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Erin Burnett Outfront

House Votes To Raise Age To Buy Semi-Automatic Rifles To 21; Expert Shows CNN How Assault Riffle Bullets Explode In Human Body; Armed Man Charged With Attempted Murder Of Justice Kavanaugh; Mickelson, Other Golfers Under Fire For Joining Saudi-Backed Tour; CA Voters Send Stark Message To Democrats On Crime. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 08, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:22]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, new audio releasing this hour of a Republican lawmaker asking for a safety plan the day before the January 6th insurrection, warning Trump supporters would, quote, go nuts. Another Republican meantime saying he wasn't convinced there was election fraud, but said, quote, this is a political vote for all of us. All of these tapes now coming out.

Plus, the deadly destruction from an AR-15. We're going to show you exactly what this assault style weapon is capable of doing to the human body.

And selling out. More top professional golfers bucking the PGA tour for a Saudi-backed tournament. And they're doing it for the money. Wait until you hear much.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, they are going to go nuts. That's a direct quote from Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko.

She was talking about Trump supporters the day before the January 6th. Lesko saying she was, quote, very concerned about what was to happen the next day and she asked the House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to, quote, come up with a safety plan.

And I'm not just giving these quotes, right, from -- you know, from somebody said she said. No, it's actually all on tape and part of new audio just released from "New York Times" reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin.

Here is Congresswoman Lesko on January 5th, 2021.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE LESKO (R-AZ): I also asked leadership to come one a safety plan for members. I'm actually very concerned about this, because we have who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people coming here. We have Antifa. We also have, quite honestly, Trump supporters, who actually believe that we are going to overturn the election. And when that doesn't happen, most likely will not happen, they are going to go nuts.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, she was right about that. And she said this was the day before, right? You all remember the scene when those Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol, said "hang Mike Pence", attacked officers with whatever they had on them, a fire extinguisher, flagpoles. Four people died.

Now, five days later, McCarthy spoke to his members. And again, it's on tape, just released from Burns and Martin for their book "This Will Not Pass." McCarthy said that he got on the phone, talked to Trump and that he castigated him and he told him to call off the mob.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): When they started breaking into my office, myself and the staff got removed from the office. In doing so, I made a phone call to the president, telling him what was going on, asking him to tell these people to stop, to make a video, and go out. And I was very intense and very loud about it.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: During that call, McCarthy also is on tape vowing to make someone pay for the attack, even raising the idea of a bipartisan commission to investigate.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: We cannot just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it happened, who did it and people need to be held accountable for it. And I'm committed to making sure that happens.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK. Well, here's the reality, right, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney make it bipartisan, but that is in spite of McCarthy. He has opposed an independent bipartisan commission. In fact, he pulled his own handpicked members from the committee investigating January 6, and said he won't participate in the investigation at all.

Well, that committee's first public hearing will be tomorrow night. And our Ryan Nobles is OUTFRONT live on Capitol Hill.

So, Ryan, obviously, this is going to be a significant moment. You've had a year of an investigation, and now they are going to present hundreds of people, up to 600 people testifying. They are going to present what they believe to be the key story publicly.

What are you learning about what we may hear tomorrow?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. So much of this investigation has been conducted behind closed doors. This is the opportunity for the committee to present some of its findings and put it into context. We know for instance that of the thousand or so depositions conducted, some of them have been with members of the Trump inner circle, including his family -- his daughter, Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, Don, Jr., his fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle.

And today, the chairman of the House Select Committee investigating January 6, Bennie Thompson, did not rule out the possibility we may see part of these depositions, at least clips from them as part of the hearings. Whether or not they happen tomorrow night remains to be seen, but we do expect a number of hearings over the month of June where we may hear directly from some of these people within the Trump inner circle.

But we do know that tomorrow was going to be really focused on those right-wing groups that caused so much violence and chaos on January 6th.

[19:05:04]

And it points back to this audio you just played, Erin, this idea that people knew this was coming, including Republicans. And part of what the committee will lay out tomorrow is the idea that this was a premeditated attack, that there were people here with the specific purpose of rioting and causing chaos and violence. One of the individuals you'll hear from is Nick Quested, who's a documentarian, who was embedded with the Proud Boys and not just on January 6th, he was with them in a period of time leading up to January 6th.

