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Cassidy Says He'll Back Blanche For A.G., Paving Ways To Confirmation; Blanche Poised For Confirmation After Cassidy Says He'll Vote Yes; Appeals Court Blocks Construction Of Trump's Ballroom; Economy In Reverse: U.S. Lost 23,000 Jobs Last Month. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 07, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: A major political win for President Trump and likely one heck of a promotion for his former personal attorney.

I'm Phil Mattingly in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

Todd Blanche is now officially on track to be the next attorney general of the United States. The last Republican holdout, Senator Bill Cassidy, a man whose political career President Trump has effectively helped end, announced that he will support Blanche on the Senate floor, barring a last-second shot that shock that gives Blanche the votes he needs to be confirmed. Here's what Cassidy said on the floor just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche. I'll be criticized for this vote. What's new? But the people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: A final vote could come as soon as this afternoon. I am joined right now by a great panel of reporters, and I think just to start things off. Alayna, there's probably a lot of people watching this going, no kidding. Like we knew they get the votes. They always get the votes. This was a little dicier, I think, than people expected it to be, or people who are assuming that's actually the case here. How did this come to be? How did the White House lock this up?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House wasn't totally sure how this was going to go, particularly because of Cassidy, as you mentioned, is someone who the president effectively ousted from his Senate seat, and that was the case with a lot of the people we saw, you know, pushing back on this and opposing this at the start of this entire confirmation fight.

I mean, one of the biggest things that was a victory in the end for the White House was what we saw with Senators Tillis and Cornyn, both of whom were on the Judiciary Committee, really, you know, holding up this nomination because of that very controversial, $1.8 billion weaponization fund, which essentially I shouldn't even call it a win for the White House because we did see Blanche over the weekend kind of capitulate and put formally in writing that they were abandoning that fund altogether, but this was a hard-fought battle behind the scenes.

I know that the legislative affairs director James Brady at the White House had been lobbying senators the whole time. The president really trying to put public pressure on a lot of members as well. But the problem with Blanche was that because Trump had effectively pushed out a lot of these people. I mean, I mentioned Tillis and Cornyn, and they are also people that the president has come up against and effectively unseated as well. That created a whole different dynamic here.

One thing I just want to mention too that I found fascinating about Cassidy's floor speech is when he brought up the former Attorney General Bill Barr, someone who also has butt heads very publicly with President Trump in the past. I found it really interesting that he said that he spoke with him at length about his decision, and that Barr was actually the one who told him, look, at the end of the day, Trump is the one who makes a lot of these decisions and that what Barr was saying is a lot of the things that Blanche was saying to Cassidy behind the scenes. I think that probably went farther than any lobbying from the president and his team when it came to Cassidy.

MATTINGLY: I mean, the way I heard it, he was effectively being like, eh, like this is about as good as you're going to get, which I think is interesting. Zolan, listening to Cassidy's entire speech, I think was interesting because you got a window into like, OK, this is as much as I think I can get here. The alternative is probably worse, but I want folks to listen to what Cassidy said. One of his major concerns was before when he was talking about this, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY: And by the way, I'm very concerned about the weaponization of the Justice Department. Cassidy Hutchinson, I'm told, there is a grand jury being empaneled to investigate her. Like, why? Tell me that. Shouldn't every American be afraid of the weaponization of the Justice Department. If there's not adequate answers for that, then probably there needs to be somebody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:05:00]

MATTINGLY: The reason I wanted to point to that is he made clear in his remarks today, one that not all of his concerns were totally addressed, but two, he alluded to -- he had been told that certain things, investigations that he thought were ongoing are not ongoing, or some of the reporting was wrong. What do we know about kind of how -- what's going on behind the scenes, Zolan?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. This is, in a way, kind of puzzling because he's almost listing out reasons to oppose Todd Blanche here, right? Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump administration official, who again spoke out against President Trump. So, this would fall into the category of another sort of dissenter, political opponent that is then being investigated by this second administration.

But with Cassidy, again, you find this puzzling. One, I think it's worth remembering. He's been through this before. He was a deciding vote with RFK, so we've seen him in this position. But his explanation also of, you know, Todd Blanche, if he's Senate confirmed, could be in a better position. Two, and be more empowered to sort of hold the line or push back against President Trump, which he also went into today.

