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Erin Burnett Outfront
Sources: Mass Firings Begin At Office Of Director Of National Intelligence; Iran Pushes Back On Vance's Claim About Nuclear Inspectors; Sources: Note Said Nancy Guthrie Died Shortly After Kidnapping. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired June 22, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:21]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, mass firings. Trump's controversial acting DNI now slashing jobs as we speak, just as Iran says no to a key part of Trump's agreement.
Plus, Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of JFK, running in a wild race for Congress. Polls opening in just a few hours. How are his chances looking? Schlossberg is OUTFRONT.
Also breaking this hour, a major development tonight about Savannah Guthrie's mother. Details from a note believed to be from the kidnappers just made public for the first time tonight.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, mass firings now underway. The acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, just seen at the White House today, is now slashing jobs. A source telling CNN the, quote, "deep state firings have begun".
Sources previously told CNN Pulte was looking at hundreds of jobs to cut at the office of the DNI.
Now, of course, Pulte hasn't spent a day of his career working in national intelligence, but experience is not what is valued in his role as DNI. And the cuts are coming at a vulnerable moment.
Trump's Iran deal is once again in chaos. Iran knocking down Trump and Vice President Vance's claims of a major milestone.
Here's Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors into their country for the first time in a long time. Letting in the inspectors is a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And here's President Trump writing online, quote, "Everybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have major weapons inspections in order to ensure nuclear honesty long into the future."
Now, of course, such inspections were part of the JCPOA. The only problem this time around is that Iran says that there is no such agreement.
This chaos about this deal that was, you know, signed, and then it was signed again, and then it was signed again, and it's all very confusing, is coming after Trump once again threatened to annihilate Iran. Posting about the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, quote, "You close it, and you won't have a country. You won't even make it back to your effing country."
Okay, well, to that, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator responded, "We don't take the Americans' threats seriously."
Trump is undeterred, though, by the lack of credibility his threats seem to have made. So we made another threat today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Iran doesn't live up to their agreement or if they're not behaving, I will do what I have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I'll do what I have to do. I mean, and even you won't make it back to your effing country. Was he threatening to assassinate the nuclear negotiators on their way back to Iran? I mean, such a thing is, you know, sort of defies credulity.
And the issue of respect goes beyond Iran. It comes right back here to the United States. All right, so take a look at this video, because it and others like it have been going viral on social media globally. As they say, what you're looking at is Vance standing at this weekend's summit while attendees appear to -- well, snub him, not really want to talk to him.
Now, Vance denies that's the context, but right here in the U.S., he's being called out by popular conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN SHAPIRO, CONSERVATIVE HOST: Vice President J.D. Vance spent the weekend looking weak in front of the Qataris, the Pakistanis, and most of all, the Iranians. In fact, I've never seen a weaker look from a Republican politician. It is not peace through strength. It is war through weakness. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's a Trump ally speaking. And some of America's closest allies and friends are also just handling Trump and this administration now differently. The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, now says she's not going to attend the U.S. Embassy's July 4th celebrations. The decision came after Trump has been attacking Meloni, accusing her of wanting a picture with him or something.
He told an Italian media outlet, she begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly, I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.
Well, Meloni decided, in this case, to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Donald Trump's statements are fully made-up statements. I'm frankly stunned. But he has to remember one thing, me and Italy, we never beg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's just a totally different way of handling him, and it's happening from quarter and quarter and quarter.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT, live outside the White House.
And, Kristen, I mentioned your new reporting at the top of the program, the mass firings now underway at the hands of the acting DNI Bill Pulte. What more are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it's not just Iran that puts the U.S. in a vulnerable position. I've been talking to these intelligence sources who are deeply concerned about these massive cuts, citing things like the World Cup, citing things like all of the events that are surrounding the America 250 celebration.
[19:05:02]
These are huge national security events, and we're hearing from sources that both the National Counterterrorism Center and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, those are the places within the Office of Director of National Intelligence that are expected to take the most cuts when it comes to this mass firing. Now, my source would not say how many people were fired. As you mentioned, Pulte had said that he wanted to go in and fire hundreds of people. In fact, asked for a list of names so he could go through and essentially decide who he wanted to cut before he had even started in the job.
Now this is coming on the same day that we heard from the top Democrats on both the House and Senate intelligence committees and I want to read you one line from this letter they put out, and this letter is to Pulte about the rumor of these firings before we had confirmed that they'd actually started. And it says, "Given your lack have experience within the intelligence community, it is difficult to imagine that in such a short amount of time, you have already developed fully informed views as to how to shrink ODNI without incurring risks to national security."
