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Texas Suspends Direct Deposit For Absent State House Members; Gov. Abbott Threatens More Lopsided Map If Dems Don't Cooperate; Republicans Eye New Maps In Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Florida; DOJ Opens Probe Into NY Attorney General Who Beat Trump In Court. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 08, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: But yet, there was one judge on that panel who was in dissent, Nina Pillard, and she defended Judge Boasberg in this situation. She wrote, Chief Judge Boasberg faced immense pressure to make a quick decision in a rapidly evolving, high-stakes situation. Even when faced with what reasonably appeared to him to be foot dragging, evasion, and outright disregard for his jurisdiction and his orders, he responded with unfailing composure. Wolf, back to you.

WOLF BLITZER, CO-ANCHOR OF THE SITUATION ROOM: Katelyn Polantz reporting the news, and remember, on this 20th anniversary of the Situation Room, the news still comes first. That's why Katelyn Polantz was just on the air with the breaking news.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn. We'll see you back here Monday morning, every weekday morning 10 am Eastern.

Inside politics with Dana Bash starts right now.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, Texas Democrats who left the state in protest face a deadline to get back to the Capitol. If they don't, the Texas attorney general says, he'll seek a court order to fire them.

Plus, she prosecuted President Trump, and now his justice department may prosecute her. The DOJ subpoenas Letitia James mining for information about her case against the Trump organization.

And it's the biggest company you may never have heard of. It's worth more than Disney, McDonald's or Bank of America, and it just signed a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon. We're going to break down what you need to know about this secretive company with close ties to the Trump administration.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

Two hours from now, Republicans in Texas will gavel the state House back into session. Their goal is to pass new GOP friendly maps that could net the party five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The session won't last long, though, because there are dozens of Democrats still absent, despite threats to throw them out of office if they don't show up and vote.

This morning, one top Texas Democrat told Wolf Blitzer that he and his colleagues will remain far from Austin, at least for now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TALARICO, (D) TEXAS STATE HOUSE: We're taking this one special session at a time, and my colleagues and I have agreed to stay out of the state capitol for the next two weeks to kill this rigged map and stop this corrupt process. Who knows what will happen after that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Ed Lavandera is at the state capitol in Austin. So, what does happen next, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's going to be a quick afternoon here, at least on the Texas House side. As you mentioned, in a couple hours, the House speaker will try to gavel the session back into order. The Democrats will not be here, so they'll quickly gavel out because everything grinds to a halt, but Republicans continue to find ways to try to punish the Democrats for not showing up here.

The latest we're learning about is that the House speaker has decided to suspend direct deposit payments to the lawmakers while they're in session and telling them so -- their paychecks and per diem that they are paid while they are working in session. They have to come in person to pick up those checks.

So clearly, Republicans trying to find ways to punish the Democrats here. I literally just finished talking with one Democratic representative who was out of state, who described this move as, quote, patty, but nonetheless, this is where we are as we continue to watch what is going to play out in the courts.

The governor asking the Supreme Court to remove the chairman of the Democratic caucus, Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general, threatening to go to the courts if the Democrats don't show up today. And so that will continue to play out. Democrats say that the Republicans do not stand on any kind of firm legal ground here, and they're also saying that they're willing to stay away for whatever long it takes to kill this redistricting bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): The Democrats always come back. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be next month. They're going to come back, or we'll be able to track them down. One way or the other, they're coming back. And it's going to end with these maps being passed. And you know what I'm thinking now is, if they don't start showing up, I may start expanding. We may make it six or seven or eight new seats. We're going to be adding on the Republican side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Dana, what we keep hearing, and what I keep hearing from Democrats over the last few days, is that they are -- they seem very kind of coalesced around the idea of staying away for at least the length of this legislative session, which would go until August 19. So, a little more than two -- little more than a week away now at this point. And they seem kind of geared toward that, but, you know, a reminder. You heard the governor there say, he will continue to call special session after special session to get the redistricting bill passed and Democrats are fully aware of that as well.

[12:05:00]

BASH: It's so fascinating what's going on down there. Ed, thank you so much for keeping us all over it. Appreciate it. I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters here at the table, CNN's Phil Mattingly, CNN's Isaac Dovere and CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. Happy Friday, everybody.

