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President Putin Offers to Meet with President Zelenskyy in Moscow; Coalition of the Willing to Give Post-War Security to Ukraine; President Trump Pressuring Europe on Russian Oil; IDF to Expand Operations in Gaza; RFK, Jr. Criticized on Health Agenda in Senate; The U.S. Labels Two Ecuadorian Gangs as Foreign Terrorists; Fashion Designer Giorgio Armani Dies At 91; EU Bans Key Chemical Used In Some Gel Nail Polishes; Kim Jong Un Leaves Beijing After Meeting With Xi Jinping. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired September 05, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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KIM BRUHUBER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Vladimir Putin suggests when peace talks with Ukraine may actually happen. That's as another Trump deadline is about to pass.

The top U.S. health official is grilled in Washington. Why both Republicans and Democrats say he's unfit for the job.

And the Trump administration waging war on drugs, asking Latin American countries to partner up. But what happens if they don't?

The Kremlin appears to be shooting down the idea of a top-level meeting between Russia and Ukraine any time soon. A short while ago, a Russian spokesperson said a huge amount of work still needs to be done before Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy could meet face-to-face. Now the statement came as Putin addressed an economic forum in eastern Russia.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been pushing for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, but the effort is getting little traction. The Ukrainian leader says peace isn't Moscow's priority. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): The meeting is needed. This is not just wishing. It is needed. We can support the meeting in all formats. Trilateral, bilateral. I think Russia does all it can to play for time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Zelenskyy spoke in Paris where Ukraine's allies, known as the Coalition of the Willing, discussed possible future security guarantees for Kyiv. The French president says some countries have committed troops for a future peacekeeping force, even though Russia has rejected any NATO troops in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translation): We have 26 countries that have formally committed to deploy as a force of reassurance in Ukraine to be present on land, at sea or in the air to bring this reassurance to the Ukrainian territory the day after a ceasefire or peace. In the coming days we are going to finalize the American support for these security guarantees. The United States, as I mentioned, has been involved in every step of the process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Zelenskyy and other leaders spoke on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump after the meeting. Friday is the deadline that Trump gave to Russia and Ukraine to start direct peace talks or face consequences. Kristen Holmes has more.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump Thursday evening indicating that he would be talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin sometime in the near future. This of course comes amid the stalled peace talks trying to end the war in Ukraine. It also comes after President Trump talked on the phone with the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as well as other European leaders who were part of the Coalition of the Willing.

Now, a White House official did give a briefing on what President Trump said during that call. One of the things he said was that Europe had to stop buying oil from Russia, stop funding them economically. The other thing that this White House official said was that President Trump said that there needed to be more economic pressure put on China. Of course, as we know, President Trump has issued secondary tariffs, but only so far on India, which does business with Russia. Clearly here, trying to urge European leaders to also ramp up the economic pressure.

Now, we heard from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy about this call as well. He called it a long and detailed conversation that was working towards finding real peace He also reiterated what President Trump had said, essentially saying that they needed to use strong measures, including economic measures, to put the pressure on Russia to end this war. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

BRUNHUBER: For more analysis we're joined by Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, and she is in London. Thanks so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it. Good to see you again. So, we're hearing about this potential peacekeeping force with some 26 countries signed up, but everyone seems to agree it only works if the U.S. provides that safety net. So what does that actually look like, do you think?

ORYSIA LUTSEVYCH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, RUSSIA & EURASIA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, Kim, I think there are two caveats to that. One is that there has to be a peace agreement or durable ceasefire for that reassurance of peacekeeping force to be deployed. And so far, we do not have any indication this will be the case, right? So it's like preparatory work, but it's good to have countries discussing the outlook of that.

[02:04:54]

And of course, Europeans would like to see United States providing air backup, intelligence assistance and sustain military support to Ukrainian armed forces who still will be on the forefront of policing and manning and ensuring that the frontline that will be frozen will remain non-violated.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, there's still a question as to which countries will actually provide boots on the ground. The U.S. are obviously saying that they wouldn't do that. Donald Trump also said the E.U. should work with the U.S. to stop imports of Russian oil and gas to basically target Russia's war machine by economic means. Do you think this economic warfare approach is actually going to work out?

