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00:00Let's go out front.
00:04And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett on this Monday and out front tonight.
00:07The breaking news, a top Republican breaking with Trump, the majority leader of the Senate tonight,
00:12telling CNN that Trump should not be using taxpayer dollars to pay for political ads,
00:18which are airing across the country that are designed to prop up the president.
00:24Operative words shouldn't be being paid for with taxpayer dollars.
00:28And on that front, Thune is not alone.
00:33So actually, it was a campaign ad. It is a campaign ad. It is what it is.
00:38Ethics group and watchdog groups are not necessary to say this,
00:41but they are warning that the ads violate the federal appropriations legislation,
00:46as in be against the law, including the funding bill that Trump himself actually signed in February
00:51because that law prohibits federal funds from being used on propaganda.
00:54And just in case you still have any doubt on the purpose of the ad,
00:58here is that very same ad playing on the big screens at Trump's convention in 2024.
01:05There it is. It was filling the time, walking out. See that same image?
01:09And sorry, just one more thing.
01:11The words that Trump is saying in the ads are actually word for word from his campaign speeches.
01:19Liberating America from the villains once and for all.
01:21I mean, Trump is using these ads to, it seems to fuel the idea that he is on the ballot,
01:28right?
01:29They're saying, well, he's on the ballot, so it doesn't count.
01:31But he wants people to think that he is on the ballot.
01:33He thinks that that may be the only way that Republicans don't lose control of Congress.
01:41So I think in a court of law, it would be pretty clear that this ad funded by taxpayers is
01:45being used
01:46to have people think that Trump is on the ballot so that those people who love him will vote for
01:49him
01:50because it's a campaign ad for Trump.
01:53And that is really the plea to his diehard supporters, because that's who would respond to such an ad.
01:57It may not appeal to anyone else.
01:59CNN is reporting that Trump advisors acknowledge that it is unlikely that Trump can win over large numbers of independents
02:05and swing voters who actually are the voters who vaulted Trump to victory just two years ago.
02:10When it comes to that weakness, though, with the voters who matter most, Trump is pleading ignorance.
02:16I don't know.
02:17Or maybe he does know.
02:19Or maybe he no longer knows the difference between reality and falsehood.
02:22Because after all, we do not know what he is truly told and shown about inflation, prices, his record low
02:29approval ratings,
02:29and the deeply unpopular war that has sent American prices even higher.
02:33Prices, by the way, that Trump was also asked about today.
02:38Yeah, all right.
02:39Kristen, thank you very much at the White House.
02:41And a lot of new information there from Kristen's reporting.
02:43So everyone's here with me on set.
02:45Ryan Goodman, can we just start with some of her new reporting?
02:47She's saying that it's not even that they had hired an outside firm.
02:51I mean, that would be using taxpayer dollars, too.
02:53But this is taxpayer-funded salaries of White House employees on the White House communications team
02:59in the video unit who are doing all of this themselves.
03:02I mean, is there any question about the legality of this?
03:07There's not.
03:079.5 or 10.
03:08And I'll just explain why.
03:10The part of it is the Hatch Act.
03:11It says you can't use your government office.
03:13Individual?
03:13That is the...
03:14When they passed it, they said, what is the problem?
03:17The problem is use of public funds for individual glorification of executive officials.
03:21Wow.
03:22That's such a phrasing, and yet here we are.
03:24And the GAO has multiple times over multiple decades said that it should not be used for
03:30another way of putting a glorification of an individual executive official.
03:33And it could not be clear.
03:35It says no part of any appropriation can be used for this purpose.
03:39Last 10 out of 10.
03:40Okay.
03:41I mean, Essie, I know we're all sort of...
03:43By the way, I am thinking 75 years ago they thought about the glorification of an individual.
03:47I mean, maybe they were thinking back to times of Caesar, but here we are.
03:52It is really incredible, though, what Kristen's saying.
03:54There has been no effort.
03:56I think maybe we've gotten to a point where this is out there for all eyes to see.
04:00Nobody's hiding this.
04:01No one's trying to say that they're not paying for it.
04:03No one's trying to say that it isn't all his idea.
04:07Yeah, I think he's thinking, what can they do?
04:10What's going to happen if I do this?
04:12Propaganda, they don't like this.
04:14They really don't like this.
04:16And this is actually stepping on Democrats.
04:18It's really hard to do that when Trump is out there doing communist stuff.
04:23And taking stocks, stakes, and public companies.
04:25I mean, there's a lot of...
04:26Oh, I could go on and on, but our time is limited to an hour.
04:29So I should run on, don't let communists, when the dear leader-in-chief...
04:36Play it again.
04:37I mean, because they're saying it's not a campaign ad because he's...
04:40Okay, I'm just going to play again the ad that ran in the campaign two years ago and
04:45the ad now.
04:45Because if Trump's picking it, he didn't even bother to change the shot.
04:49He didn't even bother to change the words.
04:51So here it is.
04:53Jamal, maybe what it is about that, when you see it, it is a level of brazen.
