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White House Says Putin Agreed to Meet Zelenskyy; Trump Assures No U.S. Boots in Ukraine; Missouri AG Andrew Bailey Named Co-deputy Director at FBI; Air Force Chief of Staff Pushed Out in Pentagon Shake-up; DOJ Prosecutor Ed Martin Posing for Photos Outside of Letitia James' House; Texas GOP Now Faces Clear Path to Redraw Congressional Maps in Trump-backed Push. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- for the White House. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We begin this hour following breaking new developments from the White House this hour on peace efforts in Ukraine. Just a short time ago, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying multiple times that President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and that plans for that are underway right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. I understand accommodations for that meeting are underway. As soon as we hear more details, we'll be sure to let all of you know. I can assure you that the United States government and the Trump Administration is working with both Russia and Ukraine to make that bilateral happen as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's go live to the White House right now with CNN's Kristen Holmes. You are in the briefing room for that press availability, Kristen. And you asked Karoline Leavitt to get specific about this. How did she respond?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it came to whether or not Putin had actually agreed, she was kind of vague. She said that, of course, the government is working with both Russia and Ukraine. But another reporter asked her again afterwards saying, we understand they're working together, but can you specifically say if Putin has agreed to have this sit down with Zelenskyy? And she said he has. Now, that would be news particularly given the fact that the Kremlin has kind of avoided any kind of answer definitively on whether or not Putin would sit down with Zelenskyy. Now, I also asked a couple of other questions, including how long is Trump willing to wait on Putin actually setting up this meeting? Remember, there's a lot of concern among U.S. officials that Putin will just continue to kick down -- kick the can down the road as he continues this assault in Ukraine. She said that President Trump has been severe with Putin, has levied sanctions on suit (ph) Putin. And so, she believes that he's going to set up this meeting. But again, no details on what that looks like. Now, once again, the press secretary was also asked about security guarantees for Ukraine and she definitively said that there would be no U.S. boots on the ground. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: The President has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, I also asked her questions about how exactly we got to this point where the next steps were a bilateral instead of a trilateral? Because remember going into this meeting, it was all about getting a trilateral meeting out of this. Karoline Leavitt said that this evolved over time from the conversations between Zelenskyy and the European leaders, but she wouldn't say whose idea it was. But of course, again, the big news out of this being that Putin himself has agreed to have this sit down despite the kind of vagueness from the Kremlin.

SANCHEZ: Kristin Holmes, thank you so much for bringing us that update. As the White House is seeking these direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy, Russia so far has refused to commit publicly at least. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live force in Moscow with more. Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Boris. Yeah, absolutely. The Kremlin and the Russian foreign Ministry not committing to that Vladimir Putin has agreed to talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and that such talks, the preparation would be underway today. The main thing that we heard was from the Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, who came out and said, look, we're not refusing any sort of format, whether it's trilateral or bilateral, but any meeting needs to be well prepared.

Now, the one thing he didn't say is whether or not Vladimir Putin had actually definitely agreed to a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And that sort of mirrors also the readout that we got yesterday after the call between Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, where the Russians afterwards from their perspective also said that both leaders talked about raising the level of participants in talks between Ukraine and Russia, but did not mention whether that would mean raising that to a level of heads of state.

And that's certainly also, by the way, the vibe that we're getting when we're watching state media. I just spent about an hour watching Russian State Media, and that is one of the main differences that Russian State Media is also emphasizing that the Russian side has not said that Vladimir Putin has agreed definitely to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Russians do believe that they did make a lot of headway, not just in Alaska, but they certainly liked also a lot of the things that they saw yesterday in Washington, D.C., in that meeting with President Trump and the European leaders, and of course Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Sergey Lavrov in an interview today also coming out and saying that he believes that the U.S. president understands what Russia says is the root causes of the Ukraine conflict, namely the expansion of NATO over the years. And that, that Russia security, as he put it, needs to be addressed. So they clearly feel Boris that the Russians are right now in a very good place with the Trump Administration, with President Trump himself. One of the other things that we sort of picked on -- picked up on is that there are some pretty senior Russian officials, including one of the main negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, who's also the Head of the Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund, seemingly taunting both Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians, posting some pictures of that meeting, saying the Europeans are listening to, as they put Daddy Trump, Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of this country, similar, doing the same thing.