LUTSEVYCH: I think absolutely. We have actually released yesterday a paper on oil sanctions and how they can be tightened by Chatham House. And what we are arguing is basically that we need to gradually decrease this oil cap, which is at $60 a barrel, and to start tightening these revenues, because Russia is able to generate foreign exchange. It has a surplus of more than $300 billion U.S. dollars thanks to this trade. And Europeans especially because 60% of Russian oil goes to Baltic straight (ph) can have power and that power could be expressed in policing the shadow fleet, making sure that this is not re-insured for this trade and really tightening this oil flow to global markets.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, of course, the Ukrainians would argue there is no substitute for providing actual military support for Ukraine at the same time. President Zelenskyy flat out rejected Putin's invitation to meet in Moscow, basically saying that is a non-starter. We heard earlier on the program the Kremlin saying they're a long way away from face-to-face meetings. Clearly, we don't seem to be any closer to having these two leaders in the same room, do we?

LUTSEVYCH: Yeah, I think everybody would agree that an invitation by an aggressor to come for a victim of invasion to his capital is farce, right? If Putin genuinely wanted to negotiate and to have peace, first there would be ceasefire, because that is the first confidence building measure between the two belligerents. That is not the case. And actually, all Putin does is buying time from Trump that he doesn't impose sanctions, the secondary sanctions on countries either trading on Russia or, for example, seizing Russian sovereign assets together with the Europeans in order to finance Ukraine's resistance.

His summer campaign is not very successful, but he keeps pushing taking more Ukrainian territory in order to have leverage at the negotiating table rather than negotiating in good faith to achieve peace.

BRUNHUBER: You know, you're talking about playing for time. I mean, there is a clock ticking, supposedly, issued by President Trump. He's reportedly getting frustrated with the lack of progress and he's going to speak with Putin. He did say, I think we are all going to get it straightened out. But do you get a sense he's ready to wash his hands of this? I mean, he's already said he wants Europe to lead and the U.S. to take a back seat. And then we have that Friday deadline that he gave to Russia and Zelenskyy. That'll expire, I guess, later today. Will it come and go without consequences, do you think?

LUTSEVYCH: Yeah, what troubles many and especially Ukrainians and Europeans is that Trump continuously walks back on his deadlines and ultimatums to Putin while putting pressure on Ukraine and Europeans. This is not the strategy that's likely to work. It has been clear that Putin cannot be trusted, that he is violating all the agreements and that he has not achieved any political goals in this war. And these goals span far beyond Ukraine.

He wants to split the United States from Europe. He wants to undermine that alliance. And unfortunately, so far Trump kind of plays into his hands. It doesn't seem like he has a real viable strategy. Perhaps there are something behind the closed doors we don't know, but what we see in public, it seems like quite a chaotic policy that plays into Putin's hands.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, certainly chaos, something that is frequently seen, unfortunately, in the Trump administration so far on many levels. Orysia Lutsevych in London, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.

LUTSEVYCH: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Israel's military says it currently holds 40 percent of Gaza City as it escalates its latest offensive in the enclave. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces says the military campaign will continue to expand and intensify in the days ahead. Israel started mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists this week as part of its plan to take over Gaza City.

[02:09:58]

Hospital and health officials say at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded, including children, in Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Thursday. Residents and displaced people say the strikes hit multiple locations while Israeli tanks advanced and destroyed homes and tents in other areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translation): The woman is getting ready to deliver the baby. Here are the pampers for the baby. The clothes of the baby. It is her due month. What is her fault? This is a people's tent. What is their fault? Make me understand what is their fault? Is it a war against Hamas or a war against the people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday that would change the name of the Defense Department to the Department of War. The department's last name change took an act of Congress. That came in 1949 as part of a broader reorganization of the military, which placed the departments of the Navy, Army, and Air Force under the Defense Department. The rebranding effort follows the Trump administration changing the names of bases and ships, that included reversing a Biden-era decision, removing Confederate-era base names.

