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Erin Burnett Outfront
U.S. And Iran Reach Tentative Deal But Needs Trump Approval; Bessent: Nothing "Untoward" About Trump's Face Going On $250 Bill; Report: White House Intervened To Get $620M Deal For Company Tied To Trump Jr. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired May 28, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Iran firing missiles tonight as the administration claims it's making progress on a deal with Iran. But is it really a breakthrough or are they back where they started?
Plus, are New York Mayor Mamdani and President Trump about to reunite after those friendly White House visits? Got new reporting coming in.
And new pictures coming from the White House, where crews are building a massive stage and cage for fight night on the South Lawn.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: And good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Iran launching missiles. According to state media, the country's armed forces fired those missiles from the south toward what they called designated targets. It's unclear right now what those were.
And this also comes less than 24 hours after Iran fired a ballistic missile at the U.S. base in Kuwait. That was successfully intercepted.
And yet tonight, Vice President J.D. Vance now says this about the current talks with Iran to end the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do think we've made a lot of progress here. It's very clear that I think the Iranians -- they want a deal. Hopefully, we'll continue to make progress. The president will be in a position where he can endorse the agreement. But obviously, that's still TBD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: TBD. But the question you have to ask each time this comes up is, what kind
of deal is this? A nuclear deal? No. Not yet. A missile deal? No, not that either.
According to U.S. officials, the agreement doesn't actually accomplish what the president has explained as the reason he launched the war in the first place 90 days ago
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It's a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Roughly half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact, according to recent U.S. intelligence assessments. We saw that today with more strikes.
And this possible agreement, it doesn't address Iran's nuclear program. It's an agreement, then, to stay at the table and deal with Iran's nuclear program, eventually, including Iran's highly enriched uranium, which remains the most challenging sticking point.
The possibly singular, tangible thing that we're told this agreement would do is reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the U.S. launched this war. Now, all eyes are on the president once again. He has yet to sign off on this potential deal.
If his social media account, his Truth Social account is any indication of where his head is, it's not on Iran. Since midnight, he's posted about one thing and one thing only -- pet projects, his pet projects around Washington, D.C., from renovating the fountains outside Union Station to more pictures of the reflecting pool.
And back to Iran, the leadership there clearly is not ready to sign any dotted line. According to Iranian state media, the text of the proposed agreement, quote, "has not -- has not yet been finalized or definitive."
Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT, live outside the White House for us tonight.
Alayna, what is the latest that you're learning from there?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think the only thing that has been true and clear throughout this entire war, Kate, is that there is a lot of uncertainty. You hear one thing, a lot of optimism one day, particularly from this White House and Trump officials publicly, only for then to hear a little bit less optimism and perhaps talks fall apart the next.
So it's hard to lean into this too much. But I will tell you what I'm hearing as of today, with my conversations from people here at the White House. And they argue that, look, there has been a lot of focus this week on haggling back and forth between Washington and Tehran on the language of this memorandum of understanding, this tentative short term agreement that would then trigger another 60 days of more intense negotiations on some of the thorniest issues we know that have been present throughout this entire ceasefire process.
And so really, where they are now is, you know, trying to figure out if this is enough. And from my conversations with sources here, they say, look, this is a positive step, but there's still a heavy dose of skepticism of whether or not this is going to be that short term deal that they use as a broader framework, and jumping off point for the harder issues.
Now, I do want to be clear as well that the two issues we know that the president cares the most about this nuclear -- you know, this commitment from Iran to not develop a nuclear weapon.
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That is expected to be -- the commitment is expected to be in the short term agreement. But the bigger issue is the enforcement of that, this sort of enforcement mechanism that they could use to hold Iran to their word. That has not yet been decided. Neither has, what will happen with the retrieval of the highly enriched uranium if the U.S. can go in, how that would look like? All of that would be discussed later.
And so there's still so much that needs to be worked out. I'm told as well that the president is very much seeking advice from his advisors about wanting to ensure that this deal is strong enough. Particularly, he wants it to be stronger -- he wants to be able to show that it's stronger than that of which was passed during the Obama administration.
So, a lot of uncertainty today as we look ahead, but they are trying to argue that progress has been made, and they are optimistic that this could be the final framework for that MOU.
BOLDUAN: And a reminder, yet again, it took two years for the Obama administration to negotiate that deal that you're talking about right there.
Alayna, thank you so much.
OUTFRONT with us now, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee. He is a U.S. marine veteran.
It's good to see you. Thanks for being here.
REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Thank you (ph).
