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Soon: Trump Holds News Conference As He Threatens Fed Takeover of D.C.; Texas House To Reconvene Amid Redistricting Standoff; Father Of Israeli Hostage: Netanyahu "Prefers The Hostages Deaf." Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:40]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning we're standing by to hear from President Trump about his new plans for Washington, D.C. Federal agencies posted on social media about patrolling the city under the hashtag "Make D.C. Safe Again." Up to 130 FBI agents could join them.

The president's plan to make D.C. "more beautiful than ever" involves getting rid of all homeless people. He says the city is seeking -- seeing a spike in crime but, really, the numbers say otherwise. Police statistics show a 26 percent drop in violent crime over the past 12 months.

With us now is executive committee chair for the New York State Democratic Party, Christine Quinn. And Republican strategist Neil Chatterjee.

And Christine, I just want to start with you here because the crime stats are what they are. Why is this still potentially a potent political issue for the president?

CHRISTINE QUINN, COMMITTEE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WIN: Well, crime is always top or very high on people's list of concerns because no one wants their city or town to go back to as dangerous as it might have been in the '80s or '90s.

But also, I think President Trump -- and you can't really argue this -- has had almost a war against urban America or blue urban America, which must of urban America is. And this is another example of the facts be damned.

Today he's talking a lot -- or yesterday -- about homelessness. Homelessness in D.C., based on the Point-in-Time survey, which is federally mandated, is down nine percent.

This is an issue of him really wanting to stick it to Democratic mayors in urban America when he should be focusing on things like his cuts in the budget could reduce policing in urban America and dramatically cut back homelessness services, which will raise homelessness.

BERMAN: Neil, I haven't heard a single Republican have an issue with this either locally in D.C. or nationally. The stats are what they are. D.C. is a different thing than any other city because the federal government has more power there.

But how comfortable are you with this extension of federal power?

NEIL CHATTERJEE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC): Yeah. Look, stats and numbers are one thing. What people actually experience and feel is another.

I live here. I used to work next door to the CNN studio in Washington, D.C. at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. I've got to tell you when I would walk to Union Station at night after work, I was very uncomfortable. I walked through a lot of seedy situations.

And so you can throw out statistics and surveys all you want. The fact is people who live here, people who visit here in the nation's capital -- they feel uncomfortable. And the president senses that and wants to do something about it, and I applaud him for it.

BERMAN: And Christine, one last question on this. What's the risk for Democrats here? We didn't hear from Washington, D.C.'s mayor until vaguely over the weekend, and only a little bit there. Why are Democrats being so careful about this?

QUINN: Well, I think overall, Democrats are being too careful in general, is my opinion. And I think facts do matter. If you're the leader of the country, if you're the mayor of a city, facts matter. You have to decide how to put your resources out there based on what is real.

And you know what? One of the reasons there has been some challenges around prosecutions for crimes in D.C. is that both President Biden and President Trump haven't filled the judge's seats that are necessary to be federally appointed to prosecute crime in D.C. If he wants to help D.C. keep crime down that's what he should do. And you need to lead based on the facts.

[07:35:10]

BERMAN: Neil, a little earlier in the show we had Nick Paton Walsh in eastern Ukraine in the city of Kramatorsk, which is Ukrainian. It's in the Donetsk region, which is part of this area that Vladimir Putin wants. And President Trump has said that whatever deal with Russia may include some swaps of land here and there.

I mean, how comfortable are you with seeding Ukrainian territory to Russia?

CHATTERJEE: Look, let's see what President Trump can pull off. Let's see what he can execute. Let's see if he can get Zelenskyy to the table and have trilateral negotiations.

Russia and Vladimir Putin, they respect strength. There's a reason they did not invade Ukraine during the first Trump administration. They waited until he was out of office. President Trump knows how to negotiate, how to bring people together, and how to leverage situations.

The huge advantage that America has over Russia is in energy, whether it's liquified natural gas exports or our dominance -- increasing dominance in clean tech. Russia understands the role that the U.S. can play in undermining their economic strength via energy. The president will exploit this and try to get the best possible deal possible to end the bloodshed in Ukraine.

BERMAN: I mean, I will say that Russia is bombing the crap out of Ukraine during the Trump administration, so whatever strength President Trump is showing by your definition isn't stopping Russia from doing that.

Do you think that there is a deal to be made here, Christine?

QUINN: I hope there's a deal to be made here because what's going on and the violence, and the bloodshed, and the death that the Ukrainians have had to suffer by this terrible invasion of Russia is horrible and needs to come to an end.

I'm very concerned that the talks on Friday may not include Zelenskyy. Trump doesn't need to bring him to the table -- he wants to come to the table. And a discussion -- a meeting without him could really set things back.

