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Europe Rallies Behind Ukraine Ahead Of Trump-Putin Summit; GOP Gov. Abbott Warns Standoff With Dems Could "Last Years"; Trial Over Trump's National Guard Deployment In CA Starts Tomorrow; Midwest Braces For More Flooding As Storm Threat Grows; Israeli Hostage Families Call For Nationwide Strike; Sanders Takes His Progressive Message To Deep-Red West Virginia; Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Duncan Leaves GOP To Become A Democrat. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 10, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:39]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. Right now, a diplomatic scramble is underway as President Trump prepares. To meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nations across Europe are rushing to understand the terms of Trump's Alaskan summit with Putin this week and they're pushing the White House to include Ukraine in peace talks to end Russia's war.

Today, CNN is learning Trump has not ruled out inviting Ukraine's President Zelenskyy to Alaska. But as many details remain in flux, some Ukrainians are skeptical anything will come from this week's meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While they are negotiating something there, people are dying. If they could make a deal or wanted to, they would have had already done it. This is just for show to calm society down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that if Trump wanted to end the war, he has every opportunity to do so. You can't play games with Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine and CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House.

Nick, to you first, what are officials in Ukraine saying about this meeting between Putin and Trump?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think at this stage, the Ukrainians are still essentially trying to understand what initially emerged from that Moscow meeting between Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin and with some success, imposing their version of events already shared with European officials upon their European allies and trying to have that translated into a different understanding by this particular Trump White House.

A series of important meetings, the chief of staff of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, just speaking to the British national security advisor. A number of other similar level meetings happening in London between European security advisers and Ukrainian officials and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.

It appears that initially there may have been some misunderstanding about exactly what had been on offered, and they're still trying to elucidate key details as to exactly what the first gambit put out there by Vladimir Putin indeed was.

Is he suggesting that there could be a ceasefire, a freezing of the front lines if he gets the rest of the Donetsk region? Is the proposal more complex and closer to his maximalist goals?

Is there indeed, as President Trump suggested, a swapping of territory that could perhaps be done? What would that look like? What could potentially of Ukraine that's occupied could Ukraine get back in exchange for giving more of Ukraine to Russia?

That's certainly how Ukrainians see it. But a lot of concern about Friday and the Europeans late yesterday, echoed by more European nations, the Nordic ones in a separate statement putting out today their version of what they want to see happening here, which is as it has been for a substantial number of months now, originally, a U.S. proposal backed by the Europeans and Ukraine that emerged from talks between the U.S. and Ukraine in the Gulf a number of months ago.

First of all, an unconditional, immediate ceasefire. That's been a request for some time. It was echoed again in a European visit to Kyiv in May. It's now the bedrock of what the Europeans and Ukraine want to see before there can be negotiations.

And then key to their position as well, that the current first point for negotiations should be the current line of contact. Essentially, let's look at where we are now along the front lines, freeze that and then begin negotiations under a ceasefire.

That's very far away from what we're looking at potentially in Alaska, which for now, in the eyes of the Kremlin is a bilateral summit about getting the Moscow-Washington relationship back on track.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick, thank you so much.

Kevin, to you at the White House, so is the White House responding at all to demands being made from European officials saying Ukraine needs to be at the table?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, they do seem at least open to hearing out some of these concerns that you've been hearing from Europe and Ukraine about this summit on Friday. And we saw that play out yesterday.

J.D. Vance, the vice president, hosting European and Ukrainian officials in the English countryside to hear out some of their concerns and to listen to the parameters that they say have to be part of any talks with Vladimir Putin.

[14:04:50]

LIPTAK: In particular, and perhaps most urgently, that Ukraine not be left to the side as its own fate is discussed.

And now President Trump is hearing from leaders directly in Europe about some of this. He talked yesterday with the Finnish President Alexander Stubb. And we heard from the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier today in an interview, saying that he plans to get on the phone with President Trump and that the European leaders hope and assume, quote, "that Zelenskyy will be part of these meetings on Friday".

Now, the White House is not ruling that out, but it does seem evident that that is not, at this point, front of mind. They say that the priority now is arranging this one-on-one meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin.