U.S. Senators grilled Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Capitol Hill on Thursday. He faced criticism over his controversial efforts to restrict vaccines and his overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Democratic Senators fired back at Kennedy's claims about vaccines and COVID-19. He said anyone could get a COVID-19 booster, but new approval guidelines from the Secretary raised significant barriers for some people.

Now, it wasn't just Democrats pressing Kennedy, several Republicans also questioned his stance on vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): You are a hazard to the health of the American people. I think that you ought to resign. And if you don't resign, the President of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should fire you.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): Sir, you're a charlatan. That's what you are. You're the ones who conflate chronic disease with the need for vaccines.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Do you accept the fact that a million Americans died from COVID?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., SECRETARY OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: I don't know how many died.

WARNER: You don't have any idea how many Americans died from COVID?

KENNEDY, JR.: I don't think anybody knows.

WARNER: How can you be that ignorant?

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): I support vaccines. I'm a doctor. Vaccines work. Secretary Kennedy in your confirmation hearings you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then I've grown deeply concerned. The public has seen measles outbreaks, leadership of the National Institute of Health questioning the use of mRNA vaccines, the recently confirmed Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fired. Americans don't know who to rely on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The White House is standing behind Kennedy's agenda on public health and praised his combative testimony. It said in a statement that the administration's focused on, quote, "using evidence-based gold standard science to truly make America healthy again." CNN's Arlette Saenz has more now on the reaction from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Democrats were united in their criticism of Kennedy as they left this hearing. They believe that he should be fired, that he lied to the committee, and that he is undermining public health in this country. Now there's a lot of questions about what comes next after this hearing. Democrats want to bring the ousted CDC director Susan Monarez up to Capitol Hill to testify. She outlined in a "Wall Street Journal" op-ed ahead of the hearing that she was pressured to accept recommendations from a vaccine advisory panel that Kennedy has handpicked before that group was even set to meet in the hearing.

Kennedy has said that Monarez was lying about some of her statements in the "Wall Street Journal." Democrats want to see her come testify to clear the air on that matter. I also spoke with Senator Tillis, who told me he plans to meet privately with Monarez as well as he is seeking more answers. But there's a lot of questions, even as some Republicans were challenging Kennedy on vaccine policy, what steps they might take after this as they have tried to grapple with his impact on public health in this country. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.

BRUNHUBER: Portugal is observing three days of mourning after the derailment of a funicular railway in Lisbon killed 16 people and injured more than 20 others. Eyewitnesses say the car went off its tracks and careened down the street before hurtling into a building at full speed. Authorities aren't yet naming the victims, but say four nationals were among the dead and injured. Portugal's president and prime minister, along with the mayor of Lisbon, paid their respects to the victims on Thursday, laying flowers near the site of the derailment.

As tensions escalate between the U.S. and Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio searches for allies across Latin America. That story is next.

Plus, a chemical used in some gel nail polishes has been banned in Europe. Coming up later, we'll look at how that will affect people who get gel manicures. Those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. is designating two Ecuadorian criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations. He made the announcement during a visit to Ecuador on Thursday. The announcement comes just days after the Trump administration struck a boat, it says, belonging to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Eleven people were killed. The boat's sinking is the latest escalation of tension between the U.S. and Venezuela.

While in Ecuador, Rubio called the president of Venezuela a drug trafficker. He also said governments who cooperate with the U.S. have nothing to fear from the U.S. military buildup in the region. Here is.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Number one, let there be no doubt, Nicolas Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker in the United States and he's a fugitive of American justice. Number two, for cooperative governments, there's no need because those governments are going to help us identify him. They're going to help us identify him. Now, they're going to help us find these people and blow them up if that's what it takes. They're going to help us with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. deployments off Latin American coastlines has increased tension in the region. Meanwhile, Ecuador's president says he would welcome foreign troops to help combat drug cartels. Joining us now on this is Sandra Pellegrini. She's the senior analyst with the group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data. They track patterns and trends in conflict and crisis areas around the world. Really appreciate you joining us. Thanks so much. So what do you make first of the fact that two Venezuelan aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in the wake of everything that happened? Is there a danger of things escalating quickly here?

