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Laura Coates Live

Redistricting War Escalates as Texas Says FBI Will Find Democrats; FBI Fires Senior Officials at Odds with Trump Administration; WNBA Game Disrupted by Sex Toy Thrown on Court. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired August 07, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Tonight, President Trump takes his fight to remake political maps to other states and now Texas. A Texas senator says the FBI will help track down Democrats who left the state. Plus, the Trump administration's FBI purge hits the agency's top ranks. My guest tonight says more firings are around the corner. Also, the group behind those green sex toys being thrown at WNBA games that one coach is calling stupid and dangerous. Tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

Welcome to the show. I'm Victor Blackwell, in for Laura. The battle for power in Congress is not waiting for the midterms. President Trump is now pressuring more states to redraw their political maps to his advantage. Now, he's enlisting the vice president to make his case.

But the epicenter of this fight is still in Texas and the stakes are rising. Senator John Cornyn now claims the FBI is involved, helping track down Democrats who fled the state to block Trump's redistricting plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) (voice-over): I wrote a letter to Director Patel of the FBI and I asked him to look into the matter and he responded to me directly, saying that he had assigned agents in both the San Antonio and Austin office to -- to meet my request.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, are the Democrats worried? Well, CNN asked the leader of the walkout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE WU, DEMOCRATIC MEMBER, TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Sure, if they don't follow the law. We know that the governor has no power outside of the state, and we know that the federal government cannot get involved in this unless there is a legal reason why they are allowed to get involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That's state representative Gene Wu. He's facing a deadline to return to Texas by tomorrow. But if these lawmakers do not come back, can they be arrested outside of Texas? Well, legal experts say no. And in Illinois, where many of the Democrats are, Governor J.B. Pritzker says this is all political theater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): This is a lot of grandstanding by the Trump administration, by John Cornyn, by Governor Abbott in Texas. The reality is that all that he has said, Cornyn, is that the FBI has been authorized to locate the Texas House Democrats. Nothing more. And you know why? Because there is no federal law that allows them to arrest Texas Democrats who are here visiting the state of Illinois.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, politics may be driving part of this. Senator Cornyn is locked in a tough GOP primary for his Senate seat. He's facing off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. So, there's an incentive for Cornyn to look tough here.

But even if Cornyn is making a spectacle of it, the battle to reshape the playing field is real because Trump is trying to push other states to redraw districts early. This is years ahead of the once a decade process that follows the census. Vice President J.D. Vance was in Indiana to make the pitch, but it's unclear if it went Trump's way. Neither the state's GOP leaders nor Governor Mike Braun would commit to a mid-decade redistricting plan.

But in Florida, as it often is, there's a different story. The Republican House speaker says that he's forming a committee to look at redistricting seven years ahead of schedule.

And that's not the only way that Trump is trying to make this shift in the map. He says that he's asking the Commerce Department to carry out a new census, anyone's undocumented immigrants excluded, which goes against how it's normally done. In fact, the 14th Amendment requires a count of, and this is a quote, "the whole number of persons in each state."

Joining me now, former federal prosecutor Berit Berger and investigative reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Tony Plohetski. Thank you both. Tony, let me start with you because you traveled with dozens of Democrats from Texas this week. What are the conversations behind closed doors as this escalates?

TONY PLOHETSKI, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN: They continue to say that they are taking it day by day, potentially even week by week. But one thing they are resolute on, and that is their commitment to stay out of the state of Texas until at least August 19th.

[23:04:59] That is a significant date because it is the last day of the special session that was called by Governor Greg Abbott to handle this matter, to redraw these maps, and to approve them by the Texas legislature.

It is important to note, however, once they return, the governor can simply call another special session and continue to do so until this legislative priority is attended to by Texas lawmakers.

BLACKWELL: Berit, let me come to you. Texas Senator John Cornyn says that this request of the FBI to help locate, and that may be the operative word here, locate these Democrats who have fled the state of Texas that has been granted -- but if they're in a different state, what is the federal nexus here? What -- what can the FBI do? What's in their power legally?

BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yeah, I mean, let's be clear, the FBI is used to enforce violations of federal law. This appears to be a very clear state issue. It appears to be a civil political issue, not one that would historically involve the FBI.

The FBI can get involved in state matters and help state or local law enforcement agencies locate fugitives at time, but those fugitives are people that are fleeing criminal prosecution.

And again, let's be clear, nobody has been charged here with a criminal offense. I'm not sure they could be. It's not a crime under Texas law to break quorum like this. They're facing civil penalties. And that's -- the only thing we've seen so far is that.

So, historically speaking, this would not be something the FBI's resources would be used for because it's neither a federal issue nor a criminal issue.

BLACKWELL: Now, the governor has suggested attempting bribery charges against some of these lawmakers but, as of yet, that has not happened. Tony, let's -- let's play this out. Okay, hypothetically, let's say that law enforcement is able to take these Texas House Democrats into custody, how do they get from that to a quorum, to where the -- the Texas Republicans can have this vote?

PLOHETSKI: Well, in theory, the Texas Department of Public Safety or other law enforcement agency could and would escort them into the Texas Capitol and into the House chamber. Under the rules, the House chamber doors can be locked. They can be forced to remain inside the chamber and do the work of the state of Texas. So that is a possibility.

Victor, in addition to that, as per rules adopted by the state in 2021 after the last forum break, it is significant that these lawmakers can also face fines up to $500 a day. And if you play that out through August 19th, it's about $8,500 per lawmaker that they would have to pay, according to the rules, out of their personal funds and could not rely upon campaign funds for that particular fine.

BLACKWELL: Escort is carrying a lot of weight in that equation and it would be remarkable to see what that looks like if it reaches that level. Berit, Tony, thank you very much.

Let's bring in now one of the Democratic state House lawmakers who is currently in Chicago, Vincent Perez. Thank you so much for being with me tonight. Let me play for you first something that Governor Greg Abbott said this evening and get your thoughts.

(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 it -- 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)

BLACKWELL: He says he's going to find more seats, and you're eventually going to come back, and if you don't, there will be consequences to make this more potent. What's your reaction to what you heard?

VINCE PEREZ, DEMOCRATIC MEMBER, TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Well, it amazes me, the level of resources that are expended and the level of coordination that exists when the government really wants to achieve something. You know, the governor is coordinating the Texas Department of Public Safety with the FBI, the president. This is really the type of coordination that could have been used when Texans needed it during the recent floods.

You know, it amazes me, really, the level of creativity the governor has when he really wants to look for us here in Illinois. But I think this is one of the reasons why, you know, people are fed up with politics, as usual, because we've heard this kind of same, old tune from the governor.

BLACKWELL: The head of the Texas House Democratic Caucus says that the FBI knows exactly where you are because you're working with Governor Pritzker's office about your security.

[23:10:00]

What is your reaction today from Senator Cornyn's office when he says that it has now been granted, this request that the FBI help locate you all?

PEREZ: Well, I think it says a lot about the level of intimidation that the government is willing to go to, you know, to silence the folks who are here protesting this terrible map.

I think any American who took a look at this map and really looked at the details and saw what Republicans were trying to do, I think would be appalled. You know, whether you're Republican or Democrat, black, white, Latino, all Americans should be appalled at the level of discrimination that's inherent in this map. It really is the worst map that Texas has ever seen since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

BLACKWELL: What's your degree of concern that the governor will follow through on his threat to potentially remove you and others from office?

PEREZ: You know -- again, you know, the governor spends Monday through Friday acting like a king, you know, saying he has all kinds of power. They filed legal briefings here in Illinois, trying to get us extradited back to Texas. But, again, when it came to the Texas times of need during the floods, the governor claims that he's powerless and he needs the legislature to take care of it. Otherwise, he can't do anything.

