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Laura Coates Live

Texas Gives Trump The Political Map He Wants; Target Misses Bullseye; Hurricane Erin Prepares To Unleash Massive Waves. Aired 10- 11p ET

Aired August 20, 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]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And also, I would say to the haters, keep my name at your mouth.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Don't feed the -- Abby.

(LAUGHTER)

JENNINGS: Don't do it.

PHILLIP: Everyone, thank you so much. Thanks for watching 'NewsNight". You can catch me anytime on your favorite social media -- X, Instagram and Tik Tok. "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Texas gives Trump the political map he wants. And a showdown is about to be unleashed unlike anything we have seen before. Plus, Target missed its own bullseye as the boycott over at DEI rollback takes its toll. Will the company change course? And what were Fox hosts actually saying about Trump in the election while the texts are out? And we have those receipts tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

Just like that, a presidential wish was Texas' command. Trump wanted five seats. Well, Republicans in the state house tonight passed a new congressional map to try to do just that. Just listen to how a Republican in Texas explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TODD HUNTER (R) TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE: The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward. Improve Republican political performance. The primary changes are focused on only five districts for partisan purposes. Each of these newly drawn districts now trend Republican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: You heard the purpose and the goal, the specific one, five seats that all trend Republican. So yes, it's exactly what it sounded like before, not some overall scheme to have more fairness for a voter to elect a candidate of their choosing. It's got to be Republican, apparently. Well, the last hurdle gets cleared tomorrow if the Texas Senate signs off on it. And then, buckle up, because things are about to get interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) CALIFORNIA: We're walking down a damn different path. We're fighting fire with fire. I'm going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: It's Wednesday. Translation, he is going to have his state lawmakers approve his plan for revenge. A November ballot measure that lets voters decide if he can redraw California's map to benefit Democrats. It's the political version of anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. And tonight, the husband of the creator of when they go low, we go high, is high-fiving the Newsom plan.

Now, don't get me wrong. President Obama admits he is no fan of gerrymandering, but says that Newsom's plan is a, quote, "-- smart and measured approach designed to address a very particular problem at a very particular moment in time."

So, Newsom won over one former president, but as for the former governor of his own state, Arnold Schwarzenegger, well, he hasn't terminated his opposition. Newsom apparently declaring that he'll be back to try again and revealed he talked to the "governator" and told him this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWSOM: I also want him to know if we are not successful with this, there'll be no independent redistricting in this country. It's all over. It's gone. He's trying to rig the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That's the message Democratic lawmakers have latched onto. It's why some left the state to try and prevent Texas from doing exactly what it ended up doing. You know, my next guest is one of those people. You recognize her from this photo. She is the state rep who slept on the House floor this week.

Why? Because she refused to allow police to watch her as a condition for her to leave the building. And today, she says she had to leave a press call with Newsom because police told her she couldn't even be the phone. Here's the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NICOLE COLLIER (D) TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Sorry, I had to leave. They said it's a felony for me to do this. Apparently, I can't be on the floor or in the bathroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Texas State Democratic Representative Nicole Collier joins me now. Nicole, Representative, thank you so much for being here today. You are a duly-elected official. And you basically could not leave the House floor without a permission slip. And more than that, someone threatened you with a felony when you were on that call with the DNC. All that to get these five seats.

COLLIER: Hi, Laura. Thank you for having me on here. Yeah, it's just another form of intimidation tactics. You know, when they locked me into the House for house arrest, they told me that I could go to the House floor, I can go to the bathroom, and I can go to the members' lounge to eat.

[23:05:00]

We were actually in live session at the time. I took a call. I thought I would have some more privacy in a corner, a very small corner in the women's lounge. And the several Republican women entered into the lounge area and immediately took issue with me being in there. I've seen plenty of people take FaceTime calls in the bathroom and yet because I was taking a call of who I am, a black woman, they took issue with me being on the phone and having a video call that was private for me.

COATES: Did they know who you were talking to and why?

COLLIER: No, but they heard me say the word Democrat and rigged maps, and rigged elections, because again, one of them used the restroom multiple times within a matter of minutes. So, I know that they were trying to watch me and follow me.

