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Erin Burnett Outfront
GOP Senator: Trump Ads "Shouldn't Be Paid For With Taxpayer Dollars"; Trump Contradict U.S. Ambassador On Talk Of Weapon Sales To China; FBI Operating Under Assumption Hackers Stole Data On All Employees. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 28, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:13]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Trump's taxpayer-funded stunt backfiring. Top Republicans turning on the president for using federal funds to pay for campaign ads or campaign-style ads in an effort to get out the vote.
Plus, Trump says he never asked Xi Jinping if she wanted to buy weapons from the United States, except for that's the exact story being told by Trump's ambassador to China about what happened in a closed-door meeting.
And quote, "hang 'em high". Those are just some of the words found by KFILE from the Texas Republican who's facing bipartisan backlash after a racist social media post. What he said about hangings, gallows, and public executions.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett on this Monday.
And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a top Republican breaking with Trump. The majority leader of the Senate tonight telling CNN that Trump should not be using taxpayer dollars to pay for political ads which are airing across the country that are designed to prop up the president.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: You like the message, but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Operative words shouldn't be being paid for with taxpayer dollars. And on that front, Thune is not alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I don't think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.
REPORTER: What are your thoughts on that? Is it appropriate?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): No. It's not even a closed question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There were a couple of them. Congressman Thomas Massie also has posted on this. He said, "Don't worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the president has been done before and is completely legal in banana republics."
So, all of this has prompted the White House to respond. Put out a statement saying, quote, "The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads. President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action."
Well, except for They actually are campaign ads. I mean, let me just show you one of them because it's a 30-second spot. On your left is the ad paid for by you, American taxpayers. On the right is the ad paid for by Trump during his last campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the final battle with you at my side. We will liberate America from these villains once and for all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, actually, it was a campaign ad. It is a campaign ad. It is what it is.
Ethics group and watchdog groups are not necessary to say this, but they are warning that the ads violate the federal appropriations legislation, as in be against the law, including the funding bill that Trump himself actually signed in February, because that law prohibits federal funds from being used on propaganda.
And just in case you still have any doubt on the purpose of the ad, here is that very same ad playing on the big screens at Trump's convention in 2024. There it is. It was filling the time, walking out. See that same image?
And sorry, just one more thing. The words that Trump is saying in the ads are actually word for word from his campaign speeches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 2024 is our final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state.
We will liberate America from these villains once and for all. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Liberating America from the villains once and for all. I mean, Trump is using these ads to it seems to fuel the idea that he is on the ballot, right? They're saying well he's on the ballot so it doesn't count, but he wants people to think that he is on the ballot, he thinks that that may be the only way that Republicans don't lose control of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You have to do the one thing. Pretend I'm on the ballot. Pretend I'm on the ballot.
But in this election, I'm asking you to pretend I'm on the ballot just one more time.
So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, I think in a court of law, it would be pretty clear that this ad funded by taxpayers is being used to have people think that Trump is on the ballot so that those people who love him will vote for him because it's a campaign ad for Trump. And that is really the plea to his diehard supporters because that's who would respond to such an ad. It may not appeal to anyone else.
CNN is reporting that Trump advisors acknowledge that it is unlikely that Trump can win over large numbers of independents and swing voters who actually are the voters who vaulted Trump to victory just two years ago.
[19:05:00]
When it comes to that weakness, though, with the voters who matter most, Trump is pleading ignorance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Why are Republicans, do you think, having to work so hard to hold on to these seats?
TRUMP: I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I don't know. Or maybe he does know, or maybe he no longer knows the difference between reality and falsehood, because after all, we do not know what he has truly told and shown about inflation, prices, his record low approval ratings, and the deeply unpopular war that has sent American prices even higher. Prices, by the way, that Trump was also asked about today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Mr. President, midterm elections, less than four weeks away, should motorists, should truckers expect elevated gas and diesel prices between now and then?
TRUMP: I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Again, the same three words, "I don't know," which leads us to one of the most incongruous points of the day, which is that standing beside Trump today was a Republican locked in a very tight race. A Republican who has turned on Trump over the war in Iran, Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson. She recently wrote, "Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran." Couldn't be any more direct, and yet she's standing by Trump, the architect of that war, today.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT at the White House tonight.
And, Kristen, you've got breaking reporting on who is the driving force behind these ads.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, unsurprisingly, or maybe surprising to some, the driving force behind these ads, the brains behind these ads is the same person who is predominantly featured in every single one of them, which is President Trump.
