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European Union, Ukraine Urge Trump Against Unilateral Deal With Putin; Some European Union Officials Criticize United States Envoy's Handling Of Talks; Trump Vows Consequences If Putin Does Not Agree To End War; Paul Whelan's Thought On Trump-Putin Summit; "Godfather Of A.I." Reveals His Solution To Saving Humanity; Rural Health Clinics May Be Forced to Close Due to a Provision in President Trump's Megabill; Bride-to-be Digs Out Raw Diamond for Her Wedding Ring; Taylor Swift Talks New Music on "New Heights" Podcast. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired August 14, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:13]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): This, indefinitely does not what peace.
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CHURCH: On the eve of a highly touted meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents, growing concern about whether it will result in more than just tough talk.
New strikes on Gaza City as outrage grows over Israel's plan to dramatically expand the war. Also --
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GEOFFREY HINTON, COMPUTER SCIENTIST AND PSYCHOLOGIST: We have to make it so that when they are more powerful than us and smarter than us, they still care about us.
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CHURCH: The man known as the godfather of artificial intelligence has a dire warning for humanity.
Plus, sheer perseverance, the diamond discovery you won't want to miss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM WITH ROSEMARY CHURCH.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
Ukraine's president is set to arrive at Downing Street for talks with the British prime minister in the coming hours. The visit comes a day after Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European leaders, and the U.S. held a virtual conference to discuss the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump is threatening Russia with what he calls very severe consequences if he believes Putin is still not serious about ending the war in Ukraine, when the two meet in Alaska on Friday.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, they will. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will the consequences be?
TRUMP: Yes. yes, will be --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sanctions? Tariffs?
TRUMP: There will be -- I don't have to say there will be very severe consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: During Wednesday's virtual summit on Ukraine hosted by Germany, two European diplomats tell CNN, President Trump appeared to suggest he'd push for an unconditional cease fire at Friday's meeting with President Putin.
Donald Trump says if the meeting goes well, follow up, talks could include President Zelenskyy, and happen almost immediately afterwards.
Ukraine and European leaders have urged President Trump not to agree to a peace deal with Putin without them. French President Emmanuel Macron says Trump was very clear that Washington wants to secure a cease fire and that Ukraine's territory cannot be negotiated without its president.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reaffirmed on Wednesday he will not cede the Russian occupied Donbas region to Moscow, and laid out his terms for a peace deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZELENSKYY (through translator): Everything about Ukraine will be discussed with Ukraine. We have to get prepared for a three-sided format of the conversation. There should be a cease fire first, then, security guarantees. Real security guarantees.
And by the way, President Trump expressed his support for that.
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CHURCH: More now on Wednesday's virtual summit from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, reporting from Kyiv.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They have urgently tried to project all day the idea of what their messages were to Trump and that he was listening. But I think ultimately, there is a recognition that when Trump and Putin get in the room together, that is a huge roll of the dice. And they have seen in the past. Trump get dragged back towards Moscow's narrative when talking or meeting with Putin. So, that's a huge concern.
Trump has, according to some European diplomats, suggested that he won't make deals about Ukrainian territory without Ukraine being involved. That's a key European ask here. But he's also said that land swaps are an integral part of these discussions. So, it's hard to imagine how he gets into discussion about what peace would look like with Putin without discussing territory.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alongside the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted him in person in Berlin today for a virtual conference with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance and other European leaders. Zelenskyy reaffirmed that he's not going to be giving up any parts of the Donetsk region that Ukraine still controls as part of a deal.
That seems to have been one of the ideas emerging from U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with the Kremlin last week.
I have to tell you there are European officials I'm speaking to who are still kind of in consternation about how Witkoff has handled the results of those meetings. One calling him amateurish on the matters of utmost importance. Another saying that negotiations are a lot clearer when Witkoff is not involved.
So, I think there is concerns about that that's percolated throughout the whole week with Europeans trying to catch up on exactly what that idea has really been.
We heard from Friedrich Mertz, the German chancellor, that they will not accept legal recognition of Russian occupied parties. Parts of Ukraine as being Russian territory.
