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Now: California & Texas Wage Fights Over Redrawn Maps; Texas House GOP Could Pass New GOP-Friendly Maps Today; CA Dems: New Map Would Include Only Four GOP Seats; House Panel To Make Some Epstein Files Public; National Guard Troops From Republican-Led States Arrives In D.C.; Russian Foreign Minister: Talks Without Moscow Are "Path To Nowhere". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 20, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, power grab politics. Texas' Democrats think up a new tactic to try to block the GOP led redistricting effort as state lawmakers could pass it in the coming hours. And it's California dreaming for Democrats as the state legislature there, gavels in to try to push their own map proposal.

Plus, pumping the brakes. Elon Musk said he wanted to start a new political party. Now he reportedly is backing away from the idea. The reason why might be J.D. Vance will explain. And the president's understudy, Gavin Newsom is now playing the role of Donald Trump on social media. A lot of Democrats dig it. Some don't. Newsom says he's trying to make a very specific point.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

We begin the hour watching two flash points in the fight over who will control the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 midterms. First to California. The live pictures you see there are from the state's legislature, where a proposal to carve out five new Democratic congressional seats faces an up or down vote.

And now let's go to Austin, Texas, where House lawmakers there are meeting to prepare to vote on the new maps designed to give Republicans five new seats. Several Democrats slept in the state capitol overnight after they left the state for two weeks in order to delay the vote.

Now, one state Democrat is trying a new tactic, aimed at making things uncomfortable for Texas Republicans, introducing an amendment that blocks the new GOP tilted map until all Epstein files are released.

Let's go straight to CNN's Arlette Saenz, who is in Austin, Texas. What's happening right now, Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, the Texas House lawmakers have been in the chamber just down the hall from where I am for a little over an hour, as the debate about these redistricting bills has kicked off. Now, House Republicans are hoping they could potentially vote on these maps in the coming hours, though, the timing of that still remains in flux and will depend on how this debate unfolds.

Democrats are expected to use this time, trying to make their case against the bill as they are preparing their legal cases that they plan to file in the coming weeks and months. Their ultimate goal is to get the state -- the courts to block these state maps from going into effect, but really, Democrats have no legislative tools left to prevent these maps from being passed in the Texas House and in the Texas Senate.

As you mentioned, State Representative Gene Wu has filed that amendment that is potentially trying to put Republicans on a tough spot politically with the vote that would only allow these maps to go into effect if all of the Epstein files are released. We're still waiting to hear what more amendments that could be introduced over the course of the day.

But so far as they have been debating this bill, we've seen some already very tense moments. Remember, this is really the first time that you are seeing these Republicans and Democrats in that House chamber together for an extended period of time, since Democrats had blocked that initial effort to try to delay this redistricting bill.

Here is some frustration that was expressed by State Representative Todd Hunter, who leads the -- who has written or dealt with part of this redistricting bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD HUNTER (R) TEXAS STATE HOUSE: You're not going to like this, but for 18 days, things could have happened. You all chose to walk out. To me, you damaged the process. You kept people away. You kept work from being done. Don't use that as an excuse to belabor this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, that's some of the frustration coming from the Republican side. Of course, Democrats believe that these maps should not go through. They have protested some of those moves taken by Republicans to require 24/7 police escorts to follow them if they were to leave the House chamber.

[12:05:00]

Several had stayed on the House floor in protest of that, but it does appear that in the coming days, this bill should be passed in the House and Senate and become law. And then would have huge implications for the midterm elections, as Republicans could potentially net five U.S. House seats under these new maps.

BASH: That really remarkable. Arlette, thank you so much. Appreciate that reporting. I'm joined here again by a terrific group of reporters, CNN's David Chalian, Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times, Hans Nichols of Axios, and Jackie Kucinich of The Boston Globe.

David Chalian, we've been talking about this since the president put out there that he called the governor saying, please find me more seats. And today, weeks later, it's on.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah, which I don't think is a terribly surprising like conclusion to where we are in Texas, that they have the numbers, they had the math, they were going to be able to get this done. I think really the question is now going forward in this story, as you noted at the top, it is a pure political power grab, right? And we're seeing a pure political response in California from the Democrats.

Where does it go next? I mean that, that to me, is where this story is going. One, the California voters, I don't think it's any assured thing that this is absolutely going to pass. So, Gavin Newsom has a real mission on his hands now, to really get this across the finish line with the voters in November. So that's going to be a key campaign for us to watch.

But on the Republican side, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, where are we going next to see how many more seats, James Blair and his political operation in the White House, the deputy chief of staff who is overseeing this effort, can squeeze out of these state legislatures to put in this insurance policy for Republicans who are just three votes shy of losing the House on today's math.