They're not ruling out inviting Zelenskyy. And President Trump has made clear that eventually, at some point, he wants to bring Putin and Zelenskyy together for a trilateral meeting.

We did hear from the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is a close ally of President Trump. He said that at this meeting on Friday, Putin would, quote, "test President Trump". And he reiterated that eventually Zelenskyy would have to be part of the discussions.

Listen to more of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: If Putin is serious and Putin then has to commit to sit down with Zelenskyy. He cannot do this through President Trump. In the end, it has to be, as President Trump has stated himself, a three-way conversation at least, with the Europeans heavily involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, we also heard earlier today from Matt Whitaker, who is the U.S. ambassador to NATO, who said it was, quote, "possible" that Zelenskyy is invited to Alaska, but that a decision hadn't been made yet. He said there was still time to make that decision.

We also heard from the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was on the golf course yesterday with President Trump, saying that he hopes Zelenskyy is part of these discussions, that he will leave it up to the White House.

Now, ultimately, Zelenskyy and Ukraine will have to be part of these discussions. President Trump cannot unilaterally agree to a peace in Ukraine without Zelenskyy involved. That's a reality that the White House acknowledges.

But it's clear at this point that the priority is very much getting together the logistics and the policy for this meeting on Friday, which will be very, very important, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And that with the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. saying Zelenskyy, if he is invited to the meeting, whether it be in Alaska or elsewhere, he'll be ready to go wherever, whenever.

All right. Kevin Liptak and Nick Paton Walsh, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

So now to this country's redistricting fight in Texas, where the state's Republican governor today is warning there may be no end in sight to the standoff with Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): This could literally last years because in Texas, I'm authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days. And as soon as this one is over, I'm going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: But nearly a week after they fled the state, Texas Democrats show no sign of backing down.

Former Democratic congressman, Beto O'Rourke, who has been fundraising for the protesting Democrats, says Texans won't bend the knee to President Trump's effort to add more GOP seats in the state ahead of next year's midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETO O'ROURKE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN FROM TEXAS: He thinks -- he thinks that we are going to take it right here, but he doesn't understand. In Texas, our knees do not bend. That doesn't work here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Leigh Waldman is in New York following this for us. Leigh, what's the reaction in Texas to all of this?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Texas voters are concerned about this special session being essentially hijacked from what was intentionally called for.

We spoke to real Texans, real voters, about their take on this whole situation. And we have to remind people about why this special session was called.

It was called in response to that deadly flooding that happened on the Fourth of July that left more than 130 people, including children, dead. This was called to try and find solutions, ways to prevent this from happening again.

Take a listen to what some people told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAT DIXON, TEXAS RESIDENT: When you ask about real Texans, of course there's -- everybody's going to be claim to be the real Texan. I'm a Republican, I'm a real Texan. I'm a Democrat, I'm a real Texan.

But I think what is probably unified is if the special session does not result in anything that's going to mitigate the next flood or the next disaster that's going to impact people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: And to again, draw this all back to why this was started here. There's only been two hearings so far in this special session, trying to address those flooding concerns, trying to figure out exactly what went wrong on the fourth of July that led to this devastating disaster that we saw in the Texas Hill Country.

[14:09:54]

WALDMAN: When it comes to the redistricting hearings that have happened, there's been many more than that. And we've seen several pieces of legal action being taken. The rhetoric ramping up, ratcheting up here in the days since the Democrats left the state.

The Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announcing he's filing a lawsuit to try and have 13 of those House Representatives removed from their positions. Officials are asking courts in California and also in Illinois to enforce these civil arrest warrants that we've seen issued.

And again, petitioning the Texas Supreme Court to have Representative Gene Wu removed from his position there.

Real Texans are concerned about the way this special session is going, trying to redistrict the state. They're concerned that this will continue to happen again and again as the governor has mentioned, that he will continue to call these special sessions, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Leigh Waldman, thanks so much.

All right. Hours from now, the battle over the president's use of the National Guard heads to federal court. Why California is suing the Trump administration over its deployment of the National Guard.

Plus deadly storms ripping through the Midwest, record-breaking rainfall, flooding roads and prompting rescues. Now, more rain is on the way.

