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U.S. Readying New Sanctions On Iran; Iran Threatens Fines And Seizure For Ships Violating Hormuz Transit Rules; Trump Admin Blames Failed Trade Talks On Canada; Andy Burnham Arrives In Kyiv For First International Trip As PM; Fast-Growing, Uncontained Fire Forcing Thousands To Flee Reno; Teacher Pleads for Release of Husband in ICE Custody. Aired 1-1:45a ET

Aired August 24, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:51]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello from Hong Kong. I'm Will Ripley and you are in the CNN Newsroom. Washington set to announce new economic sanctions on Iran as peace talk at an impasse. Tehran calls it a sign that reeks of desperation.

President Zelenskyy in Ukraine issuing a warning on what he says is Russia's next move on the battlefield. He is preparing for a major meeting in the coming hours to discuss bolstering his country's defenses.

And a U.S. teacher pleading for the release of her Venezuelan husband who's been in ICE custody for more than six months.

We begin this hour in Washington where the White House is expected to announce new sanctions on Iran. The U.S. treasury secretary is vowing an economic D-Day is coming for Iran, in his words. In a Financial Times Sunday op-ed, Scott Bessent wrote, the world should understand that our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone. He says Iran won't be the only target, but the, quote, economic consequences would impact anyone working with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: If you insist on doing business with them either transferring money, buying their oil, they are doing seaborne ship transfers, then the U.S. Treasury and the US Government, they will put its full might and force toward enforcing against you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Meanwhile, Tehran's leadership continues to show growing differences over negotiations with Washington. Iran's president says the country, quote, cannot continue with war forever. But the foreign minister insists U.S. sanctions and pressure campaigns are nothing new for Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is a repetitive scenario, from the crippling sanctions imposed during the Obama administration to the maximum pressure campaign during Mr. Trump's first administration, and now to the latest sanctions. All of these measures have been introduced under different types, but they represent the same kind of bullying that we have always seen in American policy.

In other words, it's the same movie they keep playing over and over again. We know this movie so we know how to confront and deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Iran is also warning that ships accused of violating its transit rules in the Strait of Hormuz could be penalized or seized. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more now on the White House's shift in strategy and Iran's response.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: After months of military conflict have failed to militarily defeat Iran or to secure a nuclear deal, President Donald Trump is shifting to a new strategy, which may well be an old economic warfare with a new set of sanctions set to be unveiled on Monday by the U.S. Treasury secretary in an effort to put pressure on Iran's economy and either force the Iranian regime into a nuclear deal or perhaps defeat the regime or topple the regime in some other fashion.

This is less a brand new strategy and more what appears to be a return of the maximum pressure campaign we saw in the Trump administration's first term an effort to weaken Iran economically here. Trump is trying to bring in other countries to help put pressure on Iran. This isn't an immediate solution to the conflict.

Economic sanctions and economic pressure take time to work. And this seems to be an acknowledgment that the military conflict, the strikes on Iran over the course of the last few months have failed to bring about what Trump was looking for, that is a nuclear deal that he would consider acceptable.

So now that has failed, it's back to economic pressure. And we have seen this in an acknowledgment from Iran's president, who described this now as a full scale conflict. He said, according to Iranian state media. This is Masoud Pezeshkian. We are apologetic that these problems exist as we find ourselves in a full scale economic, military and security war.

So you see him acknowledging there the pressure on Iran's economy, the inflation, the other issues facing the Iranian public, but trying to rally around the idea and this continued economic conflict now with the United States.

[01:05:04]

Here is an Iranian national security official as well.

MOHSEN REZAEL, SECRETARY OF IRAN'S SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (through translator): If President Trump decides to take further action, our response, our retaliation, will be seismic. First, we will tell all neighboring countries and countries around the world not to join the United States in its economic war. Any country that takes part in imposing economic restrictions on us will be regarded as an enemy.

Of course, we will first negotiate with them. We will hold talks and tell them to step aside and distance themselves from the United States. But if they do not act, we will strike. We will target that country's interests.