I am told that he is playing a leading role in one cultivating or crafting this idea, but two actually choosing what videos get out there and are made into these ads. They are not using an outside firm, they're actually creating these in house at the White House as part of the comms team, the larger comms team. It's the video team specifically that's putting these together.
But you know, there's a lot of backlash here from both Republicans and Democrats. And I was told that there were a number of people who were within Trump's political operation who were blindsided by the ads. They didn't know that they were going to be out there.
Now it's unclear whether or not that is them kind of saying that in retrospect, because I also had pushback from one person saying President Trump has been talking about this openly. He has been basically proud of this idea, and it hasn't been done in any kind of secrecy at all that they wanted this out there.
Now, when you talk about doing things in house, I do want to point you to one comment that we heard earlier today, and this is from a Democratic Congressman, Jamie Raskin. Of course, Democrats have things to say about Trump, but the reason why this matters is because he's the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. And if -- if Democrats take the House, he will have subpoena power.
And this is what he said about these ads. He said that the ads may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes. But then he went on to say this, said that the creation of the ads was a Hatch Act violation for any government employees who worked on it or used government resources to make it.
So, we'll see where this goes from here, but not that surprising when you really think about what those ads are saying. And we know how President Trump views himself and his presidency that he is the main driver behind all of this.
BURNETT: Yeah. All right, Kristen, thank you very much at the White House.
And a lot of new information there from Kristen's reporting, so everyone's here with me on set.
Ryan Goodman, can we just start with some of her new reporting? She's saying that it's not even that they had hired an outside firm. I mean, that would be using taxpayer dollars, too. But this is taxpayer-funded salaries of White House employees on the White House communications team in the video unit who are doing all of this themselves.
I mean, is there any question about the legality of this?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARMENT OF DEFENSE: There's not. So, if I'm doing on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say clarity is 10, 9.5 or 10. And I'll just explain why. The part of it is the Hatch Act. It says you can't use your government offices or public funds for partisan political purposes. So Jamie Raskin is right about that.
But part of it is this appropriations rider that has existed for the last 75 years, which says that no appropriations whatsoever can be used for publicity or propaganda purposes. Part of that is for partisan purposes. And then another part of that is, as was said on the floor of the Senate when they passed this 75 years ago, it cannot be used to glorify an individual. The GAO has also said --
BURNETT: It literally says it cannot be used to glorify an individual?
GOODMAN: That's when they passed it. They said, what is the problem? The problem is use of public funds for individual glorification of executive officials.
BURNETT: Wow.
GOODMAN: Then the GAO has interpreted that to mean it should never be used for --
BURNETT: I mean, that's clairvoyant. I'm just saying who would have ever thought of such a phrasing and yet here we are.
GOODMAN: And the GAO has multiple times over multiple decades so that it should not be used for another way of putting a glorification self- aggrandizement.
[19:10:04]
And I just want to read one of the lines from one of the videos it says. In reference to President Trump, quote, "He is the toughest, most resilient person I've ever met, and nothing was going to stop him. That is the textbook definition of self-aggrandizement and glorification of an individual executive official.
And there's -- it could not be clear. It says no part of any appropriation can be used for this purpose.
Last point, punctuation mark. There's a separate federal statute, the Anti-Deficiency Act. It says if executive officials use public funds that have not been appropriated, it's a crime.
BURNETT: So, you're at a 10 out of 10?
GOODMAN: Ten out of 10.
BURNETT: Okay. I mean, S.E., I know we're all sort of, by the way, I am thinking 75 years ago they thought about the glorification of an individual. Maybe they were thinking back to the times of Caesar, but here we are. It is really incredible, though, what Kristen's saying. There has been no effort, I think, maybe we've gotten to a point where this is out there for all eyes to see.
Nobody's hiding this. No one's trying to say that they're not paying for it. No one's trying to say that it isn't all his idea.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, I think he's thinking, what can they do? What's going to happen if I do this? And there are -- there's, you know, a legal bucket of things that could happen. There's a congressional bucket of things that could happen. But he also clearly doesn't think there's a political thing that could happen.
But there is because Americans for whatever, you know, he thinks of communism and propaganda, they don't like this. They really don't like this. And this is actually stepping on the only good Republican message, talking point that they currently have. They can't do much in this current economy with Trump bad poll numbers.