And disaster leading to an incredible recovery in Texas. Ancient signs of life over 100 million years old.

[14:11:21]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Starting tomorrow, a federal judge will begin hearing arguments in a lawsuit against the Trump administration. California is challenging the legality of President Trumps use of National Guard troops for law enforcement in the state over Governor Gavin Newsom's objections.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is joining us right now. Julia, what more can you tell us about this upcoming trial?

All right, Julia, if you can hear me, you can take it from here. What is expected at the trial tomorrow?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, Fred, I think we had some technical difficulties there.

But look, this case is about so much more than just one deployment here. It's really testing how far a president can go in taking control of a state's National Guard. The White House has cited this really rarely-used law that allows the federalization of the guard during rebellion, invasion, or if regular forces can't enforce U.S. laws. It's only the second time in history that a president has used that statute in this way, Fred.

California's lawsuit names Trump Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department, arguing that the president basically had no legal authority and asking the court to block any future deployments without the consent of a governor.

Now, the state's legal argument centered on three different claims. One of them is that sending the guard violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from acting as civilian police; and that it infringed on California's rights under the 10th amendment. The amendment that gives states their own rights.

It also argues that the Defense Department's actions broke administrative law by bypassing the governor entirely.

Trump's lawyers, though, say that the troops, along with those small number of Marines that were sent here back in June, were limited to just guarding federal property and personnel, and they didn't engage in policing, and that the president acted very well within his powers, Fred.

Now, Judge Charles Breyer, who is hearing this case, he previously ruled that the protest didn't meet the legal definition of an insurrection and that the Trump exceeded his authority in that.

And though this appeals court paused an order that he had ordered on that same day, allowing the deployment to continue for now.

At this point, almost two months after the federalization of the National Guard, 300 National Guard members are still on duty here in Los Angeles although 4,700 of them have already been demobilized.

This trial is set to begin in San Francisco tomorrow, with proceedings scheduled to go through Wednesday, Fred.

And although that could be extended, the ruling of Judge Breyer will shape how the future of the presidents can use force inside U.S. soil, especially against the will of a governor, in this case.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

All right. Now take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Oh my (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Pretty amazing right? Record-breaking rainfall in parts of Wisconsin turned streets into rivers and left cars and trucks like that. I mean, the water is so high, you had water pouring out of the vehicle. The Wisconsin state fair even had to be canceled for the rest of the weekend. We'll take you there next.

[14:19:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following extreme weather developments out of the Midwest today after a round of strong storms and heavy rainfall, flooded roads and creeks across parts of Wisconsin.

This was the scene outside Milwaukee -- a torrent of water tearing through town. Milwaukee saw a month and a half worth of rain in just hours, setting a new daily record for the region.

The Wisconsin State Fair was forced to shut down early Saturday, canceling a performance by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The fair announced it will not reopen today.

Plus, intense storms in Nebraska with winds up to 80 miles per hour, killing one person and critically injuring another on Saturday. Two housing units at the state penitentiary were also damaged, displacing nearly 400 inmates. State authorities say all staff and prisoners are accounted for.

[14:24:47]

WHITFIELD: All right. The threat of more storms in the region is growing today.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the latest developments. Allison, what's ahead in the forecast?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're actually watching two potential areas for excessive rainfall today. The first is going to be across portions of the southeast.

The second is for areas of the Midwest stretching back into the Central Plains, some of the same areas that dealt with flooding in the last 24 hours, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and portions of Kansas, especially this red shaded area right through here, including Kansas City and Wichita. This is where we have that level three out of four risk for potential flooding.

We've already had ongoing storms today. They will continue well into the evening. In fact, you can see the large section of the secondary system that's going to be making its way through overnight tonight.

That will continue to spread across many of the same areas that already have a completely saturated ground from the previous day's storms. And it will last well into Monday.

In addition to the threat for flooding, we also have the potential for some severe thunderstorms. The main threat is going to be damaging winds and that stretches from Michigan all the way back to Colorado and New Mexico.

Also could have some large hail, especially in the western portion of these storms where you see the yellow shaded area. And that includes Denver. That's where we could be looking at some pretty significant- sized hail, especially into the afternoon and evening hours.