LIEBERMANN: Now the question becomes who can hold out longer if this is economic warfare. The Trump administration is betting that the pressure on Iran's economy will pressure the regime into either a nuclear deal or perhaps some of the wide scale protests around economic issues that we saw earlier this year.

The difference, of course, now is that there is a conflict, there is an enemy at which the Iranian regime can point and say this is their fault and see if they can rally the people around Iran and around Tehran and the supreme leader there.

Iran, meanwhile, is betting that trying to limit the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will put pressure on Trump through gas prices and the effect the general prices of everything are having across the United States ahead of the midterms, which is what Iran is looking at in terms of the economic warfare from their perspective. Oren Liebermann, CNN in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Steven Erlanger is chief diplomatic correspondent at the New York Times, and he joins me live from Berlin. Steven, it's good to have your perspective on what's happening right now.

So I'm curious what you think. Is Bessent's sanctioned strategy actually designed to change Iran's behavior, or is it designed to try to make regime change inevitable? What's the goal?

STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I think the goal is not to use military force, though. Iran threatens, if this gets serious, to escalate, which we'll have to do militarily, which could bring us back into what they like to call a kinetic conflict that is bombing dying people. I think Trump is doing the old medieval blockade, let's starve them to death.

There are debates about how much oil is actually getting out through the Strait. But for Iran, I think even the people who would prefer diplomacy soon do not want to give up their effective control over the Strait of Hormuz. And that is the thing Trump is trying to break. The nuclear deal is way down the road. I don't think Trump cares very much about it anymore. What he cares about is opening up the Strait. And Iran seems quite convinced, quite united on the fact that its future safety, its deterrence, is more dependent on its control of the Strait of Hormuz than even on its possible nuclear program.

So I think that's the problem. You have a lot of rhetoric on both sides. When Scott Bessent talks about D-Day and he's talking about World War II, this isn't World War II. Let's hope it doesn't become World War III. But it is an effort to push Iran toward opening up the Strait and getting back into negotiations that favor the United States.

The Iranians, I think, would be very happy to get back to negotiations based on this June memorandum of understanding, which Trump now says is finished, because that memorandum promised them economic relief and sanctions relief and the ability to sell their oil. So we have a different ratcheting up of pressure. And then who's it aimed against the Bessent thing?

It's really aimed against China. China has been the buyer of 80 percent of Iran's oil, both legally and smuggling. India has been buying some. So when Bessent is threat the countries that deal with Iran, he's threatening China. And how China will respond, I think we'll have to see. Nobody's being very specific. We'll have to wait for White House announcement later today, I believe.

RIPLEY: Do you think China has any incentive to participate in Washington's attempt to isolate Iran economically?

ERLANGER: It's hard to tell. I mean, right now it sounds like threats. You know, if you deal with Iran, then we will punish you. No, the U.S., you know, controls the dollar and it has lots of sanctions possibilities. It has been very careful not to hit China.

[01:10:00]

In fact, China has been very vocal about responding to Trump's earlier tariffs by, by using counterterroriffs. So China can respond if it feels that its own interests are being harmed by the United States. But I mean, I suspect even China will be more careful about its dealings with Iran now, Pakistan has dealings with Iran almost every neighboring country.

And the risk, of course, is if Iran escalates, it will escalate not only against U.S. bases in the region, but possibly against U.S. allies. It can hit Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure. It can re hit Qatar. It can hit Oman.

Now, this is the pressure on the United States and on the global economy that I think Iran has in its quiver. So, it's a very tense time. And if Trump is simply trying to buy time through a slow blockade to get him through November, Iran is not going to sit back and let itself be starved to death.

RIPLEY: 7:10 there in Berlin. Thanks for getting up early and giving us your perspective, Steven. We really appreciate it.

ERLANGER: Thank you.

