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Erin Burnett Outfront
American Survivors To CNN: "Came Just Like A Tsunami"; Detained By ICE; Fired Stars And Stripes Employees Sue Hegseth. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 28, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:23]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, saved with seconds to spare. An American couple speaks to CNN about how they were able to escape the deadly flash flood in Nepal. And their son who had been desperately trying to get in touch with them joins me live.
Also breaking, a controversial right-wing commentator detained by ICE. This is someone who was once one of Trump's top supporters, even backing his aggressive immigration campaign.
And quote, "retaliation". Three staffers who were fired from the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper are now suing Pete Hegseth. One of them, the former editor-in-chief, is my guest. A judge just making a ruling in that case.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
KEILAR: Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. Quote, "It came just like a tsunami." We are hearing tonight for the first time from an American couple who miraculously survived this devastating flash flood that swept through Nepal and China with no warning.
The couple from California was on a tour bus when the deadly floods ripped through the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANJANA RAJA, SURVIVED FLOOD DISASTER: So, the way it came is came just like a tsunami. It just came going all the way up, and just like a tsunami, the how it sweeps, going like a row.
It just took the busses, the vans.
PATTABIRAMAN VENTAKASSEN, SURVIVED FLOOD DISASTER: Houses.
RAJA: Houses, people, everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: You're going to hear much more from the couple who spoke to our Will Ripley on the ground in Nepal. I'm also going to speak to their son who is in Los Angeles and fielded a desperate call from his mother who had just hiked upward from the flooding to escape it. It is an incredible story, and they truly are some of the very lucky ones.
At this hour, 2,500 people are still missing and that includes roughly 90 Americans. The death toll also spiking, nearly 600 people have lost their lives. There's fear tonight the situation could get even worse. Officials in Nepal now warning monsoon-fueled storms could soon pummel the same region that is frantically trying to find those buried under feet of mud.
We're also monitoring the warning about this natural dam that we've been following. Officials fear more rain could cause it to fail. And tonight, we have new satellite images of the dam and the lake created after trees and debris blocked a river. According to Chinese state media, that lake now holds two million cubic meters of water. That's equivalent to 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
We have a team of reporters on the ground. Hanako Montgomery is in the devastation zone, and Will Ripley is in Kathmandu.
We want to start with Hanako.
Hanako, what is the latest that you're learning there on where the search efforts stand?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna, right now, we're in the Trishuli area, which is pretty high up in the Nepali Mountains. And it's very close to that river where we saw that extreme flooding on Wednesday.
And we've been speaking to some locals here. We've also visited the Nepali army barracks and we spoke to the army general there just about the rescue efforts. And while we were at the barracks on Friday, we saw -- I mean, over a dozen helicopters land in in the matter of 30 minutes, bringing back survivors who they had pulled out from the mud from the debris.
And we also saw of course families going to the army barracks trying to get any -- and any information from those army officials. They were telling us that all communication lines, all electricity has been cut out so they just can't simply call their loved ones and find out if they're alive or not. So, they were hoping that the army had more information.
And you know, Brianna, we've been seeing some extraordinary footage and stories about those rescue efforts high up in the Himalayas. I mean, one video we saw rescue workers pulling out over 100 people from a hydroelectric power plant and we saw those individuals getting pulled. I mean, completely caked in mud. It was like a second layer of skin for them.
And again, this is just a story after story that we've been hearing from the ground here. Now, also, Brianna, I do want to point out, when we were speaking to the army general, he had two reservations about these rescue efforts. The first was the fact that it's just, again, very, very difficult to get to those survivors because communication lines have been cut out. They have no idea where these people are, how to get to them. So that's been really, really difficult.
He also told us that because of the inclement weather, the fears of a monsoon storm, also fears that two people are how to get to them. So that's been really, really difficult. He also told us that because of the inclement weather, the fears of a monsoon storm.
Also fears that two newly formed lakes from that first initial flood could potentially burst, could overflow.
[19:05:04]
These were concerns that he had about potentially more loss of lives, potentially more damage. But of course, right now, they are racing against the clock. That 72-hour window, a very critical window to find any remaining survivors who might be alive is soon coming to an end. So right now, they are just trying desperately anything to get more individuals out from the rubble, Brianna.
KEILAR: Hanako, thank you so much.
Will Ripley is in Kathmandu.
