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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Appeals Court Says Trump Unlawfully Leaned On Emergency Powers To Impose Tariffs; New Updates In Trump's Attempt To Fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook; Federal Judge Rejects Effort To Dismiss Lawsuit Alleging Saudi Arabia Helped 9/11 Hijackers; Texas Governor Signs New GOP- Friendly House Map Into Law; Warmer Waters Lead To Rise In Dangerous Bacteria. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 29, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour the legal showdown inside of Washington, D.C., courtroom as a judge is trying to decide whether President Trump can actually fire a Federal Reserve governor for an allegation, what the judge is asking from both sides on a tight deadline.

[18:00:02]

Plus, the other major firing this week sending the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into chaos, I'm going to be joined live by two of the top CDC experts who resigned in protest this week after Trump and RFK Jr. ousted the director of the CDC.

Also, the bookie at the center of the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani's translator was officially sentenced to prison today. But before learning how long he's going to spend in prison, he sat down with CNN's Nick Watts to reflect on how all of this unfolded.

And as we head into this Labor Day weekend, states in the Eastern United States are warning about a rise in cases of flesh eating bacteria lurking in swimming water. Hear from one patient who says she's lucky to be alive.

Breaking news right off the top of our show, a federal appeals court has just delivered President Trump's global tariffs a big blow, striking down the controversial economic policy.

Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz, who joins us now. Katelyn, help us break down this major ruling.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It is a major ruling, Jake, (INAUDIBLE) appeals court for the federal circuit, they're based in Washington, and what they're doing is, they're not saying Donald Trump can't impose any tariffs, but they're saying that a set of tariffs that he imposed at the very beginning of this presidency, unconstitutional. He didn't have the power.

That's because at that time, at the very beginning when Trump took the White House, he said it's a national emergency because illegal drugs are coming into the United States and that he was going to impose tariffs on places related to those drugs coming across the southern border, and that included Canada and China as well. He was saying that those countries were not doing enough to address transnational criminal organizations trafficking drugs.

The federal circuit looked at that and they said, this is not the power that the president should have. He's doing this in a way that he can't under this emergency authority that he says he has. That's a very big deal, not just in this case, but in a lot of ways where the president has tried to say, there are emergencies here and I'm going to do different things with presidential authority.

But I should say, this court, they are not blocking these initial tariffs at this time. They're sending things back down to the lower court, the Court of International Trade, and telling them, you guys figure it out and whether or not these tariffs should be blocked at this time.

TAPPER: Okay. So, this the tariffs stand, but they're just saying, we don't think that President Trump had the authority to do them the way he did?

POLANTZ: That's right.

TAPPER: Okay. Let's talk about Lisa Cook. Lisa Cook is the Fed chair -- the Fed governor that President Trump has been trying to fire from the Fed so he can have a majority of supporters of lower interest rates right now on the Fed, and he said it was because of allegations of mortgage fraud. There was a hearing today on that. What happened at the hearing?

POLANTZ: Well, the hearing, there wasn't a ruling from the judge and everybody sort of skirted around the allegation of mortgage fraud on whether grappling with that is a real thing that Lisa Cook will face down the road, even if there's a Justice Department investigation. What the hearing is turning on right now is the definition of what a for cause termination is. Does Donald Trump have the ability to say, I think these allegations are enough for me to want to fire her? And that is the question the judge will have to answer, is for cause, is that going to be defined by a judge or the president? And can Lisa Cook be removed at this time?

One of the really interesting things the Justice Department was arguing here is that it's harmful enough that mortgage fraud allegations are hanging over a governor on the board of the Fed, that that could be harmful to the Federal Reserve, and thus a reason why the judge should allow for her to be removed at this time.

TAPPER: Right. But an allegation is not a charge of a crime and a charge of a crime is not a conviction of a crime.

POLANTZ: That's right. But this is one of those situations where everybody's going to be debating how much ability does Donald Trump have and what actually is the standard for cause. The judge even said, you know, it's not written in the law what this means. And so the courts are going to have to figure it out.

TAPPER: And no one's tried to do it before.

Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.