RIPLEY: The Trump administration is blaming Canada for the collapse of trade talks with the transportation secretary accusing Canada of, quote, taking advantage of the US. Canada walked away from the negotiations late Friday. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the U.S. had introduced last minute demands that would have harmed his nation's economy. He's promising to match the United States new tariffs on Canadian goods and dollar for dollar. Despite the standoff, White House officials say they expect talks to resume soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We want fairness for the American worker. And some of our best friends are the worst offenders that treat us the worst. And the fact that we provide their security for them and they take advantage of us. I think President Trump was the first one to go.

You know what, that's not the kind of relationship that friends should have. And so the president's calling them out. I think you're going to see Mark Carney come to the table very, very quickly because it's going to be devastating for his country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: If you take a look at the global stock markets, this is clearly freaking out investors in the Asia Pacific markets. U.S. Futures down as well as Wall Street looks to rebound from a losing week. But obviously there's a lot of uncertainty in this trade war with Canada and the US. Now just adding to it, piling onto it. Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist Ron Brownstein.

Hey, Ron, how are we in a trade war with Canada just before the midterms? Do you think American voters are following this? Do they care about this?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'll tell you in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Alaska, four states that are really at the center of the struggle for control of the Senate, the U.S. Senate in the November election. Those are all states whose economies are probably the most directly intertwined with Canada. And they are all places that are at, you know, up the seats that are up this November.

You know, it's really striking. I mean, the tariffs have become both a substantively important and symbolically important part of the midterm election because, you know, as you look at kind of the way the public is reaction -- reacting to the second Trump term, obviously his approval rating on the economy is lower now by far than it was at any point during his first term.

And some of that is, you know, something we've always seen through our history, which is that the perils of proximity, when the economy, economy isn't going well, people take it out on the president, whoever it is. But there is another dimension to the vulnerability that Trump and Republicans have over the economy this year, which is that most Americans believe that his policies are actively compounding the problem they elected him to solve, which was getting control of their cost of living.

And I think, you know, putting -- getting into a trade war with Canada is something I think that most Americans cannot fathom, cannot really understand why, you know, our neighbor and one of our closest allies through almost all of our history is now a source of acrimony, and potentially higher prices.

So, I think this is the kind of thing that compounds the risk that he and his party faces, particularly in states that are at the center of the battle for control of the Senate.

RIPLEY: So you talked about Trump's approval ratings. Most polls put him at a new low. Democrats do have momentum.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

RIPLEY: History favors the opposition in a midterm. And yet Democrats still are not winning over everyone who disapproves of Trump. What is holding them back?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, that really, you know, I believe that the core question of the '26 election has really already coalesced or revealed itself.

[01:15:04]

And that is, can Republicans win significantly more voters who disapprove of Trump than they did during his first term? You know, Trump's approval rating now will it is lower than it was in 2018. It's lower than Biden's was in '22. It's lower than Barack Obama in 2010, George W. Bush in 2006, Bill Clinton in 1994.

All of those presidents were net negative in their approval, and it led to a significant, you know, a really bad election for their party in those years that I mentioned. Trump is 8 to 10 points below where all of them were at this point. And, you know, but Democrats have not yet consolidated the usual share of voters who disapprove of the president.

What we saw in Trump's first term is that 90 percent of voters in 2018 and 2020 roughly who disapproved of his performance voted Democrat for the House. Every Democratic Senate candidate, incumbent or challenger, during his first term won at least 89 percent of people who disapproved of Trump, according to the exit polls, except the one running of Susan Collins in 2020.

Democrats aren't there yet. So the question is, is it because the Democratic image is weaker than it was during his first term, or is there just simply a polling lag?

I mean, I tend to believe that, you know, the fundamental things apply, as Bogart said in Casablanca, and that ultimately the Republicans are going to lose somewhere north of 85 percent of people who disapprove of Trump. Democrats aren't there yet. And the question is whether it's kind of a structural problem because of their own favorability is weaker than it was in 2018, or is it just a seasonal problem because it's summer and when we get to fall, we're going to see it? And that really is, I think, going to be one of the crucial pivot points of this election.