And, Will, I know you spoke with two Americans who were rescued from the flood and right now you're at the hospital where survivors will be treated if they're found. What's the latest that you're learning?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna. Yeah, you know, behind me, there's this wall of photos of people who are missing and as we came out here yesterday afternoon, it started with 1,200 people registered missing. Then the number in a few hours jumped up to 1,600. Now, it's well over 2,000.
And just look at the ages of some of the people who are on this wall, family members desperate for information. They don't know where children are. They don't know where parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles are. It's just a heartbreaking situation out here for the people who are still missing.
But we were able to speak with an American couple from Northern California who are not among the missing. They survived by a matter of seconds when that black water inundated the border checkpoint where they were about to cross into China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAJA: Violent, it was aggressive, aggressive with anger. That's how I saw the water come. So I really asked him, I mean, why is God so angry with us?
RIPLEY (voice-over): Anjana Raja and Pattabi Ventakassen came to Nepal from Northern California for a spiritual journey, but not one like this.
VENTAKASSEN: Just seeing so many people die, I think that's -- going to last for a while, it's going to linger for a while. I don't know if we will get over it anytime soon.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They were on a tour bus near the China-Nepal border about to cross into Tibet when people outside started running and screaming.
RAJA: There was no time to think our reflexes needed to be so fast. I saw something coming really brown up there, going up like 60 to 70 feet, something coming brown our way.
At that point, I didn't know whether it was water or whether it was dust. So, the way it came is came just like a tsunami. It just came going all the way up, and just like a tsunami, the how it sweeps, going like a row.
It just took the busses, the vans.
VENTAKASSEN: Houses.
RAJA: Houses, people, everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People are screaming, but of course, water doesn't hear anything. It just kind of sucked them in.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They shared this photo showing what's left of their tour bus.
RAJA: It's very hard to express in words, a lot of turmoil inside. It was nerve-wracking, especially when you see death just five seconds away from you. I thought about everybody who lost their lives there because there were dead bodies within sight. Bodies where there were only half bodies, just hands, just legs, just face, just head. Bodies like that lying around.
VENTAKASSEN: He's a lifesaver.
TASHI TAMANG, TOUR GUIDE: Yeah.
VENTAKASSEN: My brother.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Their tour guide, Tashi Tamang, guided them up the mountain with just seconds to spare.
TAMANG: How can running, you know?
RIPLEY: Just running. Just running.
TAMANG: Just running. Ten seconds is finished.
RIPLEY: Ten seconds, everything's underwater.
TAMANG: Yeah.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
RIPLEY (voice-over): After running to higher ground, they spent the night huddling in the woods with a small group of survivors.
VENTAKASSEN: There are about 70, 80 people in that little area. We got to put our bags, sit on the bag in. That's about it. You know you. We had like two-inch wiggle room.
We couldn't move more than two inches because it was so full. Water all night, little or no food. We had to share water. Whoever had water.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Finally, a helicopter came to rescue them.
RIPLEY: And here you are now and you have your temporary passport. You're going to go home and see your daughter and your son.
RAJA: I can't wait. I can't wait.
RIPLEY: What do you want to say to them? What are you going to do when you see them?
RAJA: I'm -- I'm going to hug them and cry because I am an emotional mama. I -- yeah, I am going to hug them and cry. And I'm just thankful to God that I'm alive and there for them.
I'm going to tell them, take life seriously and be ready for whatever comes. This is a learning. Things could happen to anyone. It could happen to us again. So be ready. I'm going to tell them that.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They're among the handful of lucky ones. At one of the largest hospitals in Kathmandu, we watch as the number of registered missing people grows from 1,200 to more than 1,600 in just a few hours.
RIPLEY: People are signing up names of their loved ones who are missing. They're registering them. Hoping that they'll be brought to this hospital.
But as the day goes by, no new names are added to this handwritten list of 31 survivors.
Jenisha Thapa came here searching for her uncle.
JENISHA THAPA, NIECE OF MISSING FLOOD VICTIM: His name is Razuli. He's not included in this list.
RIPLEY: How often have you been checking?
[19:10:00]
THAPA: Minute, minute.
RIPLEY: Minute by minute.
RIPLEY (voice-over): She says he was at the tax office when the flood hit.
RIPLEY: What happened to the tax office?
THAPA: It's swept away from flood.
RIPLEY: It was swept away by the water.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Photos of the missing fill this hospital wall just around the corner at the morgue. We find a very different photo wall.