I want to bring in Washington Correspondent for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning Maggie Haberman. Maggie, what do you think about this breaking news on this court ruling that Trump's tariffs were unconstitutional?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Jake, this is the one that a lot of people who follow trade issues have been concerned about and is the outcome that they anticipated, frankly. You know, the president has used a lot of emergency powers in a lot of situations that many who are watching don't think qualify as emergencies. This was one that was always going to be difficult. And the further it got along down the process, the U.S. is going to end up in a position if the Supreme Court upholds this ruling.

[18:05:02]

And it is almost certainly going to go to the Supreme Court. The U.S. is now going to be in a position of having to pay people countries, excuse me, back for tariffs. That gets very complicated.

So, this is a big blow to the president's agenda. He has sometimes ignored courts. We'll see what this looks like.

TAPPER: Switching to the case involving Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, I just want to play some sound of President Trump from Tuesday to remind people what he said about reshaping the Federal Reserve by firing Cook so he could get decisions, like his desire for lower interest rates right now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We'll have a majority very shortly, so that'll be great. Once we have a majority, housing is going to swing and it's going be great. People are paying too high in interest rates.

REPORTER: Are you prepared for a legal fight? And then a little bit more --

TRUMP: Oh, sure. Always. You always have legal fights. Look, I had a legal fight that went on for years with crooked people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: As they say, saying the quiet part out loud. Do people around Trump, are they concerned at all about the fact that he's out there saying instead of, you know, this is very serious and like we can't have somebody that has these allegations surrounding her, he is saying that? But in addition, he's also saying, I can't wait to get the majority on the Fed. I mean, he's making his intention and perhaps even his motive very clear.

HABERMAN: Well, there's been a lot of reading the stage directions out loud from him recently, as he -- you know, the last week in particular, as he has been talking quite a bit. There was that marathon cabinet meeting the other day where he said a number of things that some people close to him wish he had not said. Yes, this does not help their case as they're trying to argue to a judge that this is for a reason, you know, in terms of behavior by Lisa Cook.

Also, I note, Jake, Lisa Cook and a few other people are among the few people who are fighting back internally within the government when Trump makes a move like this, because Congress has essentially made itself subordinate to the president. And, normally, it exists as a check. The Republican GOP is not doing that.

TAPPER: Take a listen to what Trump's White House Trade Counselor Peter Navarro said about Lisa Cook earlier this week on Bloomberg T.V.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, TRUMP SENIOR COUNSELOR FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING: It was a DEI hire. She's not qualified.

She's a partisan animal who weaponized the Federal Reserve. This is not about Fed independence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Lisa Cook's background is actually pretty impressive. She has a PhD in economics. She was an economics professor at Michigan State. She served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama. Why can't the Trump administration just stick to saying, we disagree with the Fed, or we want them to do this and lower our interest rates? Why dig up these really ugly attacks like calling her a partisan animal or a DEI hire?

HABERMAN: Peter Navarro went to prison and he continues to be quite upset about it. People who were investigated during the four years of the Trump interregnum between his two presidencies continue to be upset about it. And you heard the president say himself, he leads things anytime there is some kind of a legal issue or an allegation against someone who he is either -- somebody who he has targeted, like Adam Schiff or like Letitia James, people who have investigated him, or Lisa Cook who has not, but is not doing what he wants, he often leads it back to the investigations into himself. And I think that's what you're saying there.

TAPPER: All right. Maggie Haberman, thank you so much.

A new ruling in a landmark case, why a judge is allowing a lawsuit to go to trial that alleges the government of Saudi Arabia helped the hijackers responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:10:00]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a major victory for the 9/11 survivors and the families of 9/11 victims and their years long legal fight against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A federal judge yesterday rejected the Saudi Arabian government's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges that the government of Saudi Arabia specifically assisted the hijackers in the lead up to the deadliest terrorist attack ever against the United States, which means that this landmark civil case can go to trial. The Saudi Arabian government has repeatedly denied the suit's allegations.

Let's bring in Terry Strada. She's the chair of 9/11 Families United and is part of this lawsuit against Saudi Arabia. Her husband, Tom, was killed in one of the twin towers on 9/11.