BERMAN: Neil, finally, I just want to close with a little news that CNN reported over the weekend about some paintings that were hanging inside the White House. I'm going to read this from CNN.

"Trump directed staff to move the Obama portrait" -- a portrait of Barack Obama -- "to the top of the grand staircase, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN, where it will not be out of view from thousands of visitors who tour the White House each day. One of the sources added the portraits of both Bushes are now in the staircase area."

What do you think of the portrait placement in the Trump White House?

CHATTERJEE: Look, that's Washington, D.C. It's parlor games. I don't think the American people are doing to concern themselves about where portraits are hung inside the White House. I think they're more focused on bigger issues. And whether it's the Rose Garden or the White House ballroom, or the moving of portraits --

BERMAN: Yeah.

CHATTERJEE: -- the president is allowed to decorate the White House as he sees fit and is choosing to do so, and that's his prerogative.

BERMAN: It's more of a rose sidewalk --

QUINN: The railing (PH).

BERMAN: -- to be fair.

Christine Quinn, Neil Chatterjee, thanks to both of you. Nice to see you -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I will take it, sir. Thank you so much.

Happening today, more than a week after Texas Democrats fled the state, the Texas State House will reconvene again to try to establish a quorum so Republicans can move forward with the Republican redistricting plan. So far, neither side is backing down in what has become a standoff. And the Republican Governor Greg Abbott is warning that there may be no end in sight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: 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)

BOLDUAN: He says that is, of course, until Democrats return and give them a quorum so then Republicans can push it through.

Arlette Saenz is joining us now. Arlette, where is this going? Where does it stand?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, that is the big question as there does not appear to be a clear end in sight for this redistricting standoff that's going on in the state of Texas.

Now, Republicans will try to move forward on redistricting once again today when the Texas House reconvenes at 1:00 p.m. Central time. But Democrats have shown no signs of backing down from their strategy as dozens of Democratic state lawmakers still remain out of the state in order to prevent a vote on redistricting from happening.

Now there is a very real time crunch right now. The current special session is set to end on August 19, so Democrats are trying to run out the clock. But as you heard Texas Governor Greg Abbott there, he is intent on calling special session after special session until they can get this redistricting push across the finish line.

[07:40:00]

And at the same time as Texas is waging this redistricting fight, we have blue states who are also talking about their own redistricting efforts.

A lot of eyes this week will be on the state of California as they are planning to unveil new maps this week that could potentially redraw up to five congressional districts to pick up more Democratic seats. The California governor has said that he wants to see voters vote on that issue come November. But Texas Governor Greg Abbott has brushed off some of the concerns that some of those blue state efforts might lead to more Democratic and less Republican seats. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBOTT: All this big talk and bluster by Democrat governors is nothing more than weak sauce because the fact of the matter is they are bringing a gun to a gun fight, but they have no bullets because they lost their bullets when they engaged in redistricting and gerrymandering over the past decade. Not only do they not have the ability to remove very many Republicans, they also have no legal authority to be able to get this done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now there are a few items to watch in the state of Texas today. The Texas House will be convening at 1:00 p.m. At this point, Democrats still remain out of the state, and it does not seem like they will quorum, but we will see if anything develops in the coming hours.

And then there are some of the legal fights that are currently underway. Both Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the state's attorney general Ken Paxton have asked the state Supreme Court to remove some of the Democrats from their seats due to this standoff.

There is also a legal complaint -- a petition that's been filed in the state of Illinois to try to compel Illinois to enforce those civil arrest warrants for those Texas Democrats. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says that Texas laws don't apply in Illinois.

So there's still a lot up in the air as there appears to be no immediate end in sight for this redistricting fight down in Texas.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, it sure does not seem to be an end in sight in the near term.

Arlette, thank you so much for the update -- Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning an unprecedented agreement. The Financial Times reporting chips giants Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay the U.S. government 15 percent of their revenues from semiconductor sales to China. In exchange, the companies get to export licenses.

The White House banned exports of certain chips in April, but President Trump reversed that order in June after meeting with Nvidia's CEO.

The deal comes as a fragile truce on trade between President Trump and China is set to expire in just a day.

CNN's Marc Stewart is live in Beijing with the latest on this. Marc, what are you learning about this deal? MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, this is extraordinary in the sense that we have the United States and China trying to work out a trade agreement. Yet, at the same time, the U.S. and these American tech giants are trying to reach an agreement of their own.

Again, this is all first being reported by the F.T. And under this deal, if you will, Nvidia and AMD will give 15 percent of their sales back to the United States government. In exchange it will get these export licenses allowing it to do business in China.

