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IDF Strikes Yemen after Houthis Fire Missile at Israel; Trump Praises Ukraine's Courage in Independence Day Letter; Putin to Visit China for Talks, Military Parade; U.S. & S. Korea Alliance Under Pressure Ahead of White House Meeting; Analyst: The Definition of 'Swing' Voter Has Changed. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired August 25, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you so much for starting your week with us. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York. Wherever you may be watching, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:00:34]

A lot to get to today, including Israel launching retaliatory strikes in Yemen with deadly results. This as Palestinians in Gaza's biggest city brace for a full Israeli takeover.

And Moscow accusing Ukraine of striking a nuclear power plant inside Russia as the two countries carry out a new prisoner exchange in what they hope will be a step towards peace. But is it?

And has the traditional swing voter in the U.S. changed? Well, there's new data that's in, and the impact it could have on the 2026 midterms are interesting.

ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: All right. Let's begin with developments out of the Middle East, where the Israeli prime minister says that anyone who attacks Israel will learn the hard way that there will be a price to pay.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(EXPLOSION)

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SANDOVAL: The Israeli military says that it struck several targets inside Yemen, rocking the Yemeni capital.

Israel says that this comes in response to the latest attack by the Iran-backed Houthis, who fired a new type of missile at Israel on Friday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the Houthis will continue to pay, as he said it, a very heavy price.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Whoever attacks us, we attack them. Whoever plans to attack us, we attack them. I believe the entire region is learning about the strength and determination of the state of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And the Israeli military is also unleashing strikes on Gaza City. And this ahead of its planned takeover of the enclave's largest city.

Israel's defense minister now vowing to push forward with the offensive, despite international criticism and concern for civilians.

In fact, on Sunday, funerals were held for those killed in the latest round of attacks. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 64 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 300 injured in Gaza just over the last 24 hours. Among them a 9-year-old boy who the Health Ministry says was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a building in the Sabra neighborhood.

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HANAN ABEDRABO, AUNT OF 9-YEAR-OLD HAMADA ABEDRABO (through translator): He was going to buy food in front of the House's door. It was a direct targeting, direct. His head was blown away.

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SANDOVAL: CNN's Oren Liebermann is following all the developments out of the Middle East and has more from Jerusalem.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Israel carried out a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday evening, including what appears to be the first time they hit the presidential palace.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The Israeli military also says it carried out strikes on two power plants in Yemen in the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa, as well as the fuel supply for those power plants.

Israel says this is in response to a ballistic missile that came over on Friday that, for the first time, appears to have had a cluster warhead. That is, multiple munitions carried on one missile, designed to spread out the damage, make it more difficult to intercept.

LIEBERMANN: An Israeli military official says it appears to be the first time the Houthis have fired this type of ballistic missile at Israel.

There have also been other ballistic missiles and drones that the Houthis have launched. Many of those were intercepted, but Israel sees it as an attack on Israel itself and has vowed to respond to those.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): And that's what we saw, with towers of smoke and fire rising out of the capital of Sanaa as a result of the Israeli strikes. Israel warning there will be more such strikes if the Houthi attacks continue.

And they have, for the most part, unabated at a fairly steady pace over the course of the last weeks and months.

LIEBERMANN: Meanwhile, the Israeli military carrying out a series of punishing strikes in Gaza City in what appear to be the first phases of the operation the security cabinet had approved just a couple of weeks ago.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The Israeli military is already operating in Zaytun, on the outskirts of Gaza City, with reports it's also operating in Jabalya.

Meanwhile, we see the video from those strikes. And CNN has spoken with Palestinians, some of whom have already made the decision to flee ahead of specific evacuation orders. Others who say they refuse to leave.

They either refuse to be displaced again by Israeli evacuation orders, or they refuse to leave their homes ahead of what Israel essentially says will be a forced evacuation of the city to go after what they see as one of Hamas's last remaining strongholds there.

LIEBERMANN: The Israeli defense minister had warned just days ago that Israel would open the gates of Hell if Hamas didn't free the hostages there. And that may be the beginning of what we're seeing here.

