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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Now: California Lawmakers Vote On Redistricting Plan; Trump To Join Law Enforcement On D.C. Streets Tonight; Cracker Barrel Stock Tanks After Controversial Logo Change. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 21, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
MITCH LANDRIEU, FORMER NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: When the Saints came back into that building and we all saw each other for the first time in a long time, and we had the glorious saints said, that's the moment where we knew we were going to survive. It was a big -- I'm still crying. It was a big moment for us.
And people -- people in New Orleans remember that very moment. And the Saints gave us that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: I still remember that block punt. The first play of the game was huge. New Orleans first drive of the game, I should say.
"New Orleans: Soul of a City. Rebirth of the Superdome", it premieres Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Breaking news, California is moments away from advancing its redistricting plan.
Hi, everyone. Welcome to THE ARENA. Kasie Hunt is off. I'm Dana Bash.
Right now in Sacramento, California, lawmakers are voting on the state Democrats' redistricting bill. It calls for a special election for voters to decide whether to temporarily adopt a map featuring five new Democratic leaning districts. The bill is all but certain to pass and make its way to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. Newsom's press office continuing to troll President Donald Trump posted, quote, today we will make maps great again.
All of this being done in response to Texas Republicans own redistricting push. Just hours from now, the Texas state senate is expected to pass a bill that's already passed the state house, one that would effectively eliminate five Democratic districts, replacing them with five reliably red ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Look at these Republicans cowering to this guy. Look at your Republican governor who used to claim to be a conservative. What a farce. Nothing conservative about this. By definition, nothing conservative about it. This is radical rigging of a midterm election.
But right now, with all due respect, we're walking down a different path. We're fighting fire with fire. We're going to punch these sons of the bitches in the mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Our panel is here, along with CNN's Steve Contorno at the California state capitol building and CNN's Arlette Saenz is inside the Texas state capitol.
Hello to you both.
Steve, you first. What's happening right now?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Dana, after an intense morning of debate, we are finally starting to see some floor action in the California assembly and the senate. The assembly has passed a constitutional mandate or a referendum asking for a change that would allow them to override the state constitution and put in new congressional maps that just passed in the Senate.
So we still have a long way to go here, but it is -- we do expect this all to pass by the end of the day. Now, Republicans have been spending the morning trying to say that, look, we didn't ask for this in Texas. We didn't want them to do this, but we shouldn't have a tit for tat fight here.
Take a look at what Senator Strickland had to say earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY STRICKLAND (R), CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: If the Republicans in California had the power to stop this, we would stop this today. There won't be one competitive race for Congress in California for the next three cycles. Members, that's not good for Democrats, independents and Republicans. You're taking the voice away from Californians in terms of having fair representation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now, this is just the beginning of the fight. Even after Governor Newsom signs these later today, which we expect him to. There is 75 days before the November election, and it will be a frantic sprint by both sides to convince voters that this either should be the constitution should be overridden or it shouldn't. We have already seen a significant opposition start to materialize, led by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as well as former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It's going to be an expensive race. Dana, I'm hearing from both sides that they expect this to potentially be the most expensive race on the ballot this November.
BASH: Steve Contorno, keep us posted about what's going on as this makes its way through the statehouse.
Speaking of that, let's go to Texas, where the state senate will take up its redistricting bill. The Republicans plan that was passed by the state house yesterday.
Arlette, what are we seeing now ahead of tonight's session?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, it could be a matter of hours before the Texas Senate approves this redistricting bill, one of the final steps in making those GOP drawn maps a reality. The Texas Senate will come into session again around 7:00 p.m. local time. And then they could vote on that measure tonight.
The final step would needed to finalize this would be having Texas Governor Greg Abbott sign this bill. But if -- when it passes the Senate tonight, it will really cap off a two and a half week sprint to try to get these new congressional maps enacted. Of course, there was those delays over in the House, as Democrats had tried to block this bill by fleeing the state, but they then returned, and now it is all but certain that this bill will pass at some point in the next few days.
Now, a bit earlier today, the Senate redistricting committee did meet to hear this bill one final time. And here's a sample of what GOP and Democrats had to -- had to counter with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want us to maintain a Republican majority and hopefully increase the Republican majority in the U.S. Congress. And that's my purpose for being willing to carry this map.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But now there is literally zero opportunity for public to have any input in this map. You break up communities, but take no responsibility for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, Democrats have vowed to fight this map in the courts. They could be filing lawsuits immediately after the Texas governor signs it into law. And then there will be a lot of big questions for Democratic lawmakers. There are at least two districts where you could have incumbent Democratic representatives facing off in bruising primaries. So, a lot of big questions for the months to come if these maps do, in fact go through.
