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Trump Says Peace Agreement, Not Ceasefire Best Way To End War; Source: Trump Discussed "Article Five-Style" Guarantees For Ukraine; Trump: Zelenskyy Coming To Oval Office For A Meeting Monday; Trump Backs Off Threat Of Severe Consequences For Russia, For Now; Russian Media Ecstatic About Putin's Welcome In Alaska; Trum Admin Agrees To Allow D.C. Police Chief To Remain In Charge After Court Challenge; Air Canada Flight Attendants Go On Strike. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 16, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "BREAKING NEWS".

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[07:00:36]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It's Saturday, August 16th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

We're on top of several breaking develops that -- developments this morning on talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

A European official tells CNN that part of the overnight conversations with President Donald Trump included Article 5 type a security guarantees for Ukraine.

Article 5 from NATO is collective defense. It means an attack against one ally is an attack against all allies. It's been invoked only once before, after the 9/11 attacks against the U.S. Although, NATO did take measures along these lines after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

European leaders, President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, all echoed calls for a trilateral meeting between Russia and Ukraine, and they are putting pressure on Russia.

Just minutes ago, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a statement going a step further, threatening more sanctions if Russia does not stop its assault. And Zelenskyy agreed. He said that he has stressed "that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade" an end to the war.

Shortly after getting back to Joint Base Andrews from his Anchorage summit with Putin, President Trump posted details about their meeting online. He revealed that he is pushing for a full-peace deal by passing a cease fire altogether.

He says Zelenskyy would come to D.C. on Monday, and if that works out, they would schedule a meeting with Putin. At Trump and Putin's meeting Friday in Alaska lasted about three hours and ended with neither president answering questions immediately after.

We, of course, have team coverage this morning with CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Alayna Treene, breaking down those overnight developments.

Let's start with Nick Paton Walsh, live in Kyiv. What more you learning about these European leaders, the guarantees that they are discussing, and President Trump's cooperation with those guarantees?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, look, obviously, these are early signs of what was discussed in Alaska or, more specifically, with the European leaders and Zelenskyy in the calls that Trump made after. He is clearly not particularly happy meeting with Putin.

Now, the security guarantees are important, because they clearly would act as a kind of sweetener for Ukraine to get involved in a deal that may have concessions not to its liking.

The sweetener, well, as far as I understand from a European official, what Trump has potentially begun discussing with the Europeans is Article 5 type security guarantees. Now, that is a reference to the NATO charter clause of collective defense, an attack on one is an attack on all.

And I should stress, there is no suggestion that Ukraine becomes part of NATO, or the necessarily NATO is enforcing that Article 5 guarantee. This is essentially a way of describing the kind of unity that Ukraine might benefit from, from the security guarantees.

French President Emmanuel Macron has gone on social media to say that there is a willingness to contribute to security guarantees from the United States. We have heard President Trump make references to security guarantees, but it's a sort of ironclad nature of this. So, that's a phrase used by one of the European leaders that will be enticing to Kyiv.

I should point out there is some trust deficit here. They had security guarantees in the mid-90s, when they gave up their nuclear weapons here in Ukraine, and still got invaded by Russia twice.

So, I think it's a positive thing potentially for Kyiv to wake up and hear, but a sweetener presumably has a bitter pill that has to be swallowed as well.

And there are two things clearly, that are problematic this morning for Ukraine. The first is that we've seen now to have dropped the idea of an immediate cease fire being required. In fact, the most recent social media post seems suggested, Zelenskyy accepts that the way forward now is going to be a quick deal that's permanent, rather than a short cease fire that potentially could allow Russia to invade again.

That was not Ukraine or Europe's position, just 48 hours ago. They wanted a cease fire first.

Now, Trump's social media post has said that everyone agrees a quick peace deal that lasts, I paraphrase here, is better than an immediate cease fire. That's a win for Putin, because an immediate cease fire means his troops have to stop fighting and stop winning and advancing on the front lines.

[07:05:05]

Yes, potentially for Ukraine, a serious, lasting peace deal would be a win.

The second downside here, too, is, according to another European official I've spoke to, is that the meeting in Alaska did not show Vladimir Putin, whose demands had changed. He was still pretty maximalist, still saying he wants all of the Donbas region, which his troops are currently fighting for and winning in, and more time will allow them to advance better in their positions.

