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Erin Burnett Outfront
U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion, Trump Brags About White House Renovations; New Details On Natalie Harp, White House Aide Always By Trump's Side; Democratic Candidate Wins Pennsylvania District Trump Carried By 18 Points. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 19, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:23]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, America's debt just hit $40 trillion, an all-time record that has been soaring. But you wouldn't know about it from the president who's giving a tour of his latest project at the White House.
Plus, more breaking news, a political earthquake in Trump country. CNN projecting a Democrat as the winner of a special election in a district Trump won by almost 20 points. That Democrat will be OUTFRONT tonight.
And RFK has a new cooking show. He promises healthy meals at low costs. So, are the promises adding up?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news. The U.S. debt now at $40 trillion, an all-time record and a bad record. No one should be happy about it in this country. Whatever your political persuasion, it's not a good thing.
Trump did not acknowledge it. Instead, he wanted to talk about something else, his latest renovation project. This time, specifically, it was the driveway at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got rid of the asphalt here, and this is granite. It's called a flawless granite. It's -- we get the best stuff.
One thing I know how to do is build. And so, we put a brand-new face on the front of the White House on the ground. The cars will pull up, and this is what you'd have, as opposed to the asphalt, which was literally -- they had potholes in it. It's ridiculous the way this place was taken care of.
Nobody, including other presidents, they didn't see it, but I see it because I was very good at real estate, like maybe the best in a lot of ways. And I love construction. I love seeing things properly taken care of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: From there, he went on about the new helipad that's under construction at the White House as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I felt it was too much slope. It's a slope for the rain, but I felt it was too much slope. And again, this is mostly going to be for helicopters. A lot of years with the bigger helicopters and more powerful helicopters, literally this grass would be ripped out by its roof and by its roots and in one landing, the entire grass was gone. So now with the helipad, we won't have any problem with the grass.
(END VIDEO CLP)
BURNETT: Trump, you know, look $40 trillion of debt, but look, we all like good grass and Trump really seems to care about the grass because he's redoing it, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This is all been redone. It's all been topsoiled. In other words, we put topsoil brand new earth on top. Very, you know, very -- lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass. If you're grass, you're very happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's a lot of detail. Trump likes to talk about that detail, about his projects at the White House and across Washington, right, reflecting pool, other things. "The New York Times'" Maggie Haberman told "Axios" that 70 percent of President Trump's mindshare, maybe plus or minus 5 percent, goes to his gilding, construction, renovation, renaming, and tribute projects. And a "Washington Post" analysis found that, I think Maggie's spot on, Trump talked about his construction projects, 79 percent of the days in the month of June. Nearly four out of every five days of the month, that's what he talked about.
Obviously, you've got an affordability crisis. You've got $40 trillion of debt, something everybody can agree is a really bad thing. You've got a war going on. You got a lot of things going on. But we're talking about these other things.
And the project that Trump talks about the most, actually, if you look at it, is the ballroom. And he did bring it up again today. But there was a bit of a twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Right over there, if you notice, is where the ballroom and military complex will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, it's not just the ballroom. It's the ballroom and military complex.
Now, it did not start out this way, okay? Trump has talked a lot about this ballroom. A lot of airtime has gone to this.
And here is how he's described that project. When it first came out, he was very specific. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to make and build a ballroom.
We're going to build a beautiful ballroom.
A magnificent ballroom, a big ballroom, beautiful ballroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But something happened along the way. Public opinion soured. People did not like talk about the ballroom. They did not like it.
It seemed self-serving. It seemed pomp and circum -- but they just didn't like it. A recent CNN poll found 58 percent of Americans were dissatisfied or angry about Trump's projects, his pet projects overall. So, it shifted. It became not just a ballroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a very military complex. It's a tremendous military complex. A beautiful military complex and a ballroom combination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:05:03]
BURNETT: That's an interesting rebrand of the ballroom. And part of the reason for this may be because the ballroom is tied up in the courts, which have said the construction needs to stop this week. But according to "The New York Times", Trump has enlisted a team of 250 workers to push ahead with the construction 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to complete as much work as quickly as possible, basically to make the argument that the project is too far along to be stopped at this point.
By the way, how much does all this cost, right? All this fancy granite and the grass and all these things. The project itself, the ballroom could cost taxpayers nearly a billion dollars. It's just a billion dollars, right, that America doesn't have, right back to where we started. The national debt just reached $40 trillion?
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.