04:57It's, you're damn right I'm using the same thing.
05:00You're right, they're campaign ads.
05:01But I'm going to look you in the face and tell you that they're not.
05:04Donald Trump believes...
05:05Right?
05:05Shreve, Shreve, Shreve, Shreve, Shreve, Shreve.
05:08Great, okay, so great, thanks for checking me.
05:09You're welcome.
05:10Anybody do anything about it?
05:11And in time?
05:14I think a lawsuit could happen.
05:15Things that we see on the screen.
05:17Let's talk about Dan Scavino.
05:19Okay.
05:20Okay, so he's Trump's deputy chief of staff.
05:22He posted an AI-generated video over the weekend.
05:25Voluntarily.
05:26I don't know if this was related to you during an election cycle.
05:29You've got to spin.
05:30If we pretend things are so great, everyone will feel that.
05:33To post that.
05:35Oh, they're completely out of touch here.
05:36Look, people...
05:37Because Dan Scavino does ostensibly also live in the real world.
05:41I mean, he's not, you know, chained to the White House and Mar-a-Lago.
05:44Yeah, but...
05:45Not even a legal question.
05:46These are just the reality of how it impacts people.
05:49Yeah, that's right.
05:50...next Trump and his ambassador to China at odds.
05:53And this is really bizarre because Trump's ambassador was really just trying to make Trump look good
05:57and talking about something that happened.
05:59But now Trump had to deny that he offered to sell weapons to the leader of China.
06:03But his ambassador, China, was in the room and says that that's exactly what happened.
06:08Plus, our K-file uncovering controversial posts from the Texas Republican candidate
06:13who went viral for the racist post about the crowd at the University of Texas football game.
06:18Posts that have been removed and included calling for public executions
06:22of political opponents.
06:24And a prosecutor reopening the investigation into a group of men
06:28who are accused of raping a young woman at a Cornell University frat house.
06:32We have new details on this tonight.
06:34Camera four is up.
06:35Set bump.
06:36You can take the panel out.
06:38Stand by your break, master.
06:39In three, two, one, effect.
06:43Roll your break, please.
06:46Tonight, prosecutors announcing they're reopening the investigation into the rape of a Cornell
06:50University student amid growing outrage.
06:53Now, the student alleges that she was drugged and gang raped at a fraternity house two years ago.
06:58The D.A. says his office did not bring charges at that time because the woman's statement then
07:03described, we're now suing the seven fraternity members, the fraternity and the school,
07:08claiming that the incident was not properly investigated.
07:11Gloria Pasmino begins our coverage tonight out front.
07:16All right, Gloria, thank you very much.
07:18And Joey Jackson's out front now, our legal.
07:19Joey, the D.A. says his office plans to present this case to a grand jury.
07:23And I guess, by the way, you know, you could look at, OK, well, at the time she said it
07:26was consensual, but the investigation wasn't thorough.
07:30But the school did still move after that investigation to expel multiple students and to suspend
07:37students.
07:38So that would indicate that they knew something pretty bad had happened, right?
07:41I mean, where does this go from here?
07:43All right.
07:43So a lot of moving have been individuals, then students.
07:46But whether there's legally sufficient evidence, I know that's legalese.
07:50There was a statement the prosecutor made with regard to, hey, police do investigations.
07:55And police do.
07:55Texts, which, by the way, anyone can look at, are vile and vulgar and disgusting.
08:00But they're saying they didn't have them.
08:01And they didn't have SNAP.
08:02They're doing it now.
08:03However, to your point, then there's this Title IX investigation.
08:07If you have federal funding, you have to have state with respect to what happened that,
08:11I shouldn't say evening, it was early morning, right?
08:14You know, the D.A. said they didn't bring charges.
08:16And you heard him say, well, if there's more now, we want to look at it.
08:18But he brings up the woman's statement to Belize back in October of 2024 when she described
08:24her participation in drug use.
08:26You make a statement, you own that statement, particularly if...
08:29Quote from her.
08:30That's a quote from their conclusion.
08:32Exactly.
08:33Much different.
08:34So what reason to the grand jury?
08:36All right.
08:36Joey Jackson, thank you very much.
08:38Of course.
08:38And next, we're going to take you inside an immigration court hearing where young children,
08:42some without even an attorney present, and there are some kids in there as young as three,
08:46they're appealing to stay in the U.S.
08:51Breaking news.
08:52CNN granted access inside an immigration court hearing where dozens of children facing deportation
08:57appealed to stay in the United States.
08:59These courtroom sketches showing a child holding a stuffed animal, another so short you can barely
09:05see their head over the chair.
09:06But these are the first look from inside the proceedings.
09:10Children as young as three appeared in the courtroom, and many of them face the judge
09:13without an attorney representing them.
09:15Priscilla Alvarez is out front.
09:17All right, Priscilla, thank you very much for that important reporting.
09:21And thanks so much to all of you, as always, for being with us.
09:24We'll see you tomorrow.
09:25AC360 begins right now.
09:47We'll see you tomorrow.
10:29We'll see you tomorrow.