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Trump Heads to Alaska for Summit; Lawsuits over Immigrant Detention Sites. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 15, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:29]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alaska's very vital to the United States, and it's a prominent state for, you know, the red state, as you could say. Trump is a big, you know, factor here. And I think it'd be great for us to have it here.
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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: That's one view from Alaska this morning. Here's another. Pro-Ukraine demonstrators on the streets of Anchorage.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's 6:32 here on the East Coast. Here's what's happening right now.
President Trump expected to board Air Force One soon, heading for Alaska. This afternoon, he will meet face to face with Vladimir Putin. While Ukraine is the focus, they're also expected to talk trade.
And a storm system in the Atlantic could become a hurricane as soon as today. Tropical Storm Erin gaining strength as it approaches the Caribbean. By the end of the weekend, it could be a major hurricane.
Confusion as federal agents arrive to clear out homeless encampments in D.C. overnight. Lawyers advocating for the homeless pointed to notices posted nearby giving people until Monday to leave. The agents later left the scene.
And nine hours from now, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will walk down a red carpet together and begin their war summit in Anchorage. These two men know each other well, and it will be their seventh face to face meeting. Their first came in 2017 on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Germany.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (July 7, 2017): We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it's an honor to be with you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, four months later, they were face to face again in Vietnam. Afterward, Trump said Putin denied interfering in the 2016 election and that he believed him. The following summer, the two leaders met again in Helsinki. Critics called that one a disaster after Trump declared he believed Putin's denials about election interference over U.S. intelligence agencies.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (July 16, 2017): I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.
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CORNISH: Putin and Trump met four months later at a G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. Their last face to face meeting came the following summer in Osaka, Japan. That's where Trump mocked reporters when they asked him if he would warn Putin against meddling in the 2020 election.
[06:35:03]
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REPORTER (June 28, 2019): Mr. President, will you tell Russia not to meddle in the 2020 election?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, of course, I will. Don't meddle in the election, President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, we're going to go live to Anchorage now for this fateful meeting.
CNN's chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is there.
Good morning. Matthew.
And tell us sort of what we know about what's set to happen today.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, look, expectations, as you just indicated there from that history of the meetings between President Trump and President Putin of Russia, I mean, expectations are high that this is going to be dramatic. You know, we're going to see some an extraordinary, you know, spectacle, I think, when they have this joint press conference, if indeed a joint press conference is what results at the end of this summit.
There are some hours to go. Obviously, later on today, here in Anchorage, for the summit to take place. It's taking place a short distance behind me at a joint military base here in Anchorage. And it is going to be a situation in which the two leaders are looking, I think, for slightly different things. President Putin has made it quite clear that the focus that he wants to dwell on is bringing an end to the war in Ukraine. He's been promising, in the last eight months since he became president, to end that war as quickly as possible, 24 hours, a few months, and now it's eight months. And so, this is the latest attempt by him to try and do that, to try and stop the bloodshed as he -- as he consistently says.
Vladimir Putin, in a slightly different position. He has consistently refused to compromise on any of his core objectives. He wants to take control over all of the territory that Russia has annexed but failed to capture on the battlefield. And he also wants to broaden the agenda between the United States and Russia, not just --away from the narrow focus on the Ukraine war, to other issues, commercial issues, space exploration, economic cooperation, things like that. And so, the makeup of his delegation includes people like Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who is charged specifically with doing as many deals as possible with the United States.
Audie.
CORNISH: That's Matthew Chance in Anchorage with some great context there.
I'm going to bring in the panel now. CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier joins as well.
I want to follow up on something Matthew was just saying, because this is a multi-stage event.
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes.
CORNISH: So, there's the one on one meeting. There's the lunch. There's the press conference. And then, like he said, there's the business entourage.
DOZIER: Yes.
CORNISH: And this, in a way, reminds me of Trump's visit to the Middle East.
DOZIER: Yes.
CORNISH: Like -- and what is Putin getting out of this that he would bring all these folks with him?
DOZIER: They obviously think that they're going to get business deals in return for some sort of peace offering for Ukraine.
CORNISH: After years of isolation. That's what I'm saying. It's not just random business deals.
