'How Many Seats Could You Gain?': Hakeem Jeffries Pressed On Proposed Redistricting In New York?

On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about proposed redistricting in New York.

Transcript

00:00You met with your governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, last month about possibly redrawing New

00:06York's maps. Is this something you can even do in New York? And if so, how many seats could you

00:11gain? And could you do it before the midterms? Well, good morning. It's great to be with you.

00:18I've been in touch, of course, with Governor Kathy Hochul, as well as the legislative

00:21leaders. House Democrats are going to respond from coast to coast and at all points in between,

00:27as has been done in California, forcefully, immediately and appropriately to make sure

00:34that Donald Trump cannot steal the midterm elections. Okay. Can you be more specific?

00:41Just let's just talk about New York, where you obviously have a window into what's going on

00:45there. We know what California is doing. They're going to try to get this on the ballot. What can

00:50you do in New York? Is it even feasible to redraw the maps before the midterms?

00:57Texas acted in a way to try and rig the congressional maps so they could add a couple of

01:06different seats to the Republican column. Understand that Republicans right now have the

01:11narrowest majority, just a three-seat majority, of any party since the Great Depression. And

01:19they have no track record of accomplishment to be able to successfully run on, which is why

01:25they are running scared. California responded forcefully, thanks to the leadership of the

01:30governor, the legislative leaders, the members of the California congressional delegation led

01:35by Zoe Lofgren and Pete Aguilar. And we will continue to respond when necessary across the country.

01:42Right now, this has happened in Texas. California has responded. Let's see what comes next.

01:47So is there not a plan yet in New York? Is that what I'm hearing?

01:54There's a plan to respond as appropriately in New York and in other parts of the country as the

02:02circumstances dictate. Well, speaking of circumstances, Republicans are already looking

02:08beyond Texas. And if you look at the map, they could, adding it all up, get about six to eight seats

02:14if, big if, they're successful in redrawing maps and other GOP-led states. Are you worried that

02:22that could be enough right there to prevent you from retaking the House?

02:29Not at all. Listen, as Democrats, we're focused on making life better for the American people,

02:34driving down the high cost of living. Right now, America is too expensive. Housing costs are too high.

02:39Grocery costs are too high. Electricity bills are through the roof. All of this is happening

02:45on Donald Trump's watch. He promised to lower the high cost of living. In fact, to lower the high

02:50cost of living on day one. Costs aren't going down. They are going up. As Democrats, we're going to

02:56focus as well on fixing our broken health care system and cleaning up corruption. So we have an

03:02affirmative agenda that is compelling that we will continue to present to the American people.

03:07the Republicans have failed. That is why they are running scared.