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Home Depot Raising Prices; Hurricane Erin Impacts East Coast; Interview With Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder; Trump Says No U.S. Troops in Ukraine. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: No U.S. troops in Ukraine, President Donald Trump ruling out American boots on the ground as a security guarantee against future Russian aggression in Ukraine. That's just one issue dividing both sides, as Trump pushes for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.

Plus: doers getting more done at a higher price. Home Depot says it's going to raise the cost of some of the items that Americans need for their projects because of Trump's tariffs.

And mapping out the future, California the next battleground in the fight to carve out new safe partisan seats in Congress, Democrats now on the offensive, responding to Republicans in Texas, though they are now up against the clock.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We start this afternoon with President Donald Trump intensifying his push for direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. So far, though, Moscow is refusing to commit to a meeting after President Trump seemed to suggest that he -- quote -- "sort of set one up."

We're standing by to hear from the White House during a press briefing for any updates. Earlier today, though, the president did clarify a key decision on U.S. troops and their involvement in a potential peacekeeping force.

Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

QUESTION: What kind of assurances do you feel like you have that going forward and past this Trump administration it won't be American boots on the ground defending that border?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you have my assurance. I'm president. There will be some form of security. It can't be NATO, because that was a -- that's just not something that would ever, ever happen. It couldn't. They couldn't do that.

So who would want that? I mean, if you were Russia, who would want to have your enemy, your opponent sitting on your line? You don't do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Alayna Treene live for us at the White House.

Alayna, just a point of fact, Russian approval is not a criteria for entry into NATO. I wonder what you're hearing from your sources there at the White House.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, look, and that -- NATO membership has long been something President Trump has said not only he believes it has started the war in the first place, the idea that perhaps Ukraine could become a member of NATO, but he also thinks trying to even put that on the table would only push Russia further away.

And so, as you mentioned, it's not something that is a requirement to have Russia sign off on it, of course, but I don't think it ever really was something that this administration at least had been considering.

But, look, there's a lot of interesting things the president pointed out there, because this idea of U.S. troops on the ground as a security guarantee to help the United States, European allies to defend Ukraine if a peace deal is struck,that is something the president actually left the door open to, and then, of course, you heard him there saying, no, that's actually not on the table anymore.

I spoke with a White House official about that, and they essentially told me that part of this, of course, is that there are a lot of people in the president's base, a lot of people who support him who would very much argue that he ran on the opposite of that, no more American intervention in some of these foreign wars.

But then, also, there are security guarantees, they argue, that the president can put on the table that will still help Europe. And you did hear the president this morning argue that he still believes that European nations need to be the front line for defense when it comes to Ukraine, because they are in a proximity much closer to Ukraine.

But some other things I want to point out, because he was also asked, Boris, about land swapping and whether that came up during the course of his conversations yesterday, and specifically questions about the Donbass region. I want you to listen to how the president answered.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: Russia is a powerful military nation. Whether people like it or not, it's a powerful nation. It's a much bigger nation. It's not a war that should have been started. You don't do that. You don't take on a nation that's 10 times your size.

I assume you have all seen the map. A big chunk of territory is taken. And that territory has been taken. Now, they're talking about Donbass, but Donbass right now, as you know, is 79 percent owned and controlled by Russia. So they understand what that means.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

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TREENE: So a few things there, Boris, that could be a bit concerning to some European leaders, to Zelenskyy as well.

He's essentially seeming to argue there that, one, you don't take on a nation 10 times your size -- I would remind you, of course, it was Russia that illegally invaded Ukraine -- but then also the idea that Russia is controlling a good chunk of the Donbass region right now, kind of suggesting almost that Zelenskyy may have to concede some of that in order to get a deal done.

And that's really been the presence position through a lot of this, that both sides are going to have to have a give-and-take, but Zelenskyy also going to have to definitely give if they're going to try to reach any sort of agreement that can end this war.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thank you so much.

So, what is Ukraine's reaction to all of this news?

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Kyiv.