Here's a look at the overall rainfall totals. Most of these areas are looking at an extra 2 to 4 inches. That may not sound like all that much, but keep in mind, in the last 24 hours, some of these areas have already picked up 3 to 5 inches of rain, and now were adding even more on top of it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right. The families of hostages being held in Gaza are calling for a nationwide strike in Israel next week. We'll go live to the Middle East next and hear what Israel's prime minister is saying about his plan to occupy Gaza City.

[14:26:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:12]

WHITFIELD: New today, families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza are calling for a nationwide strike. They're angry over the Israeli government plan to occupy Gaza City and expand the war.

The plan is also facing condemnation from countries around the world, including Germany, which says it will withhold arms sales to Israel if they end up being used in Gaza.

CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann is with us now.

Oren, how much support do the calls for a nationwide strike have at this point?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Fredericka, organizers say they're already getting what they see as a tremendous amount of support, just, you know, 8 to 10, 12 hours or so after they launched this call for a nationwide strike, which is supposed to take place a week from today.

So next Sunday, organizers say within eight hours of calling for this strike, some 10,000 private companies, including high tech firms, venture capital funds and many others have already said they'll participate in the strike. So, they see this as a tremendous outpouring of support, not only for the strike itself, but also for what they see as a wake up call to the government to essentially put the hostages and the need to make a deal to bring them home and end the war at the top of the priority list there.

Now, it is worth pointing out that the major labor organization in the country called Histadrut has said it will not issue essentially a call for participating in this strike. That would be a major step by them and could truly have a major impact on the economy. This is what organizers here are going for. It looks like they already have a lot of grassroots support, and that's how they want this to grow. We will certainly keep an eye on this. Some Israeli opposition politicians have already voiced their support and said they too, will join in the strike as a way of trying to put pressure on the government to end the war and bring the hostages home.

WHITFIELD: And, Oren, the prime minister, spoke today. What did he say?

LIEBERMANN: Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave two press conferences today, one to local media, one to international media. He had two major points. One was trying to justify this major escalation in the war in what will be an occupation and takeover of Gaza City, an operation he says could begin quite soon with the evacuation of Gaza City. What used to be the largest and most populated city in the entire besieged territory here.

He said, in his view, and how he sees it, this is the quickest and best way to end the war. Now, of course, that flies in the face of what a majority of Israeli society believes. We see that repeated polling. We see that in the calls for the strike. But Netanyahu has pressed forward nevertheless, even in the face of opposition from his own Israeli military chief.

The other point he made, and we've seen him repeat this, this insist this point before is that he said there is no starvation in Gaza and that Israel has let in nearly 2 million tons of aid since the beginning of the war. He accused and blamed Hamas of diverting and looting that aid and creating those shortages.

Fredricka, it's worth pointing out that he said this on a day that the Palestinian ministry of health said five more people have died of malnutrition in Gaza, bringing that total to 217, including 100 children who have died of malnutrition.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh. All right. Oren Liebermann, thanks so much.

All right. Let's get more on this now. Sabrina Singh is with us. She is a global affairs commentator and former deputy Pentagon press secretary.

Great to see you, Sabrina.

So, Netanyahu says Gaza City is still a Hamas stronghold. Is it and is that the justification for occupying of Gaza City?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, I think you're continuing to see a revision of what the intentions and goals are of the Israeli military. I mean, you might remember last year, it was Rafah that was the stronghold of Hamas, that Netanyahu said as soon as soon as we expel Hamas from Rafah and go into that corridor, then essentially we would have purged Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

[14:35:08]

And so, I think you're seeing, you know, these goalposts kind of move, with the Israeli government. But I think one thing is very clear that if they conduct operations within Gaza City, you're going to have to displace so many people. And again, that's going to -- it just exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation on the ground.

Right now, you only have small distribution sites available for humanitarian aid in the south. Moving people out of Gaza City is going to make that that crisis even worse. And so that's why you're seeing such outcry from the, you know, the international community and of course, within Israel itself.

WHITFIELD: I mean, there has been global condemnation of the Gaza City plan and Israeli hostage families are now calling for a nationwide strike. Is that enough to potentially pressure Netanyahu to step back?