Phil Mattingly, what's your take on, kind of, let's just start with Texas in and of itself, and kind of the push and the pull of the Democrats doing really all they can do, which is protest by leaving, and Republicans making threats because that's really all they can do at this point.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Why are you saving the big national questions for --

BASH: I'm going to come back to you.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTINGLY: I think what's most interesting to me, and I think this actually threads into the grand ideas that Isaac is going to lay out shortly, which will be brilliant is the ramp -- the ramping up of the escalatory ladder. I mean, even the one Democrat called patty that Ed was just laying out.

I don't necessarily see the end game to it at this point in time, which I do think threads directly into the national implications of this. You know, these type of thing has happened in the past. Democrats stay out for that special session, and then they come back, and then kind of things move forward.

My kind of sense of it based on the past was that, look, at some point this is going to happen, Democrats are going to have to come back and deal with this reality. And the bigger question is, what are Democrats in blue states end up doing here.

But I'm starting to get the sense that one Republicans clearly don't plan on stopping this effort. Democrats clearly don't plan on coming back. And I'm not sure Democrats can come back as long as Democrats are -- as long as Republicans are pursuing this pathway because of the moment they are in and because of how big this has gotten across the nation.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: This is -- I do think that we should not lose sight of just how bizarre this whole thing is. Six weeks ago, nobody was ever thinking about Texas redistricting. Donald Trump said, I want more seats out of Texas. So, the governor now made this a priority over everything else that they were doing in Texas, including dealing with the flood response there.

And now we've got the Democrats who have run away from the state because they feel like they have no other option. And the governor saying to them, we're not going to pay you. We might send the FBI after you. We could kick you out of office. And if you don't do what we want right now, then it will get worse for you, right?

This is a really extraordinary thing. And it is not just the back and forth, even though, yes, the blue state governors like Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul are saying that they will respond to it. It is the Republicans chasing more seats that they think that they can get because Donald Trump wants it, because they are worried about the polls for next year's midterms. And by the way, who knows what will happen in next year's midterms?

BASH: Yeah.

DOVERE: But all of this happening is very, very strange, especially because Texas, this map that Texas has now is one that Texas was defending in court right before this started.

BASH: Right. I mean, it's already gerrymandered, although I will say that actually did a story on this a couple of years ago on the current, what is now, the current Texas map. And you know, the Democrats in Texas certainly didn't write the map, but there were a lot of incumbents on the Democratic side in Texas who benefited because they all became more secure in their seats, because their seats became bluer. But you said, this is -- I think you said it was a power grab, if you didn't, I'm saying.

DOVERE: Yeah. I agree.

BASH: And that's just what it is. And you know, there's no other way to say it. However, it is interesting to hear some new arguments coming out of the administration on why they're doing this. For example, listen to what J.D. Vance, the Vice President said on Fox this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You still count illegal aliens for congressional apportionment. So, California has way more House seats than it should because they have such a high population of illegal aliens. So, they get rewarded for welcoming illegal aliens in their state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everything ties back to immigration.

BASH: That's why I saved that for you.

ALVAREZ: You know, this has been part of the argument by the administration and Republicans campaigning for some time now. The president yesterday talking about the census, so that was an effort that, he also talked about in his first term that later went all the way up to the Supreme Court. This idea of importing immigrants for Democrats and voting.

There's a lot that to be debunked there, but ultimately, this to Phil's point, there are political features that are being tied to this. There is Cornyn and Paxton, who are up against each other and who's one upping -- one another in terms of the punishment for Democrats.

And then there's also the Democrats who are playing into this California Governor Gavin Newsom, of course, that Vance was talking about in there and him bringing in the Texas Democrats to his state. Pritzker are doing much of the same.

[12:10:00]

So, this is to everyone's point here, it is snowballing because it is more and more becoming integral to their own political future and resonance in this moment. And yes, I can -- like the immigration argument there is likely to continue to come up because that is something they have been hammering for a long time.

DOVERE: But it does seem also Vance saying that now is explaining after the fact something that Trump said. It's the same thing that happened last week when he fired the statistician about the jobs' numbers. He said he didn't like the jobs numbers.