Now, the big question that we have is how closely he is working with Republicans. I was told he is working with Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee, but we're just not sure what it actually looks like in terms of these cuts. One of the other points about this that you noted is that Pulte was in the Oval Office with President Trump today.
There is something to be said about that. When was the last time you saw DNI Gabbard in the Oval Office with President Trump?
One of the things that everyone around Bill Pulte has said is the reason he's in this position is that he knows how to work with Trump. He knows how to work Trump. He is around him all the time. He calls him all the time. And again, he shows up at the White House.
Now, it certainly does appear as though the era of Tulsi Gabbard within the DNI is over because I want to tell you this, this comes from two of our Intel reporters that Cohen and Katie Bo Lillis, who say this, that when Gabbard came into office, she posted dozens of photos of herself throughout the corridors. Those have now all been taken down.
BURNETT: All right, Kristen, thank you very much. I guess that's where, you know, picture says a thousand words.
OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator, I appreciate your time.
So you hear Kristen's new reporting that the mass firings at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are underway. So Pulte went in and was at the White House today and now had a list, I guess, that he was going to look at before with a bunch of names on it. I don't know how he's supposedly making these decisions, but that he was going to come in and the firings were -- are happening right now. Do you know anything about who is being fired and what reasons being given?
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): No, and I know what the pattern of this administration is. Remember what DOGE did? It went out and didn't use a scalpel. It just started laying off people left and right.
And we're seeing the results of that right now. We've got a screw worm affecting cattle in the South of our country. That could have been prevented and detected by people that they actually fired.
And so here is something far greater of a threat than that. It's our very national security. It's the safety of Americans at a time from the World Cup to a war in the Middle East that we're seeing various threats coming into our country that should make us all very concerned. You don't just go in in a DOGE way and start throwing people out. You
do it in a substantive, methodical way by somebody who has extensive national security experience. He has absolutely none.
BURNETT: And I mean, I'm just, again, you know, they're reporting here that they're mass firings. It could be hundreds of people, and we don't -- I just think it's worth emphasizing, right, that you sit on the Foreign Relations Committee. This is DNI. You know nothing about it.
I mean, this is all happening under a cloak of darkness. You mentioned the national security threat, and the context of this, of course, is what's going on on many fronts. But let's just take Iran.
Vice President Vance and Iran are saying two very different things about an agreement when it comes to nuclear inspections. Have you been told anything about this deal? Because, you know, the deal was signed, and then a deal was signed again, and then Vance went again to Switzerland to sign.
So there's a lot of confusion out there about what exactly this all is. Have you been told anything about this in your role in the Foreign Relations Committee?
BOOKER: No, and that's the thing. Remember, this president doesn't respect the co-equal branch of Congress. This president goes out and does what he wants to do, even if it's unconstitutional, unjustifiable, and dangerous. That has been this whole war, and if there's anything that's been consistent, and this casts a shadow on everything he's saying right now, is every step of this, he lied.
Last year, he bombed Iranian nuclear programs, said it was completely obliterated. That was a lie.
He said that he was going to help. Help is on the way to the tens of thousands of Iranians who were protesting this regime that he said it was going to help. He has not.
He said he was going to get regime change. He did not. This regime, the same family, more extreme.
He said he was going to deal with their ballistic missiles. He has not.
He, in fact, said he was going to get unconditional surrender. But if you look at that deal, the substance of it, the only person that seems to have surrendered unconditionally is Donald Trump, because even the deal that he signed gave them all of the benefits, hundreds of billions of dollars, lifting of sanctions, and we've got nothing substantive in return.
We are understanding some of those oil sanctions, of course, lifted today as we speak. So even as all of this is, you know, Trump's threatening to annihilate them again, and you might not even get back to your country, those sanctions were lifted. So --
BOOKER: And they're getting billions of dollars of money to repair, rebuild, restock their supplies.
BURNETT: So Trump was snubbed by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgio Maloney. And I bring this up to you, Senator, because obviously, he says she wants a picture and she says she, you know, there's this sort of gossipy part underneath this, right?
But then there's the serious level where she actually goes out to say, I'm going to take this on because we don't beg and we don't make decisions about flyover rights and use of bases based on personal relationships. I do what's best for my country.
And she's handling him in a way that we haven't seen much of before, but in the context of the way Iran is handling him, it's not inconsistent in the context of the J.D. Vance stuff that we just heard about and Ben Shapiro, it's not inconsistent.