RIPLEY: Well, they've got a couple of months to figure things out, and that time is going to race by, I would imagine. Ron Brownstein, we got to leave it here for now, but I really appreciate you coming on. Thank you very much for your expertise and your insight, as always.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

RIPLEY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is gearing up to send hundreds of thousands more troops into its war with Ukraine. Up next on CNN Newsroom, how Kyiv is preparing by shoring up its allies and its defenses.

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RIPLEY: Newly minted British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is making his first trip abroad, traveling to Kyiv for Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations. While there, Burnham will chair his first meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, the group of countries working to bolster Ukraine's security and defense.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Nordic and Baltic leaders in Kyiv, some of whom will also attend Monday's coalition meeting. This diplomatic push comes as Mr. Zelenskyy issued a stark warning Russia could mobilize hundreds of thousands more troops this year.

CNN's Sebastian Shukla reports on challenges Ukraine faces as Russia steps up its war efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: President Zelenskyy has said that Russia could be planning to mobilize some 300,000 people following parliamentary elections in mid-September with the aim of still capturing all of Ukraine's Donbas region. The Ukrainian president was speaking to reporters over the weekend and also said he thought Russia was capable of producing 1,300 ballistic missiles a year, roughly 100 a month, a doubling from their current capabilities.

In order to counter those ballistic missile attacks. President Zelenskyy is still hunting for around 300 Patriot missiles to replenish his dwindling stockpiles, but appeared to admit that no agreement seemed imminent.

Russia is exploiting this chink in Ukraine's armor and is pounding it with waves of ballistic missiles causing catastrophic damage. Meanwhile, the fighting and the aerial attacks continue unabated from

both sides. And in an apparent widening of the scope of targets to slightly softer ones, including malls and e-commerce facilities, is a potentially dangerous escalation, with President Putin saying on Saturday night that Ukraine's attacks on its energy infrastructure has unleashed a Pandora's Box.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have stepped up our attacks on Ukrainian defense industry enterprises, including those in Kyiv, and have begun to respond to the enemy actions against our civilian, industrial and logistics facilities. The Kyiv regime has set out to damage our economy. What has it done? It has opened Pandora's Box itself.

Well, get an answer about your most sensitive economic sectors, which frankly, are already on their last legs.

SHUKLA: The president added that he saw no serious versions of a peace agreement, calling ideas exotic and unacceptable. And he seems to be showing no signs at the moment of backing down from his maximalist demands or even being open to talking. We appear to be in a rather fraught phase of the war right now, and rhetoric and actions from both sides seem to show no signs of relenting.

The British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, will make his first visit to Ukraine since his election, along with other members of the coalition of the willing to hold talks with President Zelenskyy with Kyiv on Monday, which is also Ukraine's Independence Day.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Firefighters from across Europe are joining the battle against a wildfire that's been burning for weeks in northern Serbia. The fire has destroyed thousands and thousands of acres of pine forest in an ecologically unique nature reserve.

[01:25:08]

So far, no homes or lives have been lost. Serbia had called for European Union assistance on Friday. E.U. nations have responded, sending firefighting helicopters, crews and vehicles. A Russian firefighting plane has also joined the effort.

A wildfire that is uncontained and growing quickly near Reno, Nevada, is now prompting widespread evacuations. The Hawk Fire has grown to more than 15,000 acres. Nearly 90,000 people are being told to leave their homes or to prepare to leave as crews try to get those flames under control.

Officials say the fire appears to have been caused by human activity. There is no indication it was intentionally said. Earlier, CNN spoke with Reno's fire chief, who explained why the Hawk fire is so challenging.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAVID COCHRAN, RENO FIRE DEPARTMENT: We're seeing some interesting, incredible erratic fire behavior type of behavior that you, well, many have never seen before. The other thing that's happening is it's extending for longer period. We're getting that erratic fire behavior into the nighttime and into the early morning hours, which is unusual. And that's what's making this so hard to control and so hard to contain.

Because typically overnight, especially in Nevada, where I'm working, you'll get the temper will drop, the winds will drop and the fire kind of settles down. And that allows us to really get after. It's very hard to attack the fire when there's high wind, high heat in the middle of the day. But when it settles down, we can get after it.

