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The Situation Room

Interview With Fmr. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA); Texas State Democrats Threatened With Arrest; Interview With Washington, D.C., Councilmember Zachary Parker. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 20, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Breaking news: tense moments just moments ago in Austin, Texas, over the state's redistricting fight and whether Democratic state representatives would be arrested for leaving the chamber.

[11:30:06]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. GINA HINOJOSA (D-TX): If I leave, if I attempt to leave this chamber today without signing a permission slip, am I subject to arrest by the government?

STATE. REP. DUSTIN BURROWS (R-TX): As I stated today, no one will be able to leave the chamber without a permission slip.

HINOJOSA: Mr. Speaker.

BURROWS: Ms. Hinojosa, for what purpose?

HINOJOSA: Parliamentary inquiry.

BURROWS: State your inquiry.

HINOJOSA: Why is an arrest under the call of the House not prohibited by Article 3, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution that prohibits members from being arrested during the legislative session?

BURROWS: See, no, that is a general question that the chair declines to answer.

HINOJOSA: Mr. Speaker.

BURROWS: Ms. Hinojosa, for what purpose?

HINOJOSA: If I attempt to leave this floor today with this call of the House on me, why am I not protected from arrest by Article 3, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution that prohibits the arrest of members during the legislative session?

BURROWS: That is a hypothetical and general question. As previously stated, the chair declines to answer those.

HINOJOSA: Mr. Speaker.

BURROWS: Ms. Hinojosa, for what purpose?

HINOJOSA: Can I walk out right now of this House without being arrested, or am I protected by Article 3 of Section 14 of the Texas Constitution?

BURROWS: There are separate provisions under the Constitution that provide for maintaining and compelling a quorum. They are separate. Ms. Hinojosa, as previously stated, under the call of the House, there are permission slips that you are welcome to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, let's go live now to CNN's Arlette Saenz in Austin.

Quite a moment there, Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is.

And it comes on the heels of that order from earlier in the week where Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows had said that Democrats could not leave the House chamber unless they signed a permission slip that had said that they would agree to having around-the-clock law enforcement escort with them until they returned back to the House chamber today.

I think we still need a little bit of clarity about what the rules in the chamber for today are, because earlier the speaker had said that they would be locking the drawers of the chamber and lawmakers would not be permitted to leave. But there were a small amount of permission slips that people could take to leave for a short period of time.

So it's a little unclear if he is in fact saying that those permission slips that the Democrats had to sign earlier in the week about supervision is what's in effect today or if this is simply another full rule for the House.

But it does come as tensions have been running high between Republicans and Democrats. We have saw those shows of protest over the past 48 hours on the House floor as State Representative Nicole Collier had refused to sign that permission slip that would have authorized the round-the-clock law enforcement escort.

She was joined last night by six more Democrats who ripped up their permission slips, saying that they would no longer adhere to that, but still a lot of questions about how exactly this will unfold in the coming hours, as these lawmakers are now moving on to debate on this redistricting bill.

BROWN: I know it's hard because you're doing this live show, but can you give us any sense of why there's cheers behind you? What's going on?

SAENZ: Yes, so, I mean, over the past three days, there have been various groups of people coming to the state capitol to show their support, mostly for the Democrats as they have tried to block these redistricting bills from happening.

And just right behind me, we are actually in the Capitol Rotunda and there's a group of several dozen supporters of these Democrats who have been speaking basically since the House floor started, trying to voice their support for what these Democrats have been doing.

But, as we know, Democrats really don't have any legislative tools available to them going forward to block these maps from being approved. It could be a matter of days once the House and Senate is able to vote on these maps and officially pass them.

BROWN: All right, Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:04]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: More National Guard troops sent by Republican governors are arriving here in the nation's capital.

This morning, troops and military vehicles were seen outside of one of Washington's biggest transit hubs. We're talking about Union Station, as President Trump tightens his control over the city's police force.

Here with us now is D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker.

Zachary, thanks so much for joining us.

What's your reaction to what's been going on in our city over these past several days?

ZACHARY PARKER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C., COUNCILMEMBER: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

I would say it's outrageous. Residents are demanding that we push back on what's happening in this city, as well as the characterization that D.C. is some slum and dangerous. And what we're hearing is that National Guardsmen are being deployed all across the city, many of them bored, not supported, because they're not meant to patrol and police a city.