The only thing they can do is hope to scare people about the socialist and communist Democrats. It's really hard to do that when Trump is out there doing communist stuff. And this kind of propaganda, banning journalists from the White House, ignoring court orders from judges, intimidating election workers, this is communist stuff.
So, it's really hard for Republicans to run on let's not vote in communists.
BURNETT: Stocks -- stakes in public companies. I mean, there's a lot of --
CUPP: Oh, I could go on and on, but our time is limited to an hour. So, I'm cutting it back. But, like, it's really hard for Republicans to run on don't elect communists when the dear leader in chief is doing communist stuff.
BURNETT: And there's also, Jamal, though. Okay, I just want to play it again. I mean, because they're saying it's not a campaign ad because he's -- okay. I'm just going to play again, the ad that ran in the campaign two years ago and the ad now, because if Trump's picking it, he didn't even bother to change the shot. He didn't even bother to change the words. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This is the final battle with you at my side.
We will liberate America from these villains once and for all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jamal, maybe what it is about that when you see it, it is a level of brazen. It's, you're damn right I'm using the same thing. You're right, they're campaign ads, but I'm going to look you in the face and tell you that they're not.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Donald Trump believes in the great words of that -- Donald Trump believes in the great words of that "Real Housewives" poet, NeNe Leakes. Who's going to check me, boo?
CUPP: It was Sheree. It was Sheree.
SIMMONS: Oh, it was Sheree? It wasn't NeNe? OK, fine. Thank you for fact-checking.
BURNETT: OK, Jenna, who's stage manager, just was there going, Shre, Shre, Shre.
SIMMONS: Great. OK, so great. Thanks for checking. You're welcome. You're going to check me?
CUPP: I did like it. I did like it.
BURNETT: But Donald Trump believes this. He's going to keep going until somebody makes him stop. And so, we remember in 2020, Trump had the Republican National Convention on the White House South Lawn. I mean, they have been up to this for a long time. So, we've seen this coming before.
Here's what he is doing that's shrewd, so we shouldn't get too sideways. He knows it's an attention economy, and he's trying to bring as much attention to himself and to fill the space. He also knows that really not much people can do between now and Election Day, probably, to really do anything about it.
And they're now in GOTV phase. Voting is starting. And so, he's getting his people in fights about whether or not Donald Trump can do what Donald Trump wants to do. It's not completely crazy what he's up to.
BURNETT: Yeah, I mean, to that point, does anybody do anything about it and in time? GOODMAN: I think a lawsuit could happen almost at any moment. And if you think about who can actually bring that suit, Democratic candidates from across the country, the DCCC could bring it. They could say, look, he is using public funds to try to campaign and change the outcome of the midterm election, who does that disadvantage but us.
So that's individuals could bring it, organizations could bring it, and they might want to bring it, because if he is allowed to do it now, he could do it two days before the midterm elections. So, there'd be an incentive for them to try to stop that.
BURNETT: In terms of things that we see on the screen, let's talk about Dan Scavino.
CUPP: Okay.
BURNETT: Okay? So he's Trump's deputy chief of staff. He posted an A.I.-generated video over the weekend.
[19:15:03]
CUPP: Voluntarily.
BURNETT: I don't know if this was related to the administration- related wedding that went on, that Kash Patel was at, Alina Habba marrying a Turkish --
CUPP: Or the state dinner, right.
BURNETT: Apparent billionaire. But Eric Trump and he are riding on a luggage cart, propping champagne bottles and spraying -- I mean, these are the These are the good old times.
CUPP: Yeah.
BURNETT: And Donald Trump then approaches at the end of the clip. What prompts something like this from Dan Scovino?
CUPP: Great question. You know, there are a lot of ugly and odious things you have to do during an election cycle. You've got to spin bad poll numbers. You've got to spin a bad account, right?
You don't have to do stuff like this. This is literally rubbing it in your face. Diesel prices in Iowa have doubled in the past year. Most Americans are having trouble deciding, do I pay for gas this weekend? Do I pay my health care bill?
They are rubbing it in your face that they are doing fine and you're not. It's not even pretending, well, we're just going to ignore the bad economy or we're going to pretend voters don't really care about it. They are shoving it in your face. I can't imagine. what the thought process was.
If it's sort of a confidence play, like if we pretend things are so great, everyone will feel that people have ears and eyes. They're going to the gas pump. They don't need us to tell them how bad this economy is for them.
