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Trump, Zelenskyy Meets Again At The White House With European Leaders; Israeli Protesters Demand Return Of Hostages Despite Gaza's Looming Takeover; Hurricane Erin Traverses Puerto Rico. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): If we are weak today with Russia, we are preparing the conflicts of tomorrow.

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CHURCH: The U.S. and Ukrainian presidents are set to meet face to face again at the White House. This time he is bringing European backup.

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Widespread protests across Israel call for the return of hostages while the government threatens to invade Gaza City.

Plus, California Democrats prepare to take their first step towards legitimizing a newly proposed congressional map as they take on Texas in an intensifying redistricting war.

And later, the brewing trade war, why some U.S. coffee growers hope Donald Trump's tariffs will give their sales a jolt.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington for high stakes talks with Donald Trump set to kick off in the coming hours amid a renewed push to end the war with Russia. The two leaders will sit down in the Oval Office just days after the U.S. President met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Security guarantees for Ukraine and Russia's demands on land concessions will be among the key topics. Trump appeared to preview the message he'll deliver today in a social media post. He said Zelenskyy can, quote, "end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

Before making clear the Ukrainian President will have to give up Crimea and agree to never join NATO. Zelenskyy had his own message ahead of the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: First, 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 cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We'll talk about it in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Zelenskyy will be flanked by key European allies in Washington, including the leaders of France, Germany, the U.K., Finland and Italy. America's top diplomat says European leaders are not coming to the White House to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied.

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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)

CHURCH: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following all of this for us from London and joined us now live. Good morning to you, Claire. So what's expected to come out of this high stakes meeting between U.S. President Trump and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, who, of course, will be flanked by European and NATO leaders?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Rosemary, I think the point, certainly from the Trump administration's perspective, is that this will be the next step towards an eventual, an eventual trilateral meeting involving Putin, Zelenskyy and President Trump.

But I think the two, sort of, factions in this meeting, the U.S. side and then the Ukrainians together with their European allies, have slightly different positions coming into these talks. The U.S. side is saying that this is happening because there was enough progress in Alaska and that they feel that that's a good starting point to now bring that to Zelenskyy and try to achieve consensus.

Now, for the Europeans, they're not contradicting that in public. But if you look in the context of the wholesale European effort that we saw last week ahead of Alaska to try to convince Trump that he needed to push for a ceasefire first before real negotiations on a settlement could begin, then Alaska, I think, you know, really feels like a backward step.

He came out of that not only without a ceasefire and without the enforcing the threat of sanctions that he had said would come in if he didn't get one beforehand, but he also seemed to shift his position on whether a ceasefire first was actually necessary, saying that he thought he should push for an eventual peace settlement now, which, of course, gives Russia what it wants, that it gets to negotiate while putting military pressure on Russia.

And I think that's why we hear comments like this from the French President Macron ahead of these talks. Take a listen.

[03:05:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACRON (through translator): If we are weak today with Russia, we are preparing the conflicts of tomorrow and they will affect Ukrainians. We must enter a new diplomatic phase, one in which we assume responsibility for having and defending the interests of Europeans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, look, I think there is also alarm very likely around that Truth Social post that you showed that suggested that Zelenskyy could end the war, which, of course, he did not start and that he should give up Crimea in any hope of ever joining NATO. So I suspect there will be another push from Europe to try to reinforce its position on this war.

Now, one moment where we did seem to get progress, certainly if you listen to U.S. officials like Steve Witkoff is on security guarantees and we know from an E.U. spokesperson that this is something that European leaders focused on in a meeting on Sunday to coordinate their position. It does seem that the U.S. may now be willing to be involved in future Ukrainian security guarantees. So they will also be pushing for clarity on that, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London with that report, I appreciate it.

Well, let's go live now to Kyiv, where we are joined by Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian member of parliament and the leader of the Golos party. Thank you so much for joining us.

KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, AND LEADER OF GOLOS PARTY: Hello, Rosemary, and thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says President Putin signaled at the Alaska summit on Friday that he might agree to what Witkoff called robust security guarantees for Ukraine in a possible peace deal. But in exchange, President Trump expects Ukraine to make major concessions to secure peace, and that includes giving up Crimea and much of the Donbass region. What do you expect out of these high stakes talks today between the

U.S. president and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy and, of course, alongside him, European and NATO leaders?