That's when we can ramp up that containment. But if the winds don't drop, the temperature doesn't drop and you're getting that erratic fire behavior. It just makes it hard to get your arms around a fire of this size and this magnitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: This is CNN Newsroom live from Hong Kong. The U.S. immigration crackdown continues. And now a Texas teacher is appealing to the U.S. government to release her husband.

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[01:31:35]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN ANCHOR: A Texas teacher is pleading for the release of her Venezuelan husband. ICE detained him more than six months ago.

CNN's Carolina Peguero is in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER ALAMBARRIO, VENEZUELAN HUSBAND DETAINED BY ICE: Neither one of us know when we're going to see each other again. And I don't know when I'll get the call to bring him home with me.

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heather Alambarrio, a teacher and U.S. citizen, is moving mountains, hoping to be reunited with the love of her life, her husband, Jose Rafael Alambarrio Cardenas. He has been held in an ICE detention center for more than six months.

ALAMBARRIO: My husband is kept in a place like that. Such a beautiful, kind person. And there's thousands of Rafaels, hundreds of thousands of (INAUDIBLE) across our country in a similar situation. And the weight of that falls on me as I turn to walk away from that place.

PEGUERO: Heather and Rafael met during salsa lessons, and months later they married in 2025 and filed a spousal petition with immigration authorities. They attended their routine ICE appointments in Dallas, Texas until the last one turned into their worst nightmare, where he was detained. ALAMBARRIO: And I waited and I waited. And after about 45 minutes, the

door opened and our attorney walked out and she looked at me and she just shook her head.

PEGUERO: CNN confirmed through court documents and Rafael's attorney that he doesn't have a criminal record. He entered the United States from Venezuela in 2023, and upon arrival applied for a political asylum.

He passed his "credible fear" interview. But that case is still under review by the federal government.

The Department of Homeland Security says Alambarrio Cardenas is expected to remain in ICE custody while his immigration proceedings are resolved.

ALAMBARRIO: We had submitted all of, you know, our documents and even had our interview, so we felt like, you know, if anyone was ok, Rafael would be ok.

PEGUERO: After spending several months in the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, Rafael was transferred to the Adams County Correctional Center in the state of Mississippi. We spoke to him through a video call.

JOSE RAFAEL ALAMBARRIO CARDENAS, VENEZUELAN DETAINED BY ICE (through translator): To be honest, I feel like I'm back in my country because the way things are being handled are the same way like back home.

PEGUERO: Despite the distance and missing their first wedding anniversary, Rafael shares the love he has for his wife.

ALAMBARRIO CARDENAS: The love of an immigrant, it's not easy, but I never thought it would be this difficult. I love Heather more than anything and she has showed me the same. And that's what keeps me strong here.

PEGUERO: This is not the first case of immigrants married to U.S. citizens being detained by ICE, which is why Heather wants to send this message.

ALAMBARRIO: Our country is a country that is great because of our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and checks and balances. And we need the balances and checks to be working for us.

[01:34:48]

PEGUERO: Carolina Peguero, CNN -- Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Hong Kong. We'll be right back.

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RIPLEY: Tango dancers are gathering in Argentina to compete for the top competition of the classic dance. Some 60 couples from around the world have made it to the final stage of the World Tango Tournament in Buenos Aires.

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RIPLEY: The festival lasts for two weeks, with the final set for September 1st and 2nd. It's the 24th gathering of the world's largest tango competition.

And competitors of all ages gathered on Sunday in a German village for a very different kind of competition -- finger pulling. In each match, rivals hook a finger through a leather or rope loop, and then they try to pull their opponent across the line on a table.

The contest was once a way for men to settle disputes without having a violent fight. But now it's a highly organized sport, complete with referees, weight classes, lederhosen and, of course, beer -- lots of beer. But a word of advice if they ask you to pull their finger, just say no.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong.

"WORLD SPORT" is next.

And then the news continues at the top of the hour with Rosemary Church in Atlanta.

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(WORLD SPORT)