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Hurricane Erin Threatens East Coast with Rip Currents, High Surf; White House Says Plan for Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting Underway, Kremlin Won't Commit; DOJ Looks into D.C. Crime Status After Trump Claims They were Manipulated; Democratic States Sue to Force Trump to Hand Over Crime Grant Money. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 20, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

TIRELL: And tepid, so these employees asking for more from Secretary Kennedy including to stop spreading what they say is dangerous misinformation about vaccines and a lot of different across public health, guys.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Interesting to see how he responds to that coming from within his own agency.

Meg Tirrell, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning we are tracking Hurricane Erin as it moves north in the Atlantic, creating life-threatening conditions really all along the East Coast. North Carolina under a state of emergency.

And there are new comments in just this morning from Russia's top diplomat saying that the Kremlin has not heard, quote, "any constructive ideas" from European leaders on ending -- on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Just as the White House still says that plans are underway for a meeting between President Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.

There's new video in capturing the moment a fireball crosses the sky in southern Japan. We've got details.

Sarah is out. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

This morning, local officials are urging people to stay out of the ocean as Hurricane Erin moves its way up the East Coast. The category two storm is not expected to make landfall, thankfully, but its impact will be very much felt and is already being felt on beaches all along the Eastern Seaboard. A big concern, life-threatening rip currents, dangerous surf and the potential of several feet of storm surge.

Over the past two days, there have been at least 90 rescues at several North Carolina beaches because of this. Swimming there and at other popular beaches in five other states has now been deemed off limits.

CNN's Michael Yoshida is at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. First, let's go to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar for the very latest on the forecast and the track.

What are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So we now see the storm itself is kind of roughly just offshore of Florida. And again, that's where we're going to be seeing this storm as it continues to slide up the north -- up to the north.

Behind me this is video of North Carolina. Again, you can see those waves kind of crashing on shore hitting some of these buildings here. But that's the thing. You can see high surf. You can see waves off into the distance. What you can't see are rip currents. And that's what makes them so deadly and so dangerous is the fact that if you are out on the beach, if you are planning to go into the water, it's very difficult to see them and often cases why people get trapped out inside of them.

And that is going to be a concern up and down the Eastern Seaboard. We're talking about rip currents, but we're also talking about high surf. We're talking about outer bands that could be producing very gusty winds. All of these are going to be concerns as we go through the next couple of days. The storm itself still has winds of about 100 miles per hour. It's going to slide between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast.

That's why both of these areas have those tropical storm watches and warnings in place, because we do anticipate that while it will remain offshore, it's going to get close enough that it will bring some impacts to these coastal areas.

Here's a look at the storm again as it slides up. But notice also, too, it's expanding in size, especially in the next 24 to 36 hours. That's what's going to bring some of those outer bands even closer to shore, bringing some wind gusts that could be 50, 60, even 65 miles per hour. But also it's going to push a lot of that water onshore, increasing not only the risk for incredibly dangerous surf, but also the rip currents.

Again, you can see this one is pretty much the entire Eastern Seaboard for that risk for rip currents. Here's a look at some of those wave heights, too. Again, basically what's happening is as those outer bands spin, they're pushing all of that water onshore. That's what's causing some of the coastal erosion concerns that we have. And also, again, you're looking at some pretty gusty winds.

So some trees could come down on some of these coastal communities. In addition to the potential for the flooding right there along those areas along the coast. That could be the homes, the businesses, but also the roadways could end up getting underwater, especially in some of those lowest lying areas right there along the coastal Carolinas, portions of Virginia, even up through Maryland and New Jersey have that potential for the coastal flooding. Now, the timeline in terms of when we would see the earliest possible

timing for some of those tropical storm force winds, some of these areas could see it just later today. And the bulk of North Carolina is really going to see it once we get into the overnight hours and into early morning, and then it continues to spread into the day Thursday, the farther north we go along the coast.

BOLDUAN: Alison, thank you so much for that.

Let's go now to North Carolina. That's where CNN's Michael Yoshida is standing by.

What are you seeing, Michael?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, major concerns when it comes to dangerous surf and rip current conditions. A no swim advisory has already been issued.

[09:05:03]

A rare notice for something like that to happen here in this community. Still, you can see we have people out in the water. You can see some surfers right there. That's the last thing local officials want to see after it's already been a busy week for ocean rescue. Earlier this week on Monday, the director of Ocean Rescue told me they did about 60 or so water rescues. Yesterday they did more than a dozen again.

And the big challenge here, they say, is the fact that this storm is so far away that people here, it's not going to make landfall. They see the sun out, they see and feel the warm weather. They want to go in the water and they just can't see all of these dangerous rip currents. They say they're unprecedented in their strength. They are at some points, one block, two blocks wide. So you're not just having one or two swimmers impacted. It's sometimes six, seven, eight that are being swept out and needing to be rescued.

Officials say these dangerous conditions likely to last for the next few days. And they again urging everyone, don't be like those that we just showed that are out in the water. Listen to this advisory. Don't put yourself. Don't put the lifeguards at risk. Do them this favor, at least for the next few days stay out of the waters here in Wrightsville Beach.

