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European Leaders To Join Ukraine's Zelenskyy For Meeting With Trump; Israel's Growing Frustration Over The War In Gaza Erupts In Nationwide Protests; Erin Re-Intensifies Into Category 4 Hurricane; Spain Battles At Least 14 Wildfires Over The Weekend; Spain Battles At Least 14 Wildfires Over The Weekend; Trump, Zelenskyy To Meet At White House On Monday; Bolivia's Presidential Election Heads To First-Ever Runoff; Flight Attendants Defy Back-To-Work Order; California Hosts Multi-Event Pokemon World Championship. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, wherever you may be watching from. Welcome to CNN Newsroom. And here's what's coming your way in the next hour.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they are set for a crucial meeting. They could decide Ukraine's fate. And this time, the Ukrainian leader will not be coming to the White House by himself.

And frustrations over the war in Gaza leading to a nationwide strike in Israel this weekend as the Israeli military says that the next phase of its military operation inside the enclave will begin soon.

And flight attendants for Air Canada defying the government's order to get back to work. This is travel disruptions mount for stranded passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York. This is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: And it is officially Monday in Washington, which means Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now gearing up for a return visit to the White House, where he will be with U.S. President Donald Trump amid a renewed push to end the war with Russia.

The two leaders say going to be sitting down in the Oval Office just days after the U.S. President met face to face with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Security guarantees for Ukraine and Russia's demands on land concessions will likely be key topics during this meeting. Trump appeared to preview the message that he'll be delivering on Monday with a post on social media. He said Zelenskyy can, quote, end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight this before making clear that the Ukrainian president will have to give up Crimea and agree to never join NATO. So again, putting the onus on the Ukrainians. Zelenskyy had a message

of his own ahead of the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Of course we have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it's necessary to ceasefire and work quickly on a final deal. We'll talk about it in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Again, Zelenskyy will have no shortage of support while in the Oval Office. As you see here, he will be flanked by key European allies when he visits Washington, including the leaders of France, Germany, the U.K., Finland and Italy, just to name a few.

America's top diplomat says that European leaders, they aren't coming to the White House to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is such a stupid media narrative that they're coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelenskyy into a bad deal. We've been working with these people for weeks, for weeks on this stuff. They're coming here tomorrow because they chose to come here tomorrow. We invited them to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: A European Commission spokesperson says that leaders in Europe right now, they are focused on security guarantees for Ukraine during talks in pre for Monday's meeting in Washington, CNN's Ben Wedeman with more from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: European leaders joined Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a conference call to coordinate their positions before meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Monday, eager in the wake of the Alaska summit to avoid a repeat of that stormy Oval Office meeting last February.

And after President Trump told Fox's Sean Hannity it's up to Zelenskyy to get it done and make a deal, it appeared Trump was once again putting the onus back on Ukraine, which perhaps explains why Poland's foreign minister posted on social media Sunday that for peace to come, pressure must be placed on the aggressor, not the victim.

CNN has learned that President Putin told Trump Russia will accept that the U.S. and its European allies provide Ukraine with security guarantees.

But in exchange, Russia wants Ukraine to give up control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, something Ukraine's government and people we spoke to reject.

IYRNA KRENETS, KYIV RESIDENT: If some people come to your house and steal your kitchen, your bedroom, you say, OK, OK, stay here. No, it's not OK. It's not -- it's not good for us. We are freedom people and we -- I hope we don't take any piece of our lands.

[01:05:00]

WEDEMAN: By as early as next Friday, Trump is hoping to coax Putin and Zelenskyy to a three-way summit, followed eventually by a peace agreement. European leaders, however, remain wary of Putin's intentions, which with French President Emmanuel Macron warning if we are weak with Russia today, we are preparing the conflicts of tomorrow. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And back with us is Robert English. He's the Director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. Robert, it is great to see you again. Thank you for joining us.

ROBERT ENGLISH, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: You're welcome.

SANDOVAL: So let's dive right in here. Clearly it is not in the Ukrainian people's best interest to have a repeat of the last meeting that took place between Trump and Zelenskyy in Washington. So from your perspective, just how firm does President Zelenskyy need to be this time while also obviously avoiding a contestant contentious scenario of the past?

