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Tracking States' Unprecedented Redistricting Efforts; NYT: U.S. Intel Shows Iran Controls Most Missile Sites Along Strait; FDA Chief Dr. Marty Makary Resigning; Sources: CIA Escalates War on Drug Cartels Inside Mexico. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired May 13, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

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REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA), MINORITY WHIP: There is no pretense here. They are decimating black political power in order to retain power and keep a system that works against the American people.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman is joining us right now. Tom, so where are we now with redistricting efforts and how did we get there?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a mess, Wolf. Simply put, there were court rulings and the Republicans have been moving at lightning speed to take advantage of it. Look at the balance of power first. This is where you have to start. I'll try to make this understandable because it is a lot to take in. Very, very close here for the Republicans having control of the U.S. House. Democrats 2-12, Republicans 2-17. The one independent here was a Republican in California who would likely lose his job possibly under redistricting there, but he has said, Kevin Kiley has said, look, this redistricting thing is the worst thing about politics now for everyone. It is a bad thing.

Let's look at the states right now. If you look at what's been enacted out there, you see the Republicans could net 10 Democratic seats. The Democrats would need 13 to take power. And if you add in the pending one, the one still being considered out there, it gets worse for the Democrats. Look at it state by state, though, and this will help make a little more sense of it. If we look at Alabama, one of my old home states there.

Look what happened here. In this state that has seven congressional seats, the new map, this was the old map here, and you see Montgomery down here toward Mobile, some parts of Birmingham out here to western Alabama. Those were two different districts out there that tended to vote blue. About 25 percent of the state of Alabama roughly are black citizens. That has now been reshaped this way. So, now, there is one district that will likely vote blue, and Montgomery here has been chopped up, a little north, a little south to make it much more red and get rid of that extra district there.

Look at Tennessee, where we see some of that fighting going on there. What was the target here? The target here was Memphis. Tennessee has about a 15 percent black population, and by going in and putting these three districts in here instead of that one, there would be likely no Democrat winning there based on just statistics at this point. And then Louisiana, one of my old home states, there has been a big fight over this map. Look, this is clearly a long gerrymander, as one would talk about it, that would favor having two black districts, this one down here to New Orleans, up to Baton Rouge, and then up here through Alexandria, that sort of area. That has been under attack there, struck down by the Supreme Court.

So, you put all of those together, and the reason people are saying this is unfair, you can say, well, every citizen, no matter their race, can vote as they wish. Yes, but in this country, about 80 percent of black Americans vote Democratic. So, the feeling is that this is an attack on black voters, technically Democratic voters, yes, but black voters are bearing a huge brunt of it, especially in southern states, where people literally got their heads cracked trying to make sure they had the right to vote and that they weren't being shoved out.

BLITZER: I'm wondering what's happening in Virginia right now.

FOREMAN: Virginia is another case. I mean, really, what's happening in so many ways is these decisions are very much going in favor of Republicans. Virginia tried to be one of the places that said, hey, we're going to go in and redistrict two, and we'll create a whole bunch more blue here. But the state court, Supreme Court said, no, you can't do that, that this is improper.

And oddly, one of the arguments was you moved too fast to have the voters approve this, whereas, as I mentioned, a lot of these other efforts are moving at just absolutely lightning speed. If you get nothing else out of all of this, you look at all these maps, you try to make sense of all of this, this is what you need to know.

Right now, the Republicans have the edge in all of these redistricting wars. They're more likely to pick up seats than Democrats are, and that could help them retain the advantage. But the reason this is all happening is because Donald Trump right now is an almost historically unpopular president. His base loves him. Most of the country doesn't. They think he's responsible for a lot of what's happening bad with the economy and everything else. And Republicans are fearful of paying a terrible price in the midterms for that. And for all this redistricting, they still might, because they had to dilute some of their districts to see some of the Democratic districts. The fight's not over yet.

BLITZER: Yes. Not over. Tom Foreman, thank you very, very much. Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much, Tom. Just ahead, the potential impact on Americans as the head of the Food and Drug Administration leaves the agency just 13 months after taking over.

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BLITZER: Happening now, a striking new report is contradicting the Trump administration's claims about Iran's missile capabilities. According to the New York Times, U.S. intelligence reveals Iran has regained access to a majority of its missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz. The new assessment shared with lawmakers behind closed doors suggests Iran has rebuilt 30 of 33 missile sites along the Strait, giving the country effective control over the key waterway.

Here with us now to discuss, CNN's senior military analyst, the retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis. He's the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO as well, and co-author, by the way, of a new book entitled "2084: A Novel of Future War." There's the cover right there. Admiral, thanks very much for joining us. Just how big of a setback is this potentially for the president if this New York Times analysis is correct?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER AND AUTHOR, "2084: A NOVEL OF FUTURE WAR": Very unwelcome news in the White House. First, good job, CIA, for finding this out. If these reports are accurate.