BURNETT: How out of touch do you need to be to post that?
SIMMONS: They're completely out of touch here. Look, people --
BURNETT: Because Dan Scavino is not Trump. I mean, in the sense of Dan Scavino does ostensibly also live in the real world. I mean, he's not, you know, chained to the White House and Mar-a-Lago.
SIMMONS: Yeah, but they're all playing to the audience of one. And if you're an American citizen who's out here spending more money on gas, your credit card bills are going up, your personal savings are going down, there's nothing Donald Trump can say to you that says what you just spent at the grocery store is not what you spent at the grocery store. There's nothing you can do.
And so, what they want to do is change the subject and not talk about the economy. But the fact is most Americans are hurting and they're not doing anything about it.
BURNETT: And what's amazing is something like that is it's not even a legal question. These are just the reality of how it impacts people.
GOODMAN: It's just the imagery that they're creating and in some ways sharing how they're in some ways not sensitive to what a lot of Americans are going through.
BURNETT: All right, thank you all very much.
And next, Trump and his ambassador to China at odds. And this is really bizarre because Trump's ambassador was really just trying to make Trump look good and talking about something that happened. But now Trump had to deny that he offered to sell weapons to the leader of China. But his ambassador of China was in the room and says that that's exactly what happened.
Plus, our KFILE uncovering controversial posts from the Texas Republican candidate who went viral for the racist post about the crowd at the University of Texas football game. Posted have been removed and included calling for public executions of political opponents.
And a prosecutor reopening the investigation into a group of men who are accused of raping a young woman at a Cornell University frat house. We have new details on this tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:21]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump denying that he asked Xi Jinping if she wanted to buy weapons from the U.S., something that is prohibited by law. This after Trump's ambassador to China proudly and explicitly said Trump did exactly that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I never heard of that one. I'm going to have to ask him. You mean we're going to sell -- now, they probably like to buy it because we do make better equipment than that, so maybe it's a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump says it may be a good idea, but says he never did it, sort of akin to the some people say, which he often relies upon. But in this case, the allegation was specific, and it wasn't an allegation, right? It came from someone who was saying what he thought Trump wanted the world to know.
So here is exactly what the U.S. ambassador to China, David Perdue, said happened in Trump's meeting with Xi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PERDUE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: President Trump continues to say, hey, we sell arms to other people around the world. He actually asked President Xi would he like to buy some at one point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Right. He didn't say that to be controversial.
OUTFRONT now, retired Army Major General Randy Manner.
And, General, that's the point. Purdue did not think he was saying anything wrong by telling the world what Trump said in that room. And in fact, he was proud of it.
MAJOR GENERAL RANDY MANNER, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It's very disconcerting. Here we have somebody who cannot remember what they said, obviously something that was illegal. I mean, it sounds very much like that very senior elderly uncle that's suffering from early stages of dementia, except for in this case, that uncle happens to be the president of the United States.
It's very disconcerting when he cannot even remember what he said, which again, if he even said it, it would have been an illegal act.
BURNETT: So, you know, context here, you know, Bloomberg's talking about China intercepting incredibly sensitive F-35 stealth aircraft parts, including the Canopy, which is required for reverse engineering. I mean, this is the most sophisticated, you know, plane that we have. You know, the context here is that, right, that they diverted a shipment and they took it.
So, I guess I'm curious in that context as to why do you think President Trump, who's well aware of that F-35 issue, as well as others even with the F-35s, why Trump would even offer to sell the president of China weapons?
MANNER: Again, I truly believe the president does not know what he's talking about any longer on many issues. The fact that that was a tremendous Chinese intelligence queue to be able to literally sidetrack and steal that cargo vehicle, that cargo container full of parts.
[19:25:03]
That was amazing that they pulled that off and it was a tremendous loss to the United States in terms of losing that to the Chinese, let alone of course the Chinese hacking into defense and defense contractor databases, which they have already done.
BURNETT: I want to ask you also about the news today of the alleged terror plot in the UK. There's a lot we don't know about this at this moment, but we do know five British nationals. OK, so British nationals is the key here were arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack a U.K. air base used by U.S. bombers striking Iran.
And Trump came out today and said Iran quote might be behind the plot. Those words stood out because the fact that he even put a qualifier on it is notable for him in the context of what this was. To not jump on the bandwagon immediately, he said, might.
Do you think that the Iranian government, or that this has fingerprints, and we're very early, General, so I'm not trying to have you give a definitive answer, but that the Iranian government was involved?