ENGLISH: Yes, I'm afraid this is going to be a very difficult meeting for Zelenskyy. And he's been told in no uncertain terms by Trump publicly in social media that he is going to have to accept that the territory that's been lost is mostly lost for the long term. There will be some swaps. Russia has territory of Ukraine in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions that could be given back in exchange for Russia taking even more in the Donbas, some switching there.

But any illusions of getting back Crimea and much of the Donbas are over. And he's going to hear that from his European backers as well. There's behind the scenes a clear understanding that bitter pill Zelenskyy will have to swallow. And now we need to focus on security guarantees for Ukraine going forward and make those robust.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it goes along with what you told me yesterday. It is the end of illusions at this point.

ENGLISH: Yes.

SANDOVAL: Now, in terms of the list of European leaders, it is really quite impressive. Among them, those who will be in Washington will be French President Emmanuel Macron. Listen to some of his latest remarks as he really lays out why he thinks European involvement is more than just about supporting Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): If we are weak today with Russia, we will be preparing for tomorrow's conflicts. They will affect the Ukrainians, and let's not kid ourselves, they can also affect us at the very moment when our country continues to be regularly attacked on the cyber front, on the information front, or in contested areas from maritime to space. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So the presence of these European leaders, including the French president. Can you break down, Robert, just how this may actually be potentially conducive towards a positive result this week?

ENGLISH: Yes, the very fact that they're all there together and trying to reach a common understanding is critical. Trump and the European Union, Trump and the NATO allies have been on different pages, wildly different pages, as you know, for some time.

So if they can hash out an agreement among themselves, that's vital. And, of course, the center of that agreement is, again, the security guarantees. This is going to be very difficult.

Back earlier this year when Trump suspended aid and it looked like there was this extreme hostility after the White House showdown with Zelenskyy, the Europeans formed what they called the Coalition of the Willing to step in and make up for what the U.S. was no longer providing.

And they discovered they couldn't make up, not even close, for the weapons that come from the U.S. and they also had a severe problem in ponying up the troops that would be needed for those security guarantees. If memory serves, they only got contributions pledges for about 25 to 30,000 troops to man the front lines and support Ukraine, and they'll need three times as many.

The U.S. will provide logistics, intelligence and surveillance, supply support, but no troops on the ground. And the Europeans have to come up with those troops. So discussing all of that, dividing up the responsibility among the Western allies is part of what's going to go on in that meeting. And it's vital.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Assuming that financial burden is something Europe would have to do. Now, as you know, Russia is certainly no stranger to breaking agreements. So looking ahead, Robert, what kind of guarantees should President Zelenskyy and his European backers really make a point to bring up during the meeting at the White House you think?

ENGLISH: This is a really interesting point because Witkoff spoke about Article 5, like guarantees for Ukraine. And of course, Article 5 is that part of the NATO charter that says an attack one will be responded to as if an attack on all.

Now, it's very unlikely that Trump that the United States would sign on to any commitment that it must engage Russia militarily.

[01:10:05] But the European allies can do that separately, individually, as part of a peacekeeping force, again, a coalition of the willing to bolster Ukraine's confidence. And again, as long as they are providing troops and promises to come to Ukraine's aid and the U.S. is providing supplies, intelligence, logistics, that altogether, especially if there's a kind of, you know, an agreement, a treaty that could last years and be renewed indefinitely, that's pretty close to NATO like protection and gives Ukraine what it hasn't had up till now.

SANDOVAL: We will certainly be watching together. Robert English, thank you so much for coming back to share more of your perspective. I always appreciate you.

ENGLISH: You're welcome.

SANDOVAL: Israel says that the next phase of its war in Gaza will begin soon. The country's military chief visited the enclave on and vowed to ramp up attacks on Hamas until the group is defeated. Israel's security cabinet had approved a plan earlier this month to take over Gaza City and eventually occupy the entire Strip.

The plan includes the forced evacuation of up to a million Palestinians to southern Gaza. Hamas is calling Israel's plan to relocate residents from Gaza City a new wave of genocide and displacement. The Israeli military says that it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment to help move those Palestinians to the south of the enclave. But those that are fleeing from Gaza City say that they just want to go home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAMAN HAMAD, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): We don't want the army to provide us with anything. We want them to take us back to the homes we fled. We don't need more than that. This operation is just an encouraging operation to flee and displace. It's not a service to us.