BOLDUAN: Michael, thank you so much for that. John.

BERMAN: All right. We do have breaking news this morning. A path to nowhere. Those words coming from Russia's top diplomats slamming the efforts by Europe's leaders saying the Kremlin has not heard, quote, "any constructive ideas" out of them on how to end the war in Ukraine. He said that any talks that do not involve Russia over security guarantees for Ukraine are a dead end.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning is praising those efforts. He said in a statement that, quote, "Together with the United States, Europe and all those who seek peace, we are working every day to guarantee security. We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly reliable and lasting peace."

Zelenskyy also said that Russia launched a new round of strikes overnight, involving more than 60 drones and a ballistic missile. Fire erupted at a fuel facility in the major port city of Odessa. And despite all this continued aggression, the White House has said that plans are underway for a face-to-face meeting between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin. That's what the White House says. But the Kremlin really hasn't signed on to that, at least not publicly.

Let's get to CNN's Betsy Klein at the White House this morning for the very latest.

What are you hearing, Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT AND WRITER: Well, John, I think all of that language coming from the Kremlin makes clear that the progress and momentum and clear urgency that we have been seeing in the last few days has stalled. But the White House insists that there is progress being made toward a bilateral meeting between President Zelenskyy and Putin, they say, is going to be in the coming weeks, and the U.S. National Security team is actually involved in those preparations.

And to that end, three White House officials tell CNN that there are a number of sites being considered for that venue, including Budapest -- for that meeting, including Budapest, as well as Switzerland. Those same sources cautioned that this is all very much in flux and nothing has been decided at this time.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Putin has indeed agreed and promised to do this meeting in the coming weeks. President Trump laying out why he wants those two leaders to meet on their own. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I had a very successful meeting with President Putin. I had a very successful meeting with President Zelenskyy, and now I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see. I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we'll see how they do. And if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I'll go and I'll probably be able to get it closed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: The Kremlin making clear that this meeting is not imminent. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that any potential meeting between these two leaders must be prepared, quote, "with the utmost care."

And the more time this takes John, the better it is for Russia. It gives them the opportunity to shore up control of some of those occupied areas and continue to advance on the battlefield. And we are seeing that as Russia continues with intensive airstrikes on Ukraine. President Zelenskyy responding overnight, he said, quote, "All of these are demonstrative strikes that only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective."

He went on to say, "We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly reliable and lasting peace." The question, of course, now is how long President Trump is willing to wait and what, if any, pressure he can put on Putin -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Betsy Klein at the White House for us this morning. Betsy, thanks so much.

With us now is Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine's parliament.

Thank you so much for being with us.

[09:10:01]

Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, is saying that he has not heard any constructive ideas coming from European leaders. These are the European leaders who were at the White House meeting with President Trump on Monday.

How serious do you think Russia is now toward finding peace?

KIRA RUDIK, MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Hello, John. And thank you so much for having me. We never believed that Russia was serious about peace, and we always were saying that they are standing in a way of peace because I want to remind everyone that Russia is indeed an aggressor, and they don't need all the negotiations and talks. They can just stop attacking us. And it will already be a ceasefire. They can stop their aggression. It will already be an end of the war.

This is not happening. And we can see that the main goal of Russia right now is to drag on and win some time to escape sanctions and to continue pushing us at the battlefield. And I'm sorry to say it, but even after all those good meetings, Russia is achieving all of its goals. And it seems that the European leaders, United States and Ukraine are not achieving theirs and ours. And we have said that Putin will try to fool President Trump. Unfortunately, we see that this is what is happening.

We didn't hear confirmation from Kremlin for a meeting with President Zelenskyy. So we already see that they will be trying to drag it on. There is an unclear situation, with the country that perhaps can host this meeting because Putin is an international criminal and there is a warrant on his arrest by the International Criminal Court. So are we going to see again the international justice system caving to organize the meeting by Putin or President Zelenskyy, or what is going to happen?

This is yet another slap at the international justice and it's yet another show that the only strength that is working with Russia, only the world of power and not anything else.

BERMAN: You said that Vladimir Putin is trying to fool Donald Trump and it's working. How? How do you think it has been working since Monday?

RUDIK: The goal of Russia is simple. President Trump did indeed promise a very strong set of sanctions if Russia wouldn't end the war first. It was in 50 days, then it was in 12 days. Then it was after meeting with Putin, then it was maybe later. So every day that they are winning of not having the sanctions imposed on them, they are making billions and they want to continue doing that.

So Putin said that he is ready to meet with Zelenskyy. Now we see that they will be dragging on this meeting and they switched President Trump's strong position on immediate ceasefire that is really so necessary here on the ground, because, John, we don't know if we are going to survive until the end of the war, even if it is somewhere in the closed site. And so every single day when the ceasefire is not happening, sanctions are not happening. Putin is winning.

BERMAN: Right now the United States and European leaders are discussing, along with Ukraine, this idea of security guarantees. What would you need from Europe, from the United States, to feel secure after some kind of deal would be reached with Russia?

