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European, NATO Leaders to Join Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting at the White House; Nationwide Strike in Israel as Protesters Demand Hostage Deal; Three Dead, Nine Injured in Brooklyn Shooting, Manhunt Ongoing; Zelenskyy to Be Flanked by European Leaders at Trump Meeting; Back-to- School in D.C. as National Guard Troops Arrive; California Farmers Hope Coffee Tariffs Will Boost Business. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 17, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:35]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York, sitting in for Jessica Dean.

We're going to start tonight with breaking news as key European leaders traveling to Washington, D.C., for talks between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. People familiar with the planning tell CNN tomorrow's major gathering will be broken into two parts. First, Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to meet along with their delegations. Then they're going to join the other key leaders at a larger group session and possibly lunch.

Tomorrow's meeting comes after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. And as Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, says, that meeting yielded progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game changing. We didn't think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article Five protection from the United States, in legislative enshrinement within the Russian federation, not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is, you know, codified. Legislative enshrinement in the Russian federation, not to go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I want to bring in CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak, who joins us now.

So, Kevin, what do these new comments from Witkoff tell us about the possible contours of a deal, maybe, as we head into this meeting tomorrow?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it gives a sense of what Russia has put on the table, at least according to Witkoff's accounting of this. But I do think that there are a lot of questions about what exactly this would entail. You know, he's talking about an Article Five type security guarantee for Ukraine. Article Five, of course, is the clause in the NATO charter that says an attack against one is an attack against all.

And the way Witkoff described it is that this would essentially be a workaround, that because Russia has insisted that Ukraine never be able to join NATO, this would allow a way for the U.S. and Europe to provide some security guarantees, so that once a deal is reached, if Putin in a few years from now decides to go after the rest of Ukraine, that there would be sort of a trigger in place to protect the other parts of that country.

There are a lot of questions about how this would work, though. For example, how the U.S. would be involved. President Trump has been pretty explicit that American troops will not be on the ground in Ukraine. And so as Zelenskyy and those European leaders are arriving in Washington, that's one of the questions I think they'll have is how exactly the U.S. will be involved in those security guarantees going forward.

And, you know, this meeting tomorrow is shaping up to be quite a consequential day. You know, I don't remember a time that I've covered the White House, that you've seen so many top leaders kind of rush here on short notice to convene with the American president, which I think, one, gives you a sense of the urgency that they feel in trying to bring this conflict to an end, but also the urgency and even alarm that they feel in not being sidelined and how President Trump is handling all of this.

And so it will be quite a critical day, I think, for the president and for these leaders here at the White House.

JIMENEZ: And do we have any more of a sense of why President Trump may have reversed his position on a more near term ceasefire deal after meeting with Putin on Friday? And what has the response to that been like so far?

LIPTAK: Well, I think the response among the Europeans was one of quite alarm. You know, that's one of the reasons that they're now rushing here to the White House is to try and figure out what exactly happened, because, remember, President Trump went into that summit with Vladimir Putin saying that he was intent on securing an immediate ceasefire. And if that wasn't going to happen, that he would impose serious consequences.

He left the summit saying that that was no longer his ambition, and saying that the prospect of sanctions was no longer on the table. And I think the Europeans had felt going into the summit that they were on the same page as the president. Now they sort of feel the opposite. And it sort of depends who you listen to about why the president reversed himself.

[18:05:01] Witkoff said that there was so much progress being made on a peace deal that the president essentially wants to skip the step of a ceasefire and move directly to a larger peace agreement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also out today, said that it was because Russia wasn't going to agree to it. Rubio, much less -- much more guarded in his optimism, saying that we are not at the precipice of a peace agreement just now.

JIMENEZ: All right. Kevin Liptak at the White House. Appreciate the reporting.

I want to bring in former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Michael Bociurkiw. He's also the creator of the "World Briefing" newsletter on Substack.

So, Michael, how should President Zelenskyy approach this meeting with President Trump?

