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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Pushes Cutting Childhood Vaccines, Repeats Baseless Autism Link; Ex-Trump Lawyer Swears In Ex-Trump Lawyer For Attorney General; Washington Post: Trump Secretly Took Military Aircraft Amid Iran Threat. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 10, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Trump going after childhood vaccines, tonight, signing an executive order declaring some life-saving vaccines are no longer necessary for children, exaggerating dramatically about the vaccines that American children are getting.
Plus, opening the door to the return of his anti-weaponization fund, shocker, saying it's up to his attorney general who was just sworn in, Todd Blanche, who goes along with Trump.
And speaking out for the first time, I'm going to speak to the former Air Force secretary. He just had his security clearance stripped for talking about the Qatari-gifted Air Force One. He'll be our guest.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Trump upending vaccines for American children. Here's what he's announcing tonight. He's signing an executive order that says that core crucial vaccines, including for hepatitis, are no longer recommended for children, setting America back and putting lives at risk.
And it seems all because of a false belief that vaccines are tied to autism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much healthier. And of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist. So, there's a reason for such epidemic rates of autism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, there may be a reason, but it's not vaccines. Independent researchers have conducted more than 40 studies involving over 5.6 million people. And the conclusion, again and again and again, is that there is no link.
The facts and the science on this particular issue when it comes to vaccines are clear. As Republican Senator Bill Cassidy posted, "I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong."
Autism and vaccines aren't linked. And yet, the chief science officer for the Autism Science Foundation came out and spoke. The quote there, "Vaccines have 1,000 percent been exonerated."
And yet, here is President Trump today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I saw this early on, and I've seen proof of it, where they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child's body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, that's nonsense. All of us parents know that. A vaccination that's the size of a soda bottle, a soda bottle? I mean, that's a lot. That's silly and insane, right?
And by the way, Trump -- when it came out to what this is, how much? Well, this is the soda bottle. And we got actually a little syringe here just so everybody could see it.
So, we can just for purposes of accuracy here, my eyes aren't so good, but I will show you the soda bottle that the president of the United States is referring to. And the single dose, 0.5 ml, in one MMR vaccine, the one that has been falsely accused of being linked to autism. So, there you go. Trump's dose, reality, they're pretty different.
Well, Trump was asked then, where are you getting your information?
So, here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: I think I heard you say that the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella is quite lethal. Is there any evidence of that?
TRUMP: No. What I've heard is that there are some people that say it is that way. I've heard when you put them together, they can be explosive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Some people is not science. Some people is just what you hear people saying. And in this case, it's not true.
And yet, because of what some people are saying that have gotten into the president's brain, the entire vaccine schedule is being upended. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Very importantly, vaccinations for hepatitis B, COVID-19 and influenza, among others, are no longer recommended for all children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now vaccines save lives. I want to show you a chart. This middle chart will show you is from a paper that was published in the medical journal "The Lancet".
What you're looking at here, I can boil down very simply. It estimates that nine billion years of life for human beings have been gained thanks to just some vaccines that you see listed there in different colors, nine billion years. Well, that's something Elon Musk should be just championing and jumping up and down about, right? I mean, the vaccine that's responsible for the most life years gained is actually measles. And vaccine skepticism on that has caused the United States to shatter a record. Nearly 22,500 cases this year, 2,500.
If you look at that chart, it tracks them. So far, there have been more measles cases this year so far than the past 25 combined.
[19:05:03]
I mean, measles was basically declared eradicated thanks to vaccines. Now, Trump and his HHS secretary, RFK Jr., who, of course, is a longtime vaccine skeptic, are now undermining the success and all those life years gained from these vaccines. They're on a mission to question vaccines in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How are you doing on the autism research?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: We will have an answer for you. We just --
TRUMP: Oh, I'm so bored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There's nothing to get, but that hasn't stopped them from tying vaccines to autism and a lot of other things for years and years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The child, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.
KENNEDY: Well, I do believe that autism does come from vaccines.
TRUMP: There are certain groups of people that don't take vaccines and don't take any pills that have no autism. That have no autism. KENNEDY: There's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's one of the most infamous lines ever said by RFK, Jr.
Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT at the White House.