It's interesting, right, because this is also a president that has not shown any hesitation to oust or dictate the Justice Department or somebody who's Senate confirmed. There hasn't been all that much of a difference between someone who's acting or who's Senate confirmed when it comes to sort of their vulnerable position when it comes -- in terms of their job and their job insurance with President Trump. So, you know, all of these reasons that he listed, it does seem like he's still sort of torn about this decision, even though his decision is going to have a definitive outcome here.

MATTINGLY: Just go. I know you -- I can see it. I can feel it. You've got great reporting.

JAMIE GANGELM, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, no question, acting is not a word you want. Ask former acting chief of staff, right? You don't want that with Donald Trump. I did find the psychology of this fascinating that he felt the need to come out and said, Bill Barr told me this, Louisiana U.S. attorneys said that, that he played that all -- look, as soon as it was announced that he was going to make the announcement on the floor. I think we knew it was a yes, because if it was going to be a no, he could have posted about it. But I just thought what we saw was a fascinating personal struggle with the whole thing, right down to how emotional he got at the end those long pauses.

MATTINGLY: I think it's a really important point, and you mentioned a great. What he went through with the RFK nom was a lot, and weighed on him, and frankly, bit him in the ass. Like, let's be candid. Like, he got screwed every which way from Sunday with the commitments that were made on that front. But also, like having covered Cassidy for many years on Capitol Hill, like he's a serious legislator who takes the job very seriously. You could see the weight that he was carrying here.

Anna Palmer, first, congrats on the interview with the president and your first season Fly Out being complete. Are you taking a vacation? The state of the Senate conference right now for Republicans, like what is -- like, this is an A.G. This is president's prerogative. This shouldn't be a problem when you've got a majority in the Senate. This was a lift.

ANNA PALMER, CO-FOUNDER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: It was a lift. And I think you see the -- what happens when the president has taken out some of his political adversaries. In our interview, Trump saying, I stick by those decisions. They tried to impeach me, and I feel very strongly about that. What you see, I think, in Bill Cassidy is the limit to which he is willing to play the retribution game.

Like in my mind, this is a really good news for this White House for James Brady as they look to the lame duck, as they look to trying to check more of the things off of the president's agenda, because he's not saying like, hey, the president took me out. I'm just a no. He's saying I can be convinced, and I think that this public acknowledgement of listing why he got to where he got was really because we all have been pressing him for months about RFK Jr., and did you regret that decision? And he's kind of laying out how he got to where he is.

MATTINGLY: That's such a really good point. We're going to get to a lot more on Punchbowl's interview with the president. Coming up. I love when Cassidy is like -- I know people are going to be mad either way. It's like when you're parenting. Like no matter what I do there. This is not going to end well. I get it.

All right, coming up. More breaking news. An appeals court says President Trump is illegally building his new White House ballroom. So, will he stop? And Kansas hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate since Franklin Roosevelt was president. Why is the party suddenly bullish on its prospects there. Stay with us.

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[12:10:00]

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MATTINGLY: Breaking news: A federal appeals court says President Trump's ballroom project is illegal. The two-to-one ruling saying, quote, each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner of the White House and its executive residence. The president has no, and claims no constitutionally assigned authority over that property, which is designed and maintained for the use of all presidents, current and future, and for the American people. The court is pausing its ruling for two weeks to give the president time to appeal to the Supreme Court, which is likely during that time construction on the ballroom can continue. Jamie Gangel, like --

GANGEL: I don't even know what --

MATTINGLY: It's like they're doing it.

[12:15:00]

GANGEL: Right, right. So, can we -- can we just start with Blanche? He's going to get a win, ballroom. He's going to see this as a lose, you know, this is going to trigger him. I think more than the Blanche win. He cares about it. It is personal. It is construction. It is a, you know, a vanity project. I don't know what the Supreme Court's going to do, but two weeks is not a long time.

And let's say, they stay with this lower court ruling, then, you know, we were discussing earlier what happens next. So, he's going to have to get congressional approval, like all construction projects you undertake, it will take twice as long as you expected --

MATTINGLY: Delayed budget, all the things that --

GANGEL: Right.

TREENE: To Jamie's point and we were discussing this in the break earlier. I don't really understand, as you're saying, what happens because there's a massive hole in the ground. I was there when he was showing us the preview on the South Lawn of everything they're doing. I mean, the East Wing is completely gone. If the Supreme Court does end up, you know, staying the order, what happens? Like, there's -- it's kind of too late, in my opinion. I mean, I don't know.

