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires of our service members. This administration, this president, to be more specific, is willing
to use every lever of the government, taxpayer-funded, to persecute political opponents and go after people who disagree with him. And that also should disturb every American.
He does not want the truth to get out. He does not want people to learn about his corruption. He does not want people asking questions. He wants blind loyalty and only blind loyalty. And if people step up and ask questions and push back, he is willing to use our government, not his, our government to try to crush them.
And that is exactly why we're going to retake power in November and push back against all of it.
BURNETT: Congressman Crow, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And just a note, I want to make sure I said Hegseth was in Iowa tonight. He was in Iowa yesterday. I just want to be clear about the exact timing.
And OUTFRONT next, the estranged brother of Trump's fiercely loyal aide, Natalie Harp, speaking out, where he says he believes her infatuation with the president comes from, and he has a message for his sister tonight.
And we have a major projection to make because it is election night in Florida, and we have that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:26]
BURNETT: Breaking news, CNN has a major projection tonight. Congresswoman Debbie Washington Schultz will win her Democratic primary race in Florida's 20th district. Now, that marks the first time that that district will not be represented by a Black Democrat in decades.
Harry Enten is OUTFRONT with the latest results.
And Harry, Obviously, that's a very significant projection to be able to make this quickly, because there had been redistricting going on, right? This -- it was not a sure thing that it would go this way at all.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: No, you know that. You know, Florida, obviously, the Republicans there wanted to do that redistricting, wanting to take out a number of Democratic incumbents, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who decided instead to run in this district, a heavily African-American district.
And it was all this question, hey, will this race even because, look at where we're talking about right now. We're talking about Debbie Wasserman, so she's just not winning a plurality. She's winning a majority of the vote. She's getting 50.5 percent of the vote.
Dale Holness, who's the only candidates anywhere near her, the only one who's breaking 20 percent besides the former mayor, down there is getting 21 percent vote. She's crushing the field here, absolutely dominating.
So, Republicans wanting to take Debbie Wasserman Schultz out. Bottom line is not successful, heavily Democratic district. She'll likely be reelected.
BURNETT: Right, right. And as you said, I mean, not -- that's a majority.
ENTEN: That is a majority. This is not the opposition splitting the vote. This is a clear majority.
BURNETT: Right. And they were thinking they could end around her. So that's obviously significant.
Now, on the governor's race in Florida, this is going to be, this is a big one. And it's a real race on the Republican side. You've Congressman Byron Donald's running, endorsed by Trump to replace Ron DeSantis.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: David Jolly, who's going to be our guest in just a moment here after you and I speak, was a Republican. He's turned a Democrat. and is running on that side. So, where do things stand?
ENTEN: Yeah, okay, so on the Republican side right now you know we'll notice you don't have any red of any sort in the western part of the state in the Panhandle those polls haven't closed yet.
Where we do have results and you could see that Byron Donalds is way out of here at here Jay Collins, someone in state government there. He's at 25 percent, doubling up on him. and James Fishback who I think was really big on a lot of social media, he's not anywhere close. He's getting less than 10 percent of the vote at this point.
But Donalds is running better in the southwestern part where he represents in Congress right down here in the Naples area. For example, he's getting look at this, 68 percent of the vote down here in Collier County. You go up here, you go to Lee County, look at this, another 65 percent. He is not doing anywhere near as well in the northern part of the state but most of the population, of course, is in the southern part of the state with 50 percent of the vote doubling up.
You mentioned, of course, Jolly, right? You mentioned Jolly. What's going on there? Well, you can see here, look at this. You think that Byron Donalds is doing well, David Jolly's doing really well. Look at that, 63 of the vote in, and what -- his closest competitor Foster is what at 14 percent, about 50 points nearly up on that and this is all this dark blue for David Jolly.
So, at this point, obviously, we haven't projected anything. Jolly well ahead. Donalds well ahead. That looks like the most likely matchup come November. BURNETT: Absolutely.
All right. And David's going to be our guest in just a couple of moments so that's coming up in a moment.