BASH: All right, thanks to you both. Arlette and Steve, appreciate it.
My panel joins me now in THE ARENA. CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams, CNN Republican strategist and CNN commentator Kristen Soltis Anderson. And of course, we have CNN analyst, Xochitl Hinojosa, and Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Pence. But I think I'm going to start with you, because I met you just doing
regular political campaigns. And so, you have a lot of experience. I mean, everybody here has experience with it, but I just want to know from your perspective what you think of this sort of redistricting arms race that's going on right now. Big picture.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I think big picture, end of the day, we basically end up where we are now.
BASH: Really?
SHORT: That wherever Republicans pick up seats in Texas, they'll lose in California. And if there are other Republican states that engage in this too, there'll be other Democrat states as well. I think at the end of the day, that really what you're going to see is, is less of a plus, minus and R versus D, and instead see incumbent Republicans in California replace with freshmen Republicans in Texas and incumbent Democrats in Texas replaced with freshmen Democrats in California.
So, you continue to see less experience here, and actually more and more newcomers.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. And I also think that this isn't going to end here tonight with Texas. You've already seen from Democrats that they're planning on challenging this. I wouldn't be surprised if this goes all the way up to the Supreme Court. I think that there is a race at this point in both Texas and California, because there is very limited time to get these maps placed, and, you know, past in place before any sort of primary election. The interesting thing here is the clock in Texas is they have a clock of December, which is when people can file for -- to run in the primary. And the reality is, is that there's going to be a very tough primary on the Republican side, which is John Cornyn and Ken Paxton and Republicans right now don't want that primary to go on any further, go any later than March, because it will be a full bloodbath.
The reality here, with all of this, though, is Republicans who started this, and I think it is interesting that Donald Trump is essentially telling everybody Republicans are likely going to lose the House. And I think that is what's interesting about this is they're trying to gain seats because they believe that they are going to lose in the midterm elections, and Republicans are trying to prepare for that. So, if that is the case, I agree with you. It ends up evening out at the end of the day, but it just shows you that Trump is scared for the midterm elections.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Everybody agrees with Marc Short today, and I'm going to the second one to agree with you because to your point --
SHORT: We should end the show now.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: Drop the mic, the lapel mic. No. To the point about new people coming in, I think the end result in
this arms race is a more partisan Congress, a more entrenched Congress.
SHORT: Already there.
BASH: Yeah, hard to imagine.
WILLIAMS: I think even more so because people who are in swing are closer districts actually might run the risk of losing their seats here to safer, you know, safer, more red or more deep, deep red or more deep blue seats. That makes just a more divided, more partisan, more aggressive congress.
BASH: Meanwhile, I just want to emphasize a point that Steve made, and this is really crucial. You said it, but we should say it again. When Texas is done, it's done. The map is done when the maps are done, when the governor signs it into law, when the legislature is done in California, it means that this is going to go to the voters to decide.
So, this is a very important campaign that's going to happen for the next 50 plus days before voters get to decide whether or not to suspend the independent commission and let them redraw more partisan lines or not.
[16:10:05]
And so, the campaign is already on. You've seen Gavin Newsom, we've talked about this. Also use his social media feed to try to troll the president. I mean, you saw the make of -- MAGA, excuse me, make maps great again. The president has been kind of ignoring him, which is unusual characteristic until last night when he said Gavin Newscum, his favorite nickname for Newsom is way down in the polls. He's viewed as a man who is destroying the once great state of California. I will say California.
I also kind of like the fact that he said president, instead of just DJT, he said President DJT. I -- hopefully, we have that. And then -- there you go. And then, a retweet of a retweet, if you will, you see Gavin Newsom just did three, three snowflakes there.
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: One, I feel like we're all giving way too much attention to this at gov press office, Gavin Newsom account.
BASH: So much fun.
ANDERSON: Is it? Dana, we got to find a new --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: We got to find a new definition --
BASH: The bar is not very high, Kristen. We know where we live.
ANDERSON: But the other challenge hey will have is I have now seen polling data that is very mixed about how California voters actually feel on this question.