[02:05:03]
We've heard too from Merz, the idea they believe there could be serious decisions made in Alaska, very much, not playing down like the White House were. 24 hours later, Zelenskyy has said he could end up going to Alaska as well. And one European official I spoke to, familiar with Trump's call with the Europeans, they seem to think that the threat is on still of secondary sanctions against Russia's major energy customers, thinking that the threats against India, one of those had an obvious effect on Moscow's thinking they believe. But still great anxiety about the unpredictable nature of what may follow in Alaska.
CHURCH: Steven Piper is a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. He is also an affiliate with the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
Appreciate you joining us, Ambassador.
STEVEN PIPER, FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Happy to be here.
CHURCH: So, President Trump is now warning Russia of severe consequences if President Putin does not end the war in Ukraine after Friday's summit, and he says a second meeting with Putin will likely be more important. But even Trump admits he can't stop Putin from killing civilians. So, why will this summit be any different, particularly, if the two leaders discuss land swaps, as Trump has suggested?
PIPER: Well, I think that's the big question. Today, President Trump threatens severe consequences. That's what he was just saying 10 days ago. Then, he invited Putin to come to Alaska. Over the weekend, he was talking about land swaps, but after talking to the Europeans today, he said, well, no, I'm going to be more restrained. So, I think the question is, which Donald Trump shows up on Friday in Anchorage to talk to Vladimir Putin? And we don't know.
CHURCH: And what do you think President Trump means by threatening Russia with severe consequences? What does that mean to you? And does Putin care?
PIPER: I think that Putin, at this point, doesn't really care, in large part because Mr. Trump has given Putin at least four deadlines in the last three months, and calling on Russia to change action, to move to find a way to end the war with Ukraine.
And each time the deadline's passed, Russia has done absolutely nothing, and there have been no consequences. So, I think that Mr. Putin can be forgiven for thinking that there is probably not much behind this statement. And that's actually unfortunate, because if Mr. Trump wanted to, there are some very real things that he could do that would be punitive to Russia, that might get the Russians to begin to change course. But he's done none of those steps in this last one -- in the seven months in office.
CHURCH: Like, what? What should he be doing?
PIPER: One, he could ask the American Congress to provide additional money to buy weapons for Ukraine. He could go to the Europeans and say, it's time now to move and seize the Russian frozen central bank assets and put that into a fund for Ukrainian reconstruction, but also for Ukrainian to buy weapons.
And what that would signal Putin would be is that Ukraine will have the funding for several years to come to fund its military and make sure it's well armed.
And the thing here is, the only way that you're going to get Vladimir Putin to change course is right by making Putin understand that Russia cannot achieve its objectives on the battlefield. And if they continue to try to do so, they are only going to face rising military, economic and political costs.
CHURCH: And of course, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is not even invited to Friday summit, but he reaffirmed in the virtual conference with Europe and Trump on Wednesday that he would not be giving up any parts of the Donetsk region.
So, what could potentially go wrong on Friday without Ukraine being present at that summit?
PIPER: Yes. Well, remember, the Ukrainians have agency. So, if there's any kind of arrangement that is proposed in Alaska jointly by Trump and Putin, the Ukrainians can always say no. And I guess that's my concern, is that Vladimir Putin, first of all, he has won a victory just by the fact of this meeting. That's broken him out of the boycott that Western leaders had imposed on Putin going back to early 2022.
But I believe that Putin all thinks -- so thinks there is an opportunity here. He is going to try to set a trap, engage Trump in a conversation about the details of the settlement, and try to see if he can lure Trump into that kind of discussion and ultimately try to persuade the president that he should buy onto significant parts of the Russian position.
And if he goes down that route, I think it will be a very difficult outcome, and an outcome that will go down badly, both with Ukraine and also with Europe.
CHURCH: And Ambassador, what will you be watching out for on Friday when you see Trump and Putin together on the world stage and Zelenskyy sidelined?
[02:10:06]
And what advice would you be giving Trump right now ahead of this summit, if you had his ear?