And, Alayna, you're learning that Trump went ahead with this today, despite warnings from multiple advisors, right?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, I mean, that's the political component of this, and I think you're hearing from a lot of health experts and scientists today coming out about the damage this could do to people who you know might erode vaccine confidence. But I will say there have been advisors in the political side of this. You know there have been polling that has been shown and passed around people here inside the West Wing at the White House that shows changing the vaccine schedule is deeply unpopular and there have been political advisors who have been in the presidency are saying perhaps this is not the right time to roll out a change to the vaccine schedule with the midterms just a couple months away.
But a big part of this and you could hear this really in the event in the Oval Office today, Erin, the president is very passionate about this. has become a fixation of his throughout his second term in office. This idea that vaccines could be linked. to autism. That's why he directed and you played that clip. I was going to reference it of him asking RFK Jr., you know, where are you on finding out what the reason for autism is? He is put that as a number one priority that he wants RFK, Jr. to have.
And I'd remind you as well that RFK, Jr. was an anti-vaccine activist before entering the Trump administration.
One thing that I noticed as well that I found pretty interesting today, Erin, is what we heard from the president's former surgeon general from first term, Dr. Jerome Adams, coming out and criticizing this order today. He essentially said that he believes the president is getting really bad advice in regard to the impacts that this is going to have on vaccine confidence and vaccine presentable diseases.
And he brought up, as I mentioned, the politics of this saying that he believes that this is clearly going to be an issue that people vote on in the midterms and in 2028, and it seems like Republicans are happy to take on the issue of declining vaccine uptake. So just a very interesting thing from someone who used to work for the president his former surgeon general, Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely, absolutely and I guess sort of highlights the fact that maybe the whole point of all this is, you know, not to -- not do harm but to get people to not vaccinate.
Alayna, thank you very much.
I want to go now to Dr. Andrew Racine. He's OUTFRONT, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
So, you know, we were just going through here what one dose of an MMR, which is the vaccine that has been incorrectly, right, in that one infamous and obviously debunked paper by Mr. Wakefield.
So, when President Trump says nothing's bad is going to happen because of this, is anything bad going to happen?
DR. ANDREW RACINE, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Well, I'll tell you the way I look at this.
BURNETT: Yeah.
RACINE: I look at it from the point of view of a parent who's going to be walking into a pediatrician's office tomorrow. What do they need to know?
And what they need to know are several things, but the most important thing they need to know is that nothing has changed. The science behind vaccines is the same today as it was yesterday. The security that we have with vaccine safety has not changed.
The risks that the children in this country face for vaccine- preventable diseases has not changed. The composition of the children of this country has not changed in the past 48 hours.
And there are a couple of other things that haven't changed. The feeling that a parent has when they come home with that newborn baby, and I know that you've experienced this, that kind of anxiety, but at the same time, that excitement. There's this thing that's coming and all of a sudden, it's handed to you, you're in charge. There's no auto reset on it, there's no instruction manual.
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
RACINE: That fear and that anxiety is going to still be there. And when you have people in the United States in positions of authority that are feeding into confusion and fear, that is doing no service to those parents.
And then the final thing that hasn't changed is that when those parents walk into that pediatrician's office, they know they are in the presence of the best partner they could possibly have to raise those children in a way that's going to be safe and that's going to be effective for their health.
BURNETT: Yeah.
RACINE: And that partnership which is what every new parent depends on, is what's going to get us through this.
BURNETT: And hopefully it will. I know talking to my pediatrician over the years, there have been times where people have been afraid and they've started to pull back on vaccinations, certain populations more than others, but it has happened. And obviously, there are tangible repercussions to that. So, when you hear the president of the United States, whether you
think he knows anything about science or not, when you hear someone sit in that chair and say what I'm about to play, It can have an impact on people, even if they don't think it is. It can just to your point about that fear and anxiety that you also have as a new parent. It just feeds into that.
Why take a risk?
Let me just play what he said again.
RACINE: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: I think I heard you say that the MMR vaccine for mumps and rubella is quite lethal. Is there any evidence of that?
TRUMP: No, what I've heard is that there are some people that say it is that way, and I've heard when you put them together, they can be explosive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Some people that say it is that way.
RACINE: I'll say this. I think the president of the United States, on this particular issue, is misinformed.
I will say that there are some things that he said that I agree with. He said the polio vaccine is amazing. He's right. The polio vaccine is amazing.
BURNETT: Dr. Peter Hotez has said he's worried that polio could come back because if people become so scared of vaccines, I mean, do you have fears of things like that?
RACINE: We do. But not only is the polio vaccine amazing, the hepatitis B vaccine is amazing. It prevents cancer. The HPV vaccine.