COATES: I mean, they obviously corrected the dots to the nature of your concern, justifiably so, by the way. But Texas is going to pass this congressional map. I mean, as long as there is quorum in both chambers, one of your Democratic colleagues said the next battle will have to then be in the courts. If that's the case, do you have any faith the courts would even side with you?

COLLIER: I do. I believe that these maps are racially gerrymandered. They will impact black and brown communities because they split them and crack them apart so that they don't have the ability to work together as a coalition district between black and brown to elect the candidate of their choice. So I believe, you know, we saw the federal courts in Louisiana and Mississippi, find that those maps violated section two of the Voting Rights Act because they do have a harmful racial impact.

And so, we believe that these maps, which we know are the most segregated maps in Texas since the 1965, since the civil rights era, Texas has violated the Voting Rights Act every decade since then. And these are no different. So, we have confidence in the courts that they will see these maps for what they are.

COATES: Well, certainly, the idea of a pre-textual reason to simply get rid of different racial based voting blocks would violate section two of the Voting Rights Act. I wonder about the Supreme Court given the section five rollback and where things are, will they see through that particular fig leaf? That's a big question. Your Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, she says that state

senators should break quorum to prevent these maps from really passing. Democrats say they can't take any legal action until Governor Abbott signs off on the actual bill into law. So, do you agree with that particular strategy? Is it effective, given the fact that the inevitability of it passing, is this the right tactic?

It's the tactic that we've taken right now. What we've found is that the courts are unlikely to interfere with elections if they start -- if they are ongoing or start. So, the purpose was to try to get them mapped into the court system in front of the courts before the period filing period is for the candidate. And that's November.

So, we got to get them before then and hopefully get an injunction to stop them from proceeding. But in the meantime, we have plan B and that's Governor Newsom. He has agreed to reevaluate their process and get us five more seats to counter or neutralize Trump's request to the minions in Texas.

COATES: Well, other states, have you heard from other governors about supporting you or is just California, so far?

COLLIER: No, actually, I had a call with Governor Hochul out of New York and she's very much interested in finding ways to support us. Now, they have a little bit more hurdles in terms of having to wait another year before they can implement it. But she's also open to doing that.

And we've talked to Governor Pritzker in Illinois, who was such a gracious host. And we will continue to talk to other governors to be ready to step up to the challenge if Trump insists on rigging the elections in other states.

COATES: Representative Nicole Collier, thank you so much for joining.

COLLIER: Thank you for having me.

COATES: I'm going continue our discussion on this very important issue with former senior advisor to the Trump campaign in 2024, Bryan Lanza. Also here is CNN political commentator Karen Finney. Glad you're both here.

I mean, Karen, you just heard Newsom, Hochul, Pritzker, others are potentially joining in on supporting Newsom's philosophy that is really a marked change in what they had done in the past, vowing to redistrict and try to get their seats if Texas really does follow through which they are likely to do tomorrow. Is this something, given the numbers that are here, you've got Republicans controlling more state governments than Democrats. Can Democrats win this battle?

[23:10:00]

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We have to try. I mean, the most important thing is this fight. I mean, you know, as you heard Governor Newsom say, it is about punching back and it's time to stop being chumps. And so, I commend the governor for, you know, it's a very measured, very specific plan. It's got a trigger in it that says, we're going to only do this if -- whether it's Texas or another state does what they're going to do.

COATES: Which could happen as early as tomorrow, right? That trigger begins.

FINNEY: Correct. And so -- and look, the other thing in California, remember, the legislature is going to vote on it and the people of California have to vote on it. And the most important thing, I want to highlight something that the Congress -- that the representatives said.

This map that Republicans are passing locks in white power in Texas because white Texans are 40 percent of the adults in Texas. They control 28 of the 38 seats. Sixty percent are black, Latino, and Asian Americans. And they controlled 10 of the 38. Now, they've just taken -- they've just taken away five. So --

COATES: That's the Supreme Court was often grappling with.

FINNEY: Yeah.

COATES: The idea that people would bring cases before them and say, we know that race-based gerrymandering violates section two, and people would try to go around it and say, this isn't that, this is political, and that's a totally different thing. They raise the numbers you've just raised to demonstrate the fig leaf nature and pre- textual nature of all of this. But what about the sign-off from President Obama? Does that change the game?