Ben, the push for peace talks happening as new Russian attacks are also being launched.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ukrainians, Boris, were not surprised that Russia's response to the events in Washington yesterday was a heavy barrage, 270 drones and 10 ballistic missiles fired into Ukraine, eight people killed at least, and we're talking about civilians, not soldiers on the front lines.

That's the biggest one night of drones being fired since the 31st of July. And I think perhaps President Trump takes a rosier view of the Russians, but the Ukrainians, although they are encouraged by President Trump's position in support of Ukraine, by his reception to President Zelenskyy yesterday, they're encouraged by the support of the European leaders who are in the White House, but they are under no illusions about Russian intentions.

They don't trust Vladimir Putin, not surprisingly. They're somewhat annoyed when they hear that the American president is saying that somehow they shouldn't take on a nation 10 times bigger than Ukraine, because it wasn't Ukraine that invaded Russia. It was Russia that invaded Ukraine.

And, of course, they would argue that you should take on a bully rather than just lie down and let it stomp all over you. They're also rather offended by the idea that Russia controls and owns 79 percent of the Donbass. It is stolen territory, occupied territory, as far as Ukrainians are concerned.

Now, the Ukrainians at this point are very eager to get some solid information about what kind of security guarantees are going to be provided. Essentially, they understand that politically President Trump is not prepared to station U.S. troops here. They're really looking towards the Europeans to provide the leadership in what is called a reassurance force, a force that will be present in Ukraine.

The details (AUDIO GAP) worked out, but it will be a European-led force that will help Ukraine strengthen its military, strengthen its ability to produce weapons, and provide backup in terms of intelligence and logistics to the Ukrainian army. And they see the American role as backing up the Europeans, not with a physical presence in country, but logistics and other intelligence that might strengthen the role of the Europeans here in Ukraine -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Ben Wedeman live for us in Kyiv, thank you so much.

Let's discuss these developments with Ivo Daalder. He is the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, currently a senior fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us.

When you hear President Trump on FOX this morning say that he sort of set up a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, how do you interpret that and what concerns do you have about a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy before a potential trilateral meeting involving Trump?

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, I have no concern about a bilateral meeting. I just have a concern that it's not going to happen.

The reality is that every indication from Moscow from the moment they reported on the phone call suggests that there's not going to be a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. That's not a surprise because President Putin has never wanted to President Zelenskyy. He's only done it once way back before the war started, or at least a full-scale invasion started.

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I think it's going to be very hard for that meeting to come about. And it raises a larger issue. I mean, for all of the hubbub that we have seen, the meetings and the hours of diplomacy, and the Europeans running around, and the president flying to Alaska and getting on the call and doing virtual calls, nothing much has changed.

The war is still going on, as you just reported. There is deep hard, fighting going on in the front line. The Russians are still targeting Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainian civilians. And we're no closer to an end -- a deal ending this war. In fact, we're further away, because the president, before he met with Vladimir Putin, said that we needed to have a cease-fire first.

That was his idea originally. The Ukrainians bought into it. The Europeans bought into it. The only ones who didn't buy into it were the Russians. And as soon as the Russians said nyet, the president said, oh, never mind, we don't need a cease-fire.

Well, without a cease-fire, we're not going to end this war. At some point, the killing needs to stop before you have a conversation. So I'm discouraged by what we have seen in the last week. I don't think, if you're in Ukraine, you're going to look at this and say, boy, we're closer to peace. I don't think so.

SANCHEZ: If that's your view, then what would it actually take to get Vladimir Putin to the table that Trump -- some action that Trump could take right now, before we hear whether there's going to be a bilateral meeting or not?

DAALDER: Yes, it needs to be clear that the president is on the same side as Ukraine and on the same side as the Europeans.

I thought his call with FOX News this morning was disconcerting, just as your reporter said. The idea that Ukraine took on the country that's 10 times stronger, for one, it's not 10 times stronger. But, for another, Ukraine was invaded.

And that seems to be a reality that the president doesn't want to face. He doesn't want a face that there is one wrong here, that's Russia, and there's one right, and that's Ukraine. And so in order to end this war, it is necessary to dissuade and convince Vladimir Putin that he can't have what he wants, which is, he wants to control Ukraine. And the answer to that is no.