RIPLEY: It's pictures of bodies from the flood zone and there are men there, there are women, it looks like there are children. They even photographed body parts with tattoos, anything that can be identified. It's just a really horrible scene.
RIPLEY (voice-over): And with each passing hour, things here are only getting worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: You know, we came here this morning thinking that there might be more names added to this list of survivors because every time somebody's brought here to the hospital for treatment, they add a name, but it's still at 31, even though the number of missing has climbed to over 2,000 just since we were recording here, but still there are family members, you can see them sleeping on these benches here. They're just waiting, hoping that patients and survivors might be brought in here to the hospital today.
You know, Brianna, it really did make a difference just a matter of seconds where people were standing. You know, the couple who we interviewed, they were on one tour bus. There was another larger tour group of 67 people, including five Americans that was on the tour bus right in front of them.
Some of them were in line at the visa office. entire group has disappeared. There's no trace of them. And those were people that they were at the hotel having breakfast with that morning, talking with excitement about the journey that was ahead for them. That is how close the survivors came to being among the untold number of people who were killed in this disaster.
KEILAR: Yeah. Will, thank you so much for that report and that story.
Vikram Ravi joins us now. We just heard from Vikram's parents in Will's piece there. They were rescued in the flood.
Vikram, you're hearing your parents describe their experience there. How are you absorbing what they went through?
VIKRAM RAVI, SON OF AMERICANS RESCUED AFTER NEPAL FLOOD: I'm at a loss for words. It's truly, truly heartbreaking. I mean, I'm honestly hearing more and more descriptions about this every single day and just from this broadcast so far. It's unbelievable how much damage was caused and just how a few seconds could have meant I'm looking for my parents from an embassy rather than having the hope they're going to come home and I can hug them.
Like, I -- I'm just at a loss for words. I can't believe it.
KEILAR: Yeah, I know. I sense how happy you are. It's an amazing outcome for you. And it's -- it is luck, as your mom was saying. She called you shortly after the flood.
Can you tell us about that call? Was that the first thing you'd heard that this had happened?
So, I just moved a lot of my stuff in with my sister into my apartment in Cal Berkeley. And I was just chilling in my bed. And then suddenly, I get a phone call, and it's from my mom. So, I pick up and she's just crying -- she's crying. She's saying, Shiva saved us, Shiva saved us, this massive mudslide, tsunami is actually the word she used, to trampled villages and buried hundreds of people. There's so many people dead.
And I'm just sitting there like, what is going on? I mean, I think my first -- my first emotion was confusion, because it's just something I wasn't prepared for. Like, the news wasn't out yet, as far as I'm aware. I got more context about the whole situation over the next few days. But I guess, looking back on this retroactively, I'm just thankful that I was able to hear her tell me that she's okay, rather than, again, having to go look for her in this impossible ordeal.
KEILAR: And be wondering, yeah, and you were supposed to be on this trip, is that right?
RAVI: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I really was supposed to be on it. I just finished the summer interning in Washington, D.C., and I was coming back and I just wanted a few weeks to my friends as I was about head to college. So, I decided that this trip maybe wasn't for me. Also thought maybe I wasn't spiritual enough yet to go on such a -- such a soul-searching journey.
But yeah, it really makes you look at life. It's -- it really makes you think, wow, I could have been there. I could buried under a ton of mud. It's just something that it's really made me look at life differently and really made me want to chase and make the most of it as much as I can.
KEILAR: Yeah, I want to play again some of what your mother said when Will asked her what she wants to do and say to you and your sister when she sees you. Here's that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJA: I'm going to hug them and cry because I am an emotional mama. I -- yeah, I am going to hug them and cry and I'm just thankful to God that I'm alive and there for them. I'm going to tell them take life seriously and be ready for whatever comes. This is a learning. Things could happen to anyone. It could happen to us again.
[19:15:01]
So be ready. I'm going to tell them that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And we are looking, we have some pictures of your family together, you, your sister and your parents as well.
What do you -- what do you want to do? What do you want to say when you get to see them?
RAVI: I mean, jump in their arms, feel their touch. I mean, like literal seconds away and they're alive. That's all I can say. I'm grateful to God and I'm grateful for the miracle that happened because all I want to do is just hug them as soon as they get back. Thankfully, I'm nearby so I can go home and maybe stay for a few days and just, I guess, appreciate that moment just of pure fortune.
KEILAR: I think that's going to be some kind of hug, Vikram. I really think it is. You with your family.
