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Three GOP-Led States Sending National Guard Troops To DC; Zelenskyy: Russia Must End The War It Started; Israel-Hamas War; Trump's Trade War. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:31:47]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, video obtained by CNN appears to show two federal agencies in masks on the streets of Washington, DC tackling and handcuffing a delivery driver before tasing him to the ground. It happened Saturday outside a cafe.

Bystanders filmed the incident and called on the officers to identify themselves. A DHS official said that agents did identify themselves and had their badges clearly visible. DHS said the person allegedly entered the country illegally and had failed to appear in court for various traffic violations and had active warrants.

It is unclear if the apprehended man has an attorney. DHS also said in a statement, "in the face of menacing taunts and harassment, this law enforcement officer conducted himself with dignity and did not violate DHS policy.

Now separately, Republican governors of three states announced the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington in a show of support for the Trump administration's efforts there. Let's get right to CNN's Gabe Cohen for the latest on that. Good morning, Gabe.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Good morning. So what we saw over the weekend was a clear escalation in the Trump administration's efforts to really ramp up law enforcement presence here in the nation's capital.

So you mentioned the National Guard. We have now heard from three Republican governors of West Virginia, Ohio and South Carolina who are vowing to send their own troops to the nation's capital to help the Trump administration in their effort. And we are also hearing from an Army official who says that some of those National Guard soldiers are now going to be armed.

That is quite different from what we have seen, what I have seen up close here over the last few days where National Guard troops were really stationed in these prominent places around DC but they weren't armed. They had zip ties on them. They were told really not to arrest anyone or to use force, but just to be visible and to assist any way they could. Then, John, there are these groups of federal officers from other agencies, the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security. They are running the operations across the district, which has led to some of those tense moments like that video that you showed. There are a lot of residents here in DC who feel that those groups of federal officers and what the Trump administration is doing in Washington is not warranted.

And even that it is illegal, there are laws here in DC that officers need to be willing to identify themselves, to show badges. As you saw from that video and from others that we have seen circulating, some of that has been called into question whether federal officers are actually doing that.

We heard from Mayor Muriel Bowser here in DC over the weekend who tweeted American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is un-American. And frankly, this Mayor John, Mayor Bowser, has really toned down her language in recent months and even recent days when talking about the Trump administration because she knows and other local officials here know that President Trump and Republicans in Congress hold the cards when it comes to DC's fate.

And yet with this escalation, we're hearing an escalation in the mayor's tone and even an escalation in how locals are responding and interacting with these officers. So there are growing concerns that we could see things boil over depending on how the Trump administration continues to deploy those federal resources.

[08:35:15]

BERMAN: It depends, I imagine, what happens on the ground there. Gabe Cohen, thank you so much for the reporting.

President Zelenskyy with a new statement this morning after President Trump essentially said Ukraine needs to give up any hopes of joining NATO, needs to give up any hope of getting any of Crimea back, and said that Ukraine is the one that could make peace if it wanted. Now, a moment I don't think I've ever seen in a courtroom a judge mistakenly reads a guilty verdict in a murder case before correcting it to not guilty.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral will happen. And if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.

[08:40:20]

BERMAN: That was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the hours leading up to his meeting at the White House today with President Trump. Let's get to CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten. Harry, let's talk about Ukrainian attitudes toward the war and really toward ending the war because there's been some pretty major shifts here.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, There have been some absolutely major shifts. The idea that Ukraine is going to achieve complete victory, that idea has collapsed within Ukrainian society. What are we talking about here?

Ukrainians on the war versus Russia. You go back to 2020, to the start of the war, fight until Ukraine wins. Look at this. The vast majority, about three quarters, 73 percent agreed with that position. Negotiate to end the war as soon as possible, only 22 percent.

Look at where we are now. It's a complete flip. It's the inverse. Now 69 percent want to negotiate to end the war as soon as possible, compared to just 24 percent who want to fight until Ukraine wins. That's a 49 point drop in this position. Now, of course, negotiating to end the war as soon as possible, that's a bit more nuanced, right?