And quite frankly, this is something under these trade talks that China wanted to have happen. It wanted access to these American chips. They are referring to specific chips, including this H20 chip from Invidia, which is very instrumental in AI.

We are hearing from Nvidia. They released a statement to the F.T. that reads in part they "hope that these export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide."

But here is where things get really interesting. There was a post on the social media site of Chinese state media, which is essentially the governor -- the government's messenger service. On that post it was claiming that this Nvidia H20 chip has backdoors that can pose security concerns. This is something that Nvidia has denied.

But amid all of this, Jessica, it raises this question: In the end, will China really want to buy these chips?

DEAN: Yeah, certainly. And Marc, there's also a key deadline, as we mentioned, coming up for this trade truce of sorts between the Trump administration, President Trump, and China.

What do we know about that?

STEWART: Approaching at midnight, chips are going to be part of it. Another issue is whether China will be penalized or face more tariffs for buying oil from Russia. This all coming as the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is set to take place later this week. Putin, by the way, happens to be close friends with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

So we have these issues of trade, we have these issues of tech, and this all goes back to this greater issue of trust, Jessica.

[07:45:00]

DEAN: Oh, yeah. That's at the heart of it.

All right, Marc Stewart for us in Beijing. Thank you so much for that reporting -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The Israel prime minister says that Israel's planned military takeover of Gaza City and beyond is the -- in his view the best way to end this war. Some family members of the Israeli hostages do not agree. We're going to speak to the father of one hostage who says that Netanyahu -- the way he put it last week was prefers the hostages dead. That's next.

And new video coming in that's showing a terrifying moment a passenger boat runs aground in high surf of Honolulu. We'll bring you an update.

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[07:50:25]

BERMAN: All right. This morning a window into what voters think about some of the big changes that are part of the president's huge tax and spending bill.

CNN's John King goes all over the map and lands in Tucson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A scorching summer in the Arizona desert, a risky time to open a new restaurant. Add in higher beef prices and an unpredictable economy.

RAY FLORES, ARIZONA VOTER: Confident, hopeful. I believe a lot in this brand. I believe a lot that what we do is different.

KING (voiceover): Charro Steak North is just about ready. The bar is stocked, supplies delivered, the team is hired. And for that, Ray Flores gives President Trump some credit, specifically the new law lowering taxes on tips and overtime.

FLORES: We had a really robust hiring fair. Lots of applicants. Way more than we've had in previous hiring fairs. A lot of quality applicants -- a little higher quality. I do believe that those messages of some kind of tax relief created some of this.

KING: This is Arizona's 6th congressional district, one of the battlegrounds that will determine whether Republicans keep their House majority after next year's midterm elections. It is a district that covers a ton of ground. This is the edge of Tucson, but the district stretches 110 miles that way -- that's east -- to the New Mexico state line. And 60 miles to my right is south. That's the U.S.-Mexico border 60 miles that way.

The district is a battleground because it is evenly divided politically and because of that it offers a great test of the big midterm questions.

KING (voiceover): Republican Juan Ciscomani is the incumbent. Charro Steak North is in his district. And Flores, an Independent, has supported Ciscomani in the past.

KING: How they sell that bill and whether that bill actually improves the economy because of the tax cuts or the no taxes on tips or overtime -- that's a big deal for his political fate.

FLORES: Yeah.

KING: What do you think at this moment? We've got a way to go but what do you think now?

FLORES: I mean, I think, unfortunately, for them or for us to give a good answer right now, we're in the middle of the off season.

KING: Right.

FLORES: I think it's probably a question that needs to be asked a year from today.

KING: Here is another big test. Twenty-five percent of the residents here in Arizona six are Hispanic and Republicans are hoping in next year's midterms to continue their recent important gains among Latino voters. It makes a big difference. Take a look.

KING (voiceover): Here in Arizona, for example, Donald Trump won 37 percent of the Latino vote in 2020. He lost here and statewide.

KING: But in 2024, Trump's share jumped to 44 percent. He not only carried this district, he won statewide in Arizona on his way back to the White House.

KING (voiceover): Fifteen months still until the midterms but we will get a clue about Latino sentiment next month. There's a special election in the neighboring 7th congressional district. It is overwhelmingly Democratic but also 60 percent Hispanic.

CLAUDIO RODRIGUEZ, ARIZONA VOTER: So welcome back to southern Arizona.

KING (voiceover): This food bank serves both the 6th and 7th congressional districts and is already dealing with some Trump changes.

RODRIGUEZ: I believe that's from Mexico right now.

KING: Right. You are correct.