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This is what you want your intelligence agencies to do, Wolf, if you know this, deliver unwelcome news, if it's the truth. So, point to be made there for the CIA. In terms of the tactics of the moment, let's face it, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is becoming the critical path in this. And if Iran does, in fact, have considerable, particularly short-range tactical and strategic ballistic missiles, that's a real problem.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly is. President Trump insisted yesterday before leaving for a summit with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, that Washington doesn't, and I'm quoting him now, "need any help reopening the Strait." Can the U.S. alone handle this?

STAVRIDIS: We could initially, but if we're going to keep it open with Iran pushing back, we really want to get the Europeans involved. And they have the capability. They have excellent minesweepers. They have guided missile frigates, destroyers, cruisers. They have intelligence networks.

And by the way, both France and the United Kingdom have indicated a willingness to do this, and they're putting their ships where their mouth is, in that the Red Sea today has Charles de Gaulle, the big French nuclear aircraft carrier, and the British are deploying one of their very formidable Type 45 destroyers, HMS Dragon. So, they're moving toward this Strait.

BLITZER: That's very interesting. The Times is also reporting, as you know, that Iran still has about 70 percent, that's what they say, 70 percent of its missile launchers across the country and has about 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile, including both ballistic and cruise missiles. Does that surprise you? STAVRIDIS: It does. I would have guessed we had degraded them by at least 60, 70 percent, given the level of shock and awe. But Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of the mission, he hears these reports. He rebuilds his target sets, and he's continuing to give the president options. But yes, it's disappointing news.

BLITZER: Before I let you go, Admiral, I want to ask you about your new book. The book focuses in on new technological threats 20 years after a nuclear war between the U.S. and China. Right now, as we noted earlier, President Trump is in Beijing preparing to meet with China's president tomorrow. Both countries have a complex and at times rather volatile relationship. In your view, what needs to be done to prevent a scenario like the one you write about in your new book?

STAVRIDIS: Three things. Number one, you're seeing it unfold in front of you. It's communication, but at the very top, people-to-people connections truly matter. So, it's good that our two leaders are together in Beijing. Number two, you need tactical communication. So, captain of a destroyer has the ability to react in real time in the South China Sea. And then number three, economics. No surprise. President Trump has taken our business leadership, nations that trade together, that ultimately that can prevent war. Those are three things I think are important.

BROWN: I just want to follow up because as you well know, there is an A.I. race between the United States and China. And I'm wondering what your concern is about autonomous weapons where humans are kept out of the loop for very dangerous weapons.

STAVRIDIS: There's an inevitability to taking humans off the battlefield. And that is good in some senses. But your point, Pamela, is, well, wait a minute, where's the human judgment involved in all this? So, we're going to have to find that balance. I think the Pentagon is working closely with many of the leading A.I. companies. And then the second element, again, your point, is U.S. and China. Will China take the same moral and ethical high ground in this regard? I think that's a question to be answered in the future.

BLITZER: Critical question indeed. All right. Admiral James Stavridis, as usual, thanks very, very much.

BROWN: Thank you.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Wolf.

BROWN: And new this morning, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, the agency protecting the safety of the food we eat and the drugs we take, is leaving the Trump administration. He's been on our show, Dr. Marty Makary. He's been under intense pressure from both within the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services. And a senior administration official told us President Trump gave the go-ahead to fire Makary last week.

Let's bring in CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell to learn a little bit more about what ultimately forced Makary out the door here, Meg. MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, I'm hearing from folks, sort of insiders, that it was sort of death by a thousand cuts. However, we do have reporting that at least one issue of tension between Dr. Makary and the White House was flavored e-cigarettes. These have long been a concern of people in the public health world for perhaps attracting kids to vaping. And Dr. Makary resisted wanting to clear them for use in the United States.

He was directly confronted on that, our reporting suggests, by President Trump. And that led to this decision to leave or the decision to fire him.

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However, that wasn't the only issue we've heard that there have been pushback around Dr. Makary about. He's faced a lot of pressure from Republican lawmakers over access to the abortion pill, Mifepristone. And there are a number of Republican senators celebrating that he has left and saying that the FDA needs to expedite a safety review of that pill, Mifepristone.

There's also been pushback to him from the pharmaceutical industry, especially from rare disease groups who say that the FDA under Makary and his former vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, who also left the agency, that there have been moving goalposts and sort of flip-flops on some drug approvals. So, there was a lot of pressure in that arena as well.

And now, the acting commissioner is going to be Kyle Diamantas, who is a lawyer by training, was leading the FDA's food division. So, he is taking over for now. And I'm hearing his remit really is essentially no drama for this agency that regulates 20 percent of the U.S. economy, but a number of health roles now atop big health agencies left open in the Trump administration. Guys.

BROWN: All right. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, the Utah mother who wrote a children's book about grief after her husband's death will soon be back in court to be sentenced for his murder. What the judge will consider in deciding her fate, we have details right after the break.

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BROWN: And turning now to CNN exclusive reporting, the CIA in Mexico. The main target, the Sinaloa cartel. Sources tell CNN that operatives have been inside the country since last year and directly participated in deadly attacks on several mostly mid-level cartel members. That includes one incident caught on camera back in March.