Vikram Ravi, thank you for being with us. Amazing that your parents are going to be with you very soon.
OUTFRONT next, breaking news, a far-right political commentator, an early supporter of Trump, seized by ICE.
Plus, three staffers from the independent military newspaper "Stars and Stripes" suing Pete Hegseth after they were abruptly fired. A judge just making a ruling in that case. The editor in chief who was fired is my guest.
And the Trump administration told the Supreme Court that his ballroom is about 65 percent complete. But new reporting from "The Washington Post" suggests that's not the case. Does it hurt Trump's legal case?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:40]
KEILAR: Breaking news. Controversial right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by ICE. He was taken into custody yesterday at New Orleans International Airport. DHS posting this photo of him in custody and saying, quote, "He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws. Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on July 22 after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal."
Yiannopoulos' rise to prominence coincided with Donald Trump's first campaign and term as president, and he positioned himself as one of Trump's top supporters. He also had a long history of disparaging and offensive remarks about women, Muslims, African Americans, and transgender people. The list really goes on.
Jamal Simmons and Bill Kristol are OUTFRONT.
And, Jamal, your reaction to ICE detaining Yiannopoulos? JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. But I think this seems a little bit like an intramural fight between some of the wings of the MAGA party. What seems to be more important to me are the 400,000 immigrants who've been detained over the course of the last year and a half by ICE and DHS. 145,000 American US citizen children have had at least one parent detained over the last year and a half.
And, you know, we just had this case of the sailor, Josh Aviles, Josh, who was on the USS Lincoln, whose dad was being detained. There are 50 American -- 50 parents or spouses of active-duty military who have been detained.
This is not a popular policy. They're not handling it well. And so, I think while we focus on Milo's case, this is really something that's affecting so many people in this country that we've really got to figure out a better policy to secure our border and to make sure we're not getting rid of people who really ought to, you know, be here.
KEILAR: Bill, just a year ago, Yiannopoulos appeared to be quite supportive of ICE's approach, posting California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections, and government buildings with on-the-spot deportation for anyone who can't prove they're in the U.S. legally.
I mean, what do you think about so far what you've seen, and what are you expecting about how the administration is messaging this?
BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR AT LARGE, THE BULWARK: I don't know if they're going to message too much or they'll just show, see, we want to deport anyone. who's here quote illegally, which I mean, they are fanatics about mass deportation. We really can't lose sight. I agree with Jamal about this about the forest for the trees. I mean, he's just getting a little bit of maybe his own medicine here since he was gloating about the deportation of others, especially people with dark color skins or foreign accents and so forth. I guess he's going to be put on a plane back to London. So, it doesn't seem like he's not going to the Central African Republic like some people from Central America are being deported in the middle of the night there.
And he's not like these 300,000 Haitians who came here, got temporary protected status, contributed to their communities, had low crime rates for living lawful lives here in the U.S. The administration removes their temporary protected status. Hey, presto, they're illegal. Now they're being deported to Haiti, a place that is so horribly dangerous that the State Department tells Americans still set foot there, and they already have been killings, and it's terrible what's happening there in Springfield, Ohio, and that is pure racism.
I mean, let's not kid ourselves. They can take Milo off, I guess, and that's not racism. But why are they going after these Haitians in Springfield, Ohio? We know how that came up in the campaign, right? Brianna and J.D. Vance and Trump and the eating cats and dogs and all that.
So, it's really an appalling policy, the mass deportation policy. And if this calls a little more attention to it, that's OK.
KEILAR: Bill, I want to see what you think about a moment that happened on Fox yesterday. Bret Baer calling out the president in real time over a social media post after reporter Jonathan Hunt reported that U.S. leaders are set to meet with G20 leaders to increase pressure on Iran.
Trump posted, "Jonathan Hunt of Fox News did a particularly inaccurate report on the failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don't want to meet. They do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal. Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies for a change."
Then within minutes of that post, Baier said this on live TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: First of all, Jonathan Hunt is not a flunky. He's a great reporter.
[19:25:00]
Second of all, Mr. President, we didn't say you wanted to meet. In fact, we played a soundbite that you didn't want to meet, and there are no negotiations. We said that Treasury Secretary Bessent is hoping to meet with G20 countries to increase the pressure on Iran and that Gulf state allies, including Qatar, are inside Tehran trying to get Iran to agree to concessions. That's what it said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Compelling moment, Bill. What'd you think?
