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Two Democrats Blindside Leadership by Bailing Out Speaker Johnson; Sen. Collins Attacks Trump Tariffs With Senate Career at Stake. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 02, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I just want to underscore here, Dana, that the underlying issue isn't that these members voted their conscience on a bill, but that these members voted with Republicans on a procedural vote. And typically, that is left up to the majority party, that is where the frustration is coming from. And they are really weighing right now whether or not there should repercussions or penalties for these two members.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': And these two members are?

FOX: Rep. Jared Golden and Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. And you know, if you remember, Jared Golden is not running for re- election, but Perez is. And she is running in a district that perhaps she is the only Democrat who could win in the state of Washington. So that just tells you how sensitive of an issue this is, because you heard there from Rep. Beyer, Dana, that essentially, this is a question of what you do at a moment when you don't want to alienate these members.

And this is going to come up in the next Congress. Because if Democrats do take the majority, then you have a situation where you are going to have a lot of members of the Democratic Socialist Party coming into the fold. And Representative Jeffries, who would become the speaker at that moment, he's going to have to contend with them.

So this is also about setting precedent, right, going forward. What are you going to do to make it clear now, send a signal now, that in the future, people who get out of line with the party are going to be penalized?

BASH: If he has a, or if anybody has a small majority, minority -- the minority of members can make a big difference, not only with the liberals, but also moderates. And that's basically what we just saw yesterday.

Thank you so much, Lauren. Up next, Maine Senator, Susan Collins says she won't bring up one thing about her opponent Troy Jackson's personal life in her campaign, but she did it as she was promising not to do that. We're going to explain what that is after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:36:21]

BASH: President Trump's renewed trade war with Canada is especially bad for border states like Maine and politically, Republicans who represent them, like incumbent GOP Senator, Susan Collins. Collins rarely grants national interview requests, but sat down with Jonathan Martin to make her case for ending the new tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME): Our blueberries, our lobster, our lumber, our potatoes, all produced here, largely processed in Canada. If they're going to be tariffed in both directions now, that makes it unaffordable.

JONATHAN MARTIN, POLITICS BUREAU CHIEF AND SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST, POLITICO: And just some straight talk. It'd probably be hard for you to survive politically this fall if those tariffs aren't at least altered, right? Is that fair to say?

COLLINS: No, I don't think --

MARTIN: It makes your job harder?

COLLINS: It makes the job harder. I'd agree with that.

MARTIN: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Alayna, I'm sure the president is listening very closely to Susan Collins and is going to change his tariff policy like that.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly how he responds every time to Susan Collins -- I'm just kidding.

(LAUGH)

TREENE: No, he's -- I mean, if he does see this interview and hears this, he'll probably write something on Truth Social saying she doesn't get it and what not. But, look, I found this interview fascinating for a number of reasons, and I'll leave the other part of the interview I know that David loves to him, but I think the Canada issue is a real issue, particularly for people like Susan Collins, who obviously -- Maine is very close to Canada. And it's something we've been picking up with a lot of conversations.

There's even some people in the administration who are kind of surprised that the president chose to have this tariff fight this close to the elections. There's no question that, particularly for vulnerable Senators like Susan Collins, this hurts her.

Now, again, will that actually be something that voters recognize is her own problem. I think Susan Collins has been very clear that she is willing to buck Trump when -- and she's like Senator Lisa Murkowski, it's the two of them who often are the only ones to go against the president when he wants something. So I'm not sure if that will be something that Republicans punish her for. But she's admitting it's going to make her job harder.

BASH: This has been a very topsy-turvy race on the Democratic side, to say the least, to see who her opponent is going to be. It is Troy Jackson. And Jonathan asked about the Democratic candidate's personal life.

Let's play that, and then David will explain what they're talking about afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN: Should the circumstances of his personal life and the mother of his children be relevant to this campaign? Is that fair game, do you think?

COLLINS: Well, I'm not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin. I don't know whether people know that or not.

MARTIN: I think you just mentioned it.

COLLINS: Well, in Aroostook County, you know it.

(LAUGH)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: But I'm not going to bring that up, the thing that I'm going to say. It's something I'm not going to bring up.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR & WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: I mean, I love that Jonathan called her on it. It seems like you just did.

That was so well-crafted. We should note, when she mentioned people in Aroostook County know it, that's because both Troy Jackson and Susan Collins come from what they call up there the county.

BASH: Yeah.

CHALIAN: And -- but, you know, the way she handled that, clearly, didn't mind talking about it, but trying to say it's not going to be a centerpiece of her campaign. Honestly, at the end of the day, I don't think the Troy Jackson relationship with the mother of his children and the distant cousin relationship that he had is going to be the thing that decides this race.