And he wants to control all of the Donbass. And the answer to that is no. They have been fighting for more than 12 years over this area. And so what -- if the president wants to end this war, he needs to get serious about putting pressure on Russia, and he needs to get serious about supporting Ukraine.

It's really interesting that he's willing to provide some kind of security guarantees for Ukraine when there is no fighting, but he's not willing to provide any more weapons to Ukraine unless the Europeans buy it and he can cash what he calls that big, beautiful check.

So I think it's pretty clear, and it's been clear for a very long time. The way to end this war is for Russia to believe that it cannot achieve what it wants through force of arms and needs to come to the negotiating table. That's how you end this war. And as long as Russia doesn't believe that, we're going to be in this trouble.

SANCHEZ: So when you hear President Trump tell Emmanuel Macron on a hot mic that Putin wants to get a deal done because of him, because of Trump, do you think the president is just deluded?

DAALDER: Yes, I think delusional is the exact word to be used. The idea that Vladimir Putin will do something for the good of Donald

Trump is ridiculous. Vladimir Putin does something for the good of Vladimir Putin. And that requires, in his mind, as it has for now for well over 25 years, to remake the post-Cold War order. He didn't like the collapse of the Soviet Union. He didn't like the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet and Moscow's influence in Eastern Central Europe.

He wants to restore that. He made it very clear. He said it even in the press conference in Alaska standing next to the president, that the European balance of forces needed to be changed, that the root causes, which we all know is Ukraine moving closer to the West and becoming a democratic, independent country, and NATO moving forward to take security control or give security to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Those are for him the root causes, and unless and until those change, he's going to fight. It's not going to end because Donald Trump is a nice guy. He's going to end it when he has achieved his objectives or he has -- concludes that those objectives are no longer achievable.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador Ivo Daalder, we very much appreciate your sharing your point of view.

DAALDER: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Still to come: residents fleeing the East Coast as Hurricane Erin prepares to pummel the shoreline without ever making landfall. We're going to show you where 20-foot waves and life-threatening floods are expected.

Plus, the Trump administration says tariff rebate checks, an idea floated by some lawmakers, are not a priority, as the country's largest home improvement retailer says it's set to raise prices because of President Trump's import tax.

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And, later, newly released police files revealing what former teachers and classmates told police about Bryan Kohberger, including predictions that he would end up stalking someone.

These stories and much more are coming your way this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Hurricane Erin is stirring up life-threatening rip currents and dangerous surf along the East Coast. What is now a Category 2 storm is not expected to make landfall, but it is hitting North Carolina's Outer Banks with destructive waves and storm surge.

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Officials there issued tropical storm watches for much of the area and report at least 75 rip current rescues as of yesterday. Now another storm is forming in Erin's wake.

Let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who is tracking these developments for us.

Derek, what are you seeing in the forecast?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Boris. I believe that this is one of my big concern is that people are not really paying attention to the dangers that the storm still poses.

And it's all -- even though it's staying offshore, it's all about its expanding size that will have larger implications outside of the strongest part of the storm, which we all know is the center of a hurricane. So let me take you to Buxton, North Carolina. This is part of the Outer Banks.

And I want to show you just what low tide actually looks like from this area. It's already putting some houses which have been known to flood with storm surge already at risk. And, of course, even with low tide, the waves lapping up into these properties, you can imagine what storm surge, also the highest tide of the month and the potential for 20-foot waves breaking on the shoreline, could mean to those businesses, those residents and those homes.

Fortunately for us, Hurricane Erin is looking disheveled, not very organized at the moment. And that is because a significant amount of shear over the Western side of the storm is kind of eating away at the hurricane. Remember, 24 hours ago, we were facing a Category 4 hurricane that was strengthening.

This is typical with big hurricanes. We will get these fluctuations in the intensity. In fact, the official track from the National Hurricane Center has that fluctuation, but still remains under major category -- major hurricane status.

But as it makes its closest approach to the North Carolina shore, we're talking late Tuesday -- or late Wednesday into early Thursday morning, there will be enough of an expansive wind field that this will potentially bring tropical-storm-force winds, especially to the coastal areas of North Carolina, the Outer Banks in particular.