If the army wants to serve us, they should return us to our places and old homes and provide us with tents. No problem through the organizations and civil society institutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And while those IDF efforts are underway, Israeli protesters held widespread rallies across their country on Sunday, blocking major roads, as you see here, and even closing some of the businesses in Israel.

They called on the government there to secure the release of 50 hostages still held in Gaza. Organizers say that hundreds of thousands of people joined this nationwide strike this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMAR MERIN, ISRAELI PROTESTER: I'm here today because this is our last chance to stop the insanity, stop the war, stop the government from sacrificing our hostages, sacrificing many more soldiers, sacrificing basically us and the Palestinian people for its own political gain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And some of these crowds certainly reflect public sentiment. Their polls have repeatedly shown a large majority of Israelis support a deal to free their hostages in exchange for an end to the war. But some Israeli officials, including the prime minister, blasted Sunday's demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Those who are calling today for an end to the war without defeating Hamas, not only harden Hamas position and delay the release of our hostages. They also ensure that the horrors of October 7th will be repeated and that we will be forced to fight an endless war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: It's clear as we stand here near Hostages Square on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv that this is one of the largest, if not the absolute largest, anti-war protests and pro hostage release protests that we have seen since the beginning of the war nearly two years ago.

You can take a look behind me here. Even at this late hour on Sunday evening, people are still on their way, making their way to Hostages Square. Thousands behind us easily. Organizers say overall in the square itself and on the surrounding streets, 300 or 400,000, according to their estimates. The streets are packed in both directions towards the square, away from the square. And that was the whole point of this.

This was all arranged only one week ago by bereaved families of soldiers as well as the hostage families who said this was a grassroots nationwide strike to send a loud, unified message to the government to come to a deal to bring the remaining 50 hostages home, 20 of whom are still expected to be alive.

They are the priority here on the streets. And that is the call that we heard from protester after protester we have spoken with. And it isn't just on Sunday evening that this event took place. It began early on Sunday morning at 6:29. That's the time that the Hamas led attack on October 7th began. And that's the time the demonstrations began. Road closures at major intersections across the country. From there it spread and it grew.

[01:15:00]

The demonstrations, marches, many of those we have seen are wearing the yellow pins that symbolize the hostages or wearing shirts that say bring them home now, carrying not only Israeli flags, but the yellow flags for the hostages.

The call here, it's amplification across the country, is the entire point here for the government to get the message they're sending to get to a deal to bring the hostages home. They say without any excuses and without any delay.

ANAT ANGREST, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE MATAN ANGREST (through translator): Today an entire country hit the emergency brake. Today we stop everything to save the lives of 50 hostages and soldiers. Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life. Today, we stop everything so we can live here together hundreds more years.

LIEBERMANN: That's not an argument here that people here are buying. Many of them angry at the government, especially after the announcement that the security cabinet has approved the occupational takeover of Gaza City. Those here see that as a death sentence for the hostages. And that's why they say it's so important to be out in the streets tonight, on Sunday night and moving forward. Oren Liebermann, CNN in Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Let's stay in Tel Aviv now for some live analysis, going straight to Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli Consul General in New York. Mr. Ambassador, it's always great to have you.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL IN NEW YORK: Thank you, Polo. Good morning.

SANDOVAL: Good morning to you. I'm curious, what do you make of the Israeli prime minister criticizing these demonstrations, saying that those calling for an end to the war without defeating Hamas, as he put it, are hardening the group's stance? I mean, do you see this movement doing that?

PINKAS: Well, that depends on the sustainability and durability. I mean, if it's a one day thing and it was impressive by any measure. But if it ends, if it ended yesterday and there's no continuity and it's not sustainable, then the impact would be marginal.

As for the prime minister, you know, on brand, predictable, blaming the world, the cabal of elites, the deep state, everyone is responsible for what's going on except him. So there was no surprise that he blasted and lashed out at the demonstrations.

And I say again, look, I was there, Polo. It was packed. There were tens of thousands not far from where I'm talking to you right now, 100 meters, in fact. And I'm telling you the energy was there. But again, if this was a one day or one off thing, the impact would be negligible.

SANDOVAL: And then there's the not so ideal timing of IDF heads speaking out and essentially reemphasizing their plan to intensify their assault.

So when it comes to that, Mr. Ambassador, what do you expect this military action that's been promised again, just as recent as this weekend, when and if this actually takes place?