MATTINGLY: No, no, I don't think it's an opinion. I think you can just look at it. It's clearly like in process, but Jamie makes a really good point, and we're looking at right now. I hear from people who are like, you guys care too much, or like people focus on this stuff too much. Like it's not us. Like, listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look at the beautiful ballroom and military center. It's a military center, much more than we have a drone port on top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you mentioned that the ballroom was your gift to the country?

TRUMP: It's a gift. It's a gift from me and from incredible, successful companies and patriots, and they put up close to $400 million. And you see the -- you see what's happening and it's beautiful.

This ballroom is going to be something that's so beautiful for the city, so desperately needed by presidents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Anna, I think the thing that I always get stuck on with this is one, like I don't necessarily understand like the fixation on it, where like sometimes they'll just bring blue prints out and be like, hey, guess what? We're also bombing Iran. But when you look at -- like polling on this, you can take up the latest CNN/SSRS poll, feeling about Trump's D.C. construction projects, of which there are many. Happy 8 percent, satisfied 9 percent, dissatisfied or angry 58 percent in total. It's like a midterm year. There's like some serious stuff going on. PALMER: I think this is a legacy issue for him. I don't think he's thinking about this impact in the midterms are Republicans. I think that he is trying to do everything he can. When you look at the, you know, "beautification" that he's trying to do across the country and certainly inside Washington D.C.

This is something that if you look at previous construction projects, maybe not as big, they were always controversial when previous presidents did them and made changes to the White House. And so, I think that this is really, he loves construction, he loves hospitality, he loves these kinds of things, and this is really where his history and background is as an entrepreneur.

MATTINGLY: Can I play something real quick? Just because Jamie mentioned that this is probably going to trigger him a little bit and I understand it. He cares about it deeply. This might as well, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like Saddam Hussein.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It is like, you know, what, that's a very -- you know, when I was in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein, I had meetings. I was then a senator. I had meetings in some of his palaces, and they were quite reminiscent of what we are seeing in our own White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Man, I bet, Zolan, you wish you weren't talking and I interrupted you because I just teed you up to respond to that.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yeah, fire, gasoline --

MATTINGLY: -- or a lot of, yeah.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Right. When you look at the things that he has chosen to prioritize, a legal setback like this is going to set him off likely. You were talking about how this is a legacy issue, and he's not really thinking about the midterms when it comes to this, that might be the issue here, right? Because you do have other Republicans and other people in the party that are focused on the midterms and would love to hear him.

Talking about Trump accounts or tax cuts or what have you, his domestic agenda, and not so much this ballroom, which doesn't address sort of the day-to-day issues that people are feeling, particularly as polling shows that his approval is going down and that economic frustration is still up.

I also think something interesting with this decision is just how they respond to the national security argument that the administration has been making. You've seen them in justifying this construction say, it has to do with national security, pointing to recent attempts on the president's life and other public officials as the need for this ballroom. And here one of the judges did say national security is not a blank check, right? And that's really interesting here.

Also, the president saying that this is essentially a gift. Millions of dollars were transferred from the Secret Service budget for this, right? That's taxpayer dollars as well. So not exactly. That's sort of undermines what we originally heard that this was all going to be donations and the president's gift to the country.

PALMER: If this comes down to Congress, the national security argument will help get Republicans there.

[12:20:00]

MATTINGLY: It's a very, very, very good point. Speaking of congressional Republicans, a political gut punch, a brutal jobs report, just 88 days before those midterms. So long, I was talking about. We'll explain, next.

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MATTINGLY: The U.S. economy just slammed into reverse. Well, at least the labor market did, shedding 23,000 jobs last month and dropping a political landmine just 88 days before the midterms. Today's unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent, which is great on its face, but only because more Americans stopped looking for work.

[12:25:00]

We're also learning the job. Market was much weaker than we thought in May and June. It's an economic one, two punch. Jobs are disappearing at least last month, while prices remain high. Dangerous mix, reviving at least a little bit of fear about one of the most dreaded words in economics and politics: stagflation.

Zolan, we're not stagflation yet, but the idea here is that it's not great when labor market is soft. It's not great when prices are still high. Certainly not great if you're Kevin Warsh trying to figure that out right now. But there's one thing that I think, you know, beyond the topline numbers, you look at what I think is most important to the vibe that you hear out in the country when you go reporting.

