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The Situation Room

Trump Set to Overhaul Refugee System?; Interview With Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL); Interview With State Rep. Drew Darby (R-TX). Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 16, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:03]

STATE REP. DREW DARBY (R-TX): Everybody understands the importance of camping and lives of young -- our young people. And -- but we just want to protect it. And if we deliver them to these camps, we want to make sure we pick them back up.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Right, and it's been several months since the flooding, yet Camp Mystic hasn't given a full public accounting for what happened that led to so many deaths, as you pointed out. Does that surprise you?

DARBY: Well, I understand some of the concern. They had loss of -- the camp owner himself was lost in the tragedy. And so I'm sure they're having to regroup and kind of reorient themselves.

But there's going to be a time and place that they can present what happened from their perspective. And the legislature is going to take that into account, along with hopefully a lot of other testimony from individuals up and down that river valley and other parts of the state, for that matter.

There was a flood -- there was flooding not only in the Guadalupe River Valley, but certainly in other parts of the state.

BROWN: Yes.

DARBY: And, hopefully, we're going to receive testimony from all those affected stakeholders and figure out whether what we have done in House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 is enough.

BROWN: OK. Gotcha.

DARBY: Did we go too far? Did we not go far...

BROWN: All right, State Representative Drew Darby...

DARBY: So -- and that's our play.

BROWN: All right, well, we're going to continue to cover the story on the show. Thank you so much -- Wolf.

DARBY: Well, thank you, Pamela, for being...

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And up next: caught on camera. Workers in Illinois run to escape a collapsing grain elevator.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:36:19]

BLITZER: Breaking news: The U.S. Justice Department is expected to ask a federal grand jury to indict President Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Bolton, who has been a Trump critic since leaving the White House, has been under investigation for alleged unlawful handling of classified information.

Joining us now to discuss this and more is Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. If indicted, Bolton would become the third foe of President Trump's to face criminal charges. The president talked about stopping the weaponization of the U.S. justice system out there when he was on the campaign trail.

Is he now using his own Department of Justice to go after his political critics and his political opponents?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Well, I mean, if in fact the grand jury says there's sufficient evidence to indict John Bolton, then that's the way it is.

And so nobody is above the law. And so it has to go through the process. And let's see what the endgame here is. But if in fact he did misuse classified information, then he needs to face the music. And so let's see what happens.

BLITZER: But, Congressman, President Trump actually posted out there on his TRUTH Social media site back on September 20 instructing the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, to take action on James Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff.

Comey and James have been indicted. So what do you say to Americans who look at this and worry that the justice system is being politicized?

GIMENEZ: Look, we had the same the same issues back when President Biden was the president. We think that he politicized the justice system in this case.

So, again, let's see whether -- how this all plays out. Obviously, a grand jury found there was sufficient evidence to bring James Comey -- to indict James Comey. And let's see what happens with John Bolton. Again, nobody's above the law. And we're going to have to go through the system.

And so, again, I'm going to hold with whole judgment of whether it's political or not. Again, the American judicial system will dictate that on the government shutdown.

BLITZER: On the government shutdown, Congressman, a subject close to your heart and so many others, Senate Democrats say they won't vote for the short-term funding bill that the House passed without changes to health care subsidies.

But Republicans are refusing to negotiate until the government is actually opened. Are you comfortable with health care costs skyrocketing right now to millions of Americans without those subsidies?

GIMENEZ: Well, look, this is something that the Democrats created when they actually implemented those subsidies. They're the ones that created this endpoint, this cliff, for lack of a better word.

So it's -- actually, it's a Democrat-created crisis. And the continuing resolution, that all they need to do, look, why don't we just open up the government and then we can have the discussions about these subsidies?

As you know, I am a co-sponsor on a bill that was filed by Jen Kiggans of Virginia that extended those subsidies for a year. I actually believe that the Democrats actually want those subsidies to expire and they don't want to come back and talk about it, because, if we actually end up extending that, it'll be the Republicans who did it.

This is a crisis created by the Democrats some years ago, when they actually created the subsidies to begin with. Hey, open the government. You have people on our side that are willing to talk about it. And I think that we can do something about it, but we're not going to do anything about it until you open the government. Open the government.

[11:40:08]

We have done it 13 times in the past. I have always voted to keep the government open, even though I was against a lot of the policies that the Democrats passed during the time when they were in power. This is just, again, playing games with America, playing games with our service men and women.