BASH: What do you think?
ANDERSON: Whether because it's not just Gavin Newsom that's in the fight, you've got someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger who's in the fight too, who says, look, when I was governor of the state, I was very proud of the efforts we made to get an independent commission into place and I'm here to fight, too. This is going to be a two-sided war on the airwaves, in the messaging battle in California.
And right now, I don't feel like the polling data is clear one way or the other that this is like a slam dunk to pass, because we know that in the abstract, independent commissions districts that are fair, that are not gerrymandered to the hilt tend to be pretty popular with voters.
The question is, do enough Democrats in California kind of get the memo? Nope. We need to arm up. We need to do this thing that would otherwise be unpopular. That's the big question.
HINOJOSA: So I just want to add to that, because I was briefed on recent polling that Gavin Newsom and his team did on this. And one of the things that they told me is that California voters want the independent commission that is very popular in the state. But the reality is, is when you start messaging and saying this is only temporary, and the next time around that we will go back to the independent commission. They're okay with that. But that is going to take a lot of money for Democrats in a Democratic state ahead of a midterm election that we will need to pour in that state ahead of midterm.
SHORT: Governor Newsom, don't you want this fight?
HINOJOSA: Absolutely, it's good for them.
SHORT: I mean, the reality is that for the next several months, we'll be talking about California again and again, as opposed to anybody else in the 28th field. You're talking about this. With their protecting and making sure that Democrats can win back the house. They can make it a federal issue as opposed to talking about the number of businesses fleeing California or record poverty in California. What a mess and disaster California is. You're talking about Governor Newsom standing up for Democrats.
BASH: If he wins.
SHORT: I get it. But I think you would. If I'm in his shoes, that's a risk that I think he take. Yeah, I think you look at it politically, the relative to the other issues, you have to talk about in California. I'd much rather talk about this if you're in his shoes.
HINOJOSA: Well, they have an organizing infrastructure already in place to do this, and they have been prepared for quite some time and briefed the Texas legislators as well. My sisters on the Texas legislature, where they told them, this is our plan. You -- we need to go ahead and start with this. They needed to start last week in order to get this passed so they're ready to go.
BASH: But you do have one of you was saying that the fact that you have Arnold Schwarzenegger, who says he's working independently, he's not working with McCarthy or others, but you have people who have big megaphones. McCarthy is raising a lot of money, and they are going to really try hard to push back on this against the argument that Newsom and other Democrats are making. And then I just want to look ahead because you said you think its going to be kind of a wash.
Republicans, as you well know, have a very big advantage in the legislature legislatures around the country. I mean, they can do a lot more of these changes than Democrats can. And the president put up on his social media this morning, the great state of Missouri is now in. I'm not surprised. It's a great state with fabulous people. I won all three times in a landslide. We're going to win the midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than before.
On that note, I spoke with the former speaker, Kevin McCarthy, about the probability of this extending to other Republican led states. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), FORMER U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: What we found is California, because Gavin wants to become the nominee for president, he's going to go against the Constitution. He wants to now have individuals pick the voters instead of the voters selecting who they are. This is something that could be very dangerous nationwide if the Democrats move forward, because Republicans could do this in more states than the Democrats can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And what I said was, Republicans are going to do it whether Democrats do it or not in California are successful or not.
WILLIAMS: Yes, this is bad for America. It really is.
And, you know, to Kristen's point, there's a reason why independent commissions are popular with voters. They don't like this idea of an arms race happening in every jurisdiction, in every state around the country. It's going to happen. It's going to make congress more partisan. It's going to make us more divided, and its not going to solve anything.
BASH: And yet you have the dynamic of Democrats are so many in the base are just desperate for their leaders to fight, as you know better than anyone here. Listen to what Charlamagne said about Gavin Newsom and the war that he is waging politically.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, RADIO HOST: Gavin Newsom for the past week, and some change has been doing what I've wanted a Democrat to do for a long time. Okay, see, Michelle Obama once said, when they go low, we go high. And your Uncle Charla has never agreed with that. Okay, when they go low, either you ignore him and mind your business, stay doing the work, or when they go low, you go to hell. Okay?
And Gavin Newsom, over the last week and a half has been going to hell with the Trump administration. Not even really going to hell. Just matching energy. And I like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Yeah. Look, I think if you think about who Democratic base voters want, the question on the Democratic side right now is not do we move to the left or do we move to the center? The question is what style of fighting do we embrace? And so, it's clear that for a lot of Democratic, at least, folks that are online, they love, they do think that Twitter account is fun. They do think this is they're like delighting in it.