MANNER: So, it's my hypothesis that this was literally homegrown terrorists in the UK. They were unsophisticated. They were literally identified by a farmer and a couple of other people that said what are these vehicles driving through the night around this airbase for, very suspicious looking and they actually reported it.
So, this lacked sophistication. It was bungling to say the least. The fact is the British intelligence and the U.S. intelligence apparently missed this. The president two days ago a day ago said we picked that up and thank goodness -- no, we were all surprised by this and for want of literally a farmer reporting it. Who knows what might have happened, but I doubt seriously that this had any Iranian money or training because it was just such a bungling act.
BURNETT: All right, General Manner, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.
And we have new details coming up about what's believed to be one of the most serious data breaches at the FBI in history. And agents are now concerned about their actual physical safety.
Plus, KFILE uncovering years of posts from the Texas Republican who's been blasted by members of his own party after the racist post about the crowd at the Texas football game. His new post included calling for the execution of Democratic politicians, including former President Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:32]
BURNETT: Breaking news, we have new details tonight about the massive hack of the FBI. The FBI now operating under the assumption that hackers have stolen data on all FBI employees, the personal information of thousands of current and former agents, including their home addresses.
Some current and former employees say they have been left in the dark about whether they were affected, what they should do now about their actual personal safety.
A former FBI agent telling CNN, quote, "Management is lost".
OUTFRONT now, Greg Ehrie. He spent 22 years with the FBI.
OK, 22 years with the FBI and you're hearing this all FBI employees, personal safety at risk. A former agent saying management is lost. Wow.
GREG EHRIE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NEWARK FIELD OFFICE: Wow, incredibly disturbing to hear this and hear about a leak and not knowing the extent of that and the obvious question retirees current agents are all asking am I involved? Is information about me out there in the wild?
BURNETT: And I mean, I guess I'm curious when the comment management is lost. Has the FBI contacted you? Are they -- have you heard anything?
EHRIE: I have not. And talking to my former colleagues and current colleagues, that's a matter of concern. Certainly, understand that the bureau wants to understand the extent of the leak and the information that may be out there before they start notifying people. But there's a certain what we call a due diligence that if somebody's information is possibly out, you need to contact that person.
BURNETT: And as all of this is happening, the FBI director is at a giant birthday bash, super expensive birthday bash of former Trump lawyer Alina Habba. What does all this tell you about how the FBI is handling this from the top?
EHRIE: Well, you certainly hope that they're taking it very seriously. As you pointed out, this could potentially be, and we don't know the extent, one of the largest data leaks in FBI history. That seems to be something that's taking a huge amount of time and focus from the bureau right now.
BURNETT: Yeah, and I mean, it could include, we understand, covert operations, all kinds of things that could put people at risk, whether it be with organized crime or international terror groups or all of the things that the FBI agents sacrifice so much to uncover.
In the context of this question of leadership at the FBI, there's another major departure at the top of the FBI, Deputy Director Andrew Bailey, so he's the number two, leaving after a year. FBI says this is for family reasons.
I will note that Dan Bongino, who had the job before him, also left for -- left after one year. This is a really important job, and nobody seems to be willing to stay in it.
EHRIE: It's another disturbing fact. Certainly, people have reasons why they might want to leave a job, but the deputy director of the FBI should be considered the CEO of the chief operating officer of an organization in charge of all the tactical missions, the operations, the day-to-day running of the bureau.
To bring in outsiders is one thing, but they need to spend the time. After a year, I'm not even sure you could find your office in the Hoover Building, let alone understand the breadth and depth of FBI operations. So that continuity, that consistency doesn't seem to be there right now.
BURNETT: Yeah, and this is at a crucial moment.
EHRIE: Absolutely.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Greg Ehrie. I appreciate your time, as I said, with the FBI as an agent for 22 years. Thank you.
Also tonight, quote, "hang 'em high". Those words uncovered by our KFILE made by Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commission, which is a very powerful agency in the state of Texas. It regulates a file made by Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commission, which is a very powerful agency in the state of Texas. It regulates the oil and gas industry in the state.
[19:35:01]
Now, French is already under fire over a racist post about non-white students at the University of Texas that drew widespread condemnation, including from prominent Texas Republicans like Senator John Cornyn, who said he will not vote for French. Karl Rove, who said not going to vote for French first time to not vote for Republican in more than 30 years.