BASH: Right. Before any single person goes and votes on any of the issues that have been debated very heavily since President Trump took office. Let's sort of rewind a little bit and talk specifically about Texas right now. I spoke with the Texas Representative Nicole Collier, who was one of those, maybe the first to say, I'm not leaving the House floor because she didn't want to have law enforcement escorting her around.

I spoke to her yesterday, and she explained why, even though they don't have the votes, the two-week protest was important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE COLLIER (D) TEXAS STATE HOUSE: I feel good that we've taken a stand. You know, what we've been missing in America is that democratic fight. We've got it back. We've got our voice. We're reclaiming our voice and our fight in this, so we're not going to back down. Yes, the odds are against us, but that doesn't mean that you just roll over and take it.

We're not going to take it. We're going to push back. We're going to create some good trouble in the meantime. And we're going to -- even if we have to go down, we're going to go down swinging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: That seems to be a direct response to frustrations that you would often hear in the campaign trail and the last presidential election and from voters throughout this year as they watch Democrats sort of take a cautious stance and wait for the Trump administration to sort of, you know, hurt itself, but not go on the attack.

You know, voters in the Democratic base have been calling -- have been saying that they want to change from the status quo. The status quo, for a while, meant not going on the offensive against the Republican Party. So, they've been calling for something, right? And you're seeing whether it's a marathon speech by Cory Booker, or, you know, this -- you know, in Texas, even just last night, sleeping over in the state capitol as well are leaving the state.

Yes, there was, you know, there's no real chance that they're going to beat this. The Republican legislator has, you know, the majority, and they're going to accomplish this. But, you know, they have been looking for some sort of sign of fight from their party voters have, and it seems like here on the local level, you have Texas Democrats trying to do that.

BASH: Go ahead.

HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Which is just the phrase good trouble, right? There's always a difference in good trouble and grandstanding, and that's really up to the voters to decide. But where I think this story is going, and I think what's we're so clearly seeing is a demand from progressive voters to do something. We've all heard this in our reporting.

And to me, it'll have implications in California gives Gavin Newsom a great opportunity. To me, it's going to have a lot of implications for Chuck Schumer here in the Senate, and a couple of weeks when he's going to have to decide whether or not he's going to cooperate with the Trump administration and Republicans to fund the government. So, this is almost like an internal democratic conversation that's taking place right now, but it has implications beyond the Democratic Party.

BASH: Let's drill down now on California. And go back to the point that you were making David, which is so critical, which is in Texas, they take a vote. The governor signs it, it's done. In California because there is an independent commission, the process is such that we're going to start -- see them start the process in the legislature in Sacramento. Today, they have to take a vote to put a measure on the ballot, so that voters will decide whether to temporarily suspend the independent commission so they can redraw the line.

[12:10:00]

OK. First, let's look at some polling about how Californians feel about this. This is, comes out of POLITICO. Nearly two thirds of Californians actually don't want to do that. They want to keep the redistricting. And there's a factor here that I think is really important, and that is a man by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger, because he would -- when he was governor, and then he was very upset about redistricting, and certainly even more so since then, he's used his platform to do that.

He doesn't like this idea of this war that is going on. And if he still has power over the way people vote in California, Gavin Newsom has some problems. Listen to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R) FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Just going to be until 2030 and then it's going back again. No, in 2030 they're going to say, sorry guys, but they still do the gerrymandering in Texas, so we have to continue doing it here. When the people of California should never ever give up this independent redistricting commission because when the politicians take over, they will never ever give it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Jackie?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: I think this is a real test for Gavin Newsom because we're talking about -- we'll talk about this later, the do something caucus among Democrats. I mean, right now, he's really the centerpiece of that. And it might not only be Gavin Newsom, he's obviously been the most vocal about it, but you also have potentially in Illinois. Governor Pritzker, who's also someone who we can see as a potential 2028 candidate.

There's that track of kind of auditioning for a bigger role in the Democratic Party, but on the Republican side, these Republican governors who are in legislatures that are, you know, really throwing themselves out there to -- for their fealty to President Trump and to get closer to the White House. You have that track as well. It's an arms race.

And as you mentioned, it's a lot easier for Texas than California, but certainly Gavin Newsom is going to spend a lot of political capital here. And if he loses, what that means for his political future, I think, is up for debate.

BASH: How concerned are California Democrats that they might actually not get the votes on this ballot measure?

CHALIAN: I think they know it's going to be a real campaign. I don't think that -- so, I don't think some Democrats I've spoken to believe they've done some internal polling. They think that they -- that is at odds with the polling that you showed there. But they -- I've not spoken with single California Democrat that thinks, this is a breeze. This is going to have to be a hard fought race to convince the voters.

