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Inside Politics

Kamala Harris In No Rush To Make Decision On 2028 Run; Harris To Campaign For Abdul El-Sayed In Michigan Next Week; Two Democrats Battle To Replace Nancy Pelosi In House; Sen. Warner's AI Pitch Tests Dems' Message On The Future; Trump-Linked Pac Targets Dem Over Data Centers In Deep-Red Colorado; Elon Musk's PAC Revisits An Effective GOP Messaging Strategy. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 17, 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]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: -- brand new reporting which you have to check out. In it he says, "Harris tends to stick closely to her public line that she's thinking about it. Her allies think she has the authority among Democrats and the right to decide on her own timeline, even as other contenders and many voters are convinced that Democrats need a contested primary whether or not she runs."

Aaron Blake, what are you hearing from your sources about the Kamala factor?

AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: I think the Gavin Newsom comments to Jake were very interesting because I don't think a whole lot of other Democrats are necessarily going to defer to her. You know, she was the nominee but it's not necessarily a situation where she's kind of the 800-pound gorilla that's going to scare everybody off.

And I think there's going to be some real consternation within the party about whether she should be the nominee. I think there will be some encouragement for other people to step forward and maybe even some strategizing about who is best to prevent her from becoming the nominee. So it's a very interesting balancing act for the party that we don't see a whole lot just just because she was the nominee for a couple of months late in that campaign.

BASH: See I think he said he's deferring to her --

BLAKE: Yes.

BASH: -- but he said it because he doesn't think she's going to run.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think he's --

BASH: So he could say that.

BLAKE: Possibly, possibly. BASH: Yes.

BLAKE: And if so, then it's smart.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: Right. So he, you know, is a gracious person and they did come up together and they know all the same people, they have the same donors. Just a little bit more from Isaac's story. This is a quote from a major donor to him on Harris making calls, "Nobody's who -- nobody who is a serious donor looking for their presidential candidate is waiting to get a phone call from Kamala saying 'I'm running.' She's not in the conversation at all."

HENDERSON: Yes, you know, anytime I see a story about Kamala Harris in 2028, I feel like she should have run for California governor. You know, to the extent that she still wants to have a political future, you know, sort of --

BASH: And then she would have to be California governor.

HENDERSON: She'd have to be California governor, I think that's right, which is probably her thinking but it would least give her sort of a new look and a chance to reset herself because she is so tied to Biden, so tied to what Democrats want to move away from. I mean -- and some of that is the fact that she's a black woman, right?

I mean, I think there is a sort of quiet consensus among Democrats that in 2028 go with the straight white guy. That Trump lost two or Trump beat two women, right, in both of his campaigns and wasn't ever able to meet -- beat a man. And so, I think that's where you are. There's sort of this sense that let's go with a centrist. Let's get -- let's stay away from what doomed us in 2024 and she obviously is the face of that.

BASH: She is being invited on the campaign trail especially in places where she is incredibly popular still with black women.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: It's just one of the examples. She's going to go campaign with El-Sayed. That is a state where obviously he believes she can help. I believe also going to campaign with Ossoff, Jon Ossoff in Georgia. Also a place where the black vote and others who still very much still like Kamala Harris will come out and think twice about the candidate on the ballot if they hear from her.

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yes. So that's that's what you hear from other Democrats is that they do not want to do anything that looks like they're insulting the first black female presidential nominee who is very popular, who is I remember going to Al Sharpton's conference months ago. The line to see her speak started hours before she spoke. When she said she was thinking about she was running for president there was an ovation.

There are a lot of people who think that she was wronged, but they're not afraid of pointing out negative things about her, not just to that she lost but, for example, number people who might work for 2028 Democrats have pointed out, did you notice her 2024 platform included a tax break for data centers, did you notice that? Just as a preview of ways they might try to undermine her.

And so, they have South Carolina in their mind first primary state. It will be again, and they don't want to look like they're insulting her. None are afraid they would be able to beat her. They just -- they don't have of confidence in her skills.

And they think that those black voters, it's not just that she's not a white guy, it's that she is the -- as again, first black female candidate for president underperformed Joe Biden with black voters, underperformed Joe Biden with Asian voters underperformed Joe Biden with Hispanic voters. They just don't think she has the political skill to get through a primary.

BASH: Yes. I mean, the economy didn't help which president is saying right now. We'll see how that plays out.

Up next, after 40 years in office, Nancy Pelosi will be leaving Washington, D.C. in January. But will the candidate she endorsed to win her seat win in her campaign to replace Pelosi? She's here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:15]

BASH: In January, for the first time in nearly 40 years, San Francisco will not be represented by Nancy Pelosi. The first female Speaker of the House announced she would retire at the end of this term setting off a fierce primary to take her seat. Now, two Democrats will compete to succeed Pelosi in November.