Now our KFILE finding both French deleted a series of posts about government officials and Democratic politicians, including one where he wrote, quote, "I want more than perp walks. I want public executions.
Well, of course, our Andrew Kaczynski broke this reporting and he joins me now.
So, Andrew, obviously Beau French is a name that was not known to many outside the state of Texas until the post about the non-white students at the football game, now national stage. Can you walk us through what you've uncovered here?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, that's right, Erin. This is a disturbing pattern that we found in French's old deleted tweets where he repeatedly called for execution of government officials, Democratic politicians, and even former President Barack Obama.
This was not just a one-off post. It was actually many posts. They're actually not from that long ago. Some of these were from just over a year ago. The other tweets were from six years ago, so these are all fairly recent comments and I want to walk our viewers through some of them.
The first, the more recent ones. These came when French was the chairman of his local Republican Party and was posting about DOGE. That was the Elon Musk initiative that embedded staffers throughout federal agencies looking for ways to cut spending.
Now French turned the acronym DOGE into, quote, "Dangle officials gallows expeditiously". In separate posts that month, he called for public executions for government officials that he said were exposed by DOGE. Take a look at this one.
He said, quote, "I want more than perp walks. I want public execution and days later. Erin, someone posted that they wanted to see Democratic Senator Adam Schiff in prison, to which French responded, "No, I want to see public executions for traitors."
In another exchange, a user was talking about the damage that they said DOGE could do to the federal government. And someone responded, they said, quote, "Yeah, that's the point" to which French replied, "It will really be the point when we have the public execution." So very into calling for public execution.
BURNETT: Yes, I mean, as you point out, it's it wasn't a one off of someone wants to say, oh, I was just I wasn't being serious. He said it again and again and again and you found -- you're talking about the time frame here and some of this going back to his recent roles. But the consistency here goes back a long way.
KACZYNSKI: Yes, that's right, Erin. All of those posts were in February 2025. These posts were from six years ago, and they were from an account that we uncovered from his unsuccessful runs for the Texas State House in 2016 and 2018. Now, we found on this account in May of 2020, this is amid the political fight over the investigation to the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. French called for the death penalty for people he described as, quote, Obama conspirators, and repeatedly used the hashtag -- hashtag "hang 'em high".
Now, in one post French wrote the death penalty for treason used to be death even for a former president. Hashtag "hang em high" talking about former President Barack Obama and in response to a post asking about whether then Congressman Adam Schiff had been arrested French wrote It's time we drop the hammer on those treasonous bastards and punish them with the full measure of justice. Hashtag "Hang 'em high".
Again, we also found another post from February 2025 in evoking the death of a January 6th defendant and French responded to a post that seemingly blamed federal judge and prosecutors for that defendant suicide by writing in this scenario, the wrong person was hung.
BURNETT: So executions, hangings, okay.
Now, as I mentioned, Texas Railroad Commissioner to some might seem like a fringe or a small role. It is not a small role. It's obviously a crucial role in the state of Texas. It is charged with regulating the oil and gas industry in a state where that dominates. He's been backed by the Texas GOP establishment for his run up to this point.
KACZYNSKI: Uh-huh. Yeah, it's actually a very important post. French is the Republican nominee for what would be a six-year term on the three-member Texas Railroad Commission. Now again, as you mentioned, despite its name, the Railroad Commission does not regulate the railroads anymore. It in fact has broad authority over Texas's oil and gas industry, including drilling pipelines, natural gas.
So, this is a very important job. He's also running with the full support of the Texas Republican Party. Governor Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton proudly accepted French's endorsement earlier this year.
I reached out to all of them over this. None of them commented. None of them would say anything.
And French did not respond to our repeated inquiries asking him for comment on this, Erin.
[19:40:01]
BURNETT: Yeah, well, it's going to be fascinating to see because this is a race that has now become front and center as Texas is front and center, obviously with the Senate race and the governor's race, at least by polling all looking extraordinarily close. We'll see.
Thank you very much, Andrew Kaczynski. KFILE breaking all of that news.
And OUTFRONT next, prosecutors in New York reopening an investigation into the sickening allegations that a group of fraternity brothers raped a young woman at Cornell University.
Plus, for the first time, we take you inside an immigration court hearing where dozens of children as young as three are appealing to stay in the United States.