You know, the governor just -- you know, he's going to threaten when he wants to threaten and intimidate. But again, these maps are so bad. I think that when Americans look at the level of detail and discrimination, Texas Latinos will become the most underrepresented group in all 50 states in the United States. That's what's at stake here with the passage of this map.

BLACKWELL: In 2021, when this quorum break was used by Democrats, eventually, five, six weeks in, the first special session, then the second special session, a few peeled off, and then the House reached quorum. Why will this be any different now, especially in this case where the threats are escalating beyond where they did several years ago?

PEREZ: Well, one, I think the threats are escalating because, again, nobody wants to talk about this map. I haven't heard a single Republican defend the details in this map. When you look at what's being done, and I've said this repeatedly, there's 11 million white residents in Texas and there's 11 million Latino residents in Texas, if these maps were fair and representative of all groups, you would see a situation where we would have 15 seats that would be determined by white voters, and you would have about 15 seats that would be determined by Latino voters.

But what the Republicans are proposing to do in this map is to give 26 out of the 38 seats to be determined by white voters. It's inherently unfair. For Latinos, you know, it's only eight. So, you know, what does this mean? It means that, you know, there is one congressional representative for every 430,000 people --

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

PEREZ: -- while there's only one representative for every 1.2 million. It's three times less. The value of one Latino resident is one-third the value of that of a white resident in Texas. That's what these maps do.

BLACKWELL: State Representative Vince Perez, thank you so much for being with me tonight.

PEREZ: I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Breaking tonight, Israel's security Cabinet approves a plan from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that includes Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip. Now, that's despite mass protests erupting across Israel ahead of this highly-anticipated meeting.

I want to bring in now former Middle East negotiator for the State Department, Aaron David Miller. Good to see you tonight. First, your reaction to this vote, this move to take Gaza City?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I think it's a limited endorsement, Victor, of one specific operation, which is going to be extremely difficult to pull off, and that is to issue evacuation orders to the one million Palestinians who now constitute Gaza City. That's roughly half the Palestinian population of the entire Gaza Strip which is, as you know, roughly twice the size of the District of Columbia. So, the Israelis are now deployed in 75% of Gaza. The remaining 25% is where the vast majority of the population is.

I think the logic behind the Israeli operation is to clear Gaza City where there are elements of Hamas cells, separate the population from the fighters, move the population south, and then launch a siege, major ground operations, in one of the central areas where, and it's tricky, where the Israelis also believe some of the hostages may be kept.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. You've talked a bit about the IDF capability of even taking control, military control across Gaza. But then what is the implication as, for weeks now, we've shown the images of those Palestinians who are starving, and recently, we've seen the images of those hostages who are starving?

[23:15:08]

MILLER: I mean, look, I think, you know, this is typical -- this is typical Benjamin Netanyahu. President Trump has basically acquiesced in this plan. There's no doubt about it. The other day, he deflected a question and all, said, I'll leave Gaza up to -- up to Israel.

The Knesset is out of session until after the Jewish holidays, October 19. So, Netanyahu has real running room, but no real end game. I think that's the problem. I think it's increasingly fantastical and fraught, what the Israelis are trying to do. Every day that those hostages remain, the 20 that are still alive, remain in prison, their condition, as we've seen in those videos, those ghoulish and sadistic videos, remain increasingly fraught, and the long suffering and aggrieved population of Gaza. There's no way the Israelis can do this, operate without serious injury and death to the Palestinian population.

So, again, I think this is approved by the Cabinet. Netanyahu has the votes. But it's hard to imagine that the Israelis will be successful. And the cost to the hostages and Palestinian civilians in Gaza is going to be prohibitive.

BLACKWELL: All right. Aaron David Miller, thank you for weighing in on the breaking news.

MILLER: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. The president keeps calling the Epstein scandal a hoax. And tonight, survivors and their families are calling him out for it. Could that word, hoax, be the worst one to use to defuse this situation? Also, ahead, a purge at the FBI. Top agents were fired today. My guest says, just wait because more firings are coming.