KRISTOL: Yeah, look, it's good that Bret called out the president in this one instance. He could have just said, Mr. President, you've been lying about the Iranian war now for six -- the Iran war for six months since you began at six months ago today, and you've been constantly said -- lying about what's happening with -- in the strait and about your negotiations with Iran and declaring victory and so forth. And this is a very small instance of an additional up lie.
But you know what? Any port in a storm, if these causes a few Fox viewers to say, you know, I was kind of giving Trump the benefit of the doubt, but this he's now attacking Fox correspondents, even Bret Baier's upset, I really need to take a fresh look at it.
I mean, that issue is really hurting him. I think people have underestimated that a bit. There's a conventional wisdom. As you know, Brianna, you know, foreign policy voters don't vote on that, but it fits into now a narrative of Trump losing control, not telling the truth. It's all about his own ego. It's not about doing anything for Americans.
Gas prices are up. The strait isn't open. The Middle East is geo- strategically much worse off for us than it was six months ago.
So, I think it's been a big -- it's been a contributor to his decline in popularity over the last few months.
KEILAR: Jamal, I will say on Fox, there have been moments on the Iran war where you're hearing hosts say that people aren't happy or that the president isn't making good on his promises about endless wars. There have been repeated moments. I wonder if you think it makes a difference?
SIMMONS: You know, I think it might. I mean, here's the thing, Brianna. When only 31 percent of Americans support your policy, that means a lot of Republicans don't like this war, right? So, if you're Fox and you've got more conservative viewers who are watching this, to call the president to account, to just make factual statements like it seems like Bret just did, just to correct the record, puts you on the side of where the vast majority of Americans are.
We've been at this for six months. Most of us don't really understand why it is we're there. The president doesn't even really talk about nuclear weapons or regime change. It's all about reopening the straits. Gas prices are so high, as Bill was saying a second ago.
It just doesn't make any sense. And so we got to figure out a way to get out of this so that we can get back to focusing on things like childcare or grocery prices or making things work for American families who are struggling right now and the president doesn't even want to talk about affordability.
KEILAR: Jamal, Bill, thank you so much for the conversation, really appreciate it.
And OUTFRONT next, a new ruling tonight in the case of three "Stars and Stripes" staffers who are suing Pete Hegseth to get their jobs back after they were suddenly fired, the now former editor-in-chief is my guest.
Plus, the Trump administration appealing a major ruling on mail-in voting restrictions. We'll tell you what it means for the election now just two months away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:19]
KEILAR: Tonight, suing Hegseth. Three staffers at "Stars and Stripes", the independent military newspaper first founded during the Civil War, are suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top DOD officials, claiming their abrupt firings last week violate their First Amendment rights.
The former publisher, editor-in-chief, and reporter alleged they were pushed out, quote, "for speaking up as private citizens in support of the press's freedom to cover military operations, its need to reach all service persons, for their publication of a news report on deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended tour of duty in the Mideast."
The Pentagon declined CNN's request for comment. OUTFRONT now, Erik Slavin, one of the Stars and Stripes journalists
suing Hegseth and other Pentagon officials. He had been with the outlet for more than two decades, working his way up to editor-in- chief until he was told last week that he would be fired.
Erik, you spoke to OUTFRONT last week. Since then, you found out new details about your firing, specifically when the Pentagon made that order to fire you and your two other colleagues.
What can you tell us?
ERIK SLAVIN, STARS AND STRIPES EDITOR IN CHIEF, TOLD LAST WEEK HE WOULD BE FIRED: That's correct. It was something that I really wasn't aware of until the facts of the case came out. But the publisher was attempting to have a conversation with the Pentagon regarding the details of the firing, and specifically found that a lot of those details showed that the notice of proposed separation had a lot of ethical and legal violations within it.
The Pentagon essentially said in one sentence, carry out the order to fire myself and our reporter. But what we found is that the order to fire me came one day after "Stars and Stripes" broke a lot of the details regarding what was happening aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
KEILAR: You believe it was directly related to that coverage?
SLAVIN: I think it was a motivating factor. The notice of separation said that what I did was so egregious in essentially saying that censorship is bad, that I should be separated after five days' notice when the regulation normally calls for 30 days. Well, if it was really that bad, why did they wait more than five weeks to issue that notice? I think that's a question that needs to be resolved, and I think it will be when it comes out in court.
KEILAR: I think you told CBS News, right, essentially that about censorship, is that right?
SLAVIN: Yes.