And, Kristen, the U.S. is in the middle of a war, midterms less than three months away. Is there anyone telling Trump that focusing on these pet projects the way that he does might not be the best thing?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Republican advisors, White House officials, allies, just Republicans running for office, reelection in the fall have all been begging the White House, begging President Trump to stay focused and stay on message. They don't want him talking about the war. What they want him talking about is affordability, is the issues that Americans every day care about.
And that is something that they have brought in new people to help kind of try to guide the messaging. But what we've seen so far is that this is what President Trump wants to focus in. This is what he likes. One of the things that he said today was, "I love construction." That's not the first time he said it.
We also know he is intimately involved in all of this despite the ongoing war. Despite the fact that his poll numbers are in the tank right now, he is talking about when he was out there today covering up potholes where stanchions were going to be placed the exact specific type of granite. We know that he has had conversations on the ballroom in between other meetings that he is having about policy or about the war.
So right now, President Trump just can't seem to help himself when it comes to these pet projects, and it clearly is part of what he believes his lasting legacy will be on D.C. But I would also argue at this time that if this war continues on the way it is currently going with no end insight, that's going to end up being what his legacy is.
BURNETT: All right, Kristen, thank you very much. Live from the White House.
And Patrick Murphy and Adam Kinzinger are OUTFRONT now.
Patrick, the national debt hit a record $40 trillion tonight. The president responsible for more of that in his terms than any other, of course, is this one. You've got the war going on, and yet Trump, you can see how much he enjoys talking about those other things.
He knows the details. He likes the details. He likes talking about that.
Seventy percent of his mindshare, 79 percent of his talk time in the month of June. What does this say?
PATRICK MURPHY (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I mean, this says that he cares more about to reconstruction and renovations than he does, Erin, for our foundation and the path that he's putting our country in. The Big, Beautiful Bill is an example that added $3.4 trillion to our debt, $40 trillion. That means every man, woman, and child in America, including our kids, owes $120,000 to that national debt.
And every year of that $40 trillion, we spend a trillion on the interest of that national debt.
BURNETT: Yeah.
MURPHY: It's not good, and he's focused on these renovations as compared to the foundation. He's focused not on the 50,000 troops that we surged in the Middle East, 18 of which gave the ultimate sacrifice, not on the affordability crisis where a gallon of gas is about a dollar more than when he took office to now, and not on helping everyday American families because now they're struggling at their kitchen tables about what's going on in America when he's focused on ballrooms.
BURNETT: And the types of granite. I mean, he was talking about the driveway, Adam, and I played a little bit of what he had to say. He had a lot more to say when he was talking about reporters today. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a very strong stone. It will never break. It will never leak. This is the highest quality stone you can get. It has a million- year life. Can you imagine that? It's really pretty amazing. And it's a very special stone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Adam, you know, we live in a different world than we lived in not long ago, right? So, people, you know, pay attention to what they want to pay attention to, right? But how odd is it to hear this from him right now? Just to all the other context aside, this is a sitting wartime president.
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, it's crazy. But listen, here's the I want to posit another theory on top of all the why he focuses on this. So, obviously, he's a builder, he wants to leave a legacy, all that. But I also think, have you ever sat at your desk and you had so much to do that you pull out your phone and start scrolling to Instagram, right? Or you know you do something that is because you just feel so far behind that you revert to the one thing you can control, which is scrolling through Instagram.
I also see that, by the way, I've seen that in military leaders, the ones that do things like focus on whether you've shaved close enough or what your uniform looks like are the ones that are actually the worst leaders for the most part because they have to retreat to what they can control. And I think there's part of the president right now -- he'll never admit it. He may not even consciously realize it, but part of him is out of control, recognizes he's losing this war that he promised was already over. The economy is in a bad place.
The national debt. I mean, we could literally zero out the military. People need to understand this. We could zero out the United States military and everything we spend on foreign aid, and we're still in a deficit like greater than we've been in for the vast majority of our years. And I think he's just reverting to what he can control. He's out of
control. I can control putting a new helipad in. The other weird thing is just they actually think -- Trump actually thinks we care about his comfort, right?
When he had this new. bribed jet from Qatar that came out and he took everybody on a tour and they sent out pictures of how plush it was, I think they literally think we're going to be impressed that the president lives in comfort. That is the opposite of what the United States of America was founded on.
We don't have a king. We have a -- we want the president to be well fed, well taken care of, well protected and comfortable, but not to live in plush surroundings. And I think they've completely lost the plot here, which is why he's in a 33 percent approval rating.