[14:05:18]

One thing that they're also pointing out is that at some point, there are going to be talks about territories, about swaps that could take place, as President Trump has called it. So far, of course, we know that very little talk has been had about what sort of territorial concessions maybe the Ukrainians would make, whether they're willing to make any at all. That also a big topic here in Russia. But right now, they do feel that they're in a good place with the Trump Administration, but have not committed, at least publicly, to that meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian President, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Moscow. Thank you so much. For more on all of this, we're joined by William Taylor. He's a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, also a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Ambassador, thanks for being with us. Just overall, what's your reaction to what we're hearing here from the White House, sort of unspecific at first about there actually being interest on the Russian side in having a meeting? And then at one point, the Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that yes, that Putin had agreed to a meeting.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, you're right, Boris. It's not at all clear that the Russians themselves have said, or out loud or officially or any senior official from Moscow, as your reporter just described, has committed to this. I mean, they've talked about -- they've talked vaguely about raising the level of representation. Well, it's starting off at a pretty low level on the Russian side. They sent Deputy Minister of Culture as the head of their delegation, whereas when the Ukrainians started out, President Zelenskyy was there in Istanbul. So, the Russians have started very low and it's kept it low. The Ukrainians started very high and were willing to come. And President Zelenskyy has said out loud, very explicitly, he's ready to have this bilateral.

Let me just say though, Boris, there are a lot of Ukrainians, I would say probably most Ukrainians for whom Vladimir Putin is the face of evil. And for -- it's just going to be degrading for President Zelenskyy to sit down and talk to the man responsible for hundreds of thousands (inaudible) small commitment on the part of the Ukrainians.

SANCHEZ: Do you have any reservations about Zelenskyy and Putin sitting down one-on-one without President Trump there?

TAYLOR: You raised a good question about where this idea came from. Seems more likely that the Russians would like to try to do that. Putin is, as the Ukrainians would say, evil but not stupid. He's clever and he is wiley. He's a KGB manipulator. And so, yes, there is -- there has to be a concern that, that kind of a person, there with President Zelenskyy, who's a war leader but he doesn't have the same background as Putin. So yeah, President Zelenskyy will go in ready to defend Ukraine and Ukrainian interests. But, that's an -- it's an odd decision, as you say, they -- President Trump had thought and the others had thought about a trilateral. That would probably make the most sense, to be sure, or even a quadrilateral, Boris, having the Europeans there would also make sense because the Europeans are directly involved and are talking about security guarantees.

SANCHEZ: We've spoken extensively on Vladimir Putin's motivations for having launched this invasion back in 2014, for having expanded it in 2022. Do you think that he's actually ready for peace now and that he is satisfied with the outcomes that he's getting in the near future?

TAYLOR: No. No, he's not satisfied. You're right to point out what you're -- to refer back to what his original goals are. He's been very clear, Boris, he's been explicit. He wants to eliminate Ukraine as a nation. He wants to either make it into a Belarus that is totally subservient or incorporate it back into Russia. He said this over and over. It is not about NATO. It's not about any of these other issues that he raises. It's about Putin's desire, obsession really, with making Ukraine part of Russia. So no, I think, he's not ready to -- he hasn't accomplished that. He's unlikely to accomplish that. But he's going to keep beating on Ukraine, bombing Ukraine, until he can get closer.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder what you make of President Trump when he was caught on a hot mic telling Emmanuel Macron of France that Putin wants to make a deal for me, for Trump, as crazy as it sounds, he said.

[14:10:00]

Is that real? Do you think, as one previous guest, another former ambassador suggested, that Trump may be deluded?