BURNETT: Hepatitis B was just taken off the list.
RACINE: I know. What I'm saying is that he's right about the polio vaccine. He needs to realize that every other one of those vaccines on that schedule is just as amazing as the polio vaccine.
BURNETT: So what have your -- I mean, I showed that chart, nine billion years of human life gained, okay, because of just the most simple thing, vaccines. That children would die. Why was child mortality so high?
Well, a big reason was dying of preventable disease is preventable because of vaccines. We are so lucky now. People can have fewer children because they expect them to live.
RACINE: I agree with that. BURNETT: And what a miracle that is.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy was an anti-vaccine activist for many years, in particular with this link to autism. Have you noticed changes? Are you hearing about changes that pediatricians are saying that they've seen in terms of parents' receptiveness to vaccines since he became HHS Secretary?
RACINE: Well, I say this -- I think that the issue of vaccine skepticism is older than this administration and has been going on for some time, not least because of some of the contributions that the current secretary has made to that debate over time.
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
RACINE: And I will say also that we hear from pediatricians around the country that the amount of time that they are spending with new parents talking about vaccines, the availability of them, and the advisability of getting them, the numbers of those kinds of conversations that we're having has increased.
But I will tell you this also -- there is nothing that a pediatrician likes better than to answer questions that parents come into their exam room with. This is why we get up in the morning, and this is what keeps us up at night. Speaking with parents about what we know can keep their children safe and healthy. That's what we do.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right, well, I appreciate it. And thank you very much for taking the time to come and explain some of this.
RACINE: Thank you for actually having this segment. It's extremely important that you're doing this. I congratulate you for doing it.
BURNETT: I believe in it. And Martha Lillard was the last American polio patient. She just died with an iron lung. She died at the age of 78. Sitting there, lying down, lying down, wearing an iron lung for an entire life. because of something that we now produce vaccine.
To think that we could put someone in a position like that when we can do something about it, I think that should just hopefully impassion anybody.
So, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
RACINE: (INAUDIBLE)
BURNETT: David Axelrod and former Congressman Charlie Dent are both OUTFRONT now.
And Charlie, you hear Dr. Racine, you know, talking about this and some of the role that Secretary Kennedy has played in vaccine skepticism in America long before he got in this position now where he has the ear and the mouthpiece of the Oval Office now also backing this.
You know, what are the implications of this? CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: I think it's very reckless and dangerous that we have politicians, people don't have an MD behind their name or a PhD making recommendations on these vaccine schedules. I think it's outrageous.
I was talking to Dr. Racine before the segment, I had an aunt who was born in the 19th century, my great aunt. At an early age under five developed diphtheria, lost her hearing she helped raise me, this dear sweet woman. I mean, what they would have done to have a vaccination back then for diphtheria.
[19:15:02]
My great-grandfather was one of 13 children. Seven lived to adulthood. The other six died as young infants because --
BURNETT: Right, we're talking about because--.
DENT: On a political level, I mean, this is just insane, the whole thing. Most of us get vaccinated. It's a small minority who don't. And they're driving this whole conversation that people are going to get sick. They're going to die. I take my advice from my daughter, who's a neurologist and my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, also a physician.
And why aren't we listening to expert opinion?
BURNETT: Yeah.
DENT: We are undermining institutions and experts.
BURNETT: So, David, vaccines, we showed the 9 billion years of human life gained because of basic vaccines, pertussis, measles among them. But today, we're playing sound bites of the president of the United States, president of the free world, wealthiest country the world has ever known, saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've seen proof of it where they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child's body. We're changing it to visits over a period of a year, a year and a half, so they get 20 percent of what they would have gotten in one big shot. A big shot like the size of a large glass of something. Large amounts of like vats of vaccine. Are currently pumped into your child's body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, David, so that's not true. OK, it's just not true and there are different ways to stagger vaccines and break them up and there there's a procedure that that people do that. But you know, when he's talking, what did he say? He said soda bottle. He said a big shot like the size of a large glass or something. And that's a vaccine.
When I was showing the single dose of MMR, which is, by the way, currently given over, I believe, a schedule of three. At least it was with my three children, just the space and clear at the top of my syringe. OK, how -- how many steps backwards does this country take with a president saying what he said today?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Huge. Look, Erin, I've said before here and elsewhere that one of the first things you learn when you're working for the president that the things the president of the United States says can send armies marching and markets tumbling. We've actually seen examples of that as well, but it also can create public health problems that shouldn't exist and can jeopardize people's health because the president has an enormous sway and he certainly has enormous sway with some of his closest followers.