DOZIER: After years of isolation they are being --
CORNISH: Yes. DOZIER: Welcomed back to the world stage. They are feeling ascendant. You can tell because Sergey Lavrov stepped off the stage -- stepped off the plane wearing a CCCP (ph) t-shirt to arrive at the hotel. You know, shades of the Soviet Union.
There are multiple reported plans of the U.S. offering Putin mineral deals, access to Ukraine's mineral wealth, as well as U.S. business deals, in return for some sort of, perhaps ceasefire. But this is sort of putting the cart before the horse. You're -- you're getting ready to offer all of these things. What Putin -- Putin has --
CORNISH: It's not just incentives? Some people would be like, that's incentives.
DOZIER: Maybe. But Putin hasn't had a good track record with honoring ceasefires or honoring withdrawal agreements. And that is the concern on Ukraine right now.
Donald Trump is in spectacle mode. He's got this big production. He wants it to look great to the world, to his base. He wants to prove that he is the only guy who could make peace. So, what is he willing to accept from the Russian side in order to get his red carpet deal?
CORNISH: Yes. And because as you pointed it out, I just want to play this for the group. Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, as you said, landing wearing the sweater that says CCCP, which is the Russian alphabet lettering for the USSR.
Here's what he had to say.
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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We never make any plans in advance. We know that we have arguments, a clear, understandable position. We will present it. Much has already been done during the visits of the U.S. president Special Envoy Witkoff. This is what the Russian president talked about.
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CORNISH: He's absolutely right. They have a clear position.
SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Yes. You know, I think what -- what -- what's being discussed is what Ukraine is going to give up potentially. But what is Ukraine going to get? It's clear that Putin's objectives have not changed in terms of, no NATO membership for Ukraine.
[06:40:04]
They would probably push for a Kremlin installed, you know, puppet government if they could.
And then, of course, they want Ukraine to basically demilitarize, including in that eastern part, the Donbas, where, you know, Russia has continued to make gains more recently on the battlefield. So, we're talking a lot about what Ukraine has to give up, but there's
also no security guarantees that the U.S. has at least previewed for Ukraine. And I think that's also important, which is why you see Zelenskyy and European leaders pushing for a ceasefire deal first, and then we can talk about negotiations.
DOZIER: Yes.
CORNISH: You love Trump as negotiator in chief.
ROB BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE DAILY SIGNAL": I do. And -- and he's -- he's demonstrated a track record here. I think seven peace deals he's helped broker plus the Abraham Accords. So, I would rather be in a position we are in today where they are sitting down and having a conversation than millions of people whose lives are at stake in Russia and Ukraine. And so, I think that, yes, there are big expectations. I agree with you on that point. At the same time, we need to bear in mind that the first step is that ceasefire.
CORNISH: Yes. And when we look at some of these deals, I mean, in fairness, India, Pakistan, they're kind of like, what, you weren't in -- in that. Give me a break. So, there's a little doubt there.
But in some of these other ones, Rwanda, Congo, that I think the U.S. was able to manipulate its way into some mineral access, some resource access.
So, the president has found a way to incentivize actors to sit down. It's just, as you said, what do they get in return for that pace?
SINGH: What do they get?
CORNISH: How high is the cost?
Kim Dozier, thank you so much for being with us.
Next on CNN THIS MORNING, we're lawyering up. It's BU versus BU. Who has the right to be the real BU? Boston University or Baylor?
Plus, why Melania Trump is planning to sue Hunter Biden for a billion bucks.
And we want to know what's in your group chat. Send it to us now. We're going to be talking about ours after this.
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[06:46:07]
CORNISH: In the next hour, President Trump expected to leave the White House for Alaska, where we've been talking about his meeting with Vladimir Putin. But the country with the most at stake is not invited. Ukraine's president left on the sidelines of a war summit about a war that's raging in his own country. Last week, President Trump suggested a ceasefire deal could include some swapping of territories.
Our Nick Paton Walsh explains what that might look like.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: But this Donetsk area is potentially, if we understand what the Kremlin has proposed, somewhere they want Ukrainians to withdraw from entirely in exchange for a ceasefire. And look at it, it's a huge area.
What could they give back? These tiny border parts occupied by Russia. A buffer zone, President Putin calls it. But it's hardly a fair exchange.
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CORNISH: I want to go now to Anchorage and bring in CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's the author of "New Cold Wars."
Good morning. David.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Morning, Audie. Great to be with you.