Also, more breaking news, the brother of top Trump aide Natalie Harp is speaking OUTFRONT tonight. Preston Harp has been estranged from his sister for a few years. But obviously, you can see they grew up together. He's sharing these photos with OUTFRONT of them together as children, weighing in on the intense attention that Natalie is now getting after Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff raised questions about her role in this White House.
OUTFRONT now, Preston Harp. He is the brother he is now getting after Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff raised questions about her role in this White House. OUTFRONT now, Preston Harp. He is the brother of Natalie Harp.
And, Preston, I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.
[19:35:02]
And I know you've shared some photos with us, you and your sister Natalie, as children. Obviously, there you are, Padres fans. There you are with your parents. And now your sister is front and center in the news. I mean, front and center as it gets.
Did you ever think you'd see something like this?
PRESTON HARP, SISTER OF NATALIE HARP: No, it really blows my mind.
BURNETT: I mean, you know your sister, my understanding is first became known to Trump back in 2019 and at the time she credited him Preston with helping her beat a tragic battle, but one that she incredibly beat with bone cancer.
Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOST: This president pushed that forward and possibly saved your life.
NATALIE HARP, TOP TRUMP AIDE: He did. As I like to say, I'm not dying from cancer anymore thanks to President Trump. I'm living with cancer. I'm living the quality of life that I always wanted to have that it took me four years to find because I wasn't offered it here. It took President Trump going to Washington to be able to get that for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And after that, Preston, she had speaking slots at the Faith and Freedom Conference, at the 2020 RNC, right? She became very high profile and then started working for Trump.
How much do you think she truly believed that Trump saved her life? HARP: Well, that's an interesting question. But if she thinks about it, what he did was he made experimental drugs legal to try, and that insurance would pay for it. So, it's not like he physically saved her life, you know? It's kind of different.
It's like Donald Trump didn't pay his own money to save my sister's life. So, it really just depends how you look at it. You know what I mean?
BURNETT: Well, yeah, I mean, and look, I guess it's just one example of everyone trying to understand who this person is who spends so much time and is with the president all the time, right? He's the commander-in-chief and she has such an important role.
So, there was a series called "The Art of the Surge" just a couple of years ago, Preston 2024, and in it, Your sister talks extensively about working for Trump. I just wanted to play a clip of it for you. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE HARP: Politics was never something I liked. Business was my background, real estate, MBA. I was very much not interested in politics in California. I feel like you get the same kind of sort of politicians.
But when I was sick, I started watching the Republican debates. He was my first exposure to politics, and I loved it. Like, this guy, you know, he gets it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, she says there he was her first exposure to politics, right? You guys grew up in the same home, the same family. So, you understand where she's coming from in a way that no one else does.
HARP: Yeah.
BURNETT: What do you think drew her to him?
HARP: Well, my mom raised us with the idea that American exceptionalism was the correct way of looking at things. That the United States is the boss of the world that like, you know, slavery was back then that was normal. People weren't bad because they had slaves.
And honestly, and it's like Trump wants to take all those books out of schools. He wants to rewrite history. And so like, I think that my sister unfortunately didn't break out of that delusion that my mom raised us with.
And Trump is like everything that my mom taught us to respect. So, I think that's where her infatuation for Trump comes from, honestly, because I don't think it's a physical attraction. Let's get real, you know, like personally, I don't think so. BURNETT: So when you use the word infatuation, I understand your point about the nature of it. I mean, she obviously is his assistant. She -- they call her the human printer, right? She prints everything.
She takes social media dictation. She accompanies him on almost every trip, including when he goes to Mar-a-Lago or his golf club in New Jersey on the weekends. And she was, of course, Preston, as we're all now aware, one of the very few people who did not include the secretary of state or treasury, that Trump took off Air Force One via that cater truck. Yeah.
HARP: Yeah, I mean, that -- if you're really friends and loyal to your team, why would you just go peace out and take another airplane when you think the other airplane is going to get shot down? Like --
BURNETT: What do you think it about her? I mean, what do you I mean, what do you make of how much the president relies on her? We've learned a lot, you know, I mean, from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's new book, we've learned right about his incredible reliance on her at all hours of the day to post social media posts just as one example.