[00:05:06]

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

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SANDOVAL: And with peace talks seemingly stalled, Russia says that Ukraine launched a drone attack Sunday that sparked a fire at the Kursk nuclear power plant. The facility, one of the biggest in Russia.

Plant officials telling Reuters that, despite some damage, radiation levels were normal and also, that there were no injuries reported there.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine completed a new prisoner exchange. Moscow says it included the return of at least 146 prisoners of war from each side. The former mayor of Kherson was among those freed after spending more than three years in Russian captivity.

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VOLODYMYR MYKOLAYENKO, FORMER KHERSON MAYOR (through translator): I always wondered what would be the new date of my birthday, and I am very happy that my alternative birthday turned out to be on the 24th of August.

(MUSIC)

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SANDOVAL: And this weekend, world leaders traveled to Kyiv on Sunday to celebrate Ukraine's independence day. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he actually made his first visit to the country.

And the Trump administration's Russia-Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, also attended that ceremony on Sunday.

At a press conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked about reports that the Pentagon in the U.S. is blocking Kyiv from using American-made long-range weapons to strike inside Russia. Here was his answer.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): To be honest, we are currently using our domestically produced long-range weapons and, to be frank, we have not discussed such issues with the U.S. recently.

There used to be, you remember, various signals regarding our strikes in response to strikes on our energy sector. That was a long time ago. Today, we don't even mention it. This is news to me.

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SANDOVAL: CNN's Nada Bashir has more on Kyiv's independence day. And also, on a letter sent to Zelenskyy from the U.S. president.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, marking Ukraine's 34th independence day, U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter of support, praising the nation's courage and saying the United States believes in its future as an independent state.

BASHIR (voice-over): The letter was shared on X by Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked Trump for his message, with Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration's Russia-Ukraine envoy in attendance for Kyiv's independence day ceremony on Sunday.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, also delivered his own address to Ukraine, reiterating his determination to triumph against Russia.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has ramped up its attacks on Russia, particularly when it comes to Russia's energy infrastructure. According to a CNN tally of attacks, Ukrainian drones have struck at least ten key Russian energy facilities this month alone.

And while reports have emerged that the Pentagon has, for months, been blocking Ukraine's use -- BASHIR: -- of U.S.-made long-range army tactical missile systems to strike inside Russia, President Zelenskyy said Sunday that he has not yet discussed the use of such weapons with the U.S., and that Ukraine is currently using domestically produced long-range weapons.

Efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, meanwhile, appear to have stalled once again --

BASHIR (voice-over): -- with the Kremlin pouring cold water on the possibility of a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy in the near future.

However, speaking to NBC, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance indicated some degree of optimism, saying that Russia has made significant concessions and that the U.S. will keep on pushing for a diplomatic solution.

BASHIR: Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in China for four days next week. Leading up to the visit will be major talks between Russian and Chinese delegations.

Putin will be then joined -- Putin will then be joining more than 20 other leaders for meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

And then finally, a military parade in Beijing on September 3rd. It will be marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

For more on the visit, I'm joined now by CNN's Marc Stewart in Beijing.

Marc, it's great to see you. It's been, what, about a week and a half of diplomacy we've been watching, or at least attempted diplomacy. And now, the Russian president's visit to China will be coming on the heels of that major summit between Trump and Putin.

I'm curious if you could tell our viewers more about what the significance of this particular visit for the Russian leader to China will be?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Polo. This is significant.

First of all, it's not just Vladimir Putin who will be coming to China. It's the prime minister of India, the president of Iran, the U.N. secretary-general among the big names on this guest list, all being hosted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

[00:10:09]

And it is significant, because many of these nations are facing very strained and complex relationships with the United States. And of course, so much of this is centering on Ukraine and the role of Vladimir Putin. Hence his presence here.

He also enjoys a very strong relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. They have this no-limits friendship.

So, as we look forward to this visit, among the questions, among the relationships that we're going to be looking at is will Chinese leader Xi Jinping perhaps pressure Putin to have some kind of resolution to the war?

