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Trump, Putin To Meet Friday In Alaska On Ukraine War; Israel Security Cabinet Approves Plan To Control Gaza City; DOJ Investigates In Attorney General Who Convicted Trump Of Fraud; CNN Hero Delivers Hollywood's Extra Food To The Hungry. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 09, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

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[16:59:47]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): Once again, this is promises made, promises kept from President Trump and his strong leadership on this important issue.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Maybe not exactly. White House officials are now reportedly blaming their inaction on the fact that Trump can't legally do this on his own, and would need Congress to pass a law.

Republicans have a majority in Washington, of course, and the president has successfully gotten them to pass other legislation.

In response to this new reporting, the White House says, quote, "President Trump pledged to expand access to fertility treatments for Americans who are struggling to start families. The administration is committed like none before to using its authorities to deliver on this pledge."

Thanks so much for joining us. The news continues right here on CNN.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

A high stakes summit as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin set to meet Friday in Alaska as President Trump tries to broker a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. This will be Putin's first time on American soil since 2015.

U.S. officials telling CNN Putin is offering to halt the war, but only if Russia is allowed to keep two key parts of Ukraine, the Donbas region and Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flat out rejecting that idea, saying his country, quote, "will not give land to the occupier", despite President Trump saying this just yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years with, you know, a lot of Russians have died, a lot of Ukrainians have died.

So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping. It's complicated. It's actually nothing easy. It's very complicated.

But we're going to get some back. We're going to get some -- some switched. There will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Russia's demands also a topic of conversation for Vice President Vance, who met with British, European and Ukrainian officials outside London. A U.S. official saying that those talks made quote, "significant progress", while Zelenskyy did call them, quote, "constructive".

Let's bring in CNN senior reporter Betsy Klein, who is joining us now from the White House. Betsy, we're now less than a week away from this meeting. What is the administration's approach heading into this summit?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Right. Well, Jessica, first, I just want to let you know that we are expecting President Trump to appear on the roof of the White House any moment now. So if you see some commotion behind me, that's what that's all about.

But this has certainly been one of the most intractable issues of President Trump's second term. And they are certainly hopeful that this meeting could break some of the logjam here.

But there are also some very real concerns from U.S. allies, as well as experts, that this is just buying Russian President Vladimir Putin time.

President Trump announcing he will be meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday. This meeting came together very quickly. We still don't know exactly where in Alaska it will take place, but it is an area that is right between Moscow and Washington.

But notably, the president did not say in his announcement whether or when Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will be involved in these talks on a potential peace deal.

Now, Zelenskyy has been emphatic that Ukraine needs to be part of these discussions about any potential peace deal. He's also said that ceding territory is, quite frankly, a nonstarter.

But all of this comes after Putin met with the president's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, earlier this week, where he laid out his plans for a potential deal, leaving European allies scrambling to figure out what exactly was the substance of that deal.

They've expressed concerns about the possibility of Ukraine ceding territory. And they have also made very clear that Zelenskyy needs to be involved in these conversations.

So to allay some of those concerns, Vice President J.D. Vance convened a group of European officials, along with Ukrainian officials and the U.K. foreign secretary, David Lammy today in England for an hour's long meeting where they provided the U.S. view of a potential deal, as well as American sense of where Russia stands as of now.

A U.S. official telling me that they made significant progress, but declining to elaborate on what that progress was. But it's still really unclear at this point whether there is buy in from the European allies, as well as whether Zelenskyy was able to -- whether they were able to make any progress on getting Zelenskyy at that negotiating table.

But certainly a very high stakes meeting in the coming days. We'll be watching all developments quite closely and whether the president addresses this any moment now.

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DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein at the White House. And, of course, as you mentioned, we'll keep an eye on what President Trump is doing there on the roof. Thank you so much for that.

And for more on Ukrainian president Zelenskyy's reaction to this meeting, we have CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, very clear in his first response to some of the initial ideas around what the U.S. and Russia might be discussing in Alaska on Friday to reject the idea outright of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, even if that's in exchange for a ceasefire.

Look, it is against Ukrainian constitution for him to do that. And it would be politically toxic with the military, who've lost tens of thousands defending Ukraine from Russia's now invasion, now in its fourth year, and a political climate here, which would find that kind of move exceptionally hard to swallow.