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BURNETT: Tonight, prosecutors announcing they're reopening the investigation into the rape of a Cornell University student amid growing outrage. Now, the student alleges that she was drugged and gang raped at a fraternity house two years ago. The D.A. says his office did not bring charges at that time because the woman's statement then described -- the D.A. said described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual.
[19:45:08]
The woman is coming forward now suing the seven fraternity members, the fraternity and the school, claiming that the investigate -- incident was not properly investigated.
Gloria Pazmino begins our coverage tonight OUTFRONT. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York prosecutors are relaunching an investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University. The new review after a former student identified as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit claiming seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her in October 2024.
While no criminal charges were filed, then Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten says he will now present new evidence to a grand jury. Van Houten told CNN his office didn't bring charges in 2024 because Jane Doe's initial statement, quote, "did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped. On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual."
His office released only partial statements from her original 2024 statement. Van Houten CNN his office does not independently investigate crimes.
MATTHEW VAN HOUTEN, TOMPKINS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We rely on the police to investigate those crimes and. This the statement without blaming her, she told the police candidly what she remembered and maybe she remembers more now. And if she does, then we want to put that in front of the grand jury.
PAZMINO (voice-over): The civil lawsuit also states that after arriving at the frat house, she was visibly intoxicated and that she had consumed about 10 standard drinks within the past three hours. The lawsuit also includes a screenshot of a group chat where other fraternity members were allegedly invited to join the assault. The D.A. said this screenshot included in the complaint was not provided to his office at the time.
VAN HOUTEN: The text messages were completely vulgar and disgusting, but they had with her consent.
PAZMINO (voice-over): CNN has reached out to Cornell University police for comment. It's unclear what other evidence police may have collected.
According to the civil complaint, Cornell expelled two of the seven accused fraternity members, while the others received lesser punishments, including suspensions and written assignments. The frat was also barred from campus.
In a statement, Cornell University said, quote, "None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement. The complainant and respondents had the opportunity to testify and present evidence. At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell."
THOMAS P. GIUFFRA, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: Ultimately, her attorney says she wants accountability. Her life has been destroyed. She's a woman who comes from a small town. She was not somebody who was a legacy or somebody who was from a wealthy family. This was her dream and it was taken away from her at a young age and it just a horrific fashion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAZMINO: And, Erin, I should mention that we have been able to contact attorneys for at least two of the accused students. They are denying the allegations. And I should also say that, you know, this case, as disturbing as it is, the details, very graphic. There's been a lot of reaction we have been seeing throughout the day, from lawmakers to celebrities, people on social media condemning the way that Cornell University and the district attorney's office have handled this from their investigation back in 2024.
And this district attorney, Van Houten, certainly under new renewed pressure to investigate and potentially bring new charges -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Gloria, thank you very much.
And Joey Jackson's OUTFRONT now, our legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.
So, Joey, the D.A. says his office plans to present this case to a grand jury. And I guess, by the way, you could look at, okay, well, at the time she said it was consensual, but the investigation wasn't thorough. But the school did still move after that investigation to expel multiple students and to suspend students.
So that would indicate that they knew something pretty bad had happened, right? I mean, where does this go from here?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: All right, so a lot of moving parts. Let's start with the grand jury. In the grand jury, what will happen is that the prosecutors will present evidence to 23 members of the public, right? And of those 23 members, if you have 12 of them who say not that they're guilty with respect to these seven individuals, then students, but whether there's legally sufficient evidence, I know that's legalese, probable cause to believe that a crime was committed and these particular students committed it.
Now that's what the prosecutor is doing now. The question remains, what did you do then?
[19:50:03]
There was a statement the prosecutor made with regard to, hey, police do investigations --
BURNETT: Yeah.
JACKSON: -- and police do do that.
But prosecutors partner with police to vet what the police findings are and prosecutors have investigators of their own to make other assessments. Prosecutors have subpoenas. What do the cell phone records say? Is there any -- BURNETT: Are you saying texts which, by the way, anyone can look at
are vile and vulgar and disgusting, but they're saying they didn't have them?
JACKSON: And they didn't have Snapchat? Why not? Did you interview everybody? Did you make an assessment with regard to what people saw and when they saw it? So that's one thing.
They didn't do it then. Apparently, because of this civil lawsuit, they're doing it now.
However, to your point, then there's this Title IX investigation. If you have federal funding, you have to have standards of conduct with regard to sexual misconduct on campus, and they had these hearings.
BURNETT: Yeah.
