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The Situation Room

GOP "Entitled" to Five More Congressional Seats in Texas Says Trump; Netanyahu Urges "Full Conquest" of Gaza; Suspect in Tennessee Killings Arrested. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 05, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now, GOP Congresswoman Lisa McClain of Michigan. She's the Republican Conference Chair representative. Thanks so much for joining us. As you know, Texas Republicans are arguing their redistricting push is about making the state more competitive. But you heard the president there say the quiet part out loud that he believes that GOP is, quote, "entitled" to five more House seats, which is it.

REP. LISA MCCLAIN (R-MI), CONFERENCE CHAIR: Yes. Well, of course I'm going to side with the president. Listen, I think what we're doing is right, is we need to have more representative -- more representation. And I do believe the president is right. And I don't think what we're doing is breaking the law. We are just for the first time in a long time playing the same game as the Democrats have played for years. And quite frankly, they don't like it and they're not used to it.

So, we'll see how this turns out. But at the end of the day. I hope we pick up five more seats, right? I hope we pick up more seats in other places because our policies are what's going to win us the seats as well, not just the seats, but it's our policies, Wolf.

BLITZER: The White House, as you know, Congresswoman, is looking to push other Republican controlled states to redraw their congressional districts to strip away Democratic seats just ahead of next year's midterm elections. Do you support that, and if so, why is this a good thing for American democracy?

MCCLAIN: Well, let's take a look at Massachusetts. 40 percent of the state votes Republican and how many Republican seats does Massachusetts have? Zero. Let's take a look at Illinois. You want to talk about gerrymandering? Take a look at the Illinois map. And again, I know I keep coming back to this, but we didn't make the rules of the game. We're just playing, for the first time in a long time, by the rules of the game.

And I'll share with you, the Democrats aren't used to us playing the same game they're playing. So, of course they're uneasy and they're doing what's within their purview to make sure that they can fight, right? Disagreement isn't disloyalty. But again, I'll -- I just keep going back to it. We didn't make the rules of the game. We're just, for the first time in a long time, playing by the rules of the game. And people aren't using that and they're very uncomfortable. BLITZER: Congresswoman, with all due respect, the rules of the game always traditionally have been after a census, every 10 years there's a new census in the United States. That's when you can redraw the districts based on where the populations have evolved to. This is a new deal now in the middle will be -- there's no decade new census now, they're just doing it now, Republicans, I don't think the Democrats have actually done it in advance so many years ahead of a new census.

MCCLAIN: Yes, I wish you'd put up the Illinois map as well. That's a good map to show as well. But with all due respect, and I appreciate that argument, Wolf, is there's nothing that says we can't do it now. It's just we are doing it now. And President Trump, as you know, is bold, is aggressive, and he's playing within his purview. And that's it.

He's not doing anything wrong. He's trying to right side -- right size what has been wronged for so long, right? Massachusetts. Let's talk about Maryland. Let's talk about Illinois. He's bold, he's aggressive, and he is going to fight for the Republican Party. That's his job, and that's exactly what he's doing, and I applaud him for doing so.

BLITZER: So, you think Republicans are going to start doing this gerrymandering every year and not wait for a new national census to determine where the populations are?

MCCLAIN: You know, I don't know is the big answer, but we have to right size, whether it's right sizing the economy, right sizing jobs in America, bringing manufacturing back to America. President Trump is putting America first and he's putting the Republican Party and making sure that the Republican voices are being heard.

Yes, it's bold. Yes, it's aggressive, but that is exactly who the leader of the free world is and I don't think he's going to apologize for that.

BLITZER: You're traveling around the country, I know, Congresswoman, with other congressional Republicans to highlight Trump's so-called one big beautiful bill. And I want you to watch what one of your colleagues, Congressman Mike Flood, heard from his constituents at a town hall just last night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): If you choose not to work, you do not get free healthcare. You do not get free healthcare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Congressman Flood won that district by over 20 percentage points back -- excuse me, back in 2024. Recent polling has shown that the bill is unpopular even among Republicans. Should this sort of response from voters that we saw last night at that town hall, should that worry Republicans? MCCLAIN: No, and I think I need to correct one thing that you said is you talked about he had a town hall with his constituents. I wish that were true. As we know the Democratic Party buses in a lot of people from outside his district. So, I don't think that's a fair and accurate statement.

However, let's talk about the one big beautiful bill. If it is big and it is beautiful, and that's what we're doing, is we are going out on the road and we are correcting the truth with the other half of the truth. Because if you ask 82 percent of America, think if you deserve to have Medicaid and you are able to work, that you should be able, that you should work, that is a winning issue. If you take a look at that issue in and of itself.

The bulk of the American population believes that we should have secure borders. The bulk of the Americans do not want a tax increase. And that's what we did with the one big beautiful bill, is we made sure that the Democrats did not allow the biggest tax increase for working families in the history because we know if you make under $50,000, if we didn't pass this bill, your taxes would've gone from 12 percent to 25 percent.