He's winning that time too. He clearly showed no public desire to give concessions next to Trump. That probably rattled Trump, frankly, who didn't take questions, didn't have lunch, and even said an interview with Fox News, he kind of wished he hadn't given the interview.

So, it's been obviously not ideal set of circumstances in Alaska. The issue now, of course, is with the meeting on Monday in the Oval Office. Again, the pressure is on Zelenskyy to concede, to agree, to go along with what Trump wants, and that's the problem really, here in Ukraine. They have been there before.

BLACKWELL: Nick, let me follow up with just I want to draw a clear line between that bitter pill that you say that they would have to swallow.

Would that be to give up that land, to Putin to Russia in order to get that security guarantee?

WALSH: Yes. I mean, we don't know, unfortunately. We don't know whether the idea that Trump has in his mind is to give Putin the land that he wants, and then, have the remainder of Ukraine held by Ukraine guaranteed by some kind of security arrangement. That's clearly under discussion.

I should stress again, repeatedly, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said no to territorial concessions. It would be politically toxic here. It would be practically, virtually impossible to turn around to a thriving town like Sloviansk or Kramatorsk We were just earlier in the week, and say, everyone out in a matter of weeks, because this is now going to be Russia.

So, I think that's the big challenge here. And the Europeans obviously think the idea of giving Vladimir Putin territory without even a fight is foolish.

But that may be what's beginning to be formulated unclear. And as we know, this is changing day by day, hour by hour, red lines, things that were demanded one minute evaporate minutes later. And while we clearly will see some anxiety in Ukraine about what may follow in the weeks ahead, they woke today to not the worst news, Putin and Trump didn't come up with some kind of overnight peace deal that Zelenskyy had to accept.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALSH: Security guarantees is something Ukraine very much wants, but there is clearly going to be a real problem here in the concessions Ukraine may get asked to make it.

BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kyiv. Nick, thank you. Let's go now to CNN White House reporter, Alayna Treene. Trump has repeatedly brushed off the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. And that's not on the table here. Although, there is this discussion of Article 5-style protections.

I wonder, is it just clear to assume that this is going to be part of the conversation on Monday?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS REPORTER: When it comes to NATO, I don't think so. I mean, I think the president, President Trump, has been very clear that he doesn't think that part of this negotiation is going to be having Ukraine become a member. You've heard him say repeatedly over the last year, really, even before he came back into office, that he believes that's what started the war in the first place.

So, I don't believe that NATO membership is likely going to be on the table here, but this idea of security guarantees, potentially we could see President Trump getting there, if that means that this could help, you know, sweeten the deal, as Nick put it for the Ukrainians.

I'd note, of course, that having these, you know, the U.S. being heavily invested and committing to security guarantees is something we have not heard President Trump really commit to just yet. He is often tried to push that and say the onus is on the United States, European allies, to ensure that Ukraine security is prosperous following whatever deal could potentially be had.

But again, as Nick said as well, we really just don't know at this point. We have -- we don't have a good sense of what was discussed behind closed doors between President Trump and President Putin, and it's unclear as well, whether Ukraine would even accept some of the things that we know might have been discussed, or, as Trump put it yesterday during that press conference, that they had agreed to a lot of things, but there is no deal until there is a deal. Essentially saying, it is up to the Ukrainians, really, at this point, to decide if they are willing to go.

There are two things I want to reiterate that Nick brought up. One is, of course, we're going to see Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday. He is coming to Washington. That is a good sign, potentially. We'll see if those talks are well, we've heard the president say he's hoping that that could lead to another meeting. with having both Putin and Zelenskyy in the same room.

[07:10:05]

But one thing that is also unclear, and Trump brought this up yesterday, is this idea of whether he is willing to move forward with sanctions. We did see Zelenskyy, just moments ago, say that he believes sanctions are a necessary tool, that they are a good tool.

Trump yesterday, however, said he is not thinking about that at the moment, listen to how we put it.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of what happened today, I think, I don't have to think about that. No, I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something. But we don't have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, essentially, he is saying he's going to put sanctions off the idea of these, you know, economic consequences for Russia off by a few weeks, as they continue to negotiate. And that has really been a key question of whether or not he would move forward with the pressure that he's now threatened on Russia repeatedly, and then, pulled back on those vows, while waiting to see how Russia responded.