And I mean, look, you've got all the kind of the gold gilding, right? As Maggie said, talks about the gilding and things like that. That's part of the entire decorating, right? And he's very proud of that.
You're also former prosecutor. So, I just want to ask you about something I mentioned there at the top of the show, which is that Trump has this 250-person crew working 20 hours a day, seven days a week to basically get this ballroom so far advanced that the argument they're going to make to the court is It's too late. It's too late to stop it.
Does -- I mean, is that actually going to work legally, if not logistically?
MURPHY: Yeah, I mean, let's just backtrack real fast. He did this without going to Congress, which has the power of the purse, right? So he went around Congress, and then he got sued for doing basically this unconstitutional act.
The lower courts have said, Mr. President, you can't do this. Appellate court said you can't do this. Go down in front of the Supreme Court, and what's he doing? He's saying, hey, all you guys, 250 folks, seven days a week, as you mentioned, 20 hours a day.
The reality of it is, is they've already knocked down the East Wing. His arguments in the court filing was it's 65 percent complete, so they can't rebuild now the East Wing, et cetera. So, we'll see what the Supreme Court will say that they'll make a statement shortly with the next couple days.
But the reality of it is, Erin, it's a distraction. You know, Adam and I served in Iraq, both of us. You know, we've lost 18 men and women already in the Iran war, which is a war of choice. The reality is this, is that we have a president that's asleep at the wheel.
BURNETT: So, Adam, you know, there's other comments as well, okay, that we're a little odd today. So, we're talking about the appearance of the White House and the specific projects, but then he said something else that I know stood out to you, I'll play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I donated the flag poles, one on each side, because the White House didn't really have an appropriate American flag, it had a small one on top, we left that. But it didn't have an appropriate American flag.
And this is a great poll. This is the top of the line. It's tapered. This isn't a straight up and down job, which looks terrible, frankly.
That's a tapered pole. Great. I'm very good at flagpoles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Adam?
KINZINGER: Look, I mean, I don't mean to laugh because he is literally the president of the United States and makes key decisions for, you know, my four-year-old son's life in the future, our life and everything else. But honestly, and I'm not saying this is a gratuitous hit. I just mean it like if you were sitting down with your uncle or your grandfather or your parents and they were talking like that, you'd start to ask some follow up questions to make sure they were OK.
I mean, it's just -- we're in this weird time where we've become -- we've grown numb to this kind of stuff. The obsession with the tapered flagpole, the -- you know, where you land your helicopter, his plush, we've become so numb that we're not thinking about it. But if you just -- if you would transport each of us from 2018 to this moment and play those sound bites, we would think we were in bizarro world or Earth two or something that's not real.
And the sad thing is, as my friend Patrick said, there are people right now on overseas on the Lincoln that have been there 250 days that are working their tail off for the American people. And you have a president that doesn't seem to be taking this very seriously, and that's what breaks my heart, I think more than anything.
MURPHY: You know, Erin, Adam's point is right on. The fact is this, is that we both served in Iraq. We both wore the flag on our shoulder and our uniform over there.
[19:15:01]
BURNETT: Yep.
MURPHY: The flag is always going to be stamped on my heart. We love our country. But patriotism is not about the size of your flagpole. It's what are you doing for the families for that flag that that flag represents.
And that's what we want to see out of the White House and Washington, D.C. We're not seeing it right now.
BURNETT: Thank you both very much. I appreciate you.
And next, new details about Trump's assistant as we hear more from Natalie Harp in her own words.
Plus, breaking news, a major upset in Trump country. We are just projecting this, that a Democrat is going to win a special election in a district that Trump carried by nearly 20 points. That is a stunning turnaround. The winner is our guest.
And breaking news, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle making a surprise move, going back to the U.K. After all that, why now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:11]
BURNETT: Tonight, new details about Trump's powerful aide, Natalie Harp. Maggie Haberman in "The New York Times" with new reporting on video they've seen of Harp at Trump's golf course in Scotland, sprinting, "The Times" reports, great distances to keep up with Trump's golf cart.
According to "The Times", Harp then wrote a letter afterwards to the president in which she wrote, and I quote, "I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland. I want things to always be right between us. I also know I've been distracted all week, forgetting to eat throughout the days and even forgetting to sleep and only catching a couple hours at a time. With all my heart, Natalie."
Harp's role is central to Trump, and she is also in constant contact with foreign leaders and the gatekeeper to the president of the United States.
OUTFRONT now, Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for "The New York Times" and also the co-author of the book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump".
