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Trump Pressuring Multiple GOP-Controlled States To Re-Draw Maps; Hamas Returns 4 Of 28 Deceased Hostages To Israel; Former Hostage On Life After The Horrors Of Hamas Captivity; 77-Year-Old Maine Gov. Janet Mills Jumps Into Senate Race. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired October 14, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- over redistricting. Remember Texas, started down here, they wanted to redraw their lines to say we're going to do this and favor the Republicans there. California responded by saying they're in the process of it now. We'll do the same thing and we'll have a better advantage for five seats here. But then it just kept spreading.

If you look at this map, a lot's going on. Some we don't include New York, Illinois. It's talk there, but it hasn't really blown up into anything yet. That would favor the Democrats if they did.

But look at the math, because this is where it really comes down and the rubber hits the road. Right now, the division in Congress, very, very narrow, actually represents pretty accurately, mathematically, how the country's divided over the question of the presidency. But if you look at this, this is what the party pickups would be for congressional districts.

Republicans, five. Missouri, one. North Carolina, one. Ohio, two or three. Indiana, one or two. Florida, still discussion down there, but that could be another gold mine for them if they tipped it even further their way. Kansas, one. New Hampshire, one. And Nebraska.

Democrats, Utah, California, Maryland. Look at this. If you offset California and Texas, Missouri and Utah, North Carolina and Maryland, everything left over is an advantage to the Republicans. And don't forget, the Supreme Court is considering what could really be the end of the Voting Rights Act, which would protect minority groups.

So you don't have a state that's half black, for example, that elects only one congressional member and everybody else goes to the Republicans that would represent that population in some way. So if that is gutted, Democrats could lose 19 seats. This would be a huge amount.

But this is also a measure of how much the White House is concerned about this, because Donald Trump knows if the Democrats get the House again, there could be new investigations, just like last time. There could be a new impeachment. There could be a lot of impediment to these plans that right now the Republicans in the House and Senate are letting run like a freight train.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

FOREMAN: Dana?

BASH: And all of those math numbers and about who would win the House are not notwithstanding. There's also the point that if there is more gerrymandering, it's hard to imagine. But the very partisan, very divided House will be even more so.

FOREMAN: More so. Absolutely.

BASH: Very hard to imagine.

Thanks so much. That was really helpful. Appreciate it.

Up next, free but forever haunted. I'll speak to a former Hamas hostage about moving forward with the scars of captivity.

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[12:37:05]

BASH: While the families of the last living hostages are finally embracing their loved ones, others are still dealing with an indescribable agony as they wait for closure. Hamas has returned the remains of only four of the 28 deceased hostages required under the ceasefire deal. This is the convoy that delivered some of the coffins to Israel late last night.

According to Hamas, that includes the body of 53-year-old Yossi Sharabi, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th, 2023. Yossi's brother Eli was also taken to Gaza. He was released after 491 days in captivity. That's when he learned that his wife, Lianne, and their two daughters, Noiya, age 16, Yahel, age 13, were all murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Eli Sharabi wrote a raw memoir entitled "Hostage," and it's all about what he has endured since October 7th, and he is joined now -- joining me now. Thank you so much for being here.

Let's start with what happened yesterday, your brother's body finally back in Israel. Can you describe that moment?

ELI SHARABI, FORMER ISRAEL HOSTAGE: Yes, you know, it's a closure to our family. Two years of trauma from October 7th, 2023, exactly two- year after that my brother, Yossi's body, bring back home. Now we'll have a grave to cry on. It was very, very important to our family.

And, you know, and this period of time finished now of the, you know, the battle to bring him back. And now we start to grieve and, you know, and to have a new reality that Yossi is gone forever.

BASH: And you understand the very complicated mix of relief and anguish, not as somebody who is waiting for somebody to return, but somebody who is returning because you were so long held by Hamas terrorists. What are the 20 hostages released yesterday? What are they likely experiencing now?

SHARABI: First of all, they're in, you know, they feel secure again and they -- with their loved ones that hold them and hug them and kiss them for 24 hours now. But it's, you know, to recover from such a thing, you know, trauma, that's such a big trauma, you need time and it will take time for them physically and especially mentally, you know, for the horror things they've experienced there.

[12:40:01]

BASH: When you came out, you learned that your wife and two daughters had been murdered. That they weren't there to greet you. You write about that in your book.