BOLDUAN: Do you believe that this agreement, this MOU, would be a breakthrough?
MOULTON: Let's just be clear, Kate. This is not a deal. It's a surrender document.
And Trump, who started this war with no plan to win it, no plan to end it, and demanded Iran's unconditional surrender, now seems to be negotiating America's unconditional surrender to Iran. This is a loss across the board.
BOLDUAN: But is -- you -- is a bad option a better option than no option at all being on the table at this point?
MOULTON: Yes, great question. It is because there's literally no other option. I mean, unless he wants to take over the whole country, because that actually would achieve regime change. It would end their nuclear program, it would reopen the strait.
But you're talking about using 300,000 Americans for a country that's twice the size and population of Iraq. I don't think even -- even Ranger Pete Hegseth wants that.
So the only other option is to sit down at the table and actually have a negotiation.
Let's just be honest, though, he's not only lost the war, he's losing the negotiation as well.
BOLDUAN: The treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said today that the president's comments earlier this week when he said that he did not care, that Iran couldn't outwait him, meaning that he did not care. He was being patient. He didn't care about the midterm elections as he was trying to make this deal with Iran.
And Scott Bessent said that that is an example of the president being a statesman. Do you agree?
MOULTON: I mean, I don't think anyone in their right mind has ever even imagined putting the word "statesman" next to -- next to Donald Trump.
No, Trump is obviously so concerned about the midterms. He's talking about not having the midterms or influencing them in highly illegal ways -- just in the same way that he's trying to get rid of the Voting Rights Act, gerrymander our country to death. I mean, Trump is deathly afraid of the midterms.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Do you think it is the lady doth protesth too much type of situation?
MOULTON: Of course. I mean, this is just -- I mean, it's just absurd. He's incredibly concerned about the midterms. And that's why he's -- he's doing all this crazy stuff. But now, he's started a war that no one wanted except Pete Hegseth and Bibi Netanyahu.
And he's in a terrible pickle because he can't figure out how to get out -- get out of it. It's disrupting the entire world economy. It's cost 14 American lives, thousands of civilians dead. And by the way, probably about -- already 100 billion of your taxpayer
dollars -- sitting at home tonight, 100 billion of your taxpayer dollars. You know, that works out to somewhere around $600 a person, a taxpayer. That's what this war has cost. And we have gotten nothing.
He's going to be -- he's having a hope and a prayer that he might get some semblance of the nuclear deal that Obama handed to him, because right now, he's just trying to get a deal to reopen the strait, and Iran is going to take a $25 billion bribe to agree to it.
BOLDUAN: Today also marks three months to the day since the strike on the girls' school in Iran. And Iranian state media said at least 168 children were killed, 14 teachers were killed, and CNN has assessed that was likely the U.S. that -- a U.S. missile that hit the school. The Trump administration, though, still maintains that this strike, what happened there is under investigation, still three months in.
Why is this investigation not yet complete?
MOULTON: Because they're stalling it, because they're so guilty. And you know what I did this morning, Kate? I drove my two daughters to school.
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And the idea that their school would just get bombed, hit by a missile, and they and hundreds of their friends killed, I mean, it's just unconscionable. And I think more Americans, but especially Republicans in Congress who enable this madman, need to put themselves in the shoes of those parents or those sisters or brothers who lost these little girls because of this useless war that Trump is losing, and find some semblance of the courage that our troops show every single day to just stand up in Washington and stop it.
It's about time we stopped this madness before it gets even worse.
BOLDUAN: A horrible mistake. War is horrible and horrible mistakes are made in war. And it's the United States, though, that is that shining example of admitting mistakes, if that is what it is. And it didn't --
(CROSSTALK)
MOULTON: Yeah, and, Kate, like I've -- I've seen that. And -- and you know, that the tragedy though, is that this war didn't need to happen.
Mistakes happen in war. War is tragic. Sometimes you sadly have to go to war. But we did not. Trump and Bibi dragged us into it. And now, it's a horrible mess.
A lot of people have lost their lives. A lot of taxpayers have lost their money, and we've got nothing in return
BOLDUAN: Congressman Seth Moulton, thank you for your time.
Joining me now is Barak Ravid and Alex Plitsas. They're OUTFRONT with me now.
Barak, you've had amazing reporting throughout. You continue to have new reporting, even this evening.
What are you learning about why President Trump hasn't yet signed off on this memorandum of understanding with Iran?
