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Latinos Urge Democrats to Invest in Texas Race; Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) is Interviewed about Data Centers; Mamdani to Attend 9/11 Memorial. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired September 08, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: That we're in a completely different kind of political orientation towards the region. What do you think the legacy has become?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think we still live in the post-9/11 era. I mean people around this table know this better than I do, but in 2016 the second most important issue for Americans in the election was terrorism after the economy if you look at Pew polling data.
So, President Trump, you may remember the Muslim ban, came to power in part -- the Muslim ban was a pretty popular thing. So, you know, the -- it's had a very long tail, you know, 9/11, and we're still living with it now. I mean, I wish we -- I mean I hope that this book may contribute to a bit of a debate about what we got right and what we got wrong.
CORNISH: What did we get right and wrong? I only have a minute left, but now you've opened the door.
BERGEN: Well, I mean, the big thing is we weren't attacked again by a foreign terrorist organization on any scale, which was, you know, at the end of the day, the commander in chief was responsible for American safety. What did we get wrong? Well, read the book because, I mean, there's a -- there's a long laundry list there, unfortunately.
CORNISH: OK. Well, Peter Bergen, thank you so much. The book is called "All the Presidents' Wars." I hope you guys can take a look. Obviously, we are commemorating the attacks on 9/11.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we continue this conversation because remember Mayor Giuliani. Well, he says the current New York mayor doesn't even belong at Ground Zero. So, here is how Mamdani is responding.
And later on CNN, Lindsay Clancy's attorney is speaking out now that the case has ended in a mistrial. In the next hour, we're going to find out what's next for Clancy and how they plan to move forward.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:36:08]
CORNISH: All right, so it's been Democrats white whale, turning Texas blue. Can 2026 be the year? The governor's race between Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa may be their best shot. It's now shifted. It's classified as a likely Republican seat by the non- partisan Cook Political Report.
And dozens of Latino lawmakers are urging prominent Democrats to hop on board. "Axios" reports they sent a letter pressuring Governor Andy Beshear, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, to invest $10 million in the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINA HINOJOSA (D), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: If you look at the polling, President Trump is underwater. Greg Abbott is underwater. And people are tired of this politics as usual. People want change in Texas. They're galvanizing, organizing. We're building real momentum in this race. So, I welcome the attention on Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Group chat is back.
And one of the letter signers is here.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I am here.
CORNISH: OK, so how you going to be asking Beshear for money? You guys aren't fundraising well?
ROCHA: They got plenty o money over there. And all we're asking is share the -- just another nickel, sir.
CORNISH: Yes, but Talarico is raising a lot of money.
ROCHA: No, really, seriously, Gina Hinojosa's a very special person running in a very special time. Let me finish. And that is that, right now, I worked for the last Democrat to represent the state of Texas, the great Ann Richards. And this is lining up much like that back in the day, where if we had a little more money in Texas and some focus on Texas, Texas has been the blue whale for a long time. And I get that and I honor all of that. But right now, with what we're seeing, we have a once in a lifetime shot to do something special here.
CORNISH: I know here -- I don't know if he's awake yet. So, this pitch -- I don't know where this is going here.
(CROSS TALK)
CORNISH: Your hands are literally up in prayer.
ROCHA: Andy, please give -- we just need a few more nickels down there.
CORNISH: I want to know, you've got people like Ossoff and Talarico raising money hand over fist. So, what's going on with her? How come she's not in that same rake (ph)?
ROCHA: We're raising money like that. But the problem is, in Texas, all of you should know, that if you're a corporation or a rich person, you can write an unlimited check. It's not a federal office. So, people have wrote $1 million checks and the governor has $400 million in the bank. And we're trying to catch up. But there are only so many days.
ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, it's 22 to one, right?
CORNISH: Well, one thing --
DAVIS: Like, Abbott has 22 percent to one (INAUDIBLE) money.
CORNISH: Yes. But then I was surprised because remember when Abbott came out with the like moratorium on A.I. data centers for a little bit up until the midterms.
(CROSS TALK)
CORNISH: And I was like, is he in trouble? Like, is he in trouble?