And, Maggie, you note in your new article that Natalie Harp never takes a day off, not even a Sunday, right? She is committed and she is indefatigable. How much does Trump depend on her?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A lot. And it's important to note, Erin, you know, in our reporting, that story was by Sean McCreech, my colleague and me, Jonathan and I have separate reporting in "Regime Change" just about how Trump views her. And part of it is, you know, he will describe to other aides that, and said this during the interregnum period, that, you know, everyone else will go off and make money. She'll never leave. That essentially, she is the person who loves him as much as his wife and children.
And she serves a specific purpose. In a White House, in a government, there are other channels, official channels of information. You know, she doesn't provide him with his national security briefing, the presidential daily brief. She is not the White House staff secretary, which is supposed to be the last step for paper flow. She's not the press secretary from whom certain media requests are supposed to come.
She is a channel by which, as you said, foreign leaders try to reach him if they can't some other way. She has a channel by which he reaches people he sees on television, who he likes what they are saying, or that he'll to send out notes to. She is with him so much of the day during those meetings, and she is talking to him throughout the evening about social media posts.
So, she is a specific channel of information, but she is one that he considers very important, and so do other people outside the White House.
So, you've reported, you're talking about how she's by his side. She writes many of his tweets. The series "The Art of the Surge" showed some of this in real time when Trump was responding to Kamala Harris's speech at the 2024 Democratic convention, right? They put these images there. I'll play a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How many people are watching?
NATALIA HARP, TRUMP AIDE: Can we tell how many, Dan? How many people are watching?
TRUMP: She's talking about how great San Francisco was before she destroyed it. Do you limit access to birth control? 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: Maggie, you have covered Trump for a long time. His entire tenure as president went back when he was a businessman. Has he ever had someone who plays the role she's playing now before?
HABERMAN: It's interesting. There are people who she reminds, those who have been around Trump's world for a very long time, of he used to have this group of assistants/secretaries who would sit outside of his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower. Some of them were very, very, very serious gatekeepers. Norma Federer was one, his longtime assistant after that, Rhona Graff. But there were a number of them, and he would refer to them as "the girls".
And so, Natalie Harp has, in the observation of some people, taken over a similar role, where she is sitting, you know, not outside the Oval Office most of the time, but in the Oval Office. She sits off to the side next to the exit the colonnade in the Rose Garden, she has a laptop or she has a tablet, and she is there when he wants to go fetch papers. She, for instance, was the person who handed Jonathan and me a two-pager when we were in the Oval Office for a fact-checking interview with the president in March of this year, in which a history buff compared him to the most powerful monsters and conquerors that had ever lived.
BURNETT: So, you know, obviously, she's got a position of incredible power because you point out it's not outside the Oval Office, it's inside the Oval Office. You've got world leaders that call her.
But you report a few interesting things. One, she operates entirely outside the chain of command with all of that power and influence. So, I'm curious, Maggie, from your reporting. What do other White House staffers think about her role?
[19:25:00]
And given her access and all the places that she is and all the people that she is dealing with, does she have a security clearance? Has she been vetted given this role that she's playing in the government?
HABERMAN: Yeah, our understanding is that she does have a security clearance, although precisely where that was in the process last year. Everybody who came into the Oval Office into the West Wing at a senior level was granted a security clearance on day one temporarily.
She, then, our understanding, has went through the process. It's not exactly clear when, though. There's been some reports that there might have been a lag.
She is not beloved by a lot of her colleagues. She does sometimes work through the process. There are people who will say that she, more regularly than she used to, will update colleagues on what she's doing.
But she -- there has been a lot of controversy around Harp's role for a while, and, you know, what it ends up being reduced to in the descriptions of some people is essentially a food fight.
It's different than that. I mean, she is somebody who has a huge level of access to the president. He obviously wants her there. But this is a White House. This is not a campaign. And so, this is going to raise different questions about who is around the president and who is working on the taxpayer salary.
BURNETT: Right, right. As you report, taxpayer-funded, $150,000 salary as well.
Maggie, thank you very much. Maggie Haberman there, of course.
And how did Natalie Harp become Trump's closest aide with all of this power and access?
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARP: I'm Natalie Harp, a formerly forgotten American from California.
HOLMES (voice-over): Forgotten no more. President Trump's executive assistant, 35-year-old Natalie Harp, has been thrust into the spotlight after it was revealed she was one of a few aides that joined Trump on a secret flight out of Turkey.