BASH: And just real quick. Let's just look, drill down on some of what we're talking about here. Gets a little bit in the weeds, but that's like, actually, literally, what redistricting is. You saw a little bit of the map on the screen earlier, but let's just pull it back up.

California redistricting. What they're talking about, just one example. This is Valadao -- David Valadao's district. They're saying that it would move to lean down. So, this is a district that Donald Trump carried by two percentage points. Gavin Newsom won it by 0.4 percent. So, they're saying it was -- before it was swingy, and that they're moving it to lean dam. But we don't really know exactly where these maps came from. I want you to before you weigh in, listen to a California Assembly woman, the chair, a California Elections Committee Chair, Gail Pellerin, when asked about that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAIL PELLERIN (D) CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTION COMMITTEE CHAIR: The reality is that it was a collaboration, and we can get those specifics. But I think what's most important is the maps are out there for people to see, to evaluate, to make a judgment on the lines of the lines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam Chair, but when you consume something -- when you consume something, don't you want to know who makes it? When you are presented with something, don't you want to know where it's coming from? Don't voters deserve to know --

PELLERIN: But I know a restaurant, I don't need to meet the chef.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Chef?

KANNO-YOUNGS: Sometime like to know who the chef is. And time -- that was a good question by that reporter. I mean, this is the argument of why you have this independent commission too. And Republicans in the state are also citing this as they actually amount legal challenges and tried to defend an independent commission that also, ironically, Republicans, including the Trump administration previously criticized, as well as giving an edge to Democrats. So, both parties are sort of -- sort of flipping their positions as they try to get a political edge here.

BASH: Yes, chef.

NICHOLS: Yeah, looming over all this are the courts, right? If you go too far, I mean, that's -- we haven't even talked about Florida. We don't know if Florida is where Republicans get the most additional seats. All the other states are one, maybe two. Florida, you can get tough. Some people up to seven. But no one knows if the courts are going to allow this. And that's where it's going to come down to, like so much during the Trump era.

[12:15:00]

BASH: Yeah, except that. The Supreme Court has already said redistricting for political reasons is OK, racially not so much. Coming up. A House panel says it will release some of the Epstein files. I talked to a key Republican congressman who is calling for transparency, after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00] BASH: Welcome back to Inside Politics. Joining me now is Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the oversight committees. Thank you so much for being here. Let's start on a question that pertains to your role on the oversight committee, and that is the Epstein files.

The chair of that committee, James Comer, says that you will get some of the Justice Department documents from the Epstein investigation, starting on Friday. First, will you as a committee member have the ability to see them for yourself?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I hope so. I've now requested that very much. I think it's important that all the members see that on both sides of the aisle. I think we need to take the partisan gloves off and just get to the bottom of this whole terrible episode.

BASH: And how important is it to you that those documents then become public?

BURCHETT: Very important, Dana. And thank you for asking me that question. I think transparency is what we've got to have. I think it's your job in the media and my job as a congressman, because nobody trusts Washington, D.C. And for good reason, nobody thinks Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. Kennedy from the front and the back, and they found a bullet in the Parkland Hospital, basically unscathed. Yet, that's what we've been told for years.

And so, you know, we have a history of lying to the public, and it's -- and it just continues through this thing, and it's -- and it just, we've got to get to the bottom of this. But my major concern, of course, is those thousand or so, who were young girls at the time who were raped and protecting their, you know, their identities without them getting any into the media spotlight.

And also protecting the innocent people that maybe mentioned casually in these files that flew on a plane, didn't go to the island, or what have you, that could be brought into this. So those are the two areas. I want to protect the innocent, but I want to hang the guilty. And that is not political conjecture. That is the real, real deal.

BASH: Yeah. I have to tell you, JFK conspiracy theories. That was not on my bingo card for this interview. But I just want to ask you one more question before we move on. That is, I'm hearing you talk about, and I've heard you talk with passion about releasing the Epstein files. Why does Congress have to do it? Why can't the Justice Department just do it?

BURCHETT: I don't know. I don't know. I don't trust anybody in Washington, Dana, as you know. You know, I passed some of the toughest laws in the country, and it's like pulling teeth in Tennessee. We're very conservative people. But it's -- it always seems to be, anytime this is involved in it, and it disgusts me, really, because you've got people whose lives have been ruined, and they will never, ever regain a sense of community because of these dirt bags, and I would hope that we could punish them as quickly as possible and get to the bottom of it. BASH: It disgusts you that Trump's Justice Department isn't releasing it. What disgusts you?

BURCHETT: No, ma'am, well, we didn't under Joe Biden either. He had it for four years, and that's why I really don't think there's much about Trump in there because I figured President Biden would have released it as well if it had.