Connie Chan, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors won the Speaker's endorsement. Supervisor Chan joins me now. Thank you so much for being here, especially here in Washington. As I mentioned, you have the strong support of former Speaker Pelosi. That support wasn't enough to help you finish first in what is effectively a rank choice or jungle primary during the primary season in California.

[12:40:01]

State Senator Scott Wiener led you by 11 points. Why will November be different?

CONNIE CHAN (D), CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Well, Dana, thank you so much for having me. It is great to be here. Let me just say this. As a working mom, first generation immigrant, I know what it takes to make sure that families and working people can have a break and can get a break, because we absolutely need it right now, and it's what San Franciscans are looking for.

As many know, that San Francisco has been a very expensive city. Many people are now trying to figure out how to pay rent, how to pay utility bills and groceries bills. But I'm sure that, you know, there's actually very same issue and challenge that face across the nation, and that's the difference of what we're facing right now as a candidate running for general election. That many people, once they hear about us and who we are and what we're about and really our working peoples' plan, they said they're on board.

BASH: But how is that different from Scott Wiener, who's also a Democrat?

CHAN: Yes, I mean, I think that many knows that we -- I'm not a corporate Democrat. We do not take any corporate PAC. We are really a labor Democrats, and in San Francisco, endorsed by the San Francisco Labor Council. And the only candidate in this race endorsed by teachers, nurses, and firefighters because we know in San Francisco at this moment, we got to make sure that working people can actually make a living and thrive.

They cannot just work two jobs and still cannot make the ends meet. When they hear about us, we have a poll actually also showing how we actually are closing that gap as soon as they hear about us.

BASH: As I mentioned, the former Speaker is very much supporting you, how much are you frankly relying on her support to get over the finish line?

CHAN: Oh, I mean, absolutely her endorsement had changed the tide. She's amazing. I mean, she's the legend of not just in San Francisco, but also I believe across the nation, and the influence that she has. But I think at the end of the day, it is actually about San Franciscans. This is about what they are looking for in the next generation of representative.

BASH: OK, so currently you are, as a member of the -- as I mentioned, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which, for people who don't know, has a lot of power over what happens in San Francisco. Housing is a huge issue in San Francisco. It's nearly impossible for working families to be there.

I just -- I personally have friends who had to move out of the city, starting a young family because they couldn't afford a place to live. But you were against a proposition to expedite new housing development. Some of your critics say that you're the most reliable no on housing.

I know you support housing preservation to help keep existing San Franciscans in their homes, but why not new housing?

CHAN: We absolutely new -- need more new housing, and we need to build housing that people can actually afford. But at this moment too, though, we actually -- what we're seeing is people say, "How can I stay housed? How can I stay in the city that I love?" We can --

BASH: But why not both?

CHAN: We can absolutely do both, and we've been doing both. And we also see that it is so much more than just building new housing. We have to make sure that people actually have living wage. Healthcare has been the most burdensome cause of every single household that I know. It's the reason why, as a budget committee chair, we put $1.3 billion on reserve to safeguard cuts that Trump actually put in place for healthcare.

We make sure that we have affordable childcare. We are funding that. It's one of the most burdensome costs too for a lot of family --

BASH: Why did you vote a no against the proposition to expedite new housing?

CHAN: Well, the reality is that very law does not actually allow us to protect the tenants and small business that's already there. And I think that we can actually do both. We can actually protect the tenants and small business and build new housing. I think that they're not mutually exclusive.

BASH: Before I let you go, if you do win and become a representative in Congress, will you vote for Hakeem Jeffries for speaker if you take control?

CHAN: Well, actually, not only Hakeem Jeffries, any candidate for the speakership will have to earn my vote because I represent San Francisco. I need to make sure that those -- my votes reflect the San Francisco values.

BASH: That's not a yes.

CHAN: Yes, I mean, I think that is to be a conversation. You know, I think that I'm open-minded and I certainly hope --

BASH: What's your reservation?

CHAN: You know, I think that again it's really about San Franciscans. And they really want to see that Democrats have a strategy to not only fight Trump, but also deliver for the working people. And I think that they deserve to know before I cast the votes for speakership, that they deserve to know, I deserve to know that there's a plan in place.

BASH: Connie Chan, thank you so much for being here.

CHAN: Thank you, Dana.

BASH: Appreciate it.

And we have invited California State Senator Scott Wiener to come on Inside Politics. We hope he does soon.

[12:45:05]

Up next, why is a Trump-tied Super PAC spending big in a district that a Democrat has never won? Wait until you see what the ad is about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: There is one certainty with just 47 days until the midterms, political ads are everywhere. So let's talk about a few that stuck out to us this week. First, it was only a matter of time before we started to see ads like this one. This is from Democratic Senator Mark Warner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: I helped launch the cellphone revolution, but AI is bigger. Yes, it can help cure disease and create new industries, but it also means security risks, job loss, and new threats for kids. My plan, require AI models are safe before they're deployed. Demand these trillion-dollar companies help workers train and transition to new jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Aaron?

