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Supreme Court Appears Likely to Weaken Voting Rights Act; Government Shutdown Enters Day 16; Gaza Crossing Closed. Aired 10:30- 11a ET

Aired October 16, 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]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Supreme Court appears ready to gut the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights legislation that was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 aimed at ending discrimination targeting black voters. Now, this case before the high court centers around this district right here in Louisiana, it's the 6th Congressional District, and it's the second-majority Black district there. A group of white plaintiffs sued, arguing lawmakers had considered race and drawing that map in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Tom Foreman and CNN Chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic are here with us in the Situation Room. Joan, let me start with you. This decision could all come down to, what, Justice Brett Kavanaugh? What did we hear from him yesterday?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, he has been the decisive vote in several cases on race, most importantly one from Alabama. Two years ago, when we had the same kind of situation where a state had been found to have been in violation of the Voting Rights Act for diluting the votes of blacks by packing them into one particular district and making it impossible for them to have really strong electoral power. And lower courts had said, you have to create another majority black district, just as what happened here.

[10:35:00]

Louisiana was ordered to have two majority black districts. And Justice Kavanaugh was someone who really showed his hand early on about concerns he has about race. Let's hear from him first.

JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT: The issue, as you know, is that this court's cases in a variety of contexts have said that race- based remedies are permissible for a period of time, sometimes for a long period of time, decades in some cases, but that they should not be indefinite and should have an end point. And what exactly do you think the end point should be or how would we know for the intentional use of race to create districts?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BISKUPIC: Now, Brett Kavanaugh was speaking of circumstances for like campus affirmative action or school integration plans, but this case is different.

BLITZER: Obviously, very significant. What do you think?

BROWN: And what about the liberal justices?

BISKUPIC: Sure, in fact, they pointed out the differences that this is a remedy for actual violations on the ground. This is when states have been found to have violated the Voting Rights Act because of discriminatory maps. Let's hear from Justice Sotomayor as she responded to the state solicitor general from Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN AGUINAGA, LOUISIANA SOLICITOR GENERAL: The government has no business telling citizens in which districts they may live or what voting power they --

JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT: But it's not doing that, Counsel. The six plaintiffs in this case are white plaintiffs who live in a district with black voters. So, no one's keeping them out of that district. No one's stopping them from participating in the voting process. No one is stopping them from trying to run candidates or support candidates that reflect their views. But out -- but this state is stopping black voters from doing that in many districts because it's packing them into areas that whites overwhelm them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BISKUPIC: OK. So, you can see how senior liberal Sonia Sotomayor and others really tried to answer some of the concerns of Justice Kavanaugh and to keep the focus on what goes on on the ground and how any kind of diversity that we've had in the South for state or federal officials has come in large measure because of the Voting Rights Act.

BLITZER: Yes, a lot of history here.

BISKUPIC: Yes.

BLITZER: All right. Joan, standby, I want to go to Tom over at the magic wall. Tom, equal voting rights have a long and very troubled history here in the United States. I want you to explain how we got here.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's look at the wake of the Civil War. That's when the 15th Amendment came along. It said the right of citizens of the United States should not be denied or abridged by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. What they were trying to do is say here, look, the slaves have been freed. They now must have rights. They cannot be treated like second- class citizens. Nonetheless, very quickly, a lot of states, particularly in the South, enacted poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation tactics.

Poll taxes were just what it sounds like. You had to pay a tax and present a receipt in many places to prove that you had a right to vote. That knocked out a lot of black people who were very poor, a lot of poor white people as well. And sometimes this was cumulative. If you didn't pay one time, it was added to the next time. Pretty soon you couldn't vote at all.

Literacy test. These were extremely tricky. Look at this. It says, if you get one thing wrong here, if you can't prove a fifth-grade education, you get one answer wrong in 10 minutes, you have failed. Look at question number one. Draw a line around the number or letter of this sentence. How do you answer that? That's what a literacy test was. Many people thought it was just a trick to knock out people who they didn't want to vote.

And of course, intimidation tactics. Klansmen, people like this, going around waving nooses and things to say, basically, you cannot vote. This became intolerable to many people, many rights activists in this country, in the black community and beyond. It all culminated in Selma, Alabama in 1965, the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, giant clash with police, many, many injuries. A few months later, President Lyndon Johnson had basically had enough. And he signed the Voting Rights Act with Martin Luther King Jr. and others in attendance here.

And the Voting Rights Act basically said, this is intolerable. No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard practice or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any state or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.

BROWN: So, what was the impact of the Voting Rights Act?

FOREMAN: It was big and it was fast. By the end of the year, a quarter million new black voters had registered. This was huge. In some states, this was -- just the magnitude of increase was absolutely unbelievable. Suddenly, you had people who not only were able to vote, but you had black candidates who were able to run and have a real chance of winning.