HARP: Yeah. I think that Trump's best friends are people who are his fan club, you know? Like -- and so she's his biggest fan and so that's probably why he likes her and like she's goodlooking.
[19:40:08]
She's got a good personality like I don't know.
BURNETT: I want to ask you, Preston, something that --
HARP: She thinks that he saved -- she thinks that he saved your life. So, like somebody living with that kind of gratitude, that must feel pretty good.
BURNETT: I want to ask you about something. I don't know if you knew about this. You probably didn't. But we're just breaking it here at CNN this hour. And that is two sources, Preston, are telling CNN that your sister was involved okay back in October 2023 right the context here is Donald Trump's motorcade was going to leave Trump Tower for a court appearance, okay?
And they were all getting into the motorcade. There was sort of a screaming match about who was getting in what car and it turned out that there wasn't room for Natalie. So, she insisted. She said no, Trump had personally asked her to come to this court appearance, so she needed to be in the car.
Now, according to these sources, the end result is that your sister jumped into the trunk of one of the motorcade vehicles to go to court appearance in Lower Manhattan.
HARP: That's really funny. I didn't even know about that.
BURNETT: I mean, what is your reaction to that? I mean, you're laughing, but I mean, is it funny or what? You know her, so that's why.
HARP: It's actually kind of sad that that's obsession. That's like an unhealthy obsession with someone if you're going to jump into the trunk of their car like --
BURNETT: So, I mentioned Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's book "Regime Change", Preston, which of course, I know you've heard a lot about it. But in that, Natalie's name became known to a lot of people, right, prior to the whole NATO plane incident. She was in the book as an important player, and her role, her importance to the president became clear.
They report that she left him, the president, a series of letters in personal spaces where she told him you're all that matters to me in one and another one she writes I want to bring you joy and then they say that Trump said your sister is the only one who loved him as much as his wife and kids.
So, what -- what is your reaction to this? Does this sound like her or -- you know, the person that you knew well, your sister?
HARP: Yeah I mean, basically, I'd say since she was like 16, she's had an obsession with, with, gosh, how do I explain this? She's written letters to other presidents. Let me put it that way. And so, like her dream came true finally.
BURNETT: Oh, interesting. So you're saying that she had, she actually was very aware of politics, right, and that she had written other presidents' letters. Do you happen to know which ones or what they were about or anything, Preston, that you were able to be able to share here?
HARP: I didn't see the letter, but George Bush, obviously, during the Iraq war.
BURNETT: And did anything ever come of that? I mean, did the White House ever respond or anything, or she just sort of sent a letter?
HARP: No, they never responded.
BURNETT: Yeah. Now, look, I've been emphasizing here, obviously, you know her in a way that no one else does as her brother, but you are obviously estranged from her at this time. But, you know, we see those pictures of you all as children and your family. If she was listening to you right now, is there anything you'd want to tell her?
HARP: Yeah, I love you. I hope that you change and that you wake up and you realize that everybody on this Earth is part of a human family and no country is better than any other country. And the history of the United States is unfortunately really sad, and it shouldn't be rewritten. We got to all come together and try to make it better.
BURNETT: Well, I really appreciate your time and taking the time to talk to us. Obviously, your sister is in a position of incredible influence and power, and that's important to all Americans. So, thank you for sharing with us. HARP: No problem.
BURNETT: And next, ABC going to court to fight Trump's pressure campaign. Why the network says Trump's FCC has violated its First Amendment rights. The only Democrat on the commission will be OUTFRONT, and a key candidate on this election night in America is our guest, a Republican turned Democrat, now running to replace Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tells us how he's feeling as the votes come in tonight.
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[19:47:58]
BURNETT: Breaking news, new results out of Florida just coming in as I'm speaking, I'll show you the latest tally right now here, the governor's race. David Jolly, who's going to be our guest here in just a second. He was a Republican turned never Trumper, then turning into a Democrat in the race for governor. Former congressman is more than 60 percent of the vote right now, so that's obviously overwhelming on the Democratic side.