When you sit on the Foreign Relations Committee, have you seen a shift in the respect in other governments for America?
BOOKER: Absolutely. I sit in a position where I meet with heads of state, ambassadors, members of parliament. And from North American allies to European allies, Donald Trump is a joke. No one takes him seriously. They recognize how dangerous he is, not just to European security or North American security, but really dangerous to the overall global security of this world.
We are at a point in our country where we have a president who is a known liar, who no one takes seriously, acts like a buffoon overseas. But even worse than that, he puts unserious people into very serious positions, whether it's the DNI head that we just talked about that has no national security experience, or Hegseth, who seems to be like somebody who should be out at a frat party and not leading the largest and most powerful military on the planet Earth.
BURNETT: One final thing. I know you spoke at the Teamsters convention recently, and I just wanted to play a couple of moments so everyone could see what your speech was like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOOKER: This nation was built by men and women in a storm who took to the hill. Teamsters, will you stand on that hill again? Teamsters, it may not be Bunker Hill. It may not be the cliffs of Normandy, but our country is in the balance. We need heroes. You are the heroes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Senator, in 2024, that union chose not to officially endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in nearly three decades, and they had endorsed Democrats through those entire three decades. Are you hoping that will change, that they will endorse you in 2028?
BOOKER: I guess what I'm hoping for is that both parties recognize that we have failed to meet this moment and that the Democratic Party start to stand for working people in every way again to inspire their moral imagination in the way that my grandfather, who worked on assembly lines for the UAW and moved, as most blacks were Republicans back then, and then switched quickly to the Democratic Party because that was a party of everybody from rural farmers to urban factory workers.
The Democratic Party needs some serious change. We need to start standing for working people and rebuilding trust people like the Teamsters, so we never see another day that they don't understand who's fighting for them.
BURNETT: Senator Booker, I appreciate your time and thank you very much on this Monday.
And K-File is here. He has uncovered more examples of Trump and members of his cabinet's blatant hypocrisy when it comes to the Iran agreement, right? We showed you a couple of examples today.
Trump, you know, by the way, attacked former President Barack Obama after Obama's Iran deal. He said he gave away leverage too early in nuclear negotiations. He slammed him every way he could, argued that sanctions relief and unfreezing Iranian funds were a mistake. He said every one of those things. He said things like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would have made a deal not from desperation. I would have doubled and tripled up the sanctions, and I would have made a much better deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's just one of many comments uncovered by KFILE showing Trump, Marco Rubio, and J.D. Vance spending years warning that giving Iran access to money would strengthen the regime and could ultimately fund future terrorist activity. And here we are. There were sanctions relief today, about $10 billion, and there's a lot more where that's coming from.
OUTFRONT now are Andrew Kaczynski.
So, Andrew, what's amazing is, on any given day, you can take the event, find something that they said a few years ago that is completely contradictory with what's being said now. But you went through Rubio, Vance, Trump, and you found it again and again and again.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, yeah, and Erin, for the better part of a decade, Trump's criticism of former President Obama's Iran deal has settled on this simple argument that giving Iran access to money made the regime stronger while giving away American leverage.
[19:15:00]
Take a listen to him here in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We've rewarded the world's leading state sponsor of terror with $150 billion, and we received absolutely nothing in return.
It's a one-sided transaction where we're giving back $150 billion to a terrorist state, really, the number one terrorist state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: So Trump argued repeatedly that giving Iran access to frozen assets wasn't just a bad deal. He said it made Iran stronger. He also argued the United States should never lift sanctions before securing concessions from Iran.
Listen to him here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We've made them a strong country from really a very weak country.
We took the sanctions off. We got nothing for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: So these arguments, Erin, were not just about nuclear policy, they were about money. Trump and his allies argued that even if these funds were restricted, freeing up Iranian assets would still strengthen the regime, and increase its ability to fund destabilizing activity in the Middle East.
BURNETT: It is really incredible when you look at some of these things that you've found, right, just how direct it is.
KACZYNSKI: We could be talking about this very deal.
BURNETT: Yeah, I mean, it's just so direct and so clear, and it wasn't just Trump.
KACZYNSKI: Well, it was not just Trump. That's right. J.D. Vance repeatedly argued that one of the most effective ways to pressure Iran was to limit the regime's access to oil revenue. Listen to him here in 2024.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: If you want to check Iran, the way to do it is to, one, withdraw their oil money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But under the new agreement, under the new agreement, the United States agreed to issue waivers for Iranian oil exports.