And then afterwards, people in the White House said, oh, this is actually what it was about. No, he said he didn't like the jobs numbers are too high (Ph). He wants more seats in Texas. That's why this is happening. And now they're coming up with these explanations.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Just real quick on a bounce ethics. I think it's really important here. Whatever they use after the fact to explain and however valid it is, they were very naked in the intent from the very beginning.

And so to make this about a policy thing, or to make this tie it back to immigration, because everything always does fine, make the argument, fight the argument, debunk the argument, whatever you want to say. They were very clear from the jump, they wanted more seats and that was the reason why, period.

BASH: Let's talk about the national implications, Phil Mattingly, and about --

MATTINGLY: That's right.

BASH: Are you ready? And the fact that and maybe we talked about this all week. But this is a different sort of aspect of the notion that it's not necessarily going to only happen in Texas. Florida is another Republican led state with Democratic seats. And this is Punchbowl reported this morning. If you look at the Democratic districts in Florida, there are a number of them, or at least districts where Democrats are representing them and Republicans are targeting Jared Moskowitz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and a few others.

So, this is something that they're going to -- they're obviously most aggressive in Texas, and then they're going to try, potentially elsewhere, because they have -- they the Republicans have the advantage in state Houses all across the country.

MATTINGLY: It's, I think -- and this is what I was poorly trying to explain in my initial point because I was trying to keep it micro to Texas to address your question. I don't know that everybody fully grasped the implications of the camel's nose under the tent that is currently playing out right now.

And what I mean by that is, again, we've had these fights before, obviously, gerrymandering, redistricting, all these have been issues on a very regular basis, interestingly enough. House Democrats, when they were in power, made trying to stop gerrymandering a central component of their good governance legislation, and have now started to reverse on that, which is a fascinating element that I think is very telling of the times of this Trump presidency and of how Democrats are trying to fight it.

But I think, again, I don't know how this ends. I don't think it ends well, and I don't mean that in a political sense. I just mean there is no reason for republic -- Republicans are going to look at this and say, well fine, then we'll do Florida and Mississippi and Arkansas and Alabama. I'm just -- I don't know that that's actually what's coming next, but that's what they say.

Then every Democrat says, all right, fine, then we're going to do all the states in the northeast and anything out west that we have as well. And like -- it just seems like a spiral where you're not ever addressing weapon of the floods or what happens in governance.

BASH: And I don't want to lose sight of one of the big reasons why we talk about gerrymandering, and I've been obsessed with this for a long time, is because of the fact that it has caused the United States House of Representatives to be so incredibly partisan, because there is -- if you're a Republican and a safe Republican seat, you don't have to work across the aisle because your biggest threat is from the right primary there and same goes for Democrats. Here's one of the very few Republicans left in a Biden one seat. Mike Lawler, talking about the implications.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Three decades ago, you had a hundred competitive seats in Congress. Last November, only 35 seats were decided by five points or less. When you look at the challenges facing Congress, the challenges facing the country, the lack of competitive districts, it is -- it is what has created this partisan divide because you don't have people who are focused on a general election, they are solely focused on a primary and that is at the root of the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Yeah. And if Democrats are able to do whatever they need to do to try to pull back some of the Republican seats, its people, not necessarily, Mike Lawler, but people like Mike Lawler who may end up not being in Congress. All right, everybody stand by. Coming up. Prosecuting the prosecutor, Donald Trump's Justice Department is now investigating the New York attorney general, who went after the Trump organization. The latest on this breaking news, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Let's get back to the breaking news that we talked about before the commercial break. The Justice Department is opening a criminal probe into New York Attorney General Letitia James. The latest example of the Trump administration targeting a long time Trump political adversary, at least that's the way he views it. She certainly views it as doing her job when it comes to following the law.

Now James sued on that note, Donald Trump and his company for fraud, a case she won. Sources tell CNN, two grand jury subpoenas have been issued to James's office. The probe is said to be about whether James violated President Trump's rights. So, this is Trump picked U.S. attorney, looking in New York, looking into whether James violated Donald Trump's rights. That is what is going on here.