What we have to do is we have to stop the fear mongering and go out and correct the truth with the other half of the truth. And that's exactly what we're doing. And what we're finding is when people understand it and they understand the truth, they are much more in favor of it.

BLITZER: All right. Congresswoman Elisa McClain of Michigan, thanks so much for joining us.

MCCLAIN: You have a great day.

BLITZER: You too. Thank you. Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're following some breaking news, Wolf. The suspect in a Tennessee manhunt has been arrested. The details on that, up next

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[10:40:00]

BLITZER: Today, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to ask his security cabinet to support an expansion of the war in Gaza, saying his goal is now nothing short of what he describes as full conquest over Gaza and Hamas. All this comes as militant groups have released new videos of Israeli hostages like Evyatar David who was taken from the Nova Music Festival 667 days ago. Images of him emaciated and weak have sparked new protests in Israel.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more in a Situation Room special report. And a warning, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The fragile figure of Evyatar David, one of the surviving Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, now 24 years old and just skin and bone.

I haven't eaten for days, he says, in this latest Hamas propaganda video, crouched in a tunnel. Not enough food and barely enough water. Look how thin I've become, he says.

CHANCE: And this here is your brother, right here. This is two photos of him.

ILAY DAVID, BROTHER OF EVYATAR DAVID: Yes.

CHANCE (voice-over): Family members have approved use of the images released at the weekend. But his brother Ilay told me he could only bear to watch a few solitary frames.

DAVID: But that was a young, healthy man before he was abducted, even a bit chubby, and now he looks like a skeleton, a human skeleton buried alive. That's how it looks. And I don't exaggerate.

CHANCE: Do you think he's being starved because there is a shortage of food in Gaza, would you think he's being starved intentionally by his captors?

DAVID: I'm sure he is intentionally -- I'm sure he's intentionally, cynically being starved by his captors. We know that his captors have plenty of food. They haven't lost a pound, and they are doing the same to their own people, to the people of Gaza, they are starving them, although they have food.

CHANCE (voice over): Israeli television, the newly released videos of emaciated hostages held captive since October 7, 2023 are provoking outrage amid calls for negotiations with Hamas to quickly restart, very quickly.

This is 22-year-old Rom Braslavsky, another Israeli hostage shown writhing in pain in his Gaza prison. There's barely anything to eat. I can't sleep. I can't live, he says. His own mother, who approved the release of these latest horrifying images, say her son's weak voice sounds like he's accepted he may never come out alive.

Now, hostage families are calling for renewed international pressure on Hamas, not just Israel, for the agony in Gaza to end.

DAVID: If they want the people of Gaza to starve, they'll do it, and they are the ones to blame, and we cannot -- we cannot blame only Israel for that. Hamas is holding all of us hostages right now, all of us, the people of Gaza as well and they need to be out of the picture.

[10:45:00]

CHANCE (voice over): What I'm doing now is digging my own grave, says Evyatar David, as he scrapes the dirt in his cramped tunnel. Every day, my body becomes weaker and weaker, he says. And time is running out.

Matthew Chance, CNN Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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BLITZER: Breaking news, a manhunt in Tennessee has just ended the suspect wanted for killing four people last week has been captured. This is recent surveillance video of Austin Robert Drummond. Some of the footage showed him with a rifle. He's accused of killing the parents and two relatives of a baby who was found alive.

[10:50:00]

CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young is joining us right now. What do we know, Ryan, about his arrest?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, some important details that you're sharing there that he was wanted for the killing of those four folks, and we know the video that you played was very important in terms of helping to capture this man. They did catch him in a wooded area around 8:00. We're hoping for a news conference in the near future to talk about the details.

But we know of the surveillance video that had people having the shelter in place while authorities were looking for him, but they were also able to find him in a wooded area. Now, let's not forget, there was also a young child that was found after these killings left alone in a car.

So many people in this area of Western Tennessee in shock over these killings. They wanted to know exactly where this man was, but he was captured 8:00 Central Time in the wooded area. We're hoping the TBI and local authorities will give us an update in the near future about what exactly led to this arrest and how they're able to track him down. But we do know that some of the cameras in the area, especially from homes were able to capture him moving around just like the video that we showed. And that led to authorities being able to get close enough to be able to capture him today.

But this was a killing that shocked so many people in that area. This manhunt, Wolf, now over.

BLITZER: Yes. I'm so glad that they found this guy.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Ryan Young, thank you very, very much. Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Wolf, back now to the redistricting drama that has crossed state lines and could have national implications. Texas State Representative Ron Johnson is one of the Democrats who left the state to protest the GOP push a redraw Congressional Lines. He joins us now from Chicago. Thanks for your time. So, on this show we just heard from a number four House Republican chairwoman Lisa McLain of Michigan on this redistricting push. She argues that Republicans are playing the same game and redrawing these lines the Democrats have already done in states like where you are, Illinois. What is your response to that?