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So what I hear from U.S. officials is that Trump is definitely at least -- let's say, as of today at noon, Trump was leaning towards signing off on the deal. He hasn't done it yet. And he could change his mind. And we all know that he tends to change his mind from time to time.
But as of today at noon, he was leaning towards signing off. But one of the reasons he's waiting is that first, I mean, he wants to see that the Iranians are not, you know, backing away from the whole thing after it's been published in the media. I have to say that until now, the Iranians haven't really commented publicly and officially about it.
There was one report that was, you know, one Iranian government media outlet that quoted an anonymous source, but we haven't seen anybody from the Iranian government coming out and saying, "This is true. This is not true. We accept. We reject." I think it's interesting.
Another thing that he wants, according to U.S. officials, that he wants to see how this plays out mainly in his base, but also, I think, in the political debate in the U.S., and to see what kind of pushback he gets, if any. And according to that, decides if he wants to move forward and sign off on it or not.
BOLDUAN: Alex, what do you make of what we know of this memorandum of understanding at this point?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, I mean, to Barak's point, nothing has officially been released. We haven't heard comments from the Iranians. We've got some leaks and some comments from U.S. officials. But at the end of the day, I think if we're going to talk about this, what does good look like, right?
So for the president, that includes a -- you know, that they're not going to have a nuclear weapon at the end of this. So what does that actually mean?
There's 440kg of highly enriched uranium. The discussion has been either about diluting that or taking it out of the country, which is the U.S. preference. There's been a discussion about enrichment and whether or not that's going to be a permanent moratorium 20 years, 10 years, some sort of negotiation.
Separate from that, there has been a severe degradation of the missiles, the drones and the industrial base, at least according to Central Command. There's a bit of debate in the IC, but I was at Central Command headquarters last week, and they affirmed that -- Admiral Cooper's testimony is, in fact, based, at least on CENTCOM battle damage assessment. So, for the president, if he were to grant economic relief to the
Iranians and the straits open up and we don't get anything else in return, it's effectively returning the straits to a pre-war condition and giving the Iranians money for doing so.
In order for this to be a holistic deal that's beneficial to the United States, and for him to achieve the goals he set out, it would also have to address the nuclear program in a substantive way. So, are we actually going to see that, get a commitment from the Iranians on both those issues for enrichment and removing the highly enriched uranium? There really hasn't been much that's been publicly discussed about what that means for the drones and the missiles going forward.
And then lastly, what happens with the proxy forces in the region? Because if there's going to be a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel is not wantonly attacking Lebanon as a country or the Lebanese armed forces. This is, you know, mainly going after Hezbollah and Hezbollah infrastructure inside the country. There's a little bit of debate and commentary about that.
But short of that, we also have the militias in Iraq. We still have the Houthis that haven't been addressed. And then lastly, up to, you know, up to maybe 30,000 protesters or more may have been killed in Iran.
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And we still have seen nothing about that in terms of justice for them or in terms of freedom for the Iranian people on the back end of this.
So, at a minimum, the nuclear program has to be addressed, and then we'd hopefully like to see something about the drones and missiles as well. But until we see text, you know, we're basically speculating on what's been leaked out.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And you know, when you say like at minimum, the nuclear program needs to be addressed, it's like, it's such a huge thing, Barak. And it's like when you say -- when we stated it so simply, it's like, it's just -- at minimum, we must deal with the nuclear program.
But like when it comes to this core issue, Barak, what are you hearing as you speak to so many people deeply involved of truly -- how willing Iran is to give up its nuclear program right now?
RAVID: So I think the Iranians, during the negotiations, let's say, over the -- I mean, roughly the last two months, I think they have shown some willingness to do things that they were not willing to do before.
First, they have agreed to at least partially, at least partially remove some of the highly enriched uranium out of the country. How much of it? This will be for negotiations.
The Iranians also agreed for some sort of a suspension of -- a complete suspension of uranium enrichment. We have to say they're not enriching uranium right now because all of their centrifuges are mostly gone after the war last June. But they could always resume it.
And as far as I know from several sources, both U.S. officials and mediators, the Iranians went up to 10 to 12 years -- 10 to 12 years of suspension of uranium enrichment. If -- let's say, if that's indeed the deal, if this will be the result, that's something the Iranians never did. And that's indeed also better than the JCPOA, that did not include a full suspension of every -- of all uranium enrichment activity.
But this is really far away from where we are right now. What the -- what this deal is going to do is that it will be sort of a jumping board for -- from the situation we are right now to getting both sides into the room for direct negotiations on those issues, which is something we haven't had since the beginning of the war.