And Vance and Marco Rubio, who's obviously now Secretary of State, didn't stop there. As senators, both men backed legislation seeking to refreeze Iranian assets that had been released by the Biden administration. It was called the Revoke Iranian Funding Act of 2023.
And that bill argued there is no safe way to release any Iranian funds because they basically argue that money is fungible and can be used in a lot of places. A summary of the bill provided by the senators at the time said, quote, "Iran has explicitly acknowledged their willingness to use any and all monetary gains to support acts of terrorism, and funds released to Iran for so-called humanitarian purposes cannot be reliably prevented from funding future terrorist attacks."
So in other words, Rubio and Vance argued that even money designated for humanitarian purposes that's ultimately going to free up resources for the Iranian and help them fund future terrorism.
Now, this deal could be poised to do just that. Now, we did reach out to the Trump administration. They argue that we're not making a fair comparison here, a senior administration official told CNN that it would be, quote, "moronic to compare the terms of the agreement to the legislation backed by Ruby and Vance. They cited the military action against Iran, the conditions attached to any future release of funds.
And State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told CNN, quote, "Rubio and the entire administration is 100 percent in lockstep behind President Trump here."
BURNETT: All right. I guess, you know, maybe they are now? I don't know, publicly, privately. We'll see. Time's going to show a lot here.
Andrew Kaczynski, thank you very much.
And next, breaking news in the search for Savannah Guthrie's mother. We're learning what Guthrie's alleged kidnappers are believed to have said in a note for the very first time tonight.
Plus, Trump now hurling threats and accusations after the reflecting pool quickly filled with algae, just days after, I'm sorry, his $14 million renovations were done.
And the race for Manhattan polls about to open in one of the biggest and most expensive House races, a race that includes JFK's only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is our guest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, all eyes on New York City in one of the biggest congressional races of this year, polls opening just a few hours, and a crowded field of eight Democrats are vying for one open seat. And it's a really rare thing for this seat to be open.
So, here's the candidates. They include Republican-turned anti-Trump critic George Conway, former tech engineer-turned A.I. critic Alex Bores, State Assemblyman Michal Lasher, and my next guest, former President John F. Kennedy's only grandson.
OUTFRONT now, Jack Schlossberg, Democratic candidate for Congress in New York. And Jack, I appreciate your time. So here we are. And I was, you know,
as you walked out here, I said it has been a long time outside my memory that this district has had a race like this. You were pointing to the money being spent on it hours away, crowded field. How do you feel?
JACK SCHLOSSBERG, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS IN NEW YORK: I'm so excited. This has been the best week of my whole life. I've been on the street corners at early poll sites. We're loving the turnout. We feel great about it.
I am so proud of this district and grateful to the people who've helped me. You know, we've run a great campaign so far and we are excited for Election Day.
BURNETT: OK, so now your opponents point out I was going through, you know, you've got engineer turned A.I. critic and Republican turned anti-Trump critic. OK, your resume is different and obviously your -- your rivals have been quick to point out you don't have as much political experience as some of them do. You were a political correspondent at Vogue.
You had a stint as a staff assistant at the State Department. But they say, look, your political resume is thin. You don't have the experience.
What do you say to them and to people who have that question about your experience?
SCHLOSSBERG: I think if you think the Democratic Party doesn't need to change anything, that we're doing just fine and the playbook that has been used for the last 25 years has been working, then I'm definitely not your candidate.
But if you think we need to do things differently and bring people in from the outside, who can get people excited about politics, who believes in public service, and who's running a campaign that's not funded by a Republican billionaire, can you believe that in one of the most blue districts in the entire country, a progressive stronghold, this is one of the most important seats in the entire Congress, funded by, or my two major opponents, are funded by Republican billionaires.
This is going to be the second most expensive House primary ever, and that is because of a bunch of A.I. money coming in on the one side for Alex Bores. He's funded by Anthropic.
On the other hand, our campaign is different. Our average contribution is 30 bucks. We have a people-powered campaign with real policies, like deducting your rent from your taxes and making Trump pay for the cost of Trump Tower.
BURNETT: So, okay, so when you talk about the need for a different leadership, okay, and you're making that point. Obviously, though, your first campaign ad did send a different signal. It featured the former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Obviously, she spent nearly 40 storied years in Congress, but here it is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Jack Schlossberg is giving people something to believe in again. He gives people hope. And because of that, his candidacy will help Democrats win across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, obviously, that was a nod to experience matters and you wanted that when you started out. But do you think that helps or hurts your messaging of saying, if you want the same old, I'm not your guy?