The committee considers him a first hand fact witness who can speak to this idea that this wasn't just a peaceful protest gone wrong, that there was a lot more to it.

So this just the beginning of what will be a series of public hearings where we hear in great specificity for the first time just what the committee has uncovered -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Ryan, thank you very much.

I want to go to now to Jonathan Martin, the co-author of "This Will Not Pass", and that audio book is out today. Jonathan, of course, is also a national political correspondent for "The New York Times."

So, Jonathan, these tapes, as you are releasing more and more of this audio, they tell the true story because this is what was actually said. This first public hearing is going to be tomorrow. The recordings that you uncovered are obviously going to be and have been very important in the committee's work. How will they come into play?

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think what we have in this book, "This Will Not Pass," is a portrait of a Republican Party that is deeply alarmed in the days leading up to January 6th about what could happen in the Capitol on January 6th both in terms of the threat itself to the health and safety of members, as you heard there at the top of the hour, but also the political implications, Erin, as well. And namely, you know, what do we tell our voters back home about

whether or not to certify the results of the election? Because obviously, President Trump was -- put huge pressure on lawmakers to block certification of the election. That, of course, was what prompted that mob to storm the Capitol on January 6th.

I think what we have on these tapes, what we have in our book, is a very different Republican Party in the days before and after January 6th. And then today, when the bulk of members simply want to move on and do not want to talk about President Trump's role inciting the mob on January 6th. But we have it on tape, and the tapes do not lie. And they capture the mindset in that moment.

BURNETT: So in that mindset, I want to play something else that you have, a recording of Kevin McCarthy.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: We need to know and have the facts exactly what happened and when. This needs to be done in a targeted way that doesn't need to distract from keeping the Capitol safe over the coming weeks. But what we learned is, people can get in. We learned that people planned. We need to have all the facts, especially for all of us. We should do it in a bipartisan manner.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: He wants the facts, he wants them in a bipartisan manner. He goes so far as to say people planned. He said these things. Then, of course, he said the opposite.

Have you been able to confront him with these recordings in his own words?

MARTIN: Erin, there was no bigger advocate for a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened on January 6th than Kevin McCarthy himself in the immediate aftermath of the attack. You just heard that sound bite there. That's just one of them. He comes back to this multiple times in that conversation with GOP members about the importance of creating this bipartisan panel to get to the bottom of what did happen, that even well after January 6th, to McCarthy's credit, he empowered one of his lieutenants in the House to, in fact, set up a bipartisan commission and that's what did happen.

It was not until Donald Trump said later in 2021, he did not want that inquiry, that Kevin McCarthy changed his mind and then opposed the creation of the 1/6 Commission. That was done entirely at the prompting of Trump, who wanted no bipartisan inquiry into what happened on the 6th. As we now know and capture in our book, Republicans, especially in the House, salute Donald Trump and do his bidding when he makes that kind of an ask.

BURNETT: You know, one thing that also stands out here, of course, is there are -- there are Americans and Trump supporters, right, who believe what they were told by the president, right? And then they saw members of Congress vote that way, right? Vote to overturn the election. It cemented that belief, and they believe in those people.

The people who did that, of course, did so knowing that it was BS.

And I want to play a recording you obtained of Congressman Larry Bucshon of Indiana.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. LARRY BUCSHON (R-IN): The reality is, this is a political vote for many of us.

[19:10:04]

I'm going to vote my district. My district wants me to object to the states that get bicameral objections. And that's how I'm going to vote. Do I like it? No.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK. So do I like it? No. Voting against ostensibly what he believed was the right thing to do and he was going to vote for his district.

But this is the reality of -- this is putting up facts, right? But from what you are reporting, he said it out loud. How many other Republicans agree?

MARTIN: Oh, this is a fascinating insight, Erin. This is right before January 6th, where they're trying to litigate whether or not they were going to vote to certify the results. A lot of members are talking and high minded, constitutional tones about what the Founders would have wanted.