[12:20:00]

Brynn, I'm glad that you're here, so you can help explain what has actually been filed and what we really think is going on here?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, Dana, let's first put this out there, the fact that, you know, the DOJ is investigating Letitia James. If you were make a list of sort of political adversaries that Trump finds in the state of New York, Letitia James would probably be at the very top of that list.

And now this is the second investigation into Letitia James by the FBI, the DOJ. And essentially this one, as we're learning from Kara Scannell sources, is that two subpoenas have been issued, basically looking, as you said, Dana, into whether or not James' office violated the constitutional rights of Donald Trump, his sons, the company before filing that civil lawsuit, which, of course, we covered, you know, for several months long where Trump testified himself, his son testified, and essentially he was found liable how to pay millions of dollars, and is appealing that right now.

You can see there at this point, it's nearly $0.5 billion when you bring in the interest. So, this is certainly something that does not have a good look to it. When we talk about the DOJ sort of being used as a weaponization, as Letitia James' office would call it, when they are filing these subpoenas.

So, what we are learning now from James's office, we did get a statement from her attorney Abbe Lowell, who says this, weaponizing the -- again the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation of this administration.

The DOJ has -- is refusing to comment about these subpoenas. It's also important to note that we don't exactly know where this investigation stands right now. We just have this information about those grand jury subpoenas being a file, so we'll see where this goes, Dana?

BASH: Thank you so much. Appreciate that, Brynn. I'm back at the table. The fact that the claim is that Letitia James violated Donald Trump's civil rights.

ALVAREZ: Well, the president has made no secret of wanting to seek retribution against his adversaries, and this is one that he has had a long going clash with, I think, since -- and Isaac can correct me here, what like 2018 when she first ran. So, this has been an ongoing tense relationship between the two of them. Now we're seeing that come to fruition. And I think this is just the latest example.

BASH: And just as a reminder, Letitia James led the suit -- civil suit against Trump and his sons, saying that he inflated the value of the Trump orgs properties. And then in February of 2024, the judge up there found Trump libel, ordered him to pay $450 million and now that is being appealed.

MATTINGLY: Just for clarity for folks. The reason why Priscilla and I keep referencing Isaac on all New York and national politics things is he is our actual expert on all New York and national politics things. The one thing I always think about with this, and we've seen a lot of this over the course of the last couple of months.

When the president said on the campaign trail that he was going to seek retribution and revenge, and that his campaign team very quickly tried to walk that back behind the scenes. And then gave the president like a line about, no, I just want revenge for the American people. I just want success for American people.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTINGLY: And how many things have we seen that the president said out loud during the campaign, advisers tried to massage or maybe sound less aggressive or radical in the traditional sense that has been exactly what he has done when he walked into office. And this seems to be an example of that. We'll see how it plays out going forward, but it seems to be that way.

BASH: Jack Smith, they are looking into whether he violated the Hatch Act, which is not criminal. Of course, he was hired to be the Special Counsel looking into Donald Trump on a couple of pretty big issues, the FBI director, the former CIA director, Adam Schiff, the former President Barack Obama, and it goes on and on.

DOVERE: Yeah. And look, when it comes to Letitia James, this is -- Brynn mentioned there was another investigation that the Justice Department started looking into about things related to her mortgage a couple months ago. This is not just a person that suddenly has pinged in two different investigations. This is as Priscilla was talking about a long-standing thing.

When James was running in 2018, she said she was running to go after Donald Trump. She did that over and over again. Won a couple of cases. She's been part of a bunch of the cases that various democratic attorneys general have been taking against Trump administration in the last few months, including to try to stop the way that he was imposing tariffs.

That was a big win for her office and what they were doing. And this is Donald Trump, not beyond what Phil said about what he was talking about on the campaign trail. He has repeatedly made clear that he sees the Justice Department as essentially his lawyers, and that is how he is using them.

[12:25:00]

I was in touch with somebody from Letitia James' office and the statement that they have put out about this is any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American, and then they stand strongly behind the cases that they brought. So, look, but the Trump folks are going to try to bring it against them in any way they can.

BASH: Right. And they claim that she was weaponizing the justice system against him. I think the technical term is, tit for tat, on this. We'll see what happens next. Up next, another deadline. This one is for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. He shows no signs of meeting it. Will Moscow face any consequences? We'll talk about that after a break.

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