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Inside Politics

Soon: Closing Arguments In Tupac Shakur Murder Trial; Trump Posts "Let Data Reign" As Voters Reject Data Centers; Bipartisan Backlash: Both Parties Fun Against Data Centers; Abbott Backs Off Data Center Support As AI Backlash Grows; Rogers Defends Trump's Unpopular New Tariffs On Canada; Rogers, El-Sayed Trade Hits In Football-Fueled Macho-Off; Kalshi: GOP House Candidate Traded On Her Own Campaign. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash in New York today.

You're looking at live pictures of or outside a courtroom in Las Vegas, where any moment now closing arguments will begin in the murder trial of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur. Shakur was killed in September of 1996 after he was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, questions swirled for decades over who killed the then 25-year-old star.

Duane Davis, better known as "Keffe D" is charged with first degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have largely leaned on Davis's own account of Tupac's murder. Davis described his part in Tupac's killing in his memoir and in multiple media interviews. He now says many of those retellings were false.

CNN's Josh Campbell is outside the courthouse in Las Vegas. Josh, Davis is the only person ever charged in Tupac's murder after all of these years. What do we expect from the prosecution in the closing statements that will begin soon?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Dana, this is -- yeah, it's a verdict that is 30 years in the making. Essentially, it's been three decades since Tupac Shakur was shot and killed here in Las Vegas near the Strip on an evening after a Mike Tyson fight. And now here we are, many years later, the person that authorities allege orchestrated his killing is now on trial.

Now, Duane Davis has obviously pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say that they don't believe that he actually pulled the trigger, but he was in the vehicle allegedly whenever the shooting happened. A lot of this will come down to his own statements, and that is what prosecutors have hedge much of their case on.

Now, let me just tell you by comparison the number of witnesses that were called by the prosecution and the defense. Look at the prosecution, the people that have the burden of proof here in claiming that he is indeed guilty of murder over the course of eight days. They called 25 witnesses. By contrast, the defense, they called three witnesses in 90 minutes, and so the disparity there obviously is striking.

Again, the question will come down to Duane Davis's own past statements that he's given both to the police as well as in media interviews. Authorities, the prosecution allegedly says, you know, he actually admits to it in a lot of these interviews, saying, yes, I was there. I handed the firearm that was used in this killing to the back seat, where it was my nephew who opened fire on Tupac Shakur. Finally, Dana, the defense, their claim this whole all along has been that their clients' past statements are nonsense.

In fact, in opening statements, the defense attorney himself said, my client is peddling BS. He didn't use the initials. He said it's BS. He did it. He said all this in order to make money. Don't believe that. A lot of this will come down to what this jury actually believes now. His own past admissions or claims by his attorney that look, this was all a fake attempt in order to make money.

BASH: Right. The jury needs to decide whether he's telling the truth now when he said he didn't have any knowledge of it or he was telling the truth then when he said he did. Josh, thank you so much. Appreciate that reporting, and obviously we'll keep our eyes on that courtroom behind you.

Now to politics and a very revealing new post this morning from President Trump. The topic, AI data centers. One of the few issues in American politics that is uniting the left and the right, they're all against them. That's why President Trump's unrelenting defense of data centers is so stunning. I want you to listen to what the president wrote this morning. I'm going to read the whole post.

Quote, the only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A should not want data centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let data reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the golden goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this and anti-data center movement. Actually, they can't believe it is happening. President D.J.T.

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And my panel is here now. This is one of the issues that has spread. I don't think -- Philip Bump, I'm going to start with you. I don't remember in my many years covering politics an issue gaining this much, much traction this quickly and it being so bipartisan in the anti.

PHILIP BUMP, SENIOR DATA EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, CT INSIDER: Right. I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that data centers are seen as sort of going hand in hand with AI, which for good reason they are -- they're obviously linked to AI. And AI has very quickly earned itself a very negative reputation that those things are seen as one, and you know, walking hand in hand. I think leads people to be sort of hesitant about them at the very least.