And when he offers as fact what is clearly not and induces them or persuades them to do things that are not in their children's interests, not only do their children suffer, but everybody else is endangered because you lower the threshold beyond that 95 percent that opens the door to what we've seen with measles.
So, it's really, really dangerous. And I, listening to him, I'm having flashbacks of those press conferences we used to see during the COVID pandemic when he would, you know, hypothesize about hydroxychloroquine and --
BURNETT: Yeah.
AXELROD: -- bleach and other remedies as if he had some standing to make these judgments. And people actually went out and did it.
So this is very dangerous as Charlie said and I don't understand unless he thinks he's going to motivate that small segment of activists he -- who -- maybe not that small who respond to this and you know, Bobby Kennedy's brigades to come and vote in November, it seems to me, even as a matter of politics, it's ludicrous.
BURNETT: So, Charlie, as a matter of politics, okay, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, I mentioned him. I didn't put some context around that. He said he is a doctor. I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong, okay? Took a stand. However, he is the guy who, when push came to shove, when the Todd Blanch nomination came, right, went against what he had said were his sort of the way he felt about it morally and gave Trump what he wanted.
So, I'm not trying to make this about being pejorative to Bill Cassidy. It's a broader question. Will Republicans stand up to him in any meaningful way when they have failed to do on other issue after issue?
DENT: Well, I can tell you there's a lot of regret, I'm sure, from many Republicans right now, not just on the issue of vaccinations. I'm sure Bill Cassidy would like to take back that vote on RFK right now, because he was assured this wouldn't happen, and it's happening right now, and there's so many others where we've seen problems They're going to have the same regret, I'm sure, with Todd Blanche at some point too.
But at some point, as a public official, you have to stand up and do what's right. You are elected to exercise judgment. And if you're in the United States Senate, you have an advising consent rule.
[19:20:00]
Sometimes you have to do more advising than consenting.
BURNETT: Yeah.
DENT: And that's what I fear right now, that sometimes they just -- there was a time when the U.S. Senate would tell presidents who to send over for nomination, who can pass. Don't send so-and-so, we don't like him. I mean, that's how it used to work.
Now -- BURNETT: Yeah.
DENT: -- they shouldn't try to just rubber stamp people they know who are bad for this business.
BURENTT: And yet, David, at the core of this, take Bill Cassidy again, his vote in favor of the Kennedy nomination. was crucial, right? He could have derailed the whole thing. He went ahead with it as a doctor with concerns about vaccines who says, you know, that those have been assuaged by the now HHS secretary and now here we are.
Does anybody learn anything from this?
AXELROD: Well, we should remember Bill Cassidy was running for reelection at the time. He was hoping to keep the president out of the race. He had said that he was assured that the president would remain neutral in his primary race. The president didn't do that after he got the vote on RFK, Jr.
And I'm sure he got the assurances that Charlie's speaking about that they wouldn't move forward and sunder the vaccine policies.
But -- look, and Charlie knows this, too, it's the rare there's a reason profiles in courage with such a slim volume. It's a rare politician who's willing to jeopardize their political careers.
And it's not love that binds Republican politicians to Trump. It's fear. And Char -- and Bill Cassidy is an example of why they fear, because they think if Trump turns on them, their careers could be over.
BURNETT: Well, I'm glad that you actually made us laugh in a moment like this. The comment about the profile is in courage. by the original JFK.
Thank you all very much. I appreciate it.
And next, Trump swears in his new Attorney General Todd Blanche and Trump's former White House attorney Ty Cobb has some big concerns about the Justice Department tonight. He's next.
And Iran's new supreme leader still not seen in public since his family was killed on February 28th. But Iran now is putting all this stuff out saying that that is about to change and we have new reporting on this after that. And a deadly earthquake rocking Columbia buildings collapsing people trapped and we're going to talk to an American there who experienced it all, building sort of starting to sway in circles on the 11th floor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:26:59]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump has his new attorney general. He got his wish, and Todd Blanche took the oath of office today. There was no press allowed, though. Interestingly, obviously, they touted the vaccine announcement executive order, but not this swearing in.