KEILAR: I just wanted to explain to our viewers who might not be familiar with it.
So, you are at this point fighting to get your job back. A Trump- appointed judge held this last-minute hearing today on your case. Tell us what happened there.
SLAVIN: So the judge asked the government if they would agree to a -- a one-week stay, and the government complied with that.
[19:35:02]
So now, next week, the court will review a temporary restraining order, and that would potentially keep all three of us in our jobs while the case is being adjudicated.
KEILAR: And when you joined OUTFRONT last week, right after you were told you were going to be fired, you said, quote, It's very concerning as to what will happen in the future and what the rights will be for service members to a free press. So, right now, we are six months into the Iran war, right?
I mean, what happens if service members do not have that from "Stars and Stripes" at this critical moment?
SLAVIN: Well, there are so many details that we look at these bases that really nobody is in a position to cover.
One thing, the last story that Lara Korte, who received that notice of separation filed, was about what the Navy families who are evacuated from Bahrain are doing. And it's been six months and they're still very much in limbo. Some of them are sleeping on floors right now. Some of them are not getting the benefits that they need. So, it's that kind of reporting that's at stake here.
KEILAR: Yeah, we have reported on how coverage around bases has been reduced here in recent years. So that is becoming a news desert a lot of times in those communities, and "Stars and Stripes" is reporting there.
You write in your complaint, quote, Stripes was established during the Civil War and reestablished during World War I and World War II to provide accurate independent reporting to military communities, including service members, DOD civilians, veterans, contractors, and their families.
What are you hearing from members of the military community now and those who rely on "Stars and Stripes"?
SLAVIN: Well, we've received a lot of support, and that's been very heartening. I think they understand the importance of "Stars and Stripes". I've heard from people, hey, I served in 1981, and I was at this base here, and "Stars and Stripes" got me through a lot. I, of course, have heard from people who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they remember Stars and Stripes quite clearly.
And we still provide that not only online for the digital presence, but there are bases out there where there isn't much of a commercial internet line and there are security concerns. It was recently reported that Iran was hacking the phones of service members.
So, we provide something in a place where people don't really have a lot of news coming in and we can give it to them.
KEILAR: Erik Slavin, thank you so much for being with us tonight.
SLAVIN: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, new details about Trump's plan to get more Republicans on an important board that controls the Postal Service.
Plus, the White House claims Trump's ballroom is too far along to stop, but new reporting from "The Washington Post" contradicts that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:21]
KEILAR: Breaking news, the White House just appealing a federal judge's ruling that temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump's controversial executive order that could limit mail-in voting in the midterms, a plan that the judge warned would likely be found to be unconstitutional.
Gabe Cohen is OUTFRONT with a deeper look at how Trump has tried to weaponize the Postal Service for political gain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Hopefully, there will be No mail-in ballots, mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump, fixated on mail ballots and baseless claims of election fraud, has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to aid his crusade. Following an executive order, USPS has published new vote by mail regulations, including a requirement for election officials to upload the names and addresses of every mail ballot recipient in the U.S. into a government portal, which could ultimately be shared with federal law enforcement and used for audits and investigations.
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): If a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots?
DAVID STEINER, POSTMASTER GENERAL: Under our proposed regulation -- no, we would tell the state that we need the manifest.
COHEN (voice-over): That initiative still has large legal hurdles to clear, but it's just one piece of Trump's power grab at the Postal Service with reports that he considered stripping the agency of its independence and shifting it under his Commerce Department.
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are also testing a plan to have USPS workers help conduct the U.S. Census.
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: The postman drives my house. We don't have to go in that house. Nobody lives there. They know where everybody lives. It's going to save us billions of dollars.
COHEN (voice-over): Sources tell CNN that the Postal Service has at least publicly played ball with the president, largely because of its looming financial crisis, which will require reforms from the administration and Congress.
STEINER: Let me be very, very, very, very clear. We are out of cash.
COHEN (voice-over): But soon, Trump may have even more control over USPS as he aims to reshape its independent board of governors. Only one of the board's four current members is a Republican, but the president has nominated four new Republicans who, if confirmed, could give him greater influence over the agency. Two of the nominees were asked specifically about mail-in ballots.
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Do you believe that mail-in voting now is safe and secure?