FINNEY: I think it's a positive, and I think it's going to help in the effort in California to bring awareness to this, because really what this is ultimately about is, are we going to be able to put a check on Donald Trump's power when it comes to the 2026 elections? He's trying to cheat before we even get there.

COATES: Well, you know, Bryan, there is a Republican congressman who is concerned that if Governor Newsom does this and the voters agree to this, he could lose his seat. It could actually have an effect on Republicans, as well. He's actually calling on Trump and Speaker Johnson to throw in the towel. Listen to what had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): I do think that the Speaker of the House in particular needs to step forward and show some leadership here. And I'd like to see the President take a different perspective, as well, now that he has a forward picture of everything that's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I think Trump is going to decide this is not a good plan tech is, if a couple Republicans lose receipt in California, it could balance it out?

BRYAN LANZA, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP-VANCE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: No. At the end of the day Republicans actually win this fight. I'm a Californian. I was involved in a redistricting in 2010, the so-called independent commission. It wasn't independent. It was rigged from the very beginning. And so, the fact that we can highlight that it continues to be rigged and that Gavin has the ability to rig it even further, that's good for us.

COATES: Then if that's -- why is governor-- former Governor Schwarzenegger highlighted so much? You think that a Republican governor says?

LANZA: Because he was a failure as a Republican governor. Like, Arnold was the problem with this trying to create this post-partisan independent commission for redistricting. That is an abject failure. We are a partisan country. Gerrymandering has been around for a long time, though to the winner goes to spoils. That's how it's always been. The Democrats have -- abide by that policy. We've done it. This is what continues to happen.

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: We don't do racial gerrymandering.

LANZA: Well, you don't do racial gerrymandering. I don't think that's what's taking place here. You can sort of say this is -- this is an offset of what this gerrymandering is, but it's not based on race. It's based on partisanship. And we should have the right, you know, if we have control of the governorship, if we have control of the state legislature, to redraw the lines when they fall under our jurisdiction.

The fact that these commissions have been brought up by these good government groups, they're not good government groups. They've been co-opted by the Democratic Party for a long time. So, I think this is good. I actually think it's good that Obama supported this because this is Gavin Newsom's sort of, you know, pledge to how he becomes -- how he becomes a Democratic nominee. And I think another San Francisco liberal will lose another election.

COATES: Well, let's go from a state to a district, namely this one, because a big issue no matter who is actually able to vote in the end, crime is always top of mind for voters, Democrats and Republicans. And this federal policing surge that we're seeing right now in Washington D.C.

I mean Vice President J.D. Vance, you had Pete Hegseth, as well, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was all there. They were booed during a meeting with National Guard members who were at Union Station, which of course is the Amtrak train station here in Washington, D.C., a major corridor. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Free D.C. Free D.C.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I think you hear these guys out outside here screaming at us. Of course, these are a bunch of crazy protesters, but I'll tell you. A couple of years ago, when I brought my kids here, they were being screamed at by a violent vagrants and it was scaring the hell out of my kids. We're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Okay, I've seen other protesters. Let me ask you, does this hurt Democrats' chances at retaking the House?

[23:15:00]

I mean, the protests themselves when you hear things like this. What's the impact?

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: Absolutely not. Democrats are not, I would advise, do not take advice on public safety from a convicted criminal. You know that's where I was going with this.

COATES: I did.

FINNEY: And look --

COATES: How I knew?

FINNEY: I've done it somehow. But look, if we're going to have a real conversation about public safety, this is absolutely the wrong way to do it. We can look at Baltimore where you talk about prevention and you look at the investments that they've made of getting illegal guns off the street and creating safe spaces for young people, and really creating community policing and trying to build relationships.

That's how you lower crime. That is not what is going on here. This is a distraction from Epstein. This is a distraction from the many failures that Trump is having to grapple with. It's not about public safety. He doesn't care about us at all. He doesn't give a -- nothing about -- I won't cuss on your show about the people who live in D.C.