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE: Good to be with you. Well, with the same skepticism that Prime Minister Mark carney of Canada would approach Mr. Trump when it comes to his trade threats, with a lot of skepticism. And of course, you know, this skepticism that Zelenskyy probably has, and most Ukrainians for sure have, goes back to that first big, big agreement, the Budapest Agreement, made, you know, many, many years ago where Ukraine handed over its nuclear arsenal for security guarantees from the U.S., U.K. and others. That wasn't honored. Look where we are now.

But the other thing, you know, I have to say is, I think Zelenskyy and the European leaders, the grownups who are going to be joining him in the room, have a hard time believing what Mr. Trump says because he does switch his mind a lot. He has a short attention span. I call him the contortionist-in-chief for that very reason. So that, you know, after that Alaska meeting happened alarm bells sounded off in the European capitals here very, very loudly that Mr. Trump might get, you know, on that slippery slope to the Kremlin narrative and believing in everything Putin says.

JIMENEZ: And part of that alarm was for that that seeming reversal where President Trump seemed like the priority was to get a near-term ceasefire, and that's not how the summit ended, though Witkoff says that's because of concessions they may have gotten. We don't know. We will see.

I want to ask you about something you previously said, where you said you were very nervous about tomorrow's meeting, about this meeting with Zelenskyy. Can you just walk me through why that is?

BOCIURKIW: Sure. Well, for good reason. Look what happened last time. You know, Mr. Zelenskyy walked into a trap, and just with the contempt, the anger, the rudeness that Mr. Trump and his vice president gave towards Mr. Zelenskyy, a democratically elected world leader, was very, very alarming. It does give me quite a bit of confidence that most of the hours spent tomorrow with Mr. Trump will be with these European leaders. I think they're also feeling a little bit of guilt here because had

they given Ukraine everything Ukraine asked for at the start of this war, we wouldn't be where we are today. Most of what they've given took a lot of time and were mostly defensive weapons to start with. You know, and we also have to bear in mind here that we are dealing with a Russia that is not to be believed for anything they agreed to. They've broken many, many agreements, as Mr. Zelenskyy pointed out in that first Oval Office meeting.

But even tonight, you know, the alarm bells, sorry, air raid sirens, alarms sounded in Odessa. Massive drone attack there. There is damage reported. And also, I'm reading through Ukrayinska Pravda, a very respected news outlet, that Kharkiv has also been struck by not drones, but a ballistic missile. Again, these are unverified, but it's coming across on the major Ukrainian Telegram channels.

So we're talking about world Port Odesa and an integral part of the world food supply chain. We're talking about Kharkiv being hit with a ballistic missile reportedly. What kind of confidence does that give us in believing what Russia is going to do? What kind of confidence do we have in them as a credible potential partner for peace?

JIMENEZ: And you know, that dynamic was part of what soured President Trump's trust of Vladimir Putin, whatever trust he had when he first took office, because he was upset that even as there were negotiations toward peace, that Russia was still bombing Kyiv and other locations as well.

BOCIURKIW: Right.

JIMENEZ: You've also written about how the U.S.-Russia meeting in Alaska was a victory for Putin. But in your mind, if there is real progress made in the Zelenskyy and European leaders meeting, will that Alaska summit have been worth it to you, even though it elevated Putin on the world stage?

BOCIURKIW: Look, anything that gets us to, not a ceasefire, but a durable peace agreement is worth any effort. But what I worry about and what we've seen being portrayed in the Russian media in the past 24 hours is absolutely shocking.

[18:10:02]

You know, and it also put a lot of doubt into the minds of Ukrainians, I think, into what Mr. Trump is all about to have, as you've just repeated, elevated him from the grave of diplomatic isolation to the world stage.

I can tell you that monitoring Ukrainian media throughout the weekend, those images of Mr. Putin grinning from ear to ear in the back of the Beast, and then also being applauded by Mr. Trump, has done a lot of damage, and I think it's done a lot of damage to America's standing around the world, including in European capitals. I think that contributed to the sound of alarm here in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. JIMENEZ: And one of the change dynamics that we're going to see in

this coming meeting with Zelenskyy, as opposed to the last time he came here, this time he'll be alongside those European leaders, some of countries, some representing the E.U. as well.

BOCIURKIW: Yes.