RUDIK: First and foremost, we need to be able to rely on ourselves. So alongside with any agreement that will be signed on paper, Ukraine needs to be strong and armed to be able to defend itself. It is critical and it contains of ability to buy certain kinds of wide range weapons. But also, financing of purchasing of those weapons. Second point is something that we have been asking since the day one is ability to protect our skies.

We know that the United States is providing this protection to other countries. It may not be signed in a deal, but it is happening anyways. Third point, there was an offer of international troops on the ground. That was not necessary what was requested by Ukraine at the very beginning. However, it is also possible because we need to monitor that Russia will be keeping their part of the bargain.

But in any kind of peace deal, Ukraine wants to rely on itself because after all times that international law was broken, we need to make sure that the investments are not in some agreements with someone, but the investments in Ukraine as it is.

[09:15:06]

So even if Russia dares to come back and attack us, we will be ready to fight back.

BERMAN: Kira Rudik, member of the Ukrainian parliament, we do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much. Kate.

BOLDUAN: The Justice Department is launching an investigation into the D.C. police and its handling of crime statistics. This after the president accused the city's police department of reporting, quote, "fake crime numbers" in order to create a false illusion of safety.

And people applying to live or work in the United States will now be screened for anti-Americanism, including having their social media accounts reviewed. A sweeping new policy, but one that is very light on specifics.

And one of the biggest winners of last week's Trump-Putin summit could be one Alaska man receiving a very unexpected gift from the Russian president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:33]

BERMAN: Happening now, West Virginia National Guard troops are on the ground in Washington supporting President Trump's ongoing federal takeover there. The Department of Justice says it is investigating D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department over whether it manipulated crime data to make it appear crime rates were lower.

President Trump says D.C. police, quote, "gave fake numbers to create a false illusion of safety." So far he has not produced any evidence of that.

Let's get right to CNN's Brian Todd in Washington for the latest on this.

Good morning, Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You know, this nasty political fight between the Trump administration and Washington, D.C. officials over the crime in the district just keeps escalating. And this investigation is just another instance of the tension just ratcheting up and not leveling off.

Two sources telling CNN the Justice Department is investigating whether the Washington Metropolitan Police Department has manipulated crime data. Now that follows some reporting that a commander in the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department was placed on administrative leave recently amid accusations that the department was falsifying crime data in one district of the city, making offenses listed as lower level crimes than they actually were allegedly.

That investigation ongoing. But that has prompted the Trump administration to launch this investigation into the D.C. Police Department.

Here is the overall crime data as presented by the Metropolitan Washington Police this year compared to last year. Violent crime is down 27 percent from a year ago. Now that is also, in addition to it going down the previous year to an even greater degree. Breaking it down into other numbers here. Assault with a dangerous weapon is down 19 percent. Robbery is down 30 percent. As we said, violent crime, they're down 27 percent. And property crime down 4 percent.

Now, the Justice Department has declined to comment to CNN on this investigation into the D.C. crime stats. We have reached out to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and to the Metropolitan Washington Police Department for comment. We have not heard back from them.

John, what's extraordinary here, we have to just keep pointing this out, this escalation that has gone on for now, roughly three weeks, really just stemmed from one incident on the early morning of August 3rd. Sunday, August 3rd, a former DOGE employee, a 19-year-old named Edward Coristine was attacked in a failed carjacking. He was beaten up. Since that time, President Trump has gone on a tear just saying that D.C. has been running rampant with violent crime and that something needs to be done.

Now, almost three weeks later, you've got basically thousands of National Guard troops coming onto the streets of Washington. Just an escalation of federal law enforcement here, all stemming from that one incident and this latest investigation by the Justice Department is just another example of it. Tension just growing here in the district.

BERMAN: Yes. The question is how much is for show and how much is to change the situation on the ground.

Brian Todd, great to see you. Thank you very much.

A new lawsuit says the government is keeping money from crime victims to push its immigration agenda. And new video captures the moment a fireball tore through a city skyline. So what was it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:16]

BOLDUAN: Twenty states and Washington, D.C., are suing the Trump administration. Now in a new lawsuit just filed Monday the Democratic attorneys general are accusing the White House of illegally withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to states because they're resisting the administration's demands to cooperate with the president's immigration crackdown. The money in question is intended to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes.

President Trump signed an executive order in really the first days of the administration demanding that sanctuary cities and states be barred from receiving federal funds. Now, in this lawsuit, the attorneys general argue this.

"The challenged conditions would force these states into an untenable position, either forfeit access to critical resources for vulnerable crime victims and their families, or accept unlawful conditions allowing the federal government to conscript state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law."

Joining me right now is the attorney general who's leading the charge in this lawsuit, New Jersey AG Matthew Platkin.

Thank you so much for being here. Withholding funds has become part of the president's strategy in getting people to bend to his demands. Universities, law firms. Just two examples. Why are you taking him to court over this now?

MATTHEW PLATKIN (D), NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, Kate, look, these funds have been around since Ronald Reagan was president. When as a nation, we said we were systematically failing victims of crime as you noted. Victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child sex abuse, gun violence, and said, we're going to fund two things, compensation for them, so think about when your family member is murdered, help pay for a funeral, or if you're a victim of domestic violence, help you get housing. And we're going to make sure that the services are in place to help.