Terry, after Thursday's ruling, you posted on X or Twitter, quote, Congress played a huge role in getting here and now FBI has a choice to make, side with American victims of terrorism or continue providing cover for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, unquote. How do you think the FBI has been providing cover for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

TERRY STRADA, NATIONAL CHAIR, 9/11 FAMILIES UNITED: Because they have not cooperated with a subpoena that was served on them in 2018, after the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act was enacted in 2016, which you remember, I'm sure, quite well. The judge then said we could go to very narrow jurisdictional discovery on two individuals, Femari (ph) and Bayoumi.

TAPPER: Yes.

STRADA: The subpoena was ordered on the FBI, CIA, all of them. Well, they've ignored it. And I shouldn't say ignored it completely, but they have not fully cooperated. And they have withhold quite a bit of this information. A lot of the evidence that was admitted into court last year for the oral arguments for this dismissal they had in their possession in 2001. that's pretty egregious.

TAPPER: What's your message to President Trump or the FBI director, Kash Patel, or anybody else in the Trump administration, Attorney General Bondi, when it comes to holding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable for their alleged role in the 9/11 attack?

STRADA: Right. So, they need to get behind the 9/11 community and be on our side and stop protecting the Kingdom over the role that they played. The evidence is there. The judge has ruled that there's enough evidence to take this to trial, and now we need our government, we need President Trump to side with us.

[18:15:03]

And we also need the intelligence agencies, Patel and Bondi, Bongino, all to take a look at how the FBI has the misconduct that they've, you know, portrayed for these last two decades and stop that immediately and turn around now and go back and give us the documents that we've been asking for, and don't block these new subpoenas that will be served on them due to this ruling.

TAPPER: You mentioned Bayoumi a minute ago. Some of the video shown in court last year included Saudi National Omar Al-Bayoumi. It's a man that the 9/11 commission report from 2004 says helped two of the hijackers upon their arrival in the United States. There's video from 1999 of Al-Bayoumi filming in and around the U.S. Capitol. There are also questions about this handwritten note, including an airplane along with an equation and other notes. He's never been charged with anything. He's living free in Saudi Arabia. What was your reaction when you heard some of the 9/11 lead investigators say they never even saw this evidence that we're showing right now?

STRADA: That was shocking to all of us that they made the requests for over a year to see this evidence and that the New York office, FBI office, refused to send it to them. So, a lot of this information that we have has come actually from the MPS, the Metropolitan Police Services in London, because they've been served the equivalent of a subpoena, and they actually cooperate.

And so now we are seeing the chain of custody and where this evidence went. And we know that it was buried and it was hidden away. It was found years later in a burn bag, basically, in a supply room, ready to be destroyed, and, thankfully, it was not.

TAPPER: All right. Terry Strada, the case is going to go forward now, the civil case, and we will continue to follow it with you. Thank you for coming here, and as always, may the memories of your husband, Tom, and all of those lost on 9/11, may those memories be a blessing. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you again soon.

STRADA: Thank you.

TAPPER: Breaking news, the Federal Appeals Court has just ruled against President Trump's sweeping global tariffs. It's a huge defeat. The lead lawyer for the businesses challenging Trump is going to join me live in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: A big defeat for President Trump. Breaking news in our Money Lead, a federal appeals court has just ruled against President Trump's sweeping global tariffs, saying he unlawfully leaned on emergency powers to impose tariffs. President Trump just reacted to the tariff ruling saying that all tariffs are still in effect. He called the appeals court highly partisan and said that the United States Supreme Court was going to get involved.

Let's bring in Neal Katyal. He represents some of the plaintiffs in this case. He's also the former acting U.S. solicitor general for President Obama.

Neal your reaction to the ruling, your reaction to President Trump seeming to suggest that he's going to appeal this to the U.S. Supreme Court.

NEAL KATYAL, ATTORNEY WHO ARGUED TARIFF CASE: Well, we're just studying the ruling. I had the privilege of arguing on behalf of the Liberty Justice Center and a group of private plaintiffs, Jake. And I guess I'd start by saying I don't view this as you started by saying it's a defeat for President Trump. I think the way to think about it is it's a win for the American Constitution that our founders basically said that decisions that are major, over things like taxation, have to be done by the Congress, not by the president and the stroke of his pen.