RUDYK: The main question that we need an answer to and clarification for is what are the security guarantees? This is the top goal for today, because if that is discussed, decided, and this is something actually viable that will work, then we can go forward in discussing what territories will be protected by those security guarantees.

As of right now, we didn't hear anything workable. And one of the things why President Zelenskyy and European leaders were pushing for the ceasefire first is the fact that this night Russia again attacked our peaceful cities in the city of Kharkiv, killing at least five people when attacking by ballistic missile a residential building and attacking Odessa region.

And these killings are happening every day and night. And this is why, as we know, that negotiations about security guarantees can take time.

We need to stop the war right away, this is what we hope that President Trump will be able to achieve in his discussion with Putin. What it seems right now that Russia will continue killing us. And while people will be discussing something that may not happen anytime soon.

CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the progress was made at the Alaska summit. But he says big areas of disagreement remain. And he insists that both Russia and Ukraine need to make concessions if they want to end the war.

Now, we've heard what concessions the Trump administration expects from Ukraine. But what about Russia? What concessions should it be forced to make, do you think?

RUDYK: Russia needs to go away from our territories and stop killing Ukrainians. It is also unclear for us in this deal that President Trump is crafting, what concession is Russia making? Is there a concession just to stop the war?

Well, this is not something that is acceptable. And of course, the big question that is coming again is when Russia is saying that they will legally acknowledge that they will not be attacking other sovereign nations again. This is something that everybody is laughing at, right, because they were accepting Ukraine's borders legally again and they still decided to go ahead and attack us.

So this is not something that we can agree to. And the question about what is Russia's concession remains open.

CHURCH: And what did you think of Friday's summit in Alaska between President Trump and Russia's President Putin, with Trump no longer insisting on an immediate ceasefire and backing off his earlier threat of severe economic consequences for Russia if it doesn't stop the war in Ukraine? Why do you think Trump appears to be moving toward Russia on this? RUDYK: This was actually the worst way of dealing with aggressor from

what we have seen, because when you promise and threaten something and then you just don't execute on your threat, the aggressor is taking it as a sign of weakness and then they keep pushing forward.

[03:10:08]

This is why when the ball was moved back to Ukraine's court saying, well, now President Trump will be putting pressure on Ukraine. We were, of course, disappointed and saying, how did it change this way? How did so for us, this meeting, of course, was a failure because it didn't get us the necessary security guarantees or a ceasefire that was promised. And it encouraged Russia to continue its attacks.

CHURCH: Kira Rudik in Kyiv, many thanks for joining us live. We appreciate it.

RUDYK: Thank you.

CHURCH: Israeli protesters held widespread rallies across the country on Sunday, blocking major roads and closing businesses. They called on Israel's government to secure the release of 50 hostages still held in Gaza. Organizers say hundreds of thousands of people joined the nationwide strike.

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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.

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CHURCH: Polls have repeatedly shown a large majority of Israelis support a deal to free the hostages in exchange for an end to the war. But some Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister, blasted Sunday's demonstrations.

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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's 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.

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CHURCH: CNN's Oren Liebermann has more now from Tel Aviv.

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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 -- in 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. 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, its 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 for 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 occupation 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 on the streets tonight on Sunday night and moving forward.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: President Trump's redistricting push in Texas has California Democrats scrambling to respond with their own plan. The latest on the redistricting battle next.

[03:14:58]

Plus, a New York City manhunt. Police are looking for gunmen in connection with a mass shooting that killed three and injured at least nine people. The latest, when we come back.

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CHURCH: The redistricting battle in the U.S. is heating up. The California legislature is set to convene today to begin the process around their proposed redistricting map. The plan aims to produce up to five additional Democratic seats in the U.S. House.

Now, this comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott called a second special session to push through redrawing the state's congressional maps. Republicans hope to secure up to five more GOP seats in the 2026 midterm elections. A source says Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stall the Republican plan are expected to return to Austin in the coming hours.

Meantime, demonstrators across the country protested the Trump-backed Texas redistricting plan over the weekend.

Joining us now from Washington, D.C., is Robert Weissman. He is the co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. I appreciate you joining us.

ROBERT WEISSMAN, CO-PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN: It's great to be with you.

[03:20:04]

CHURCH: So the redistricting issue is now spreading from Texas to California and likely beyond. So first, what's your assessment of what Texas is trying to do with its redistricting efforts and how fair and democratic is this?