They want to also increase spending by over a trillion dollars. That's a nonstarter, but you know what? The subsidies is not a nonstarter. We need to open the government back so that we can get to that.

BLITZER: And you want your constituents in Florida, especially the elderly people, to be able to continue getting that break in terms of their health insurance so that it doesn't skyrocket, the costs, right?

GIMENEZ: I -- look, I agree 100 percent, but at the end of the day too, remember, those subsidies were supposed to be temporary in nature. They were supposed to be for COVID.

I think we need a soft landing on that subsidy, not a cliff. The cliff was created by the Democrats. Now they're saying, well, we want to fix this. Yes, we want to fix it too. Open the government. And then we can get on to the subject of negotiating exactly how that is going to happen.

But it won't happen unless you open the government. Open the government, like we did when you were in power.

BLITZER: On another sensitive issue, Congressman, I know you're following this one very closely as well. President Trump says he authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela.

This comes as the U.S. conducted yet another strike at an alleged drug trafficking boat off the coast of Venezuela. The president is also considering strikes on Venezuelan land. Would the goal of these actions be regime change? And is this something the U.S. should be involved in right now?

GIMENEZ: Look, I'm pretty hawkish when it comes to Venezuela. I represent tens of thousands of Venezuelans in my community. The opposition leader, actually one of the real should be governing persons in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, just won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why? Because she's in opposition to the current regime. So I obviously want her and Edmundo Gonzalez to be the government, the legitimate government of Venezuela. They were elected a year ago. Maduro has failed to turn over power. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de los Soles.

The Cartel de los Soles is responsible for the deaths of hundreds and tens of thousands of Americans. We have a $50 million bounty on his head. And so I'm obviously a little bit more hawkish than maybe the president is. I have absolutely no problem in CIA operations occurring in Venezuela.

We need to protect the American people. These cartels are killing Americans every single day. And the number one job of government is to protect its citizens. So I applaud the president in all he's doing in Venezuela. Let's see what more he will do in Venezuela.

BLITZER: And very quickly, before I let you go, Congressman, do you applaud his decision to publicly talk about covert, very sensitive classified information that the CIA would directly get involved in dealing with this issue in Venezuela? It's very classified.

GIMENEZ: Well, let me -- come on. If you really think that the Venezuelans don't know that the CIA is in Venezuela, it's like saying, do Russians really know the CIA is involved in Russia? Yes, we're in Venezuela. We're in Russia. We're in a lot of different places.

BLITZER: It's one thing, Congressman...

GIMENEZ: Not that I have direct knowledge of that, OK? But, obviously, anybody that has two fingers in front of their forehead will say hey, yes, obviously we're involved in Venezuela. Obviously, we have assets in Venezuela and around the world.

So I don't think that that's earth-shaking news. BLITZER: It's certainly -- I mean, it's one thing to suspect that the

U.S. is involved in covert operations, CIA-led operations in Venezuela. It's another thing for the president of the United States to publicly confirm and discuss these kinds of very sensitive, highly classified pieces of information.

That's just the point I was asking you about, but we will continue this conversation down the road.

GIMENEZ: OK.

BLITZER: Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

GIMENEZ: All right, thank you.

BLITZER: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:45]

BLITZER: New this morning, the man charged with starting that deadly Palisades Fire in California now facing two additional federal accounts.

Authorities say Jonathan Rinderknecht ignited a fire that eventually killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. He has not entered a plea and could face at least five years in prison if convicted.

BROWN: Well, more than a week after a young Philadelphia woman went missing, police are charging a man with her kidnapping.

Authorities say they're still looking for 23-year-old Kada Scott seen right here. She was last seen at her job on October 4. Meanwhile, 21- year-old Keon King, who was arrested Tuesday night, is now charged with kidnapping in Scott's disappearance.

BLITZER: New video shows the moment a massive grain elevator collapsed in a rural area of Eastern Illinois. You can see corn spilling from a gash about halfway up the silo and huge, huge clouds of dust rising as workers run away. Everyone is OK, thank God. The collapse is under investigation.

BROWN: And new this morning, Wolf, President Trump is reportedly considering major changes to the U.S. refugee system.

[11:50:02]

According to "The New York Times," Trump wants to give preference to people that conform to his immigration vision, including more white refugees and English speakers.

Here with us now to discuss is CNN political analyst and "New York Times" White House correspondent, Zolan Kanno-Youngs. So, Zolan, you broke the story for "The Times." Tell us more about it.