[11:40:00]

We have federal officers also being deployed across the city, as well as ICE agents that are snatching individuals off of bikes and disappearing people from in front of Home Depot. Residents are fearful, unnerved, but also fighting back and speaking out in this moment.

BLITZER: Because you probably saw it. A new poll in "The Washington Post" shows that D.C. residents overwhelmingly oppose President Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., 79 percent. Just 17 percent support the decision.

What are you hearing from your residents, the residents that you represent?

PARKER: That's right, 79 percent of Washingtonians, which aligns with the majority of Americans that are resisting and pushing back on what's happening in the nation's capital.

I would say we are hearing of very unlawful acts by unnamed, unmarked individuals, some of which are wearing masks. Parents are fearful of what it will mean to send their kids to school next week for the beginning of school. And we are seeing pretextual stops and I.D. checks in our roadways.

This is not about crime. This is about power and control. And it's important for us to properly frame what is happening in the nation's capital, because, if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.

BLITZER: President Trump, as you know, has already declared victory with his National Guard maneuver. I want you to listen and watch this. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a thing going on right now in D.C. We went from the most unsafe place anywhere to a place that now people, friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up, and they're saying, sir, I want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years. And Washington, D.C., is safe. And you did that in four days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How do you respond to the president?

PARKER: What we do know is that the federal government is wasting millions of dollars through this political stunt that is not making residents safer. In fact, when you look at the numbers, the federal government is producing worse outcomes than our Metropolitan Police Department would on an average night normally.

And it just doesn't track with the facts.

BLITZER: A lot of observers here in Washington, myself included, have noted that these federal troops are mainly in the city's tourist areas, the National Mall, Union Station, the big railroad station here in Washington and elsewhere, but they're not necessarily in neighborhoods where crime and shootings are still taking place. Is that your understanding?

PARKER: That is my understanding. We are seeing National Guardsmen deployed near metro stations and on federal properties.

And I want to be clear, our National Guardsmen are heroes. They signed up to serve in moments of crisis and to assist with logistics, not to police and patrol the nation's capital. That said, we are seeing a surge of federal officers that are harassing individuals in all quadrants of our city, that are posing real risk to Washingtonians.

And it's important for Americans, wherever you live, to stand with us in this moment.

BLITZER: All right, Zachary Parker, thanks so much for joining us.

PARKER: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: Good luck to you and good luck to all the people here in the nation's capital. I appreciate it very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, still to come: California Democrats are now one step closer as they try to counter what Texas Republicans are doing to the congressional maps.

More on this escalating fight that could be felt nationwide ahead in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:47:47]

BROWN: Happening now: California Democrats are one step closer to approving a ballot measure that paves the way for new congressional maps. Lawmakers in Sacramento are trying to get a ballot referendum pass that could potentially net Democrats five more seats in Washington and the 2026 midterms.

The measure still needs to pass the full Assembly and Senate before it goes to voters for final approval. And this push comes as Texas Republicans inch closer to approving new congressional maps that would create five additional Republican-leaning House districts.

Katie Porter joins us now. She was a Democratic congresswoman representing California and is now running for governor.

Thanks for joining us.

So you have supported this move by Democrats, but does all of this undermine the independent redistricting process?

FMR. REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA): Absolutely not.

As I'm traveling the state running for governor, what I'm hearing over and over again from people is that they want California to push back and be a check on Donald Trump. They want someone who's going to fight for and protect our democracy. And that's exactly what California is doing here.

We are using democratic tools, putting this directly to the people of California, giving them a say about whether or not they want to redraw these maps because of what -- the undemocratic extreme action of a gerrymandered Texas legislature that's now going to act to even further gerrymander congressional districts.

BROWN: What do you say to those who argue, look, two wrongs don't make a right, and now this is just going to have a cascade effect? What do you say?

PORTER: What California is doing is very different than what Texas is doing. First, California was hopeful that, if we said that we would do this, that Texas would stand down, that they would go back to what we have seen, which is redistricting only following a census. They have not.

Second, the Texas legislature is the one acting here, a deeply gerrymandered legislature. In California, who's going to make this decision? The people of California. So we are using a democratic tool to reshape our democracy in response to the extreme undemocratic, authoritarian activity that we are seeing of Washington. And the last thing I will say is, this is temporary.

[11:50:00]

Built into the language that Californians will be considering is the fact that this will -- California will return to its really leading, groundbreaking, very, very, very excellent, independent redistricting process here in just a couple of years.

So this is a response to what I hope will be short-lived, antidemocratic authoritarian activity out of Washington.