But I also think that a lot of this derives from the broader sense that there is a group of elites that have a lot of money and that are saying this is what we're going to do. You're going to get AI in your Microsoft Word, and we're going to put data centers in your backyard. You're just going to deal with and that's what's best for you. And there's no repercussions for that.

There's no way to say, hey, no, we don't like what the elites are doing, what the people with power and money in the country are doing. I think that is very much entangled in this debate. And so, this is a way for regular Americans who feel frustrated by what they're seeing to say, you know what, this is a place I can take a stand. Data center is not in my backyard.

BASH: Yeah, it's the NIMBY thing. Also, I mean, it's about electric bills. It's about reports of water being damaged. And just look at some of the polling, just to kind of explain what I'm talking about. This is a poll from Fox News. Question is whether or not you oppose data center construction in your local community. All voters, 70 percent, 60 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Independents, 76 percent of Democrats, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, look, I think one of the big issues, you sort of touched on it is that people don't feel like they have a choice because in some of these cases, they have come in these data centers, they have made deals with the local community, and they're under NDAs. So, the public doesn't even know exactly what is happening in their community.

It also requires to go into rural America, on large tracts of land. So, you've got farmers on one side saying, hold on a second, we're really worried about water and what's going to happen there. And other people are really worried about their electricity bill going up because they require an enormous amount of electricity. But when you look across the board about how much money is going into these data centers. I went and looked it up just to see, you know, how much is being spent on these.

And when you look across the board at all these different companies from, you know, Meta to Oracle to Google, $700 million is being pumped into data centers in just one year. That's what they're planning to spend. And so, I think people feel like, hey, this is being forced on us, and you've got environmentalists, and you've got people who are not environmentalists who are on the other side of it, saying no.

BASH: I'm guessing it's billions.

SIDNER: Billions.

BASH: Yeah, billions.

SIDNER: Did I say millions, 700 million? Yes.

BASH: I mean, what is a million and billion these days to these companies, yeah. Speaking of spending, Abby, our colleagues here at CNN did some really extensive analysis of the political spending here. This comes from David Wright, Casey Toland, and Isabel Chapman, and I want to start by showing the political ad spending.

If you look at the most recent in July, $16 million. That's double just from June, where it was 8 million, which is almost double just from the month before in May, and it was a huge spike just from last October. 8 percent of all of this spending is -- excuse me, 8 percent of all the midterm ads are about data centers.

Now let's look at the total amount of spending, $31 million. Democratic candidates and groups make up about 41.6% percent of that spending. Republicans make up 55.49 percent. Now you might be wondering, especially given the majority of the spending is coming from Republicans, and think about the statement I just read from the president this morning, whether or not it's pro or con, all con. 99.98 percent of the ads that make up this $31 million is critical of data centers, Abby?

ABBY LIVINGSTON, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Well, and -- but there's also spending from AI sources that don't even talk about the issue. So, there's not -- so they've been playing in primaries, and it hasn't necessarily been decisive. But the first in-depth conversation I had about data centers was in May, and I talked to a local city council person who was just like, this is an upheaval in our -- like that's -- it's bipartisan, and so those are the folks feeling it most directly.

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What I think is fascinating is that this is hitting non-federal races seemingly faster, and now it has accelerated where I had this one-off conversation in May, and now every conversation I have with any person in politics, Republican or Democrat, no matter what state is bringing this up unsolicited.

BASH: OK. So, you said not just federal, and so let's take an example of the governor's race in your home state of Texas. The sitting Republican governor, Greg Abbott, watch what he said about data centers in November 2025, and then what he said Friday on Fox.

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GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): They are committed to ensuring that as they continue to build out, they will be net positive to the power grid, making sure we have the reliability and the supply that Texas needs to keep the lights on. We know that the -- what the power demand was going to be for the state of Texas, which is five times the current ability to provide power in the state of Texas. We needed a press pause on any more data centers, so we could calibrate and be able to establish guidelines.