COATES: Well, he technically lives here, as well. Obviously, the Oval Office is here. But the idea of the policy versus what's happening in practice, right? There's a new Washington poll -- "Washington Post" poll, excuse me, that shows that 70, 78 percent, Bryan, of people in Washington, D.C. oppose Trump's takeover. And that people of all backgrounds overwhelmingly said that their neighborhoods, well, they were safe. Could this all backfire on Trump?

LANZA: No, no. I mean, at the end of the day, you can cite 78 percent but you have 38 sexual predators who've been arrested, who've been taken off the street. I mean by any measurement, D.C., certain neighborhoods over D.C. are not safe neighborhoods.

You know J.D. Vance is right. I've taken my kids to the Amtrak Union Station and we have been yelled at by vagrants. We have been yelled at by homeless people who are on drugs. We have actually witnessed people do drugs at the Union.

COATES: I've been yelled at in a lot of train stations across country.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Well, nor should I. But my point is it doesn't just happen in places like D.C.

LANZA: Yeah. Correct.

COATES: So is the National Guard going to go to every 50 states --

LANZA: I don't think that has to be the case. You know, Trump has jurisdiction. The executive has jurisdiction over D.C. and it has the ability to do something. And what it can show -- can show effective policy. The way you stop crime is by throwing criminals in jail. It's not by giving them ways out.

It's two things. It's what you said. It's what Bill Clinton did. Throw them in jail and offer policies that are alternatives, you know -- spending. Right now, the Democrats just want to offer spending programs without throwing these people in jail.

FINNEY: Well, but --

LANZA: Let's throw criminals in jail. If you break the law, the laws are pretty clear. There's consequences for your actions. Clearly, D.C. had not been doing it. And now Trump has been doing.

FINNEY: But if you cut a billion dollars from the budget, it makes it harder for D.C. to do that. And by the way, one great way to get some sexual predators off the streets, release the Epstein files. How about that?

COATES: Well, there's more -- a part of it. Let me tell you this. There's more than that, though. Let's talk about -- let's talk about tactic and talking about how Governor Newsom is, well, taking a page out of Donald Trump's book in terms of his social media.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Oh, you applaud that effort.

LANZA: Listen, I --

COATES: Well, do you applaud it because you're being sarcastic and think it will actually help Republicans or because you think that's the right way to approach these voters today?

LANZA: This country just rejected a San Francisco liberal for president on the Democratic side and will always reject the San Francisco Democrat. And Gavin Newsom is a San Francisco liberal Democrat who will be rejected at the national stage. So, the more he highlights himself in the Democratic Party and elevates himself and ultimately wins the nomination because as Barack Obama has now validated it, the better it is for us.

COATES: So the -- the brosphere doesn't exist any longer? That's part of what the tactic was in this last election to try to make sure the manosphere and the idea of trolling and all the chest beating was effective. This is no longer a thing for Democrats or Republicans?

FINNEY: Well, that's a different strategy if we're going to talk about how to do outreach to the manosphere. But I applaud Gavin's digital team. Go. They did a great job and that's what you should -- you should have fun with them. I mean, it's not his official account and I think it's great and it's giving people -- look, we could all use a little joy.

COATES: Well, that's what Vance said. Listen to what the Vice President had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: The idea of Gavin Newsom is somebody who's going to mimic Donald Trump's style, I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump's political success which is that he is authentic. He just is who he is. You've got to be yourself. You've got -- actually I talk to people honestly about the issues. I don't think it's that complicated. Don't be a crazy person. Be authentic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: So, is the genius being lost with Newsom?

FINNEY: No, I think that this team that is running this account is having fun at Trump's expense and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We could use a little bit of that.

COATES: Is it going to pay off though? That is the question.

FINNEY: Well, I don't think it's about paying. I mean, the fact that we're talking about and it's gotten so much attention, it's already paying off. So, I would imagine their followers have probably increased over the last 24 hours.

LANZA: Well, but I know the Gavin team really well. They're friends. They're good people. I encourage them to help make Gavin the nominee because like I said this country rejected a San Francisco liberal.

FINNEY: Yeah, that's a talking point.

LANZA: It's a fact.

FINNEY: I'm just saying --

COATES: Well, we'll see. Karen, Bryan, we'll see how it all plays out. Thank you so much. Up next, did the Target boycott just prove the whole "go-woke-go-broke" narrative is actually a lie?