We only have this one thing released by the White House that we're showing you right now. Soon afterward, President Trump played it close to the vest when asked what he expects from the nation's top law enforcement officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: The anti-weaponization fund. Do you think it's still alive at this point? And are there any options that you're looking at to --
TRUMP: Well, that would be up to Todd Blanche.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Which is a sort of incredible thing to say because Todd Blanche, you know, was not going to be confirmed over this very issue. He only got past confirmation after we agreed to sign a document formally rescinding the fund.
OUTFRONT now, former Trump White House lawyer, Ty Cobb.
So, Ty, when you take that context that Blanche eventually signed that, even though he wasn't going to sign it right, but they had him, and then he had to do it to get confirmed. And then Trump comes out and says, quote, That will be up to Todd Blanche when it comes to whether the anti-weaponization fund is dead.
What's Trump saying?
TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Well, I think he's passing the buck. I mean, basically, we all know that Todd Blanche is going to do whatever the president asked. That's his -- that's his history.
And keep in mind that Todd Blanche drafted that order, not the -- not the senators. I mean, and the wordsmithing in it is very, very clear. It doesn't -- it's really not worth anything more than a press release. It has no legal force in effect.
In fact, the agreement between the president and his family with regard to the fund and with regard to his IRS community says it can't be revised without the signatures of all the parties. So that document has no force in effect. It was pure theater. Blanche
will find a way to do whatever the president wants with regard to rewarding the violent insurrectionists of January 6.
BURNETT: And Trump, of course, his view on the fund is very clear. I mean, he said it again and again. He said it even in recent days, that he thinks it's a beautiful thing and it's fantastic.
So let me show again, Ty, the video that the White House released of Blanche swearing in.
COBB: Sure.
BURNETT: As I said, when it came to the executive order on vaccines, that was press in, they wanted to talk about it. They didn't want to talk about this, so there was no press, we just got this image.
The man swearing him in is now Judge Emil Bove. Now, I remember seeing him quite a few times when I was at Trump's trial with Stormy Daniels in Lower Manhattan. Bove and Blanche served together on a Trump personal criminal defense team, so they were there.
FBI Director Kash Patel, Stephen Miller were there, the White House deputy chief of policy, they were there.
So, what do you see when you see this picture, again, noting that this is what they chose of an entire event to release to all of us?
[19:30:03]
DENT: Well, I think there was a summer night in 1934 when Hitler consolidated his power surrounded by Himmler, Goring, and Goebbels. This is reminiscent of that to me, because you've got Blanche and Bove, who saw the president through a trial that resulted in 34 felony convictions.
You've got Stephen Miller and Kash Patel. I think that is the axis of evil that we're up against. And I think we can rely on all of those people to try to thwart the fair and free elections that America is used to and hope for in November. I think Blanche, unlike Bill Barr, would readily seize voting machines and ballots, and I suspect he'll be asked to by the president. I think he'll be asked to perpetuate the slush fund and find a way to get those funds to the vinyl insurrectionists.
And I think that you will see Blanche as point person when in January of next year, a Democratic House should be sworn in working with Mike Johnson to prevent that.
BURNETT: So I want to ask you one other thing, which just on the sobering note that you just said, that Todd Blanche would you think be willing to seize voting machines and ballots? Trump also announced today that his White House staff secretary, a guy named Will Scharf, is going to become the new White House counsel, okay? And that's a job obviously you're very familiar with. So Trump also had appointed Scharf to chair the National Capital
Planning Commission. Now, that may sound esoteric, but it's important for anyone watching because that was the role in which Mr. Scharf greenlit some of Trump's major projects in Washington, right? So, we're talking about --
COBB: Yeah.
BURNETT: -- some of these renovations and things.
So, what do you think of Scharf being in this job?
COBB: Well, I think Will Scharf, to his credit, is a very smart man and very capable. But that just makes him dangerous in this role. Keep in mind, he ran for attorney general in Missouri in 2024, at which time he argued repeatedly that the 2020 election had been stolen, notwithstanding the fact that Joe Biden won by what we know to be over seven million votes.
So, he's an election denier. This, again, fits into the theme that I took away from that picture, which is Trump consolidating his power and he's got people who will do his bidding, whether it's to deny an election that he lost badly, you know, to reward the violent insurrectionists of January 6th, create the slush fund, hollow out the Justice Department, pursue revenge prosecutions.
This is -- this is a country going the wrong direction when it comes to the rule of law and the Justice Department. And as I -- as I look at this, I think to myself that only John Mitchell's family could be happy about Todd Blanch becoming attorney general because John Mitchell is no longer the biggest crook that served in that office.