SHARABI: Yes. Yes. Of course, it's an unimaginable moment. It was horrible to learn about that. On the day of my release, it was -- should be a happy, very happy moment for me. But instead of that, they told me, they announced me about my wife and my daughters that had been murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 in our house.

And I know, in the same moment, I knew that I have nothing to do, you know, to bring them back. I can't do anything. And the loss and my grief will be with me for -- until the last of my day. But it will be alongside of my life and not instead of them. Because I'm, you know, intending to rebuild my life. I love life.

I can't -- I don't have any privilege to stay in bed and cry all day because my family and my friends fought for me almost for 500 days. So I owe them that.

BASH: I mean, wow. That is absolutely just so powerful. Not a lot of people, or I would think that many people in your situation wouldn't be able to get to that place where you are so soon.

I do want to ask about Alon Ohel, who was one of the freed hostages who came out yesterday. You were in captivity together. You described him as kind of an adopted son. In your book, "Hostage," you write about the moment when Alon realized that he wouldn't be leaving Gaza when you were.

You wrote, "The color drains from his face. He is pale and starts shaking. After Tippy leaves, Alon collapses to the floor in hysteria. He can barely speak. All his fears, his nightmare of being abandoned here alone, are coming true."

You told me as we were preparing to come on the air that you actually did see Alon since he's been back. What was that like?

SHARABI: It was very emotional moment for us, but we know it will stay with us. Of course, we hugged each other and cried. And, you know, it's still time to recover and, you know, and a big process for him, but I love him dearly.

And I'm very, very happy that he came back to his family. And from now on, I'm just, you know, I'll be with for him whenever he need me. I really, really love him and I miss him a lot. BASH: I want to read another excerpt from your book. You write about your Hamas captors. You said, "They were medieval barbarians, whose hatred for Jews and Israel trumped their love of life itself. I can't think of any parallel to the depth of their hatred and willingness to perpetrate atrocities in the name of an ideology."

Given what you experienced with your Hamas captors while you were in Gaza for almost 500 days, when you hear the President say the war is over, but knowing that Hamas not only terrorized you and other captors, but there are still members of Hamas in Gaza terrorizing innocent Palestinians, do you think that there is a way to make that stop, that ideology you write about?

SHARABI: I can't say that stop. You have to re-educate, especially the kids there, and then to wait maybe another two generations to change the way that Jihad see the area and the Palestinian situation. And they promised me in every conversation we had, and we had many conversations with them, that first of all they come back on 2026, 2027, and again kill all the Jews for them, all the Israelis.

That's one thing. And after they finish with the Israelis, they will come to Britain and France and Germany and to U.S. and because all the Islam -- all the war should be Muslims, the only religion is Islam, and this is the way how they see it.

BASH: It's very hard to fight people who really sort of praise death when the human instinct, and certainly your instinct, was to praise life, as you are continuing to do after the horrors that you have endured.

[12:45:06]

Eli, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

SHARABI: Thank you for having me. Thank you very much.

BASH: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Maine's Republican Governor Janet Mills is jumping into the race to unseat -- excuse me, Maine's Democratic Senator -- let me start that again. Maine's Democratic Governor is jumping in the race to unseat the Republican Senator Susan Collins. There you have it. Her pitch puts the focus squarely on President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GOV. JANET MILLS (D), MAINE: There are too many politicians in Washington, including Susan Collins.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Susan Collins we want to thank.

MILLS: Who've forgotten their principles and let bullies like Trump have their way, and it's hurting Maine people. I've never backed down from a bully and I never will.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[12:50:15]

BASH: The 77-year-old Mills would be the oldest freshman senator in history, but she has at least two major challengers in the Democratic primary, including military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner. Platner captured the hearts and the wallets of progressives, including Bernie Sanders. He's seen -- been seen in town of crowds, big crowds, liberal strongholds on the coast of rural Maine. He says Mills entering the race doesn't change much for him.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I've gone around the state now, from Portland all the way to Madawaska, from Rumford to Calais, and it is the same story everywhere you go. They're very angry about the fact that the system has brought them to this point, that we are living in a system that has given them no choices but to struggle daily. And they look at our politics, they look at our politicians, and they see something that doesn't in any way, shape or form represent them.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: My smart reporters are back here. This is going to be, I think, the most fascinating Senate race in 2026. Two dynamics here. One is who's going to be the Democratic candidate. But two, why are they running? They're running to unseat Susan Collins.