[23:20:00] Is it more like lay down and stocks down? Well, the company's CEO is stepping down as the retailer admits the backlash over its DEI rollback hurt their bottom line. And later, the must-read ruling from the judge that uses simple math, imagine that, to expose just how flawed the DOJ's Epstein strategy has actually been.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: It hasn't even been six months since Black faith leaders called for a boycott of Target. It began in my home state in Minnesota right in front of Target headquarters on January 27th. By February first, it was in full swing.

[23:25:02]

Why? To protest the rollback of their DEI initiatives. And tonight, a major change is happening at the company. Target's CEO is stepping down, not leaving the company, but stepping down from his role. This is happening as sales at the giant retailer continue their deep slump.

Now, experts, they point to a number of reasons that might explain the drop. They point to things like inflation. They point to tariffs. They point to tougher competition. But one can't ignore the economic boycott. As a matter of fact, you know, who didn't ignore the impact? The target CEO himself, because he acknowledged at the backlash hurt sales last quarter.

And in the month following their scale back of DEI, foot traffic at Target stores declined by as much as nine percent from the year before. And in just the last six months, their stock price has fallen by 20 percent. That starts from when the boycott really took hold. Well, tonight, the pastor who've helped to spearhead the movement to boycott Target, well, is taking a lot of credit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMAL H. BRYANT, LEADING TARGET BOYCOTT OVER DEI POLICIES: This was the most significant boycott of black people since the Montgomery bus boycott 70 years ago. So, I would say it would be a Herculean part of what happened in the downfall. We gave them a blank canvas to reimagine DEI, none of which have they produced. And so yes, we stand away from Target until they step up to the plate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Joining me now is Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, who also helped push for that boycott that again began in Minnesota. Nekima, did Target underestimate the power of this boycott?

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Target most definitely underestimated the power of this boycott, as well as the intense betrayal that we all felt as customers of Target. Target had positioned itself as essentially the poster child for diversity, equity and inclusion in terms of them embracing black brands and also pledging $2.1 billion in the aftermath of George Floyd being killed. And as you know, Target is headquartered here in Minneapolis. They

were fully aware of the trauma and the pain that occurred in the aftermath of George Floyd being killed. So, we expected them to hold the line. And instead, they unfortunately capitulated to the Trump administration within days of Donald Trump taking office. And so, we made sure that we took a stand here in Minneapolis by launching the target boycott. And as you know, it's spurred a lot of other actions, such as the 40-day Target fast --

COATES: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: -- the Tesla take down, the Latino freeze, and the rolling economic boycotts by the National People's Union. But from the beginning, we said that this boycott is indefinite unless and until Target decides to reverse its decision to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion and account for the 2.1 billion they pledged after George Floyd was killed.

COATES: You know, we learned today that the CEO, Cornell, going to -- he's stepping down as CEO, but he'll stay on as executive chairman. And the person taking over as CEO has been the company for two decades. That person is now the COO. Here's more from what Pastor Jamal Bryant had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: I think we're looking at the moving of peanut shells in Central Park. It's really nothing different about the ideology or their stance on DEI. It's really smoke and mirrors. Just moving the COO to the CEO is really stylish, but it has no substance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Agree, Nekima?

ARMSTRONG: Well, one, it's hard for me to agree with anything that Pastor Jamal Bryant says, and, you know, in all honesty, because of the fact that here in Minneapolis, we understand the community, we understand the culture, and we understand what Target meant to this community before it made a decision to align itself with the Trump administration.

So, I think in this instance, with the passing of the torch from BrIan Cornell to the new CEO, we are waiting and paying attention to see if this CEO takes a different course of action than Brian Cornell, which unfortunately, he demonstrated tone deaf leadership. He didn't take seriously the backlash, particularly from the black community, women and allies in saying that Target's decision to roll back DEI was completely unacceptable.

And so, I'm hoping that this new leadership ushers in a much needed change that Target owns up to its responsibilities in this situation and that they take accountability for these major missteps that they have made, which really feel like a slap in the face to consumers that have supported this company for so many years.