BROWN: Have you been in conversations with any other Democrats about trying to redistrict in other states?

PORTER: I have not talked to them about that, but I have had a lot of people in California ask me about this, everything from people that I'm talking to when I'm shopping for groceries to other elected officials.

I think that we are going to see a lot of other states have to think about what to do. I think what Texas and what Trump has pushed Texas to do here is to set off what could be a whole rash of changes in how we vote. We're already seeing Trump step up this game and now attack mail-in voting, which is widely used in California; 81 percent of Californians voted by mail in our last election.

And now we're seeing Trump try to attack mail-in elections, vote by mail. So I think we are going to have to see other states try to consider what to do if Trump is going to continue to have fundamentally attack our democracy.

BROWN: Which other Democratic-controlled states would you want to see take on this effort?

PORTER: Well, I think every state, not just Democratically-controlled states, ought to be stepping up in this moment. I think we're seeing some real bravery coming out of folks in Texas, who are saying, we don't want to do this. We're seeing legislatures try to -- legislators try to push back.

We're seeing citizens of Texas try to push back. And so I would love to see other states, all states step up in this moment and try to have independent redistricting commissions, which most of our gerrymandered states, obviously, they do not. So there's an opportunity here not just to do what California's done, but for lots of states to actually stop gerrymandering and move toward an independent redistricting commission, which is still the gold standard of how to do this.

California is not backing away from what we have done. We are keeping that system. This is a short-term response to an emergency, to a crisis of democracy that's been provoked by Donald Trump and Republicans.

BROWN: I want to play for you what one California Republican assemblyman had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. DAVID TANGIPA (R-CA): We should prove by example that we can do this better, that we create the foundations for the rest of the nation because it's supposed to go as California goes to nation. That's -- we have lost that. And that's what we have seen and heard today. I mean, we can't even read our own bill, but we will decide to present it and vote on it too?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Why is he wrong? And how do you think Governor Newsom is handling this with his aggressive stance toward the Trump administration?

PORTER: Well, look, Republicans in Washington, D.C., had the opportunity, including California Republicans, to vote for national redistricting, national independent redistricting commissions, H.R.1, the For the People Act, when I was in Congress just a few years ago.

And do you know how many Republicans voted for that bill? Zero. None. We had the opportunity in Congress for Republicans, including California Republicans, to say, we think independent redistricting should be adopted in every single state in this country with each state doing their own independent nonpartisan redistricting process.

Republicans opposed that. So it is incredibly hypocritical for them to now act like they are some champions of a system that they refused to support and put in place. And had that bill passed, we wouldn't be seeing Texas do what it's doing right now, and we wouldn't be seeing the response from California that we're seeing.

As I'm traveling the state as governor talking to people, people, whether they have agreed with everything about Gavin Newsom or not, they are glad he is fighting back. I think Americans want a check on President Trump, including some people I have talked to who voted for President Trump. But they think he too must follow the Constitution, he too must obey the law.

And they understand that this 2026 congressional election is our chance, our only chance in the next two years to put a check on President Trump's effort to trample our Constitution.

BROWN: All right, former California Congresswoman Katie Porter, thanks so much.

PORTER: Thank you.

BROWN: And new this morning, a heart-wrenching hearing is under way in Texas. For the first time, the parents of those killed in the July 4 flooding are testifying before state lawmakers.

A coalition representing the loved ones of victims was launched by Camp Mystic families. I was a camper there as a child and I, you may recall, went back there to cover this tragic loss of the 27 campers and staffers. The coalition's goal is to ensure the future safety of children's camps. Let's listen to some of that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CICI STEWARD, MOTHER OF VICTIM: But that assurance was betrayed. Obvious commonsense safety measures were absent. Protocols that should have been in place were ignored.

[11:55:07]

As a result, my daughter was stolen from us. Cile's life ended not because of an unavoidable act of nature, but because of preventable failures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And, sadly, her daughter's body still has not been recovered. We are praying that it is to give her family some sort of closure.

Camp Mystic is an all-girls Christian camp on a flood-prone site along the Guadalupe River. Heavy rains unleashed flash flooding and a torrent of water that struck the camp in the middle of the night. State lawmakers are considering new safety requirements for camps.

BLITZER: So sad, indeed, and I know so personal for you, having been a camper there. Just heartbreaking to hear that mom.

BROWN: It really is. And we just pray that her daughter's body is found.

BLITZER: Yes, let's hope. Thanks.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is next right after a short break.