(CROSS TALK)
DAVIS: I think -- well, look, I think that Talarico has a better chance than she does. Sorry. I know you love her. But I think that Talarico could bring her along.
ROCHA: I work for Talarico too. I love him, too, to be fair.
DAVIS: No, I know. I'm just saying, I think it's very difficult.
I also think that a third term --
CORNISH: But Abbott's only up by five points in Texas.
DAVIS: Yes. I mean, it's a third term for him, so I'm sure people --
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Fourth term.
DAVIS: Fourth term. You're right. You're right. Because he came in halfway through, right, because of Perry?
DOVERE: Yes.
DAVIS: Yes.
So, I think that, I'm sure there's a little bit of fatigue. I just -- I think that's going to be a tough one for you guys.
ROCHA: This is the point I'm making of is the right time. Isaac will back me up. It's the history here, right? You have the great candidate. She's a working mother. She's been a legislator. She's fighting these data centers. It lines up perfect. So, if we get a little investment by national democrats in Texas, look, y'all, for -- everybody should know that all these Democrats come to Texas like it's a piggy bank and take our money and go somewhere else. We're just saying, bring some of that money back home.
DOVERE: And --
DAVIS: What race do you want them to take money from, the DGA, to give to you?
ROCHA: Just pick one of the white boys. We'll take (INAUDIBLE) monies.
DAVIS: Oh, my goodness.
CORNISH: This is how I end up on the clickbait websites.
DOVERE: But, look, it is true that the stars seem to be aligning in a way that could make it possible for Democrats to win. Whether they actually do --
CORNISH: That's a lot of qualifying.
DOVERE: Yes. Yes.
CORNISH: The stars aligning.
DOVERE: But they -- there's another thing going on here, of course --
CORNISH: OK.
DOVERE: Which is that Andy Beshear is also thinking about running for governor. And there is -- or for president, rather.
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: And there is a pressure point to put on him about Latinos in this race in a bigger way as we go into 2028.
[06:40:01]
We see it every cycle now.
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: Much attention to the Latino vote. And making sure that people are not taking it for granted or writing it off, especially in the Democratic primary, that will be significant. And you see in the Democratic primary calendar now with Nevada and New Mexico early, this is serious.
CORNISH: I know. We've been talking about South Carolina.
DOVERE: Yes.
CORNISH: But Nevada and possibly the "New America," --
DOVERE: Exactly. Yes.
CORNISH: There's going to be a different conversation.
OK.
ROCHA: Beshear, why do you not support Latinos running for office?
DAVIS: Oh, my goodness.
CORNISH: Exactly.
All right, next we're going to talk about this, because it's also come up in the Texas story, the data center debate. You've got voters that are angry about their power bills. They're angry about threats to water supply. Can Democrats actually capitalize on that in the midterms? We've got Congressman Troy Carter here next.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: And I'm proud to be the mayor of this city. I love this city. I love this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Mayor Mamdani calling for a focus on the families after Rudy Giuliani looks to stir up controversy ahead of the 9/11 memorial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:45:16]
CORNISH: So, Americans across the country appear to be coming together against a common enemy, A.I. data centers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What that could actually look like without regulation is basically forcing everybody to start smoking cigarettes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think our electric bills will go up unless they put a complete substation in for themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we have a big problem with water, which, you know, is not crucial right now at this point, but at what point does it get crucial?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every year we pray for rain, or worry about rain. We're worried about our water. We live in the desert.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our children are important. Our resources are important.
We want to try to be on the right side of history with these data centers. And that's ultimately the fight across the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: So, there's new polling by NBC News showing that overwhelmingly voters do not want data centers built in their communities. It's become a defining issue of the midterms. Democrats are trying to fine tune their attacks.
So, "Politico" obtained an internal memo from the top super PAC supporting House Democrats, saying that they should stick to language that touches the, quote, "conspiratorial nerve that runs through the data center discourse among voters."
So, I'm bringing in Democratic representative from Louisiana, Congressman Troy Carter. He also sits on the House Homeland Security Committee and the committee -- the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Thank you so much for being here.
I know, given those two committees, you're probably hearing about this a lot. You are running for re-election in your district, where Meta is planning to expand a data center. So, where are you? What's your position on Meta expanding that center?