TAYLOR: So, I agree with President Trump, sounds crazy. It sounds crazy. And as I just said, President Putin is a manipulator.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

TAYLOR: President Putin is -- has been manipulating President Trump for months. And President Trump had figured that out, had seen through it. So, I think it does sound crazy to think that he is -- that Putin is doing it for Donald Trump.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador William Taylor, we have to leave the conversation there. Always appreciate hearing from you.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, another top military officer is suddenly leaving his post, what CNN is learning about the latest Pentagon shakeup. Plus, President Trump saying he is going to end mail-in voting, though several state election officials say that is not going to happen. We'll have them join us live in just moments. Stay with us.

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[14:15:56]

SANCHEZ: We're tracking a major announcement concerning the top brass at the FBI where a new position is being created that apparently has never existed before. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has just been named Co-Deputy Director at the Bureau. He's going to serve alongside current Deputy, Dan Bongino, whose future has been in question recently, as he's considered resigning over the DOJ's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is here with more. So Evan, has the DOJ indicated how they're going to share responsibilities? How it's going to be divvied up?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They have not. They just say it's going to go really, really well. And look, the question now is whether Bongino stays for much longer, right? I mean, he's been widely expected to leave and after that blow up he had with the Attorney General, it's essentially tantamount to insubordination. And the fact that he's still there has been a bit of a surprise. So Andrew Bailey is here and the question inside the FBI is whether this is a sign that now, finally Bongino is on his way out. Karoline Leavitt addressed some of the speculation on this, the Press Secretary. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Andrew Bailey is extremely qualified, as you know, he's been serving with honor as the Attorney General of Missouri and he's been brought on as another set of very credible and experienced hands to work alongside the current Deputy Director Dan Bongino, under the leadership of the Director Kash Patel and the Attorney General Pam Bondi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And so, a little bit more about Andrew Bailey. He's obviously the Attorney General for Missouri, very unflinching MAGA voice, very pro-Trump, which is not a surprise I suppose. He has sued the federal government number of times, including over the repayment of student loans. He actually tried to sue the state of New York to try to prevent the sentencing of Donald Trump in that hush money case, of course, the Supreme Court rejected that. He's a very constant voice on Fox News. So there's a lot of controversy around him, but also someone who obviously is going to be very, very fiercely loyal to the president.

And if you look at Bongino, everyone knows inside the FBI, he hates the job, has not liked really existing in this, going from being a podcaster, very successful podcaster, made a lot of money in that job. So perhaps that's where he'll go back, to cheerleading the president of the United States once he's out of this job.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, we'll see what comes next for Bongino. Evan Perez, thank you so much for the reporting. We are also following another shake-up. This one at the Department of Defense. Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin just announced his retirement effective November 1st. He's just two years into a four-year term, and he now becomes the fourth chief officer to leave the military Since President Trump's inauguration just seven months ago. CNN Senior National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen joins us now. Zach, you have sources saying that the General is actually being pushed out.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah. Boris, defense officials making very clear to me that they were surprised by this announcement by General Allvin and one calling it very unexpected that he would retire just two years into a four-year term. There was no indication that he had plans to leave this role early. Sources also telling me though that this was sort of a move to preempt what had been communicated to him as a desire by Secretary Hegseth and some other senior leaders at the Pentagon to replace the General here in the near future, essentially giving him the opportunity to exit on his own terms.

Now, the Air Force did release a statement announcing this planned retirement. He will serve in the role until November. But this announcement offers no explanation as to why he's cutting his term short. It also just simply thanks the airmen, Secretary Hegseth and Donald Trump for putting their faith in him to serve in this role. And he says, "More than anything, I'm proud to have been a part of the team of airmen who live out our core values of integrity, service and excellence every day as we prepare to defend this great nation."

[14:20:00]

Now, this is not happening in a vacuum, right? We've seen several departures from senior military officers during Donald Trump's second term. You might remember back in January, Donald Trump fired the Commandant of the Coast Guard. A month later, he's fired then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, C.Q. Brown, followed closely by the removal of the Chief of Naval Operations. And just in April, also firing without really any explanation the Head of U.S. Cyber Command, all uniformed military officers, all very senior uniformed individuals inside the Pentagon. And there are all these -- there are these two conflicting sort of, or coexisting parties.

