Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Pushes for Meeting Between Putin and Zelenskyy; Hurricane Erin Driving Dangerous Surf Conditions on U.S. East Coast; Missouri A.G. Andrew Bailey Appointed as FBI Co-Deputy Director. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking this morning, Russia launches its largest aerial assault on Ukraine in a month. And we're getting new details just in on conflicting accounts of a possible Zelenskyy-Putin summit.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Erin, a powerful storm and making its way north in the Atlantic, bringing dangerous beach conditions from the Carolinas to New England. And a new evacuation orders in place for the outer banks.

A Columbian TikTok influencer with tens of thousands of followers was detained by immigration officials while live streaming. Why this happened and why it's also sparking outrage online.

Sara's out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. And breaking overnight, Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine since July, just hours after the critical summit at the White House, looking for ways to end the war. Ukraine's Air Force says Russia launched 270 drones, 10 missiles overnight.

President Trump is talking about the next steps after that historic summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several of Europe's top leaders. The president posted that he is now working on setting up a bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, then after that, a meeting among all three of them.

Now, in a new statement overnight, Zelenskyy called the White House summit, quote, a truly significant step toward ending the war and ensuring the security of Ukraine and our people. He added, we are already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees for Ukraine, and those discussions are continuing today.

Now, at one point during Monday's meeting, the president took a timeout to call Vladimir Putin. The White House released a photo from the call in the Oval Office. The Kremlin described the call as candid and said it lasted about 40 minutes.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Putin has agreed to meet Zelenskyy within the next two weeks, so the Kremlin has not confirmed that, and that really is the next major thing to watch here. Will there be a scheduled meeting definitively on the calendar?

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for latest on what you're hearing this morning, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, I think that the two key points that came out of yesterday, John, are, one, you know, there seems at least, and this is how we're hearing European leaders describe it as well, a sort of breakthrough when it comes to security guarantees. That was what the majority of the conversation yesterday between President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy and the seven European leaders discussed in the hours that they were meeting. And, really, again, I think it was a sigh of relief for a lot of people abroad who have been wanting the United States to step up and say that they're willing to provide these security guarantees if Zelenskyy is able to find an end to this war and Russia agrees to it.

Take a listen to how they described it though and listen to President Trump specifically on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm optimistic that, collectively, we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think with the right approach this afternoon, make real progress, particularly on the security guarantees.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: This is very important that United States gives such strong signal and is ready for security guarantees.

TRUMP: They are first line of defense because they're there, they're Europe, but we're going to help them out also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, that last line there, saying they're the first line of defense. He was, of course, referring to the United States, European allies.

But one thing as well that he didn't rule out yesterday, you had reporters ask him if, you know, being willing and wanting to provide these security guarantees to Ukraine, does that mean you're willing to put United States troops on the ground? And the president did not rule that out. He didn't say he would. But, again, that is a very big departure, very notable departure from what we've heard from this White House in the past where really they thought the onus was on Europe to do that.

Now, we're very clearly seeing the president being more willing to have the United States help in that. And, again, we're still trying to see what the contours and real specifics of that could look like, but a very optimistic sign for our European allies.

And then the other thing, of course, is what he -- the conversation that he had with Putin. The president paused his meeting with these European leaders. He had a 40-minute phone call with the Russian leader in the Oval Office, I'm told, by a White House official. And then afterwards he invited Zelenskyy and those European leaders into the Oval Office to discuss what Putin had told him.

And, of course, key question is whether or not there will actually be that meeting.

[07:05:04]

The president said he is making plans to try and set up that meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy first, then join them for a trilateral meeting. No specifics on that, very unclear if that's even possible, but potentially a huge big step in the direction of trying to find a peace deal through all of this.

BERMAN: That's right. I mean, will they actually meet? That would be something concrete. That's what we're watching for this morning.

Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We're also watching Hurricane Erin. Evacuations are underway in parts of North Carolina as coastal communities are now bracing for whatever Hurricane Erin is about to bring. Forecasters are warning of dangerous surf conditions and storm surge. The Category 3 storm not expected to make landfall, but it could still bring large waves and coastal flooding this week. The storm's already triggered rip current warnings all along the eastern seaboard.

Derek Van Dam tracking all of this for us, keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Erin and what could come afterwards. What are you seeing right now?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and to make matters worse, Kate, just yesterday alone, there were dozens of rip current rescues along the North Carolina coast yesterday. Let's take you to that location, an area that I'm getting more and more concerned about, the outer banks, Highway 12. We have the combination here of storm surge of two to four feet from a storm that's going to parallel the East Coast. We have the highest tides of the month and the potential for 20-foot waves crashing along these very shorelines.