JIMENEZ: But what do you think the role of these European leaders will be tomorrow, and what should it be in these meetings?

BOCIURKIW: Sure. Well, put very plainly, to instill the fear of God into Mr. Trump, that to remind him what kind of potential partner for peace he's dealing with, but also that Europe, as much as it wants to back Ukraine, their show of support is very, very important. But Europe is in no position whatsoever at the moment to provide those robust security guarantees. It's got very little ability at the moment to provide the high tech armaments, Patriot missile systems, drone defense systems that Ukraine needs right now.

So I think a big part of the discussions tomorrow will be to convince Mr. Trump that there's no way that he can give up providing military aid to Ukraine, but, crucially, Patriot missile defense systems, the sharing of intelligence, which you'll recall was briefly lifted as well. And Mr. Musk's Starlink communications system, which is very, very important to the Ukrainian military. Those are main things right now that can't be replaced.

And hopefully they will tell him because I know he has trouble convincing his base that support for Ukraine is important to America, that eventually Europe can provide more support to Ukraine, more security guarantees, but not at the moment.

JIMENEZ: And again, that dynamic of security guarantees really seems like the bottom line of what many people are looking for to come out of this set of meetings.

Michael Bociurkiw, really appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.

BOCIURKIW: Thank you for having me.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, at exactly 6:29 this morning, one of the largest protests began in Israel since the beginning of the war with Hamas in Gaza, with demonstrators blocking highways and staging rallies

Now, that time is significant because 6:29 a.m. is when the October 7th attacks began. This morning's strike is to demand that the Israeli government secure the release of hostages still being held in Gaza. 20 of the 50 who remain are believed to be alive. Now, organizers say hundreds of thousands of protesters are participating, including lighting bonfires.

You can see some of the protests here and a rally outside the prime minister's home with the message for their leaders to make a deal that brings the hostages home. Oren Liebermann was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Organizers say some 300,000 protesters have come out to Hostages Square, which is in front of me, a little bit down this road here and all the surrounding streets. Although we can't get a perfect sense of that number, you can see the crowds here around me easily. Thousands cramming and blocking the streets here, holding not only Israeli flags, but also the yellow flags of hostages, holding signs, wearing shirts that say, "Bring them home now."

This is the culmination of a day that organizers have called for, a grassroots, nationwide strike that began early this morning at 6:29 a.m., the exact time that the October 7th attack began. It started this morning with road closures across the country, and from there it spread and grew, leading towards protests, demonstrations, many of them led by hostage families and some of the freed hostages themselves. One led a march through the streets of Tel Aviv to get to this spot right now.

And although you can see some people making their way away from Hostages Square, which is the focus of all this, others making their way toward Hostages Square for the main event of this evening. Protesters say this is just the beginning, a demand to end the war. Without excuses, without any reasons. A comprehensive end to the war to bring home the remaining 50 hostages. That has been the call we have heard from so many of those we've spoken with throughout the day. And you can hear the energy they have brought all the way from early this morning until this very instant going what looks like late into the evening.

[18:15:02]

Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some of his far-right allies have tried to dismiss this, saying it strengthens Hamas and doesn't bring an end to the war any closer. This is something that we've heard categorically rejected by the protesters we have spoken with. They believe they have to call on, push and demand from their government to bring and get to a deal, to bring home all of the hostages as soon as possible.

They see the new military operation announced by the security cabinet just days ago as a threat to the hostages' lives and a threat to the country itself.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you, Oren, reporting from Tel Aviv for us.

A lot more news to cover. Still ahead, police are searching for multiple suspects after a deadly shooting in a crowded New York City lounge. We'll tell you what we know about the victims and the clues that could help investigators in their manhunt.

And we're tracking Hurricane Erin. More than 100,000 people are already without power in Puerto Rico. We'll have the latest on the storm just ahead. And later, President Trump's tariffs are giving some industries a little bit of a jolt. Why California could be key in fueling all of our collective caffeine consumption. More on all of that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:50]

JIMENEZ: Police are still looking for multiple suspects from a deadly shooting overnight at a bar in New York. They say three people were killed and nine others injured when as many as four shooters opened fire inside a Brooklyn lounge. Now, New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed the shooting earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK: We had 12 people shot in the city, a mass shooting, the second in a few weeks, you know, it just impacts and reinforce -- it reinforces why we do this work of going after guns off our streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Leigh Waldman joins us now.