WEISSMAN: Well, Donald Trump is facing plummeting popularity. He's worried reasonably about losing control of Congress in the next election. So he's trying to rig the rules.

He ordered Texas Republicans who did not want to follow his orders, but have agreed to, to do redistricting, to redraw lines in Texas, to create five new Republican seats and cost Democrats likely five seats in the next election. It's exactly what it seems to be, it's an authoritarian power play by a despot who's worried about his fading popularity.

CHURCH: Well, some Democrats are saying that this is an example of how their party needs to fight back harder. So now California is getting into the redistricting fight while President Trump is demanding that other Republican controlled states follow what Texas is doing right now. Where do you see all of this going and how might it get out of control? WEISSMAN: Well, it's inevitable race to the bottom where states that

are under one party's control or the other are now going to follow this example and engage in extreme gerrymandering. That's bad for the voters in those states.

And it's bad for the country overall, it needlessly forces polarization in an already polarized political system. But we should be clear about where the blame lies for this. It is totally resting at the feet of Donald Trump.

CHURCH: So, Robert, how do you ensure that this process of redistricting is done in a fair and democratic way? What are some of the solutions to this?

WEISSMAN: Well, the best solution we have is for there to be independent commissions set up in each state to draw districts without partisan favor. If every state does that, then it's a fair system nationwide.

We had a proposal that almost became law in 2021 to adopt exactly such a system. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress blocked it from passage.

CHURCH: So given that, what would you expect Donald Trump to do if efforts were made to make this a more fair and democratic process?

WEISSMAN: Well, it's obvious that's not what he's willing to go along with. He wants to rig the system, that's what he's trying to do.

I think Democrats and democratic controlled states have little choice but to respond in kind. That's not a good solution, but it's better than letting him rig the national election.

CHURCH: So that's the only way this is going to basically play out, do you think?

WEISSMAN: It's definitely the course that we're on. In a different system, we would have the courts rejecting extreme partisan and racial gerrymandering. But unfortunately, our U.S. Supreme Court has said that they are not going to engage.

They find no way to do it and that it's permissible so long as basically so long as legislators don't say their purpose is to discriminate against racial minorities. So the courts are not giving us a solution.

The Congress almost gave a solution, but the Republicans blocked it. And right now it's going to be state by state as we go to a more polarized system.

CHURCH: Robert Weissman, thank you so much for joining us, I appreciate it.

WEISSMAN: It's great to be with you. Thanks.

CHURCH: An urgent manhunt is taking place in New York. Police are looking for multiple suspects from a deadly overnight shooting at a lounge in Brooklyn. CNN's Leigh Waldman has more now from New York.

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LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The search is on for up to four people that police believe are involved in what they're calling a gang-related shooting. Here's what we know about the shooting so far.

It happened at Taste of the City in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, 12 people in total were shot, three people were killed. Police not releasing their names at this point, but releasing their age. They're ages 19, 27 and 35. The other victims hurt are expected to survive.

Police have recovered over 40 shell casings at that scene and a gun, but they are not sure at this point if that gun is related to the shooting. Now, despite what happened early Sunday morning, Commissioner Jessica Tish is saying that shootings overall in the city are down.

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONER: 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.

WALDMAN: And we are currently in the middle of a mayoral race. And each one of those candidates is offering a statement in relation to this shooting.

[03:24:59]

Mayor Eric Adams offering his condolences and prayers to the victims, urging the public to come forward with any information they might have that could lead to arrest and praising the work of NYPD. Zohan Mamdani, who has previous years has called to defund the police since he's not running on that platform. He praised the actions of first responders and says we cannot accept gun violence in the 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 time to defund the police, that we need more officers on the streets, keeping people safe. And at this time, there have been no arrests made in this shooting.

In New York, I'm Leigh Waldman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A critical meeting in Washington, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump are set to sit down for talks ahead. What Ukrainians are saying about the possibility of land concessions.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check today's top stories for you. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington ahead of his

high stakes meeting with Donald Trump. He will sit down for talks with the U.S. President in the hours ahead.

[03:30:05]

Key European leaders will also be in Washington for that meeting, Zelenskyy says he's confident Ukraine can obtain security guarantees with the support of his European allies.