And I think that once you get into the room, it's clear what -- again, if the agreement is done, it will be clear what we're talking about. It's not going to be vague. It will be clear that we're talking about disposing of the enriched uranium and suspending uranium enrichment in Iran.
How you're going to do it, for how long it's going to be suspended, those are all issues in the negotiations. But once you go into the room, I think it will be already clear to everybody what we're talking about.
BOLDUAN: It's great to see you both. Thank you so much.
OUTFRONT for us next, new reporting that a company with ties to Donald Trump, Jr. scored a massive Pentagon contract after the White House intervened. The reporter who broke that story is my guest.
Plus, we'll take you inside the incredible operation underway to free the five men stuck in a cave for more than a week now. But torrential rains are now making that mission even more difficult.
And Donald Trump's face on a $250 bill. The administration is defending the plan, even though it still is against the law right now to put a living person on U.S. currency.
Jamal Simmons, Gretchen Carlson, Paul Rieckhoff, they have something to say about it. They're next.
Nice, nice --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BOLDUAN: Tonight, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is defending this possible new $250 bill with Donald Trump's face on it all to commemorate America's 250th birthday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I don't think that there's anything untoward about having the president of the United States, the person who was president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: It is against federal law, though, to put a living person on U.S. currency. Bessent says the Treasury Department is just preparing the design and waiting for Congress to act. Republican Congressman Joe Wilson actually proposed legislation last year to bring this about.
Everyone is here with me.
Jamal --
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: So Bessent did -- to his credit, he did acknowledge he's like, they're only going to do it. He acknowledges it's illegal. They will only do it if Congress acts. But when he says there's nothing untoward about it, what do you think about it?
SIMMONS: Well, there's nothing else for them to do, right? No other issues happening in the country. They ought to just spend some legislative time doing this.
Listen, the American people are in the middle of a great price hike that's been happening. Gas prices are taking over everyone's wallet. And now here we are going to put the president's face on a bill, it just seems like we ought to be focused on other things right now. Not that.
BOLDUAN: I mean, I -- one thing I just like, what does it cost? It costs money to make money. Like it costs something to do this, and that is going to be a true conversation. But it's also -- Gretchen, it's not just one banknote. Like, it's not just one like commemorative thing. I mean, the list -- let me begin. It's -- the State Department issuing passports for people in D.C. with Trump's face.
There's the commemorative coin, of course, which they're now pushing for to be as large as possible. And the National Park pass, which will now feature Donald Trump and George Washington and the arch and the Kennedy Center.
I mean, what do you do with this?
GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Well, we know this about Trump. I mean, all you have to do is go down New York City streets and see Trump on every single building until people started wanting to take down the name. So this is his ego speaking, and it just happens to be that he's president on the 250th anniversary. So it's perfect timing for him.
Did you know, however, though, that it supposedly takes ten years to design and develop bills like this for security purposes? Because, you know, with counterfeit and all that, you know, they hold them up to the light and try and figure out if they're real or not. So I'm not even so sure if Congress would actually say yes to this, which I don't think they will.
BOLDUAN: Gretchen, that's red tape. We're breaking through it.
CARLSON: But so -- so, we're going to get the 250th anniversary bill in 2036? And by the way, can we put it up again for a minute? I -- I would think Trump would be very upset with his hair.
BOLDUAN: Why?
CARLSON: Look at his hair.
BOLDUAN: I think there's just good volume.
CARLSON: Well, no, it's usually perfectly quaffed like over here. So if anything I would think he would not choose this photo.
BOLDUAN: What -- it's a word that in the biz, I actually typically actually hate. But this one, it actually applies like do optics matter here?
PAUL RIECKHOFF, HOST OF THE INDEPENDENT AMERICANS PODCAST: Yes. I'm in no position to talk about hair, but I will tell you that it looks really menacing. It looks really mean --
BOLDUAN: Which I'm sure he loves.
RIECKHOFF: Like the grumpy 250. I mean, it's also deeply inappropriate, unacceptable, and I would argue, un-American. I mean, this is not what we do in America. That's what they do in North Korea. That's what they do in Russia. And I don't think its going to do well with most Americans.
But he doesn't seem to be too concerned about popularity lately. I mean, knocking down the White House, putting up the arch. I mean, the war in Iran. He is all gas, no brakes, and he doesn't care about public opinion. And this is just the latest example.