WILLIAM GALLO, USPS BOARD OF GOVERNORS NOMINEE: That's a very good question. I would say it's not -- under the proper guidance and monitoring, yes, I do think --
[19:45:04]
SLOTKIN: I mean, for instance, President Trump won my state in 2024, And there was a ton of mail-in voting. Was that voting for President Trump safe and secure or no?
GALLO: It was safe and secure.
COHEN (voice-over): And it's unclear if they'll fully back Trump's mail ballot claims.
SLOTKIN: Mr. Brodsky, have you voted by mail?
JEFFREY BRODSKY, USPS BOARD OF GOVERNORS NOMINEE: Yes, I have.
SLOTKIN: Okay, and presumably you feel the system was safe and secure, that we have one?
BRODSKY: It was a wonderful way to vote, and I did it three times.
COHEN (voice-over): But on the central question of who won in 2020, at least one raised some alarm, writing in his Senate questionnaire, Joe Biden was certified as the president of the 2020 election. I have no information to reach a conclusion that it was free and fair.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Brianna, as you mentioned, just yesterday a federal judge again blocked those new mail ballot regulations, ruling that they are most likely unlawful. The White House already appealing that, and so we're expecting more legal action ahead on this, including potentially another trip to the Supreme Court. And again, the administration wants these rules in place for the midterms, even though ballots are going to start going out in the coming days.
KEILAR: Gabe Cohen, thank you.
Ryan Goodman, OUTFRONT legal analyst, joins us now.
And, Ryan, a judge temporarily blocking the post office from carrying out Trump's order. Hours later, the White House files this appeal. Unclear how fast the appeal will move. Where do you see this heading?
RYAN GOODMAN, JUST SECURITY CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: So I think it's a fairly straightforward case. It should be smooth sailing for the plaintiffs that are trying to block the rule. And that's because the lower court has already issued this once and it was already affirmed by the Court of Appeals, but the lower court is making the factual findings in this very strong language in her opinion last night.
She said, quote, "The record continues to lack any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting. The USPS's interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote." That's both legal conclusions but also factual conclusions.
She also says that it was unrebutted in the evidence presented to her that the states cannot comply with the final rule because there's just not enough time before the election. So, it seems like the writing's on the wall and that it seems very unlikely that this will be upheld or that the final rule will be upheld by the Court of Appeals or by the U.S. Supreme Court.
KEILAR: Ryan, "The Washington Post" today also has some major new reporting about Trump's White House ballroom project. Just two weeks ago, the Trump administration had told the Supreme Court that it was 65 percent complete, so two-thirds complete, as they were trying to argue that construction was essentially past the point of no return. But "The Post" says the budget and other records that they reviewed about spending on the project suggest it's far less complete, perhaps significantly less than halfway done.
How do you see the court reacting to this possibility that they may have been lied to?
GOODMAN: It's a whopper. So, the brief that was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court was by the solicitor general. And even though multiple federal courts across the country, lower federal courts, have found the Department of Justice has given them misinformation, that has not happened at the Supreme Court, and certainly not by the solicitor general.
The solicitor general has a relationship of trust with the court. And in times past, if there's even a factual error that the Solicitor General makes in their presentation to the court, they'll correct themselves. They'll send a letter to the court saying, look, I made a mistake. Here's the real record.
So, if this sticks the way it's looking, it would be very bad for the government. And I could easily imagine that it would influence the justice's determination, because this is the argument. The argument by the Solicitor General was, as you just said, it's 65 percent complete, and then in his brief, he mentions that twice, and then he says, that's why it's infeasible for us to make any changes right now.
Well, if the factual premise is gone, it's a real problem. Now, the court might decide on other grounds, but if they're going to look at that question, it's not good for the government.
KEILAR: Yeah, and if the assumption is that the solicitor general understood that he was being factual, right, which I think is probably what a lot of analysts are expecting here, then the question would be, was the White House being honest with the solicitor general? Is the client being honest, if you will? So, if this sticks, as you said, not just for this case, but for future other cases, what might this mean for the solicitor general, this administration, going before the court?
GOODMAN: So, I think it has significant implications across a lot of cases. And I totally agree with the way you described it. It does not mean that the solicitor general was lying or that even knew that he was giving false information. It's just that he was the purveyor of the false information to the court.
And there's a doctrine that the courts have used for decades. It's called the presumption of regularity.
[19:50:01]
It means that they give the executive branch, a default that they are acting in good faith and that their information can be trusted, that benefits the Justice Department in so many cases, civil litigation, criminal cases, and the like. But the presumption can be forfeited if courts start to just doubt that this particular Justice Department is going to give them valid information. And lower courts have already begun to say that the presumption has been forfeited. The big question is, what the U.S. Supreme Court does?