And the idea is President Trump says that this is like some highly partisan court or something. I mean, the senior most judge in the majority to rule against Donald Trump was a guy appointed by President Bush, Judge Lowry (ph), so I don't buy that, whatsoever. I think the court overwhelmingly today, in a 7-4 decision, rejected President Trump's notion that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and have said, no, the Constitution imposes limits. And one really important limit, Mr. President, is you're not allowed to tariff on your own.

TAPPER: President Trump also said in that Truth Social post that he thinks tariffs are the best tool to help American workers and support companies. Your clients whom we've interviewed, we interviewed the ones who are wine cellars in Manhattan, they disagree very strongly.

KATYAL: Exactly. So, they do disagree and, you know, do think that the tariffs are harmful. But I think what the court today said is, look, if the president thinks these tariffs are so important, and today, I guess, he said they're going to destroy the country, if you don't have the tariffs, then make that case to Congress. That's what every president has done before him. Indeed it's what Donald Trump did the first time around when he was president when he was in his first administration, he went to Congress and tried to ask for tariff authority. What'd they say, Jake? They said no.

And so if this is so important, he's got, you know, the party -- the Congress is controlled by the Republican Party. It's his party. You know, go make the case there. But don't distort the Constitution and the process. And it's always, you know, I think a fraught, heady thing when you're going into court and saying, the president did something illegal. You only want to do so in the rarest and gravest of circumstances.

But, Jake, as we looked at this case, that is this situation. You've got the president who's imposed the largest tax increase on American consumer since 1993 in the form of these tariffs. That's according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. And he did it without Congress saying one word. That is not our constitutional structure.

TAPPER: All right. Neal Katyal, I guess you're going to gear up for a Supreme Court fight. I mean, ultimately, if he's going to appeal this to the U.S. Supreme Court, that court, at the very least, in the most charitable description, I can say, they're inclined to hear his arguments, don't you think?

KATYAL: Well, they should, of course, hear his arguments. He's the president and, you know, he is asserting these things and to the extent he continues to believe them absolutely should make those arguments. You know, my hope is that if he does see these tariffs as so important, he should go to the Congress and not try and run to the courts to do what he can't get done through the legislative process.

[18:25:09]

If he goes to the Supreme Court, we will be absolutely ready and we are confident that the Supreme Court will hear our arguments and take them in good measure.

TAPPER: Neal Katyal, thank you so much, always good to see you, sir.

Multiple top CDC officials resigned this week after Trump fired the director of the CDC. In minutes, two of those officials are going to join me live to explain exactly what happened behind the scene, as well as discussing their fears about the future of public health in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Sports Lead, earlier today, the bookie operating an illegal gambling ring used by the ex-interpreter of Los Angeles Dodger Superstar Shohei Ohtani was sentenced to a year in prison. Matthew Bowyer had pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling and money laundering scheme along with filing a false tax return. And earlier this year, Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's former interpreter, was sentenced to more than four years in prison after he stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani's bank account to pay for his gambling.

CNN's Nick Watt has been following the story.

[18:30:00]

And, Nick, you spoke, to the bookie, to Bowyer. What did he tell you?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we hung out at his house down in Orange County a couple of days ago, and he told me that he, like many of us, initially thought that it was Shohei Ohtani who was gambling. He, Ohtani, is one of the greatest players of all time. That could have been one of the biggest baseball scandals in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW BOWYER, FORMER BOOKIE OF OHTANI TRANSLATOR: Well, the first time I saw The Wire was Shohei Ohtani, it was a holy moment for me, good and bad, right? The greedy side of me was who? This is amazing. I'm going to not have to worry about getting paid. This is a great client, I mean, unlimited funds.

The negative side is this could draw eyes onto me.

WATT (voice over): The account at Matt Bowyer's illegal sports book was in the name of Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's longtime interpreter.

BOWYER: Stealing never really crossed my mind.

WATT: It would be natural to think it was Shohei.

BOWYER: Well, I mean, truthfully, I did, but I wasn't sure. And, you know, sometimes in life you have a question that you really don't want to know the answer, that's where I was.

WATT: It was not Shohei. It turns out the interpreter had stolen nearly $70 million from one of Ohtani's accounts to pay off his own massive gambling debts to Bowyer. He's now serving 57 months in prison. Bowyer just sentenced to a year in prison. He pleaded guilty to running an illegal betting operation, money laundering and tax evasion.