That is going to agitate the wind in the ocean here across the Western Atlantic and kick up serious surf. Look at that, 15 to 20 feet. That Highway 12 that runs along the Outer Banks will likely be washed over with storm surge and those waves crashing ashore, not to mention the riptide risk that extends across over 2,000 miles of coastal real estate.

And then, Boris, to make matters worse, we are tracking yet another disturbance moving off the west coast of Africa. We will have to track that in the days to come. That's behind Erin -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much for the update.

So the power of the Home Depot will soon cost more. America's largest home improvement retailer announced some of its prices are soon going up because of tariffs. Just about half of their inventory comes from suppliers outside the United States. And now the administration's taxes on imports means the company will have to hike prices.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now with more.

Vanessa, what are you hearing from Home Depot?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, months ago, Home Depot said that they would not have to raise prices because of tariffs, but now they're really facing the stark reality that many retailers are facing.

Tariffs are having an impact and they will have to raise prices on some of their items. It's not going to be broad-based, but it will be some of their items, particularly obviously what they are importing. Take a listen to Billy Bastek. He's the executive vice president of manufacturing at the company. This is what he said just a little while ago on the company's earnings call.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BILLY BASTEK, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF MERCHANDISING, THE HOME DEPOT: Some of the imported goods, obviously, tariff rates are significantly higher today than they were when we spoke in May. So, as you would expect, there will be some modest price movement in some categories, but it won't be broad-based.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: So take a look at Home Depot's inventory. Less than 50 percent of the products that people buy are sourced from abroad. So more than 50 percent are manufactured right here in the United States and are tariff-free.

Home Depot, along with a lot of other retailers, have been trying to diversify their supply chain. And in this case they're trying to make it so that every country abroad only produces 10 percent of the inventory, so that the supply chain is diverse and if one country gets hit with a higher tariff, it doesn't impact all of the inventory.

But this is really something that we have seen across many retailers, Boris, Walmart, Target, Procter & Gamble all really having to face the reality that they have to diversify their supply chains and tariffs are certainly affecting prices that consumers will ultimately have to pay for, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Vanessa, we have heard the administration tout the $100 billion in tariff revenue that the U.S. has collected since April.

Where is that money going? Because one of the suggestions at least would be that we would somehow, the American people, would get that money back through rebate checks. It doesn't seem like that's going to happen, though.

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YURKEVICH: Yes, there's two ideas being floated.

And if you look at this bar chart, you can really see just how much tariff revenue we have brought into the United States. And this is revenue that is paid for by importers, retailers, and then ultimately sort of those prices get passed down to the U.S. consumer.

But in the month of July, almost $30 billion worth of tariff revenue was brought into the United States. You can see the escalation there on your screen. And there's been two sort of ideas that the president has floated. One is paying down the national debt. The national debt stands at $37 trillion.

So far, year to date, the United States has brought in $135 billion in tariff revenue, obviously not close to $37 trillion, but a dent maybe. And we heard from the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, earlier today, who said that he believes that the United States will be bringing in upwards of $300 billion in tariff revenue every single year because of tariffs.

Another proposal is the rebate check. And that is something that's being proposed through the American Worker Rebate Act. And this is something that the president says that he supports. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier today said that this is probably not the top priority.

Essentially, the proposal says that families, adults, and children would get $600 per child, per adult, so a family of four $2,400. This is if you're making below $75,000 a year. The problem with this is, economists say that if you're handing checks to the American people, they're going to spend that money. And that can be inflationary because you're already dealing with higher prices.

And if there's more demand on those higher prices, Boris, ultimately, that elevates prices across the board. And that's when you start to get into really high inflation. So analysts believe that it's not a bad idea to pay down the national debt, but it's not a good idea to hand out checks to the American people, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much for the reporting.

Coming up: Congressional lawmakers will soon have their hands on the Jeffrey Epstein files, at least some of them. We will discuss.

Plus, newly released police interviews reveal the details that classmates described about Bryan Kohberger, calling him creepy in the months before he murdered four University of Idaho students.

We will be right back.

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