These homes largely evacuated. Many people have been out of these homes for several years, in fact, because they're so susceptible to the coastal erosion that this area brings. But the question is whether or not they're going to withstand the beating that they are about to receive from this hurricane that is going to pass just offshore.

Thankfully, the core of it will stay offshore, but that doesn't mean we won't feel these major impacts. And it's all this combination of factors. We've got an expanding, rather ballooning storm. Hurricane Erin, still a Category 3, 115-mile-per-hour winds, it's well north of the Turks and Caicos at the moment, but it still has some distance to travel as it works its way along the East Coast, rather just east of the eastern seaboard, I should say.

So, the storm still has this potential to maintain its major category strength, but because of its expanding wind field, it's really agitating the surface of the water. Watch this. This is the area of tropical storm force winds and that shading of yellow. As we go forward in time, look how large that gets. Notice how it impacts the coastline of North Carolina, the outer banks, the area that I talked about just a moment ago. And then it continues to traverse to the north and east.

So, the likelihood of tropical storm force winds with the outer rain bands is increasing. Timeframe, late Wednesday into early Thursday morning, that's when we expect peak impacts. Then the agitated water starts to crash these 15 to 20-foot breakers onto the shoreline here.

So, any of those east and southeast-facing beaches, coastal erosion will be a major concern. In fact, we already have these peak storm surge forecasts, Kill Devil Hills to Morehead City. We're talking two to four feet.

And then the chance of rip tides, rip currents, this is a major concern, already with dozens of rescues here along the North Carolina coast.

And, hey, Kate, I got to end with this. We have got a train of African waves coming off of the coast of the continent, and this brings us into the peak of hurricane season. Lots to watch going forward.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Can be a named storm in the next seven days, as you're watching very closely. You were telling us first about it yesterday. Keep a close eye on it.

Thank you so much, Derek. Still ahead for us, the House Oversight Committee says the Justice Department will begin releasing records related to the Jeffrey Epstein case this week. How much and what could be revealed.

And after refusing Republican demands that she be placed under watch of state law enforcement, one Texas Democrat slept on the -- spent the night sleeping on the State House floor. Her message and where the redistricting battle now heads today.

And an apparent sonic boom in Chicago, windows shattered in some-high rise apartment buildings after a flyover by the Air Force Thunderbirds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of nowhere, it just, boom, you felt it. I actually felt it in my body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have named a new co-director of the FBI, a title that did not exist until now. It will be filled by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who will share responsibilities with the current deputy director, Dan Bongino. And that is notable and to some people intriguing, because Bongino reportedly had an angry exchange with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, over the failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Bongino was reportedly so angry about it, he considered resigning.

Now, this morning, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer says that the Justice Department will begin handing over some files related to the Epstein case by Friday. It's notable, the deadline was actually today, so Comer says Justice will not meet that deadline, and obviously we're still waiting to see what actually gets turned over. It comes after former Attorney General Bill Barr complied with a subpoena to provide closed door testimony to that House committee about what information he knows on the Epstein case. It turns out, not much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): He had never communicated with President Trump on a potential Epstein list or anything else. He was -- and he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:15:01]

BERMAN: With us now, former Manhattan Prosecutor Jeremy Saland. Counselor, thank you so much for being with us.

Let's talk about the files first. Again, Justice not meeting the deadline, which is today, but when Chairman Comer announced it, he made it sound like they are complying handing stuff over starting Friday. What kind of stuff do you expect to see?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Yes. First of all, when you say, Justice isn't meeting the deadline, there just simply isn't any justice. I don't expect to see much, because to your point before, it was behind closed doors with Barr. This is not transparency. It's more of a sham, meaning it's being held within Congress within the Oversight Committee. It's not being given to the public. What might it be other than other people coming in to testimony or testify? We heard about possibly the Clintons, which have nothing to do with Alex Acosta and the boots on the ground that actually prosecuted and investigated the initial case for Epstein before it went to a Florida state court.

But I would expect that there should be information who they met with. There will be redactions in terms of the actual victims themselves. You want to protect these women and these children, but who they met with, what was the course of that investigation, who was involved in that investigation, any statements that were taken, those are the things that would be in this file. But you question that because, again, it's being played through via a game of operator through the Oversight Committee. Why not prepare it and provide it to the public, as Trump can do?

BERMAN: So, the former attorney general, Bill Barr, did testify to the committee yesterday, and we heard from Chairman Comer after who told us some of the things that he says Barr did not say. He did not draw any connections between Trump and the Epstein files. What does that statement tell you maybe about where this committee's head is?