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BLACKWELL: President Trump has called the Jeffrey Epstein case a hoax, total B.S., a con job by Democrats. Well, tonight, Virginia Giuffre's family is standing up for survivors of Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKY ROBERTS, BROTHER OF VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: They're still healing. They were -- they were -- they had something taken from them that they can never get back. And I think it is time that we take something from these powerful men that they can never get back, which is freedom. And so, by calling it a hoax is a complete disgrace to everything that my sister has worked for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Joining me now, senior politics reporter who covers the Trump White House for Axios, Marc Caputo. Marc, good to have you. Calling this a hoax, and you hear from Virginia Giuffre's family and some of the other survivors, does the White House care about the messaging in this element of this saga?

MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Well, in the White House's interpretation of what Donald Trump is saying is the hoax is the idea that Donald Trump is culpable in the Epstein case, not that the Epstein case occurred or that there was abuse.

So, that's their perception, that is their position on it and, therefore, they think coverage that implies that Donald Trump, criticism that implies Donald Trump was guilty of sexual abuse or various transgressions with Epstein are false, just like these other cases. So, stretching back to the Russia situation and the like, which also calls the Russia hoax --

BLACKWELL: Hmm.

CAPUTO: -- are all part of the same sort of democratic plot. Not saying it's an effective way of messaging, obviously, you have these situations that unfold, but this is a White House that takes its lead from the president. So, if the president winds up saying X, the White House goes along with it. The next day, he says why, then, well, that's the message. BLACKWELL: Marc, talk to me about this dinner that actually did happen last night. Initially, it was scheduled to happen at the vice president's residence. Instead, it was at the White House with Pam Bondi and Kash Patel and J.D. Vance. What explains this switch last minute?

CAPUTO: I think a few things to begin with. When CNN first reported that there was a dinner at J.D. Vance's house, the Naval Observatory, the sole purpose or the main purpose of discussing the Epstein case, I fired about that, and I was told that that wasn't the case. And this unfolded throughout the next day, and they decided to cancel the dinner at his house, but then have a meeting, as pointed out, White House.

It's a frequent and common thing for officials to meet about official business and talk about it in offices, and that's kind of what happened. There's a dispute, obviously, between exactly what the purpose of the meeting was. But it's pretty clear that the messaging over the Epstein case has sort of been botched from the beginning. They rushed out, whether it was Pam Bondi, the attorney general, Kash Patel, the FBI director, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.

President Trump, before he became president the second time, and a whole host of officials just built up this expectation on the right and in the general public that there are all of these secrets in the Epstein files and they're going to release all of them. And then, all of a sudden, it was, like, no, that's not the case. And they have not really been clear as to why they had that abrupt reversal.

[23:25:01]

And now, they've been sort of grasping for ways to sort of get out of this. That having been said, in the White House's view, eventually, this stuff is going to go away because, again, they maintain the president's innocence and the idea that there is ultimately no evidence showing his culpability and, therefore, they're going to move on to other things. Now, whether that's going to happen, when that's going to happen, we are going have to wait and see.

BLACKWELL: What's the possibility that, as this meeting happened at the White House, that the president wasn't involved?

CAPUTO: I think you might have lost me. I'm not quite sure --

BLACKWELL: Let me -- let me try it again. You got me now?

CAPUTO: Let me try it again. Is it possible that President Trump was not a part of this meeting as it happened at the White House last night?

CAPUTO: Oh, very much so. One of the things they want to do is keep this president away from this issue. And the administration's, let's say, clumsy response and framing of the messaging ahead of time hasn't been served very well going forward. So, in addition to talking about Epstein, they also talked about the Russia investigation, which has now sort of been the re-opener of the investigation of the investigation and the like.

But Trump's general position is, you know, this is not a big deal, I'm not going to talk about it anymore, and we're going to move on. So, they don't want to cue in the president in these meetings to make it look as if he cares about it when he's trying to say that this doesn't happen.