BOWYER: You do a crime, you got to do the time. So, at the end of the day, I was doing something illegal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): So, he's going to be sentenced to a year. He lost about $2 million in terms of what was seized from his house in cash and what he's had to pay in restitution. His business has obviously closed down.

But Matt Bowyer, after 35 years of gambling, has just this unshakeable confidence. I suppose he is inured to the highs and lows. He is convinced he will bounce back legitimately with a book, with a movie, and with businesses that are legal.

Fascinating guy, fascinating story and Bowyer is just glad that it wasn't Ohtani. So, strange story.

TAPPER: Fascinating stuff.

WATT: Jake?

TAPPER: Nick Watt, thanks so much. We really appreciate it.

Turning to our Health Lead now, pharmacy giant CVS is no longer offering COVID vaccines in 16 states in these United States even if someone meets the CDCs new eligibility criteria. They say they're not going to offer it because of the, quote, current regulatory environment, this after a tidal wave of high-profile resignations at the CDC following Trump and RFK Jr.'s firing of their own CDC director, Susan Monarez, who'd been on the job for just a few weeks. The White House says that Monarez was not aligned with the president's health mission.

Sources tell us that she and HHS Secretary of Robert Kennedy Jr. frequently clashed over vaccine policies. And now RFK Jr. has tapped a biotech investor named Jim O'Neill as acting director of the CDC.

Joining us now are two of the top CDC officials who just resigned, Dr. Debra Houry and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis.

Dr. Houry, let me start with you. You say you felt the need to resign to raise the, quote, Bat Signal that the CDC and public health are in trouble. What kind of potential public health emergency do you think the current administration would be unable to handle or even responsible for causing?

DR. DEBRA HOURY, RESIGNED FROM CDC: So, honestly, at this point, I would say if there was an outbreak, a new pathogen or bug. We're not ready with a number of staff that we have lost through terminations, resignations, early retirements, the proposed budget decreases as well as all of the inability to move things as quickly as we used to with a lot of these changes. We're not prepared for that next outbreak. we were, but we're not right now.

TAPPER: Dr. Daskalakis, you say in your resignation letter, quote, I have never experienced such radical, non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people, unquote. Can you give us an example of the unskilled manipulation of data you talk about?

DR. DEMETRE DASKALAKIS, RESIGNED FROM CDC: Sure. I think probably the best example that I can bring up here is when the secretary gave his directive to change the childhood vaccination schedule for COVID-19 and for pregnant women, there was a fact sheet that was released that misinterpreted data from other investigators to really make the point of why they made the decision.

I think that the story so far is really covered with a lot of examples of where there is an attempt to retrofit data to actually support policy decisions that were not come to through any scientific process.

TAPPER: And sticking with you, you also mentioned, I think you told Kaitlan Collins that RFK Jr. was never briefed by a CDC subject matter expert on vaccines or anything else. We just saw one of the worst measles outbreaks in decades, 1,400 cases, 13 percent of which resulted in hospitalizations, at least three people died, according to 2025 data from the CDC.

[18:35:09]

Just to be clear, he never received a CDC briefing on measles during this outbreak?

DASKALAKIS: Yes. The center that I used to run before I resigned is responsible for measles for the United States, and, in fact, has the laboratory that really many countries look to for technical assistance. And my SMEs, those SMEs, my former SMEs at CDC, those individuals are looked at as world experts in measles and are sought after for their knowledge and experience, clinical consultation, all the way to how to do a public health response.

So, other countries have asked us for support. So far, really, under my experience as of yesterday was that the secretary had never been briefed by anyone at the National Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases about measles. I don't know who's briefing him. It's not us.

TAPPER: Dr. Houry, Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says, quote, we are witnessing a full blown war on public health from the Trump administration. Quote, sanders is calling for an investigation into the firing of CDC Director Monarez. What do you think an investigation like that might find?

HOURY: You know, I think it's important to realize that, to me, this is not just politics, it's ideology. Because under the prior Trump administration that Dr. Daskalakis and I served, and we saw that the COVID vaccines were developed and there was funding and new program stood up, including things that I ran, like the suicide prevention.

I think if we looked into what resulted in the firing of Dr. Monarez, we're going to see that she had some new ideas to bring scientific rigor to the ACIP or vaccine committee, and the department did not want her to do that.