PINKAS: Well, you know, the military, the IDF chief of staff himself expressed more than once his reservations and criticism of the plan. He was asking a basic question, which by the way, Polo has been asked since the war began. What is the political end game? What are the objectives? What exactly do you want the post-war landscape in Gaza to look like? Politically, that is.

And the government has not given answer, not to the Israeli public, not to the Biden administration at the time, and not to the Trump administration currently.

So the IDF chief of staff expressed his reservation, said, I don't understand what this is. The cabinet insisted that he come up with plans. It was sort of watered down. I mean, the terminology changed. From occupation of the Gaza Strip, it became a takeover of Gaza City. From a takeover of Gaza City, it became a -- it was reduced again. I qualify this, reduced to a military -- a temporary military operation around Gaza Strip meant to flush out Hamas terrorists still hiding there in the Gaza City area and vicinity.

I don't know, because, you know, you've reported about 700,000 people or 800,000 people being evacuated from Gaza City. I don't understand for the life of me how this is going to take place. practically

On top of that, in order to achieve that, the chief of staff needs, well, the military needs to send out over 200,000 notices to report to service for reservists. That's going to create quite a commotion, opposition and resistance.

As for the operation itself, I think we've had this discussion. If you occupy it, you own it. It doesn't matter how you call it.

[01:20:00]

Takeover, occupation, administration, temporary, indefinite, whatever. Once Israel occupies Gaza City, it essentially occupies most of the Gaza Strip. And then Israel is responsible for everything. Humanitarian aid, food, water, law and order, et cetera.

SANDOVAL: Look, we've discussed where public sentiment stands right now when it comes to Prime Minister Netanyahu, but if -- is there perhaps an irony to be discussed here when you have so many Israelis taken to the streets that are calling for the return of Israelis held captive in Gaza, and yet you have the Israeli government sending additional Israelis in the form of IDF forces.

Is the Prime Minister not potentially putting himself in a difficult situation? Should we potentially even see more Israeli casualties in Gaza?

PINKAS: Absolutely. But the, you know, the crude truth is, the hard truth here is that he doesn't care. This has been his policy since the beginning of the war. Remember, this is a Prime Minister who never took responsibility for the Hamas terror attack on October 7, for the policies leading to it, and for the security breaches and efficiencies.

He was never willing to be held accountable. He kept on extending the war without accepting any kind of post-war scenario or any kind of post war framework, as we discussed earlier. And he now is extending the war he has for the last year, but specifically now for political reasons.

Once there is no war, he has no government. It's that simple. And so he needs for political expediency, for political survival. He needs the war to continue. And if the hostages are sacrificed, so be it.

And if more soldiers die for no reason, according to the demonstration -- demonstrators, I'm sorry, then as far as he's concerned, this is an existential war. Everything for him is existential. Everything is historical, everything is melodramatic. No, he doesn't care about this. It's not putting him at all in a difficult situation.

SANDOVAL: Yes, but as you said at the beginning of our conversation here, we'll see if this is a one day event or it will be prolonged. We'll watch together. Mr. Ambassador, again, it's always a pleasure having you. Thank you so much for your time.

PINKAS: Thank you. Always good to be with you.

SANDOVAL: Well, elsewhere, Hurricane Erin intensifies as it moves across the Atlantic. Coming up, we're going to show you where it's -- where it is right now, where it's heading, and also where some of those impacts are being felt from the storm.

Plus, a historic outcome in Bolivia's presidential election, a vote that's been defined by the country's worst economic crisis in four decades. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

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[01:27:16]

SANDOVAL: In the Atlantic. Hurricane Erin, it is back to Category 4 storm status. Erin currently has sustained winds of about 130 miles per hour. That's about 215 kilometers per hour. It isn't expected to make landfall, but the tropical storm warnings are in effect for places like Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.

Meanwhile, Erin's outer bands hit Puerto Rico with heavy rain, causing some flooding on that island. It is expected to get that area is expected to get about 2 more inches of rain from the storm. Puerto Rico's governor saying that 100,000 people were left in the dark.

Erin has quickly gone through some remarkable changes the last few days. It rapidly intensified between Friday and Saturday, making history as one of the fastest strengthening storms in the Atlantic on the record. And on Saturday that storm became a fierce Category 5 storm. And then these incredible images from a team of hurricane hunters actually flew into the storm. You see the clouds from the eyewall. Some amazing video. The National Hurricane center predicts that Erin's intensity will likely fluctuate in the coming days.