BLACKWELL: All right. Mark Caputo, thanks so much. With me now, former federal prosecutor Alyse Adamson, CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton, and former Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley. Welcome to you all. Shermichael, let me start with you.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yep.

BLACKWELL: And you heard how Virginia Giuffre's family receives the word "hoax" --

SINGLETON: Sure.

BLACKWELL: -- when the president uses it. And it is a different thing to call the Russia investigation a hoax and how it's received by the American people because it's so complicated to know those specifics. But there are millions of people across the country who have personal experience with sexual assault and sexual abuse, and they see these families on television. Is that ill-advised to call this, in any respect, to use that word, a hoax?

SINGLETON: Look, I think we all recognize the importance that at least a thousand young girls were harmed, maybe even more that we are unaware of. I think it's why so many on the conservative right really want to know more about the case outside of what has already been publicly reported.

I think, as Marc sort of tried to point out in his commentary when you asked a similar question, that the president is attempting to distinguish the politics, the political side of this, which I think is fair because there's a political component versus the side of the survivors being young girls, who are now young women, who are still going to have to deal with this for the rest of their lives.

I think those are the two things that I think the president is trying to distinguish. And I would say there's some fairness in that articulation. This started with George W. Bush. We're talking about this in the back, when Epstein got that sweetheart deal. Then you had Obama, nothing. Then you had Trump again, nothing. Then you had Biden, nothing. And here we go again. So, you've seen presidents of multiple administrations that really didn't reveal a lot about this.

And so, at this point, Americans are wondering, well, why is that the case? Why did JPMorgan Chase, for example, Victor, settled $290 million with the survivors? And we don't know. This guy accumulated a significant amount of wealth. We don't know how.

So there some very valid questions to be asked. Again, there's a political component. But that certainly shouldn't usurp the real harm that was caused to those survivors.

BLACKWELL: Joe, speaking of the political component, Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is calling for some of the survivors to be subpoenaed to speak, to testify in Congress. How do they navigate this appropriately, carefully, without over-politicizing this?

JOE CROWLEY, FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: Well, first of all, I do think this is a problem the president created himself in terms of his campaign, setting up this problem for himself when it got into office and not released the information. So, let's put that on the table as well.

I do think that the president's use of hoax, for instance, is insensitive. And it's interesting to follow other words that he has used in describing these victims, saying that she was stolen from me to Epstein.

So, I think the president really needs to be more conscious of the words he's using. In terms of Democrats, I think sensitivity, I think compassion is important here in dealing with these victims of a vicious, vicious crime, unspeakable crimes that took place to these women, many of whom were underage at the time, statutorily raped. You know, there was no consent here that's legal.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

CROWLEY: And so, I think Democrats have to be careful here.

[23:30:00]

I think Congresswoman Pressley is right. We have to have more information. I think all of us have talked about the lack of participation by the victims. And when there are thousands, it's hard to imagine that they're not there. But we also talked about the fact that they've been traumatized.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

CROWLEY: These folks were people that -- maybe you want to talk to that more yourself.

BLACKWELL: And I want to come back to participation in a moment. But Alyse, the DOJ has a deadline that's coming up to respond to the letters written by these Epstein and Maxwell survivors. What do we need to know? What do they need to do?

ALYSE ADAMSON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I mean, in terms of their response, just it's very similar to what Congressman Crowley just said. They're going to have to be very sensitive to this. So, first, let's remember that some of these survivors weren't asking that the transcripts remain sealed. In fact, they were calling for transparency to end this re-victimization because you said it right.

They've continued to be, the victims have continued to be re- traumatized as this case remains in the news cycle. These were minor children who were sexually abused, and they just want an end to this, and they don't want to be used as political pods from either side.

SINGLETON: Yeah.