CORNISH: So, I want to start with those land swaps. Here's how the president explained it yesterday.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This meeting sets up the second meeting. The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word divvy things up. But, you know, to a certain extent it's not a bad term, OK. But there will be a give and take as to boundaries, lands, et cetera, et cetera.
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CORNISH: Zelenskyy has ruled out a land swap. I don't know if Trump and Putin can override him here. I mean they're giving away something that does not belong to them, fundamentally. Can you help us understand the strategy?
SANGER: Well, part of the strategy is that in almost all wars, you end up at the negotiating table. And frequently you end up redrawing lines. In fact, I think that's probably one of the reasons that Putin has agreed to come to American soil here, have the first conversation, because as soon as he lands in Anchorage in a few hours, it will be a reminder that this was once Russian territory, purchased, of course, by the United States in 1867. So, what he's saying is, there's nothing inviolate about the -- the borders themselves.
But I think it's quite revealing that when you hear the president talk about what any future deal might look like, he goes immediately to the question of where the boundaries are drawn and doesn't take up what to the Europeans and certainly to the Ukrainians is the more critical question, which is, what security guarantees do they have that Putin doesn't move into or take the land that he's already in and use it as a staging ground to take the rest of the country?
CORNISH: I want to ask you something about that, because we've had multiple people, usually historians, come on air and say, you know, peace talks sometimes, where you redraw those borders, history tells us it can lead to the next war. And how does the White House approach these conversations? Because you've specifically mentioned this kind of border and land fixation.
SANGER: A really good question because it's a topic that the president has not taken up in public. And his advisers are being very closed lipped about it. In part because they're trying to keep the sanctity of the negotiations quiet, but in part because I think they haven't entirely figured it out. I mean there's a built in contradiction here, which is, if you're going to have strong security guarantees, then what you're going to say is, wherever we draw these lines at the end of the day, we have to be able to fund and arm the Ukrainians so fully that it creates a huge deterrent to Putin to ever relaunch the war.
[06:50:11]
But the other part of Putin's demands are that we limit the amount that we give arms to the Ukrainians, or sell them arms. Tat we make sure that they never enter NATO, as you were discussing a few minutes ago. That we do all of those things that would keep Ukraine essentially a weak state. And that's the crux of the problem here, because if you only kick this down the can a few years, you haven't done much.
CORNISH: That's David Sanger, who is in Alaska for this meeting. Thank you so much.
SANGER: Thank you. Great to be with you.
CORNISH: So in all this international news, there are some legal headlines that you probably missed this week. So, per the usual, we're going to lawyer up with Elliot Williams first because there's a big ruling in New York on marijuana. Two colleges are fighting over logos. And then there's this growing controversy over new immigrant detention centers and whether they are up to legal standards. So, this week, a federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions at an ICE center in Manhattan after lawyers showed their clients didn't have access to bedding and were only being given two meals a day. And at "Alligator Alcatraz," one lawsuit details unsafe and unsanitary conditions, including flooding, the spread of disease among detainees, and a lack of food.
CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams.
OK.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's a lot.
CORNISH: So, first of all, we're dressed alike, which --
WILLIAMS: I know it. Well --
CORNISH: So, I'm loving the vibe already.
WILLIAMS: It's earth tones. Fall is here. So, we're doing it. We're going it.
CORNISH: Thank you.
So, I have to say, I am not shocked there is a conversation about detention center conditions.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: But they were -- like, these ones are kind of meant to be temporary, get up quickly, get people out of the country. So, help me understand the suit.
WILLIAMS: Certainly alligator alley in Florida, "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida was intended to be temporary, or at least has been. And -- and in New York as well. There's two separate suits right now.
Now, whenever someone is in any form of detention in the United States, the Eighth Amendment requires certain baseline standards. Now, immigration is just a fuzzier, more open-ended area than -- than criminal law.
CORNISH: Right.
WILLIAMS: And because of how quickly the administration has been moving with their immigration push, a lot of these -- of the standards and the conditions have tested, if not violated, the law. And so, you're starting to see a number of lawsuits. And you're going to continue to see them as long as this keeps going on.
CORNISH: I also just, staying on the administration for a second.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: We've been seeing, of course, more law enforcement on the streets in D.C.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Starting to set up things as described as checkpoints.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Never mind the question of who's in charge. If you get arrested in D.C. right now, like, who's arresting you? Who's charging you? Like, I'm kind of confused.