At least seven people were killed after a massive cloud burst triggered a landslide India Administrator Jammu and Kashmir. Local officials there saying that the army, police and also state as well as federal disaster response teams, they are collectively carrying out rescue operations on the ground.

Meantime, the death toll has gone up from severe weather in northwestern Pakistan. Officials say at least 337 people were killed after heavy rain led to flash flooding.

On Spain, where officials there battling at least 14 major fires over the week comes amid a rise in blistering heat waves across Europe. At least seven people have been killed and even more fires are predicted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Armed with garden hoses and buckets of water, residents in northwestern Spain are fighting to save their homes from wildfires.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's insurmountable. It couldn't be worse. It's devastating.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): It's one of the worst wildfire seasons in southern Europe in two decades. Spain has been hit particularly hard. The Spanish government says that it's sending in more reinforcements to help firefighters, deploying 500 additional soldiers from a military emergency unit. The purpose is to assist the more than 1,400 troops already fighting the fires. But some neighbors say they can't wait for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was supposed to be working, but my home is here. I can't abandon my family or my village. And we've been working nonstop. We haven't slept in four days. Helping all the surrounding villages.

[01:30:00]

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Several countries are sending equipment and personnel in to help battle the wildfires and what the Spanish prime minister calls the largest deployment of the European Union Firefighting Force.

The blazes are getting their own boost with temperatures in some parts of the country nearing 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. That's making conditions ripe for even more fires.

PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There are still some difficult days ahead. Unfortunately, the weather is not on our side. So I would ask citizens to pay close attention to what the institutions, professionals and experts tell us.

SANDOVAL: Wildfires have already scorched an estimated 160,000 hectares of land this year in Spain, an area roughly the size of London.

But even with reinforcements on the way, the orange skies over some parts of Spain are an ominous sign of the challenges ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, still ahead, a critical meeting in Washington -- the president of Ukraine and Donald Trump, they are set to sit down for talks. Ahead, what the U.S. president's foreign envoy says is on the table after Trump's summit with Putin.

[01:31:06]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy now in Washington ahead of a high stakes meeting with Donald Trump on Monday. He'll be sitting down for talks with the U.S. president at the White House.

Trump appearing to have previewed the message that he'll be delivering, saying in a social media post that Zelenskyy can end the war with Russia, but making clear that he will have to give up Crimea and agree to never join NATO.

Zelenskyy, for his part, says that he is confident that Ukraine can obtain security guarantees with the support of his European allies. Here's some of them. He's going to be joined by a number of key European leaders during his White House visit.

Trump's foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff, spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper about the progress made during Friday's talks with Putin in Alaska. He was asked why the U.S. president abandoned his push for an all-out ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, TRUMP SPECIAL ENVOY: The one thing -- we were there as a mediator, so we were obviously advancing the Ukrainian view. The one thing that the president cannot agree to on behalf of the Ukrainians is any sort of land swap.

that is for the Ukrainians. We've -- they've asked us, or stated that to us. And the president is respectful of it, but that's why we're moving so quickly to a meeting on Monday at the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy.

That being said, we covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal. So I described the ceasefire as the interim move where you would then negotiate towards a peace deal. We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other

ingredients necessary for a peace deal that we -- that President Trump pivoted to that place.

Now, we're not waiting a week for a meeting with President Zelenskyy and the European leaders, or two weeks or three weeks. We're going into a meeting with them within 48 hours of ending -- of ending this meeting in Alaska.

So we are intent on trying to hammer out a peace deal that ends the fighting permanently, very, very quickly -- quicker than a ceasefire.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: How would it be quicker than a cease -- I understand the idea of like, a larger peace deal as an important point.

But it was President Trump that had said that he wanted a ceasefire agreed to at the meeting on Friday and he didn't get it and there are now five Ukrainians who are dead because the Russians continue to bombard Ukraine.

I still don't understand how not getting the ceasefire deal is a win. I understand the idea of wanting this bigger package, of course. But a ceasefire would at least stop the bloodshed right now.

Witkoff: Jake, the thesis of a ceasefire is that you'd be discussing all of these issues that we resolved in Alaska. You'd be discussing security guarantees. There's not a person on the European team who didn't acknowledge that we made substantial progress at this meeting. We certainly did.