So, Leigh, what do we know about how this happened?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, we know it happened very early this morning at a lounge located in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. We know at this hour, police are still searching for what they say is up to four suspects in relation to what they're calling a gang related shooting. We know overall 12 people were shot in the early morning hours today. Three of those people died from their injuries.

Police have not released their names just yet, but said they are ages 19, 27 and 35. Those other victims, they're expected to survive. They recovered over 40 shell casings at that scene. And a gun that they don't know yet if it's related to this shooting.

Now, despite the shooting this morning, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is saying that shootings overall in the city are down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: And a lot of our work in bringing the shooting numbers down so far this year has been because of our relentless focus on guns and gangs. And as the mayor said, we are certainly not going to let up now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WALDMAN: And right now, we are in the middle of a mayoral race, and each one of those candidates weighed in on this shooting that happened this morning in Brooklyn. Mayor Eric Adams offering his prayers and condolences to the victims and their families, urging the public to come forward with any information and also praising the work of NYPD, Zohran Mamdani, who has in previous years called to defund the police, says he's not running on that platform.

He praised the actions of those first responders and said, "We cannot accept gun violence in our city." And finally, Andrew Cuomo posting, "Public safety is and always has been job number one," hitting at Mamdani's past statements and saying it's not the time to defund the police, that we need more officers on the streets.

And, Omar, so far, no arrests have been made in this overnight shooting.

JIMENEZ: And I know you mentioned police believe this may have been a gang related shooting, but do we have any more information on a possible motive that they're investigating at this point?

WALDMAN: Commissioner Tisch didn't offer any speculation about motive today when she spoke with reporters. She also stopped short of naming the gang or gangs involved in this shooting. But she did share that they believe some of the victims who were injured may have been involved in the shooting itself, that there are also innocent bystanders involved.

Now, through our digging, we found that there was a previous shooting at this location in Brooklyn, just outside of that lounge there. This happened last November, and it was a non-fatal shooting, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Leigh Waldman, really appreciate the reporting.

Now, coming up, the last time Ukraine's leader came to the White House, it ended in let's just call it a shouting match. There is a difference, though, in tomorrow's meeting. Will it change things, though? We'll talk about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:28:45]

JIMENEZ: Let's take a closer look at tonight's top story. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is coming back to the White House tomorrow. Now, his last Oval Office meeting. if you missed it, it drew worldwide attention when President Trump and the vice president sharply criticized him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I'm the president in war.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now that tense exchange happened again in front of cameras there in the Oval Office. At tomorrow's visit Zelenskyy this time is expected to be flanked by several European leaders. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, though, insists they are not coming to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied into a bad deal.

I want to bring in Sir Tony Brenton for some perspective. He's the U.K.'s former ambassador to Russia.

Thank you for taking the time. You've dealt with Russia and Russian delegations directly. What do you believe can be accomplished in this meeting with President Trump, President Zelenskyy and these European leaders?

TONY BRENTON, FORMER U.K. AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA: Oh, quite a lot I think. I mean, everybody kind of felt after the Alaska meeting that it was a damp squib and nothing very much was achieved. But actually, it's emerged since that the American offer of a security guarantee to Ukraine, the Russian apparently acceptance of the Western security guarantees to Ukraine means that that part of the problem of the future survival of Ukraine looks as if it's solved, provided we can deal with all the other bits of the negotiation.

[18:30:20]

Now, assuming that that's the case, then tomorrow you get Zelenskyy in. You're nicer to him than you were the last time when he was in the Oval Office, but basically you're looking for pragmatic solutions to relatively marginal problems like whether Ukraine hands over any territory to Russia and if so, what? What we do about sanctions, those sorts of things.