It's this right here, wages versus inflation. For the better part of the first year and a half of the president's term, wages were actually higher than inflation, right, right there. And over the course of the last several months, circling it because I'm great at art. You have seen that inflation has now surpassed wages. It's been kind of toggling back and forth right now. That, in and of itself, is a problem.

The other problem that I think the White House has is you look at the changes in employment over time, and you see repeatedly over the course of the president's term. There's been job losses followed by surges-up, which I think the point that I want to make here is this is a really fluid and uncertain economy, and this is actually a good window into it. Like 200,000 up one month, 150,000 down the next month, 23,000 down. Like it's hard to figure out what's happening right now. KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes, it is. But what is clear is the feeling that that people -- the feeling that people have, and the experience that they're -- that they have right now. I mean, those two points that you circled really help explain the economic frustration that we've been seeing in this polling that we were just talking about in the last segment. You know, and this is what the frustration that people are feeling when they're going to the grocery store, when they're going to fill up the tank as well. We know that the war in Iran has exacerbated that pressure point as well.

So, you know, a jobs report like this, it's not going to be good news for this White House that is trying, and for the Republican Party in general, trying to make gains in the midterms and actually try to address and meet people where they're at when it comes to this economic anxiety that they're feeling.

MATTINGLY: And Anna, this flows obviously directly into the political conversation, which the president got into with his interview with you guys. And I thought there was this fascinating comment. We all have conversations with political operatives saying, like, well, our Trump's guy is really going to come out and vote, right? Like that's his secret sauce. It's what got him in '16. It's what got him in '24. Republicans in the midterms, never do well when Trump is president, and he was asked about that, and he said this, listen?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I don't run, will those people go out and vote? And that's the one thing I can't tell. I'm going to ask him to, but I'm just watching guys like you and your very talented people. The question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry every Republicans, to be honest with you, they're --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why angry at Republic?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some interesting thing, why?

TRUMP: They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Jake Sherman, friend, good friend of all of us at the table, that I thought it was a fascinating answer

PALMER: Well, I mean, what's interesting to me is he's really trying to separate himself from Republicans, right? I mean, he's saying, hey, all the voters' agents don't like Republicans, but me, I'm still good. The base loves me, and the problem is, one, it's unclear if you look at polling if that's actually true. And two, he's not on the ballot.

And so, if that's -- that means his entire majority, his entire agenda is basically going to end after the midterm election in a divided Congress. It's going to be oversight, oversight, oversight. But it's unclear how much he's going to put his own political capital on the line. I mean, dividing yourself from it. It's not saying like, I'm the leader of the Republicans. They're coming up behind me. He's saying no, they're over there. They're different than me.

KANNO-YOUNGS: It's not the first time we've also seen him sort of be a bystander to his own presidency and the impact of his presidency.

MATTINGLY: Do you think it's because he wants? He's trying to get separation because he knows an outcome right now. Like he's trying to say, like if we get wiped out, I don't want to be the one.

KANNO-YOUNGS: He's also indicated the outcome before. You've heard the president like mention the historical trend, which is true that the incumbent tends to suffer losses in the midterms. So, you know, he's acknowledged that in part before. But I do just think it's remarkable that at times, especially when facing something that could be a negative outcome, this -- the president will often sort of watch it happen and almost like remark on it as if he's a spectator rather than the person in the Oval Office.

TREENE: And the other part, I don't think it was played in that clip that I found fascinating that he was telling you guys yesterday was, he was saying, you know, I don't have to be out there. He was like, I don't need to be out there in Nevada and Los Angeles. He's like, I've told someone recently, I won my race, like. And that to me I think encapsulates what also things that I've been hearing behind the scenes from people at the White House, which is the president isn't as invested in getting out there for these midterm elections.

He doesn't want to travel as much. He's starting to pick it up a little bit. And remember, actually -- at the beginning of the year, everyone in the White House was telling everyone who would hear it that they were going to be out. He's going to be out at least once a week, if not multiple times a week.

MATTINGLY: Can I pull on this thread a little bit and play what I think is most -- I've been thinking about this soundbite, like all day because it's not. You mentioned political capital. You mentioned lack of investment. Let's talk about actual capital, actual investment.