SCHLOSSBERG: Yeah, what does Nancy Pelosi know about how Congress works and how to pick winners? She is the backbone of the Democratic Party. She is the most important woman in American political history. She understands what we're up against. She's one of the only political leaders in this country who has successfully taken on Trump and gotten under his skin, and she knows what we're up against.
She knows how important and critical this moment is and how necessary it is for the party to change. And so, yes, she understands that I represent what the new generation needs and is demanding here in Manhattan.
BURNETT: So the hottest person in Democratic politics is not a Democrat, he's a Democratic socialist, and it is the current New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Now, he has not endorsed anyone in your race. So he hasn't endorsed you, but it's not as if he's picked someone else, but he stayed out of it, which stands out because he has loudly and clearly endorsed in several other races. So he has done that.
Are you disappointed that he didn't back you? I mean, after all, you're about the same age, right? You've got sort of that same message of if you want the same old, I'm not your guy.
SCHLOSSBERG: No, you know, I'm not here to second guess the mayor, and I bet I would be smiling if I got to see his ballot, but that's between him and, you know, look, the mayor represents hope. He's done a great job for this city so far. I can't wait to work with him as a congressperson, and I'm not here to second guess his political instincts.
I did support him. I'm the only person, major candidate who endorsed him before his primary. The others got on board later. So, you know what? I think people who want to know what the mayor thinks, should ask themselves and then vote for Schlossberg.
BURNETT: Okay, so one anecdote that's following you in this race is that then the day you launched your campaign, and some people watching this may have heard this, your staff wanted you to make fundraising calls. You were launching your campaign, and you said you need to go home and nap, okay?
Now, when someone said that story, I said, oh, I remember that, right? Everyone remembers that story. Now, you then talked to our Isaac Dovere here at CNN, and you said to him that this happened during an incredibly difficult time in your life, which you have and are still, obviously, in the midst of grieving.
At that time, you were visiting your sister, Tatiana, who was being treated for leukemia, but that wasn't something you wanted to share at that time, it was intensely private. And Tatiana, of course, passed away at the end of the year.
How has that impacted you and where you are right now?
SCHLOSSBERG: Well, I will answer that part of your question, but I just want to talk about, you know, this idea that I was taking a nap or I'm running a campaign that is not doing meeting more people, releasing more policy plans, and doing it all with more passion than any other campaign.
And we have been painted in a certain light by people who don't want us to win. And we know that on the ground we're hearing a lot different. We've run a disciplined campaign that is going to compete with tens of millions of dollars without having a super PAC. That's why they call me No-PAC Jack.
And I'm proud of that. I think that represents the future of American politics. I think money in politics is the most important issue and question facing our country right now and the reason that Democrats can't get anything done in Congress. And people in New York City are smart enough to be able to tell the difference between an article that is resistant to something new and somebody who wants to actually make change.
My sister's out there campaigning with me every day. She lives in my heart.
BURNETT: Jack, thank you very much.
SCHLOSSBERG: Thank you.
BURNETT: Jack Schlossberg, as I said, that race is tomorrow and polls open here in Manhattan in just a few hours.
[19:30:02]
And next, there's breaking news in the search for Nancy Guthrie. Details about a note believed to be written by Guthrie's kidnappers have just been released for the first time.
And one-time Trump ally, Tucker Carlson, coming out tonight with this shocking statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: I would not support the Republican Party. There's no chance I would support the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's a pretty stunning statement, even from someone who has become an incredibly vocal Trump critic. The question is, are there a lot more people like Tucker Carlson?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, a major development tonight in the case of Nancy Guthrie, who has been missing for nearly five months. Multiple law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation telling CNN that a note believed to be sent by the kidnappers and sent on February 6th said that Nancy Guthrie had died.
Investigators believe kidnappers sent a total of two notes, and they believe they are authentic.
[19:35:04]
This note followed an initial one that demanded a ransom of millions of dollars.
I want to go straight to Nick Watt.
And Nick, this second note has been a major mystery in the investigation. What more can you tell us?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Erin, there were a bunch of notes, most of which were discounted. There are two notes that investigators believe are legit. The first sent February 3rd, standard ransom note demanding millions of dollars setting deadlines. Then the second note that you've mentioned sent February 6th to a local news station in Arizona.
And in that note, the person who wrote it said that Nancy Guthrie had died. She had died shortly after the kidnapping and that they did not mean kill her.