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BASH: It's not that often that you see that much of a u-turn by a politician in the same cycle. And by the way, it's again, it's not just Greg Abbott, it's not just Republicans. Democrats are doing it too.

LIVINGSTON: So, I think the thing to know about Greg Abbott is he raises ungodly amounts of money, and he uses a lot of that to poll frequently. So, he knows what the sentiment is throughout the state of Texas. And I have to say, I still think he's got tens of millions of dollars. He is the air cover for the Republicans in Texas.

He is the one who's going to save Texas if it's salvageable and I've never seen him react like this. Maybe during COVID, where he was initially doing restrictions and then pivoted the other way, but I think this is a significant move, and I think that this is creating problems for him that could affect other races in Texas.

BASH: Yeah. And before we go to break, let me just play part of an ad by his Democratic opponent, Gina Hinojosa.

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BASH: It's certainly an issue that is not going away and will likely determine a lot of these races across the country. Up next, speaking of races that are ones to watch, Michigan it's turning into a macho off. The Senate candidates are trading hits on football, beta energy, and who is the bigger man on campus? Cannot make this up.

And still ahead, betting on yourself. Literally, we're following breaking news on a Republican congressional candidate caught trading on her own race. Could Kalshi and the controversy there upend a pivotal House contest? Stay with us.

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BASH: Vice President Vance is about to kick off a campaign event in Michigan. He'll appear alongside a slate of Republicans on the ballot this November. But no one on that stage will be under more pressure than GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers. His battle with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed could determine whether his party will keep the U.S. Senate. And Rogers has a really tricky political needle to thread.

Turn out President Trump's coalition in one of America's swingiest states without turning off Michigan voters who have soured on President Trump. Rogers tried to walk that line this morning on Fox when he was asked about President Trump's trade war with Canada, a hugely important economic partner for Michigan, both businesses and consumers.

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MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: This is why you want to send someone back who can have a conversation with the president. Is this the right thing for Michigan? Some of this is -- my argument is, don't we want the tariffs that at least give our auto workers an opportunity to build cars right here in Michigan? I argue the answer is yes.

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BASH: Abby, just kind of thinking about what he said there about tariffs. And then look at this poll. This is again another example of what we got from Fox. And the question is whether or not the candidates in Michigan are too extreme. El-Sayed, the Democrat, 54 percent say that they're extremely concerned. His positions are too extreme. But if you look at Mike Rogers, 51 percent say they are extremely or very concerned that Mike Rogers is too close to President Trump. So, they each have their own very different challenges.

LIVINGSTON: Yeah. This just feels like the most unstable race in the country, and you know, and I don't think it's helping when Donald Trump is continuing to pick fights with Canada. And so, the great strength that Mike Rogers had coming into this race is his Trump endorsement. It helped clear the primary. He had all this time to raise money. He didn't raise as much as I think some folks had hoped for, while the Democrats tore each other apart, and now suddenly we're in the general election. And just like many races everywhere, there's little things happening all over the country that Trump is inflicting on these Republicans to deal with. That's becoming unmanageable.

BASH: Let's talk about something that did happen in this, as you put it so well, unstable race in Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed met with Jewish democratic leaders in the state, and he came out and gave an apology about comments that he made after the attack on a synagogue in Michigan, where he said, hurt people, hurt people. Here's what he said over the weekend.

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ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: My comments might have been misconstrued to be justifying something I did not intend to justify, right? To anybody who feels like my comments might have been hurt, I'm really sorry. It was not my intention. We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned it outright. What I was trying to do was offer context for why it happened. It wasn't the time for context, and you don't ever want to chuckle somebody's pain.

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BASH: Phil?

BUMP: Yeah. I mean, very obviously, his goal here is to put this to rest to the extent that he can. He needs to have a united Democratic coalition in order to beat Rogers in the same way that Rogers has to balance the pro-Trump side and sort of independents and less enthusiastic Trump Republicans. El-Sayed has to do the same thing with Democrats.