BLITZER: CNN Senior National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen is joining us here in the Situation Room. We're getting some new reaction this morning from the Mexican president, right? What is she saying? REPORTER ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY: That's right. Claudia Sheinbaum is broadly denying that the CIA is operating inside Mexico. And it was interesting because in her comments when she was asked about our new reporting, claiming that anybody that is with the CIA operating under the CIA banner is there with authorization under the country's national security laws.

But just a month ago, Sheinbaum said that she had no knowledge of CIA officers operating in the region of Chihuahua, where obviously that car crashed. And we learned that two people that were killed in that crash were working for the CIA, and not just working for the CIA, but also part of the same secretive elite unit called Ground Branch that we're reporting today was also involved in this new operation back on March 28th.

Now, I want to show you a video. First, I was taken on that day, March 28th. It's one of the busiest highways in Mexico, just outside of Mexico City. You can see a car exploding, and we're told that this was a targeted assassination that was facilitated by CIA operations officers who were part of Ground Branch, this unit that we're talking about here.

And we're also told by sources that this is part of an expanded campaign by the CIA, largely working with Mexican counterparts to go after the cartels in Mexico. And it's really spearheaded by that Ground Branch unit. The person in the vehicle was allegedly a member of the Sinaloa cartel, which is one of the cartels Donald Trump has said is a foreign terrorist organization. But we're now told that the CIA is using its expanded authorities to really ramp up its activity on the ground in Mexico.

Now, in this incident, it remains unclear who physically was responsible for the explosion. The state of Mexico's attorney general telling us that it appears a car bomb was placed in the vehicle, and that was what was responsible. Obviously, we reached out to the CIA well before publishing this story. And we even shared details about our reporting, acknowledging the sensitivities that exist here. They ultimately declined to comment.

After we published the story, the CIA chief spokesperson, Liz Lyons, releasing a statement saying, quote, "This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk." She did not say what she was referring to about that is false in the story. And we obviously stand by our reporting.

BLITZER: All right. Zachary Cohen, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: All right. And we want to turn to another story happening now. A Utah mother convicted of killing her husband is in court right now, where she's about to be sentenced for his murder. A jury convicted Kouri Richins of aggravated murder for poisoning her husband, Eric, with a fatal dose of fentanyl in March of 2022. The mother of three young boys later published a children's book on coping with grief following her husband's death. Today would have been Eric Richens' 44th birthday. As we stand by for the sentencing, let's discuss this case with CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. He's a criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor. Joey, this is such a strange case on so many levels, right? Kouri Richens faces anywhere from 25 years to life in prison or life in prison without parole. What factors will the judge be weighing as he makes his decision?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, Pamela, good to be with you. So, today is a heavy day and the judge has a lot to evaluate with respect to the crimes of which she was convicted by a jury of her peers. Five specific crimes. The aggravated murder, of course, for the successful killing of her husband.

When I say that, there was an attempt. The successful killing involved putting fentanyl in a Moscow mule, which he then consumed and died. Prior to that, Pamela, there was the consumption of a sandwich for which he got sick. That's the attempted aggravated murder. And then there are various charges that she was convicted of relating to fraud in terms of her taking money and forging her husband's signature for life insurance and other purposes. Why is that relevant? It's relevant because it all goes into the sentencing.

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The first analysis of the judge will be, let's look at the pre- sentencing report. That's a report prepared about her life, about her psychology, about her prior history, about her redeeming qualities. Then you have victim impact statements, those are statements given by the family.

At the end of this, there's a life. What did that life mean? Who was this person? How much did they do, right? Meaning the decedent, the person who's dead and a life cut too short. And then, of course, the -- after evaluating that the judge will hear from the defense. The defense will make arguments of redemption, arguments of rehabilitation, arguments as to why this should not be such a harsh sentence.

And then at the end of the day, Pamela, the judge has to evaluate whether this would be worthy of life in jail without the possibility of parole or life in jail in terms of getting parole after serving a minimum of 25 years. So, that's all that the judge has to evaluate, which is an awful lot.

BROWN: Right. And part of that is Kouri Richin's 13-year-old son filing this new court statement saying that he missed his father but didn't miss his mother. He also wrote in that filing that quote, "I'm afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brother as my whole family." What kind of role might that play in the sentencing?

JACKSON: Yes, Pamela, that's damning. And that was something that was put into the prosecution's memorandum. And it was three children that were saying they want their mom locked up forever. And so, I don't think things are going to go well for her in terms of ever getting out. And just remember very briefly, if the judge doesn't sentence her to life without parole on the murder charge, the judge can still, with regard to the other five charges I mentioned, stack the charges, meaning give her time and time and time. So, she will not likely see the light of day again.

BROWN: All right. Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

BLITZER: And we want to thank all of our viewers for joining us this morning.

BROWN: Inside Politics with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right after a short break. Have a great rest of your day.

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