Trump himself suggesting that Zelenskyy may even already have to try and pull together the correct parliamentary consent and political elite sign on for that kind of move. But it's a huge problem for Ukraine giving up territory.

The first permutations of what a deal might look like that seemed to have been discussed by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin could potentially involve in one of the earlier drafts, some kind of giving up of the remainder of the Donetsk region and Luhansk to pulling out of key towns, two of which Ukraine firmly still holds significant populations there of tens of thousands in exchange for a ceasefire. Now, it's unclear quite what stage this plan is at, what it means for

the two other regions of Ukraine that have been part of Putin's long term war goals Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Do the front lines freeze there? Do the Russians pull out? That is all in discussion at the moment, but ultimately it's something that's going to be exceptionally hard for Ukraine to swallow.

They don't really trust here the idea of a Russian ceasefire. They've seen Russia break that before, regroup and attack all over again. And instead, this weekend, a series of rushed meetings between European national security advisers, the U.K. foreign secretary David Lammy, and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in the U.K. on holiday anyway. But holding meetings to essentially brief European powers on where these talks are going, what they look like.

The Europeans too rallying around Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz all calling him to express solidarity.

The same message here that there can be no peace in Ukraine without Ukraine being involved in that deal, and that the Europeans have a stake in this too, as it's also about European security.

We've really set the clock back here. It feels a number of months to the time the Saudi Arabia, when a U.S.-Russia bilateral summit seemed to summon ideas for a peace deal here in Ukraine that Ukrainians simply couldn't accept. We seem to be there again.

And above all, we must be in the atmosphere and the kremlin, must be, frankly, jubilant. They've got the first visit of Putin to the U.S. for a decade. We have significant rehabilitation for Moscow on the international stage. And now a summit about peace in Ukraine without Ukraine actually being there.

The U.S. and Russia potentially setting terms and presenting them to the rest of the world. That's pretty close to a dream scenario for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Add to that too the threat of secondary sanctions against his two main energy customers. While that seems to have somewhat evaporated for now.

So all eyes on Friday in Alaska, but massive anxiety here already as to where that may lead.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Kyiv, Ukraine.

DEAN: Nick, thank you. I want to bring in former Trump national security adviser, Ambassador Robert O'Brien. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for being here with us this afternoon. We really, really appreciate it. Zelenskyy has stressed the importance of including Ukraine in any peace talks.

I know obviously you've worked with President Trump. You have been there as he sorts through these sorts of things. Walk us through how you think he might be thinking about this upcoming summit with Putin.

ROBERT O'BRIEN, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, thanks Jessica. And thanks for having me on.

I think the first thing to realize is that this is a demonstration of President Trump's strength in his power, because a week ago, you know, a week or two weeks ago, Putin was saying he wasn't going to meet with Trump. He wasn't going to negotiate. He was going to keep fighting.

And then the secondary sanctions hit on India. And now we've got Putin coming to American soil. So this is not a victory for the Russians. He's got to come to us. He's coming to President Trump.

But interestingly, he's coming to Alaska, Jessica, a territory that Russia once owned, you know, and sold to the U.S. and so he's coming to a former Russian territory, which has got to be a little bit galling for Putin because, you know, he thinks of every territory, the Russian flag flew on should be should be Russian.

He's coming to a former territory to meet Trump, who's basically demanded that he come to the table.

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O'BRIEN: And so I -- look, I think Zelenskyy will be involved in the negotiations. He has to be there too, the matter can't be resolved without Ukraine. But President Trump has met with Zelenskyy alone several times including at the Vatican. And he's met with -- he's now going to meet for the first time in his second term with Putin alone.

And so he's put himself in the position to mediate this dispute, get peace, which is what President Trump really wants. He's a peacemaker.

I mean, its maybe a little counterintuitive for some people, but he's a peacemaker. He wants a civilian deaths to stop. He wants a military deaths to stop, and he wants to get this case resolved.

DEAN: Yes. And I and I certainly hear you on all of that, but I do think that there is this argument from some that that President Putin is coming here to America. He's not having to promise anything. He's not having to give up anything. He's making really extreme demands to keep this land.