WILLIAMS: And it's interesting. As of overnight last night, there's an open question as to whether the U.S. Park Police is now in charge of the Washington, D.C., police force, or the Washington, D.C. police chief is in charge of the D.C. police force. The city says it's the chief. The attorney general of the United States says that it's the -- it says the U.S. Park Police. That's an open question. Whenever you have open questions or at least disputed questions about who's in charge, someone's going to file a suit saying, wait a second, my arrest is not lawful.
CORNISH: And like a defense attorney someone gets their wings.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes, it happens in the state of New Jersey right now, where there's -- there are open questions as to who the -- who the U.S. attorney is, and defendants are starting to sue, saying my suit ought to be thrown out because the whole office's work is tainted because we don't know who the leader is. And so, expect those lawsuits to come up.
CORNISH: There's this other case kind of out of nowhere, but I wanted to bring it up.
WILLIAMS: No case is out of nowhere, Audie.
CORNISH: This ruling about marijuana in New York City.
WILLIAMS: Uh-huh.
CORNISH: A federal court basically struck down the process that the state uses for giving out the business licenses.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: And I have been very interested in how the legal infrastructure has grown for the industry of marijuana.
WILLIAMS: Yes. And there's this gray area where cannabis is unlawful at the federal level. Often many states have -- have made pushes to legalize it.
Now, in the state of New York, there's a permitting scheme that prioritizes people with prior convictions and other aspects of their background. It's social equity licensing. Lots of states have it.
CORNISH: Yes. Basically saying, this community got hit when this was criminalized.
WILLIAMS: Right. Right.
CORNISH: And they should benefit now that it's not.
WILLIAMS: Lots of jurisdictions around the country have it. New York's got struck down because it prioritized New York state convictions, which the court said, wait a second, that violates interstate commerce, right. You're going to see more of that. A number of cities right now are sort of looking at this decision. And, quite frankly, it was a divided decision in New York.
CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: So, it's going to come up and you're going to see more of that.
CORNISH: And then you got one out of my hometown.
WILLIAMS: BU.
CORNISH: BU. BU versus BU.
WILLIAMS: Boston strong.
CORNISH: So, what happened? It's like Boston University and Baylor University are fighting over the right to use BU.
WILLIAMS: Well, that's what Audie's laughing at. I'm enjoying this.
CORNISH: Yes, you -- I don't know why you need art for this, it's just two letters, but I'm -- I'm here for it.
[06:55:02]
WILLIAMS: That's the point.
CORNISH: OK.
WILLIAMS: It's just two letters. And here, I -- you know, I put it up. It's BU.
CORNISH: Thank you.
WILLIAMS: You can see it. It's --
CORNISH: We can afford graphics on this show. If you want them next time.
WILLIAMS: In the United States you can't trademark something, just letters or a name. But Boston -- Baylor University says that we have -- we created the BU interlocking logo. And Boston University, you've been jacking it, in effect. You know, using it.
CORNISH: Meaning, so they had the interlocking -- the logo image first.
WILLIAMS: Interlocking logo. No the letters BU.
CORNISH: OK. Not just say -- got it.
WILLIAMS: And they're saying that this cheapens our brand. This causes confusion and is causing us to lose money. That's a basis for a trademark suit.
Now, look, literally you learn in second grade art that red and green are opposite. These colors are not the same. No one's going to look at Boston University's logo and say -- and think that they're taking it from Baylor University.
That said, there's an argument to be made that B -- Boston -- I almost said BU -- Boston University --
CORNISH: This is how it starts.
WILLIAMS: This -- this is how it -- you know, Brandeis and Brown are like, Baylor, please. But the whole point -- but -- but the whole point -- the whole -- the whole point is, it is the artwork, not the lettering.
CORNISH: Got it. OK.
WILLIAMS: And the suit's going to go on for a while.
CORNISH: Well, I'm going to sound more informed now talking about it.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: OK, so you're going to stay in the group chat because you're the person in the group chat who does funny emojis and jokes.
This story that we're going to get to next is about Hunter Biden against First Lady Melania Trump. And it all started when Hunter appeared on a YouTube show and he started making claims and sighting reports about the first lady and Donald Trump and when they met Jeffrey Epstein. And Melania and Trump say the reporting is false.