But it reminds me a little bit of how Republicans online like delighted in Ron DeSantis back a couple of years ago. Like, look at him. He's really taking the fight. He's the one that when the lights are on, he's going to stick it to the left. Look at all these wins he's putting up on the board in Florida.
And like whether the Democratic version of Ron DeSantising will work, I think is still an open question.
WILLIAMS: Three words. President Scott Walker, you know, President Rudy Giuliani, there's all these people that excite some element of the base in the run up to the primary that just I'm just not sure Gavin Newsom, is that, you know, I mean, the pugnacity, I think is really working with many people, but maybe from someone else.
BASH: All right. Everybody, stand by.
Up next, more on the redistricting battles with the top contender to be California's next leader, former congresswoman and candidate for governor, Democrat Katie Porter is here live.
Plus, what President Trump is planning to do tonight here in D.C. he's never done before. Stay with us.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC BERMAN (D), CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY: There is currently no check on Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. California is responding to this emergency by empowering our voters with transparency, with respect for our independent commission, but with an unwavering will to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: California's state legislature meeting right now and expected to pass a bill that would give Californians the chance to vote on whether to adopt a new congressional map. State Democrats argue that they need to create five more blue leaning districts to offset a new map being adopted in Texas, which would give Republicans a five-seat advantage. Very likely there.
Joining me now is Katie Porter, former California congresswoman and current candidate for governor of California.
Thank you so much for being here.
Now, we have heard you and others say repeatedly that what you're doing is temporary. That certainly is what it says in the piece of legislation that's making its way through the state house right now. But realistically, if Texas does pass its law and creates five new Republican districts, which we expect to happen even as early as today, what realistically makes you think that ultimately, Democrats will give up those five seats when it comes down to it, and that time expires in California?
KATIE PORTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: California has a long tradition -- yeah, California has a long tradition of having an independent redistricting commission. We have led the nation in this process. So, California voters understand it.
So, the idea of reverting back to something you have is quite different than saying you're going to completely go in a different direction. California voters, when I'm traveling, the state are saying they want to make sure that we have a check on Donald Trump in 2026. That election in November is our opportunity.
So, I think everybody here is comfortable with what we've been doing with redistricting. I think they also understand that we have to take action now, because 2026 is our chance to stop Californians from being hurt by Donald Trump.
BASH: You are running for governor as I mentioned. Would you vow right now that if you are elected, you will not push to extend or expand partisan redistricting, that it would in fact revert to an independent commission?
PORTER: It would be my definite intention to have it continue to go back to an independent commission. I will say, Dana, I don't know what kind of world I'm going to be living in. Look, if you had asked me two or three years ago if I thought a state would haul off years away from a census and try to redraw their maps for no reason other than to placate the president and his anxiety about the fact that his agenda is not winning the hearts and minds of the American people, I would have tell you that's not how we do it.
Literally, as a law professor, I teach a class on legislation.
[16:25:01]
I teach that we redistrict following the census. Yet look what Texas is doing.
So if things in our world and our country go back to operating in a lawful, consistent, normal way, then that's exactly what California is going to do. We're going to go back to leading the country with an independent redistricting process.
BASH: Earlier today, I spoke with the former house speaker, the U.S. house speaker, your former colleague from California, Kevin McCarthy. Let's watch what he said about all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Right now, the law in California, the Constitution says the legislature can't draw lines. And today, you're watching them do it.
BASH: So, it's up --
MCCARTHY: They didn't even draw lines because the DCCC sent them the map. They won't even answer that simple question to your reporter. It says that you can't run for office if you draw the lines. But these legislators are voting and running for the office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So first question is, and I'm not sure if you saw there was a local reporter who was asking one of your fellow Democrats in the statehouse who drew the maps, and she didn't know. Do you know?
PORTER: Well, I believe the maps were a group effort. I think there were a lot of people who participated in them and who weighed in on them. They didn't fall from the sky. They were carefully drawn. Thats why they reflect keeping communities together. In my own area of Orange County, the map that would be adopted here would be very similar to the district that I had a few years ago. Then, after redistricting, I got a different district, different lines, but it would be very similar.