Not to mention he has this, you know, he does have the ICC warrant out for his arrest. What do you say to that? To people who say, honestly, this is a win for Putin.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that's just a mistake. Now, as far as the ICC arrest warrant goes, were not a party to the ICC. We never have been. They've also put out arrest warrants for Bibi Netanyahu, which is a joke. So, you know, that's not an issue for Putin or for the United States.

But look, he's coming here. Keep in mind what Putin's goal was. Putin wanted to take all of Ukraine. He's got a demographic problem in Russia. Russia's losing people dramatically. They're going to be 50 million people, slow -- smaller in 20 years. He wanted to take Ukraine. He wanted all the -- all the territory of

Ukraine, and he wanted 30 million Ukrainians, and he wanted to turn them into Russians.

And now he's getting stuck with basically the same deal he had when Obama let him take Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk. He's made no real progress. He's got some Russian speakers.

This is not a victory for Putin. He's had this and he's now lost a million men in four years, getting what he had in 2014 from President Obama.

So I think it's a total failure for Putin. But, you know, Trump will let him save face. He's very gracious. He's charming. But Putin's going to walk out of this the loser.

DEAN: And do you think that his demands right now, him being Putin's demands, are those appropriate? Should the president agree to those?

O'BRIEN: Well, look, at the end of the day, Ukraine is going to have to agree to any demands that are made because Ukraine and Russia have to make peace. But Ukraine has not -- has been fighting Russia for ten years, since 2014, when they first took Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk.

They haven't been able to get that land back. Theres no possible way that they can get it back. Theres no -- there's no European force that's going to come to the rescue. We're not going to put American boots on the ground to fight Russians, to get this land back for Ukraine.

And so look, if Ukraine gives up nothing more than the Russian speaking territories of Ukraine and Crimea, which was historically Russian to begin with, that's a win for Ukraine. But we're going to have to guarantee, you know, the reporter made a good point who was on before me. The Russians have violated ceasefires time and again.

So Ukraine needs real security guarantees. I think they'll get them. I think the Europeans will put like Polish troops or, you know, Eastern European ground troops on the ground. We'll put -- we'll probably have French and British Air Force wings in Kyiv to guarantee their security.

They won't be part of NATO, but they'll have European troops, significant European troops on the ground to protect them and to enforce the security guarantees that they get as part of this deal.

DEAN: I do want to ask you as well, you served as a special envoy for hostage affairs during the first Trump administration. I want to turn to Israel for one second and Gaza, before we let you go.

Obviously, Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to push further into Gaza. Hostage families have been pushing him to agree to a hostage and ceasefire deal. They're very concerned about what this might mean for the safety of the hostages who do remain there. Do you think President Trump should be giving Netanyahu the green

light here? Do you think this is the right way forward? And do you think that he will have full American support?

O'BRIEN: Well, Jessica, thank you for shining a light on the hostages. I mean, what's happened to these poor people is just ghoulish. They've been in now almost two years in the tunnels. We saw that terrible video of the young man who was emaciated and was forced to dig his own grave.

The only person who has spoken eloquently about the hostages, other than Israelis, the only western leader is Trump. We've got to get the hostages back.

But so far, Hamas won't turn him back, because the only way Hamas can stay in power is they've got two options. One is to take all the food from the poor Palestinian people who are malnourished or starving in Gaza, and they control that food and they sell it on the black market and they, they starve their own people and they hold on to these hostages in terrible, rank conditions. And those are the two levers of power that they have.

So I think Netanyahu has increased his leverage by saying he's going in. Whether he actually will or not, we have to wait and see.

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O'BRIEN: But the Israeli security council giving him the green light to go in, gives Witkoff some -- Special Envoy Witkoff some negotiating room to go to Hamas and say, look, let the hostages go. We'll have a ceasefire and we'll get you free, safely transported out of Gaza to a country of your choosing that will keep you safe.

So that's the ultimate deal. It's kind of like Beirut in 1982, when the PLO evacuated and Israel left Beirut.

So I'm hoping that that this, this, you know, pledge to occupy Gaza gives Netanyahu the leverage and gives leverage to get Hamas to let these hostages go.

They've been too long in these tunnels. No sunlight, no food, no water, treated like animals. We've got to get them home to their families.

DEAN: Yes. The hostage situation is truly, truly horrific. And I guess just drilling down into this, though, do you think that that that is the right move, that the Israelis should go into Gaza and try to conquer it as the prime minister has said?