The U.S. has obviously long considered a safe haven for refugees from all over the world. Just how big would these changes be?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They would be substantial changes.

And I think it's worth taking a step back here. In the first term, in President Trump's first term, he took steps to really shrink the Refugee Program. And the Refugee Program, remember, we're not talking about the border. We're talking about what Democrats or Republicans often say is the right way to comment if you're a refugee, waiting overseas, going through your vetting, and then coming over.

These would take those changes that he did in the first term to another level. When President Trump suspended refugee admissions when he first came into office, he also directed federal agencies to develop these reports advising him on whether he should continue with the suspension of the program, but also recommendations on how to align the Refugee Program with his objectives.

Myself and my colleague Hamed Aleaziz obtained those reports. And what they advise the president to do is continue the suspension of refugees from all around the world, those looking to come from Congo, Rohingya refugees, Sudan, but give a preference to Afrikaners from South Africa, as well as Europeans who have opposed mass migration and the administration deems have been targeted for their exercising their free speech of criticizing mass migration.

I just want to repeat that, suspending refugee admissions for those all around the world while bringing people who have opposed migration in Europe to the country as refugees.

BROWN: Bringing in more white people.

KANNO-YOUNGS: That's right. That's right.

And when you talk to those who have led the Refugee Program, as well as those who work on bringing refugees over to the country, it's hard for them not to deny that the administration is basically turning away refugees that tend to be people of color, while prioritizing white South Africans and Europeans.

We also saw in these documents that they advise the administration to put a preference on English speakers, as well as develop a curriculum of sorts to focus on American history. There's more there as well. This would advise the administration to put limits on the amount of refugees that can actually be resettled in communities that already have a large population of immigrants.

And the justification, Pamela, in these documents that we have obtained essentially says that diversity has grown so much in the United States to this point that it has actually disrupted democratic polity in the country. That's a paraphrase of a quote in these reports.

The administration has not ruled out these proposals and has actually started to implement some of them.

BROWN: What is the White House saying about this?

KANNO-YOUNGS: The White House essentially has not commented on the specifics in this document, these reports that we have reported on.

However, we know that the administration has already taken steps to implement some of these recommendations. There is a carve-out for white South Africans, for Afrikaners. They have increased and expanded vetting as well, DNA tests for refugee families, as well as reviews over social media accounts to assess the language and the posts of refugees.

And we also know that President Trump, we broke this story a couple of weeks ago, is getting ready, has already signed a determination to shrink the refugee cap from 125,000 set by President Biden in his last year in office to 7,500 for the upcoming fiscal year.

BROWN: All right, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, thank you for bringing your reporting to THE SITUATION ROOM -- Wolf.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Thank you.

BLITZER: And the Afrikaners in South Africa are white.

KANNO-YOUNGS: That is right.

BLITZER: Just want to make sure everybody understands that.

All right, Zolan, good reporting. Thank you very, very much.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Thanks.

BLITZER: Coming up: They usually say pro sports are a young person's game, but, tonight, two longtime NFL quarterbacks will prove that's not necessarily the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:58:42]

BLITZER: The Toronto Blue Jays are back in the mix right now, crushing the Seattle Mariners to keep the American League Championship Series competitive.

BROWN: CNN's Coy Wire is here.

Coy, what a game.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, Pam. Crushed them indeed.

Well, Mariners had a 2-0 lead going into game three, just two wins away from their first ever World Series appearance, and they started off hot with a bang, Julio Rodriguez becoming the first Mariners player to have back-to-back postseason homers in the first inning. But Toronto would then erupt, scoring 13 runs on 18 hits, including

five home runs in this game, matching the most ever for an A.L. postseason team. And the dormant beast that was lying within Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has fully reawaken, went 4-4. He had a home run, two doubles, and a single.

He was 0-7 in this series before last night. Blue Jays win 13-4, Seattle now with just a 2-1 series lead. Game four is tonight.

Also tonight, in the NFL, Steelers and Bengals giving us just the second ever pair of opposing starting Q.B.s aged 40 or older. Pittsburgh's Aaron Rodgers is 41, Cincinnati's Joe Flacco 40. Rodgers' teammate Cam Heyward calls this the Icy Hot bowl.

The two have a combined 39 seasons of NFL experience, more than 102,000 yards passing, a Super Bowl ring each, and it's an incredible nod to human potential. I retired like 15 years ago, and I played against both of these guys in my final year.

[12:00:00]