ADAMSON: And so, I think in responding to their concerns, it's going to have to be very delicate. Obviously, the government does have an interest in having these transcripts released so they can give the public something. But they have to recognize how the victims are feeling in this case, or you would think they would recognize because that goes back to that messaging problem.

SINGLETON: Yeah.

ADAMSON: So, I'm curious to see how the DOJ does respond --

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

ADAMSON: -- because the messaging has been a bit clunky up to this point.

BLACKWELL: We've seen no evidence of the DOJ being proactive about listening to or trying to get the thoughts and feelings of some of the survivors. Kaitlan Collins on her show earlier this evening had Annie Farmer, who is a Maxwell and Epstein survivor. And listen to what she said. This is a new element I had not heard before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIE FARMER, JEFFREY EPSTEIN AND GHISLAINE MAXWELL ACCUSER: So far, there hasn't been a lot of official response, you know, to our queries. You know, even in this -- you know, I reached out to the prosecutors who, you know, brought, you know, who got the guilty verdict for Maxwell, saying, you know, what's going on? And, you know, they knew so little because they have not been involved in this process. So, I wrote a letter to Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, you know, these are my concerns about what's happening, and there has not been a response.

So, you know, we -- I know, speaking with other survivors in this case, that even though so many politicians are talking about this, I don't think anyone has actually been contacted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, you have survivors now who are trying to reach out to Todd Blanche, and they're not hearing back from him.

SINGLETON: Yeah. I would probably advise to reach out to the survivors. I mean, you look at the political dynamics of this because there, again, is that huge political aspect.

And I would say, if I were advising the president, and I know, obviously, you probably want to protect him as much as possible because of how the president can message at times, I would say there's a unique opportunity here for our administration to be perceived by the American people as being an administration to finally bring justice to survivors for a case that goes back, again, all the way to George W. Bush, Victor. That's how long this has been lingering.

BLACKWELL: Hmm.

SINGLETON: And so, why not bring in some of those survivors? I know it has been a very long time. But let's reopen this and let's talk about some of their experiences. And I don't know if there would legally be enough to start looking into some of these wealthy, powerful men because I do believe that they're out there. But if there is enough, let's do that and let's really try to put, as I think one person mentioned, these men behind bars by taking away the freedom that they took from those young girls who are now women.

I think that's a powerful way for the administration to be perceived power -- positively, I should say, by the American public.

CROWLEY: I think, clearly, there has been a quid pro quo. How is it that Maxwell, who was in a secure prison, is now at a camp? What transpired? That's for the victimizing the victims because something clearly has happened. Information has been given and received, winks and nods. She's now in a cushy camp. So, that is -- again, if you're a victim, you say, what's going on?

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

CROWLEY: She was a rapist. She was involved with child trafficking. She molested these children.

BLACKWELL: Two days, 10 hours of interviews of Maxwell. And she, Annie Farmer, can't get her call --

CROWLEY: Yeah.

BLACKWELL: -- returned, and she's one of the survivors. Alyse, Shermichael, Joe, thank you all.

SINGLETON: Thanks, Victor.

ADAMSON: Thanks.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Next, the FBI is firing top agents who leaders think are politically opposed to President Trump. Is that even legal? My next guest says no. Plus, sex toys repeatedly thrown at WNBA players. And now we know why. Crypto bros.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

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BLACKWELL: Tonight, it appears a purge is going on at the FBI. Sources tell CNN two senior officials who helped oversee the FBI's response to January 6th are now being fired. And one of those people, former Acting Director Brian Driscoll, previously resisted efforts by the Trump administration to gather names of agents who worked on January 6-related cases. Sources are also telling CNN the administration could fire other agents this week who were simply perceived, who've been opposed to the president in the past.

[23:40:00]

Joining me now, national security attorney Mark Zaid. Mark, hello to you. So, uh, you represent some of the agents, uh, who are being fired, and you say that more firings are coming. What do you know? All right. We have a bit of an audio issue. Hopefully, we can solve that. Take a quick break. We'll come back. All right.