[10:40:00]

This really -- this is one of the reasons this is seen as a seminal event in the rights movement in this country for all people, certainly for black people and minority groups, but for all people, and considered one of the giant historic events in the history of this country working toward a just and equal system. And it's been looked at numerous times over the past. By the way, the Supreme Court has upheld it since that period of time in various ways, but it has survived all this time.

In 1982, they even looked at the question of people saying, well, if you can't prove that we meant to exclude black citizens or other minorities, then it's not our fault. They looked at it in 1982 and they amended and said, no, we can look at the result of it and whether we can prove you intended it, we can hold this accountable and change it.

BROWN: All right. Tom Foreman, thank you so much. John Biskupic, thank you as well. BLITZER: And coming up, we'll hear from the 19-year-old U.S. citizen tackled by an ICE agent at a Chicago Walgreens during the chaos and aftermath of a nearby chase involving federal agents.

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[10:45:00]

BROWN: Happening now, the government shutdown is in day 16 with no deal in sight. Here's what House Speaker Mike Johnson said about Democrats at a news conference just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: They want the United States government to remain closed and they seem not to care about the fact the pain that it's causing. They have offered no plan. They have offered no strategy. They have offered no common-sense path forward for ending this situation. And so, many of you have asked all of us, how will it end? We have no idea. It's up to the Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now to discuss is California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. He is a member of the House Oversight Committee. What is your response to the speaker?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS DEPUTY WHIP AND ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, he could start by opening Congress. All of the Democrats are here. Usually when there's a shutdown, we're supposed to vote to vote to pay the troops. Yesterday, I met someone, air traffic controller in Texas, and he's not getting paid and he's having to drive DoorDash. I mean, real people's lives are at stake.

And the only reason that the speaker has shut down Congress is because he does not want to vote on the Epstein files. He's not swearing in Adelita Grijalva. And that's, I think, what is so galling. Of course, we want to compromise. We want to work. But to do that, you have to open up Congress. He's had Congress shut since September 23rd.

BROWN: He has, of course, denied that. But what would they do if Republicans were physically there? Because they have said, look, we'll open the government -- let's open the government and then we'll talk about the ACA subsidies.

KHANNA: Well, first of all, they could open the government today. They have 51 votes in the Senate. They have the majority in the House and they have the presidency. Now, they have confirmed with 51 votes, the president's judges. They have confirmed the president's appointees. I think most people would say that to keep government open, you should get --

BROWN: So, 60 votes are needed. Are you saying they should use the nuclear option in the Senate? KHANNA: Yes, I don't consider it a nuclear option. I was consistent when Biden was president. I think they should have done things on 51 votes to keep the government open. And I'm saying the same thing with them, with Senator Thune. Senator Marjorie Taylor Greene has made the same point. Keep the government open. They could do that today with 51 votes.

If they want Democratic votes, then they need to listen to people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others who are saying the healthcare system is broken. People's premiums are going to double November 1st if they're on the exchanges. And what Democrats are saying is if we -- if you want our votes, make sure that we extend the premium tax credit so the healthcare costs don't double for ordinary families.

BROWN: Right. And these healthcare subsidies, as you mentioned, they are expiring soon because when Democrats controlled Congress and passed the Inflation Reduction Act, it included that expiration date. Not to mention the Democrats were the key architects of the Affordable Care Act. Is this a crisis of your own party's making?

KHANNA: No, the crisis was that we didn't have health insurance in this country, that 35 plus million people would go into huge medical debt that young people were not covered. And then President Obama, in a historic achievement rivaling the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, finally covered people on the exchanges. And that was a monumental achievement. The Republicans have been trying to repeal that ever since. Why? Just because it's called Obamacare. They just want to repeal everything Obama did. But what we're trying to do is strengthen it.

And ultimately, yes, we need single payer Medicare for all, but we can't, in the meantime, have premiums double for this country. And fortunately, now, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republicans recognize that we should be extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

BROWN: Right. But it was Democrats or Democrats who were in control, they put this expiration date for the ACA subsidies. And now, Democrats are saying, look, we're not going to vote for this clean CR until we do something and extend the subsidies. Was this a mistake back in 2022 not to push to extend them longer so that you're not in this position right now?

KHANNA: Well, some of us wanted to extend -- make them permanent. But, you know, the -- President Biden was doing the best he could. We didn't get a single Republican vote on that. And he had to deal with people like Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate. And so, he did what he could to get that extension.

The reality, though, is there's been one party in this country from FDR to Lyndon Johnson, to Barack Obama, to Joe Biden, who has tried to extend health care to every American and lower costs. And there's been another party, the Republican Party, that is opposed that at every step of the way to provide tax breaks for the billionaires. And it's a clear divide. Now, fortunately, there are cracks in the Republican base because they understand working class Americans can't afford these extraordinary premiums and we need health care reform.