TAPPER: I just think it's worth noting that, I think, it's fair to say that Donald Trump, perhaps his greatest accomplishment in the first term was Operation Warp Speed. I think that he's responsible and all the people in the Biden administration who helped get those shots into arms saving millions of lives. And I wonder, Dr. Daskalakis, what do you think RFK Jr.'s ultimate goal is here.

DASKALAKIS: I mean, I think based on what we're hearing from him publicly, you know, he's come out and said that he believes that the mRNA vaccines did nothing for the pandemic and are the most dangerous vaccine deployed in human history. So, I mean, I think if that is the sort of background that he's using, I feel like his intent for mRNA vaccines is to remove them from the possibility of both responding to, you know, the pathogens that we have all the time. Right now, it's COVID.

But, you know, there were flu vaccines that were being developed that looked like they were very promising. There were the flu vaccines that if there was an outbreak of a novel flu, it could be adapted very quickly to be able to mobilize into the community vaccine shaving six to eight weeks off of the process. And as you remember from COVID, six to eight weeks is a lot of lives.

So, I think that the intent is to really make mRNA vaccines sound like something that we shouldn't be doing based on no data, based really on statements that are made in public that are not backed up by any scientific information. And, you know, that doesn't only unplug infectious diseases. These vaccines are things that potentially have applications in cancer. And so I think that that's something that we really need to think about as he touts his interest in chronic disease.

TAPPER: Dr. Debra Houry, any thoughts, his goal here?

HOURY: Yes. I don't want to presuppose his goal, but I do want to go back to what you said about under President Trump. You know, the assistant secretary at the time, Admiral Giroir, you know, was a big proponent of mRNA vaccines. And I think that's the thing that we're seeing the difference is. Like Dr. Daskalakis said, there's been very little exposure of scientists to the secretary and his department. Under the prior Trump administration, we regularly brief the assistant secretary and the secretary.

TAPPER: Dr. Houry, Dr. Daskalakis, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

President Obama wading back into politics, warning about the impact of Republican redistricting efforts. Our panel joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Here in our Politics Lead, Missouri is the latest as of this afternoon to join the national redistricting fight the mid today. Republican Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe posted he's, quote, calling on the general assembly to take action on Congressional redistricting, an initiative petition reform to ensure our districts and Constitution truly put Missouri values first, unquote. This is the same day Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new map Republicans in Texas even more.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democratic, is hoping to offset Texas by adding more Democratic seats in California. Voters in California are going to have to approve or a plan in November.

Here's what the Speaker Johnson said about the redistricting earlier today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The speaker of the House has no control over some national redistricting strategy of the resolve and the decision of the individual states. But I will say there's a big difference between what happened in Texas in California. Gavin Newsom's gambit, which is what it is, is going to franchise millions of California voters because they all supported their redistricting commission, the Citizen Redistricting Commission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. Congresswoman, what's your reaction to what the speaker just said?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): I have many things. First of all, if the speaker really was worried about redistricting or was hands-off, he would go to President Trump and say, my own members are upset about what you are doing. There are many Republicans who are not happy with what the president is.

Two, you know have a deal of respect Michelle Obama. I am someone who talks to everybody who believes in civility, when you go low -- when they go low, you go high, we got to fight fire with fire.

[18:45:01]

Our Democracy right now is on fire. And I believe in redistricting commissions. Michigan has one. That's what we should be. But when people aren't playing by the rules, you got to fight fire with fire.

TAPPER: So, if your state, Michigan, were to try to change your current congressional map, it would require an amendment to the states constitution. Last week, your governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said, quote, we're not changing any maps in Michigan. Other states that could redraw maps are Illinois, Maryland and New York for Democrats, and Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina for Republicans. We had a Republican commentator on the show a few minutes ago saying

that ultimately, this is all going to result in Democrats -- I mean, in Republicans picking up a net of anywhere from 7 to 9 seats. Is it wise for Democrats to be fighting fire with fire? Could it not ultimately create even more Republican seats?

DINGELL: Look, I hope that we get back to we should have redistricting commissions in every single state. But, Jake, I'll tell you something. I've done more town halls probably than almost any member of this August.