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[23:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: We fixed that audio issue. We're talking about that purge at the FBI. Sources tell CNN two senior officials who helped oversee the agency's response on January 6th now being fired. Back now with national security attorney Mark Zaid. Mark, thanks for staying with us through that. You represent some of these agents who are being fired. You say more are coming. Tell us. What do you know?

MARK ZAID, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: So, this week, there were a number of individuals who were called and told that by the end of the week, they would be fired. To date, no one has received any written notification. The two primary individuals, who CNN and others have reported on, former acting director and the acting director of the Washington field office, people have confirmed what they have said because they emailed their workforce.

But we'll wait and see. This is why you haven't seen other individuals come forward publicly yet, because, technically, they haven't been fired. But tomorrow is another day here in Washington, D.C.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. We just put up the picture of the former acting director, Brian Driscoll. He sent out a goodbye email to his colleagues that CNN obtained. He wrote this: I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I currently have no answers. No cause has been articulated at this time. It seems that it would be atypical to fire someone, especially of this position, without telling them why they're leaving.

ZAID: Well, atypical before January 2025, yet would be unheard of. Individuals are fired for cause. They're obviously political appointees who can be removed at the pleasure of the president. But not civil servants. They are entitled to due process, to the reasoning why, to have a lawyer present, to have the ability to challenge. This is set by Congress. It has been the institutional system for decades until this Trump administration.

Now, this is quite normal. The White House or the attorney general has been issuing what we call Article II termination notices that just say, you essentially work at the pleasure of us, and we don't want you here anymore, so, as of today, you are gone. And that's the type of memo I expect that we'll see more of by tomorrow.

BLACKWELL: Well, I want you to listen to the promise that was made obviously before he took the position, FBI Director Kash Patel made pre-January 20th, 2025.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, DIRECTOR, FBI: Every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard, and no one will be terminated for case assignments. All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): They deserve --

PATEL: There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI, should I be confirmed as the FBI director.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Obviously before his confirmation. What's your reaction in this context of what we're seeing now?

ZAID: Well, one of two things is happening. For one thing, that is clearly not what has happened. There have been numerous FBI personnel who have been fired simply because they were either friends with individuals this administration didn't like, like Peter Strzok, who has been often on CNN, or they worked on January 6 cases.

So, either Kash Patel was lying at the time or he's not in charge of the FBI and these actions are being dictated by the White House or by the attorney general. But clearly, at least on its surface, that statement is not consistent with what we're seeing here at the FBI.

BLACKWELL: Mark Zaid, thanks for staying with us.

ZAID: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Next, it is causing chaos in the WNBA. Neon green sex toys thrown on the court during games. And now, we know who's behind this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: There has been now another incident of a disturbing new trend tonight. A sex toy thrown onto the court of a WNBA game between the Atlanta Dream and the Chicago Sky. This is the fourth time that a sex toy has been made it onto the court in the last few weeks. Most of these toys have been distinctive neon green color, like this one thrown in the direction of player Sophie Cunningham on Tuesday, only to be kicked off the court by Sparks guard Kelsey Plum moments later.

Fans, players, coaches call the trend misogynistic, dangerous, just rude. Here's Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL REEVE, HEAD COACH, MINNESOTA LYNX: This has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that. And it's not funny. And it should not be the butt of jokes on any radio shows or in print or in any comments. The sexualization of women is what's used to hold women down. And this is no different. This is just its latest form. These people that are doing this should be held accountable. And not -- we're not the butt of the joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, who's doing it and why are they doing it?

[23:55:00]

Well, my next guest had some answers. Joining me now is Meghan Hall. She's a staff writer for USA Today's "For the Win" and covers the WNBA. Meghan, thanks for being with me tonight. So, you spoke with the people who now claim responsibility for throwing these sex toys. Who are they and why are they doing this?