BURNETT: Ty Cobb, thank you very much. I always appreciate you.
COBB: My pleasure.
BURNETT: And next, we are just hours away from polls opening in a whole series of crucial primaries. There's one thing that a lot of the Republican candidates have in common, and that is something Ty just mentioned, pushing claims of election fraud.
Plus, breaking news, incredible new reporting tonight from "The Washington Post" about how Trump was taken out of Turkey on a secret flight. The president taken off Air Force One in a food catering truck over security concerns. I mean, this is the sort of thing you would see in a movie and you would know it didn't happen, but it did, it's real life.
And next, I'm going to talk to a former Air Force secretary who just lost his security clearance because of making comments about the Qatari gifted Air Force One.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:37:58] BURNETT: Breaking news, "The Washington Post" just crossing some new reporting that Trump was secretly, basically snuck out of Turkey after the NATO summit, that he didn't actually even fly on Air Force One.
So, this is where it gets interesting because we all saw Trump board the old Air Force One instead of the Qatari gifted jet, right? That was the whole embroglio, was that there was a threat against whatever plane he was on. The Qatari One didn't have the right security protocols. They put him on Air Force One.
But here's where "The Washington Post" has a totally new twist to the story. They write, quote, He was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies pre-flight.
So, then here's a picture which shows a catering truck parked beside the plane before takeoff. So ostensibly, he got on the plane, we all saw him, and then he got off onto the catering truck. Think about that. And then he's taken to this other plane that he leaves Turkey on.
Press corps, White House staff onboard Air Force One, a lot of them, press corps didn't know that he wasn't on. "The New York Times" has reported Trump was moved because of this Iranian threat. The White House does not deny "The Post" reporting about Air Force One being a decoy, saying, "The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff. As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address the threats."
That, of course, doesn't address the reporting at all, which is why it's not a denial. It comes as former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is speaking out for the first time here on OUTFRONT after the Trump administration revoked his security clearance over his comments to media outlets about Trump's new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
And Frank Kendall is now OUTFRONT, the former Air Force secretary and now author of "Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare, Whether We Like It or Not".
And, Secretary Kendall, I greatly appreciate your time, and I do want to get your reaction to this "Washington Post" reporting because it's literally just crossing moments before you came on the air.
[19:40:00]
First, though, I just have to ask you, you know, your reaction. When you first see the post from the Pentagon that states that you, former Air Force secretary, have lost your classified status, it's been revoked effective immediately, what did you think, and did you find out from that post?
FRANK KENDALL, FORMER AIR FORCE SECRETARY: Well, Erin, it certainly made my weekend more interesting. I found out about it. My wife and I were in a cooking class I'd given her for a couple's cooking class. I'd given her as a gift for her birthday, so our phones were off.
And about 9:30 at night, we walked out. I turned them on, and there was a street that had come out of the Department of Defense. I was initially mystified because I couldn't think of anything I'd ever said that was classified. And I had tried very hard not to say anything classified and was quite sure I had not.
So, the first question on my mind was, what the heck could they possibly be thinking I said that was classified?
There are some other explanations for why they did this, of course. I've been a very vocal critic of the administration ever since I left office in 2025. There's been obviously a hue and cry about the report in "The New York Times" that leakers said that the new airplane had less capabilities from a defensive point of view.
I am not one of those leakers. I did not tell them that. I don't know anything about that airplane. It was acquired after I left the government, and I've never received any information classified or otherwise about what's on or not on that airplane.
BURNETT: Yeah.
KENDALL: I have made the observation that an airplane that you spend one year on and $400 million will not be as capable as an airplane you spend five years on and $2 billion. That's inherently obvious and a great many people have said that.
So, I'm mystified about why they did this. There are some possible explanations, I suppose, but I'm quite confident that I have not revealed any classified information.
BURNETT: So, I mean, just to kind of put an exclamation point on what you just said, Secretary Kendall, the quote in "The New York Times" where they quoted you in that article, was time didn't permit all the normal Air Force One modifications, so some mix of security communications and support is missing. With the Iran situation, this could be of concern.
Frankly, I'm surprised to see this plane used outside the United States. As you point out, you were far from the only one to make those, as I believe it was your words, obvious points, okay? You put one year versus five years. So that's what you actually said.
I guess I'm curious about where you think this is going to go now because we just were covering the story of the new attorney general, Todd Blanche, as just one example now being sworn in I mean they've taken away your access to classified information but what do you think is next?