RODRIGUEZ: That's going to change pretty soon with the tariffs and all that, so we're going to be definitely seeing less produce come in.

KING (voiceover): But the biggest test is down the road. The Trump agenda bill makes big changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs critical to the working families who come here for help.

Claudio Rodriguez wrote Congressman Cicomani on behalf of the food bank and urged him to vote no, but he voted yes.

KING: So when you say sir, with all due respect, we think that's going to hurt people, what does he say?

RODRIGUEZ: He believes that it won't. That he's attacking the fraud, the abuse, the scam. But I know when we come here way down the line we don't really see any of that. And if it is -- if it is one or two people that do that, why punish the rest? Why punish the seniors? Why punish the kids, the veterans? We have a lot of veterans that come through here. KING (voiceover): The food bank served 171,000 people last year and

projects that number will jump significantly as the Trump changes kick in. But the timing there is noteworthy. The politically popular tax break on tips and overtime takes effect immediately. But the biggest and politically risky changes to Medicaid and food assistance don't take effect until 2027, after the next election.

RODRIGUEZ: I know some things are going to roll out after the midterms, which is a -- it's a very nice play for some folks to wait until after that.

KING (voiceover): That timeline just one of the Trump agenda flashpoints in a place far away from Washington yet critical to the Republican grip on power there.

John King, CNN, Tucson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[07:55:00]

BOLDUAN: John, thanks so much for that.

Let's turn here. An Israeli strike in Gaza City Sunday night targeted and killed a journalist with Al Jazeera. Six other people, including at least three other journalists from the new outlet were also killed. The Israeli military said that it targeted and killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif after accusing him of leading a Hamas cell -- an allegation that al-Sharif had previously denied.

But the strike also comes as international condemnation is growing against the Israeli prime minister's plan for a military takeover of Gaza City -- an expansion of the operations already underway. On Sunday, United Nations officials warned that the move that Netanyahu is about to carry out could lead to "calamity."

In a rare news conference with international media, Benjamin Netanyahu defended his plan, saying this move is the fastest way to end the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: With me right now is Yehuda Cohen. He is the father of Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. The family believing that their son is one of the 20 hostages still alive in Gaza after being held there now for 674 days.

Yehuda, thank you so much for being here with us.

You've been outspoken against the prime minister in this. When you hear him say that -- that he says this expanded operation is the best way to end this war and to end it fast, how do you feel about that?

YEHUDA COHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE SOLDIER NIMROD COHEN (via Webex by Cisco): Well, I don't believe him. I don't believe him, and no one believes him, especially when the chief of staff and other experts say this is not the right way. Say that it is time to end the war, get the hostages back. We can always return.

And beyond that, the chief of staff said the army is exhausted after 22 months of fighting, the army is exhausted. There are no plans. And we are endangering hostages, and we need to end it and get the hostage deal. Everybody says that except Netanyahu and his extreme government.

BOLDUAN: You said something to the BBC last week that really is striking. That you -- you said that you believe that Netanyahu prefers the hostages dead because it is going to make it easier for him to continue to carry out attacks on Gaza.

Do you really believe that he does -- do you really believe that he does not care --

COHEN: Precisely.

BOLDUAN: -- about getting your son and others home?

COHEN: No, he does not care, and time proves it. Time proves it -- 22 months. The fact that he's the only one who is insisting on partial deals and then breaching them. Both partial deals were in the past, he insisted on -- insisted on having them and he breached them. Looking at the last one in January '25, he did not mandate a negotiation party on the 16th day to negotiate the second part. And at the end, after Hamas released all the hostages that were on the list, he did not withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor part of the first deal.

And, of course, after that, he did not went through a second -- a second deal and he went back to fighting in Gaza and went to the plan of releasing another 10 -- another partial deal -- 60 days, et cetera. Nothing come -- came out of it.

Netanyahu is stalling. He sees the hostages as a burden because it pressures him from inside from an Israeli society itself, from the opposition, from the army, from the families. And he needs -- he only wants to conquer Gaza because he wants to satisfy his extremists in his coalition, Ben Gvir and Smotrich. And it will be easy for him to do that if all the hostages were announced dead. Simple as that.

BOLDUAN: Oh. I've heard some of the families of the other hostages now making a new direct appeal to President Trump, actually, to get involved to either change Netanyahu's mind or get a deal done before this expansion and this takeover really begins.

What do you think will change the direction that you see this going? What do you think would change the prime minister's mind?

COHEN: What I think would change since Netanyahu is ignoring public opinion in Israel or experts' opinion in Israel -- only pressure from the outside, either Donald Trump where in the past, we were asking him to force Netanyahu to end the war and go to hostage deal.