Harp is Trump's most devoted aide. She once jumped in the trunk of an SUV to ensure she would be able to be with the president for a court appearance when there weren't enough seats in the motorcade. She serves as a gatekeeper to the president, providing him with a constant flow of articles and social media posts.
She has earned the title of human printer because she travels with a printer wherever the president goes to ensure he has whatever he needs at his fingertips.
HARP: It goes faster if you plug it into the generator.
HOLMES (voice-over): And spends hours typing up his social media posts as he dictates them.
TRUMP: I will keep women safe.
HOLMES (voice-over): Her loyalty surpasses politics. She says the president saved her life when she was diagnosed with bone cancer, citing 2018 legislation.
TRUMP: And I was watching and I heard the story of an incredible unbelievable young woman who is battling rare bone cancer.
HARP: As I like to say, I'm not dying from cancer anymore thanks to President Trump. I'm living with cancer.
TRUMP: Her name is Natalie Harp and she lit up the television screen like very few people I've ever seen do it.
HOLMES (voice-over): It was her television presence that led to the president inviting her to speak at the 2020 Republican Convention.
HARP: I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for you.
HOLMES (voice-over): Harp then worked briefly as an anchor on the ultra-conservative One America News Network, where she amplified Trump's rhetoric on elections.
HARP: It's like, if President Trump, who's the most popular president really in history, the most loved president, if they can rig it against him, what makes you think that all of a sudden, you're going to win in 2024 if you do nothing on election integrity.
HOLMES (voice-over): And bolstered his administration's work.
HARP: Just one year ago, the Democrats were the anti-vaxxers because they didn't want President Trump to get the credit for the medical miracle that was Operation Warp Speed.
HOLMES (voice-over): Before officially joining his team.
HARP: He was my first exposure to politics, and I loved it. Like, this guy, you know, he gets it.
HOLMES (voice-over): Harp can often be seen in the background during President Trump's events, smiling at the president and nodding along as he speaks, always in his corner.
HARP: You picked us up and you made us great again.
HOLMES (voice-over): Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And next, an Air Force major detained again after calling for Trump's impeachment on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. His attorney responds.
Plus, breaking news, CNN projecting a Democrat just scored a major victory in Trump country, winning a special election in a district that Trump won by an astounding 20 points. He's our guest after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:17]
BURNETT: Breaking news, a political earthquake in Trump country. CNN projecting just before we came on the air that Brandon Dukes, a Democrat will win a Pennsylvania State House district that Trump carried by nearly 20 points in 2024. Obviously, that's a seismic shift. And Dukes is going to be our guest in just a moment.
His win in this special election is sending shockwaves across the country. Pete Buttigieg said, quote, "This is a big deal. Brandon Dukes just flipped a Pennsylvania State House seat held by Republicans for almost 30 years." And the vice chair of the DNC, Malcolm Kenyatta, said this is a district that Democrats should not have had a chance to come within sneezing distance of. And from Congressman Ted Lieu, a member of House Democratic leadership, "November is coming."
And OUTFRONT now in his first national interview since claiming victory, Brandon Dukes.
And, Brandon, obviously we're just able to make this call. As I said, this is a seismic event. How does it feel to be told, you know, you've officially won this race?
BRANDON DUKES (D), PA STATE HOUSE REP-ELECT: Thank you for having me, Erin. It feels pretty good, and it's still trying to grasp the whole victory that we had yesterday. So, yeah, we look forward to going to Harrisburg. It's definitely a good feeling.
BURNETT: I mean, so your opponent's mother told "The Pittsburgh Post- Gazette" last night, quote, I'm really shocked, right, at how things were going down. And I gave the numbers, right? Trump won this district by 20 points. Okay, so it's fair to say you're shocked. I mean, but are you shocked? You were the one out campaigning every day.
DUKES: Yeah, I mean, I'm a little shocked but not too shocked because we knew this district could be flipped. I ran for supervisor seat last year and part of the district, and it was pretty much the same results that we got last night.
[19:35:03]
So, I knew I had a feeling that this is a purple district. It's a swing district, and Democrats could definitely flip it in the midterm years, especially in a special election like we saw last night.
BURNETT: Right, so your boots on the ground. So, you felt it was purple. Anybody looking at this district would have said it was bright red, right, 30 years, and Trump winning it by 20 points. And I guess I'm curious as to what you saw there, because the DNC vice chair, and I just mentioned him a moment ago, Malcolm Kenyatta, also a Pennsylvania state representative, posted a long thread today.