It's interesting that China really hasn't condemned Russia for its invasion, saying that it's trying to be a neutral partner. But China certainly has a stake in all of this.

India certainly has a stake in all of this. As we have seen, India is now facing severe tariffs because of its Russian fuel purchases. China also purchases fuel from Russia, oil from Russia. So, that could be a complicating factor.

And then we have the Iran question. We have seen China condemn Israel for its bombing, recent bombing back in June of Iran; yet is also trying to be a peacemaker.

And that's kind of a broader theme here, Polo. China is trying, along with Russia, to be this alternative to the West. It's trying to be this alternative voice to these Western viewpoints. So, that's also going to be a big theme of this meeting.

But of course, the Ukraine question is going to be top of mind -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: Marc Stewart reporting live from Beijing on this Monday morning. Thank you.

Well, decades old alliance in -- it's actually being put to the test right now. Just ahead, we'll be going live to Seoul ahead of the first summit between Donald Trump and the South Korean president. We'll be right back.

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SANDOVAL: Just some incredible footage from Sunday, which shows a hut in Yemen carried away by some of those flood waters. This flooding hitting suburban communities near Yemen's Southern port city of Aden.

The devastation follows waves of heavy rain throughout the weekend. Flooded roadways have really isolated entire neighborhoods, with people trying to salvage what they can from their collapsing homes.

This is believed to be the worst natural disaster to hit the area in years.

And water levels also reached dangerous levels in Pakistan's Punjab province. More than 19,000 people have already fled potential flood zones over the weekend, following warnings from local authorities. Despite this, many residents are still hesitant to abandon their homes

and leave their belongings behind. Forced evacuations have not been ordered but could come into effect if the waters continues [SIC] to rise.

Since the start of monsoon season in late June, at least 785 people have been killed in floods across Pakistan.

And then there's this: Firefighters are continuing to battle a wildfire in Californias popular wine country. You see, you can barely see the sun through that smoke.

So far, it has burned nearly 7,000 acres. The blaze, known as the Pickett Fire, is just North of San Francisco in Napa County.

California's forestry and fire protection officials say that it's about 11 percent contained. And hundreds of people have already been evacuated. Or they are under evacuation orders in the area.

And this comes as part of California still continues to recover from the devastating wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year.

Well, two longtime allies, they are at a critical juncture. Later on Monday, South Korea's new president is expected to meet with his American counterpart. It will be their first summit together.

The pivotal White House meeting coming just weeks after the two partners struck a new deal. One major topic likely to be discussed: U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to pressure Lee Jae Myung to commit to spending more on defense, including billions of dollars on the nearly 30,000 American troops stationed in South Korea.

For more on this, we go now to CNN's live Valerio -- Mike Valerio joining us live at this hour from Seoul, South Korea.

Mike, it is great to see you. This is going to be a major test for the South Korean leader. Tell us what we should be on the lookout for.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, Seoul is really holding its breath over the next couple of hours. It's going to happen 1 a.m. local time, noon D.C. time.

So, there's a lot to talk about, Polo. But there are really four things that we're homing in on for this first Oval Office meeting.

We're talking about U.S. troops, as you mentioned in the intro; North Korea; shipbuilding; and then the personal rapport between these two leaders.

So, to go through all of them in about a minute and 30 seconds, when we're talking about U.S. troops, you're right. There are 28,500 troops stationed here in South Korea, a country geographically about the size of Ireland, about the size of the U.S. state of Indiana.

But how much South Korea pays for them is something that has been a continual conversation with President Trump. Before he was elected into office the second time at the Chicago Economic Club in the autumn of 2024, he said that South Korea could be paying up to $10 billion for all of those troops.

[00:20:06]

Right now, South Korea pays just North of $1 billion.

There's also the matter of what is their main responsibility, Polo? Are they here mostly to counter North Korea, or could they be having more of duties in terms of countering China, which is a term that the Pentagon likes to call strategic flexibility -- flexibility being used in a potential conflict with China in this part of the world.