So we cut through all kinds of issues that would be -- that would have to be discussed and agreed to during a ceasefire period. What we are -- the fundamental issue, which is some sort of land swap, which is obviously ultimately in the control of the Ukrainians, that could not have been discussed at this meeting.

We intend to discuss it on Monday. Hopefully we have some clarity on it and hopefully that ends up in a peace deal very, very soon.

[01:39:49]

TAPPER: So Trump told Fox that he and Putin, quote, "largely have agreed on", unquote, land swaps.

And sources tell CNN that Trump, President Trump, told European leaders that Putin will agree to end the war and not attack Ukraine or other European countries, as you mentioned earlier, in exchange for Ukraine ceding the entire Donbas region to Russia, including territory that isn't even currently occupied by Russian forces.

Is that accurate? Is that what's on the table? But Ukraine has to agree to cede all of Donbas.

WITKOFF: I think -- I think, you know, look, I don't know that we have we have the time now to go through all the different issues on these five regions. There are five regions here. It's always in, in our view, been the crux of the deal.

Those five regions, the Russians have previously said that they wanted it at the administrative lines. That's the administrative lines are the actual legal boundary lines as compared to the contact lines.

We made -- the Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions. There is an important discussion to be had with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.

And that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday when President Zelenskyy arrives with his delegation and some of the other European leaders. And hopefully we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there on that.

TAPPER: What more Russian concessions can you tell us about? Because obviously ceding land up to the administrative line is not a small -- is not a small thing for Ukraine to agree to. You said that Russia would agree to legislatively saying they wouldn't seize any more land in Ukraine, passed the administrative line that Russia agreed to. Legislatively assert that they will not attack any other European countries.

What other concessions from Russia might there be?

WITKOFF: They made some other concessions on several of the regions. I'm not going to discuss it now. The Ukrainians are aware of it, as are the Europeans. And it was significant. And that doesn't mean it's enough.

But it was -- the point was that we began to see some moderation in the way they're thinking about getting to a final peace deal. And so we feel that that's encouraging.

Now, we briefed the Europeans immediately after we were done with the summit. We -- first we briefed President Zelenskyy directly. He deserved that. And the president got right on the phone with him.

And then we had the Europeans on the phone. And I think everybody agreed that we had made progress. Maybe not enough for a peace deal, but we're on the path for the first time.

We are seeing accommodation more than we've seen in the past, certainly more than we saw in the last administration. And that is -- that's encouraging.

Now we have to build on that, and we have to get a deal for the Ukrainians that allows for their self-determination, allows a protection of their sovereign borders.

We have to make sure that we that we achieve that. And the president is intent on getting to that place.

TAPPER: In terms of Ukrainian security guarantees, you mentioned the Article Five guarantee of NATO -- an attack on one is an attack on all. Russia would allow that to happen? That anymore -- any further incursions into Ukraine, Russia would understand would be seen as an attack on all NATO members.

WITKOFF: No. Jake, that's not what I said. What I said is that we got to an agreement that the United States and other and other European nations could effectively offer Article Five-like language to cover a security guarantee.

So Putin has said that a red flag is NATO admission.

TAPPER: Right.

WITKOFF: And so what we were discussing was assuming that that held -- assuming that the Ukrainians could agree to that and could live with that and everything is going to be involved -- is going to be about what the Ukrainians can live with.

But assuming they could, we were able to win the following concession. That the United States could offer Article Five-like protection, which would -- which is the -- which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO.

We sort of were able to bypass that. And get an agreement that the that the United States could offer Article Five protection, which was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.

TAPPER: Zelenskyy says he supports President Trump's plan for a trilateral meeting -- Putin, Zelenskyy, Trump. Has Putin agreed to do such a thing?

[01:44:44]

WITKOFF: Well, my belief is that we are going to -- this is my view -- my belief -- my view is that we are going to get to a trilateral. And what we're trying to accomplish on Monday is get some consensus from President Zelenskyy and his team. We had some really good, specific, granular conversation on the -- on the plane ride home with President Zelenskyy about what he would be seeking.

And we don't think that there are any obstacles in that, in that -- in that conversation that we heard.

And so I'm hopeful that we have a productive meeting on Monday. We get to real consensus. We're able to come back to the Russians and push this peace deal forward. And get it done and stop the killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Air Canada's flight attendants, they are staying on strike. And that's despite a government order to go back to work and submit to arbitration.

