'This Week' Transcript 8-23-26: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

JONATHAN KARL, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: It’s Canada versus the United States. A new trade war with America’s closest ally has begun. “THIS WEEK” starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Trade negotiations with Canada collapsed at the eleventh hour.

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We can’t control the storm that blows in from Washington.

KARL: And, fever pitch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not want a data center in this county.

KARL: Bipartisan backlash over A.I. data centers reaches a crescendo with Texas at the epicenter.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: I have pressed pause on any new data center.

KARL: A central issue going into the midterms.

Why are Texas voters so unhappy with the Republicans right now?

Critical battles play out in the Lone Star State.

But I'm asking you right now --

ABBOTT: The same ideology of Mamdani is on the ballot box in the state of Texas.

KARL: But I’m asking you about what Trump is doing.

This morning, we’re on the ground in Austin for an exclusive interview with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. And Elizabeth Schulze is on the road.

ELIZABETH SCHULZE, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This has already been going on for three hours. No sign of stopping.

KARL: White House makeover.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It’s very exciting. Very exciting.

KARL: And --

DAVID HUME KENNERLY, FORMER CHIEF WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHER: President Ford once told me, your tombstone should read, here lies the worst source in Washington.

KARL: We sit down with Pulitzer Prize winner and former chief White House photographer David Kennerly to discuss his new book, “In the Room: 60 Years on the Front Lines of History.”

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News it’s “THIS WEEK,” Here now, Jonathan Karl.

KARL: Good morning. Welcome to “THIS WEEK.”

We will get to our exclusive interview with Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a moment. But we begin with breaking news involving America’s relationship with our closest ally. This weekend, tense trade negotiations broke down, triggering major new U.S. tariffs against Canada, with the Canadian prime minister vowing to match those tariffs dollar for dollar. Prime Minister Mark Carney declaring, quote, “America has changed.”

Let’s get right to senior political correspondent Rachel Scott at the White House.

Good morning, Rachel.

We seem to be witnessing a breakdown in relations with Canada that seems to go beyond trade.

RACHEL SCOTT, ABC NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, good morning to you.

And this really did come down to the wire. These talks completely collapsing between the U.S. and Canada. And this morning, Americans are now bracing for an all-out trade war with one of our closest allies and also our neighbor to the north.

So, President Trump has now imposed a 50 percent tariff on about $20 billion in Canadian goods. He says that Canada wants the benefits of being a state without actually being one. Well, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, is not backing down. He says that Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar, imposing tariffs on a sweeping amount of goods, apparel, electronics, paper goods and steel. And that would start on September 8th. So that means, for Americans here at home, they could see prices increase. We could also see small businesses be hit.

But, John, listen, you mentioned it here. And this goes far beyond trade because this also impacts our relationship with Canada. And Carney did not mince words. He says that America is attacking Canada, at one point even comparing it to being at war with America.

John.

KARL: Striking.

Rachel, I want to ask you about something else that we’re just hearing. “The New York Times” has reported that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and all-purpose envoy, met recently with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries. What do you know about this?

SCOTT: Yes, John. And I just got off the phone with a source who is confirming that Kushner did, in fact, meet with Leader Jeffries in recent weeks. I’m told the focus of this was try to find some common ground on where Democrats and the Trump administration could work together. That certainly is striking as we’re less than 75 days to the midterm elections and Democrats are hoping to retake the House, John.

KARL: Thank you, Rachel.

We turn now to an issue shaking up the midterm elections. Voter anger and anxiety about artificial intelligence, especially the massive data centers being built across the country. Those data centers powered the incredible advancements we are seeing in A.I. They’ve brought construction jobs, and they also use a heck of a lot of electricity and water, sometimes driving up the price of both for neighboring communities. That’s helped trigger a big voter backlash. And political leaders in both parties are scrambling to respond.

We’ve been tracking it all, and so has our Elizabeth Schulze.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not want a data center in this county.

ELIZABETH SCHULZE, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In communities across the country, the backlash against the rapid buildout of A.I. data centers is reaching a fever pitch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not consent.

SCHULZE (voice over): We went inside a town hall in rural Franklin County, Missouri.

SCHULZE: This has already been going on for three hours. No sign of stopping.

SCHULZE (voice over): For 13 hours, hundreds of residents uniting in protest of two proposed data centers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This issue brings Republicans and Democrats together.

SCHULZE (voice over): For months, our team has documented battles like this one playing out from coast to coast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need clarity, and we need it now.

SCHULZE (voice over): Tech giants are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the massive facilities that store thousands of computer chips and keep A.I. running, promising they’ll bring jobs and spur capital investment in their communities. But many residents fear data centers will spike utility bills, drain water resources and destroy farmland. The issue exploding ahead of the midterms, defying traditional party lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He’s been called the face of data centers in Ohio.