And then you have a handful of members, including the gentleman that there from the Hoosier State who, Mr. Bucshon, who says, no, this is a political vote. Our members back home in largely conservative districts, red America, they don't want to hear the constitutional argument. They want you to side with Trump.

And that's what he did, and so many of his colleagues did.

BURNETT: It is -- it is amazing.

All right. Well, thank you so much, Jonathan Martin. I appreciate it.

And as I said, the audio book is out tonight for "This Will Not Pass." and those recordings that you just heard obviously much more of that. And those are so crucial to these hearings that we are going to publicly, finally, see.

Thanks so much, Jonathan.

MARTIN: Thanks, Erin.

BURNETT: And next, heartbreaking pleas to lawmakers to do something about gun violence. A mother, whose daughter died in Uvalde, an 11- year-old girl who survived that massacre, forever change. Will their words make a difference?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIAH CERRILLO, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: So I grabbed the blood and put it all over me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: We're going to show you the kind of damage an AR-15 inflicts on the human body. And show you why it is so different from other guns.

And a California man now in custody, accused of attempting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. I'm going to talk to Judge Esther Salas. Her son was killed two years ago in an attack at her home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:55]

BURNETT: Tonight, the House about to pass the most aggressive gun reform measures in years, as 160 Republicans joining Democrats to support expanding background checks. Obviously, that's a huge number, 160.

But banning bump stock attachments, right, the things that made Las Vegas possible, only 13 Republicans supported doing that. Ten Republicans supported raising the minimum age to 21 to buy most semiautomatic rifles. Only eight voted to ban untraceable ghost guns. Only four voted to ban the sale of large capacity magazines. And only three supported gun and ammo storage requirements at home.

That gives you an indication of, you know, the Senate, obviously, if you have such little support for those things in the house, it makes it more difficult in the Senate. These bills aren't going to go anywhere in the Senate, despite the emotional testimony delivered on Capitol Hill today, including an 11-year-old Uvalde student who covered herself in her classmate's blood in order to survive.

Phil Mattingly is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel safe at school? Why not?

MIAH CERRILLO, FOURTH GRADE STUDENT AT ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOOL: Because I don't want it to happen again.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The searing words of Miah Cerrillo.

CERRILLO: When I went to the (INAUDIBLE), he shot my friend that was next to me, and I thought he was going to come back to the room, so I grabbed the blood and put it all over me.

MATTINGLY: The haunting pain from the voices of Kimberly and Felix Rubio.

KIMBERLY RUBIO, PARENT OF LEXI RUBIO: I can still see her walking with us toward the exit. The reel that keeps scrolling across my memories, she turns her head and smiles back to us to acknowledge my promise, and then we left. I left my daughter in that school, and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.

MATTINGLY: Or this detail from Dr. Roy Guerrero.

DR. ROY GUERRERO, M.D., PEDIATRICIAN: Two children whose body has been pulverized by bullets fired at them decapitated, whose flesh ripped apart, that the only clue of their identities was a blood splatter and cartoon clothes still clinging to them, clinging for life and finding none.

MATTINGLY: A fourth grade survivor, the parents of a murdered child, a pediatrician, the voices of Uvalde, Texas, pleading for action in Washington.

RUBIO: Somewhere out there is a mom listening to my testimony thinking I can't even imagine their pain, not knowing that our reality will one day be hers unless we act now.

MATTINGLY: As bipartisan senators engaged in another day of intensive talks, weighing a narrow agreement that would include incentives for red flag laws, opening juvenile records to background checks, and funding for mental health checks. It's a deal if it comes together that would fall short of the explicit requests of the witnesses.

RUBIO: We seek a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines.

MATTINGLY: But it presents the most significant opportunity for change White House officials and lawmakers say they have seen in years. A recognition of the horror reflected in the words of Miah Cerrillo's father.

MIGUEL CERRILLO, MIAH CERRILLO'S FATHER: I lost my baby girl. She's not the same little girl I used to play with and hang around with, and do everything.

MATTINGLY: And the response from those who have witnessed the carnage firsthand.