SINGH: Look, Netanyahu has proven to be a very shrewd individual that has been able to balance the different power levers within his government. I think the strike certainly brings attention to the fact that we have not gotten all these hostages home, and that should be the priority of the Israeli government.

And so, to conduct operations where, in theory, many of these hostages are being held is going to put their lives at risk. And so that's why I think not only are you seeing growing concern and outcry, potentially, it could pressure, Netanyahu to, you know, maybe reconsider this decision.

But I don't know that that will be the case. I think there's going to have to be -- you know, he's not even listening to his own military advisers that going into Gaza City does not serve the purpose that he thinks it would, and it would intend. So, you know, it remains to be seen what that strike would do.

WHITFIELD: Is there a role that Arab nations could play in Gaza right now?

SINGH: Well, you're already seeing Arab nations contribute to the humanitarian efforts. What does a -- you know, a leadership look like in the Gaza strip? After these military operations are conducted, that was actually something that we continued to press the Israeli government on. What is your day after plan? And we never got that. And so, could Arab nations have a role? Absolutely. But we have no

plan for what that looks like after military operations are concluded. And so that's what I think this administration, the Trump administration, needs to continue to push the Netanyahu government on is what is your plan for when you actually conduct and wrap up your operation?

WHITFIELD: And then what about the Trump administration? You know, we're already seeing some fissures between the U.S. and Netanyahu because of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. At the same time, it wasn't that long ago that we heard President Trump boasting about turning Gaza into a resort or the riviera of some sort. So -- so then really, what kind of leverage does the U.S. have here?

SINGH: Well, the United States has a tremendous amount of leverage. I mean, we are continuing to supply the Israelis with arms that they conduct their operations both offensive and defensive, different types of military capabilities. But I think what's important here to note is clearly the imagery of children crying and starving in these lines to just get aid, to just get food clearly resonated with the president. And so, he took that to heart and said, you know, more humanitarian aid needs to get in.

But again, we don't have a day after plan from the Israeli government. And I think that is what this administration really needs to be pushing on is if you want to -- you know, I mean, Donald Trump himself acknowledged that nearly 90 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. So, what does rebuilding Gaza look like? We don't have a clear understanding of what that is yet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sabrina Singh, great to see you. Thanks so much.

All right. Still ahead, 40 people per cell, five minute meals and handcuffed trips to the bathroom. What a man says he endured inside the controversial detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:42]

WHITFIELD: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is spending this congressional recess on what he calls his Fighting Oligarchy Tour. The progressive senator's goal is to help Democrats find their footing among working class Americans and reclaim power next November.

CNN's Dana Bash sat down with Sanders in the deep red state of West Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): This used to be, decades ago, one of the strongest Democratic states in the country. Now it's a strong Republican state, because I think, in many ways, the Democratic Party has turned its back on what was its space. But I think our job and what -- the reason I'm here and the reason we go to red states all over the country is to make it clear that there are some of us who are prepared to stand up for the working class. And if we become -- if we stand together, if we're united, if we don't let Trump divide us up, there's no stopping what we can do as a nation in terms of improving life for ordinary people.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: You said the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class.

You said something pretty tough when you were speaking to this crowd about Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: One of the reasons, in my view, that Kamala Harris lost the election is, she had too many billionaires telling her not to speak up for the working class of this country.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:45:00]

BASH: Ouch.

SANDERS: Well, no, I think -- I mean, I don't think that that's -- I like Kamala. She's a friend of mine.

But she was -- her core consultants were heavily influenced by very wealthy people. How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crises facing working families? You have more income and wealth inequality today than we have ever had. You have 60 percent of our people living paycheck to paycheck.

You have got a health care system which is broken and dysfunctional. And despite spending so much, we're the only major country not to guarantee health care to all people. How do you not talk about those issues?

BASH: She talked about affordability.

SANDERS: Well, but in a vague -- I don't want to rehash that campaign.

BASH: Yes.

SANDERS: But I think the clue to Democratic victories is to understand that you have got to stand unequivocally with the working class of this country. You need an agenda that speaks to the needs of working people.