People are worried. They want to see us fight back. We are watching -- now, he wants to take away mail-in voting? That's disenfranchising seniors. People live overseas, veterans.

We have to do something to fight back. We cannot simply sit on our hands.

So I think it should be redistricting commissions. I don't like this precedent, but what Texas did was wrong. People -- they're against it. People are having their arms broken in some of these Republican states. I've talked to Republicans in some of these states. I don't like it. I want the American people to speak up and we'll see. I think some people may be surprised what even happens in some of these elections, because people aren't happy with what they're watching.

TAPPER: Congress is back in session next week. Yesterday, Democratic leaders sent a letter to their Republican colleagues to try to meet -- in an effort to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September. You've been holding town halls throughout Michigan. Do you want your voters?

I mean, I'm sorry, do voters want you to stand up to Republicans, or do your voters want you to work with Republicans, especially on government funding?

DINGELL: I will tell you that I think it's a very mixed bag out there. I will tell you that the one I've come away with a lot of messages, but people are angry. They are worried. They want to see Democrats fight. They want -- they're worried about many of the things that they are seeing. I had one last night. It ended up going for nearly three hours and people were very pointed on what they want to see, and that they want to see people pushing back.

People are worried about the budget, they're worried about the government shutting down, but they're also what good does it do? One person said to the meeting last night, if you're going to appropriate the money and then the president isn't going to spend it and he doesn't care what you think anyway, how are you going to fight back?

So, we are unprecedented times. We have to figure it out. I think I -- what I do know is that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are going to work hand in hand in figuring this out. Republicans have refused to meet with them. The president is meeting with them.

You know, do they want a budget shutdown? And don't try to blame it on the Democrats. They need to be meeting with us and talking about what they want to do.

TAPPER: Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

DINGELL: Thank you.

TAPPER: Joining us now in the studio is the panel.

And Gavin Newsom, the governor of -- Democratic governor of California, responded to Governor Abbott posting, quote, congratulations on your new position as Trump's number one lapdog. I know you worked hard for it.

This is obviously a response to Abbott signing these new Republican leaning seats in the new congressional map.

What's your reaction, Joe?

JOSEPH MORENO, FORMER GOP STRATEGIST: Well, I think people go first to the question of, you know, as a lawyer, to say, is it legal? It's all legal. I mean, there's no point in going to Texas and fighting this or in California to fight that as long as the processes are followed. Is it a good idea?

And I think it's disappointing. Look, as a conservative, we've been able to say for a while the ones who change the rules mid-game are the Democrats. Whether it's blowing up the filibuster or bypassing the Electoral College or packing the Supreme Court, now we lose that moral high ground, unfortunately. And so, it's a race to the bottom, and it's really unfortunate.

TAPPER: What do you think?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't agree that the Democrats are the ones who change things midstream, but I do agree largely with your -- your assessment here.

And I also think there's a political opportunity for Democrats in the sense that, you know, you've got Trump and the Republicans making this aggressive, essentially power grab to try to -- to swipe more seats in the House of Representatives. What they're not talking about is, you know, this bill that they passed, that they're nominally supposed to be out there right now defending and yet instead, they feel like they are not able to make a case that's going to be persuasive. So they've got to try to, to -- you know, to change the rules.

So, I do think there's an opportunity for Democrats here to really drive both what they're doing to fight some of this action, but also to really drive a truck on are they -- are the Republicans focused on the things that matter to you?

[18:50:01]

Are they bringing your costs down? Are they bringing prices down? Are they doing what they said they would do, or are they focused on this partisan -- this partisan fighting? TAPPER: Well, I'll tell you who's focused on the partisan fighting is

former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder, because they clearly are wading into the redistricting fight. They released this video that we're going to run just a little snippet of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It's Barack and I am here with my good friend, Attorney General Eric Holder because we're facing an existential threat to our democracy and we need your help.

ERIC HOLDER, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: Rather than facing their voters at the polls next year, they're trying to silence them instead.

OBAMA: Help us meet this moment and preserve our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you really think this is an existential threat to democracy?

I mean, as Joe pointed out, this is a legal process. It's not unprecedented. It might be unseemly, but it's not unprecedented. And I mean, Democrats can still compete in these elections.