But I just think the whole thing is just been mishandled from front to back. It just -- when it first broke, they should have put -- they put a -- should have put a special prosecutor attorneys in-charge to make sure that that was released, and yet, he was allowed to allegedly commit suicide.

And I still don't think he committed suicide, but that's just me. I just think this goes too deep. It affects too many powerful people in this country, and it crosses over party lines. And I honestly don't think we'll ever really get to the bottom of it.

BASH: Pretty sure that the Trump administration has said that now they've looked at it and they believe he has committed suicide. But let's move on. Six GOP led states, including your home state of Tennessee are sending hundreds of National Guard troops here to Washington, D.C., as President Trump is escalating his police takeover of the nation's capital.

One of the most well-known cities in your state, Memphis, has a pretty high crime rate, homicide, robbery. We're putting on the screen some of the numbers there. Are you OK with your state's National Guard resources being used to deter crime here in Washington, and why not in your home state?

BURCHETT: Yes, ma'am, I am. Washington, D.C., of course, there's a creation of the Congress, and I believe is when the -- within the president's constitutional purview, and you know, lawlessness outbreaks. There's a lot of political wherewithal in Memphis, Tennessee.

It has a, really a history of, you know, the political, I guess you, and I won't say political gangs, but political families have run that town, and frankly, they've run it into the ground, and some of the --

[12:25:00]

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: So, why not send National Guard troops there? It's a red state.

BURCHETT: It's not a federal, it's not federally created environment. Washington, D.C. is a federally created environment. Is our nation's capital. When people pull in to Washington, D.C. and they see someone going to the bathroom on the curb, or they see crime, or you see Washington, D.C. bureaucrats come to the oversight committee and tell us that there is no crime, yet, during that very hearing, a group of thugs, carjacked a kid a jeep. And another thing, I think there's out of touch. If you go back and look at that meeting and oversight, Dana, they had six white men explaining to the committee. And I made that -- and I request -- and I asked, I said, why are there not any people of color? Why are there not any black folks on this thing.

And the activists in the crowd, who are neighborhood people that were the victims of all this. They were nodding in agreement. I think you've got a bureaucracy in Washington that's out of touch with what's going on with reality. It's our nation's capital. I think you ought to be able to walk the streets.

In 1976, when I went to Washington, D.C., as a patrol boy town. I had a -- they turned us loose. I remember at noon, with groups of five and just kids, and said, come back to the school bus later in the day. And then we rode back to the motel, no adults.

You would never even -- that would never happen in this day and age because Washington, D.C. is a set and let's just admit it, is a crime in town. And you know, I remember during some of the riots, even the teamsters had their headquarters boarded up. The teamsters of all people. So, it's a rough town.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, I will say that I am not arguing with you about the fact that there's crime in D.C., but I've lived here since '89. I have a 14-year-old son. And I'm OK with him, you know, going and doing his own thing here in Washington. But again, I'm not arguing that there is not crime in Washington.

Just real quick. I have to ask -- I have to ask you, you are in the foreign affairs committee about what is going on with the Ukrainian and European leaders and what happened at that summit? They talked a lot about security guarantees. And the question for you is, what should security guarantees actually mean from a U.S. perspective?

BURCHETT: I think that it allows some time of breather. I think it would allow everybody just kind of back up. We've got to get this war over. There's no -- there's no secret that Trump had the original meeting with Putin in Alaska, largest oil reserves in the world. I think Trump understands that energy is what's going to -- is what we will put Russia in the corner with.

We could shut them down economically. We don't need any boys and girls. I hate -- I hate it when the war pimps in Washington and start talking about war. And Dana, on both sides of the aisle, because all they're worried about is their portfolios. They couldn't find Ukraine on a globe and here we are.

People are rattling the sabers about going to war. I think this is the avenue we need to take, get everybody in the room, order some Domino's pizzas, and let's see what we got. And let's try to work this thing out. You've got to get all three of them. You got to get Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy in a room eventually. I think that is going to be the key to it.

But I think too, you got to realize, as you see all over the world, you see in America and all these things. A lot of these leaders don't want to -- they don't want peace. I mean, Putin's a wartime dictator. If peace breaks out, he loses some and so does Zelenskyy, oddly enough.

And so, you'll see that all over the world. And so, in the Middle East, especially, young men die, old men make decisions. It happens all the time. But I think we need to put this thing to rest. And I think economically and through energy and oil, is way we're going to do it. And I think President Trump is on the right path.

BASH: OK. We're out of time. Congressman, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

BURCHETT: Thank you, Dana. I hope you can make it to smooth fest on September 3, pizza and cold drinks at my office.

BASH: OK. Now, I think a lot of people are going to be there. Congressman, thanks. Up next. Is the idea of an Elon Musk led third party, already dead. We'll talk about it after the break.