BOLDUAN: I do wonder what -- what that conversation is in Congress when they come back, right? Because you do have like, there is hesitancy on this stuff amongst Republicans on a bipartisan way, like Joe Wilson. He's been pushing it since last year, for sure. But I don't know, is this -- is this -- is this a change in law that these lawmakers really want to be making right now?
SIMMONS: Yeah. Look, it's -- the queen of England is on the money, right, in Great Britain. This is not something that we do. And most Americans are scrambling and scratching to get $250 together to do anything right now. And so the idea that we're going to have one bill that's going to have that note, it's just -- it seems extravagant at a time where people are really trying to figure out how to just put food on the table and take care of their families. It's -- it's not for most of us.
CARLSON: You know, I think when this idea probably came up, I can just envision like a secretary meeting that Trump has with his cabinet members. BOLDUAN: Yeah.
CARLSON: And you know, how they're fawning over him. We were just talking about this behind the scenes, but probably somebody thought of this to earn good, you know, a good deed from Trump and was like, hey, you should be on the $250 bill. And that's -- I mean, it's probably how this all started. And I really don't think the president thought about the fact that Congress would have to approve this.
And now you get to a point where he's angering Republicans that he has ousted. So you have Tillis, who's retiring. You have Cassidy, who's not going to be in the Senate anymore. You have Cornyn. They're not going to vote for this.
BOLDUAN: John Cornyn is like, this is the hill I'm going to die on, people.
CARLSON: They are not going to vote for this.
RIECKHOFF: He doesn't care what they say on Iran. I don't think he's going to care what they say about, you know, this. I mean --
BOLDUAN: That is the truth.
RIECKHOFF: He also doesn't care if things are illegal, if wars are illegal, if they're authorized by Congress. So, I mean, he's just going to try to throw his name and face on everything he possibly can before he dies.
BOLDUAN: OK.
RIECKHOFF: I mean, that's all about his legacy, trying to put his name out there and try to make sure you remember when you open your wallet or your passport, Donald Trump had something to do with it, and you owe him.
BOLDUAN: I mean, and what this looks like when Donald Trump is out of office, like it is --
SIMMONS: Well, it makes you wonder if they've got interest in a memorabilia company, because a lot of this stuff will be limited edition because --
BOLDUAN: I just love -- let's just keep --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: I'm loving this.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: -- the way.
RIECKHOFF: It also looks -- it looks counterfeit. Like it looks counterfeit.
BOLDUAN: Maybe that's a good thing. Like maybe it's good if it's a commemorative banknote.
RIECKHOFF: It's not going to help our economy. It's like, what's the latest thing he can do to screw up the economy? This would be it.
CARLSON: He would -- he would actually have --
RIECKHOFF: Flood the market with counterfeit bills.
CARLSON: But he would actually -- it's -- there's a reason why presidents of long ago are on our money. It's because we think back to times when we remember how our country started and things that they did along the way. You would think that Trump would want his name and face on something later on, if, in fact, that was going to be some sort of a positive legacy, that you wouldn't have to force it upon people while you're actually in office.
And that's why you have the law that you can't be on currency when you're actually alive.
BOLDUAN: And maybe they just --
CARLSON: Become full circle.
BOLDUAN: Then we come full circle.
Okay, let's have -- I want to talk basketball.
RIECKHOFF: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: Let's talk basketball.
CARLSON: Okay.
RIECKHOFF: Sure. Absolutely.
BOLDUAN: New York City Mayor Mamdani was asked if he thinks that Donald Trump could be a bad luck charm if he comes to a Knicks game, as they are now entering in the finals, in case you didn't know. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: I'm not going to do any analysis of the president's fandom. I will say that anyone who wants to come and watch the Knicks and pray that Landry keeps making those threes, and we see Captain Clutch out there on the court, I think everybody should be welcome there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I mean, kumbaya. You're like -- are you -- are you the biggest Knicks fan at the table? Maybe?
RIECKHOFF: I don't know. I am -- I --
CARLSON: Maybe my son. RIECKHOFF: I am a Knicks fan, been my whole life and I would ask, can
all politicians stay away from the Knicks right now? We don't need any jinxes. It's been a long time and I would like it if Mamdani and Trump, the two most polarizing figures in all of America, would stay away from Madison Square Garden, stay away from the Knicks, not to mention the security concerns.
BOLDUAN: I was going to say their security --
RIECKHOFF: It's already hard to get to Madison Square Garden.
BOLDUAN: Their security is going to take up way too many seats. That's all I'm saying.
SIMMONS: The Knicks have enough bad luck charms of their own, right? I mean, like, it's been decades of basketball fans having to live through the Knicks getting right at the verge of being able to get a championship.