And on the Republican side, Congressman Byron Donalds, who is endorsed by President Trump, now has about 50 percent of the votes in that race. Jay Collins coming in second, the only other person right now in double digits at this point, but pretty commandingly by Byron Donalds.
So, I, as promised, want to be joined now by the Democratic candidate for governor in Florida, David Jolly. So, Congressman, I appreciate your time.
Obviously, we're not making a call here yet. Right now, though, it's looking good for you. You've got an overwhelming majority of the votes that are in so far. So how confident do you feel?
DAVID JOLLY (D), CANDIDATE FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR: If the election were tonight, we would win the general election in Florida as a Democratic candidate. Sure, I think I'm a strong candidate building a coalition, but, Erin, this cycle is presenting an opportunity where voters are just screaming for change.
I do think there's a new coalition emerging in American politics. We're seeing it in Florida. It's rooted not so much in party, but in the basic everyday majority that believes that the economy should work for everybody, that government should fill in the gap where the private sector can't deliver on housing, healthcare, education, clean air, clean water, and that, yes, we should be a place where everyone's rights are protected and their dignity respected.
That doesn't have to be an ambitious progressive agenda. You mentioned I'm a former Republican. Some of my roots are in less government libertarianism.
I spent five years, six years maybe as an independent, really just tackling big problems that needed big solutions. I'm telling you, if the election were tonight in Florida, Florida's voters would elect a Democratic governor for the first time in 30 years.
BURNETT: OK, so you just laid it out there the first time in 30 years, right? Having that happen would be an incredible feat.
JOLLY: That's right.
BURNETT: OK, so let me just lay out some more here. A state where Republicans outnumber Democrats talking about Florida where you are by more than one and a half million voters.
[19:50:02]
OK, so you're starting obviously from a massive deficit on that side.
Eight years ago, Democrats had the edge by about a quarter million votes, 250,000. So that's an incredible shift towards Republicans in just the past few years.
JOLLY: It is.
BURNETT: Trump won Florida by 13 percentage points. I mean, God, I'm old enough to remember hanging Chad, right? Florida used to be a swing state. It is not a swing state now. At least it wasn't up until this second. Ron DeSantis was reelected by nearly 20 percentage points.
JOLLY: Sure.
BURNETT: So those numbers are pretty overwhelming. Do you really think, you really think, a Democrat, that you can win as a Democrat?
JOLLY: Yes, here's why. Because every cycle is different. Erin, I fundamentally believe that enough people know our politics are broken. We're more divided than ever before. Our politicians tell us to hate each other, and it's wrong.
And I think what's emerging in the midst of an economic crisis where we are watching outright corruption, we're exhausted by culture wars, is more similar to a 1974 post-Watergate moment. Because you mentioned voter registrations, and you're right, we haven't closed the gap on voter registrations.
But Democrats are winning by 15 and 20 points. Our congressional specials swung by 1516 points. The city of Miami just elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years, and it was 19 points. It wasn't even close. Erin, we're gaining ground in the Villages.
Mar-a-Lago just elected a Democratic state representative. So, you're right. Two years ago, four years ago, voters were not asking for new leadership in Florida, but this cycle they are begging for new leadership.
And look, I fought my Republican colleagues in Tallahassee. They had an opportunity to listen to voters and deliver on the economy, housing, healthcare, and education. Instead, they've chosen to double down on culture wars and defend Trump's economy, and voters aren't having it. We don't always get this cycle. You're exactly right. But I'm telling you, voters know right now that our politics are broken and they're looking for change.
BURNETT: So, obviously, you were a Republican, then you became a Never-Trumper, right? You've had a transformation, right? It was a process. So, but in recent years, anybody who follows you on social media, right, you're a vocal critic of President Trump. You've been so for quite a while now.
JOLLY: Sure.
BURNETT: So, if you win, what happens? I mean, he's going to be president. You would be governor of Florida. You guys work together?
JOLLY: Anywhere it benefits the people of Florida. Look, we need help with natural disaster response in the state of Florida. I think we need a state catastrophic fund for homeowners insurance to cover hurricane coverage and wind coverage. I'd like to scale up the delivery of health care so that we improve outcomes, reduce costs. I'd like a 10-year renaissance in public education where President Trump can help us, please, I would love to work with him.