You have the politicals and then you have the uniformed officers. Most of these departures are of the uniformed kind, and we've seen tension flare up between some of the political appointees at the Pentagon and the uniformed, especially the Joint Staff.

SANCHEZ: We'll see who takes his place. Zach Cohen, thanks so much. We're also following new video obtained exclusively by CNN. It shows the Director of the DOJ's Weaponization Working Group, Ed Martin posing for photos outside of New York Attorney General Letitia James' home last week. All of this after he called for her resignation and is currently conducting investigations into her conduct. CNN's Kara Scannell is following the story for. Kara, an unusual move.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is unusual, Boris. Usually you don't see a prosecutor who is leading an investigation going to visit the subject or the potential target of that investigation. Ed Martin was recently put in charge of the investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James. There is an investigation looking into whether she committed mortgage fraud and also an investigation that is looking into her civil lawsuit that was brought against Donald Trump, his adult sons in the company.

And you can see here on this video, Ed Martin is there with a colleague from the Department of Justice. He's outside of Letitia James' home and he does pose for a photograph with him out -- pose for a photograph outside of that home. Now, he was on Fox News on Sunday and he said that he was there because he had had meetings in New York and New Jersey, and that he decided to go by the home. He said, you have to lay eyes on it and also saying that you got to get a sense of what is at stake. But as you can see there, that's very unusual for a prosecutor to be there.

And Letitia James' attorney Abbe Lowell has pushed back. He wrote a letter to Ed Martin yesterday, in which he highlighted this unusual visit to Letitia James' home, which they say is a intimidation tactic. He also pointed out that soon after being appointed to be leading this investigation, that Ed Martin called for James' resignation and then also went on Fox News on Sunday and said that he wanted to look into every aspect of James' life, which some people would call a fishing expedition. So Lowell has said that were there any doubts as to your political retributive mission, you've erased them in your first statements about your appointment when you stated that your assignment is to "stick the landing. A responsible and credible federal prosecutor is not a pommel horse gymnast."

Now, I've spoken with other former federal prosecutors who also say that these moves are highly unusual and it could have real-world implications if the grand jury were to return (ph) an indictment, this could be something that Letitia James' legal teams could use to argue to the judge that the jury pool has been prejudiced and that this was a selective prosecution. Of course, James has been criticized herself for campaigning on saying that she was going to investigate Donald Trump. She does have that court victory in the civil lawsuit where a judge has ordered Trump to pay $0.5 billion. We reached out to the Department of Justice and they declined to comment. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, thanks so much for the update. Still to come, a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza. What Prime Minister Netanyahu is telling the families of Israeli hostages about the talks. And the path now cleared for Texas Republicans pushing to redraw congressional districts in their favor, but there may be a hitch in their plan. We'll discuss next.

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[14:28:41]

SANCHEZ: Texas Republicans now have a clear path to redrawing their state's congressional districts, now that their Democratic counterparts in Austin have ended their 15-day walkout. The House is set to reconvene tomorrow and lawmakers are expected to move quickly to approve this new map. Political leaders in D.C. and Austin believe this could create five more Republican-leaning seats. President Trump has been pushing Texas Republicans to act quickly, writing in a Truth Social post, please pass this map ASAP. And yet, a piece in The Washington Post shows how risky this move could be, especially because the plan depends on holding Republican gains with Latino voters in the last election cycle.

As one Trump voter in the article puts it, "You're counting on a Mexican-American to vote Republican again. That's a crazy bet, bro, because down here what makes a difference is dollars and cents. Joining us now to discuss is the reporter behind the piece, Sabrina Rodriguez. She's a National Politics Reporter at The Washington Post, also, notably the Duchess of Hialeah, Florida. Sabrina, great to see you as always.

So, what are Republicans seeing in data that tells them that this is a safe move, given that often during midterm elections, Latinos don't show up?

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I mean, Republicans are really placing a huge bet here, Boris. You know, they've seen in recent election cycles, Latinos shift toward the Republican Party. They saw a lot of opportunity, particularly in South Texas, an area that for decades --