CARLSON: You think he's got a ticket?
BOLDUAN: No, but, Gretchen, do you think he's going to be able to resist? Of course Trump's going to show up, if I had to guess.
CARLSON: Maybe. I think it's interesting that Mamdani was not, you know, more negative about it. But remember, they have a bromance going on.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
CARLSON: They -- you know, they actually couldn't be more disparate as far as their political views.
RIECKHOFF: Trump will also get booed at Madison Square Garden. I mean, he usually sets up environments where he gets praise, a UFC event.
BOLDUAN: He loves that, though.
RIECKHOFF: When he went to Yankee Stadium, it was on 9/11. So he ensured that he wouldn't get booed. If he goes to Madison Square Garden, he's going to hear some boos. So will Mamdani, but Trump will probably hear more.
BOLDUAN: He loves that. All -- all of you rich folks buying $125,000 tickets. You can boo me. I'm an every man's man. I'm just playing -- tonight, I'm playing the role of Donald Trump. Thank you, guys.
RIECKHOFF: Good luck with that one.
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: I know I look the part. It's good to see you. OUTFRONT for us next, a new report claims the White House helped steer a massive Pentagon contract to a company tied to Donald Trump, Jr. The reporter who broke that story is our guest.
Plus, live pictures of the White House where you can see that -- you see that -- that massive structure going up, going up for Donald Trump's cage fight. Tickets already, speaking of ticket prices reportedly reaching $1.5 million.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BOLDUAN: Tonight, a new report that the White House intervened to steer a massive Pentagon contract to a company tied to Donald Trump, Jr. That's according to "ProPublica", which also found the key operator connecting it all was White House adviser Peter Navarro, a friend of Don Jr.'s.
"ProPublica" has learned that Navarro made a request to Pentagon officials to award a $620 million deal to a small North Carolina firm specializing in rare earth magnets that the president's son invested in just months prior.
OUTFRONT now, Robert Faturechi, the reporter at "ProPublica" who broke this story.
And it is quite a read, Robert, I have to say, from beginning to end.
For the White House to get involved in something like this is obviously rare, to say the least. But tell us more about what you've learned from sources inside the Pentagon about how the White House really -- really got involved.
ROBERT FATURECHI, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: Yeah. So there have been multiple instances of the Trump administration taking actions that benefit companies that are connected to the Trump family. This is the first known instance of an agency entering into a contract with a Trump connected family, and that being traced back to the White House.
What we learned is that Peter Navarro originally pushed this deal to the Pentagon and the thinking within the division of the Pentagon that handles these kinds of loans was the call came from the White House. We have to get this done.
Companies are typically evaluated for many months. In this case, it was done in a matter of weeks, which is rapid for this kind of thing. You know, people were staying up at late, long -- you know, long workdays, all hands on deck trying to get this done.
BOLDUAN: And you make clear in the report that Don Jr. and Peter Navarro are pretty close friends, that Don even had Navarro on his streaming show soon before the deal was announced. Here's just a little bit of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, JR., SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: When I met your now, now sweetheart, the first time, was actually in a federal prison down in South Florida. I had to come visit my boy. And you got pretty jacked in prison, though. I mean, you had the time. I mean, I was like, damn, Peter, Peter, you look ripped.
PETER NAVARRO, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know, when my back was against the wall, you had my back, brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: What -- what more did you learn or do you know about their relationship?
FATURECHI: Yeah. I mean, this is a close bond. Don Jr. visited Peter Navarro in prison when he was there in between Trump -- President Trump's two terms. Don, Jr. was one of the small group of people who Peter Navarro dedicated his latest book to. They are close.
And what we learned is that three months after Don Jr.'s firm invested in this small North Carolina startup, you know, the Defense Department went in and gave this company a record breaking loan. We're talking about potentially hundreds of millions of dollars if all conditions are met.
And that was great news for Don Jr.'s firm. Between the time that they invested to a few months after this government deal was announced, so we're talking about a short time frame, estimates of the valuation of this company multiplied by 10.
BOLDUAN: So then is it clear at all or how much, Don Jr. could stand to make from this deal?
FATURECHI: We don't know the size of the investment. So that's a question that we also wanted to get the answer to. We have reached out to all the parties involved.
None of them answered detailed questions. Trump Jr.'s spokesperson said he had nothing to do with this. We also -- I reached out directly to Peter Navarro to get his side of how this all came to be. I got no response from him. He referred me to the White House.