So I'm quite optimistic that this meeting will be productive as the next step is to negotiations again with Russia involving Ukraine this time about resolving those marginal issues. And I'm actually quite hopeful that we're heading towards a peace settlement.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, obviously, a major question here comes down to what those security guarantees actually look like and what comes with any potential deal. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff has said Russia is open to security guarantees that could be similar to NATO's Article Five, an attack on one is an attack on all, without formally having Ukraine join NATO, which we know has been a consistent red line for Russia.

But what do you believe the United States and Europe could offer on that front that might actually satisfy both sides here?

BRENTON: Well, it sounds as if that's what's been offered. And that Ukraine is not going to get any better guarantee than that, even if it joined NATO, which, as you say, is absolutely not going to happen. And that fact then unlocks a lot of the rest of the negotiation, because the choices become for Ukraine and indeed for Europe, are you willing to settle as you can with Russia on the other points, territory and so on, and get the guarantees?

Or are you going to stand against it all and risk losing the guarantees? And it seems to me that it's a no brainer that the guarantees are worth an immense amount against what other compromises you have to make in order to do a deal with Russia.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, I want to bring up what we've heard from U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio today -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio, because he said today it may not be pleasant, it may be distasteful. But in order for there to be an end to the war, there are things that Russia wants that it cannot get and there are things that Ukraine wants that it's not going to get.

What do you believe are those areas that Ukraine or Russia may have to give up to actually get to some sort of a peace agreement here?

BRENTON: Well, a lot of it is about territory. I mean, Ukraine says it's not going to surrender any territory at all, which is obviously nonsense. And Crimea, for example, the Russians are never going to give up. On the other hand, the Russians are claiming an extension of a chunk of Eastern Ukraine called the Donbas which they've not occupied all of throughout the war and are very likely to achieve the progress by fighting. So I suspect that they will have to end up settling for.

Well, I mean, this is my general feeling about where this thing is going to come out. What is very likely to happen is there will settle on the existing battle lines. That they almost settled on way back when the last round of negotiations took place in 2022. It's an obviously understandable criterion for both sides. It doesn't give Russia what it wants, as Marco Rubio says. It doesn't give the Ukrainians certainly what they want because they lose a fifth of their territory.

But it is a sensible place to end. And the way you do it, the way you finesse it politically, is you say, this is not de jure. This is not part of the treaty. These are not permanent borders. These are simply agreement for the moment, a pragmatic agreement for the moment. And we'll come back to it. And that's exactly the same solution that North and South Korea arrived at, at the end of their war, settled on the existing battle line. And that battle line has survived and maintained peace between the two sides for the subsequent, in that case, 70 years.

JIMENEZ: You know, you served as the U.K. ambassador to Russia from '04 to '08, correct me if I've got my math wrong there, but Putin was in power then as well. What did you find to be most difficult in dealing with the Russians diplomatically? And how do you believe the country has changed since you served in that capacity?

BRENTON: Well, I mean, dealing with the Russians diplomatically is impossible. They are pathologically suspicious. Every suggestion you make, every compromise you offer, is viewed as somehow a plot to undo them. So it is very, very difficult to convince them of your genuine wish to reach an agreement and of the reality of the compromises that you're offering. It's very difficult. And that is certainly going to be the case as we get into the detail of this as well.

On the other hand, you do a deal and provided the Russians see the deal as being to their advantage, and if the Russians pick up a chunk of Ukraine, I think that is very likely to be the case with regard to this particular one, then they will observe it because they do not want to lose the advantage as they see it.

[18:35:13]

So it's tough. It's for people with lots and lots of patience. Kissinger once observed of Gromyko, who's the 30 years Russian foreign minister. If you can -- if you can do a day with Gromyko, then you can call yourself a diplomat. These are tough, difficult, suspicious (INAUDIBLE), but you can do deals.

JIMENEZ: Well, Sir Tony Brenton, you have -- you have done your tours and served your tours of patience. Thank you for being patient with us today and doing our interview. Good to see you.