[23:30:03]

I also want to give a shout out to the other two founders -- co- founders of the Target boycott, Jaylani Hussein and Monique Cullars- Doty, also organizers here in the Twin Cities. So, that's important for us to correct the historical record because of the labor of black women. Too often we are erased in civil rights movements as we saw in the '50s and '60s.

But black women are leading this effort and we deserve to have our voices heard because women make up the majority of target customers to begin with. So, Target needs to understand its customer base. They need to understand the role of black women in organizing community and speaking truth to power. And they need to change from the direction that they have undertaken which again has caused us all to feel betrayed by a company that we once loved.

COATES: Nekima, thank you. Flowers given.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you, Laura.

COATES: Still ahead, a third judge delivers a third blow to the DOJ's attempt to unseal Epstein grand jury documents. And this time, he used two sets of numbers to underscore his point. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:59]

COATES: Well, tonight, the Department of Justice striking out for a third time at bat in its attempt to release grand jury material related to Jeffrey Epstein. I should say grand jury materials exclusively as opposed to the rest of the files.

A federal judge calling the request "a diversion", adding the transcripts are just "merely a hearsay snippet of Epstein's conduct". But we did get some insight into the magnitude of these documents. According to the judge, the government's 100,000 pages of Epstein materials and files dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials.

Yes, you heard that right. Seventy, as in seven-zero, compared to the 100,000 documents the DOJ actually could release, and I mean right now, if they wanted to, without a judge, on their own. One thing is for sure. This moment marks yet another day when abstinent survivors have been denied closure again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY ROBSON, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I'm in a hostage situation right now with our government. I am. You got the government has me in a position where I can't continue my healing journey because I have to process and address every day what's going on in the media and they won't rip off the Band Aid and just unseal everything that needs to be public.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: With me now, former state attorney for Palm Beach County, Dave Aronberg. Also, editor in chief of "All Rise News", Adam Klasfeld. He covered the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. Glad to have both of you here. And this is quite the rebuke from this judge, now, a third one. And Adam, how big of a rebuke is this though, given that the judge is saying essentially, you need me for the 70 pages. How about the 100,000?

ADAM KLASFELD, EDITOR IN CHIEF AND CO-FOUNDER, "ALL RISE NEWS": It's an incredible rebuke. I want to point to the word that you noted, Laura. Diversion. That was in quotes. The reason that was in quotes was because Judge Berman was quoting another federal judge who called it a diversion. And then the family, right after the ruling, the family of Virginia Giuffre came out and said that they wholeheartedly agree that this entire exercise was a diversion.

So, to unpack the gravity of all that, the people who signed this request were the two highest law enforcement officers in the land, Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, and the top prosecutor of the Southern District of New York. Two federal judges and the family of a most notable victim have said that they were engaged in a diversion. That is something that stains a tenure of a federal prosecutor, let alone the two top federal prosecutors in the land and in the district of New York.

COATESA: Let's talk about the top, the A.G. Pam Bondi, Dave, because CNN is reporting that she is reemerging following all of the backlash over her handling of the Epstein files. And we saw her last week when there was a discussion, of course, about the National Guard presence in Washington, D.C., but we hadn't seen all that much of her. Then one conservative ally is telling CNN, "It's over. She made it through. She's going to be fine." All right. You know Bondi well. You also know politics. Is she out of the woods?

DAVE ARONBERG, FORMER STATE ATTORNEY, PALM BEACH COUNTY: Yes, Laura, because she's loyal to Donald Trump. She has known Donald Trump a lot longer than her critics have. And remember, what she's doing with the Epstein files is what Donald Trump is ordering. This is Donald Trump's directive. He knows that his name is in the files. He does not want it released.

And so, she is left with those directives. Now, keep in mind, the people who are clamoring for the release of the Epstein files are within the Trump administration now -- Kash Patel, Dan Bongino. So, the calls are coming from inside the house.

[23:40:00]

And now, the attorney general is left in a very difficult position as to what to do about it. But the judges here really did something that I thought was a scolding. I was surprised by it because they did not want to be used as props. They knew that the Trump administration was trying to deflect onto them, trying to incur the wrath of the MAGA base onto them, and the judges were saying, we're not going to be any part of it. COATES: I mean, the emperor has no clothes on was essentially this

third, now, judgment from a particular judge. But Adam, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee says the former A.G. Bill Barr testified that AG Pam Bondi has the power to release these files right now. It's kind of thing like a Wizard of Oz and Ruby's got -- and Dorothy has on those slippers already. She could always go home. She could always give these documents over. They don't want to give the documents.