So, when we're talking about North Korea, both presidents Lee and Trump are likely to find common ground there. They both want to try to reengage North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

But Kim has largely shut the door. He's allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin now; has the economic and military technological lifeline from Pyongyang to Moscow.

So, there's really not a clear picture of whether or not North Korea is going to want to try to reengage with South Korea and the United States.

Shipbuilding. South Korea leads the world in that industry. The United States is lagging in that industry. So, we're going to be watching to see if there are any economic announcements on that front.

The presidential office here in Seoul likes to say they want to make American shipbuilding great again, definitely tailored for the Trump era and Trump audience.

And then their personal rapport. You know, both of these leaders have survived assassination attempts. In January of 2024, President Lee was stabbed in the neck. He recovered. He still has a pretty big scar whenever he brings down his shirt collar.

President Trump, of course, with two attempts on his life in the 2024 campaign. So, a lot for them to talk about. We're going to see what they do or don't bond over.

But again, they've never met before. So, we're going to be watching very closely as they meet just after noon, D.C. time, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Without a doubt, attempted assassination would certainly at least get a conversation started.

VALERIO: Yes.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Mike Valerio with a live report from Seoul. Thank you so much for that.

VALERIO: Thanks, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Well, still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, swing voters were once the prize that every U.S. political candidate wanted to win over.

But in 2025, they're acting differently at the polls. That's if they even decide to show up to vote. We'll explain it all on the other side of the break.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Israel says that it has struck targets in Yemen in response to the latest attack by the Iran-backed Houthis. The Israeli military says that it hit a military site where the presidential palace is located, as well as two power plants; as well as a fuel storage site, as well.

And this just two days after the Houthis fired a missile at Israel on Friday.

Russia and Ukraine completed a new prisoner swap on Sunday, while Kyiv was marking its independence day. This led to emotional reunions like this one.

Moscow saying that the exchange included the return of at least 146 prisoners of war from each side. Most were in captivity since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

The U.S. and South Korea's decades-old alliance is at a crucial juncture. South Korea's new president will meet his American counterpart at the White House in their first summit, where they are expected to discuss increased defense spending.

President Trump has previously accused Seoul of being, quote, "a money machine that takes advantage of American military protection."

Well, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling CNN that House Democrats, they are ready to act to prevent the U.S. president from trying to, quote, "steal the midterm elections."

This comes amid a Trump-backed Republican redistricting effort in the state of Texas to gain five more congressional seats.

Jeffrey says Democrats have made too much progress, and it will be difficult for Republicans to overtake them.

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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): In Texas, this is a racial, partisan gerrymander ordered by Donald Trump as part of an effort to rig the midterm elections.

And we're not going to let it happen. And at the end of the day, we were 24 seats down during Donald Trump's first midterm election in 2018. We won 40 seats in 2018.

There's no way that Republicans can mathematically gerrymander their way to an artificial victory next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Over the weekend, the Texas senate approved a new congressional map, which now heads to Governor Greg Abbott's desk for approval.

California retaliating with a plan of its own, led by Governor Gavin Newsom. That measure will go before voters come November.

Well, swing voters in U.S. politics have historically been known as voters who would switch party preference between elections.

But experts now arguing that a new type of swing voter has emerged. A veteran Republican pollster says now, a swing voter is somebody who, quote, "does or does not show up to vote." So, instead of switching party preference, they might not decide to cast a ballot at all.

Democratic data and analytics from firm Catalist calculated 21 million voters became dropout voters or voted in a presidential election, and then dropped out in 2020.

That figure in the 2024 election, that represented 30 million voters.

Ron Brownstein actually wrote the article with that information. It's titled "It's Time to Redefine the Swing Voter," and you can read it on CNN.com. Ron's also a CNN senior political analyst and an opinion columnist for Bloomberg, as well, as I might add, night owl, joining us live from Los Angeles at this hour.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Hey.

SANDOVAL: Ron, it's great to see you.

BROWNSTEIN: Good to be here again.

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for -- for staying up late with us.

BROWNSTEIN: Sure.

SANDOVAL: So, in this latest piece of analysis on CNN.com, you tell us about this new type of swing voter --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- the low-propensity voter who may irregularly show up to the polls.