BRENTON: Thank you. Cheers.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, National Guard troops rolling in the nation's capital here in the United States, just as D.C. students head back to school. Why youth activists warn President Trump's crime crackdown could actually lead to dangerous consequences for inner city youth.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. More details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:42]

JIMENEZ: Three Republican governors are helping escalate President Trump's effort to take over local law enforcement in Washington, D.C., by sending their own National Guard troops to patrol the streets. South Carolina and Ohio are joining West Virginia by sending hundreds of their troops to the nation's capital.

CNN has actually been speaking with D.C. residents about how this is going to impact their community as children get ready to head back to school.

CNN's Camila DeChalus has more.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Several D.C. residents and youth activists told me that their biggest concern is that young black and Latino teens are going to be the most impacted by the larger police presence in the city. And while some D.C. residents have acknowledged that youth violence is a big issue in the city, they believe that Trump's actions are only going to do more harm than good.

Take a listen to what some D.C. residents had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's doing nothing at all. It's not -- it's doing absolutely nothing. It's theater. It's political theater. And the only people that fall for it are people that don't live here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm out here to protest the idea of having someone that isn't even familiar with D.C. in charge of the police here. It's terrifying to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never lived in a city where there's military outside my door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, Omar, during my conversation with several D.C. residents, some parents with children in the D.C. public school system did express that they think that Trump's latest move of deploying more federal law enforcement to the city is actually a step in the right direction to combat youth violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Do you have any reservations or concerns sending your kids to school with the fact that the DEA and the national troops are all deployed into the city?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. To me it actually makes the street to me more safer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, the Trump administration on their end says that their main objective in sending more troops to D.C. is to really make D.C. safe again. And they say that they really want to combat youth crime. But when you look at the data of youth arrests for violent offenses from 2018 to 2024, it paints a bit of a complicated picture. You see that there was a little bit of a decline from 2019 to 2020, and then there was a little bit of an uptick after 2022 to 2024.

But youth activists say that more funding from the federal government should really be going towards more resources and programs that help and target inner city youth, not to increase law enforcement presence in the city.

JIMENEZ: All right. Camila DeChalus, thank you for the reporting.

Meanwhile, President Trump's steep tariffs are already brewing higher prices on coffee. Coming up, we're going to take you to a California farm where bean growers there hope this could actually help boost their business.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll bring you that story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:54] JIMENEZ: All right. Let's talk tariffs and coffee because President Trump's newest round of tariffs could make your morning cup of coffee more expensive. The White House just hit Brazilian goods, for example, including coffee with a 50 -- with a 50 percent tariff. Brazil is America's top coffee supplier, making up 30 percent of United States supply. Now, American coffee farmers hope that means you might be more willing to give their beans a try.

I want to bring in CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, who's with us now.

So, Julia, I mean, this is what Trump has promised all along, a boost or a chance for American businesses. But what is the reality for American buyers here?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, prices on coffee will go up regardless of where you're buying them from. It's not just Brazil. There's tariffs coming from all over it. Now what these guys are saying, these farmers here in California is that they're hopeful that since the prices will go up across the board, Americans will be more willing to spend their hard earned money on American goods.

They've already managed to adapt these plans to California. Now they're hoping that with the tariffs, more Americans will give it a chance and actually try 100 percent American coffee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Against all odds, 100 percent American grown coffee.

It's like a cherry.

DAVE ARMSTRONG, COFFEE FARMER: I believe we're the largest farm in California. Coffee farm. And, you know, if the experiment works, I'd love to expand.

JONES (voice-over): David Armstrong is part of a group of farmers trying to make California a synonym for specialty coffee.

ARMSTRONG: We're in Ventura County, so we're going to go up to the foothills. We have multiple canyons where we grow coffee.

JONES (voice-over): This is part of the only 1 percent of coffee consumed in the U.S. grown domestically. 35 percent of coffee is imported, comes from Brazil, now slapped with tariffs of up to 50 percent on some goods, including coffee.

You would think it would be a great opportunity for all American beans, but other nations can deliver a product just as good for a fraction of the cost.

[18:50:04]

ARMSTRONG: Brazil has been hit very hard with tariffs, but they're looking at somewhere around $4 a pound for coffee. And we're in the hundreds of dollars a pound. JONES: You want Ventura County to be the next Napa Valley but for

coffee?