SALAND: Yes. It seems to me you're asking the wrong person. So, it goes back to politics. I remind you that and the people who are listening, that this was kind of forced in part by the Democrats getting some of the Republicans on the committee to join and say, we support the securing and obtaining of the files and securing these subpoenas to have people come and testify. If there really is an effort to get to the bottom of this, this is really not the means or mechanism to do so via this committee.

So, you know, again, I'd go back to Trump saying to Pam Bondi, who said this was sitting on her desk. And you can certainly subpoena Pam Bondi too and say, come on down and say why or where these files are and why they were not released. But it's not really digging at the heart of the question. You need to get the boots on the ground. You need Alex Acosta, who later served as Trump's labor secretary, who was the prosecutor in charge of the case in Florida before it went to the state court to come in and explain how did we get to where we got, who was involved. If you really want to know the answer to that question, he is that person, and he and other people beneath him, could give those answers.

BERMAN: Again, he was a notable absence from the list of subpoenas that came from the House Oversight Committee. They did not absolutely seek to talk to him, and they did seek to speak to a number of other people.

Jeremy Saland, Counselor, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

A TikTok influencer with tens of thousands of followers detained by ICE while live streaming from a car.

And then baseball purists cringing this morning, what if they just scrapped the traditional American and National Leagues? The commissioner floats the idea. Not sure it went too well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: We are just weeks from the official start of the NFL season and the preseason is really heating up.

CNN's Andy Scholes watching all of it for us, joining us now. Andy, what happened last night? ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. All right, Kate. So, we had Bengals and the Commanders to wrap up week two of the preseason. Both Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels starting the game, and Daniels, he only ended up playing one series for Washington. He didn't even throw a pass, but he did run this one in from 14 yards out for the touchdown.

Now, Burrow, meanwhile, he had Bengals fans just yelling at their T.V.s on this play. He was running for his life before being sacked by three Commanders. Not what you want to see from your franchise quarterback in the preseason, but Burrow was okay. He threw a touchdown right here before exiting the game.

Now the star of the night though is Bengals Receiver Mitchell Tinsley. He's been on the Commanders' practice squad the past two years, but Tinsley just balling out against his former team. He made two amazing catches for touchdowns in a 20-second span, the second one here. That's as good as it gets. He could have very well earned a roster spot with the performance like he had last night.

Bengals, they won the game. 31-17.

All right, baseball last night, Xander Bogaerts hit a home run taken away because of fan interference. So, Heliot Ramos was under this one and the ball is going to bounce off his glove and go over the fence for a home run. But after they reviewed it, you could barely see the ball grazed that fan's arm before it hits Ramos' glove. So, the home run was taken away and Xander was called out. Padres' manager, Mike Shildt, he was ejected for coming out of the dugout to talk about it. That was an important run too, because the Padres ended up losing by one to the Giants 4-3.

All right, and by 2030, Major League Baseball could look completely different. So, on Sunday, Commissioner Rob Manfred said they are looking at expansion. And when they do so, they will geographically realign all the teams, so that means if they add two clubs to get to 32, they would likely go to eight 14 divisions based on geography. So, the old American League and National League would likely be gone in this example. Here's what a northeast division could look like. You'd have Yankees and the Mets in the same division along with the Red Sox and Phillies.

[07:25:03]

Now, again, this is just an example of what it could look like, but based on what Rob Manfred said, they would do it by geography, no more National League and American League, basically be a western conference and an eastern conference, Kate, like the NBA.

I know Berman doesn't like it. I'm actually all for it because my Astros playing a division with the Seattle Mariners. Houston, Seattle makes no sense when it comes to travel and trying to watch your team play late at night because, you know, Pacific Time Zone, Central Time Zone, you know, they don't go very well together. So, I'm actually for this, I would like to see it.

BOLDUAN: Things that also don't mix, so the Yankees and the Mets in the same division. I mean, this is like --

SCHOLES: That would be fun. It'd be fun.

BOLDUAN: This is -- actually, I'm going to just lean into, change is good. This could be exciting. I know I'm very much likely at the minority.

Where is Berman? He's scared to come out and voice his opinion.

Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: He's fuming in the back.

BOLDUAN: No, it's too many expletives probably going on back there. Anyway, thanks, buddy.

Coming up for us, breaking overnight, Russia launched the largest aerial assault on Ukraine since July. Could this escalation set back efforts to get President Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy around the same table to bring an end to Russia's war?

And the redistricting fighting Texas takes something of a surprising turn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I refuse to sign the permission slip to be able to leave the Capitol. I disagree with that authoritarian tactic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The issue that led one Democratic lawmaker to spend the night on the Texas House floor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]