JACKSON: So, the prosecutors are now going to look at that, I'm sure, subpoena the records of that file where all of the seven testified, where there's information aplenty with respect to what happened that, I shouldn't say evening, it was early morning, right? Who did what, when, how, why? They'll have access to that and they'll, I'm sure, use that in their investigation.
BURNETT: So, you know, the D.A. said they didn't bring charges and you heard if there's more now, we want to look at it. But he brings up the woman's statement to police back in October of 2024 when she described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, consensus and consensual. What weight does that even bear at this point?
JACKSON: So, it's significant, right? When you make a statement, you own that statement, particularly if it's a sworn statement, you own it. But the question becomes, to what extent did you vet that? Is that what she said, or is that your characterization of what she said?
BURNETT: Of what she actually said.
JACKSON: Exactly what happened?
BURNETT: Yeah, because that's not a quote from her. That's a quote from their conclusion.
JACKSON: Exactly. Much different. So what was she saying at the time? Was it vetted appropriately? Did you subpoena documents or records cell phone data or surveillance in the area, or what did you do? Apparently not enough, but they'll do it now by making that presentation to the grand jury.
BURNETT: All right, Joey Jackson, thank you very much.
And next, we're going to take you inside an immigration court hearing where young children, some without even an attorney present, and there's some kids in there as young as three, they're appealing to stay in the U.S.
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[19:56:28]
BURNETT: Breaking news, CNN granted access inside an immigration court hearing where dozens of children facing deportation appealed to stay in the United States. These courtroom sketches showing a child holding a stuffed animal, another so short you can barely see their head over the chair, but these are the first look from inside the proceedings. Children as young as three appeared in the courtroom, and many of them faced the judge without an attorney representing them.
Priscilla Alvarez is OUTFRONT.
And Priscilla, what more can you tell us about what happened inside the hearing?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, what we found is that migrant children are increasingly facing immigration judges without attorneys. And of course, that is the person who will decide whether they stay in the United States or they're removed. And in Texas today, there were 25 children who appeared at an immigration court in Harlingen, where our colleague Norma Galeana, as well as a sketch artist, attended sketch artist.
Of course, because there are no cameras allowed in the courtroom, so you are seeing there the first look at what is happening behind closed doors. young children who are presenting before an immigration judge to make their case to stay in the United States. There are three children.
I wanted to call you to your attention to the child on the right. That was a 13-year-old from Honduras. The immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States. That boy burst into tears when he heard that he did not have an attorney and he said, quote, "I have no one. I have nothing" reflecting on Honduras because his mother and his family are in the United States.
An eight-year-old and a nine-year-old similarly without attorneys, the nine-year-old resting her head on the table, not saying a word, a three-year-old playing with the mic. He did have an attorney who was beaming in remotely, but he was just singing and playing. He did not understand the gravity of what was happening in that room.
Now in some of these pictures you will see. an adult that is sitting with them. That is a caseworker that is someone who is supervising the children. It is not someone who is providing them legal representation because these children are detained. They arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border alone or they had family in the United States who were detained by ice and so they were brought into custody. So, in these images that person that is next to them is someone who is simply there to supervise them while these children are tasked with finding attorneys and this is something, Erin, that is happening nationwide.
BURNETT: So, Priscilla, I'm curious, you know, when you look at these cases over time, how unusual is it for children to go into a hearing like this without a lawyer? And what has the Trump administration said about what you've seen?
ALVAREZ: What is happening right now, according to multiple sources I've spoken with is unprecedented, and here's why. Over the summer there was a legal contract for legal service providers that was lapsed. That was a $200 million annual contract for around 100 legal service providers. That is no more.
Now, the Trump administration did strike another contract, but they don't have enough attorneys and we're talking about hundreds of children who are detained and that is the problem that advocates and attorneys say is playing out now. These kids are showing up without representation, nor they learning about their rights in the shelters, which is something that used to happen also through puppet shows or through other paintings to try to explain to them what was happening.
Now I did ask the Department of Health and Human Services about this. That is the federal agency charged with their care and they told me this, quote, "Under the Trump administration, ORR remains committed to ensuring that every unaccompanied illegal alien child. has legal representation in immigration court."
Of course, today, Erin, that was not the case for all of those 25 children in Texas.
BURNETT: All right. Priscilla, thank you very much for that important reporting.
And thanks so much to all of you, as always, for being with us. We'll see you tomorrow.
"AC360" begins right now.