STATE REP. RON REYNOLDS (D-TX), SENIOR MEMBER, TEXAS BLACK CAUCUS: Well, first of all, this is State Representative Ron Reynolds. And I'm glad to be on with you. The congresswoman is absolutely wrong. This is -- no, no problem. This is absolutely a mid-decade redistricting that is almost unprecedented. This is a power grab by President Trump and Governor Abbott. This is a hostile Texas takeover, and this is something that they're doing to racially gerrymandered black and brown communities. And so, this is not business as usual. This is very unprecedented.

Redistricting happens every 10 years after a census. And so, this is not this regular way that we do redistricting. This is Trump's attempt to hold on to power when he knows that his policies are unpopular. And so, we know that this is not the regular way that we go about doing redistricting.

BROWN: Governor Abbott, other Republicans say this isn't about racial gerrymandering, they say this is about political competitiveness. And they are now pushing for the arrest of lawmakers like yourself who remain out of the state. Are you worried about that?

REYNOLDS: I'm not worried. When I think about 60 years ago tomorrow, we're on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. I think about Congressman John Lewis and those freedom fights who made good trouble, who risked it all. I'm not worried about Governor Abbott's threats of going to jail or a $500 a day fine because we're standing on the right side of history, making our own good trouble to fight, to preserve, and protect our democracy.

We're on the right side of history. We're not beholden to the MAGA extremists that are trying to disenfranchise black and brown communities. We're doing everything we can to protect Texans. And so, we are not going to cower to Governor Abbott's bailed attempts of putting us in jail. This is worth our democracy. This is not just about Texas. As Dr. King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. This is about protecting our democracy, because if they can do it in Texas, they can do it anywhere else.

So, we're going to stand strong. We're not going to back down and we're going to keep pressing forward to protect every single Texan so that they won't be disenfranchised. We're not going back to the days of Jim Crow. We're going to stand up to racial gerrymandering. And whatever Trump and Abbot try to scheme to disenfranchise communities of color particularly so that they can keep giving tax cuts to their millionaires and billionaires, we're not having it on our watch. We're not going back.

BROWN: How long are you and your Democratic colleagues prepared to stay out of Texas then to block this redistricting plan? [10:55:00]

REYNOLDS: We're here for as long as it takes to stop this racial gerrymandering. That means if it's two weeks to run out the clock for this first call special session and any other special sessions that Governor Abbott may call. Governor Abbott should be focused on the victims of Kerr that suffered the horrendous flooding. We lost hundreds of people, including precious children. That -- Governor Abbott can do that through executive order.

And so, we need to prioritize working families. We need the nation in the highest number of uninsured. We need to be focused on healthcare. We need to be focused on jobs. But Governor Abbott has bended the knee to a dictator authoritarian President Trump, and he has prioritized this racial gerrymandering redistricting. So, we're not going back. We're going to stay out as long as it takes to preserve and protect our democracy.

BROWN: Let me just ask you, you know, Trump was on today and said this is about political competitiveness. If this is racial gerrymandering, I mean, that is unconstitutional. I mean, the Supreme Court has weighed in on racial gerrymandering and the case of Shaw v. Reno saying that that's, you know, not allowed. It's illegal. So, if that is the case, if this really is racial gerrymandering, would you expect the legal system to take this up and handle this then?

REYNOLDS: Absolutely. We have -- I was just talking to the state president of the NAACP, Gary Bledsoe. We've already been authorized for the NACP that they're going to file a lawsuit. We know that there are other lawsuits that are going to be filed. So, we anticipate that this unconstitutional racial gerrymandering in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will be the courts.

And so -- but we know that there's an undermine and confidence in the courts based on recent decisions. So, we can't just leave it up to the courts. That's why we are doing everything we can to stop it with a legislative maneuver called the breaking quorum. And so, we're doing everything we can on our part and then we'll leave it to the courts to see what they decide.

But also, the voters, they need to be paying attention and they need to vote. Every one of these people out of office in the midterms, and that's what they're afraid of. They're afraid of the -- their policies are unpopular. They're trying to hide the Epstein files. They're doing everything they can to take away precious rights of women's reproductive rights, targeting immigrants and Muslims, attacks on blacks with anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion.

So, they're doing everything they can to undermine our democracy and marginalized communities, particularly black and brown Americans. And we're not having it. Not on our watch. We're going to continue to speak truth to power and fight and fight for the American people, fight for the rights of working families and the poor, fight for healthcare, fight for social security, fight for climate justice, criminal justice reforms, and so much more. That is not what the MAGA extremists want to do. They want to implement everything in Project 2025 and take our country back to dark days. And the American people are sick and tired of it. And that is what they're afraid of. They're afraid to let the people vote.

BROWN: OK. State Representative Ron Reynolds, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

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