GUERRERO: Making sure our children are safe from guns, that's the job of our politicians and leaders. In this case, you are the doctors and our country is the patient. We are bleeding out and you not there. My oath as a doctor means that I signed up to save lives. I do my job, and I guess it turns out that I am here to plead, to beg, to please, please, do yours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (on camera): And, Erin, here at the White House and talking to officials today, there is cautious optimism that something can be done. Even though President Joe Biden is currently on the West Coast for the Summit of Americas, his staff deeply engaged in those Capitol Hill discussions, it will fall short of what President Biden laid out if something gets across the finish line, there's no question about that.

[19:20:04]

But as one official told me earlier, given the roadblocks that have been in place for more than a decade due to Republican opposition, you cannot overstate the importance of getting anything done on this issue, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Phil.

I want to go now to Democratic Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez.

Senator, appreciate having you back with me.

Today, the Justice Department announced that there's a team, and that team is going to review the law enforcement response to the shooting in Uvalde, and the attorney general, though, did make it clear that this is not a criminal investigation. Is that good enough for you?

ROLAND GUTIERREZ (D), TEXAS STATE SENATOR: You know, Erin, we've talked about over and over about the errors, human errors, the system errors. And I know that's important to people, and it's important to me to make sure that we get the right answers.

But probably more important to me is that Mrs. Rubio, Mr. Rubio and Dr. Guerrero, they get the answers that they need. When are politicians going to do their jobs? They care more about Daniel's Defense than they do mothers in our country.

There is a man that I have talked to just about every other day, a strong man trying to keep it together for his wife. His wife is still in her bedroom. She cannot get out.

I mean, do people not understand what's going on in this country? We have to do something about getting these guns out of the hands of 18- year-olds. Do the minimum.

Greg Abbott in Austin can't do anything, and folks in Washington simply don't do anything. Enough is enough.

BURNETT: Senator, you know, obviously in the Senate, right, there are conversations going on. They think they have something. But the House gives you an indication of where a lot of these efforts are going to go, efforts that the vast majority of the American public support.

So, you just had 160 Republicans join Democrats to support expanding background checks. That's good news. Probably going to get that in the Senate.

Let's go through the other things. Only 13 Republicans in the entire House of Representatives voted to ban bump stock attachments. That was used in Las Vegas. Only 10 -- only 10 Republicans support raising the minimum age to buy a semiautomatic to 21. Only four voted to ban the sale of large capacity magazines, right, which is how shootings like this are possible.

It doesn't look like these things are going to go anywhere.

GUTIERREZ: It seems counterintuitive when every Republican voter that I talked to, every Republican constituent tells me, 80 percent of them have polled that they want the age increased to 21.

BURNETT: Yeah.

GUTIERREZ: You can't even buy a beer, a pack of cigarettes. I mean, what are we talking about? It takes 35 hours in Texas to get a driver's license. And Greg Abbott can't do the simplest thing and raise the age limit.

I mean, are you that much just bought and paid for by the NRA and these guns? Do you really care more about them than the moms that are in Uvalde or El Paso and Santa Fe and Sutherland Springs?

I mean, what are we talking about? Just do the minimum. That's it. You have to do the minimum here. And they refuse.

BURNETT: Senator, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. I always do -- Senator Gutierrez.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you, ma'am.

BURNETT: And next, the weapon of choice for mass shooters, the AR-15. We're going to show you what that style rifle can do to the human body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it basically goes into the body and creates an explosion inside the body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, chilling details emerging of what a California man accused of plotting to skill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was carrying, including a Glock 17 pistol, a tactical knife and a crowbar.

(COMMERICLA BREAK)

[19:27:47]

BURNETT: Tonight, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refusing to engage when asked why he opposes reinstating the assault weapons ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why do you oppose reinstating the assault weapons ban?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We're trying to get an outcome, guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: It comes as other Republicans try to justify the need for AR- 15 style weapons, the number one weapon used in recent mass shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints.