How unique is that to the United States, given how many countries around the world will actually make voting mandatory?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, you know, we -- you know, our turnout has surged in the Trump era, but we're still, what, at like 60 percent of eligible people voting.

You know, basically, what -- what the story points out is that, you know, when I started covering politics in the '80s and '90s, strategists in both parties thought of swing voters as people who reliably voted but might switch who they vote for. Right?

You know, one election, they vote for Democrats. One election, they vote for Republicans. Or they might vote for a presidential candidate of one party and a Senate candidate of the other.

There are very few of those voters left. Catalist, which is the group that you, you know, cited there, their best estimate is that something like 6 to 10 million people out of the 125 million who voted in both '20 and '24, maybe 6 to 10 million of those 125 million switched who they voted for between the 2020 and 2024 elections.

They were dwarfed by the number of people who cycled in and out of the electorate, which is about 60 million altogether in each of those two races, people who either voted for the first time or stayed home after voting four years earlier.

And you really see this with Biden's 2020 supporters, particularly his voters of color who supported him. They were more likely to swing in '24 than his white supporters, and that swing was more likely to be expressed by staying home than by voting for Trump.

SANDOVAL: And that leads us to the next big question here of what this could all mean come midterms, come the next presidential election.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

SANDOVAL: In your view, Ron, and based on your research, how should campaigns be thinking about the midterms? I mean, should they be prioritizing courting voters from their own party or those who don't often vote, but maybe can be persuaded to head out and support a candidate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, one big implication of this is that the midterms are even less predictive of the general election than they have been historically.

I mean, if you go back through history, the midterms are really an imperfect predictor of what happens in the presidential election two years later. Sometimes, a big win for one party does foreshadow a shift in White House control.

For example, like in 1958 when Democrats won a lot. Then Kennedy won two years later. Or 2006, when Democrats won a lot again and Obama won.

Just as often, the midterm really hasn't predicted, like in '94 or '96, with Clinton. And some of the, you know, some other examples through history.

Now, what you've got is a situation where you have this huge number of irregular voters who are much more likely to participate in the presidential than the midterm year.

So, basically, if you kind of bring this down to earth, Democrats can do quite well in the 2026 midterm, because the -- the infrequent voters who voted so heavily for Trump are just unlikely to show up.

And that is not going to tell us a lot about whether Democrats can really win back those kind of infrequent voters when they do come back two years later, more of them, at least for the presidential race.

I think the bottom line is that this adds more uncertainty and volatility. I mean, we already see Trump's approval ratings sagging among all of the groups that -- where he made the most gains in 2028 [SIC]. These are not -- 2024.

These are not voters with deep attachments to the parties. And they're probably easier to pry away either by switching to the other side or, more likely, by simply staying home.

SANDOVAL: Giving data scientists something else to look out for the next several years.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

SANDOVAL: Ron Brownstein. Certainly, encourage everybody to go to CNN.com and check out that analysis. It is absolutely fascinating.

Thank you so much for your time, Ron. Always good to see you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me. Yes.

SANDOVAL: We'll be right back with much more news. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go anywhere.

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SANDOVAL: Look at this striking new video that captures a cliff suddenly collapsing onto a beach in Northern France. Amazingly, nobody was hurt.

It happened in Normandy, where the cliffs are famous for their chalk formations. They were made very popular in the 1800s, when they inspired artists like Claude Monet to paint them.

The cliffs, typically up to 90 meters high and can be very dangerous because of landslides. Well, just like this one here.

And Russia's first giant panda cub just hit the terrible twos. Katyusha marking her second birthday at the Moscow Zoo with a cake made of fruit, ice. And as you can imagine, bamboo.

Born to pandas on loan from China, she has become a symbol of Russia- China ties.

Zoo officials say that she's currently thriving, growing very fast, and has a bold and mischievous personality that's probably on display every time she has people there watching.

I want to thank you for joining us for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval. I'll be right back with you at the top of the hour with much more news. For now, though, we'll leave you with WORLD SPORT.

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