But the funny thing to me here, if you can find any humor and what has happened here, is that the Epstein files are now bigger than they were when she said in July she was going to release them. I'm talking about the conversation between Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell, the statements and testimony of Bill Barr. That all now adds to the pile of things that people want to hear about to understand what has happened here.

KLASFELD: Absolutely, because the diversion has backfired. And that was something that perhaps they weren't counting on. It was interesting in the judge's ruling, Judge Berman had noted in a footnote that what was going on in the House of Representatives that we are going to see the committee, at least the House Committee, will start getting files at -- by the end of this week.

And that there has been all of this motion, all this clamoring for it. And that this has been called out for what it has been an entire time, a diversion, and they need to be asked some serious questions about it.

COATES: You know, Dave, a lot of things have happened since the DOJ said there was no evidence, as we know. Public opinion has shifted back and forth in some respect in terms of how pressed people have been to get the information versus the President's statement about this all being a hoax.

Interestingly enough, we heard from Joe Rogan, who of course people credited for the 11th hour endorsement and for shifting his chances and trajectory to now win the presidency. But he had this to say when he was refusing to accept the President's claim that this is somehow all a hoax fabricated by Democrats. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE" HOST: You know, what do you do? I mean, you definitely can change the way you vote, like if it comes up again. But the problem is this is a bipartisan issue.

UNKNOWN: This is bipartisan, isn't it? I don't know. I heard it as a democratic hoax. It's --

ROGAN: Yeah, I don't think that's true. Well, it's certainly not a hoax if you go to jail. Certainly not a hoax if Ghislaine Maxwell's in jail, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Survivors -- they're clearly not a hoax themselves. Now, Dave, you thought that Pam Bondi is sort of out of the political woods. Is the President, given the fact that even some of his most staunchest supporters during his campaign, they don't think this is something to just sort of be dismissive of?

ARONBERG: This is going to hang over President Trump's head throughout his administration until they release the files, but they're not going to release the files. So, this is not going away. And the usual playbook of just calling it a Democratic hoax is not going to work on this one, because it was the right-wing base that thrived on these conspiracy theories.

This came from their side of aisle. The Democrats weren't part of this. In fact, this is all based on this conspiracy theory that it's a Democratic cabal in the Epstein file. So, if it's a Democratic hoax, why is it a Democratic cabal in the Epstein files? It doesn't make any sense. Your head's about to explode. And that's why the Joe Rogans and the manosphere are not having any of it.

COATES: Let's close the rabbit hole for a moment. Someone tells me you'll be back open very soon. Dave, Adam, thank you both so much.

ARONBERG: Thank you.

KLASFELD: Thank you.

COATES: A Fox News host caught texting about how hard she was working, except she said, and I quote, "I work so hard for the President and party." So, not Fox News? Brush it on the payroll? There's a whole lot more texts from a whole lot of more hosts. Brian Stelter breaks it down for us next.

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[23:49:00]

COATES: Fox News sued again for defamation over a 2020 election coverage -- election fraud coverage to be exact, this time by a Smartmatic. What's really interesting though are the private texts of Fox News hosts that have been revealed by court documents. All these texts reveal a singular goal -- help President Trump.

Then Fox host Jeanine Pirro, who of course is now Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney in Washington D.C., at the time, boasting to the RNC chair, "I work so hard for the party across the country. I work so hard for the President and party."

A month after the 2020 election, Jesse Watters said this to a colleague, Greg Gutfield. "Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went all in on Stop the Steal. Maria Bartiromo, message from her Trump attorney, Sidney Powell. "I'm very worried. Please, please, please overturn this. Bring the evidence. I know you can."

[23:50:00] The continued on-air references of election fraud, prompting Fox's Bret Baier to tell the Fox News executive, "None of that is true as far as we can tell. We need to fact check this crap."

And tonight, Fox News signed "The Washington Post" in a statement, quote, "The evidence shows that Smartmatic's business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump's lawyers on Fox News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damaged claims, generate headlines and chill free speech."

