President Trump is urging Texas Republicans to re-shape the state's congressional districts in order to flip five U.S. House seats ahead of next year's midterms. The president said his party is entitled to those seats.

Austin

Former President Donald Trump has urged Texas Republicans to reshape congressional districts, stating his party is 'entitled' to five additional U.S. House seats. This comes as Texas Democrats have left the state to prevent a vote on the proposed redistricting, with Governor Greg Abbott calling for their arrest, though his authority does not extend beyond Texas borders.

The standoff has drawn national attention, with some Democrats in other states considering retaliatory redistricting efforts. California Governor Gavin Newsom has indicated his state may redraw districts if Texas proceeds, though he emphasized any changes would involve the state's independent commission and voter approval. Experts warn that ongoing redistricting battles could leave voters uncertain about their representation and further entrench partisan divides.

Trump says 'we are entitled to 5 more seats' in Texas

We start with the latest in Texas though. That's where Governor Greg Abbott is calling for the arrest of Texas Democrats who left the state in order to block a vote to redraw the congressional map there. President Trump is urging Texas Republicans to reshape the districts in order to flip five U.S. House seats ahead of next year's midterms. The president said in a phone interview on CNBC this morning that his party is entitled to those seats. You notice they go to Illinois for safety but that's all gerrymandered. California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress in California. It's all gerrymandered and we have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor and we have good people in Texas and I want Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas as you probably know and we are entitled to five more seats. CBS News correspondent Nydia Cavazos joins us now from our Los Angeles bureau. Nydia, very good to see you. What kind of legality if any can Governor Abbott call for the civil arrests of these Democrats? Nancy, Governor Greg Abbott can call for the arrest of these Democratic members that fled the state but he doesn't have jurisdiction beyond his own state line so while arrest warrants were issued they can't necessarily be enforced if these members remain in the state of Illinois which is what they said that they will continue to do so. Yeah they're talking about all kinds of consequences and threats here but meantime those Democratic state representatives they still remain in Illinois. They say they will stay there for for quite some time so what happens now? These Democratic members have said that they will remain in the state of Illinois for at least two more weeks which is the duration of this special session and while at some point they will have to go back to their own state of Texas they say that for now this is helping them raise awareness bring national attention to this issue and some of these representatives are saying that they're hoping that other blue states will also join the fight and retaliate against the state of Texas in their own way by redistricting their own congressional districts within their blue states. And Nydia we are talking to you from Los Angeles you're in California there where Governor Newsom says his state could also redraw its congressional districts this in an effort to benefit Democrats. So what is the latest on that front? Governor Newsom has said that he himself and his team are very much involved in the ongoing conversations with their state representatives and some congressional Democrats in drafting maps and these maps will soon be released according to some of the sources we've been speaking to. Now Governor Newsom has underscored that California will only move forward if and only if Texas does end up approving these GOP drawn maps but for California the process would look different and he stresses that he wouldn't necessarily do away with the independent commission that the state of California does and ultimately it does come down to voters and so this process for California would involve a special election that would be called on November 4th but again Newsom says this will only happen if Texas moves forward with its plan. All right Nydia Vazos thank you so much for joining us. And earlier CBS News election law contributor and executive director at the Center for Election Innovation and Research David Becker spoke to our Errol Barnett about the real impact these growing redistricting battles could have on everyday Americans. You heard the Texas state representative the Republicans say their job was to maintain U.S. House control for the Republicans and that's not really what their job is supposed to be. The United States House is supposed to be the people's house. We have to remember although these lines are being drawn there are people within those lines there are people who think they know who represents them who know who they can petition if they need something from their government and this constant shifting around the lines effectively makes these people pawns where they don't really know who's going to represent them all in the aim of maybe getting an additional seat and holding on to power in a very narrow narrowly divided United States House. And so the Democrats apparently now feel like they have no choice and I can certainly understand that given what Texas is about to do with some other Republican-led states are about to do with the past of the president.

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