We'll have an update on this ever-evolving story when we come back.

[01:45:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANDOVAL: Bolivia's presidential election, it is headed to a runoff for the first time ever. Dark-horse centrist candidate, Senator Rodrigo Bass, he drew more votes than the right-wing frontrunners on Sunday, but not enough for an outright victory.

Christopher Ulloa with more out of La Paz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER ULLOA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Candidate Rodrigo Paz Pereira of the Christian Democratic Party and Jorge Tuto Quiroga of Libertad Y Democracia, will compete to see who will be the next president of Bolivia next October 19th, according to the first results announced by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

During a press conference, the authorities informed that with more than 90 percent of the votes counted, Pereira has 32.8 percent of the preferences, while Quiroga has a 26.94 percent of the preferences.

With these results, the two leading candidates will go to a runoff in October to decide who will be the next president of Bolivia.

For CNN, Christopher Ulloa, La Paz, Bolivia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Air Canada flight attendants, they are defying their government's back-to-work order. More than 10,000 will continue their strike for higher wages and also for pay while they spend time on the ground.

Canada's jobs minister, who issued an order for arbitration, says that the two sides are currently at an impasse and need help resolving the issues.

More than 99 percent of the airline's flight attendants, they voted for the strike. They say the government is giving Air Canada exactly what it wants. Meanwhile, travelers are caught in the middle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH FOURNEY, CANADIAN TRAVELER: They are going to try to rebook us within 48 hours. But there is no options at the moment. So if we are to book our own other arrangements, then we can try to get Air Canada to seek compensation for that.

But we've been advised that that's not the recommended option, and that could take months and months and months and then retribution through small claims court. And who knows how long that would take.

So we're kind of left to figure it out for ourselves and fend for ourselves with no recourse or options provided by Air Canada at this time.

ANDRES HINCAPIE, COLOMBIAN TRAVELER: I'm at tourist and I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know. And for that reason I'm here to try some solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Things stay open ended in Canada for now.

More CNN NEWSROOM right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: The best Pokemon players or trainers, they gathered in Anaheim, California over the weekend for the 2025 Pokemon World Championships. They competed in multiple games featuring the popular characters.

There were also droves of fans from around the world and special appearances from everyone's favorite Pokemon.

CNN's Rick Damigella was there to catch them all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.

[01:54:49]

RICK DAMIGELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A giant, inflatable Pikachu welcomed competitors and spectators to the 2025 Pokemon World Championships in Anaheim, California.

NICK SALAZAR, ASSOCIATE PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, THE POKEMON COMPANY INTL: It's the culmination of the 2025 season. We're playing for the, you know, the title of Pokemon World Championship across Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet video games, the Pokemon trading card game, Pokemon Go, and Pokemon Unite.

We've got over 2,500 competitors, and that's not to mention the expected 20,000 spectators that we'll have on hand.

DAMIGELLA: And while players must earn their way into the championships, competitive play leading up to it is open to anyone.

SALAZAR: All of our events are open to everyone with the exception of, you know, you have to qualify for the world championships, of course.

But everything is open to everyone. We want it to be as inviting as humanly possible for everybody and see that there's an entry point for everyone in our brand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please find your seats for round number three.

DAMIGELLA: In addition to the competition, other events taking place include panels, autograph sessions, and plenty of photo opportunities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perfect.

And while pictures with Eevee, Pikachu, and other characters were a big draw, the center of attention is definitely the competition.

In Anaheim, California, I'm Rick Damigella.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: But then there's this ultimate test of endurance for lawnmower enthusiasts, dubbed "Le Mans with Mowers".

The U.K.'s annual 12-hour lawnmower race, it actually kicked off on Saturday evening in Five Oaks, England. 40 teams transformed ordinary garden mowers into highspeed machines and raced into Sunday morning. They flew around the track at up to 80km an hour.

A father and his two sons, who make up the bullseye racing team, they were the ones who actually took home the top prize for the second time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNY SMITH, WINNER, BULLSEYE RACING TEAM: Unbelievable, mate, really. There's so much time and effort and hard work and late nights and effort goes into just trying to -- trying to make sure you solve every problem before it happens. And yes, we've done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Keep your Formula One racing. I will take this any time.

Want to thank you for joining us in the last hour. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Rosemary Church after a short break.

[01:57:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)