REP. TROY CARTER (D-LA): Well, like most Americans, very concerned. When we look at these data centers popping up in communities, Richland Parish, for example, in Louisiana, you are coming into rural areas that will undoubtedly be challenged.
When this infrastructure to support data centers have to be built, when the enormous power drain that -- that's necessary to power and to operate data centers, somebody's going to bear the brunt of that. And communities, unfortunately, are being the ones that fall in that category.
Listen, there's a tremendous amount of outcry among communities because of data centers and there's been a lack of transparency. No communication. When you build on data centers, you impact the grid, you impact the power source. Somebody pays for that. In Louisiana already we have enormous heat --
CORNISH: So, Congressman, can I interrupt for one second?
CARTER: Certainly.
CORNISH: I didn't hear your answer. Would you -- do you want this data center there or do you want it with guardrails?
CARTER: Well, we -- well, I guess there's two sides to that. Yes. I am not opposed, nor are Democrats opposed to development. We are opposed to development that doesn't have answers. So, perhaps with guardrails that will demonstrate that the public will not bear the brunt, they will not feel the negative impacts of the drain of the power source, they will not be the ones that have to suffer because of this development. And so, you know, the whole idea of --
CORNISH: Now, the alternative to that is Senator Sanders. Let me -- let me jump in here because Senator Sanders wants to introduce a bill that would impose a nationwide pause on construction. And is that something -- that moratorium would last until there's regulation.. Do you think that's the right way for Democrats to go?
CARTER: Well, listen, I think we have to be -- I think we have to be careful, right, because we don't want to just say no, no, no. But we also want to say that we have to protect the community, we have to protect the people. So, the notion that we would just shut everything down is certainly one that some would buy into.
I think the greater wisdom would be that we pump the brakes, slow these things down, and ensure that the interest of the community is being met. Excuse me. And to ensure that the interests of the community is being met, that doesn't mean that we don't recognize that data centers have a purpose. They just cannot willy nilly, summarily go into communities and ignore the needs, the wishes, and the negative potential outfall of what it can mean for communities.
See, it's not enough to just say we don't want them, and it's not enough to say, you can just come into our community and not talk to local officials --
CORNISH: Yes.
CARTER: Not talk to the state, not talk to the communities. Therein lies the real issue with these data centers.
[06:50:01]
People have to understand what they are and the brunt of the cost for them has to be borne by the developer, not by the community.
CORNISH: OK, Congressman, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you being with us.
So, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he is going to be at Friday's 9/11 memorial as he faces calls to stay away from former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: I'm proud to be the mayor of this city. I love this city. I love this country. And what I want this week to be a focus on is on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago in the horrific act of terror of September 11th, and a focus also on the first responders who gave everything they could to this city and to the people who came together to try and help their fellow New Yorkers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the question over Mamdani's attendance was raised by none other than Giuliani over the weekend, who said he would be offended if Mamdani was there and claimed Muslims were trying to take over the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: They have every desire to take us over. This is not a, they want to be just another religion. They want to dominate us. That's what they're taught from the day they begin their extremist religious education. Mamdani is a clear -- a clear supporter of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.
I wanted to bring that up because he's saying something we hear very frequently in the last two years, which is to look at Muslims specifically as an invading community of immigrants who are changing the western way of life. That's the language that you hear. And is that -- is this part of that, like Giuliani being, like, oh, and this guy too. He also is a problem.
DOVERE: Oh, yes. And not just the last two years. And I do think that the -- speaking as a born and bred New Yorker here, the Rudy Giuliani of 2026 is not the Rudy Giuliani of September 11th. And you see that what his objection to in Mamdani being there is really just Mamdani is a Muslim.
That said, there are -- this push against Mamdani attending the ceremony predates Giuliani.
CORNISH: Yes. Very much so.
DOVERE: It's been going on for a couple weeks with a petition and all this stuff.
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: And I think it speaks to the fact that Mamdani -- look, there's a lot of islamophobia there. There's also stuff that people who are associated with his administration that have caused some consternation. There's a lawyer who he gave a pen to, who was city counsel --
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: At a ceremony last week. That lawyer defended a terrorist who's a brother-in-law of the hijackers. All these guilt by association stuff.