REPORTER: Why does someone need an AR-15?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Well, if you talk to the people that own it, killing feral pigs in, you know, whatever, in the middle of Louisiana, they wonder why would you take it away from them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An AR-15 is the gun of choice to kill raccoons before they get to our chicken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Not, though, for hunting, right, because it would completely destroy so much, what you would actually be going to eat, because that's what the AR-15 does, that's what it's designed to do. It can inflict incredible damage.

Josh Campbell is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are known as assault-style weapons and have been used in some of the country's deadliest shootings. From Uvalde, Tulsa, and El Paso, to Parkland, San Bernardino, and Sandy Hook, the rifle has been the weapon of choice for many of the killers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Line is hot.

CAMPBELL: The Los Angeles Police Department demonstrates an AR-style semiautomatic rifle for us on the department's gun range.

SGT. JAMES ZBORAVAN, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: You have a 16-inch to 20-inch barrel. You have a stock that is shouldered. You're going to be accurate at further distances as opposed to a pistol.

CAMPBELL: Not to mention, like some other weapons, it can a bullet with enough power to pierce soft body armor, something Sergeant James Zboravan knows firsthand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, geez, it's definitely an automatic weapon.

CAMPBELL: He took assault weapons fire during the now infamous 1997 North Hollywood shootout, where two bank robbers wearing body armor fired on police for nearly an hour. Injuring eight people and 12 officers, including Sergeant Zboravan.

ZBORAVAN: You're being hit with pieces of the vehicles we're hiding behind, an asphalt, radiator fluid. It felt like were being stung by beast.

CAMPBELL: That shooting changed policy, prompting the LAPD and other departments to upgrade their own weaponry to counter the increasingly powerful guns used by assailants.

[19:30:09]

That firepower from weapons is studied inside a ballistics lab at Wayne State University, where researchers simulate a bullet's impact on the human body.

BIR: It's a block of 20 percent gelatin, and it's meant to represent the human tissues, so soft tissue.

CAMPBELL: Watch as Cynthia Bir fires a hand gun round at 10,000 feet for second into the gelatin block.

BIR: For this particular round, you'll see the bullet come in on this side, you'll see this temporary cavity happening. So that expansion is what happens in the body and then it collapses down. So that's where your damage comes in.

CAMPBELL: Now watch as the team fires a round from an assault rifle.

BIR: We see a lot more disruption. This round breaks apart, it doesn't exit. So it's about 3,000 feet per second, and all of that energy goes into the soft tissue. We have a piece of plastic here to reflect to do the videos, and it actually lifted the plastic off the table with the energy.

CAMPBELL: An aftermath photo of the hand gun round shows a relatively straight line through the tissue, exiting the other side. But not so with the round from an AR-15.

BIR: It basically goes into the body and creates an explosion inside the body.

CAMPBELL: Trauma surgeons say the wound from an assault rifle can be catastrophic.

DR. CHETHAN SATHYA, PEDIATRIC TRAUMA SURGEON: And the worst part is, in a child, all the vital organs are that much closer together. So each bullet causes irreversible damage.

CAMPBELL: In Uvalde, Texas, families were asked for DNA swabs to help the authorities identify their children.

BIR: As a mom, it really affects me, right, because I cannot imagine having a child endure this.

CAMPBELL: And with high capacity magazines, suspects can shoot for much longer. Now, the discussion about high capacity magazines largely centers on reducing the amount of time that a suspect can fire without having to reload.

As a former FBI agent, we were quickly trained to get your weapon reloaded and back up on target. But for a suspect for example who isn't trained, you can see this training weapon, that is a process. It involves removing the empty magazine, obtaining a fresh round of ammunition, loading it into the weapon, charging the weapon, getting it back up on target. Those are all precious seconds where victims can be fleeing, the gun can jam, or the suspect could be engaged by law enforcement or bystanders.

Knowing the damage that sustained firepower can do, researchers hope their critical findings lead to awareness.

Regardless of where one comes down on the gun control debate, it's indisputable that the assault weapon causes significant damage inside the body.

BIR: Definitely. But this is the reality. This is what's happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (on camera): Now, Erin, we often hear these assault style rifles described as weapons of war. That's because that was the original intent. Decades ago, the U.S. military required a weapon that was lightweight with a high kill rate. The Vietnam war, it was standard issue. It was then marketed to the general public, and today, we know that not only law abiding citizens have this weapon but also, so many of these mass shooters.