Is it a radical idea that we join every other major country on Earth and guarantee health care to all people? Is that a radical idea? You tell me how many people are talking about that. Is it a radical idea to say that we have got to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour? Is it a radical idea to say that, in the midst of a competitive global economy, we need to make sure we have the best-educated work force, that all of our kids, regardless of income, should be able to get a higher education?

These ideas exist all over the world. They don't exist in America. And they don't exist because of the power of the oligarchs economically and politically.

All right, let's be clear. In my view, the current political system in the United States of America is broken and corrupt.

Does anybody think that it makes any sense at all that Elon Musk can spend $270 million to elect Trump as president and then become the most important person in government? Billionaires should not be able to buy elections. And, by the way, that's not just a progressive perspective. Conservatives understand that, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A lifelong Georgia Republican seems to share Sanders' concerns about the billionaires with too much power in government. This week, a former Georgia Republican governor, lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, announced that he was leaving the Republican Party and joining the Democrats.

And in an op-ed in "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" headlined "From Republican lieutenant governor to Democrat: Loving my neighbor is easier now", Duncan writes in his piece that -- I'm quoting now, "There's no date on a calendar or line in the sand that points to the exact moment in time. My political heart changed, but it has. My decision was centered around my daily struggle to love my neighbor as a Republican.'

We're joined now by former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan.

Lieutenant Governor, great to see you.

GEOFF DUNCAN, FORMER GEORGIA LT. GOVERNOR: Great to be here.

WHITFIELD: You used some very powerful words there about loving thy neighbor as a Republican. And that was a turning point for you.

But help us understand more about why you made that decision. Of course, it was a culmination of things, but I guess the inference was out there, too, because you were, after all, at the Democratic National Convention last year. But piece it all together for us.

DUNCAN: Yeah, this was a very personal letter that I wrote to Georgia. And now, I've gotten to have that conversation with America. It's really spread, but it was how Geoff Duncan feels.

And others may not feel that way there's probably plenty of Republicans that love their neighbor but I just found it difficult each and every day to wake up in a parallel track. One was to watch the Republican Party just go the direction it's gone, full of visceral and hatred, and they've traded the notion of solving problems for calling names. And so that created the other problem was all the solutions that I felt like we needed to have were impossible looking through a Republican lens.

But they are possible looking through a Democratic lens. Not perfect, but it's possible when you start to want to tackle big issues like poverty. As I mentioned in the piece, 1.2 million Georgians don't have health insurance, and Republicans really say that the solution is a job.

But when you dig into the numbers, 85 percent of those people live in a working household. They have a job. They just don't have the right job. And so, what can we do to look into that situation and try to help them?

Same with guns, right? Over 90 percent of Americans want to do something with gun control. They want to have universal background checks or red flag laws. But yet Republicans continue to be scared of themselves in their own shadow. On the issue of guns, America is crying for us to do something more than just nibble around the edges and issue after issue after issue. I just felt it. But to your point, nobody's really surprised. Thats operated around me for the past few years, this has been an evolution happening.

I've expressed my discontent with the Republican Party. I've spoken at the DNC, I've campaigned for Kamala Harris. This was the next logical step for me to try to move.

WHITFIELD: You talked about Republicans in name calling. So then has there been some name-calling as a result of you, you know, making your announcement? Or has there been support among your Republican colleagues or anyone else after you've made this official announcement?

[14:50:00]

DUNCAN: Well, certainly there's been some name-calling from the deeply ingrained MAGA crowd. And I just I expected that my family expected that, right? You know, I'm raising a family. I've got two in college and one in high school, and my wife and I, you know, deal with that.

But I think an overwhelming majority of folks on the left, Democrats, independents and even some folks on the right have been very appreciative. They've gone out of their way to send handwritten notes to the house, reach out on social media, make phone calls, text messages encouraging us, then probably not perfectly aligned with all of my policies or the Democratic Party's policies. But they see this chance, this, this moment in time where we can finally get this right in America. If we just try to find ways to avoid the fringes and how we elect leaders and how we set policy.