BASH: Yeah.

[12:40:00]

CHALIAN: I think it's actually much more the stuff that Alayna was talking about, not just on tariffs, but overall, which Jonathan asked about Susan Collins too, her relationship to Trump and how she navigates, you know, being a Republican, running for re-election in this environment from a state that was not hospitable to Donald Trump at any of the times he ran for office.

BASH: And she's using what she can, given the fact that Troy Jackson is a local politician and elected official. Let's watch a little bit of the ads that she's putting out there against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She pretends to be independent, but every time it matters, Susan Collins caves to Donald Trump. The Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, the Iran War, doubling health insurance premiums and Medicaid cuts every single time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was obviously a pro-Troy Jackson Super PAC ad. Now, let's listen to what Susan Collins is saying on the air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your property taxes were already too high. Then Troy Jackson made it worse. As president of the Maine Senate, Troy raised property taxes on seniors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under Troy Jackson's failed leadership in Augusta, Maine's electricity rates skyrocketed, the highest increase in the nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Sabrina?

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, POLITICS REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: I think what's interesting here is they're both trying to prove that who they have presented themselves to be is not the case. So Senator Susan Collins has framed herself as the most bipartisan Senator, and she focuses a lot on her perch as the Appropriations Chair, the fact that she's been able to deliver so much when it comes to like very local and state-specific projects for people in Maine.

And you have Democrats trying to say, OK, but how much has that actually resulted for you when time and time again, for example, with the tariffs, she doesn't actually have sway with Trump. She can't actually stop the president from doing things that are harming you.

But on the other side, Republicans are trying to point out Troy Jackson's past. So he is not a longtime progressive. He's evolved over the years. He started out his political career as a conservative. His positions have evolved on things like gay marriage, on other issues, on abortion rights, for example. So they're trying to frame like this progressive champion you have today isn't actually or has done it because it's politically expedient.

And for some of those voters, I mean, talking to some of the more centrist voters who wanted Governor Janet Mills to be the candidate, for them, I mean, they're not totally sold on Troy Jackson. I spoke to some when we were going through the process of the switch between Platner to Jackson that were saying, I don't know if I'm going to get to yes with him. I don't want Susan Collins, but I just don't know if I can get to yes with him. And those ads clearly are trying to really lean in on that.

BASH: OK, so speaking of ads, you just saw some of them. And it is not just Maine. Prepare yourself. Buckle up. It's September and the political ads are coming to your phone, your T.V., in your state also. We'll show you some after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:26]

BASH: It doesn't matter what channel or platform you're watching, politics will find you. AdImpact tracks $1.5 billion in political ads reserved through Election Day. And today's news spot, well, the candidate's not exactly on the ballot, though he wants you to think that he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The largest tax cuts in American history. The price of eggs is down 60 percent. I took prescription drugs from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest. We're telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power need so that no one's prices will go up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's fighting for you every day. Help him finish the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, David, that is obviously an outside group. It is not MAGA Inc., his political Super PAC that has that huge $400 million in reserves that they're sitting on, not spending it yet. But the point of that ad that people are going to see in an election year is, I don't know if Republicans are buying in as much as, like, Mike Johnson said last week in Texas, that, you know, what -- why not? Why not just go for it because the base needs to be energized because they still love him? It's a gamble.

CHALIAN: Yeah, I mean, first of all, the White House, as you know, foreshadowed this. I mean, last December, Susie Wiles was on a podcast and said, we are going to put Donald Trump on the ballot. And it's very rare in a midterm year like this where the White House strategy and the desired strategy of the opposition that they would like the White House to do is the same, right?

Like, but the White House sees that he has a singular pull with voters that they need to participate in this election, even though he's not -- I mean, he literally was in South Carolina a couple weeks ago and said, pretend I'm on the ballot, right?

BASH: Pretend I'm on the ballot, yeah. CHALIAN: So he, and of course, this fits with his whole reason for being anyway, which is to want to be the center of attention. And so he wants this to be about him. He sees political gain in that. I think you're right to put a question mark on that. You know, we know he does have sway and influence with members of the party, but we also see decay in some of that support.

And so whether or not that same pull is going to be there for them this fall with him doing this, I think remains an open question.

BASH: Yeah, and when I said buy-in, you remember when the House Speaker was in Texas, I think it was last week, he said that at the convention that they're going to have, he's going to look in the camera and say, pretend I'm on the ballot.