So, as we see the carnage after so many of these incidents, it's important to keep in mind that this is exactly what this weapon was intended to do -- Erin.

BURNETT: It's really important to keep saying it, it was built to kill humans and to kill a lot of them and to kill them quickly. Josh Campbell, thank you very much for that. It was hard to watch, but very important reporting. I want to note, this that legislation that just came up before the house, there were only four Republicans who voted to ban sale of large capacity magazines.

OUTFRONT next, a man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house. Law enforcement says he traveled from California with a pistol, two magazines and zip ties to kill the justice.

And payday. Professional golfers from Dustin Johnson to Phil Michelson ditching the PGA tour for the Saudi golf tour. Some reportedly earning nine figures to make the jump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:48]

BURNETT: A California man in jail tonight on attempted murder and attempted kidnapping charges after being arrested outside the Maryland home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Officials say 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske was found with a host of items, including a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammo, a tactical knife, zip ties, crowbar and duct tape. And that he was upset about the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion about abortion rights, an upcoming gun control case and the Uvalde massacre.

Now, according to criminal complaint, and I quote, Roske stated that he began thinking how to give his life a purpose and decided that he would kill the Supreme Court justice. That's a quote.

Asked later by a judge if he understood the nature of the charges, Roske said he wasn't in his words thinking clearly.

OUTFRONT, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas. Her 20-year-old son Daniel was fatally shot. Her husband Mark seriously wounded in a targeted attack at their home nearly two years ago.

Judge Salas, I'm grateful to have you with me tonight. I'm thankful that you are willing to speak, especially knowing how -- thinking how difficult this sort of a story is for you.

When you first heard this, a man is arrested outside the home of Justice Kavanaugh, charged with attempted murder, what did you think?

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS, U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: You know, I'm still recovering from the news of John Roamer -- Judge John Roamer, who was assassinated in his home this past Friday.

So Mark and I obviously are very concerned about the escalating intensity of these threats. We can look over the years and see how many judges have been assassinated. And there are quite a few, Ms. Burnett. Quite a few.

We start with Judge Woods, Daronco, Vance, Lefkow, her husband and mother, 92-year-old mother was killed in her home in 2005. And my beautiful boy, who was a gift from God, I had four miscarriages, and Daniel was our only child. He was killed in a foyer of our home on a Sunday, on July 19, 2020.

And just less than two years later, we see another judge assassinated in Wisconsin. And now we see this troubling news regarding Justice -- I don't know if you're looking at the intensity and you're looking at the facts, how the members of Congress are in any way delaying at this point.

[19:40:16]

The time is now. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act is ready to go. And this is a matter of life or death. And we cannot fool around anymore.

BURNETT: You know, you talk about the threats here. I want to put some numbers out here. Between 2016 and 2018, there was a doubling in threats to judges, right? That's -- in 2018, right, that's before the horrific murder of your son.

And 4,500 threats according to the marshal service last year alone. And yet you look at your son, the bill named after him, that would seek to protect judges, try to help judges and their families, try to prevent this, stuck in limbo right now in Congress. What do you say to lawmakers? SALAS: You know, I think that as Americans, we look to our members of

Congress, we look to our leaders to lead in a time of crisis. This is a crisis. Democracy is in trouble. The rule of law, the justice system as we know it, is in trouble.

And we need leaders to step up and lead. And that includes Republicans, Democrats, and independents. This bill, Ms. Burnett, is a bipartisan, bicameral bill, that is supported by members of Congress, no matter which side of the aisle they sit on.

This bill is a common sense bill that really is narrowly tailored to address this compelling government interest. This is, in my humble opinion a no-brainer. This is what we have to do.

Americans look to our leaders and say what are you going to do? And I ask our leaders, what are you going to do?

And I certainly hope in light of all the news lately, they're going to stand up and say we're going to lead and we're going to work together. And we're going to show that Washington isn't broken. That we can work together on bills and on initiatives that make sense and the Daniel Anderl bill just makes plain old sense.