Let's talk to CNN chief media analyst, Brian Stelter who's also the author of "The Network of Lies, the Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump and the Battle for America." Brian, these unredacted messages reveal a real relationship between Fox News, Fox Hosts -- excuse me, Donald Trump, the Republican Party. They seem to be quite in cahoots in some ways, right? Does that seem to run counter to objective journalism?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, but Fox News wasn't founded to uphold journalism. It was founded to counter what Rupert Murdoch believed was the liberal bias of the other guys. So, you know, expecting Fox not to support Trump is like expecting a tiger to change its stripes or turn into a house cat, you know? It really is a tiger.

And these big lie lawsuits have really, really helped to underscore that and illustrate that and show the average American viewer what goes on behind the scenes. In my 20 years covering Fox News, I never thought I would actually see these kind of text messages where you have the hosts dreaming about a ratings boost by promoting lies that would benefit Trump on air.

You know, some of this evidence came out when Dominion almost went to trial against Fox in 2023. Now, this other company, Smartmatic, it's Smartmatic's turn, they're approaching trial. That's why more of this evidence is still coming out now.

And isn't it amazing, Laura? We're nearly five years since Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election with the help of his friends at Fox. Nearly five years later, we're still seeing new evidence come to light through these court cases.

COATES: Are we seeing any explanation from Fox as to why they're pushing back on the merits, but explanation as to why some of their on-air personalities were clearly promoting a candidate for the presidency? Some of them, by the way, many of them, by way, are now in the administration.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Right, they're attacking Smartmatic, trying to make sure that they, yeah, they're mostly trying to attack Smartmatic, trying to avoid having to pay out another $787 million the way they did with Dominion in 2023.

But when it comes to the actual thrust here, the actual content of these text messages, usually what you hear from Fox sources and sometimes from executives is a split personality defense to say, there's a news side and there's an opinion side. Of course, at Fox News, the opinion side is much bigger, much more popular, much higher rated.

Stars like Sean Hannity are the ones who get to sit down with President Trump immediately after the summit in Alaska last week. So, you know, it's that kind of access that these Fox stars have because they work to help Trump. They work to be his friend and to help him both on the air and off the air. And what's important about these texts is how they show the off air relationship, as well.

COATES: So, for those reasons, does the Fox audience even care?

STELTER: I do -- you know, does the audience care? I think the audience wants to hear pro-Trump messaging 24-7 on Fox. What the ratings indicate is that anything except for that, anything short of that, is actually rejected by the audience. And that speaks to a radicalization in American politics that is much bigger, much deeper than any single network.

You know, it's not just Fox News on the right anymore. Newsmax, much smaller, but is up and coming. And Newsmax actually just had to pay out a settlement in one of these big lie lawsuits to the tune of $67 million. That was also too Smartmatic. So, you see these voting technology companies that were smeared nearly five years ago finally having accountability, finally achieving justice of some form at least.

COATES: We shall see, Brian.

STELTER: Actually that one was the Dominion.

COATES: Yeah.

STELTER: See? I mixed them up.

COATES: Well, that shows you the pattern and what's happening now and how the discovery process --

STELTER: Yeah.

COATES: -- is building a lot of information. Brian, thank you so much.

STELTER: It really is.

COATES: Well, high waves, rip currents and flooding expected. Hurricane Erin unleashing its power on the East Coast with the brand new advisory from the National Hurricane Center, next.

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[23:59:06]

COATES: Breaking tonight, Hurricane Erin preparing to unleash massive 20-foot waves with wind gusts as high as 110 miles per hour as the Category two storm pushes its way along the East Coast. The National Hurricane Center, where they are calling and warning Erin that it could still strengthen in the coming hours.

Right now, North Carolina remains under a state of emergency, and thousands have already evacuated from the state's outer banks. The video we're looking at now, it shows waves from high tide flowing all the way from the beach to the parking lot at a North Carolina fishing pier. The tide's also getting awfully close to homes that are near that shoreline of the outer banks.

And while this storm is not expected to make landfall, officials tonight, they still say it's creating life-threatening rip currents up and down the entire East Coast. I want to thank you all for watching. "Anderson Cooper 360" is next.