[12:50:00]

Speaking of Texas, there's a new ad from the Democratic candidate for governor in Texas, Gina Hinojosa. And she talks about a very personal story and puts her own stamp on perhaps the term "pro-life."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GINA HINOJOSA, (D-TX) GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I chose her. Born shortly after her due date, she didn't make it. Today, we have two sons, but she gave me the strength to fight. She is why I fight for every Texas family, for their right to send their kids to good neighborhood schools, for an economy where their kids can afford to stay, where the powerful don't get to tell the rest of us how to live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Sabrina?

RODRIGUEZ: I think for Gina Hinojosa, in recent weeks, we've seen her really moving up in some polls. I mean, she's still within striking distance with incumbent governor, Greg Abbott. I think it's interesting here, so much of the conversation around the election is authenticity, is can you come out and share your story? Do people relate to you? Do people understand you? Do people see themselves in you?

Her talking about this in a conservative state like Texas, obviously, can make her more relatable with folks who are in the pro-life side. I think for her, it's something that a lot of people don't know about her. She's introducing this part of her story, well, maybe some Democrats already know about it, where she's talked about it when Roe v. Wade was overturned.

But this is a way of also her just connecting with Texas voters who are starting to meet her for the first time through these ads, starting to see her name in ads. I think this final stretch is where we're going to see more and more ads like this, where she's trying to connect with people and not just the Democratic base. Although the Democratic base as well, because in Texas you do have a lot of conservative Democrats who are pro-life, but also identify with Democrats. So I think this is a way of really tapping into that and showing another side of herself outside of the affordability agenda, outside of the going to fight against Abbott, but a more personal side.

BASH: Yeah, that she tried to -- she held onto a pregnancy that was troubled, and it didn't work out. That was very, very powerful.

We've talked a lot, again, staying in Texas, this is the Senate race, about Ken Paxton not being on the air, not having money, not having people come in for him. It happened today, again, not MAGA, Inc. But there is a Lone Star Liberty PAC ad that started airing for Ken Paxton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While you're working overtime just to survive, James Talarico is helping communist China. Talarico voted to let China have 162,000 acres of Texas land next to military bases. Then Talarico voted to send their tax dollars to Chinese-owned businesses who are buying up our home, making everything unaffordable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: There's a lot in there that I think is interesting, not the least of which that last part that we played, unaffordable, trying to turn the affordability argument on its head against the Democrat.

TREENE: Yeah, and try to make it a Democratic problem, not a problem that a lot of people are blaming on the President, Donald Trump. I also find just the, really, the focus of it being on China, particularly because of what you mentioned, Dana, that he's not out there on the airwaves all the time. You know, this isn't one of several messages they're bringing home.

Trying to force the issue about China in this race is interesting to me. I'd also note the president has welcome Xi Jinping to the White House next month and has talked about the president of China being one of his good friends. All to say, this is such a fascinating race and Ken Paxton needs money.

I mean, Texas is so expensive. He needs money so badly. I found, you know, that is one ad, but the big question that I keep hearing when I'm meeting with my Republican sources, including those who work on some of these committees, is why aren't they spending? Donald Trump is the one who virtually got Ken Paxton across the finish line.

He ousted the incumbent that a lot of the establishment wanted. They wanted John Cornyn to be the one in this race. They said it'd be a lot more -- they'd be breathing a lot easier if it was Cornyn on the ballot and not Paxton. And now, there's this question of where is the money?

BASH: Yeah. TREENE: I will say, MAGA Inc. is going to spend. Every conversation I have with the president's political operation, they say that.

BASH: Sure.

TREENE: But also I was told a week or so ago, the number was $30 million. That's nothing when you look at the $400 million that he has.

BASH: That's true. I do want to turn to Indiana because, in Indiana, all of us here know, the name Bayh is very well known. Well, Beau Bayh, who is the grandson of Birch Bayh -- I think his actual name is Birch Bayh IV. In any event, Beau Bayh, he's 30. He is running to be Secretary of State. Here's his ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEAU BAYH, (D) RUNNING FOR SECRETARY OF STATE, INDIANA: I'm Beau Bayh, a captain in the Marine Corps. Seventh generation Hoosier. I'm running for Secretary of State because I'm disgusted with the corruption in that office.

[12:55:00]

I'll end it on day one. No more wasteful spending where politicians getting rich while Hoosiers struggle to pay for food and gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Nevermind talking about politicians when his, you know, he is the son and grandson of the ultimate politicians. What I want to focus on is the sort of the alpha male vibe of that.

CHALIAN: Yeah. I would say there's a new campaign ad category now called the thirst trap, right?

(LAUGH)

CHALIAN: That is like what it seems that ad is all about.

(LAUGH)

BASH: That's it?

CHALIAN: That's all.

(LAUGH)

BASH: That's probably all we need. Thanks, everybody. Thank you for joining "Insight Politics." "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)