Now, could this be possible? Sure. I mean, listen, Nancy Guthrie was 84 years old. We know that she was taken without any of her medications that she needed and also that her pacemaker disconnected from the app on her phone at 2:28 that morning of February 1st.
So, yes, could she have died shortly after the kidnapping? Absolutely.
Now, as I said, those two notes believed to be authentic. And at the time, authorities did not want this detail released that Nancy Guthrie had potentially died because they wanted to be able, apparently, to authenticate future communications with this possible kidnapper.
So, you know, that video that then came out about a week later of the guy on the doorstep with the mask and the backpack, which they managed to identify, everybody thought that was going to be a breakthrough. It wasn't. Still, about five months later, and we still don't know.
BURNETT: Which is -- it's just -- it's impossible to really understand that. I mean, that note, as you point out, but the second one here that you're referring to the new details on, it was on February 6th. The next day, Nick, there was that message from Savannah, which had a different tone than her previous public messages about her mother.
Let me just play it.
WATT: Yeah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC "TODAY SHOW" HOST: We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: At the time, Nick, that, you know, everyone sensed a difference there. There was a question about whether they were thinking about whether she was okay or not. But now, obviously, that message, in the context of what you're reporting, does make more sense.
WATT: It does. And you know, Nancy -- Savannah Guthrie, I'm sorry, just before she returned to "The Today Show", she gave an interview and she said, you know, we think most of the notes were nonsense, but two of them that we responded to, we do believe are real. And that second note would be the one that we've just been discussing that apparently says she died.
Now, the Pima County Sheriff's Department, they told us this afternoon, the investigation active and ongoing -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Nick, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to Chip Massey, retired FBI hostage negotiator OUTFRONT.
And, you know, Chip, this is obviously a hugely significant and sad development. What do you think, though, about why law enforcement would be revealing these details at this moment?
CHIP MASSEY, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Yeah, thank you, Erin. Exactly. That's a great question. So we've seen them go through so many of the leads. We saw all the investigative efforts that we were aware of that we were privy to, and now there's the new note that we're being made aware of is critical. So this could be a juncture where law enforcement believes perhaps that the abductors are in fact listening to what is happening now.
This could be a reach out, and I would certainly want this to be a reach out to the abductors to let them know that this is the time to reach out in some way to let us know where Nancy is and to give this family final relief. The messaging itself, Erin, as you pointed out, is also interesting because now we're shifting -- the captors have shifted from a point of leverage to now it seems like they're trying to manage the narrative, right? This was an accident. Something went wrong. We didn't mean it to go
this way. Whatever the wording is, that's a narrative control. And so what we're seeing is that perhaps they're thinking, In the event that we are caught or we want the public to see us in this light as opposed to this as murderous kidnappers.
BURNETT: So you know, I know recently when there were remains found somewhere outside of Tucson, it turned out that they were returned to Native American populations, that they could have been thousands of years old.
[19:40:02]
Okay, I'm just making the point that it's a vast area, and there's a lot of things that we don't know about it.
But if Nancy Guthrie did die, as this indicates, at the very beginning of February, and investigators still haven't found her, what does that mean? I mean, are you surprised in this time that we are living in that such a thing could be possible?
MASSEY: Oh, absolutely, Erin, with -- along with you and the rest of this nation and the world, we're all stymied, like you're pointing to.
All the Ring cameras, all the possible people that could be out there, all the surveillance cameras that the abductors would have crossed, you know, mistakes being made. All of this just brings to the forefront of everything had to go perfectly -- almost perfectly for this to happen without them being detected without there being a -- you know --
BURNETT: Yeah.
MASSEY: -- that they've been brought to justice yet.
BURNETT: All right. Chip, thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time tonight.
Next, a terrible parasite has returned and it is hurting America's livestock food supply. One senator now blaming DOGE.
Plus, Trump trying to save face after his $14 million renovation to the reflecting pool is already in need of repair. Former Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, Gretchen Carlson are on deck, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:51]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump claiming that the blue material peeling off in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, just renovated for $14 million, was cut in an act of vandalism. Trump is also increasing the size of the damage as he sees it within minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Are the contractors who did the initial work for the reflecting pool, are they to blame for the current condition or does it --
TRUMP: No, no, we have vandalism. Vandals -- you know, we have 100 -- and we have a -- I think 293 hundred foot slit right through it. Probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind.
REPORTER: Did you have proof of that?
TRUMP: Yeah, yeah. Well, let's put it this way. When you have a 350, I think it's 350, not 250, a 350 foot slit, from one end to the other. You think that's proof?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump also says there are photos to back up what he says and they would be released, quote, at the right time in court. But it comes as new video also shows authorities setting up surveillance cameras in the area.