So, now the first lady is threatening to sue Hunter for $1 billion claiming defamation. The president is -- is backing her.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she's suing Hunter for $1 billion. Is that the right thing to do?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I said go forward. You know, I've done pretty well in these lawsuits lately. And I said, go forward with it. Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with Melania and introducing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The letter from Trump's attorney demands an apology from Hunter and a retraction of the original YouTube interview. That's not what happened. Basically, Hunter offers this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now, we're here, maybe to give you the platform to apologize to the first lady for your statements that you made about her possible connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
HUNTER BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S SON: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that. That's not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. The group chat is back.
Look at that face. Yes, where are you on this?
BLUEY: Democrats can't stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. What is this obsession? I mean, they are just so desperate, I think, to distract from everything else, right?
SINGH: (INAUDIBLE), Rob.
BLUEY: But -- but Melania Trump -- Melania Trump has explained how they met in her -- in her book. I mean, it's no secret that it was 1998 at a fashion week event. I mean -- so, I don't know where Hunter Biden is getting this, other than the fact that he's just trying to troll Donald Trump.
SINGH: I'm sorry, I -- we can't stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein because there are people in this government who made careers talking about Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino at the FBI.
So, I think this could all be resolved if the files were released. And that's something that not only does -- do the Democrats agree with, but Republicans actually are pushing for. And there's legislation in the House to release the files. I actually think this could be resolved quite quickly if there was more transparency from this administration.
CORNISH: OK, there were two things in the -- in those sound bites that we just heard that intrigued me. One, Trump being like, hey, I've done pretty good with lawsuits and we -- not wrong. And two, later on in that YouTube interview, Hunter was like, oh, I'd love to be in discovery. I would love to go to court and have documents and information come out about this.
WILLIAMS: That is -- he's --
CORNISH: Can you talk about the legal dance of this?
WILLIAMS: He's absolutely right just on that issue, which is that the last thing Melania Trump wants right now is to go in for a defamation lawsuit and have to prove the truth or falsity, which is -- which is a central element in a defamation suit, of those claims. That would require a long deposition that would be made public, come on, that could just be potentially embarrassing for her and the president. So, even if she's right, even if she has the legal sort of moral high ground here, this is a big --
CORNISH: Yes. You can tie people up in legal dramas for a long time, right?
WILLIAMS: Oh, and --
CORNISH: That's why so many people have settled with the White House.
WILLIAMS: And depositions -- no, and depositions, you know, you're all on the record and you have to answer all those questions in front of --
CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: So, bad idea.
CORNISH: OK. I want to go to the group chat. Eugene, I want to start with you.
EUGENE SCOTT, OP-ED WRITER, "BOSTON GLOBE": Yes, I mean, I would think, if I were Donald Trump, I would not want to add any more attention to this Jeffrey Epstein conversation. But, you know, he's very popular with his base whenever he's punching anyone named Biden. But what he seems not to understand is ever since the election, Hunter Biden is in fighting mode. And he has --
CORNISH: Nothing left to lose.
SCOTT: Nothing left to lose. A lot to gain. And family name is that.
CORNISH: I don't know whose group chat has something good in it. Anyone swapping links?
SINGH: I mean, we're talking about what's happening in D.C., of course.
SCOTT: Of course.
SINGH: And, of course, the, you know, the -- our National Guard are on our streets. And I, you know, a lot of my friends live in (INAUDIBLE).
[07:00:01]
And there were talks about people getting, you know, rounded up yesterday. And so, I think that's something that's certainly in the chats right now.
WILLIAMS: Yes, mine's a little odd.
CORNISH: You?
WILLIAMS: Shocking. I -- I can't get over this bunnies with fungus tentacles. Have you seen this?
CORNISH: Oh, no, I don't want to see this. It's breakfast time.
WILLIAMS: Oh, no. No. It's a -- and it's like -- you know, and, look, yes, they are telling us that it is a harmless virus, but didn't you all read the book of Revelation? Like nothing --
CORNISH: Wow.
WILLIAMS: Nothing is good.
CORNISH: This show took a turn.
WILLIAMS: Nothing --
CORNISH: And we're out of time.
Thank you so much for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts now.