CORNISH: Yes. Just to give people some -- basically there is somebody sitting on the -- as the city's chief legal counsel --
DOVERE: Yes.
CORNISH: Who was doing legal work through the U.S. military commission, which meant he was representing a convicted al Qaeda member.
DOVERE: Right.
CORNISH: You've had some family members of victims speak up and say, we don't think you're welcome. You have had others speak up and say, of course, you should be there. You are welcome. The September 11th Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow. I actually don't think he could not go.
ROCHA: Why (ph)?
CORNISH: Like, what?
DOVERE: He's the mayor of New York City.
CORNISH: Yes, he's the mayor of New York -- I actually feel like it would be worse if he didn't go. I don't understand this.
ROCHA: Democrat, Republican, independent. When you watch that clip, you said, I think that the mayor, no matter any of the things that we've talked about, he said the two things that I wanted to hear, which was, we remember the families and the terror -- he said the word terror -- that they have been through, and also the first responders, because he has -- overseas, to Isaac's point, he knows much more about this as a born and bred New Yorker, the largest police department.
DOVERE: You can bring up Texas all the time.
ROCHA: I bring up -- right. Fair. The largest police and firefighters group in the country.
DOVERE: Yes.
ROCHA: Of any major city.
DOVERE: And Mamdani is not just going to the ceremony, he's doing a bunch of events at fire stations and other things that --
CORNISH: Right. And we should say, the president, President Trump, will not be in New York specifically. He will be here at the Pentagon, in part because at the 9/11 ceremony you are not allowed to have political speeches. And that appeared to be a nonstarter for them.
Here's Curtis Sliwa, always good for a quote. Also a former mayoral candidate. And when he was asked, this is Sliwa and this is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURTIS SLIWA (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Ridiculous. He's the mayor. Stop being sore losers. You knew this is Zohran Mamdani. He never -- he was never a fake, phony, fraudulent fugazi, like a lot of politicians. He told you who he was. Once he got elected, you should have known he was going to be there at 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, don't be a fugazi. I think that's a political argument.
DAVIS: Yes. Here's what -- I don't care what anybody says. Whoever wants to go, this is exactly what Mamdani said, and actually what you said, is that anyone should be there. But this -- going back to the Muslim religion. One of the things that
President Bush taught us as staff was and -- was that 9/11 was not about the Muslim religion. It was a hijack on the Muslim religion. And he --
[06:55:01]
CORNISH: Can I play him on 2001? Because I actually have that.
DAVIS: Sure.
CORNISH: And I wasn't sure if we could. But I feel like you're bringing it up. So, let's just give people a sense, because maybe you weren't around then. This is what it was like on September 17th from the president of the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war.
Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind. And they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Would today's Republican Party agree with him?
DAVIS: It doesn't matter, because I think that it's just the leadership that he had. I mean, President Bush always said, let history judge me. And I think he was so right about -- one of the things he made us remember, made us understand the Koran as much as possible, was that this was a calm, peaceful religion, because he did not want that divide in our country.
So, obviously, there's major divide. And I blame both political parties for that. I mean, there's the anti-Semitic rhetoric that happens or anti-Israel rhetoric that happens --
CORNISH: Yes, but I'm asking specifically because Giuliani was like "the Muslims," right? He was not --
DAVIS: Yes, that's what I'm saying.
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: Like, it's all wrong. And so, the fact that the mayor wants to go, great. Go. I mean, anyone should be welcome to go and not lose sight of what the country is doing and how the country has reacted and united that day, which you made a point, half the population doesn't even remember that day.
CORNISH: Yes, but Peter mentioned the Muslim ban was also popular. So, you know what I mean?
DAVIS: Yes.
CORNISH: Like, I think we're dealing with two legacies here and --
ROCHA: And I never thought I'd like the calming voice of George Bush --
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: But that seems pretty reasonable to me. And I used to attack the heck out of him.
CORNISH: It's a different time.
ROCHA: I guess history does -- I was like, man, that sounds pretty decent now.
CORNISH: Yes. Yes. OK.
DAVIS: You probably (ph) were so mean to him.
ROCHA: I was mean. I feel bad now, Ashley. I apologize.