ARMSTRONG: Correct. That's a great way to put it.

JONES: And could California ever produce a product that could be competitive with Brazil, with Colombia, Ethiopia?

ARMSTRONG: I think that our cost of production, our labor, our water, everything else, mean that we can never get to that point where we could be a worldwide competitor.

JONES (voice-over): For 23 years, Jay Ruskey has been challenging the norm of where coffee could be grown by championing California. All of this was his vision.

JAY RUSKEY, CEO, CO-FOUNDER, FRINJ COFFEE: In terms of growing locations wherever avocados can grow, we have a good chance of growing coffee. And so there's over 45,000 acres of avocados last I heard in California. But even if we planted all that, that would just be a drop in the bucket in the whole coffee industry globally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: A drop in the bucket, Omar, because, again, it's only 1 percent of coffee consumed in the United States that's produced here. That's mostly in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. I have the number here. U.S. adults drink 516 million cups of coffee every day. So, yes, there's no chance they can supply all of that demand. But what they're betting on is more people wanting to support their local businesses like this one.

JIMENEZ: So even if more people want to support their local businesses here, I mean, no shade to California coffee makers, but how does that stack up to Brazilian coffee beans? Even if tariffs bring business back, it won't make the California coffee taste any different. Would it? I mean, what are we looking at here?

JONES: Well, the irony here, and look, I have to say, I'm Brazilian, so I take this very personally, but I have to say the coffee that's being produced here in --

JIMENEZ: And I'm Colombian, so I take coffee personally as well so we're good.

(LAUGHTER)

JONES: But the coffee that's being produced here, it turns out, is actually really high grade coffee. It's gourmet coffee. And that's part of what they're investing in. It has to be this kind of bean in order to be purchased and to make it worth it for these farmers. What they can't do is produce the amount of beans that would be able to supply the Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts of the world. That they're saying cannot be done on U.S. soil with the industry like it is.

And it's not just the industry, I have to say it's also because of the climate. It's just too expensive to try and grow coffee beans where you grow corn, for example.

JIMENEZ: All right. I can't wait to try some. Julia Vargas Jones, appreciate the reporting as always.

Everyone else, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:40]

JIMENEZ: New York City officials say a cluster of Legionnaires' disease has now spiked to 101 confirmed cases, including four deaths in Central Harlem. Now, health officials believe the outbreak is linked to cooling towers used for large buildings, which sends mist into the air. When not properly cleaned, though, Legionella bacteria can grow and spread through the air. Officials confirmed positive bacteria tests in 12 towers, with 11 already repaired and the 12th to be done by Friday.

But the disease causes flu like symptoms and can become deadly if left untreated, according to the World Health Organization Officials stress the outbreak, though, is not linked to any plumbing or water supply.

We're also following Hurricane Erin as it churns through the Atlantic. At the moment, Hurricane Erin has weakened to a category three with sustained winds topping 125 miles per hour, but is expected to regain strength. And the storm could double or triple in size as it moves north and west, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest on Erin's path.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: By very early Tuesday morning, Hurricane Erin should be just about the same latitude as Miami, Florida. However, it will be several hundred miles offshore, but even with that said, the storm itself is starting to expand as we go through the next few days. So going from Tuesday into Wednesday and eventually into Thursday, the storm is actually expected to grow two to three times its current size.

What this does is it expands out that very large wind field, meaning it's not only spreading some of the outer rain bands, potentially, to the coastal regions of North Carolina and Virginia, but also all of that wind field that expands is taking all of that water and pushing it onshore. This, unfortunately, can lead to incredibly dangerous high surf conditions, as well as rip currents, not just for places like North Carolina, but we actually anticipate rip currents to be a potential problem from Florida all the way up the entire Eastern Seaboard.

And not just Monday and Tuesday, but this is expected to extend into Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as the storm continues to slide up the East Coast. Because even though the storm itself will actually begin to weaken by this point, that wind field, as we mentioned, is going to continue to get larger, increasing the potential risk for high surf and rip current conditions.

JIMENEZ: Allison Chinchar, appreciate it. And again, the threat is not so much landfall because it won't make it but that rip current.