MEGHAN HALL, STAFF WRITER, USA TODAY: Yeah. So, first of all, thank you so much for having me. But secondly, it is a group of crypto traders, which is a very wild plot twist in this story. But why they're doing it? They say that is to bring attention to what they call a -- quote, unquote -- "toxic environment in the crypto space" and it's to essentially stick it to the influencers and scammers they feel like are taking over the space.

BLACKWELL: So, they think that the answer to diffusing a toxic space is throwing sex toys at WNBA games. Did they explain the connection?

HALL: Yeah. So, when I spoke to the spokesperson for the group, they basically said, hey, we wanted to do something that was -- they feel like is funny and that they felt like would go viral. So, their whole thing was to cause disruption, and they did it at WBA games because they knew there would be a lot of eyes on the game. The spokesperson said, hey, I know more about the WBA than, you know, I did a week ago, so to speak.

So, this is very much like, hey, we are throwing this because we think this is funny, this is a joke, and it's tied to crypto because it's based off a meme coin. It's essentially to, you know, generate this traffic for this coin they feel like they want people to support.

BLACKWELL: So, I want to read something that your colleague, Nancy Armour, wrote for USA Today on this. These aren't pranks. This is a coordinated campaign of harassment designed to remind WNBA players and their fans that, for all the progress women's sports have made in the last few years, the playing field will never be level if they have anything to say about it.

And they told you this is to raise awareness, to reduce toxicity. Is there reason they're doing this at WNBA games and they're not doing it at NFL preseason games or they're doing this at some other professional sport?

HALL: Yeah. So, it's not limited to the WNBA. From what we understand, it is essentially moving across potentially more sports. They just had an incident at an MLB game this week. We were underneath the impression from them, what they shared with us, that this is a global footprint, potentially, and that they have deeper plans which they did not reveal, but they said that more pranks are coming.

BLACKWELL: More pranks are coming. Are all of these sex toys thrown, are they taking credit for all of them? Is there any indication that there are others or copycats involved?

HALL: Yeah. So, they're not taking credit for all of them. They have taken credit for several of them. But there are some copycat instances involved. Essentially, there was some in Atlanta where the gentleman that threw the very first one against the Valkyries game, that is their guy, they confirmed that to us. But there was a gentleman that was arrested, Delbert Carver, who they say is not associated with them. So, they do believe that it's a copycat's work instance.

So, how you're able to tell that it's, you know, potentially connected to this group? It's a lime green object. And you will typically see sunglasses drawn on the object as well as the name of their coin on it.

BLACKWELL: This is just absurd. What are the players and the coaches saying about this?

HALL: Yeah. I mean, players and coaches and staff members, everyone is speaking out on this because one, the biggest issue is safety, right? Like you don't want this to hit someone. You don't want someone to trip over it, slip, fall, those sorts of things. And this is their place of work. So that's a number one thing, safety. Secondly, being subjected to this is -- it's misogyny. It's -- it's sexual harassment. Like, no one should be -- no one should be subjected to that.

So, for them, I can't imagine going to work and then having something whizzing through, you know, the area as you're trying to concentrate on your job. And so, just not a great environment. And what's more is it takes away from what the WNBA has going on right now, a lot of growth, continued interest in the game. And here it is. Now, we're having to talk about sex toys and why they're ending up all over the court and also hitting people in the stands now.

BLACKWELL: Hitting people in the stands.

HALL: Yes. Yes. They've thrown them in the stands now. They've hit, you know, people that are in the stands. There was an incident reportedly earlier this week where children were around the area. That's just -- it's insane on so many different levels. It has become something where people are tossing them and they're essentially not making it out onto the court, so they're ending up in the stands.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, there's nothing funny about this. I was talking to the team tonight about how this is just the center of a Venn diagram of humiliation and misogyny and publicity for this coin. [00:00:09]

HALL: Uh-hmm.

BLACKWELL: Meghan Hall, thank you so much for the reporting that you are doing on this and for spending a few minutes with me tonight. And thank you for watching. "Anderson Cooper 360" is up next.