O'BRIEN: Well, look, I don't think Israel wants to and, you know, they got out of Gaza, you know, 20 years ago. They don't want to be in Gaza.

And look, Israeli soldiers are going to die if they go into Gaza. So I think it's a -- it's not something that Netanyahu wants to do. But Witkoff has been giving Hamas tremendous opportunities to return

the hostages and get a ceasefire, and Hamas keeps turning them down. I mean, this is these Hamas guys, these Hamas does not represent the Palestinians. The Palestinians are good people. They want to live their lives like everyone else with, you know, have their kids go to soccer games and --

DEAN: And be able to feed their children.

O'BRIEN: And have Sunday dinner or Saturday dinner or Friday night dinner with their families. And we've got to give them that opportunity.

Now, I'm hoping that that Netanyahu's threat to go into Gaza gives Witkoff the leverage to get Hamas to come to the table again and get the hostages home, but also to get the Palestinians fed.

DEAN: All right, Ambassador Robert O'Brien, we appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jessica. A pleasure to be with you.

DEAN: Thank you.

Tens of thousands of protesters hitting the streets in Tel Aviv with renewed vigor tonight. As we were just talking about with the government's Gaza takeover plan, it's now sparking widespread condemnation and dire warnings from the families of those still held hostage in Gaza. We'll talk more about this when we come back.

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DEAN: Tonight, large crowds gathering in Tel Aviv calling for an end to Israel's war in Gaza and a return of all hostages. Many fear Israel's plan to take control of Gaza city puts the hostages in further danger. 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, 20 of them believed to be alive.

Some protesters blocking traffic on a major highway. This is the third day of protests as Israel moves to expand its military campaign in Gaza.

Also tonight, that plan, also facing backlash from international allies with five governments, including Germany and the U.K., saying they, quote, "strongly object to the Israeli plan".

Despite that, as you can see from this satellite image, Israel appears to be pushing ahead. It was captured Friday morning and it shows dozens of military vehicles at a compound near a border crossing to Gaza City.

The Israeli cabinet has approved plans to take control of the city over the next five months.

We are joined now by former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller. Aaron, great to have you here, as always.

Listen, we just had the former national security adviser Robert O'Brien on in the last block, and he said that he believes that just the idea of this might push Hamas, you know, to the negotiating table, that this could give Steve Witkoff some leverage here with them. What do you think of that?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, I think it's a credible possibility, Jessica. After all, the Israelis have given the Palestinian population in Gaza City, roughly, what 800,000 until October 7th.

I'm not sure they've even issued a formal evacuation order. So there's still time. And you've got Steve Witkoff and the Qatari meeting in Ibiza, Spain according to some reports.

I think Barak Ravid is reporting, presumably working on a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza.

You know, and the IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir he might as well have taken a public position on this given the leaks. He's clearly against this.

So I think you've got some time here before the Israelis make a final decision, which is still weeks away, if not longer, to mount a comprehensive campaign in Gaza City.

DEAN: It is interesting you mentioned the IDF pushback on this. What does that tell you? What should people glean from that?

MILLER: I mean, you have a new chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, picked presumably because he, according to some reflected the views of the prime minister. But, you know, chief of staff looking at Gaza, I mean, Ariel Sharon in 2005, who built the settlements, literally in Gaza as prime minister made a judgment that the morale, the impact of the occupation in Gaza on the Israeli Defense Forces was undermining esprit de corps, the morality of the way the IDF operates. And he pulled, dismantled settlements. 8,000 Israeli settlers left Gaza, as did the IDF.

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MILLER: So I think you've got reservists who are hundreds of days in excess of their service. Since May, Jessica, you've got 50 Israelis killed, either by IEDs, friendly fire or Hamas ambushes.

The tunnel structure half as long as the New York subway system is certainly not destroyed. So Hamas is gone as a military organization, but it exists as an insurgency.

And I think Zamir understands that and is reluctant to do what the prime minister wants him to do, which is to operate literally inside Gaza City.

DEAN: And Prime Minister Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not occupy all of Gaza, that they don't want to stay there long term. But I think there are a lot of questions around what happens after,

like, what is the next day plan? Because there still isn't one it seems.

MILLER: I think that's absolutely right. I mean, I worked with three other Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak, Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Olmert. I guarantee you, a year into this war, after October 7th, they all may have responded the way the current Israeli government responded.