SANDRA PELLEGRINI, SENIOR ANALYST, ARMED CONFLICT LOCATION & EVENT DATA: I mean, clearly, I think the Trump administration has taken a stronger stance against organized criminal organizations and made the dismantling of drug trafficking flow a priority. And indeed, what we have been seeing has been a rather escalating in rhetoric. Whether we can talk about a more general phase (ph) for the regions, I think at the moment it's mostly about a show of power rather than escalating towards militarization, but it does set a dangerous precedence in the region.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, talking about, I mean, these dangerous precedents and the U.S., they just said it was going to blow up foreign crime groups and they want to wage war on drug traffickers instead of trying to arrest them. So talk to me about what this shift to basically treating cartels like terrorists means for the region.

PELLEGRINI: Yes, so very early on the U.S. has designated eight organizations as foreign terrorist organizations across a range of countries, including Venezuela, Mexico and Central America. And now we're heading to 12 with the latest announcements in Ecuador. So what we're seeing today is essentially a shift from treating organized crime primarily as a law enforcement issue to a counter terrorist approach with all the militarization that it entails.

So on the ground, this has translated into greater pressures on countries where drugs are produced or where drugs are being transited. The main example of that is obviously the deployments of U.S. military vessels in the Caribbean. But also prior to that we have seen in Mexico the U.S. leveraging the threats of tariffs and even the prospects of military interventions to push authorities toward stronger actions against cartels.

BRUNHUBER: Talk to me about the difference that we're seeing in some countries. I mean, we're seeing the U.S. working hand in hand with Ecuador while taking military action against Venezuela. Why is America playing favorites here?

PELLEGRINI: I think in general the U.S. tends to shift depending on whether a government is seen as willing to collaborate and align with Washington's approach. So if a country like Ecuador signals political will to confront organized crime, then the U.S. generally frames the relationships around partnerships and support. But when the governments are seen as unwilling or complicit, such as in case of Venezuela, then Washington tends to default towards a coercion.

So the difference is less about the criminal threat itself, but more about whether the U.S. sees a partner it can work with or a regime it needs to coerce. So with Venezuela, Washington has been keen on taking a belligerent stance. And in Mexico, by contrast, the U.S. has not launched a military strike on Mexican territories, but it has been coming in exchange with President Sheinbaum showing greater security guarantees with the deployments of troops at the border or even in extraditions of several criminal groups.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and you talked about Ecuador being on board. I mean, some Caribbean countries are cheering on these U.S. operations. We have other countries like Colombia worried this could spiral out of control. What's driving sort of that split reaction, do you think?

PELLEGRINI: I think it comes down also to how some countries have been directly affected by transnational and drug trafficking flows. So in the case of the Caribbean, for instance, we have seen Prime Minister Kamala Pesad-Bisesar actually supporting the operations. And it comes against the backdrop of Trinidad and Tobago being heavily affected by those flows and also being affected by the presence of the Tren de Aragua domestically.

So I think this is where we're seeing the difference. A number of Caribbean countries are actually welcoming the presence of the U.S. in their water because they see it as a deterrence towards those threats that have been their own domestic security.

[02:25:01]

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned Tren de Aragua. Now that groups like that are officially labeled as terrorist organizations, do you think this will mean that we could see similar U.S. military strikes in other countries where these gangs operate?

PELLEGRINI: I mean, again, the recent strike on the vessels across -- nearby the Venezuelan coast, that signal an escalation, but at the same time, it has been a controlled escalation. It was not a direct attack against Venezuelan force, and it's very possible that it just remains a show a force between both parties. That being said, it is a precedence. There is the presence of Tren de Aragua across a number of countries. Likewise, other criminal organizations that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations are operating across several countries. So obviously it opens the door to whether the U.S. will be willing to move towards greater interventions in the countries where those group operates.

BRUNHUBER: Well, we shall see. I really appreciate getting your expertise on this. Sandra Pellegrini in Paris, thank you so much.

PELLEGRINI: Thank you (inaudible).

BRUNHUBER: The Taliban are appealing for international aid in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. A magnitude 5.6 aftershock hit on Thursday. That was the strongest since Sunday's 6.0 quake. At least 2,200 people were killed and 3,600 injured. Heavy rains, landslides and damaged roads are making recovery operations difficult. Many international aid groups suspended operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021.