Ukrainians don't want to agree to rush all of Russia's demand. But I think the idea of even there being some territory that would be not formally recognized as being given, that Russia could in fact stay in. That does have majority support, but the idea of formal recognition of Russia's demands? Absolutely not.

BERMAN: All right. Why do you think that opinion has changed to the extent that it does?

ENTEN: Well, I think one of the big reasons why opinions have changed is this idea that this war is going to end anytime soon, uh-huh. Ukrainians don't think it will. Take a look here, Ukrainians on the war ending within a year, just 25 percent say that it is likely.

Look at this, 68 percent, 68 percent say it is unlikely that the war will in fact end in a year. And you'll notice, John, this 68 percent looks a heck of a lot like this, 69 percent who say that they want to negotiate to end the war as soon as possible.

BERMAN: So President Trump overnight ruled out Ukraine joining NATO seemingly ever. But what do Ukrainians feel?

ENTEN: Yes. You know, obviously Ukrainians would like to join NATO. That has been a goal of theirs for a number of years. But the idea that Ukrainians, that NATO admission will happen within 10 years. Look at, again, look at the collapse in this position. 2022 was 64 percent, now it is just half that level at 32 percent.

So, again, this is one of the goals that, you know, Ukrainians had since beginning of the war. They no longer believe that it's cheaper. Well, the idea that Russia is going to be forced out of all of that land that they're occupying, they don't necessarily believe that is going to happen. So, again, I think this is one of the reasons why Ukrainians, they certainly don't want to accede to every Russian position.

So certainly not most of them, but the idea that they do want to negotiate an end to this war as soon as possible, that has now gone through the roof. Again, we're talking about 69 percent, which is such a big difference from where were at the beginning of the war when it was just 2022.

BERMAN: Wanting to negotiate doesn't mean wanting to surrender.

ENTEN: Correct.

BERMAN: It means wanting to discuss, and not believing that they'll join NATO is different than wanting to join NATO.

ENTEN: You got it.

BERMAN: But you can very much see how Ukrainian thinking has changed over the last few years.

ENTEN: Absolutely, John.

BERMAN: All right, thank you. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us right now to talk about the state of where things are with this is the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor. He's also a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. It's good to see you again, ambassador.

Let's talk about what could occur today and how significant it really is, the stakes at hand. Zelenskyy sitting down with President Trump again in the Oval Office and this time he's bringing friends along with him, several European leaders coming with him. What do you expect to come from these meetings?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, Kate, President Zelenskyy has some experience with negotiations with the Americans. You will remember -- you reported that the minerals deal that the Americans put on the table and demanded a signature from President Zelenskyy. And President Zelenskyy looked at the proposal, said no, said that we'll get back to you, made a counter proposal, OK.

That could happen today. They could look the, Ukrainians, President Zelenskyy,. could look at the proposal that you just described, that John just described, and say, actually, we can't agree with that, but there are things we might be able to agree to along these lines. And I imagine President Zelenskyy will be talking with his European colleagues and with other Ukrainians before giving a response to President Trump.

BOLDUAN: So, Ambassador, when you see the president, President Trump, tweeting that Zelenskyy could end this war immediately, almost immediately, if he wanted to, saying no Crimea and never, we would assume, going into NATO. You see that maybe as the opening bid that they would -- they could -- that would be the source of where they begin the discussion today.

TAYLOR: Exactly, Kate. Exactly. On Crimea, again, as John just pulled out there, there's a difference between formal recognition of Russian ownership sovereignty over Crimea, which the Ukrainians won't agree to.

[08:45:16] But they could make a counter proposal, they could -- on that one, on the Crimea, they could say, look, we will acknowledge that you Russians now occupy Crimea. We don't like it, we don't accept it, but we acknowledge it. And we will not try to take it back militarily.

The Ukrainians could say that could be a reasonable counter. On NATO, they could say, OK. We agree that we're not going to go into NATO today, not now, but we won't agree that we can never go in.