So, I'm sure there were a lot of voices in these, this map drawing. But the more important thing, Dana, is that the real voices here that are going to count are the voices of the people of California who are going to have months here now to study these maps, to have a debate, to ask questions, to hold their own legislatures, feet to legislators, feet to the fire, and ask them, why should we do this? And I am certain that we in California have an argument why we need to do this.
Because everywhere I go, people are saying we have to stop Trump. He's attacking our families, immigrant families. He's tariffs that are driving up costs. He's yanking away federal funding from universities. People want to know what can we do? And this is the answer to what we can do.
BASH: So if voters also say, because of the recent history of independence and how we draw maps, we do want to know who drew these maps. Will you try to find out?
PORTER: Yes, I think that should be information that's made available. I will also say that having been through the independent redistricting commission, that's a commission. There's a process there. Theres some of it that's very transparent and there's some of it, frankly, that's not that transparent. Somebody has to sit there with the software and play around and try to do the work. The real question is who's going to enact this policy? And the answer
is if it's going to be enacted by the people of California in a free and fair Democratic election, it is pretty rich for Kevin McCarthy, who when I was in the House of Representatives opposed a bill, H.R. One, that would have created independent redistricting commissions nationwide to now try to act like he's some archangel of redistricting.
BASH: Are you confident that this is going to pass on the ballot measure in November?
PORTER: I am Californians really feel frustrated. They feel picked on. And why do they feel picked on by Donald Trump? Because he has said he is picking on us. He has said he is out to get the state. He is out to punish the state. He's out to decide for us how we should run our state.
And so, I think Californians, even those who supported Donald Trump, do not like how these policies are being experienced on the ground. Look, the real challenge, Dana, is House Republicans would not be doing this. Donald Trump would not be pushing this. Texas legislature would not be doing this if they had enacted policies in the last few months that were popular with the American people. They're not going to campaign on the issues.
BASH: Before I let you go, you are running for governor, as I've now mentioned. The former vice president, Kamala Harris, announced last month that she will not run. Have you spoken to her? Have you asked her for an endorsement?
PORTER: I have not spoken to her, but I have been in touch with some of her team. She was actually just out near me in Long Beach last night. I was so happy that she came out to support Congressman Robert Garcia, who's going to be the Democratic ranking member on the oversight committee. I haven't spoken to her yet. I'm actually up traveling around California coming to you from an airport right now. As I'm out talking to voters, talking to union members, and hearing what's on voter's minds.
BASH: All right. Katie Porter, thank you so much for your time, especially coming to us from an airport.
PORTER: Thank you.
BASH: And coming up, the logo change seen around the country, maybe even the world.
[16:30:01]
It seems everyone has an opinion on Cracker Barrels' new design.
Plus, how President Trump and his administration are upping the pressure on cities nationwide, when it comes to crime.
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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We hope that people see what we're doing in Washington, D.C. and follow our example.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to be going out tonight. I'm going to keep it a secret, but I'm going to go. You're the only one that knows you, and you're lots of listeners. I'm going to be going out tonight. I think with the with the police, with the and with the military, of course. So, we're going to do a job.
The National Guard is great. They've done a fantastic job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:35:02]
BASH: So newsflash, President Trump is going to be the latest and obviously most senior member of his own administration to engage in a photo op with the National Guard troops who he ordered to come here to Washington, D.C.
Yesterday, it was his vice president, J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, his deputy chief of staff at the White House, Stephen Miller. They were met by boos while they were visiting the National Guard at Union Station, which they, especially, Stephen Mller, dismissed. We'll talk about that in a second.
But, J.D. Vance says he wasn't fazed by that. Today, he says that they are building a fairy tale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: It's a beautiful, beautiful building, really, a monument to American greatness. I was walking around, I was looking up at it, these beautiful high ceilings. It looks like something out of a fairy tale. We have focused on Washington, D.C. because it's a federal city under our jurisdiction, but we certainly hope that whether it's Atlanta, or anywhere else, people are going to look around and say, we don't have to live like this.
It turns out if you just go and arrest the bad guys, you can have cities and streets that are safe again. And we hope that people see what we're doing in Washington, D.C. and follow our example all across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: My panel is back.
Union Station, he was saying, was like a fairy tale. It is a beautiful building.
D.C. resident Elliot Williams, take it away. WILLIAMS: If the president truly cared about public safety in the
District of Columbia, he could get out of the way of law enforcement and let them do their jobs. You know, I cannot underscore what an undertaking, number one, it is to have the president of the United States go anywhere. But number two, to have any senior leadership in government on a ride along.