The fashion world is mourning a legend of elegant style. We'll look at the life and legacy of designer Giorgio Armani in just a few moments. Stay with us.

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[02:31:17]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: The fashion industry has lost a giant in the business. Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91. The Armani group said in a statement Thursday that he passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.

Known for his elegant, deconstructed designs, Armani was born in 1934, in northern Italy. He got a job as a window dresser in Milan in 1957, and that was the start of his lifelong passion for fashion.

For the first time in his long career, Armani wasn't present at this year's men's fashion week in Milan in June. At the time, his company said he was recovering at home from an undisclosed health condition.

The European Union has banned a key chemical ingredient known as TPO that's used in gel nail polishes and other cosmetic products after studies on animals showed fertility issues. Similar restrictions go into effect in the U.K. next year. So could be -- the United States be next?

CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: We haven't heard back yet from the FDA on whether we could see similar actions here in the United States when it comes to banning this certain chemical in gel nail polishes. But experts I've talked to told me they think it's unlikely. What could happen, though, is we could see manufacturers start to phase out this chemical as an ingredient in gel nail polishes and reformulate their products.

The ingredient we're talking about here is called TPO. It's a chemical that is a photo initiator. That means it responds to light. So it's the ingredient in gel nail polish that helps the polish to set and cure and harden under the UV light lamp.

And just to be clear, Europe has not banned all gel nail polishes, just those containing TPO as an ingredient. And that's because European regulators have classified this chemical as a type of reproductive toxicant. They say the concern here is that animal studies show an association between TPO and reproductive health risks, even including impacts on fertility.

So, this ban in Europe, it went into effect on Monday, September 1st. It means nail products containing TPO can no longer be sold. They can no longer be used and all products remaining in stock should be taken off the market.

Now, gel manicures. They are very popular. I asked some scientists what people should do if they enjoy getting gel manicures. The scientists told me not to panic. Don't stress yourself out.

But there are two things you can do if you're concerned. I'm even someone who enjoys getting manicures. So, number one, ask for products that don't contain TPO. There are nail polish brands out there that have phased out this ingredient, so you can get some on your own and take that polish to the nail salon with you. Or ask the salon specifically about the products that they use. You can even seek out a nail salon that markets itself as specializing in using less toxic products.

Number two, you can always switch to good old fashioned regular polish as a backup plan. I know that it takes longer to dry, and it doesn't last as long as gel polish, but regular nail polish has been used for years since the 1920s, so it can be an alternative option.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Leaders in tech head to the White House and vow to spend billions of dollars in U.S. investments. Those details after the break. Please stay with us.

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[02:39:38]

BRUNHUBER: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has wrapped up his visit to China after a meeting with President Xi Jinping. Pictures released by North Korean state media show Kim bearing his trademark green train late Thursday. Xi and Kim met earlier at the great hall of the people, one day after China's military parade marking the anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. It's their first formal sit-down since they met in 2019, in Pyongyang.

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed more than two dozen top tech executives to the White House on Thursday. The dinner included guests like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg said his company is planning to invest more than $600 billion in U.S. infrastructure.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also there and said President Trump's agenda was helping American companies lead in artificial intelligence.

A brand-new luxury yacht didn't get far on its maiden voyage in Turkey. Have a look. The 24-meter vessel capsized and sank just minutes after its launch on Tuesday. That's according to the boating magazine "Superyacht Times". Four people were believed to be on board at the time. They managed to jump out before the vessel went down and were later rescued. The magazine says investigators are looking into what caused the incident.

Well, you can now own a piece of Hollywood history as an auction for movie lovers is now open. A big ticket item on the block is one of Darth Vader's lightsabers from the original Star Wars trilogy. The current absentee bid is $1.2 million. Now, other props from the legendary movies include an "Indiana Jones" whip and a neuralyzer used by the alien hunters in "Men in Black" to wipe people's memories. Remember that the auction ends on Saturday.

Well, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in about 20 minutes with your top headlines.

For now, "WORLD SPORT" is next.

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