Thursday morning news: August 21, 2025

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Texas redistricting » In Texas, after a two-week walkout by many Democratic state lawmakers the House finally had the needed quorum to vote on a new Republican-drawn congressional district map.

AUDIO (vote count): 88 ayes, 52 nays … House Bill 4 passes to engrossment.

And that vote went, as expected, straight down party lines.

Prior to the final tally, the top Democrat in the Texas House Gene Wu had strong words for Republicans while addressing voters directly:

WU:  You may not understand gerrymandering, you may not understand redistricting, but I hope you understand lying, cheating, and stealing. When they can't win, they cheat.

But GOP Rep. Todd Hunter said Republicans did win the majority in the state House and that is why they now have the authority to draw the district lines.

TODD HUNTER:  Congressional redistricting is allowed. The law allows it.

Hunter quoted the US Supreme Court saying that to hold the legislators cannot take partisan interests into account when drawing district lines

HUNTER: Would essentially countermand the framers’ decision to entrust districting to political entities.

The new congressional map is expected to result in five more GOP-leaning districts in the state.

NATO meeting » Top NATO defense chiefs held a video conference Wednesday to talk about how to provide the security guarantees Ukraine would require as part of any deal that ends Russia’s three-year war.

Vice President JD Vance was not a part of that conference, but he said yesterday that the White House is looking to Europe to shoulder most of the load.

VANCE:  We should be helpful if it's necessary to stop the war and to stop the killing, but I, I think that we should expect, and the President certainly expects Europe to play the leading role here.

Ukraine says military assurances against the threat of future Russian invasions are critical moving forward.

Vance visits National Guard in D.C. » Also on Wednesday, Vice President Vance paid a visit to National Guard troops now deployed in the nation’s capital.

The troops are supporting local and federal law enforcement now patrolling the streets of Washington.

Vance’s visit came a little more than a week after President Trump declared a public safety emergency in DC and gave the Justice Department authority over DC Metro Police for 30 days.

VANCE:  I think that we're gonna make a lot of progress over the next 20 days. I think that we're nine days into this thing, but if the President of the United States thinks that he has to extend this order to ensure that people have access to public safety, then that's exactly what it'll do.

Extending federal authority of DC police would require approval from Congress.

Critics have called the federal takeover heavy handed and unnecessary.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters yesterday that her office will cooperate with a Justice department probe, examining whether DC crime statistics have been manipulated. But she added:

BOWSER:  We know, uh, that crime has gone down in our city and it has gone down precipitously over the last two years.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller joined Vance in greeting National Guardsmen.

Israel/Gaza latest » The head of an Israeli-backed humanitarian aid group says Hamas is actively trying to stop desperately needed supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip.

John Acre is executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor working with Israel to feed hungry Palestinians.

He says Hamas has forced many of his local workers to move their families repeatedly.

ACREE: Nearly everyone associated with GHF who has gone public has faced death threats, harassment of their families and vandalism of their homes simply for trying to feed the Palestinian people in Gaza, myself included.

He also said the four aid distribution sites currently in operation are nowhere near enough, and called for an end to hostilities.

ACREE: We are absolutely pro-ceasefire. We welcome any type of a ceasefire. If there have been recent discussions, that's positive.

But for now, Isreal appears to be ramping up its war on Hamas.

DEFRIN: [In Hebrew]

Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin says Israel will call up another sixty-thousand reservists by September. And another 27,000 will see their current deployment extended.

That comes ahead of a planned expansion of Israel's military operation in Gaza City.

Venezuela tensions » The Pentagon deployed maritime patrol aircraft near Venezuela Wednesday. That follows the deployment of Navy Destroyers and submarines along with some 4,000 U.S. Marines near Venezuela’s coast.

It’s part of what the Trump administration calls “counternarcotics operations” aimed at drug cartels in Venezuela, which President Trump has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

It comes just days after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million dollar reward for the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

BONDI:  Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa and Cartel of the Sons to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.

Maduro called on millions of the country’s militiamen this week to take up arms and be ready.

The current operations are aimed at blocking fentanyl and other drugs from being pipelined into the United States.

Hurricane Erin effects » Hurricane Erin is raging over the Atlantic Ocean well off the U.S. shoreline. But it is still causing problems along the East Coast triggering storm surge warnings and evacuations in North Carolina.

Gov. Josh Stein:

STEIN:  Our state emergency response team stands ready to quickly and decisively respond to any needs along the coast. We have already pre-positioned three swift water rescue teams and 200 National Guard troops to various locations on the coast, along with boats, high clearance vehicles and aircraft.

And Erin is causing dangerous rip currents and hazardous beach conditions from Florida to New England. 

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: comparing illegal immigration data in Europe and America. Plus, how some states are shooting themselves in the foot by raising taxes.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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