The families of Israeli hostages led a nationwide strike demanding Israel's government reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. Massive protests on Sunday drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis, according to organizers. It's one of the largest demonstrations since the war in Gaza began nearly two years ago.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called a second special session to push through redrawing congressional maps to secure up to five more Republican seats in the U.S. House. Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stop the redistricting plan are expected to end their standoff and return to the Capitol today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be joined by key European leaders when he meets with Donald Trump at the White House in the coming hours. A European Commission spokesperson says leaders in Europe focused on security guarantees for Ukraine during talks in preparation for today's meeting.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more now from Kyiv.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. 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.

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

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)

CHURCH: Earlier I spoke with Georgetown University adjunct professor and CNN contributor Jill Dougherty about the high-stakes meeting in Washington and I asked her about the possible security guarantees for Ukraine and what came out of Trump's meeting with Putin.

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JILL DOUGHERTY, ADJUNCT PROF., GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, AND CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think there are almost more questions and answers at this point obviously and that's part of what Zelenskyy has to do along with the Europeans. They have to come sit down with President Trump and his team and try to figure out exactly where the president is coming from, what he agreed on with Mr. Putin and then what does it mean for going forward.

So one of the big issues you're right is the security guarantees. So as far as we understand Mr. Trump has said that these or his team has said that these would be something like NATO article 5 security guarantees for Ukraine and but they will not be NATO per se it would be NATO like. So what that means is essentially any attack on one is considered an attack on all.

But the way these security guarantees would be worked out is not as I said you know with a guarantee or some type of document with NATO it would be the individual countries let's say signing an agreement with the Ukrainians and so that would be the United States guaranteeing Ukraine. There are a lot of questions about how that would work out in practice.

[03:34:59]

But I think the hopeful thing is that Mr. Putin on Friday when he met with Trump said that he was open to some type of security to be provided he didn't say guaranteed but provided for Ukraine. So that that could be something that could be very positive but again lots of other questions on different parts of this.

CHURCH: Yes, we'll certainly see if we get more details on that specifically. So U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the progress was made at the Alaska summit but big areas of disagreement remain and he says that in order for the war to end both Russia and Ukraine need to make concessions. Now what will that likely mean for Ukraine in terms of giving up land considering Russia already occupies 20 percent of Ukraine's territory?

DOUGHERTY: Well that is the other big question because you know first take Russia. I don't see that they are giving up much of anything and certainly territorially. So for Ukraine the big issue is you know Russia at this point has to a certain extent not fully in every place but five different areas that it holds, so as you mentioned 20 percent of the land of Ukraine.

Now if you take Crimea that is a big issue. President Trump is now indicating that he thinks Russia ought to get Crimea. What does that mean? Is that do they in de facto have it? Does the United States recognize which would be a very big and very controversial step?

And then going up to those other regions like the Donbass, the big area, the industrial heartland of the east, the Russians don't hold all of that area. They hold some like there are two places there Donetsk and Luhansk. They hold Luhansk more or less in full but not Donetsk.

So does Russia get land that it hasn't even you know won in battle? These are really major questions and I think the recognition, you know, the issue of legal recognition is going to become very very important. The land number one but also any type of recognition of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Former vice president Mike Pence is speaking out on Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin. He told CNN how he thinks his former boss should handle the Russian President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I know his style in dealing with these dictators. It's the velvet glove but I think the hammer needs to come and it needs to come immediately. I think the President as he welcomes President Zelenskyy to the Oval Office tomorrow and a whole cast of our allies in Europe that are going to be joining him.

I think at the same time he ought to pick up the phone and ask Majority Leader John Thune to immediately pass the secondary sanctions bill that is supported by virtually everyone in the United States Senate. I think the combination of engagement but also making it clear to Putin that we are prepared to take actions that would literally break his economy even while we redouble our commitment to the security of Ukraine and to working closely with our European allies is important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Pence also praised Trump's pursuit of a ceasefire in Ukraine but warns quote "no deal is better than a bad deal."

Well later today a U.S. federal judge will hold a hearing over the controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades. Attorneys say Trump administration officials are blocking detainees from meeting with legal counsel in violation of their civil rights. And that's just one lawsuit against the notorious facility.

CNN's Rafael Romo has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alligator Alcatraz is currently facing two lawsuits. One was filed by environmental groups who are opposed to such a facility being built in the middle of an ecosystem like the Florida Everglades. The other one was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and immigrants rights advocates.

A federal court in Miami will hold a hearing on Monday in the ACLU case which focuses on two allegations: lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process for migrants detained at the tent facility.