PIPER: Yes. My advice would be very, very careful that any ideas that come from Putin, you can always say interesting idea, Vladimir. Let me think about it. You don't have to agree on the spot, but I think he has to be mindful that Putin is coming here with the objective of trying to charm and cajole Trump into agreeing things that would be very close to the Russian position.
And what Putin wants here, first of all is, of course, to disadvantage Zelenskyy, put Zelenskyy in a corner, but he also wants to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe. Unless Trump is careful, he may walk into that trap. And that at the end of the day, is going to make him look weak and gullible.
CHURCH: Steven Piper, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it, Ambassador.
PIPER: Thank you.
Just over a year ago, Paul Whelan returned to the U.S. after 5-1/2 years in a Russian prison on espionage charges, which he long denied. He told CNN what he thinks will come out of the summit between Presidents Trump and Putin.
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PAUL WHELAN, FREED IN PRISONER SWAP: It's a fool's errand. President Trump is trying to make a deal with the devil. You saw how he held Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, Trevor Reed and I, Brittney, Griner as well, on trumped up charges, for what? So, he could gain something from the United States.
He is doing the same thing now, he wants President Trump to go on bended knee to ask for a cease fire and ask for the war to end, but he won't give anything up. Putin will not give up territory, and he probably will ask for more. It's a precarious situation. I don't think it ends well.
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CHURCH: Israel is discussing the possible resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan, according to the Associated Press. It's unclear how far talks might have progressed with South Sudan, a country also struggling with war and starvation.
The South Sudanese foreign affairs ministry called the resettlement report baseless. Israel and the U.S. have encouraged voluntary migration from Gaza. The Israeli prime minister told i24NEWS that Israel is talking to several countries about this, and Palestinians are not being pushed out, but rather being allowed to leave.
But most Palestinians remain deeply opposed to permanent resettlement, as do rights groups and regional allies.
The Israeli military has been hammering Gaza City ahead of its planned takeover. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says 123 people were killed in a 24-hour period, and more than 400 others wounded.
The IDF says its chief of staff has largely approved a new attack plan for Gaza, although it's not clear when it will begin.
CNN's Oren Liebermann has details from Jerusalem.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Israel's military chief has approved what the military called his main concept for a new attack plan as part of the next phase of Israel's operation in Gaza, which will mark a major escalation after nearly two years of war. It was just days ago that the security Cabinet approved the decision to occupy and take over Gaza City in northern Gaza, over the objections of Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. He had warned that such a phase in the military operation would risk the hostages, it would risk soldiers. It would also burden a military that's exhausted after nearly two years of war, as well as worsening Israel's international standing, and risking worsening the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Despite his warnings, the security cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed forward with those plans, saying the first phase is the evacuation of Gaza City up to a million Palestinians, and then, the military part of the operation will begin.
Now, the IDF didn't give any details about what this plan is that the military chief had approved, but the intention is clear. Israel is pushing forward with this plan, despite the warnings of the military.
As we see this happening, New Zealand's leadership saying Netanyahu has lost the plot when it comes to the war in Gaza and saying these plans for Gaza City are, "utterly, utterly unacceptable."
So, you see another member of the key U.S.-led Security Alliance, Five Eyes, warning of the consequences here. But realistically, none of this has been able to head off Netanyahu and his plans for the next phase, an escalation of the war in Gaza, a takeover of Gaza City. And he said just a few days ago that after that, might come the occupation and takeover of the central camps in Gaza, signaling that at least, as the situation stands now, an end of the war is not something we will see imminently.
[02:15:02]
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.
CHURCH: The man who helped build artificial intelligence is warning about the dangers of the technology, and he says there's only one way humanity can survive the super intelligent A.I. We'll have details on that just ahead.
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CHURCH: Typhoon Podul is now dissipating over southern China, after making landfall on Wednesday night. While winds are calming, flooding remains a concern. It weakened after blowing through southern Taiwan earlier Wednesday.
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Satellite imagery shows its path of destruction. The storm shut down a large part of Taiwan and canceled hundreds of flights. The government says one person was reported missing and 33 others were injured.