And as the Interior Department says, five people have been arrested for vandalism and five others given citations.
OUTFRONT now, former Congressman Ambassador Sean Patrick Maloney and Gretchen Carlson.
And Gretchen, you know, what does it tell you that Trump, this is, you know, it's funny, we're saying you look up with all the things going on in the world, the reflecting pool is a story, because Trump keeps talking about it and he has invested a lot of time in talking about it and money in doing it.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF LIFT OUR VOICES: Yeah, because this is a tribute to Trump, even though it doesn't have his name on it. I mean, if there's one thing we've learned in this second administration, it's that things that are adoring for him are things that are on the top of the list of importance.
I would also just add that the second maybe most important thing in this administration has been retribution and getting back at your enemies which is why you're seeing the idea that this was vandals that that started this and imagine what the penalty will be if they can actually prove this.
But, look, if he had pictures of people vandalizing it. Those would be front page. Those would be out today.
BURNETT: Right, right.
CARLSON: So let's see if that ever comes to fruition.
BURNETT: Right, and then there's a layer of there was already algae, there were all these other issues, just to get into the detail here, Ambassador. So Trump was asked about the contractors, plural. "The New York Times"
though reports that the National Park Service gave a $1.7 million no- bid contract to a contractor called Green Water -- green water, not even blue water. I'm sorry. OK, I didn't. I didn't realize that till it came out of my mouth.
OK, there's the guy, John J. Cafaro, who happens to be -- are you prepared to be shocked? A longtime Trump donor and supporter who happened to plead guilty in 2001 to conspiracy to bribe a Democratic congressman, then testified against him.
Cafaro did not respond to "The New York Times" on their reporting for this for comment, but that's sort of a -- you can't make it up story.
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Yeah, no, and I think if you're trying to catch up at home, I mean, you're talking about something ill-conceived, incompetently and corruptly undertaken, a disastrous result, and a BS explanation pointing the fingers at somebody else.
I mean, if you just want to have a summary of so much of the Trump years, there it is. And the fact that they have a company called Green Water Solutions.
BURNETT: I mean, I'm sorry.
MALONEY: It's just like the chef's kiss of --
BURNETT: I mean, that's to event your name is Green Water. I want to give everything up --
MALONEY: But hey, in fairness, in fairness, they got it. You know, they get a -- truth in advertising. You know, it's called Green Water. They got it green water.
CARLSON: But this isn't a -- this is an offense to Trump. I mean, for how we know him and how important it is that things that he has built his whole life, right? Structures, buildings.
BURNETT: It looks shoddy and cheap.
CARLSON: Yes. And that's why this is also so important to him because structures are who he is. And so he's taking this probably personally, and that's why this has become a big, huge deal that there's a 350- foot slit in there. Maybe or maybe not.
BURNETT: All right, so I also want to ask about Tucker Carlson, who says he's done with the Republican Party. And by the way, he said he doesn't think he's ever voted for anyone who's not a Republican his entire life.
And so let me just play his full -- we had a brief clip of it in our tease.
[19:50:02]
I'll play the full comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON: I would not support the Republican Party. There's no chance I would support the Republican Party. I'm not going to support the Democratic Party. I don't know what I'm going to do.
But at this point, how could you support, how could I or any American voters support a political party that's not loyal to the United States that puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens? That's -- you know, it's not possible to vote for people like that.
So, no, I'm out. And if I'm out, then I think a lot of other people are out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just to be clear, I think it's just given to what Tucker Carlson's been saying lately Israel is the foreign country to which he appears to be referring there. But is he right? Whatever the driver may be that there are a lot of other people that are out?
MALONEY: I think there's absolutely a problem for the Trump coalition and the reasons are real around opposition to another forever war. And you win elections by addition, not subtraction.
And let's remember, the last time you had a major split in the Republican Party, Bill Clinton won two presidential elections with less than a majority of the American people. He won in 1992 with 43 percent, and in 1996 with 49. And the reason was Ross Perot.
And it allowed a Democrat to win with less than a majority. And for a party my own that is struggling building a majority coalition, having that serious a split in the Republican one is a real opportunity. It doesn't excuse us from redesigning and rebuilding the party into something more majoritarian.
But I'll tell you what, it's a problem if you're a Republican.
CARLSON: I would argue that Tucker Carlson already did not belong to the Republican Party because he belongs to MAGA, okay? And that -- there, in and of itself, you have the fracturing within the Republican.