But within a year they would, all of them, would be thinking that military power is a means to an end. And what is the end? Very little rational planning has been done largely for political reasons, the character of the Israeli government.

So I think there is no "day after" plan. And I would submit to you that Israel's definition of its border security in the wake of October 7th, perhaps for understandable reasons, has expanded. You see it in Lebanon, where they're still deployed. You see it in Syria, where they've declared much of the area southwest of Syria to be a no-go zone. You see, in the West Bank.

And you're going to see it in Gaza under the best of circumstances. Jessica, it's hard for me to believe that any Israeli government will fully withdraw. They'll have a buffer zone, one kilometer maybe running the length of the Gaza strip to make sure at least to limit the odds that Hamas could -- Hamas could do anything like what they did on October 7th.

DEAN: There we have seen international pushback, kind of in a couple, put it in a couple buckets. International pushback over this, this idea to go what the Netanyahu says they're doing, going into Gaza. But also too, we've seen -- we've seen the U.K. and France saying that they want to recognize a Palestinian state as well.

How do -- how does all of that affect the ongoing negotiations?

MILLER; I mean, I think it probably -- I don't think it's made much of a dent on the current Israeli government. It may affect Hamas. I think that's the view of the administration that the more, the more blood that is shed Palestinian blood in Gaza, the more international pressure rises, the more the humanitarian catastrophe that we're witnessing plays itself out.

The Hamas view, apparently, is that somehow either President Trump will ramp up the pressure on Netanyahu -- not happening. Or the Israeli government will somehow buckle.

And I must say, Israel cares about three countries in Europe more than any other, right? The Brits, the French and the Germans that recently declared a partial restriction or ending a military system to be used in Gaza.

But I don't think any of that is going to impact the calculations of the Netanyahu government. So, so far, and were approaching the two- year mark here in October, I think the view of the international community has been essentially feckless, divided, self-interested.

The Arab states, Jessica, both they're Israel's treaty partners, Jordan and Egypt and the Abraham Accord countries have not, and this is stunning to me, imposed a single cost or consequence. Not one on either Israel or the United States for what's happening in Gaza.

And if the Arab states aren't led by authoritarians or publics, clearly are much more emotional, aren't prepared to try to change the trajectory of Israeli policy, the Europeans aren't going to be -- aren't going to do it.

Donald Trump might, but right now, attention spans are critical here. He's focused on a much bigger play. And it's not Gaza. It's Alaska and the prospects of a much bigger and more decisive, potentially meeting with Putin.

So Netanyahu has a pretty, pretty clear room to run here.

DEAN: All right, Aaron David Miller, always great to see you. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

MILLER: Thank you. Thank you Jessica.

DEAN: And coming up, how President Trump's Justice Department is moving ahead regarding grand jury materials from the Jeffrey Epstein case as the White House faces mounting pressure still from all sides.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:34:12]

DEAN: President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, planning to meet in Alaska next Friday. They have said that meeting is to discuss a potential peace deal for the war in Ukraine, and the visit comes with some very significant politics all around it.

Joining us now, Margaret Talev, senior contributor at Axios and director for the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse University.

Margaret, thank you so much for being here with us. President Trump promised to end this war on day one. We are now many months into his term. How much is on the line for him if he can't get this done?

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, I think you're right to highlight this issue, which is that he, during the campaign, certainly suggested that the Biden administration was weak, and that's why the Russia's war on Ukraine was on going.

[17:35:01]

That's why the situation in the Middle East is so strained. But both of these conflicts have proved to be much more intractable than he had suggested or hope. And it has really thrust foreign policy back onto the front burner at a time when most Americans are saying they are really concerned about the economy and inflation at home.

So, I think, the stakes are certainly very high for Trump, but they are probably higher for President Zelenskyy. And there are a couple of issues at hand. One, of course, is we don't even know at this point if or what his role will be. Putin is invited onto U.S. soil, into the U.S., which, as we've heard some Republican analysts have saying, it doesn't really strengthen Putin that much. But most analysts believe does give Putin a very strong hand.

And in Ukraine, we are seeing some evidence that the Ukrainian people themselves are more interested now in the negotiated settlement than ever before, because they are just not confident that U.S. will stand by them in a protracted fight.