CORNISH: Let's talk about what's in the group chat.
Ashley.
DAVIS: No, I think this is, as you guys know, I was in the White House 9/11. Ended up becoming employee number one at the White House after homeland security. And this is my Super Bowl week because it's something that's very important to me, not as a celebration, but just something that's very important.
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: That we have -- we have been safe over the last 25 years. But I want to remind Americans that we are stopping attacks every day. And to make sure that we don't lose sight of that. And they're different attacks. They're not airplanes. They're not -- they're not things that we've done traditionally. They're not bombs.
ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: Yes, but they are --
CORNISH: Although for today's homeland security, I think the threat is immigration, right, and migrants?
DAVIS: Well, that's why one of the reasons I'm so conservative on the immigration issue is not people that want to come over and live here peacefully, but the people that were coming over that we -- that were on the terrorist watch list.
CORNISH: OK.
What about you? What's in your group chat?
ROCHA: Tomorrow -- we have talked about this before, but TPS for El Salvadorans runs out tomorrow. Two hundred thousand immigrants, or children that were brought here, will be forced to make hard decisions tomorrow. And I looked up last night, what would that cost the American economy every year? And not just me and my firm. You know, I have a personal connection here. But $1.5 billion in taxes that they pay.
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: In a time when we're trying to figure out more money in the system.
CORNISH: So, if they don't go home, as they are supposed to, this means they're eligible for deportation, right? Homeland security comes in.
ROCHA: They have a 60-day grace period.
CORNISH: OK.
ROCHA: But what's really big for the American economy is, I employ TPS recipients. Starting tomorrow, I can't employ them and can't take taxes out of their checks anymore. So, some of those folks will go underground and be paid in an underground economy. Some will go home. But all of that money, no matter what, comes out of our economy every single day.
There was a -- "New Yorker" wrote about my co-worker yesterday and what that means to a young woman who came here at five years old. Like, what's going to happen tomorrow is an embarrassment for this whole country, for law abiding immigrants.
DOVERE: We were talking about Gavin Newsom earlier in the show. I was with Newsom in South Carolina last week. I wrote a story about it. But, you know, the question is what's in the group chat. I've had not group chats, but individual text messages from a bunch of people who work for a bunch of other prospective presidential candidates who are all very much paying attention to what the others are doing. Talking to me about the Newsom article. I'd invite people to go on our site and read it. See for yourself what's going on. But this is on already.
CORNISH: Yes. So, if you guys want to gossip about your poss (ph), Isaac's DM's are open for --
DOVERE: DM's, texts, let's go.
ROCHA: Just to be clear, I did not text him about any of the folks that I'm working with (ph).
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: Though it's a wonderful article, Isaac. Keep reporting. CORNISH: I know. He actually complained about that to me earlier. He was like, why do we even have this guy on?
DAVIS: Who's next?
DOVERE: Who's next for what?
DAVIS: Who are you going to interview next?
CORNISH: Yes, who you profiling?
DOVERE: Oh, we'll have to find out.
CORNISH: Wait, what?
ROCHA: Come on now. (INAUDIBLE) on the group chat.
CORNISH: All right, how about this? Should we park ourselves in South Carolina to find out or park ourselves in --
DOVERE: There are a number of early states that people are going to. Pete Buttigieg will be in New Mexico this weekend.
[07:00:00]
But you've also still got a lot of Democrats who are going to New Hampshire --
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: Even though it has officially been booted from the calendar.
ROCHA: Oh, New Hampshire, happy primary day. Today is election day in New Hampshire.
CORNISH: Oh, yes. Oh.
DAVIS: What do we think's going to happen with Shaheen?
CORNISH: A lot of people are watching that race.
ROCHA: Yes, you have Jeanne Shaheen's daughter running. You got a great veteran named Marsh running. There's a bunch of folks running in the primary up there for open seats. And go vote if you're in New Hampshire.
DAVIS: Prediction? Shaheen's seat, the congresswoman, Shaheen.
CORNISH: Oh, just as he's about to say it, we're running out of time.
ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: OK.
DAVIS: All right. You heard it here.
CORNISH: Thank you for being with us. The headlines are now.