But today, he tweeted the story, saying that it was false and calling me a fake news bandit. So, we would still love to talk to him, but we have not yet.
BOLDUAN: It's great to have you on. I really appreciate it. And have your reporting and see what comes from it. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
FATURECHI: Thank you for having me.
BOLDUAN: Thank you.
I want to bring in now, Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the Defense Department. There's a lot to work through, Ryan, on what they -- what he is
reporting here. Is this illegal?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: So based on the reporting, it's interesting in the ways in which it's not illegal. It basically swims right around the lines of where the crimes are.
So there's a crime for conflict of interest. It looks exactly like one, except Don Jr. is not a government employee. So it doesn't apply.
There's a crime for obviously bribery, but Peter Navarro is getting no financial benefit out of this arrangement. So, that one doesn't apply.
There's a crime for denial of honest services, but that would be like a kickback scheme. Navarro is not getting a kickback. So he's doing it -- if he's doing it out of his personal relationship to Don Jr., and he feels indebted to him in a kind of moral or personal way, that's not where the law is. It might be deeply unethical, it might be corrupt, but it's not criminal.
BOLDUAN: It's fascinating.
What do you make of, as Robert was describing, the speed with which the Pentagon reportedly kind of received the "ask" and then went through with kind of pushing this through? Normally, it's months and they were talking -- and he says that from his reporting and sources, it was -- it was weeks.
GOODMAN: Yeah. The baseline is a very careful vetting process at the Pentagon for procurements, especially because they're dealing with national security issues. In this case, it's a company involved with critical minerals.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
GOODMAN: And so, they need also vet the company upwards and downwards. This is also a company that was started just a couple of years ago by a student in Harvard Business School at the time.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
GOODMAN: And their first factory, according to the "ProPublica" reporting, was opened in March of 2025. So you'd think, of all companies that would require a lot of vetting, the idea that the White House is intervening and that it's been done in that kind of expedited schedule, is a very anomalous is what I -- is the way I'd put it. So it raises all sorts of red flags.
BOLDUAN: What -- what question would you want to ask -- would you want the White House if you could get a -- if you could get a straight clear answer on this one, what would your question be?
GOODMAN: I guess the biggest question would be, why did you pick this company? I mean, it's such a small fry company. What was the process that went into it? I'd love to see the paperwork as to why they evaluated that this
company would be the right pick. And it doesn't sound as though the Defense Department was going to pick the company. It really seemed to suggest that the intervention was from a White House aide -- Peter Navarro intervening both to get the company picked and then to expedite the process.
To me, that's the -- one of the most concerning aspects of it.
BOLDUAN: On such a critical thing as they're trying to make a push to make a break from China on these critical -- on these critical rare earth minerals. This is such an important thing to get right.
GOODMAN: Completely, it's a top priority.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
GOODMAN: And I understand why they want to expedite the whole process --
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
GOODMAN: -- of procurement in that space. But this would obviously be a very dangerous way to do it, given that it so much relies on this company actually coming through.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming in.
GOODMAN: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT next, rain now complicating the dangerous mission to free the five men who've been stuck in a cave for more than a week, as we're now hearing from them for the first time.
Plus, the cage fight on the South Lawn. The structure now dwarfing the White House and Harry Enten is next to tell us something we don't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:54]
BOLDUAN: Tonight, there are new images from the White House south lawn where crews this hour are building a massive cage for the UFC fight scheduled around President Trump's 80th birthday now just two weeks away. UFC is reportedly spending $60 million on what you're seeing on your screen, including the event itself.
But the organizers say that they expect it to lose as much as $30 million on the fight. All of that according to sports business journal. And one reporter has even learned that VIP tickets are reportedly going for as much as $1.5 million.
Harry Enten is here to tell us something we don't know.
Like who's going to pay that? HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: And I was going to say that I
can't afford that ticket.
BOLDUAN: So, $60 million of putting into this.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: And expecting or anticipating to lose $30 million? I mean, how big is UFC now?
ENTEN: I mean, UFC is huge now. One way to put it into some perspective for you, right, is how many people tuned in to the initial event on Paramount+. It was 5 million people who tuned in.
To give you an idea, so far in the NHL playoffs this year, from rounds one and two, the average game is getting 3.3 million average viewership. Now, you know, that's not exactly apples to apples.
[19:50:02]
But it does suggest and what a lot of the polling suggests as well, is that UFC right now is like the number four sport in America, right? It's football, baseball, basketball and then UFC. It's huge.