An Alaska river surged to a new record high Wednesday after a glacial outburst, the day before. Waves of water rush from a lake formed by the Mendenhall Glacier flowing into a river running along the west side of the capital city, Juneau. This is the third consecutive year of this kind of flooding. Officials say newly installed flood barriers have helped protect the city, the Arctic, including Alaska, is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet as global temperatures rise.
Well, the best way to prevent A.I. from ever turning against its human creators could come down to instilling a basic human feeling. That's what the so-called godfather of A.I., Geoffrey Hinton, told an industry conference in Las Vegas. He says the technology will become smarter than us, and the tech industry's current efforts to keep A.I. submissive is not going to work.
His solution, build maternal instincts into A.I. models so they care about people and have a sense of compassion.
CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy has more.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: An alarming warning from one of the original and leading voices in the AI space. You'll remember that Geoffrey Hinton has been warning about some of these existential risks that he sees from A.I. since he decided to leave his job at Google two years ago.
But now, he is sort of taking shots at what he calls the tech bros that are leading A.I. companies right now. Saying, they are taking the wrong approach to A.I. safety by trying to ensure that humans remain dominant over A.I. systems.
Instead, in his mind, as a or if, I should say, A.I. becomes smarter than humans, which many people think that it will, he worries that it will be able to manipulate us and prioritize its own interests and ability to function over humans needs.
Instead, he thinks that humans need to be training A.I. systems to be more like our mothers, to prioritize our well-being, even when they are smarter and more powerful than us.
Let's take a quick listen to some of the comments that he made at this A.I. conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
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HINTON: I think people have been looking at this all wrong. So, people have been saying, because they are tech bros. They have been saying, we have to stay in control of these A.I.s. We've somehow got to be stronger than them. We've got to be dominant, and they've got to be submissive.
That's not going to work. They are going to be much smarter than us. They are going to have all sorts of ways of getting around that. So, we need to reframe this problem. It's not that we have to be stronger than them and stay in control of them. We have to make it so that when they are more powerful than us and smarter than us, they still care about us.
So, the right model is the only model we have of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing, which is a mother being controlled by her baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: Now, he doesn't necessarily make clear how he thinks this tech companies should be training A.I. systems to have that maternal instinct, and I do think it's worth noting that there are leaders in the A.I. space who disagree with Hinton about how much of an existential risk A.I. truly poses to humans.
Certainly, at this point, A.I. systems continue to get sort of basic tasks wrong, so, it's still rather hard to think about them being that much smarter, that much more powerful than humans.
But certainly, a stark warning from one of the most prominent voices in this space. Back to you.
CHURCH: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll take a look at how a provision in President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill has impacted health clinics in rural Maine.
Back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
A group of health clinics in rural Maine could be forced to close soon unless a legal injunction is extended. At issue is a provision in President Trump's one Big, Beautiful Bill Act. It prohibits certain clinics from accepting Medicaid funds if they provide abortions outside of cases of rape, incest, or when a person's life is in danger.
Maine Family Planning, a non-profit that provides not only abortions, but primary care to thousands of people on Medicaid, is hoping a court will intervene.
CNN's Meg Tirrell reports.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They call it health on wheels. This mobile clinic covers hundreds of miles across the State of Maine every week, bringing healthcare directly to those who may not be able to get it otherwise.
Today, they are taking us along for the ride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our kind of our typical start of our day.
TIRRELL (voice over): A soup kitchen in Waterville, a town of about 17,000 just north of the state capital Augusta.
The mobile clinic is part of Maine Family Planning, a network with 18 other locations that's provided reproductive healthcare and other services to those in the state for more than 50 years. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doing appointments here today if you need to be seen for anything: peace of mind testing, wound care, little bit of primary care, that type of stuff. Happy to get you in if you want to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes. Thank you.
TIRRELL: Many of their patients, especially those served by the mobile clinic, are on Medicaid.
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ELLEN TARASCHI, NURSE PRACTITIONER, MAINE FAMILY PLANNING: Primarily, it is folks who are underserved is kind of maybe the best word to use, folks who may not have other options due to lack of transportation, lack of insurance. So, we are able to provide care to folks who can't get care otherwise.