BURNETT: Judge Salas, I'm grateful for your time and I'm sorry for the loss that I know you live every day.

SALAS: I thank you, Ms. Burnett, for having me. I thank you for covering the story. And just -- again, I'm pleading to members of Congress to not waste any more time. Let's save lives and do it together.

BURNETT: Judge Salas, thank you.

And next, some of the top golfers in the world from the PGA are fleeing to a Saudi backed tournament. And they are doing it for an incredible amount of money, reportedly getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars.

And one of the most liberal cities tonight recalling its progressive D.A., a man who's putting fewer people behind bars as crime skyrocketed. Is his fate a warning to progressive Democrats?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:22]

BURNETT: Snubbed. The president of Mexico tonight sitting out President Biden's Summit of the Americas, boycotting over Biden's decision to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

The White House defending that decision, saying Biden will stand by his principle and not invite dictators. But the move comes as Biden is, well, planning to visit a dictator in Saudi Arabia this month, a country run by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Biden now calling Saudi Arabia a, quote, important partner. And it's just -- it's significant thing to say because it's completely

different than what he has said many times. He promised to isolate the Saudis over the brutal killing and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Khashoggi was, in fact, murdered and dismembered, and I believe on the order of the crown prince. I would make it very clear we are not going to, in fact, sell more weapons to them. We are going to, in fact, pay the price and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are. There's very little social redeeming value of the -- in the present government in Saudi Arabia. They have to be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK. It's pretty clear he meant what he said then. Of course, now that he's the president, reality intrudes.

And it's not just Biden who is cozying up to the Saudi regime. Now some of the biggest names in golf are bucking the PGA tour and just hours from now, they will tee off at the inaugural tournament of the incredibly lucrative Saudi-funded LIV golf series.

Phil Mickelson is on the list. He accepted a reported $200 million to go to the Saudi tournament. Mickelson today saying repeatedly he doesn't condone the Saudi's human rights violations, as he was grilled by reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: But isn't there a danger that you're also being seen as a tool of sportswashing, an attempt to try and improve the image of a human rights abusing regime through sport?

REPORTER: Is it you're sorry for speaking the truth about the Saudis? Are you sorry for the shameless hypocrisy of taking their money anyway?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Bob Harig, a golf writer for "Sports Illustrated" who's covering this LIV golf series tournament in London.

Bob, I want to start with Phil Mickelson, right? And he is one of many taking these incredibly shockingly large paydays to do this, right? But you wrote a book about him and his rivalry with Tiger Woods. He had dipped his toe in this league first. He was roundly criticized for it, backed off, nobody would touch it with 100-foot pole and now, all of a sudden, they're all jumping into the water and taking the money. A lot of other big names have joined in.

This does appear to -- well, I mean, let's just be honest, be about the money.

[19:50:02]

BOB HARIG, AUTHOR, "TIGER & PHIL: GOLF'S MOST FASCINATING RIVALRY": No question. When you get right down to it, it's about the money. And it's -- forget about these huge sums that are being offered just to sign on, as you just mentioned there, $100 million plus, $200 million for Phil allegedly but the purses that they're playing for.

This week's event here is $25 million and only 48 players. $20 million of it is for the individuals, $4 million to the winner. The guy who finishes in last place is going to make $120,000. If you finish last place in every one of these events, there's a season ending event that's $50 million. You're going to make over a million dollars. It's a lot of money.

To make a million dollars on the PGA tour, you have to play some pretty good golf. And there's probably 100 or so guys, more than that, who did that last year. But they also paid their own expenses, and they risked missing cuts and they have to pay caddies and such.

So, this is very, very lucrative without the guaranteed money that they're getting up front.

BURNETT: It's pretty incredible when you lay it out that way, Bob.

So, the public face of the Saudi league is former top golfer Greg Norman, and he told "The Washington Post" that Tiger Woods turned down the Saudis, which -- you know, I just want to emphasize that. Tiger Woods said no.

But Mr. Norman said he specifically turned down close to a billion dollars, that Tiger Woods turned down close to a billion dollars.