So, this is not beneficial to the solicitor general. It could mean that it would hurt the solicitor general in other cases that are not this case when he goes before the justices.
KEILAR: Yeah, that could be huge.
GOODMAN: Yeah.
KEILAR: Ryan, thank you so much.
OUTFRONT next, Sir Anthony Hopkins is best known for his role as Hannibal Lecter, but at 88, he's launching an entirely new career.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:33]
KEILAR: Tonight, an 88-year-old Academy Award winner launching a whole new career. Sir Anthony Hopkins, perhaps best known for his role as Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs", just released his first music album.
Elex Michaelson is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sir Anthony Hopkins is listening to a performance of music he composed.
SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS, COMPOSER, "LIFE IS A DREAM": I'm sitting there thinking, where did that come from?
MICHAELSON: Where did it come from?
HOPKINS: From inside my soul.
Closer.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Hopkins is perhaps best known for playing the cannibalistic killer Hannibal Lecter in several movies starting with Silence of the Lambs.
HOPKINS: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Real life Hopkins just released his first ever album of his own classical compositions.
MICHAELSON: Do you think Hannibal Lecter would like this album?
(LAUGHTER)
HOPKINS: It's a silly -- that's a question. Hello Clarice. I like the Clarice -- the Clarice aria.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The album is titled "Life is a Dream".
HOPKINS: I just see it as one a long dream. I look back over my life. I've met impossible. How did I get here?
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Hopkins grew up as an only child in Wales. By age seven, Hopkins was playing piano. By 15, he taught himself how to write his own music. But he didn't want to publish it.
HOPKINS: I was cynical.
MICHAELSON: You didn't think people would like it?
HOPKINS: I didn't believe in myself at all. That's why I became an actor.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): He'd win an Oscar for "Silence of the Lambs" and another for "The Father".
HOPKINS: I don't know what's happening anymore.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): He'd earn Oscar nominations for "The Remains of the Day", "Amistad," "Nixon", and "The Two Popes". But through it all, he never stopped writing music.
MICHAELSON: Is more of your passion than even acting?
HOPKINS: But it's been in me.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Hopkins' wife, Stella, encouraged him to compile his seven decades worth of songwriting into one album.
Fellow actor Bradley Cooper suggested to Hopkins that he team up with world-renowned maestro Gustavo Dudamel. Dudamel taught Cooper how to conduct for his role in "Maestro. Dudamel is now preparing to lead the New York Philharmonic. He recently conducted the halftime show at the World Cup final.
HOPKINS: Hey, congratulations, how are you?
MICHAELSON (voice-over): This is the first time these two have ever done a TV interview together. Dudamel recalling the first time he read Hopkins sheet music.
GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, COMPOSER: I was completely in love immediately. I say like wow.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Soon afterwards, Dudamel agreed to conduct the recording sessions in London.
HOPKINS: I'm sitting thinking, did I write that?
(LAUGHTER)
DUDAMEL: Yes, you did.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): We met up with them at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles shortly before they appeared on stage together.
In less than a year, Hopkins and Dudamel have become good friends. Two men from different generations and different continents united by the universal language of music, something they both learned to love as little boys.
HOPKINS: We never grew up.
MICHAELSON: What do you mean by that?
HOPKINS: We're both kids. Yeah. We're both children.
MICHAELSON: Even at 88.
HOPKINS: Yes. He wasn't grown up watching on the podium conducting the other night. He's a child. That's what it's about, about the power of childhood.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
HOPKINS: The child of enthusiasm.
DUDAMEL: Absolutely.
HOPKINS: Passion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: The passion of childhood. So, as he approaches his 89th birthday, what's next for Anthony
Hopkins? Well, he wants to do more movies, but he also says his new goal is to play Carnegie Hall. So, he's putting that out in the universe, and he says it's never too late to try something new.
KEILAR: I think it's wonderful he's put that out in the universe, and I expect that maybe his wish might be answered. We will see.
Elex, amazing story. Thank you for sharing that with us.
MICHAELSON: Thank you.
KEILAR: And you'll hear much more from Anthony Hopkins on Elex's show, "THE STORY IS," which is tonight at 9:00 Pacific and midnight here. Don't miss it.
And thank you so much for joining us tonight.
"AC360" starts now.