TIRRELL (voice-over): But last month, their ability to keep serving Medicaid patients was dealt a blow because of a provision in the Trump Administration's so-called Big, Beautiful Bill focused on abortion. Maine Family Planning provides abortions which are legal in Maine until fetal viability. The law prohibits certain clinics that receive more than $800,000 in annual Medicaid reimbursement and which provide abortions from receiving Medicaid funds for a year for any healthcare services.
TIRRELL: I mean, I guess if you stopped offering abortion, you could continue to accept Medicaid. Is that ever in the consideration?
SHASTA NEWENHAM, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MAINE FAMILY PLANNING: We refuse to compromise the services for our patients. We offer life-changing care, life-saving care, and we're just not going to give up on that.
TIRRELL (voice-over): The practice says it already, never used Medicaid funds for abortion under longstanding federal law, but the new law has put its ability to continue at the same level into question.
GEORGE HILL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MAINE FAMILY PLANNING: We are now as of July 4th, ineligible to receive Medicaid reimbursement. However, that has not stopped us from providing direct care and continuing to provide direct care to Medicaid-insured patients. We don't know how long we can continue to do that, but we're going to continue to do it as long as we can.
TIRRELL (voice-over): In Waterville, like many communities in rural states, primary care facilities have been closing, making Maine Family Planning services more essential.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are HIV home test kits.
TIRRELL (voice-over): The practice has been helping respond to an HIV outbreak centered about 50 miles away in Bangor, providing testing, prevention, and help with treatment.
CARLA CARON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WATERVILLE AREA SOUP KITCHEN: And some have had a problem --
TIRRELL (voice-over): Carla Caron, who oversees the soup kitchen in Waterville, tells us what Maine Family Planning also offers is trust and community.
CARON: The medical health unit is having an impact, and it can't -- it can't go away. It can't go away. Our communities need this. They need more of it, not less of it.
TIRRELL (voice-over): Last month, Planned Parenthood won a temporary block on the funding ban. Maine Family Planning, along with the Center for Reproductive Rights, has filed its own lawsuit. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is the defendant in that lawsuit, told CNN it doesn't comment on matters in litigation, but in legal documents, it's been fighting Maine Family Planning's claims.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Still to come, the world's biggest pop star takes over one of the biggest sports podcasts. The reason behind Taylor Swift's surprise appearance, just ahead.
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CHURCH: For some brides, a diamond ring is a must before they say I do. But a bride to be from New York decided to dig out the gem herself. Micherre Fox found a 2.3-carat stone at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas last month. It's one of only a few diamond mines where anyone can hump for gems. Fox spent about three weeks digging and discovered the raw diamond, the third largest found this year, on her last day. Fox says the experience was a lesson for her marriage, that big problems can be solved with hard work.
Well, pop superstar Taylor Swift took over the "New Heights" podcast on Wednesday to give new details on her upcoming 12th studio album. "The Life of a Showgirl" will release later this year on October 3rd. Swift said the album's 12 tracks describe her life on the road during her record-breaking Eras Tour. The singer also went into detail about meeting her current boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. But one of the biggest revelations was that she sent her mother and brother to represent her in meetings to buy the rights for her master recordings. Here she's talking about the moment they were finally hers.
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TAYLOR SWIFT, MUSICIAN: Rather than send lawyers or management like in a big crew, I sent my mom and my brother, who I work with, to LA and they -- sorry. They sat down and they like, this happens. I don't ever really talk about it because it's -- they sat down with Shamrock Capital and they told them what this meant for me. Like this is -- they told them the whole story. I get a call from my mom and she's like -- she's like, they -- we did -- you got your music. JASON KELCE, HOST OF "NEW HEIGHTS" PODCAST: Yeah.
SWIFT: And so sorry that -- this is -- it's literally been so long since this happened. Like, it's -- every time I talk about it, she was like, you got -- you got your music. And I just like very dramatically, hit the floor for real.
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CHURCH: This new era has a bold new signature color as well, orange. Swift says it reflects how her life felt while writing the new alum, electric and vibrant.
Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.
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