Do you think that's a real number?

HARIG: I -- I would -- I would be skeptical about that number simply because I'm not sure that Tiger actually ever got to the table to talk about this with them. His agent, Mark Steinberg, has not been in favor of the LIV golf invitational series. None of his clients are doing it.

Tiger and Greg Norman are not close. They do not have a good relationship. I doubt seriously that Tiger spoke to him personally about this. It's possible that Norman's people reached out to Tiger's people and some stuff was, you know, tossed around.

But let's be -- let's be real. If they were going to get Tiger, you know, it would have to be for a lot more than some of these other numbers that we're hearing. So, it would -- it would clearly be a ton of money to get him to do this if they're going to pay some of these other guys the huge amount. It would be bigger, obviously.

But I just -- I just sort of wonder if that is a little bit of hyperbole there that was coming from Greg Norman.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, it's interesting, your perspective is so important. But, of course, you know, he's not doing it. Bob, right, thank you very much. I look forward to seeing your

analysis and work here. I know you're in London to cover it. I will take a look at what you see. Thanks so much.

HARIG: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, San Francisco overwhelmingly votes to recall its district attorney who ended the use of cash bails and stopped prosecuting minors as adults. This as crime surged. Is it a warning to Democrats?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:07]

BURNETT: Tonight, President Biden calling on states to invest more money in police departments, as one of the most liberal cities in the country delivers a clear rejection of progressive policies. Voters in San Francisco recalling district attorney Chesa Boudin, who made waves throughout his tenure, ending cash bail, and trying to reduce the number of people sent to prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: I think the voters sent a clear message last night. Both parties have to step up and do something about crime as well as gun violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Harry Enten, CNN data reporter.

So, Harry, obviously, the president trying to make this about both sides and lengthy gun reform.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah.

BURNETT: OK. This is a progressive D.A. who sort of is emblematic of where some of the progressive left are in this country. What does it tell us about the Democratic Party that this happened?

ENTEN: I think it tells you the same thing -- I feel like we've done this segment five or six times over the last five or six years. That is the Democratic Party isn't as liberal as some progressives wish it were, right?

So, the majority of voters in the Democratic Party identify as either moderate or conservative. That's specifically true of voters of color, who of course make up the Democratic Party's base. And indeed very liberals within the Democratic Party, according to a CNN/SSRS poll from earlier this year found that only about a fifth of all Democrats, Democrats, identify as very liberal. That's why someone like Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, they looked at his record, they had no problem tossing him out, even in a city that Joe Biden won by 73 points in 2020. BURNETT: All right. So, you're saying a fifth of the party again. I

have to remind people, only about 35 percent of the public identifies as Democrat. You're talking about a fifth of a third, you know, you're getting smaller numbers.

ENTEN: In terms of the general electorate, you're only talking about a tenth, or maybe an eighth.

BURNETT: All right. OK. So, that is obviously very significant.

Now, President Biden obviously recognizes a problem for his party. That's why you've said the voters have sent a message, calling on states to invest more money for policing.

OK. This is a bigger problem than San Francisco.

ENTEN: Yes. It is a bigger problem than San Francisco. If you look nationally, look at the polling, the percentage of Americans dissatisfied with crime policies is the highest right now as it has been all century, all century. And we've seen a 20-point jump over the last two years alone. It's up to now -- you can see on your screen -- 72 percent of Americans nationwide are dissatisfied with crime policy nationally.

And it's beyond just San Francisco, where we've been seeing rising crime rates, right? We can look at theft or larceny, and what you can see across the major cities, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, double digit rising in those over the last year. And in places like New York and Chicago, those rises are approaching 50 percent.

It's no wonder that Lightfoot in Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot, who's running for reelection next year, is already coming out of the box with a very tough on crime message, because the fact of the matter is voters see where the crime rates are and they are reacting.

BURNETT: They are reacting. And where we sit in New York, obviously, got a new mayor. But it is front and center issue.

ENTEN: And he's tough on crime, too. Yeah.

BURNETT: Absolutely.

All right. Harry Enten, thank you very much. And thanks so much to all of you.

Anderson starts now.