BOLDUAN: nd interestingly enough, we just had the former Ukrainian President Poroshenko on and he said that nothing short of NATO membership can offer this, that can actually prevent or would prevent Putin from reigniting another war at some point. But in the short term, the way he called it, described it as a Finnish style security agreement with NATO could be sufficient. Do you think so?

TAYLOR: I think this coalition of the willing that the Europeans are talking about, the British and the French talking about, a coalition of the willing that would be apparently willing to put troops, military troops on the ground in Ukraine to defend Ukraine. And if Russia tried to invade again and deter Russia from trying to do that, I think that could be a fallback from NATO's membership.

I think President Poroshenko is right. The best is NATO membership and they shouldn't give up hope for that or expectation for that over time. But as a fallback, the coalition of the willing, something like the Finnish model or related could work.

BOLDUAN: So interesting on Trump's post on social media overnight, a top Russian negotiator actually re-shared the post, adding that, adding this take to you, his take on Trump's conditions for Ukraine, which is Trump and his team are pushing for the real solution, let problem solving and peace prevail during the big day. That's one of the lead top Russian negotiators in all of this, saying that Trump's got it right in what he's pushing.

But here's my question on this. Have you seen any indication of any retreat from Vladimir Putin on any position that he has held now for years in order to get to peace?

TAYLOR: None, none, zero. He has given up nothing. And President Trump needs to ask the question about his top priority.

President Trump has said over and over he wants to stop the killing. That means a ceasefire. That means a ceasefire now while they negotiate, while these issues are debated. Cease fire now will stop the killing, which is what President Trump has said all along.

BOLDUAN: Ambassador, I really look forward to having you on. Once we hear what comes out of these meetings and what counterproposals then will be coming. It's great to see you.

Coming up for us, hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets in Israel, demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the return of the hostages, just as leaked audio reveals a former top Israeli official called the deaths of thousands of Palestinians "necessary." And not what you want to hear as you are likely hopefully enjoying your morning coffee. How President Trump's tariffs on Brazil could send coffee prices soaring.

And hear the moment when a judge mistakenly reads a guilty verdict in a murder case before correcting that is actually not guilty.

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[08:52:45]

BOLDUAN: New this morning, leaked audio is revealing a former Israeli military intelligence chief called the deaths of 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza "necessary" even if it was the death of children. It's unclear when this was said, but the estimated number killed in Gaza surpassed 50,000 in March.

This comes also as frustration is reaching a new boiling point in Israel over the war and specifically the hostages. More than 400,000 protesters gathered in Tel Aviv last night, protesters demanding the government secure the release once and for all of the 50 hostages still in Gaza. It was one of the largest coordinated demonstrations since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for us. Oren, what is the latest?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, what's incredible about these protests that we saw last night in Tel Aviv and really across the country throughout the day is how quickly this came together. It was called for as a grassroots effort from hostage families as well as from bereaved families from October 7th, calling on a nationwide strike and events that took place throughout the day. It culminated in what we saw in and around Hostages Square on Sunday evening.

Organizers say there were more than 400,000 people there. As we tried to get close to the center of it was practically impossible because all of the streets in that area were packed. And from everything we saw all of the shirts that said bring them home now, all of the flags and signs, it was clear this was a massive effort to send a message to the government calling for the release of all of the 50 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive, and a comprehensive end of the war.

You could feel the anger with the government, the frustration and the belief that the war should have ended and all of the remaining hostages should be home. Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his far right allies tried to dismiss this massive demonstration, saying it was only strengthening Hamas and insisting that it is military pressure that is the solution to the war here. But that's certainly not an argument or a position that the protesters there believed at all.

They say this is just the beginning and there will be more of these types of demonstrations. Kate, the scale of it was simply immense.

[08:55:03] BOLDUAN: Just the video, some of the video I've seen is really astonishing. And also what I mentioned off the top there, Oren, about the former Israeli military official who on leaked audio is heard saying that the deaths of thousands of Palestinians is necessary. What are you learning about this?