But I would also argue that there's a fracturing within the Democratic Party. I mean, you have the far left, the AOC people on this side, you have the more moderates.
What we really need, and Tucker Carlson won't be joining this, and neither will Marjorie Taylor Greene, who also says she's leaving the Republican Party, are independents. I mean, the majority of Americans are somewhere in the middle. And I would beg politicians to try and find common ground somewhere in the middle and stop all this fracturing.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both.
And next, a flesh-eating parasite known as a screwworm targeting America's cattle industry. Ranchers fear their livelihood is at stake and the food supply at risk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, Senator Mark Kelly blaming Elon Musk and Doge for the devastating screwworm outbreak hitting American livestock.
And according to Agri-Pulse, which is a leading source of ag and food policy news, it's because DOGE killed a program that monitored for the flesh-eating parasite in Central America, and it's now since traveled north of the border.
Trump's agriculture secretary maintains the department has the resources it needs, as screwworm now threatens to upend the cattle industry and send beef prices for American consumers soaring.
Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When David Henderson makes the call, his cowherd listens.
LAVANDERA: So this is how you come and inspect them?
DAVID HENDERSON, TEXAS CATTLE RANCHER: Yeah. More than anything, I'm just visually inspecting them.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): He's looking for any signs that his cows have been infected by the dreaded New World screwworm fly.
LAVANDERA: So when you're out here, what are you looking for right now?
HENDERSON: Anywhere I see blood, cuts. wounds, anything like that.
LAVANDERA: This might be the most intimidating interview location I've ever had in my entire life.
HENDERSON: I don't need any cows. My daughters can't walk in the field around.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): For almost 30 years, Henderson has raised cattle in this secluded spot in the East Texas woods. It's a tough business, but he's never faced a threat like the screwworm.
The New World screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s and '70s and pushed southward. But over the last few years, the fly has been making its way back north from Central America into Mexico and recently discovered again in South Texas. At least a dozen cases have now popped up across the state and New Mexico, and ranchers fear it will spread wider. LAVANDERA: What the screwworm fly does is it looks for open wounds on cattle and other warm blooded animals and it deposits eggs and when those eggs hatch the larvae burrow their way into the tissue of the animal and that's when the real problems begin.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): A screwworm can cause serious infections or damage to vital organs that can kill the animal. It's treatable, but it can also cause overwhelming costs in quarantines and animal care for ranchers.
HENDERSON: It's a strong concern of mine, a very strong concern. I mean, this is my livelihood.
LAVANDERA: Do you think this could threaten to put some cattle ranchers out of business?
HENDERSON: Yeah, I do. If it gets bad enough and it starts to affect a lot of animals, you have death of animals. If you start losing and losing large quantities, it's definitely affect the beef industry in a major way.
LAVANDERA: Prices at the grocery store are going to go up.
HENDERSON: They don't have a choice.
LAVANDERA: It's nerve-wracking.
HENDERSON: It is. Yeah, it is.
DR. JARED RANLY, VETERINARIAN: This cow belongs to a client.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jared Ranly is a veterinarian in Central Texas.
RANLY: We removed that eye lesion, and we were just monitoring it for a couple days.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): This is the kind of equipment you need to closely inspect a 1,300-pound cow. Since the return of the screwworm, his phone has been ringing off the hook.
RANLY: The last week has been sort of a storm. When the first case hit in Texas, everybody sort of panicked. People were extremely worried. People were seeing pictures of flies on animals, on dead animals they found. They were texting in those pictures. Right now, we're not taking any chances.
So any larvae we find, we want to send those off to be evaluated to determine if it's a screwworm larvae or a different larvae.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): To fight the spread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas officials are releasing millions of sterile flies around infected zones to control fly reproduction. The ranchers we spoke to feel the sterile flies aren't being produced fast enough and the cattle industry is bracing for a long fight.
RANLY: There's something that that I may spend the rest of my life fighting.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jared Ranly first learned about the screw worm fly in veterinarian school textbooks. Now the past has come back to haunt the ranch.
RANLY: I never thought in my life that we would be violent screw worms again, to be honest with you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Erin, you alluded to there off the top about the criticism directed at the Trump administration for its response to all of this. There is a facility that has been -- the ground has been broken on by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a facility to create more of these sterile flies that would essentially help control the population of the New World screwworm. But that facility won't be online until next year -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Ed, thank you very much.
And thanks so much to all of you for joining us on this Monday.
"AC360" starts now.