DEAN: Yes. I mean, we've seen polling that supports that. That the Ukrainian people are getting to that point. There are kind of two schools of thought I'm hearing about when it comes to this meeting. There is the idea that President Trump forced Putin to the table, that he is coming to him, that this is -- this is a good thing.

There is another version that I've heard, which is President Putin is coming in the United States. He has no conditions. He hasn't had to give anything up, that this is a win for President Putin. Where do you come down on this?

TALEV: Well, I do think the prevailing foreign policy view is closer to the second one. And you know, very interesting, this is all coming at a time when President Trump's tariffs policies in dozens of countries are kind of beginning to fully come into force. Just a couple days ago, we saw dozens of countries come into effect.

One of the big question marks has been what will happen, both with respect to India and with respect to China, with whom there is a looming deadline, Trump's public posture has been to say to both these countries, you could face really stiff penalties in terms of trading with the U.S. if you continue to purchase Russian oil.

But again, even there, we see many analysts and this seems to be baked into prices and trading believing that, that is a bluff, and that President Trump does not truly intend to carry out the sort of maximum threat there.

So, you know, I do think these are the conditions as close to conditions as Putin could hope for, could dream of or want for the summit. What happens at that summit? You know, it's we don't know until that happens. But coming into it, all the signs certainly point to a pretty strengthened hand for Putin, and no evidence that Putin is ready to meet Ukraine's conditions, or that the U.S. would necessarily press him to do so.

And some of the big questions remain, not just territorial gains that could get locked In, or what would Ukraine need to live with? But what would conditions of a ceasefire mean? And what if Russia changed the game? What if there was a cease fire and it didn't last? Where would the U.S. be? What would the protections be for the Ukrainian people?

So, we don't know the answers to any of those questions coming into it, and it is -- there is a lot at stake in the summit.

DEAN: Yes.

TALEV: It's unlikely that everything will magically be resolved. But if U.S. pushes for resolution, I think Ukrainians are not highly confident that it will be in their favor at this point.

DEAN: Yes. And listen, the last time they were together, listen, we -- it was certainly a memorable press conference afterward.

Margaret Talev, thank you so much. Always good to see you.

TALEV: Thanks, you too.

DEAN: All right. Let's take a look at a preview of the CNN new original series, "AMERICAN PRINCE: JFK JR.". It starts tonight on CNN. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wanted to maybe break some rules and then he did. It sounds silly, but like he moved downtown to Tribeca, when his whole family lived on the Upper East Side. And it just was like in these little ways, you're making boundaries, and you're creating independence, and you're creating this other life.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There is no such thing as a private, normal day in the life of John F. Kennedy, Jr. He is repeatedly a focus of not just tabloid fodder, but also owning public adoration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first time I met him, he lived around the corner from where I lived. He would be followed more than say I was followed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he was John Kennedy Jr., who would not interested in him? He had those good looks, and he was a regular person. People were just they couldn't get over him or get enough of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Don't miss the series premiere of "AMERICAN PRINCE: JFK JR."

[17:39:52]

It kicks off tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

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DEAN: The Trump administration is taking on another of the president's perceived enemies. The justice department subpoenaed the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James. A grand jury has been convened to look into her investigations of the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association.

You will remember, last year, James won a civil front case against Trump and her supporters say the president is now trying to get retribution.

Tom Dupree joins us to discuss this.

[17:45:00]

He was the. U.S. deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush. Tom, thanks so much for being here with us.

I first just do want to get your thoughts on that -- on that last point. Is this simply political retribution?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Well, the president, during his campaign, made no secret that he was going to take retribution on his political foes, and I certainly think he would put the attorney general of New York, Letitia James up there.

Remember, during her campaign, she campaigned on a platform of going after Trump, and then he did the same thing. So, the news that they've now convened a grand jury to look into alleged civil rights violations toward Trump by her office is not really surprising. This is something that the president and his supporters have been telegraphing was probably in the works.

DEAN: And so, how do you think this continues to play out? What do you see happening next?