BEDINGFIELD: I think it's part and parcel of a larger attempt by Trump and the Trump administration to mess with our democracy, both on around the edges and right down the middle. So, yes, I do actually think its an existential threat, particularly when it's taken in the -- in the context of everything that Trump has tried to do to subvert all of our Democratic norms.

TAPPER: Governor Newsom also said this about President Trump possibly deploying more National Guard troops to more Democratic led cities and states. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: The murder rate that's nearly four times higher than California's, in Louisiana, the Speaker Johnson, four x higher. I'm just offering -- again, you've not seen this on Fox News. So, president may not be familiar with these facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, he's accurate. His numbers are accurate. The homicide rate is higher in Louisiana. I mean, you could make the argument, send the national guard to Shreveport.

MORENO: Well, let's go back to legality, right. No problem deploying the National Guard here in D.C. That's within the president's power. Los Angeles, he had a good argument because there was a particular purpose under the statute to protect federal law enforcement. There's no such condition in whether it's national or whether it's Chicago or whether it's Boston or whatever. So, legally, the president would have a problem there. I think it's

largely posturing. I don't see it happening, nor do I see it as a long-term solution. Look, as a long-term member of the military myself, we're not trained as police officers. And so, it might look good. The presence might be good for a short period of time, but it's not a long-term solution.

TAPPER: All right, Joe and Kate, thanks for being here. Really appreciate it. Have a great Labor Day weekend. Appreciate you being here.

It is Labor Day weekend. For many, that means one final trip to the beach. But before you step, stick your toe in the water, you're going to want to see what Dr. Sanjay Gupta has to say about a bacteria that might be swimming right next to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:51]

TAPPER: Our health lead, this weekend traditionally marks the last blast of summer. For many, that means heading to your local lake or river or the ocean for a nice swim.

But increasingly, waterways of the United States are seeing a surge in a specific kind of bacteria that can lead to a serious flesh-eating condition.

Here's CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE, SISTER: I thought she was going to be a goner.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stephanie and Lacey, two sisters. taking a walk they thought might never happen.

It was just last year that Lacey almost died from a flesh-eating bacterial infection.

LACEY PEPPER, FLESH-EATING BACTERIA SURVIVOR: You wouldn't believe the pain. I mean, it's just -- I wouldn't wish it on no one. And the whole time I thought I had the flu.

GUPTA: It started with pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. Then came difficulty walking. A few days later, Lacey's daughter rushed her to the emergency room in her small town of Brookhaven, Mississippi, where she was diagnosed with an infection caused by the deadly flesh eating bacteria known as vibrio vulnificus.

She was so sick that she was immediately airlifted to a trauma hospital in Jackson for emergency surgery.

STEPHANIE: She had a surgery just about every day to every other day that I was in the hospital. You know -- it -- I was just in shock. They told me they had cut all her thigh out, part of her behind.

PEPPER: I went from being a healthy person to I have to have a cane or a walker, and I'm thankful to be here though very grateful.

GUPTA: Take a look. This is the bacteria. It loves warm, salt and brackish waters. Sometimes people get sick through contaminated seafood. Other times it is open wounds. Thankfully, the more serious type of infections are rare. Maybe a couple hundred reported in the United States every year. But out of those, 1 in 5 may die. And fast.

DR. DANIEL EDNEY, STATE HEALTH OFFICER, MISSISSIPPI: From the time of the bacteria gaining access to the G.I. tract or through a wound, and to where it gets into the bloodstream and can cause illness. So, it can be a matter of hours or few days.

GUPTA: States up and down the eastern seaboard have been concerned with the rising cases due to warmer water, and lately, Atlantic Ocean temperatures have been off the charts.

EDNEY: The warmer the better. It incubates really well, you know, with the heat. So that it doesn't get too hot for it.

GUPTA: Like many people, Lacey doesn't know when or where she actually contracted the bacteria, but she does know this, that little pathogen changed her life forever.

PEPPER: It was a nightmare. I mean, it was just a nightmare. I just -- I don't wish it on anybody.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for that report.

Coming up Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION", White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka, Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Cindy McCain, the executive director of the U.N.'s World Food Programme. That's Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern and again at noon only here on CNN.

Until then, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and on TikTok @jaketapper.

You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcasts. Have a safe and memorable Labor Day weekend.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.