And he said that your victory, quote, "in deep Trump country is the canary in the coal mine for Dems come this November. Winning here means there is not a single safe seat for the GOP."
Now, again, interesting, you referred to it as purple. He refers to it as deep Trump country.
So how do you see this, Brendan? Do you think that he has a point for the GOP? Or do you think that what you're seeing in your district is very specific and unique to where you are?
DUKES: I do, I do. But one thing that's important about this district is that the demographics have been changing for the last few years. It's becoming much more younger and more progressive, so that worked in our favor. And like the, you know, the vice chair said about being the canary in the coal mine. Yeah, that's what I was. I went down in there and I ran and made it competitive and finally flipped the seats.
So, now, it's safe to -- you know, no seat is safe red or safety and we proved that last night. So, but every race is different and this was particular because it was a changing demographic and plus a special election too, which helped us secure this win last night.
BURNETT: So, you talk about the changing demographic and maybe that's part of your answer to my next question, which is what were the issues that motivated people to turn out? I mean, obviously, you're going to face the same opponent in November, right? You're going to run off again on this.
But what were the issues that actually motivated people and got them to have this dramatic swing?
DUKES: I think the overall issue that drove people to the polls were change being a candidate of change. The district has had the same party representation for the last 30 some years, and we are offering them something different. You know, of course, affordability was an issue in the district with the cost-of-living skyrocketing. Public education was an issue on a lot of people's minds. And of course, it's such a growing district population as well that we have an infrastructure that's starting to become outdated that we need to catch up with.
So those were some of the top issues that we ran with. Those are the issues that we heard from voters at the doors, and we promised to deliver on them and it resonated pretty well as we saw last night. So those are some of the issues that we ran on.
BURNETT: Yeah, well, I think it's really interesting what you list there because what you said is really important. Some of the things that you didn't say that get a lot of discussion also are important, that those weren't issues. So, a lot to learn there.
Brandon, I appreciate your time and thank you very much as we've just been able to project that extremely significant win for Democrats in Pennsylvania.
Harry Enten is here OUTFRONT now to tell us something we don't know.
So, you know, okay, you heard what he said, he sees it as a purple district.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I'm not quite sure I see it that way, but sure, why not?
BURNETT: Okay, so that was how he's different than Malcolm Ken -- deep red Trump countries, how most would see it.
ENTEN: Yeah, yeah.
BURNETT: So I guess that gets to the way you are looking at it on the map. Is this an isolated incident or is this the start of something bigger?
ENTEN: I think it's something bigger. One of the things that Mr. Dukes ran on, I guess now Representative Dukes ran on, was the fact his working-class upbringing, right? And what you see in sort of that district and what you see nationwide is Donald Trump won with white working-class voters, right?
But look at the switch that we've seen amongst them. I mean, he won them by 34 points. His net approval rating now is minus four. He's underwater with the white working class. That's a 38-point switcheroo since the election.
What's going on in that district, what happened in terms of another flip in Pennsylvania earlier this cycle is emblematic in my mind of the group that has been the core of Donald Trump's support. Adios amigos, goodbye, see you later.
BURNETT: Okay, so this was special election. I was just pointing out he is going to be facing the same opponent in November, right? So, the special election, he's in office, but you could do it again. Democrats have been very successful special elections this time. Okay. So, some might say, okay, but then you got to run again in a few months. So what do I really read into it? You actually think that's the whole point and it's very significant.
ENTEN: I think it is very significant because it's been a very unlucky 13 for Republicans. There have been 13 Democrats who have been able to flip districts that were formerly held by Republicans. Republicans have flipped zero -- zero in special elections. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to know that 13 is greater than zero.
And more than that, if you go back over the last few cycles, five out of the five last few cycles in midterm elections, when a party outperformed in special elections, state legislative, federal, they went on to win the U.S. House of Representatives.
[19:40:02]
So, this, to me, is very emblematic of something that could be huge come November.
BURNETT: OK, tell me something I don't know.
ENTEN: I'll tell you something else that you don't know, Erin Burnett.
BURNETT: I didn't put the word "else" in there. I should --
ENTEN: You should have put the word else. You should have put something else in there.
Anyway, I'll tell you something that you don't know if we could put up the graphic there. I will tell you, there we go. Look at this. U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania. Look at that. Again, talking about the midterm elections.
The GOP won the U.S. House vote by two points back in 2024. Look at the 2026 polls. Plus nine Democrats. That's an 11-point swing. Again, last night, emblematically, a larger problem Republicans have in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, new details coming in about Air Force Major Jason Watson, who was just detained again after calling for Trump's impeachment on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. His lawyers next.