DUPREE: Well, the first thing they're going to do is serve these subpoenas. So, they are going to try to get documents from the Attorney General's office that really try to give them some insight into what led them to bring the charges against the Trump Organization. As you noted, they are also looking into the attorney general's investigation and the claims that she brought against the National Rifle Association. So, they are taking a fairly broad approach to this. They are going to try to really pierce the veil of the attorney general's deliberative process, try to figure out what led them to bring the charges and see if they can make a case that their civil rights were violated, presumably under the theory that these prosecutions were just political.

DEAN: And is there anything for her to do to push back on this except go through the process?

DUPREE: Well, she can fight off the subpoenas. Look, it's unusual to say the least, to have a civil rights investigation premised on bringing criminal charges, or in this case, civil fraud charges against a private organization. So, it's an unusual investigation to begin with, and I think the attorney general is in all likelihood going to fight hard against enforcement of these subpoenas, saying that she can't be compelled to produce evidence of their internal deliberations, and the thought processes of the prosecutors and the lawyers in her office as they were contemplating the charges against Trump.

I don't think she is going to go away without a fight here.

DEAN: And you have to think, I mean, the law is often all about precedent. Does this -- are they concerned about some precedent to that end being set?

DUPREE: Yes. Well, it certainly would be an unusual precedent if after you are prosecuted by an attorney general, you can then turn around and say, well, that prosecution itself violated my civil rights. So, I think what the administration is doing here is taking an unusual, arguably creative approach to the civil rights statutes. And suggesting that the mere fact that they brought these fraud changes -- charges against the Trump Organization violated Trump's civil rights.

Again, it's a novel use of the civil rights statutes. It's very unusual, if not unprecedented, to base an investigation on this. So, I think there is certainly a lot of legal arguments that can and will be made as this investigation moves forward.

DEAN: Yes, certainly. And it's, you know, worth remembering, this is the DOJ, the federal government as well.

All right. Tom Dupree, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

DUPREE: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

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[17:52:54]

DEAN: Touchdown a crew of astronauts safely back on Earth after spending 148 days in orbit on board the International Space Station.

They splashed down in a SpaceX capsule off the coast of San Diego. That crew included astronauts from America, Russia, and Japan. The splashdown was the first for NASA astronauts in the Pacific Ocean, 50 years. And the crew then flew to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their families. Welcome back to Earth.

Hollywood productions may seem and look seamless, but there are hundreds of people working behind the scenes to bring it all together, often fueled by meals provided by craft services on the set.

Assistant director Hillary Cohen was disturbed that so much leftover food ended up in the trash that she took action, and she is this week's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY COHEN, FOUNDER, EVERY DAY ACTION: Working on a film set with this whole team of people, a prop department, the classroom department and electric department, and a lot of people that need to be fed. There is just so much food that's available, steak and salads. So much good food every day. When lunch was over, they would just throw it out. Doesn't make any sense. I really was always told we can't donate the food. It's too hard if someone gets sick, it's liability. As an assistant director, I was the logistical planner of a set. This is just the logistical problem. I think it's so easy to solve.

Everyday action picks food up from film sets, corporate events, grocery stores to deliver the food to those in need.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's nice to meet you.

COHEN: We are the grub hub. We take it from point A to point B.

At the beginning, was just me and Sam, one of my co assistant directors in the heart of COVID. We have this big cooler from Walmart, thermal bags just picking the food up.

I would like to see what the fancy meal is of the day.

Film and T.V. set, that's like our bread and butter. All you have to do is give us a call sheet, sign liability over, and the food is ours.

STEPHEN FAUST, EXECUTIVE CHIEF AND PARTNER, MCGUFFIN CATERING: For decades, it broke my heart to throw food away, so, we're happy to do it.

[17:55:03]

It's just like clockwork, they show up.

COHEN: Hi, it's so good to see you.

FAUST: We pass off the food and we're all set.

COHEN: We pay production assistants and background artists, and then, they drive the food from place to place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The salads. Too many fruit.

COHEN: There you go, just --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

COHEN: So, it started with encampments.

Would you like some free food?

Then, it's food pantries, nonprofits. Anyone that's struggling with food insecurity.

Here is three meals, and I'm going to get you some sides too.

Giving someone that's hungry in food is the best thing one can do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much. COHEN: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God bless you.

COHEN: And that's about 80,000 meals a year that we save from landfills. I feel like my skill set is like called to do this. Now, more than ever, we have to help each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: And to learn more about Hillary's inspiring efforts. You can go to CNNHEROES.COM.

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