He has to make sure that everyone who is a Democrat in Michigan understands that he is the choice that they can feel confident in casting a vote for this November. This is part of that. I think he hopes too that we can just have this be in the background now, see if that's the case. But this is, you know, pretty obviously the damage control he's trying to --

BASH: Yeah. And Rogers is not going to let him off that easy. He put on social media. Abdul has had six months to apologize for his incredibly horrific remarks regarding the Tempel Israel attack. Instead, he chose to surround himself with the terrorist sympathizers and some of the most notable antisemites in the country.

I'm just going to pivot, staying in Michigan, to something that I guess probably should be expected with two dudes on the ballot. But the fact that they're leaning into it -- and you're welcome that I'm starting with Sara on this one.

BUMP: I have comments about it.

BASH: OK. I want to hear it. OK, so this is kind of a macho man off. Let's start with this new Mike Rogers ad.

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BASH: And here was El-Sayed's response to that. Clearly, your teammates didn't vote you captain. If they did, you would have said it in the ad. Probably had that beta energy back then too. I was captain, football, wrestling, lacrosse, but wait, it's not over. Rogers then responded nothing screams alpha quite like a 41-year-old desperately reminding everyone he was popular in high school. Looks like someone peaked in high school.

SIDNER: This is the kind of battle that gets everyone online, really focused and going back and forth, but I'm not sure it makes much of a difference at the polls, right? This is the thing where people say, oh, look at this thing, and everyone wants to talk about it and they want to weigh in, and everyone goes back and forth. You know, I guess the pin in this is -- I played college athletics, so does that make me like an alpha because I'm just saying --

BASH: That's just one of the reasons why you're an alpha, and I say that with love, with admiration.

SIDNER: Nobody cares when they can't afford their groceries, and nobody cares when they can't get a big job, and nobody cares if their electricity goes up and their gas goes up. So, yes, it's fun for social media for some people to get in and troll everybody, but ultimately, does that matter to your day-to-day? No.

BUMP: Two very quick thoughts. The first is this does not undermine El-Sayed's comment about toxic masculinity being wrapped up in football. I think reinforces that. The most important thing that I'll say is, as someone who went to Ohio State, neither of them know anything about football.

BASH: Oh, OK. I didn't know you went to Ohio State. Are you even allowed to talk about Michigan at all? I feel like you might have a conflict of interest.

BUMP: Yes. That's really why I should talk.

LIVINGSTON: You know, I just think that that is something that consultants and candidates get wrapped up into and it's getting awfully late in the cycle to focus on stuff like that. And you watch Talarico and Ossoff, and they are incredibly disciplined.

BASH: That's a good point. All right, up next. Breaking news on a pivotal House race in North Carolina, a Republican candidate is accused of improperly betting on her own campaign. The details, next.

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BASH: Just into CNN, the prediction market count. She says a Republican in a pivotal House race improperly placed a bet on her own campaign and is fining her $2,500. Now this is North Carolina candidate Laurie Buckhout. She is taking on incumbent Democrat Don Davis. Davis narrowly beat Buckhout back in 2024 in the last midterm elections. That was before North Carolina redistricted, and its congressional map is changed so that Davis's leans more Republican.

Buckhout said in a statement, quote, I bet on myself. Literally, it was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right. Safe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived. Mail ballots in North Carolina are set to be sent to voters this Friday. CNN does maintain a partnership with Kalshi, but editorial employees are prohibited from trading on prediction markets. Phil?

BUMP: I have a lot of thoughts on this. I mean, one of them is that this is sort of the inevitable end product of letting people bet on anything, right? If you know or feel confident that you're going to be able to bet on this, and you have this knowledge, and you bet on it, then like it's where is the line drawn? Especially when you look at, you know, theoretically, these prediction markets are meant to provide insights, the wisdom in the masses, and tell us more about, you know, what's going to happen.

They've not proven to actually do that, and it is this situation where there is this lure of people being able to make. By betting on things, well, at the same time, it's not clear what the actual benefit is from them, and it's just -- this is where you end up. You end up with political candidates who are now in political trouble because they made this decision

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