[12:50:18]

BLAKE: It's very interesting because I've been kind of asking myself over the last couple of weeks whether Democrats would really go hard on this issue. There is a lane open for a very populous campaign, especially in light of President Trump just bear hugging these AI companies and basically saying, "We're not going to regulate that. Like, we need to let these companies run wild and do what they need to do to compete with China."

If you look at the polling, the American people are quite concerned about the rise of AI. They're getting more concerned especially when they hear things like we heard this last week about the people at these companies worrying about this, you know, killing off humanity. So there is an issue there for Democrats.

It doesn't seem like they really want to go full AI doomerism right now. But I think you're going to start seeing ads like that one from Mark Warner where they're really emphasizing regulation in a way the Trump administration just is not right now.

BASH: So that's -- that part of the AI debate then, of course, there's data centers. This one stuck out to us because it is a Trump-linked Republican Super PAC running an ad against a Democrat in a district that the Republican who's running won by 14 percentage points two years ago. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jessica Killin is profiting off companies pushing for data centers, the ones sucking up water and driving up electric bills, paying a firm run by Killin's husband hundreds of thousands. Liberal lobbyist Jessica Killin, wrong for Colorado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So two issues here. One is just the substance of this ad. And second is the existence of this ad, that the Trump-backed Super PAC is spending money in a place that should be reliably red.

HENDERSON: Right. And the issue that they're doing on being data centers because they are seeing the same data that we're all seeing which this is a bipartisan angst that voters have about data centers. And you see some of these shifts happening among Republican politicians.

Greg Abbott all of a sudden saying, "Oh, what about these data centers? Maybe it isn't such a, a great idea." A similar kind of thing is going on in Wisconsin with sort of the Republicans there running anti-data center ads against the Democratic there. So this is just a fast-moving political dynamic that's shifting and is bipartisan. And there's some lane that's open for sort of populist approach.

BASH: What does it say to you that Republicans are spending money?

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: I mean, we've talked this week about Kansas. We've talked this week about Nebraska. These are not places where Republicans wanted to use their very large war chest. I guess they've got it.

HENDERSON: Yes, listen, this is a very, very difficult environment for Republicans because of the economy, because of Donald Trump's approach to almost everything, right? That he isn't really focused on what Americans want him to focus on. He's more focused on the Kennedy Center. He's sort of ignoring the soaring gas prices.

I think he was in North Carolina essentially saying, "Oh, you know, you can handle it." And guess what? Americans can't handle it. And if you look in these different states where this -- these Republicans powered him to office, these coalitions are fraying, there's not enough of the sort of enthusiasm, and Donald Trump isn't on the ballot at this point.

BASH: Talk about somebody who has gobs of money to spend and then there'll be gobs left forever. Elon Musk who said he was leaving the White House doing DOGE, and he's done with politics, and now he's back in politics a little bit. He's got a PAC. And the ads that he's running are familiar to you probably because it's the theme, the culture war issue, that he pushed two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brown put the trans agenda ahead of Ohio's values. Sherrod Brown voted to let biological men play women's sports. He supported legislation to allow biological men to enter women's locker rooms and bathrooms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God is non-binary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Talarico believes there are six genders. Talarico voted to let men play women's sports and for taxpayer-funded sex changes on kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And we know that this is a personal issue for Elon Musk. He's very clear about it. But the question is whether this is still an issue with the economic anxiety that so many people have for people enough that they'll go to the polls for a Republican on this versus how they're feeling about their bank account.

WEIGEL: Yes, so these are both states where Republicans passed the gender legislation they wanted to --

BASH: Ohio and Texas.

WEIGEL: -- several years ago. So the situations they're talking about in these ads are not happening. And they don't have the -- what everyone will tell you, the connective tissue of the they/them ad that the Trump campaign ran in 2024 against Kamala Harris was she's so focused on them, she's not focused on your pocketbook, et cetera.

[12:55:00]

What is the Republican answer on the -- what is the -- what is that connectivity? So in Ohio, not Brown so much, but the Democratic nominee for governor has just -- has said she is not going to overturn the state's gender law. I -- you saw Gina Hinojosa in Texas rather say the same thing. And Talarico has backed up a little.

I think it's interesting that the groups that are working on these issues have also not jumped at -- and demanded that they change their positions back to what they were saying in 2021. It might be less effective because the environment's changed. One Democrat I was talking to yesterday said, "It's usually our party that fights the last campaign and gets it wrong." And it seems like they're doing it now.

BASH: Well, at least Elon Musk is.

Thank you all so much. Learned a lot from you.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.