But where he moves into spaces where perhaps we see violations of due process or he attacks the fundamental values of an economy that really should be working for everybody, when he celebrates, you know, those who are doing very well and he ignores the people who are struggling. Of course, we're going to have disagreements there, but we'll see where this goes. We're going to win the race. I'll have an opportunity to work with President Trump.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Congressman Jolly. Thank you very much for being with us.
JOLLY: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: I said those numbers right now you've got 62 1/2 percent of the vote, so it's pretty commanding here early on in the night. Thank you.
And next, ABC accusing Trump's FCC of a, quote, retaliatory campaign. The lone Democrat on the FCC joins us next. She's celebrating the lawsuit against her own commission, but her own commissionership is actually over. So, what happens now?
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[19:55:54]
BURNETT: Tonight, a major lawsuit against the Trump administration. It's from Disney, which is suing the FCC on First Amendment grounds, arguing, quote, "The administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason. It disapproves of what ABC broadcasts."
The lawsuit comes as the FCC, led by staunch Trump ally Brendan Carr, investigates the view and challenges licenses held by ABC stations. The commission's defense is the FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year. Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC's proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation.
Anna Gomez is OUTFRONT now. She's a lone Democrat on the FCC, and she's OUTFRONT.
And I appreciate the chance to talk to you again.
So, do you think ABC has a strong case against basically your commission, the FCC?
ANNA GOMEZ, FCC COMMISSIONER: Yes, ABC has done a masterful job of cataloging all the ways that this administration has been threatening, intimidating and pushing broadcasters to censor themselves, basically, and to only report on this administration and to show content that this administration likes. I think it's making a very strong case in this case.
BURNETT: So, you wrote an open letter. It was rare for that to happen to Josh D'Amaro. He is, of course, now the chief of Disney. And you wrote this when he took over for Bob Iger.
You warned, quote, "What Disney and ABC are facing is a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control carried out through the weaponization of the FCC's authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission."
Is that really what we're seeing play out right now in a lot of media institutions across this country?
GOMEZ: Absolutely. We've seen this from the beginning of this administration, where this administration goes after any critic, whether it's the broadcasters, whether it's law firms, whether it's universities, protesters, anyone that criticizes this administration gets regulatory levels or any lever of power used against them to intimidate them and to retaliate against them.
And it's high time that we have a corporate parent like Disney show courage, stand up and push back against this administration's overreach and constitutional violations.
BURNETT: So, you know what's interesting hearing you talk about this, right? You're the lone Democrat on the FCC. Your term as FCC commissioner is actually technically expired. So, you know, you're still there, but Trump could try to put someone else on and get congressional approval, right? I mean, there's a vulnerability there.
But you're speaking out here. You've released a statement responding to Disney's lawsuit against your commission. You wrote in part, I'm hopeful that in coming months will bring the costly legal defeat this agency has been asking for since it started down this path.
Again, in the context of the fact that your role is technically expired, are you worried about retribution?
GOMEZ: You know, I stand for our Constitution. I stand for our democracy. When I was sworn in almost three years ago, I swore to uphold the Constitution, and that is what I am doing because it's important. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press is so important to our democracy and what this administration is doing is antithetical to our Founding Father's vision for this country.
BURNETT: So how long do you think it takes for this to play out?
GOMEZ: Well, you know. Disney has filed its complaint before the court. There's a hearing on Thursday just to set up, you know, initial pleadings and agree to a schedule. This could take a long time. And this is the point, right?
This administration has been using processes to try to wear down companies, because it's expensive to have to fight enforcement proceedings. It's expensive to have to go to court to defend your rights. But again, Disney's doing the right thing here by defending its rights. And not only is Disney going to help because the law is on its side, but it's also helping all the other broadcasters and all the other entities that have been targeted by this administration.
BURNETT: All right. Well, we shall see. And thank you very much, Commissioner Gomez. I appreciate your time.
And all of yours as well.
"AC360" starts now.