BROWN: My colleague Stephen Collinson writes this about Democrats' push for health care reform, highlighting that this is no normal administration or shutdown, saying, quote, "The president doesn't just move the goalposts, he rips up the entire pitch. So, assumptions that governed previous shutdowns over 30 years of bitter partisanship in Washington may not apply."

[10:50:00]

So, Congressman, given that, are Democrats really equipped to take on President Trump here, especially at a time when Americans have historically low confidence in your party?

KHANNA: Well, what they have even less confidence in right now is the Republican leadership and Donald Trump, because they understand what this is about. They understand that what the Democrats are saying is we need to make sure that people's premiums don't go -- don't double. And they understand that the Republicans just passed a bill of 4.5 trillion tax breaks to the billionaires in my district. And we're doing fine, the billionaires in my district. They're inventing A.I. They're making trillions of dollars. We want to extend health care tax breaks for the working class, not tax breaks to the billionaires.

BROWN: All right. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said during a town hall last night, in order for Democrats to get on board for the government to reopen, says, I think we need to see ink on paper. I think we need to see legislation. We need to see these things passed and signed by President Trump. Do you agree? Should Democrats refuse to reopen the government until President Trump signs health care legislation?

KHANNA: Well, we need a commitment that there's going to be the extensions to the Affordable Care Act in the bill. And that would mean that people on November 1st won't have their premiums double. It's actually a very, very reasonable demand from the American from Democrats. And I think they're eventually -- I think Trump wants that. But, you know, there -- he has to convince a number of his own Republicans to do that.

But why would you want, as president of the United States, for 24 million Americans to have their premiums double starting in November? And that's really all the Democrats are fighting for, it's for working class families to have their health care costs not rise.

BROWN: Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you so much for your time. We'll be right back.

KHANNA: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, critical aid for Gaza is being held up over what Israel claims is a ceasefire violation. Trucks were lined up at the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, waiting to get in today. Israel is refusing to open the crossing in retaliation for what it says are delays in the return of deceased Israeli hostages.

I want to bring in right now Kate Phillips-Barrasso. She's the vice president of global policy and advocacy over at Mercy Corps. And these are some new pictures coming into the Situation Room right now. Food supplies. Kate, thanks so much for being here. I know you have, what, about 33 Mercy Corps employees in Gaza right now. Are you able to get what you need into there?

KATE PHILLIPS-BARRASSO, VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL POLICY AND ADVOCACY, MERCY CORPS: In a word, no. We actually haven't been able to get anything into the Strip since the 2nd of March, when the previous ceasefire collapsed. And while we're hopeful that this new ceasefire arrangement will allow us to bring in assistance, we actually have not received permission to move forward in bringing in 73 trucks, about 1,300 pallets of assistance, hygiene kits, food, and shelter kits into the Strip since the ceasefire was reached. We're hopeful, but it has not happened yet.

BLITZER: Because the Israelis say that about 600 trucks were coming in as of yesterday. Today it's dropped down to about 300 trucks, but that's still not enough for you?

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: No. I mean, it's a little bit complicated, right? We're hearing all of these different numbers thrown around. And while more trucks are being approved, they're literally is one crossing right now, Kerem Shalom, where all of these things are going in. And it's a real choke point. There's just not enough space and enough processing capacity to get these things in at pace.

So, once they're dropped off, they can be distributed, but getting through there is a real challenge. So, the numbers that we understand are actually far below the 600-truck mark, which we thought was a conservative estimate, given the dire straits that people in Gaza were going after two years of war and also a near total blockade since the ceasefire collapsed in March.

BLITZER: As you know, cold winter months are quickly approaching for the folks in Gaza. Can you speak to this as well as some of the other challenges Mercy Corps, your organization, is now facing?

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: Absolutely. And I'm glad that you mentioned the colder months. People don't typically think of the Middle East as a place where cold is a challenge, but the temperature does drop and there's rain. And actually, one of my colleagues on our response team in Gaza said the night of the ceasefire that it actually started raining, and while she was joyous about the deal being reached, she also was filled with dread because once it starts raining in Gaza, it floods and the flooding spreads around disease because there isn't adequate sanitation.

And when you have a lot of malnourished people, just to remind your audience, that was half a million people were actively starving. And the first time famine was declared in the Middle East in August. When you encounter unsanitary conditions like that, when you're malnourished, that's oftentimes when you succumb. You don't necessarily starve to death, but your body is not able to fight off infection, particularly for children.

So, we're very worried. We're in a race against the clock against the winter. We're in a race against the clock against these famine conditions. So, we just don't have any time to waste for things to come in, for new crossings to be set up. We need to be going full tilt. And this needs to be a flood. But right now, it's a trickle of aid that's coming in.

BLITZER: All right. Kate Phillips-Barrasso of Mercy Corps, thanks very much for coming in. Thanks for all the important work Mercy Corps is doing right now to try to save people's lives in Gaza and elsewhere for that matter as well.

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you very, very much. Pamela.

BROWN: The next hour of the Situation Room starts right now.

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