SCHULZE (voice over): In a private memo this week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warning top A.I. companies that data centers could be killing the party’s chances of holding the key Senate seat in Ohio. In Michigan this week, Republican Senate Candidate Mike Rogers backtracked, coming out in support of a one-year moratorium on new data centers.

MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE & FORMER CONGRESSMAN: I think we need to take a pause, probably, and make sure that we’re answering all the questions that people have on them.

SCHULZE (voice over): And in Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who spent years courting data centers --

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: They don’t have to look any further than right here in our commonwealth.

SCHULZE (voice over): This week imposed new restrictions on them.

SHAPIRO: They shouldn’t get a tax break for gouging our communities.

SCHULZE (voice over): Some Republican governors also joining the opposition.

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: You should not, as a hard-working Floridian, have to subsidize some of the wealthiest companies in the history of humanity.

SCHULZE (voice over): Texas Governor Greg Abbott once dubbed his state the epicenter of A.I. development.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: That truly is a Texas-sized investment in our state.

SCHULZE (voice over): An ABC News analysis found Texas is now among the states with the most data centers, with more than 300 in operation and at least 200 more in the pipeline. But as opposition grows in Texas communities --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my investment, my home, and it’s being ruined.

SCHULZE (voice over): The issue roils the governor’s re-election campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greg Abbott. Abbott took $20 million in campaign donations from data center executives and companies, and he gave them billions in tax breaks.

SCHULZE (voice over): Abbott now reversing course.

ABBOTT: We must prohibit them from building A.I. data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods.

SCHULZE (voice over): Putting a freeze on new data center projects as the state audits them for energy, water usage and tax incentives. A move President Trump called a mistake.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For Texas to say no to data centers is a mistake in the sense that it could be bigger than oil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: As you heard Elizabeth report, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott once vowed to make his state the, quote, “epicenter of the A.I. industry.” Now he has put in place a moratorium on data center construction. That issue, along with inflation and anxiety about the Iran War is among the factors that have Texas Republicans nervous about the midterms. The non-partisan Cook Political Report, which rates elections across the country, this week rated the Texas Senate race a toss-up, suggesting Democrats have a real chance of winning a seat they haven’t won in decades.

We traveled to Austin to talk to the Lone Star State’s most powerful Republican, a leader who is also facing a tougher than expected campaign for re-election as governor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Governor Abbott, thank you for having us.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: Great to have you in Texas.

KARL: So, how much anger and concern are you hearing out there about data centers?

ABBOTT: So, listen, what we’ve been focused on is responding to concerns that have been raised about data centers and making sure that we have created a structure that’s going to do more than any state to solve the problem. As governor, I have outlined the greatest detail and most comprehensive plan of any governor in the United States of America to respond to the data center challenge.

Let me tell you what I’ve done. I have pressed pause on any new data center being able to join the operations in the state of Texas. I --

KARL: And other governors have done the same. Yes.

ABBOTT: And -- well, here’s the deal. During that pause, I have set guidelines and guardrails that all data centers have to comply with. Number one, they must identify what water usage they’re demanding and make clear they are not taking water from communities that need it. Number two, they must not take power from the Texas power grid that’s needed. Number three, they must actually lower the cost of electricity for consumers.

Number four, they need to make sure that they are not disturbing neighborhoods or rural communities.

These are standards that are now being universally applied by all the data centers in the state of Texas.

KARL: But you're -- I mean, we see it not just in Texas. We see it all over the country. I mean some of these town hall meetings, some of these public hearings, real anger.

What is driving it? Is it the energy costs? Is it the -- what is driving the anger?

ABBOTT: So --

KARL: You're out there talking to people.

ABBOTT: One thing is the rapidity that these data centers are coming online, that people didn't see coming. The other is the way that the data centers, they didn't do their job to get the support of people in local communities. Gaining the support of people in local communities is essential.

Because they did not do that, that's why I am now coming in as governor saying, listen, if you're a data center and you want to operate in Texas, you have to first get the approval of those in local communities.

KARL: In the community, that makes sense.

ABBOTT: And that's why I set that standard.

KARL: But --

ABBOTT: No data centers disturbing local communities in Texas.

KARL: It was last year that you said that Texas was the epicenter of the A.I. industry. In hindsight, did Texas move too fast?

ABBOTT: It wasn't Texas that was moving fast, it was these data centers.

KARL: But they needed approval from, you know, from in -- from the government.

ABBOTT: Well, so what data centers we're doing, and this is the problem that we are facing here in Texas, but you mentioned what's going on nationally.

KARL: Sure.

ABBOTT: And that is, they pop up in places that nobody ever heard of before, until they started the construction. And so they had not been working in collaboration with the state, they'd not been in collaboration with local governments, and so they basically dug their own grave for the problem that's been caused for them, and that's why they got the backlash they deserve.