KENDALL: Well, I'm going to sue them. That's what's next for me.
BURNETT: You're going to sue them.
KENDALL: Oh, yeah, they -- this has happened to a number of people. What happens to me is not terribly important. This does not have an enormous impact on me. I will lose some income because of it, and I will lose some opportunities because of it.
But they -- you know, this is one of over 100 cases where our government has taken away people's security clearances very arbitrarily, often for political reasons as a way to attack political enemies, apparently. I could be put into that category. I've said some very negative things about the dangers of this administration to the country.
So, I don't think, as my mother taught me years ago, you stand up the bullies, and I'm going to try to get this overturned. I think I have a very sound basis to do that. I've hired an attorney, Mark Zaid, who had to go through the same thing, has been successful in his case so far.
And so, we're going to go fight this out and see how it comes out. But I'm quite confident that there was no legitimate basis to remove my clearance. And I'm also confident that there was no due process provided to me. As you mentioned, I found out about this through a tweet.
Nobody from the government ever talked to me about this. Nobody asked me any questions. I have no idea what they think I said. I've had no opportunity to defend myself. Those are just basic due process rights that we should all have as Americans.
BURNETT: And I do want to get your reaction before we go, just because this story was crossing literally as we spoke, and it's really quite stunning. So "The Washington Post" is reporting, the White House is obviously not denying in their statement that it wasn't just the Qatari jet, but that Trump got on Air Force One and we all saw that. But then he was loaded off it basically on the other side of the plane via the catering truck and taken to another plane, which we understand, and obviously to you, this will mean a lot, an Air Force C-32A. And that is what he flew on to actually leave Turkey.
So, there's nothing classified about this question, but you can answer it in a unique way. I mean, what does the fact that something like this happened, right, that he boarded and they took him off on a catering truck, right, and took him onto another plane? What does that tell you about the severity of the threat?
KENDALL: I'm really not going to say much about this, and the reason is that I do know quite a bit about the things that we provide for the president.
[19:45:01]
A lot of that is classified, and I'm not going to get anywhere near that, particularly in these current circumstances. It's an interesting story.
BURNETT: I can understand. I can understand your reticence in the current setting.
But I do appreciate your time, Secretary, and thank you.
KENDALL: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, a Michigan Senate candidate once slammed Trump for pushing false claims of election fraud. But now that he's running, his tune is changing dramatically.
And the supreme leader has been MIA since February. Iran, though, now is saying this is about to change.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump demanding Iran pay the United States for the war, countering Iran's demand that it will only reopen the Strait of Hormuz if it's paid for the damage of American bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They asked for reparations, you might say, or they asked for money for the damage that we've done.
[19:50:07]
I said that's a good idea. Well, we're going to ask for money for the damage they've done over 50-year period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes as Iranian state media says new images of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will be released. They didn't specify when, but they said new images and maybe images of him with crowds. Khamenei hasn't been seen once since he was injured on the first day of the war and the attack that killed much of his family, including his father.
OUTFRONT now, Farnaz Fassihi, "The New York Times" reporter who's done extensive reporting on Iran as well as the Supreme Leader and his whereabouts, who's talking to him.
I mean, Farnaz, you have done the most in-depth work here, and you don't buy that new, real images of Khamenei are going to be released, do you?
FARNAZ FASSIHI, NYT REPORTER, HAS COVERED IRAN FOR 30+ YEARS: I don't buy it, Erin, because it's counter to what they've said about his security. There's been a lot of push by his constituents, by the supporters of the regime, asking to hear Mr. Khamenei's voice or hear or see his face or basically proof of life. as these divisions within the conservative camp has sort of festered.
And the state media put out a very extensive report explaining the security reasons for why they couldn't put out a video, they couldn't even put out an audio of Mr. Khamenei. We also know that he sustained extensive damages to his face and vocal cords in the airstrikes that killed his father. So, I think it's basically just propaganda.
BURNETT: So, do you think they're going to try to put some A.I. images out or -- I mean, I guess what do you think they're going to do and why do you think they're doing this? They obviously feel the need now six months in to suddenly do it.
FASSIHI: Yeah, I think we're seeing it in other ways, like the President Pezeshkian of Iran came out today and said he held a seven- hour meeting with the Supreme Leader, and he was very sound and alert. This comes after last week, the president saying, I haven't been able to see him all this time except once, the foreign minister saying, I haven't seen him at all.