Like I know this from my days at ICE, where, you know. Yes, it's cool. Yes, the guy is like showing their work off to the higher ups, but everything has to be coordinated and choreographed to make it happen, and it slows down their work and makes them less efficient. As law enforcement officers.
This isn't about right or left or Donald Trump. It's literally about getting in the way of cops. And I think it's just a distraction for everybody.
BASH: Marc?
SHORT: Look, I feel like D.C. is a mess. If it were a state, you'd have the highest murder rate in the country. And violent crime is way down in the last couple of weeks, ever since he deployed troops, I got no problem with that.
I do think there's an irony that in looking to act tough on crime and say, if you so much as spit any cop, we're going to arrest you, then his first action as president was to pardon everybody who directly assaulted cops on January 6th and did not deploy National Guard to secure our Capitol that day.
HINOJOSA: And this is a photo-op. I mean, just as Elliot said, there is a reason why during the inaugural parade, a president gets out of the car between the Justice Department and the FBI because it's the safest spot in the city.
BASH: You say that as a former as a former DOJ staffer, it's the safest spot in the city where you are comfortable with the president taking that block to greet people.
This sounds like just a nightmare. And the fact that he announced it ahead of time, I mean, if I were the Secret Service, I would be very concerned. I think, in terms of moving forward here, this is all for show. This is -- if he really cared about reducing violent crime, he would have invested more resources in the FBI and in prosecutors. The D.C. U.S. attorneys office. But now you actually have people scared to go to restaurants. It's hurting businesses.
You have people scared to just go on the streets. School starts next week. What is that going to look like? Is there going to be chaos there?
So, I think that D.C. residents don't like generally what is happening. I think they want to see an increase in law enforcement. The National Guard, just these are people for war, not people who make should be making arrests based off of, you know, carjackings and things like that. That's something for the FBI and local law enforcement to handle.
SHORT: So again, I feel like violent crime is way down. Since he did this again, I'm -- my concern is not doing this. I just think that you basically not only did you take your first actions pardoning, but you have somebody working at DOJ who said kill him on January 6th, referencing D.C. cops.
BASH: Who's that?
SHORT: There's a -- there's a DOJ political appointee.
BASH: Oh, right, that guy.
ANDERSON: That I keep thinking about is when he when he says this is -- it's a secret. Except now, it's obviously not a secret is I do think a lot about the president's security situation, right?
There have been assassination attempts on his life.
BASH: That's right.
ANDERSON: And so, this does not sound like a safe thing. And yet I can't help but wonder, like, is the sense of danger kind of the point when I do focus groups with voters for these kind of swing voters, especially younger men. And what was the appeal of Trump and why did they maybe switch and vote for him in 2024, the imagery of him doing tough stuff? The imagery from Butler sticks out in people's minds. I have to imagine that's part of his thinking in wanting to do this.
BASH: Speaking of focus groups and polling, I do want to show back to the residents of D.C. what they think about these federal law enforcement officers in D.C., how they make you feel. This is according to "The Washington Post" data, more safe, 18 percent, less safe, 61 percent, no difference, 20 percent.
[16:40:02]
And then the question of view of the president taking control of the D.C. police department, support, 17 percent, oppose, 79 percent. That's not close.
ANDERSON: It's not close. But you know what it is. It's better than the amount of voters in D.C. that actually voted for Donald Trump in the first place. So oddly enough, I mean, it's not good numbers. There's no pollster out there that's going to tell you, doing something that 79 percent of people oppose is good.
But it is -- there are some people in D.C., according to those numbers who did not vote for Donald Trump, but nevertheless are saying, well, at least he's doing something.
BASH: This is very serious stuff.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
BASH: But it's never too serious for "South Park" to take it on. ANDERSON: Oh, geez.
BASH: Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARACTER: Oh, boy. I'm going to Washington.
Oh, wow. Union Station. Wow. The Supreme Court. Wow. Washington Memorial. Oh, the Capitol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Not exactly tally, but we get it.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. Let me drop a little bit of criminology on you and fundamentally, everybody in America, in the world wants to feel safe. It's a basic human need. We can agree that lower crime rates are a good thing for everyone.