And RFK Jr. with the new cooking show, which promises low-cost, healthy meals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: Oh, the servings of each of these, we ask to keep it under $5.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay, does the math add up? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:15]
BURNETT: Tonight, new details about the detention of Air Force Major Jason Watson. Watson is the active-duty airman who was arrested last month after calling for President Trump's impeachment on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Watson's attorney tells OUTFRONT that he was detained yesterday at Joint Base Andrews by Air Force security. And Watson is now being held, he says, in a county jail, he'll face a judge tomorrow.
Now, the detention happened after Watson explained on this program his reasons for speaking out despite this great personal and professional risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. JASON WATSON, U.S. AIRMAN ARRESTED AT CAPITOL AFTER CALLING FOR TRUMP'S IMPEACHMENT: Nothing that is worth doing is something that you can do for free. Everything that is worthwhile is going to cost something.
We just have to be willing to accept that we can change what is happening in our country if we're just willing to pay a price for it. So, all that I could do was ask myself, what's the highest price that I'm willing to pay?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Chris Mutimer, the attorney representing Major Jason Watson.
And Chris, a lot to ask you about is see, you know, what you really know at this point. I mean, what details are you able to tell us about how Major Watson was detained?
CHRIS MUTIMER, ATTORNEY FOR U.S. AIRMAN DETAINED AFTER CALLING FOR TRUMP'S IMPEACHMENT: Sure. S
o, as you know, he was on your show Monday night. After your show, almost immediately after, he sent a communication to his chain of command, letting them know that he was reporting in, letting them know where he was going. And if there was any questions that they had or anything they needed from him, he was making himself available to them.
He didn't hear anything that evening. I think we all expected that he might have been arrested that night, or he would be, but he wasn't. He reported to duty the next day. And while he was -- this is on Tuesday -- while he was at work, he through counsel informed his chain of command that he would no longer be wearing his uniform.
Shortly after that, he was told he needed to put his uniform on within about 20 minutes. And my understanding is around 3:30. He was then arrested and he was brought to a county jail. We have a -- go ahead. BURNETT: I was just going to say so he's in a county jail. I know you did, excuse me, have a chance to speak with Major Watson this afternoon. You know, what's the situation there in the county jail? How's he doing?
MUTIMER: He's doing well, and I think one thing he wants his family and his friends to know that he's okay. He expected this. He has said this that he expected to be arrested.
He sounds good. He sounds healthy. You know, he is aware that tomorrow there's going to be a detention hearing. Right now, we are waiting on the government to turn over evidence for this detention hearing. We have not received, at least last I checked, I've not received any exhibits for this matter.
We have a team that is waiting for this so we can start preparing for the hearing tomorrow, but it seems to me that the government is dragging his feet on putting everything together. We're not even aware what he's charged with yet. It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
BURNETT: Well, so you're not even aware with what he's charged with. I mean, I guess is that why? Is that one of the reasons why you're saying the military's not been cooperative since -- since his detention?
I mean, I know he could face and you said he's obviously knew what wants his friends and family to know he expected this, but he could face court martial obviously dismissal from the Air Force, loss of pay benefits and incarceration in a military jail. These are all possibilities. Do you have a sense of what the punishment the military will seek is? And I guess that that's the context of. But you still don't know what they're charging him with.
MUTIMER: No, but I mean, based off of previous orders that have come from JAG, I would say we are expecting charges related to Article 88, which is contempt towards an officer, Article 92, which is failure to obey, which would be related potentially to him not putting his uniform back on.
He is facing significant jail time, possibly. He's facing a discharge from the military. Depending how the government wants to stack charges or bring charges against him, we could be looking at serious jail time.
And again, I just want to reiterate, he knows this. You know, he's been in the military for 17 years. Major Watson is someone who cares deeply about this country and this constitution. And I think he said this on your show Monday, and I thought it was beautiful, is that he knows people right now are scared, and they're worried, and they are in a situation where they don't know what's going to happen as a result of this administration.
And he -- he wants people to know that they're not alone. And for people who may ask why did he take his uniform off, or why is he not willing to take it? I can't speak for Major Watson, but what I can say is he has a deep, deep respect for that uniform. [19:50:01]
And he definitely has made it clear that he did not take an act and go out and protest and ask for impeachment of the president, hoping other people would copy him. He is taking an action because he believes someone needs to do that. and he doesn't want anyone else in the military to have to do that. He knows this may have been offended people, people who are currently serving or who may serve, but I believe that what you saw when someone, if there's a reason why he might not wear that uniform, it's because he wants to show a commitment to that uniform and respect for it.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Chris, thank you very much, and we're going to be watching tomorrow, of course, that crucial hearing. So thank you for joining us tonight ahead of that.