And just to give you a sense of how hard it's been to get rid of this Republican, even though it's a blue state, in 2020, Collins won by 51 percent. In 2016, I mean, it was a total blowout. And now she's up again.

Carl, you have spent countless hours with the senator and focusing on this race. What do you think?

CARL HULSE, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Susan Collins has been underestimated multiple times by Chuck Schumer, who has kind of made it almost a religion to try and knock her out of there. So we'll see what happens.

But there is -- I think Susan Collins would like to run against the governor because the governor has a record, right? And running against these novices without records can be tricky. The governor has also said good things about Susan Collins.

BASH: Well, they're friends.

HULSE: Right. Very -- you know, Maine is kind of like that --

BASH: Yes.

HULSE: -- political family. Susan Collins is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She gets to bring a lot of goodies to Maine.

BASH: Well, assuming the appropriations system work --

HULSE: Well --

BASH: Go ahead.

HULSE: You still get to do something. But the -- so, you know, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to knock her out. But, obviously, it's, you know, a midterm. There's a lot of pushback to Trump.

I think Janet Mills will make this about Trump --

BASH: Yes.

HULSE: -- not about Susan Collins.

BASH: And so now to the dynamic inside the Democratic Party, because the reason that Mills is running is because Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, has been trying to recruit the people he thinks are the best candidates to overturn seats and he thinks that's Janet Mills.

Dan Pfeiffer, who worked for Barack Obama and also worked in the Senate, said the following. "In 2020, Democrats ran an establishment politician against Collins and got their asses kicked. Mills would likely run a better campaign than Sara Gideon, who was that nominee. But at the same time, when voters hate politicians, are down on Democrats and are yearning for younger leaders, is a 77-year-old two- term incumbent governor really the best choice?"

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. I mean, if you ask about what were the lessons that Democrats learned from 2020 forward is that American Democrats want somebody who is able to accurately express what they're feeling and have it come off as honest and transparent across all mediums, that includes social media.

They want somebody from a younger generation, and they want somebody who fundamentally believes that they -- that they believe understands what they are going through. And so if you look at Janet Mills, is that that candidate? I think a lot of young people in the state potentially would question that.

Of course, this is what Chuck Schumer wants, and he is leading the Democratic Party right now. And so, therefore, he kind of gets what he wants. This is a big win for him specifically, but she's not clearing the field. And I think, you know, she already told NBC News that she would just be a one-term senator.

That sounds a lot like Joe Biden. He didn't actually say those words, but certainly his adviser said it. And so, you know, is the method of going the Joe Biden way right now the best after 2024? I'm not quite sure a lot of Democrats would agree.

BASH: Schumer wants the seat. He thinks that Mills is the best way to get it. And then you have the sort of Bernie Sanders wing of the party, which, of course, supports Platner. And this is a dynamic that we have seen in other potential match-ups in other states where the Senate is going to be hanging in the balance.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: For sure. And this is going to be one of the most fascinating races, there's no doubt, because of the incumbents, she will be the most vulnerable. However, to Carl's point, Susan Collins has withstood many races before.

[12:55:04]

Age is one issue, there's no doubt. But Bernie Sanders is endorsing Platner in this as well. So, age, I'm not sure, is the only thing in Maine because --

BASH: It's establishment.

ZELENY: Establishment. But people have a strong connection with her in Maine. But I think beyond that, ideology sort of writ large. Look at the Michigan primary as well. Look at the Maine primary now.

We're going to learn a lot about what Democrats believe the direction of the party should be. We'll get our first sort of hint of that next month in Virginia and New Jersey and New York. And we will get sort of a sense of that.

But in Maine, I think it's a little -- it's such a small state, to Carl's point. It is really a place that television ads are not going to probably win this race. It's going to be how it evolves and how the ideology evolves. But it's going to be fascinating to see Susan Collins, probably in the toughest race of her life, but she's won them before.

HULSE: Susan Collins, you know, makes it a point to meet people from Maine who come here. You know, they all get their picture taken with her. She's going to be tough to knock off. That's --

BASH: All right. All right. Meet you guys in Maine.

ZELENY: See you.

BASH: See you.

BASH: Thank you so much for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a break.

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