BOLDUAN: It's huge. And it's also part of -- the group I would say if I'm going to generalize, that is attracted to this most -- young men, are a big part of what helped get Donald Trump elected this time around. How is he doing with them right now?
ENTEN: Yeah. Okay. So, you know, as you mentioned, you know, you look at the polling, you see that, you know, the younger fans, it tends to be younger folks, younger men specifically, who are the big fans of UFC. And Donald Trump, of course, put in a historic performance with them back in the 2024 election for a Republican candidate for president. He actually won them. He won men under the age of 30 by a point.
Look at his net approval rating now, though, with them. Oh my goodness gracious. He is --
BOLDUAN: I was literally about to ask if that was a typo.
ENTEN: No, that is not a typo. Me and my crack crew spend many hours on those slides, and we can tell you that is not a typo. That is a 56- point move against the president of the United States among young men who helped put him over the top of the election. And now he is very much struggling with them.
Maybe that's part of the reason why he wants to put on an event like this, to try and connect with some of them.
BOLDUAN: But, but, but, there are people with reservations about kind of how this whole thing is set up. Like Joe Rogan is openly criticizing having this fight at the White House, which is, according to "Sports Business Journal", UFC is also paying $700,000 to repair the grass that will be damaged by this, that actually -- that is a real thing though. Don't giggle.
You can't have the grass at the south lawn being --
(CROSSTALK)
ENTEN: -- a groundskeeper.
BOLDUAN: No, you would be a poor one -- a very bad one, I would say.
I want to play for you what Rogan said.
ENTEN: Okay
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: The White House thing is odd. I don't like it. I don't like the idea of fighting outside at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Rogan is taking some time.
Tell us something we don't know.
ENTEN: I'll tell you something that you don't know, Kate Bolduan, which is I went back through the record books and I was wondering, you know, an event outside? That, in my opinion, never happens with the UFC. And in fact, in America before this White House event, there have been 000 UFC fights that have actually occurred outside in events in America.
Now, there was one overseas. But the bottom line is this is really rare. No wonder Rogan is so perturbed by it.
BOLDUAN: Perturbed.
It's good to see you.
ENTEN: Nice to see you.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Harry.
OUTFRONT for us next, for the first time we are hearing from the men trapped inside a cave for over a week now, as rescuers are beginning the dangerous task of trying to finally get them out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:10]
BOLDUAN: Tonight, a battle for survival. Rescue crews are racing to drain water and clear a passage to finally extract five men stuck in a cave in Laos. Rain, though, is now complicating the efforts, meaning they could be forced to swim out after everything they've been through were so dangerous already. All, as we're hearing from those men for the first time. Will Ripley OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time since floodwaters trapped them hundreds of feet underground, Laos villagers send emotional video messages to their families. "Don't worry, mom and dad. I'm still strong. I'll be able to go home soon," he says.
"Don't worry, mom. The rescue team has reached us now. We're safe."
Officials say they came to this cave hunting for gold and almost lost their lives. These five have been found so far, but two are still missing.
"The important thing is that you're alive. It's okay, it's okay. You've done really well. Don't cry," a rescue diver says.
Monsoon rains flooded these tunnels, trapping the men in total darkness. They lost track of time, telling rescuers they thought 18 days had passed when officials say it was only seven.
Now they're finally getting food and fresh water as rescuers coordinate a daunting and dangerous operation to bring them back to safety.
"It took us about three hours to get in here," this rescuer says as his team stops for a food break inside the cave. "Right now, they're setting up the pump system to remove the water as quickly as possible," he adds.
New video from inside the cave shows just how remote the survivors are. The route to get them involves bends, crawling sections, squeeze points and more than 800 feet of rope line. At times, rescuers navigated muddy underground streams with only their heads and shoulders above water.
Crews are excavating an access route through dense jungle, trying to move a larger generator closer to the cave entrance. A bigger generator could mean faster pumping, allowing the men to crawl out without having to attempt a perilous plunge through murky black water.
Rescuers need to lower the water levels, keep oxygen flowing inside and avoid sending the survivors through flooded passages unless absolutely necessary.
"We'll find a way to get you out, so stay calm," this Thai rescue diver tells the men. He's part of a multinational rescue team, drawing directly on lessons learned during Thailand's dramatic 2018 rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team. They survived 18 days trapped inside a flooded cave.
Now, that same hard won experience is being used in Laos, oxygen tanks staged along the route, strict entry controls, backup divers ready if something goes wrong. Will Ripley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Just remarkable, what's all going into that effort now.
Thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