However, I can assure you that District of Columbia residents do not -- many District of Columbia residents do not feel safer by seeing tanks rolling down the street. Old black folks in Washington, D.C. do not feel safer when fully packed out military personnel are walking down the street. There are ways to make people feel safe and to lower crime rates that don't involve militarizing police departments and so on. Community policing that people have been pursuing for decades in America, where you actually go into communities, talk to leadership, work with mayors, work with police chiefs, and so on, will make the public more safe.
But this I think, you know, I think we're all in agreement that there's a lot of photo-opping happening here, yeah.
BASH: Right, right. And you know that these, these people who are serving the United States are kind of caught in the middle. And I've been reading some reporting about the leaders who certainly are not supportive of local leaders in specific areas of Washington, D.C., where there is really, really high crime, who are actually excited. They certainly don't agree with Donald Trump on, like, anything, but they were excited to get help with law enforcement. And these troops have not been in their neighborhoods because that's not where the cameras are or that's not where the president's motorcade goes.
HINOJOSA: Yeah, I used to live very close to Anacostia, and you would hear gunshots all the time, and you get notifications on your phone that there was another shooting. You would hear ambulances.
I don't think that the National Guard is in Anacostia. I don't think that they're in Trinidad, that "South Park" episode actually doesn't even show those neighborhoods. It's true that they are in highly populated areas, and I think that is part of the problem is they're not there to protect the neighborhoods in need.
SHORT: I think it's just making the point that for years, it's not worked in D.C. That's why, again, I think this is actually a move by the president that is showing he wants to be tough on crime. I just am not sure --
WILLIAMS: There are other --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: In fairness, Memphis, Toledo --
SHORT: Community policing, great. Did that work in D.C.? Has that worked for the last several decades? Theres no evidence that it has.
WILLIAMS: Philly, Atlanta.
SHORT: Hearing shots if you're living in Anacostia, I mean, you're all only testifying to the reason why he did this.
HINOJOSA: It's not helping Anacostia.
WILLIAMS: Look, I probably put more people in jail than anybody at this table, so I'm with you on this, but it is -- these are very easy targets for the president to go after these sort of big blue cities led by Black people, often in blue states.
SHORT: It's true.
WILLIAMS: And so, if we really wanted to have a conversation about public safety in America, there are a lot of places that we could be having serious conversations about public safety. But this is a great photo op and stunt for the president.
SHORT: It is our nation's capital.
WILLIAMS: I understand.
BASH: Speaking about conversations that are going on today in America, how'd you like that segue?
A little change is causing a big backlash at one of the country's most recognizable restaurants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After 50 years, this changes. They even changed the font. This is -- this -- this is not nostalgic. This is not what we need. This is the libs ruining it. And corporate pandering.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:48:50]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow. And again. The things that you love are still there. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us because people love this brand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: For the first time since 1977, the Cracker Barrel logo will not feature the man also known as old hand and a barrel. Instead, the Southern inspired casual dining chain is opting to modernize the logo as part of a company-wide transformation. The change certainly caused an uproar on social media, particularly on the right.
Donald Trump Jr. posted, quote, WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel? While others accuse the move as going woke. The company has -- that has led to the company's stock tanking in the last 24 hours.
My panel is back now, so that CEO clip was from Tuesday. The tanking started after the right started going after this woke. You guys can explain why and how this is woke.
But I want to ask you, as somebody who works on data and with corporations, whether you think this was a good move to change.
ANDERSON: I think in and of itself, changing a font here or there is not a big deal.
[16:50:01]
But the issue is when you send a signal, we're looking for new customers. We're not as interested in our old customers anymore. And going out and sending that signal, we're looking to turn the page, do what's -- do what's next, does sometimes send that signal. In politics terms, it's like telling your base, we're not interested in you anymore because I want to go after those swing voters, which is always a dangerous proposition.
It is so much more expensive for a company to get a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer. So I don't view this as like a left right thing. I think it's kind of silly to turn it into that, but it definitely is a reach for a new generation that is doing so in a moment where I think people are looking for things that they are comfortable with and feel familiar and feel rooted in tradition and so it just does feel like a --
BASH: If we can put the new logo up and, Marc, maybe I'm not -- I'm not asking you to be the Donald Trump Jr. whisperer here, but I am asking, can you explain? Why people think that it's woke? Is it just taking the old guy out of there?