TAYLOR: So this comes from the former head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva. He was the first senior officer to resign over his responsibility or his failures for October 7th. And this is leaked audio during which he talks a lot about that and where else he thinks the blame needs to go.

But one of the striking parts of this interview was what he says about the staggering death toll in Gaza. Here is two parts of that. First, he says, for everything that happened on October 7th, for every one person on October 7th, 50 Palestinians must die. It doesn't matter now if they are children.

He then goes on to say the fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations. The recordings are undated, but the death toll in 50,000 surpassed -- the death toll in Gaza surpassed 50,000 back in March. So it seems like this is a fairly recent recording here.

It is a stunning statement, especially as Israel faces increased accusations of intentional starvation, war crimes and genocide in the conduct of the Israeli military in the war in Gaza. So we have seen condemnation from Hamas and we've also recently seen some leaders of countries that have good relations with Israel saying Netanyahu has gone too far.

BOLDUAN: Oren, thank you as always for your reporting. John.

BERMAN: This morning, a manhunt underway in New York after police say a gang related shooting left three people dead and nine others injured. This happened before dawn at a lounge in Brooklyn. Police are searching for multiple suspects and say as many as four shooters opened fire inside the building. The victims range in age from 19 to 61.

The US Postal Service says it will issue a commemorative stamp honoring former President Jimmy Carter. The Postal Service plans to release the forever stamp in Atlanta on October 1st, which would have been President Carter's 101st birthday.

All right. Quite a moment in an Atlanta courtroom, I really don't think I've ever seen anything like this. A judge told a man he was found guilty in the death of a Fulton County deputy. The thing is, he wasn't.

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HENRY NEWKIRK, JUDGE: The verdict. We, the jury find the defendant guilty as to all six counts of the bill of indictment. Sheriff, would you please hand this to counsel and pass it over?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait, what?

NEWKIRK: Didn't I say not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

NEWKIRK: Oh. We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty on all six counts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That's a pretty big difference. The judge either read it wrong or blanked or something. He apologized and corrected himself. You heard it there. The verdict did come after nearly 10 hours of deliberations. That was my look. I see your face. I'm like, when I was reading the story, I'm like, you have to be kidding me.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean, he looked stunned and confused that everyone was confused. I mean, that I don't even know what's going on. That's crazy.

BERMAN: It's very different. Not guilty is very different, it turns out, than guilty for murder. For those wondering, for those kids at home.

BOLDUAN: You need to fact check.

BERMAN: Yes, all right.

BOLDUAN: Oh my God. OK, let's turn to this. The United States is the largest importer of coffee across the globe. And American coffee drinkers are already paying a bit more for it and could see those prices soar after President Trump slapped that 50 percent tariff on all goods coming from Brazil last month. In the wake of all of this, some US Farmers are now hoping that these tariffs actually will help them boost coffee production. Here CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Against all odds, 100 percent American grown coffee.

It's like a cherry.

DAVE ARMSTRONG, COFFEE FARMER: Mm-hmm. I believe we're the largest farm in California, coffee farm. And, you know, if the experiment works, I'd love to expand.

VARGAS JONES: David Armstrong is part of a group of farmers trying to make California a synonym for specialty coffee.

ARMSTRONG: We're in Ventura County, so we're gonna go up to the foothills. We have multiple canyons where we grow coffee. VARGAS JONES: This is part of the only 1 percent of coffee consumed in

the US grown domestically. Thirty-five percent of what coffee is imported comes from Brazil now slapped with tariffs of up to 50 percent on some goods, including coffee.

You would think it would be a great opportunity for all American beans. But other nations can deliver a product just as good for a fraction of the cost.

ARMSTRONG: Brazil has been hit very hard with tariffs, but they're looking at somewhere around $4 a pound for coffee. And we're in the hundreds of dollars a pound.

[09:00:00]