The complaint filed last month in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida in Miami specifically states that quote "defendants in this case have blocked detainees held at the facility from access to legal counsel. No protocols exist at this facility for providing standard means of confidential attorney-client communication such as in-person attorney visitation and phone or video calls that are available at any other detention facility, jail or prison."

[03:40:04]

The right to an attorney is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in criminal cases regardless of the legal status of an individual.

Eunice Cho, the ACLU's lead counsel in this case says beyond the harsh conditions detainees face at Alligator Alcatraz that she says she has never seen at any other detention center are fundamental rights that are being violated.

EUNICE CHO, SR. COUNSEL, ACLU'S NATIONAL PRISON PROJECT: What we're seeing is that Florida state officials are rounding people up and in many different and very disturbing ways and eventually taking these individuals to Alligator Alcatraz. And they're being held of course without, you know, honoring many of the very basic constitutional rights to be able to speak to counsel to be able to petition for release from custody and you know Alligator Alcatraz cannot end up being a black hole where people disappear.

ROMO: Of course we reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about these claims.

In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that "Any allegation that illegal aliens at Alligator Alcatraz do not have access to attorneys is false. The facility maintains a physical space for attorneys to meet with their clients. Additionally, Florida established an email address for attorneys to submit requests to speak to the specific illegal aliens."

The ACLU lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her entire department as defendants as well as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his Executive Director of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie and other officials. We also reached out to the state of Florida for comment on this but there has been no response so far.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Hurricane Erin has intensified as it continues its track across the Atlantic. Heavy rain and wind is already being felt in some Caribbean islands. A look at the storm's impact on the U.S. eastern seaboard, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:05]

CHURCH: New York City officials say a cluster of Legionnaires disease has now spiked to 101 confirmed cases in Central Harlem, that's including four deaths. Health officials believe the outbreak is linked to cooling towers used for large buildings.

When not properly cleaned, Legionella bacteria can grow in them and spread through the air. The city's health department says 11 of the 12 cooling towers have already been repaired and the final tower will be fixed by Friday. According to the World Health Organization, Legionnaires disease causes flu-like symptoms but can become deadly if left untreated.

Hurricane Erin is back to a Category 4 storm. Erin currently has sustained winds of about 130 miles per hour or 215 kilometers per hour. It isn't expected to make landfall but tropical storm warnings are in effect for Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.

Meanwhile, Erin's outer bands hit Puerto Rico with heavy rain causing flooding. The island is expected to get up to two more inches of rain. Puerto Rico's governor says 100,000 people have lost power.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on what we can expect from Hurricane Erin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 on shore.

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Spain battled at least 20 major fires over the weekend according to officials. It comes amid a rise in blistering heat waves across Europe. At least seven people have been killed and more fires are expected.

Polo Sandoval looks at how some people have had to come to their own defense.

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

UNKNOWN (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 1400 troops already fighting the fires but some neighbors say they can't wait for help.

UNKNOWN (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 non-stop. We haven't slept in four days helping all the surrounding villages.

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 union firefighting force.

But 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 (voice-over): 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.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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CHURCH: The United States has an insatiable thirst for coffee but President Trump's tariffs are targeting its largest supplier Brazil and U.S. producers are struggling to meet demand. We'll show you why, stay with us.

[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

The United States is the world's largest importer of coffee but that could change due to President Donald Trump's trade war. Last month he slapped a whopping 50 percent tariff on goods from Brazil, the United States' main coffee supplier. Prices are already rising across the country.

Some U.S. farmers are hoping to fill in the gaps but they face significant challenges as CNN's Julia Vargas-Jones reports.

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

VARGAS JONES: 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.

VARGAS 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.

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

[03:55:08]

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.

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. VARGAS JONES: You want Ventura County to be the next Napa Valley but

for coffee.

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

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

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

VARGAS 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 AND 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.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Ventura, California.

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CHURCH: And it's not just coffee. You might also have to pay more for those tall cans of Arizona Iced Tea. They've been 99 cents for nearly 30 years but the tea maker tells the New York Times that the tariffs could change all that.

It's not the drink that's the issue, it's the can. About 20 percent of the aluminum Arizona uses is imported from Canada which of course is now facing a steep 50 percent tariff.

I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "Early Start" is up next with Danny Freeman right here in Atlanta, enjoy.

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