SHORT: I don't know, I don't feel like its egregious as the Bud Light campaign, where I think that it was intentionally political. I think to Kristen's point, if you're saying we're going after new customers, as Bud Light said they were, I think its offensive to people who are existing customers.
But I can't try to pretend to be Don Jr. whisperer. I mean, I think at the time, it's ironic that, you know, that actually, despite all the outrage on the right, Don Jr. was actually trying to help Bud Light and was actually, you know, if you saw their commentary was actually much softer on Bud Light than some of the other companies that embrace woke campaigns.
HINOJOSA: And I agree with everything that you're saying. And I also just want to add, we are in a place in our country that corporations are changing their practices because the right and Donald Trump, you know, believe that they should not have DEI policies or diversity. They are bending the knee towards Donald Trump. You recently saw that of Apple.
So, I do think that the right and the MAGA base is used to corporations doing everything that Donald Trump wants, used to kind of corporations falling in line with what MAGA believes. And so I'm not surprised that MAGA sort of went after Cracker Barrel because they thought it was woke somehow.
I'm not really sure how, but I find interesting to see the way corporations besides Cracker Barrel have really kind of gone to the right or kind of tried to please Donald Trump as much as possible. And I wonder how that's going to go if we end up with a Democratic president, where are we going to say.
ANDERSON: What is Cracker Barrel done to try to like, bending the knee to Donald Trump?
HINOJOSA: I'm saying except for -- I'm saying except for Cracker Barrel. I'm saying they're upset because they have not.
ANDERSON: Like when I think about a company like Cracker Barrel, there's a really fascinating analysis. Political analyst Dave Wasserman did this like a decade ago where he basically found that in congressional districts that had a Cracker Barrel were like significantly more likely to vote Republican and congressional districts that had a Whole Foods --
HINOJOSA: Yeah.
ANDERSON: -- that's more likely to vote Democratic.
So, it has been as an institution, this kind of like avatar, at least in political data world of this is a place that's like in rural parts of the country. It's in like heartland parts of America.
And so, I can see -- I don't think of this as like a Trump MAGA kind of thing. But I do think of it as like, hey, this was an institution of the heartland. Why did they feel the need to break with that in any way? And that's why you're seeing this backlash.
BASH: It's also -- I mean, again, the left right woke. I mean, I hear what you're saying, and I totally forgot about that, but that's such a good point. The Whole Foods versus Cracker Barrel.
But it's also just like a human thing. Just it's -- if you're comfortable with the place because you go there and it looks familiar, it's like, I mean, this is more of a taste than a than a logo, but like, its new Coke versus old Coke like why.
WILLIAMS: Right. And I also think post-2020, everyone right and left is on edge about battlegrounds that are being fought over products and over brands and so on. So even if Cracker Barrel wasn't doing anything that controversial other than changing the interior and getting the grannies rocking chair out and changing the taking the guy off, I'm glad they kept that gorgeous tawny golden rod color. That's so beautiful.
But no, if that's all they were doing, fine. But I think everyone now in America from Donald Trump Jr. to Xochitl Hinojosa, have in their heads that, wait a second, a battle is being fought here and we have to dig in because this is this is our livelihood.
BASH: It's pick your sides time over Cracker Barrel. By the way, that's where that is what we're talking about just to -
SHORT: As long as I sign my chicken fried steak.
WILLIAMS: But it's a fried pork chop for me.
SHORT: I think that one thing that's under-appreciated is I don't know to what extent really Trump is the instigator here. I think Trump is somebody who's a masterful marketer, and he saw that Americans were getting upset at the way corporate America was going, woke. And he then embraced that messaging.
I mean, let's not forget, this is a guy who celebrated having trans contestants in his beauty pageants a few decades ago. This is not like he's been a cultural warrior his whole life, but he saw the American people getting frustrated and angry about this, and then he began to embrace it and adopt the campaign.
[16:55:01]
BASH: And he wants to dance with the people who brung him.
SHORT: Yeah, for sure, which -- that's smart politics.
BASH: That's right.
All right. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Thank you so much to this terrific panel for having really interesting conversations. I love hearing what you do with your corporate clients, and we learn all the tricks of the trade. Thank you so much.
If you missed any of today's show, you can always catch up by listening to THE ARENA podcast. Just scan the QR code at the bottom of the screen there and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Phil Mattingly is right next door, standing by for "THE LEAD". I learned a lot from you, tricks of your trade, too, Phil, all the time, reporting tricks, all of them.