WHITFIELD: You also write in your op-ed, you know, my time in elected office has taught me the most effective way to love your neighbor on a mass scale is through prudent public policy. As a Republican lieutenant governor, you say working with Democrats was essential in passing hate crime legislation, and you're really proud of that. So why is bipartisan partnership looking to be so hard these days, whether it's on the state or federal level?

DUNCAN: Yeah, I had a front row seat for nearly ten years on the value of bipartisanship and the value of bipartisan votes on legislation as a state representative and as a lieutenant governor, and operated as the president of the senate. You know, when we used to pass bills just because we had the votes, just because we had enough Republicans to get something across the finish line, it was rarely important. It was rarely impactful. It was rarely a game changer for the state of Georgia.

But when we work together on important issues and we sort compromise, it's always seemed to be quality legislation that stood the test of time, that actually dug into peoples real problems. It didn't help people win elections, necessarily, but it helped solve real problems. And hate crimes is a prime example of that.

WHITFIELD: The opposite of bipartisanship is something that's happening in the Texas legislature right now. I mean, what do you think the fate of the Texas legislature is as Democrats leave town to avoid a quorum in the special session focused mostly on redistricting to win five more Republican seats, Republicans in that state are doing this, you know, at the urging of the president of the United States.

DUNCAN: Yeah. I think you have to reverse engineer this, and you have to look at where it all started. And for the most part, Donald Trump, you know, made it very public that he wanted to find five additional congressional seats. And he tasked a Republican legislature and a Republican governor to go do it. And I think the genuineness or the lack of genuineness of that is very easy to see. And I think we have to call balls and strikes on that. That was wrong to do.

Gerrymandering has been an issue all over the country. Every state deals with it, and both parties have had their opportunities to get it right and to get it wrong. I think the reality of congressional redistricting and legislative redistricting has got to be rooted in this, this third-party notion or this, this out. You can't let the people that are voting themselves in and out of office necessarily be in charge of that. I mean, I'd love to think they're so wholesome to be able to make those great decisions. But there's a process out there that I think is better than just trying to gerrymander.

WHITFIELD: You said it is still wrong. But now Democrats, particularly in California, are on board with the idea of being competitive. You know, if you can't beat them, you join them. So, they may be making a move or two as well to try to redistrict. Is it okay?

DUNCAN: My encouragement to Democrats and I'm getting to have lots of conversations with them because I'm a Democrat now, is to be back in the idea business. Don't necessarily focus your attention on the technicalities of creating a gerrymandered district. Focus on the ideas. Show up to -- in living rooms and kitchen tables, and on people's televisions with big ideas that solve real people's problems.

To me, that's the golden opportunity for Democrats around the country. I think as we come into this '26 cycle and then '28 again, I think Democrats have a golden opportunity to show up and to really solve real problems because look, beyond the synthetic economy that Donald Trump's created and all the ruckus and the friction, people don't like to operate their lives in this, in this zone of friction.

WHITFIELD: Are people going to see you on the ballot next year in the race for governor of Georgia?

DUNCAN: Well, we're certainly thinking about it as a family. It's a big decision to make. As I mentioned, we've got two kids in college and one in high school. We're considering it. Its been unbelievably humbling to get requests for folks to talk about this with us, and we're certainly considering it.

I think there's a vacuum of leadership in both parties for people that are willing to show up and do an honest day's work and be an honest umpire. And certainly, I think we've got a resume that shows that.

WHITFIELD: When you decide, we hope you make that announcement right here.

DUNCAN: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Good to see you.

All right. Straight ahead, cleanup crews in Texas make a remarkable find. A 100-million-year-old discovery.

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[14:59:21]

WHITFIELD: Massive floods in Texas have revealed a prehistoric surprise. While clearing debris in Travis County, a crew stumbled upon dinosaur tracks preserved in a riverbed.

A paleontologist told CNN the footprints likely belong to a 35-foot- tall carnivore that roamed the Texas plains some 100 million years ago. Each print measures about 20 inches across, roughly the size of a large pizza. I love that correlation. And now, researchers hope the newly exposed river banks will reveal even more tracks from these ancient giants. Incredible discoveries.

All right. The new CNN original series "AMERICAN PRINCE: JFK JR."