And a conservative outlet, just I think on Friday, asking the Iranian public to pray for his health. So, I think that suddenly this news that his picture might come out. He issued a some appointments that today appointing officially appointing senior commanders of the armed forces. So, I think he's trying to show proof of life without really showing his face.
BURNETT: It's like the Wizard of Oz.
You've got new reporting from Iranians who have been --
FASSIHI: You're not the only one who's made that reference.
BURNETT: Yeah. You've spoken to Iranians who have been significantly impacted by American airstrikes on a specific island in the Strait of Hormuz that has come under heavy and nonstop essentially bombardment. What are you learning?
FASSIHI: Well, we looked at what's been going on in the south of Iran, because really the bombardment never really stopped except for two brief intervals during the ceasefire. When we, there's an island called Qeshm, it's the largest island in Iran, and it had become, before the war, the hottest travel destination with four million visitors, investments booming, 241 percent investment increase, the locals having jobs.
And suddenly because of the airstrikes, the tourism industry is completely dead. They are the fishing industry is also dead because the fishermen are afraid to go out to sea because of the missiles and drones and airstrikes. But also, you know, a few weeks ago, two weeks ago, there was an American bomb that landed on a family's home, killing the parents and a two-year-old.
So, there was a lot of fear now on the island that in addition to economic struggles, may die in their sleeps because bombs are landing. So, it's a really devastating situation like we discussed in a lot of our headlines, the Strait of Hormuz, the negotiations.
But it's really the people say that we are suffering and we don't want war. We want our government to have peace with the world. We want economic prosperity and we're really tired of this.
BURNETT: Yeah. Farnaz, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
FASSIHI: Thank you.
BURNETT: And we are just hours away from crucial primaries in several states here. Many of the Republicans sounding now strikingly similar when it comes to talking about baseless claims of election fraud.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:05]
BURNETT: Tonight, voters getting ready to head to the polls in six states. At least two Republican candidates are on the ballot tomorrow, and they're pushing election fraud claims. And another Republican who just won his primary is now suddenly leaning into the baseless claims after he denounced Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
So why the sudden about face?
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's like 2020 all over again for some Republican candidates.
TOM TIFFANY (R), WISCONSIN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: How's everybody?
FOREMAN (voice-over): In Wisconsin, where Congressman Tom Tiffany wants voters to make him governor.
TIFFANY: They want election integrity. Let's make it easy to vote, hard to cheat.
MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Mr. President --
FOREMAN (voice-over): In Michigan, where Senate candidate Mike Rogers posted, "If our nation does not have security and confidence of our elections, then we do not have much of a nation at all."
And in Minnesota, where Mike Lindell wants a governor's chair, too.
MIKE LINDELL (R), MINNESOTA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And you all know that I have been relentless in making people aware of the fraud in our elections.
TRUMP: This is a great Republican and a great person.
FOREMAN (voice-over): What do they all have in common? The backing of President Donald Trump, who has relentlessly claimed he was cheated in the presidential election six years ago.
TRUMP: The rigged election.
They just rigged the election.
The election was rigged.
They rigged the election.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Despite a brutal attack on the Capitol, scores of court challenges and investigations, evidence has persistently shown Joe Biden won that election. And at the time, Rogers, then a CNN contributor, said Trump's falsehoods were to blame for the violence.
ROGERS: Well, you're damn right you had responsibility for this.
FOREMAN (voice-over): As for claims of election fraud.
ROGERS: You have to go home and say, listen, we lost. The president of the United States lost.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The vast majority of voters have agreed all along. Trump lost fair and square.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: The American people do not buy the case that Donald Trump has been making, no matter how obsessive he is.
But Republican voters overwhelmingly think that election was corrupt, and Trump's suspicions are right.
TRUMP: Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen.
FOREMAN (voice-over): So after Trump warned about possible voting shenanigans in the Michigan primary, the formerly skeptical congressman has posted this, "I am thankful for President Trump's commitment to transparency."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: You know, to outsiders, this may seem simple enough. Just tell the truth. But this really is a loyalty test for this White House. It's very clear. And Republicans see it as you either get on board with Donald Trump and repeat some version of what he believes about 2020, no matter how false it is, or you might just have to get out of the party because he's not going to want you there -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Tom Foreman, thank you very much.
And all of this matters so much. Tomorrow night is election night. Key primary races across several states and polls start closing at seven o'clock. That is why we will have special coverage starting here on OUTFRONT. So we'll hear you -- see you tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern.
Thanks for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