And next, RFK Jr. with a new cooking show, a show about cheap, healthy meals. But do the claims of cost add up? There's an investigation. And Prince Harry and Meghan are now going back, quitting California, going back to the U.K. Why now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:11]
BURNETT: Tonight, a major move for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. CNN learning that Prince Harry and Meghan are planning to move back to Britain. It has been six years since the couple who live in California first left the U.K. and stepped back from royal life. It was a massive story.
So, I want to go to Max Foster.
I mean, Max, that was a worldwide leading story for a long time. And so in a sense, this is a huge surprise, right? That was supposed to be forever. What else are you learning about the move and why it's happening now?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really did come out of nowhere. What we understand is that Harry has been talking about spending more time in the U.K., but now, we understand they are moving as a family to the U.K. and that's because the children have been enrolled in school, which starts next month. We don't know where they'll be living, apart from the fact it won't be a palace, it won't be a royal residence, and the king, as I understand it, has made it clear yet again that the couple will not be returning to their royal roles.
There is no way back in for them. I would think that Prince William feels even more strongly about that and that he would have been consulted on that.
And Harry and Meghan were actually over with the kids last month. They met the King and Queen in Gloucestershire at their country residence, but there was no discussion of it then. The king actually found out about it on Sunday. So, this really does come out of the blue. As to why they're coming over, we're not getting any information from their office. They're not even officially confirming it with an official statement. They're not denying it either.
Harry did want to spend more time here. Is it because California isn't working or do they want the kids to have some time here and to experience British education? It's really not clear. And I'm not expecting a statement over the next few days from them either. So, it's a bit of a mystery and they kept it very secret.
BURNETT: Yeah, yeah, really, really stunning, especially given the context that you're reporting there. Max Foster, thank you very much.
And finally, tonight, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's launched that new cooking show, right, and it's been very specific, healthy meals under five bucks.
Tom Foreman went OUTFRONT to find out if that promise added up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY: I'm traveling across America, connecting with renowned chefs to show families how to cook delicious, nutritious meals.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new reality show pushes healthy, affordable eating with sides of dubious claims about the food industry, science, and public wellness.
KENNEDY: The dietary guidelines put Fruit Loops at the top of the food pyramid.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But it's also the math doesn't add up in this cooking class, especially when the secretary and his guest chef whip up crispy salmon cakes with apple white beans and green salad.
KENNEDY: So the servings of each of these, we ask to keep it under $5.
FOREMAN (voice-over): That's the pitch, and prices fly by, backing the idea of a family-sized meal for a bite-sized budget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fresh herbs are key for me.
FOREMAN: I am on my way to the store.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But when we started buying ingredients used in the show, even going for the lowest prices at a big competitive chain, the cost heated up fast.
FOREMAN: This was the cheapest frozen wild-caught sockeye salmon we could find, the closest to what they are using. They priced theirs at $8.99. The cheapest we could find, even with a deal from the store, is more than $24.
Now, the greens mix, that was about the same cost. So were the eggs on a per egg basis. But that's the trick here, because they're only pricing that one egg out of the carton. And that gets worse with other things. For example, this red onion, they say they only spent eight cents on this because that's how much they used. Getting the whole onion cost us more than a dollar.
And look at this. This is the avocado mayonnaise. They priced this at 40 cents because they were only using a couple of tablespoons. To buy the whole thing cost us more than $11. They're only pricing parts of it. And grocery stores don't sell things that way.
FOREMAN (voice-over): HHS insists this is standard recipe costing methodology, and they want to help Americans stock up on high-quality ingredients they can use across many meals.
In any event, the recipe was not too complicated.
FOREMAN: Here we go into the heat.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And it came out at home pretty much like it looks online.
But while the show repeatedly says this dish will cost less than $20 to feed a family of four, just getting all those ingredients into our kitchen cost a whopping $70.54.
FOREMAN: Yes, it certainly is tasty, and it appears healthy, but the problem remains. I do not see having made this how you can walk into a grocery store with $20 and come out with everything you need for this, making that part of the claim for many consumers, I think very hard to swallow -- Erin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Tom Foreman, thank you very much.
And thanks to all of you for joining us.
Anderson starts now.