So, that's still a question as well. But one of the biggest things I think we are learning today is from what we saw the president share this morning, which is that after he had spoken with Zelenskyy and other European leaders on his way back from Alaska to Washington, is this idea that he is pushing for a fuller, long term peace agreement, and kind of abandoning this idea of a cease fire.

And note that that's very different. It's a notable shift from where Trump's mindset was yesterday. Just heading over to that summit in Anchorage, he had been telling reporters that he knew, and he was being told by his team that a cease fire was unlikely, but that he would be very unhappy if they did not reach one.

And so, we are now seeing that shift as well, following that meeting yesterday with Vladimir Putin, all to say we'll have to see where this goes. I think, Monday is going to be a very, very important day for the future of these talks. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Indeed, it will be. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Let's bring in now, Angela Stent. She is a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution. She is also the author of "Putin's World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest". Good morning to you.

ANGELA STENT, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: This transition from President Trump, from wanting a cease fire on the way into this meeting and coming out hoping for a peace deal, do you think it's as simple as it appears that President Putin convinced President Trump, we are not going to get a cease fire, we need to go for ending the war and do it quickly.

STENT: I think that's exactly what happened. Because President Trump, last week was talking to the Europeans, talking to Zelenskyy, and they all agreed you had to have a cease fire first, then, you had to start negotiating.

Putin obviously convinced Trump that, that wasn't the case. Of course, Putin doesn't want a cease fire. Russia wants to go on killing Ukrainians and pushing back taking more territory. And the longer you drag out peace negotiations, the more damage the Russians can do to the Ukrainians.

So, this is exactly what Putin wants, and he apparently persuaded President Trump to backtrack on the things that Trump had promised before.

BLACKWELL: Do you think, President Putin would sign a peace deal, or agree to a peace deal that he knows is backed by this Article 5-style protection that's being discussed by this European leader? I mean, if he gets the Donbas, if he gets the land he wants, the portion of Ukraine, is he willing to sign something that would suggest that if you move beyond this, this border, you've got to fight Europe and potentially the US.?

STENT: Well, he, may well sign something like that. Would these Article 5-type guarantees, how credible would they be to Putin? Russia has violated every agreement that it signed with Ukraine since Ukrainian independence after the Soviet collapse.

And so, Putin might well sign something, but unless he really believes that these Article 5-type guarantees are credible, what's to stop Russia from ceasing the war at the moment, and then in the future, starting it again.

Putin's goal is to take over all of Ukraine, to have a Ukraine that is pro-Russian, subordinate to Russian, and doesn't think about joining the West.

You know, NATO was approximate excuse for Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. It's not the reason. The reasons go far, further, and Putin has been explicit about that. You know, in these long treaties he wrote before the invasion began, he believes Ukraine isn't a legitimate country, and that the Ukrainians belong to Russia.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I mean, as Nick brought up in 1994, Ukrainian sovereignty was guaranteed once they gave up their nuclear weapons. But we saw what happened in 2022 and what's happening still. He can go back to Crimea in 2014 as well.

[07:15:06]

Let me ask you about these sanctions, because the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that there should be sanctions if Vladimir Putin stands in the way of bringing peace. Zelenskyy says as well.

Sanctions have not been persuasive up to this point, why should they believe that they would be moving forward?

STENT: So, I agree with you completely. I think the Russians are very skeptical about the impact of sanctions. They have weathered them so far. I mean, the Russian economy is not doing very well, but what they have seen is this repeated threat of more sanctions, and then, nothing happens.

So, I think that's not a very credible threat. The real Putin is not going to stop this war unless he believes he really can't win it. And at the moment, we don't have any evidence that he believes that. And yes, you can impose more sanctions, but what Ukraine really needs is the wherewithal to push Russia back.

And we have Europeans now buying the weapons from the U.S. to supply to Ukraine. If the U.S. were willing to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to go to push Russia back, then that might persuade Putin that it's time to end the war.

But I think we have to be very skeptical. Let's see what happens when Zelenskyy comes on Monday. Let's see what the Russian response is. But I think sanctions alone wouldn't really be enough to deter Putin further.

BLACKWELL: All right. Angela Stent, good to have you. Thank you.

STENT: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still ahead, Russian media is praising Vladimir Putin's performance at the summit. We have a live report from Moscow.

Plus, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is preparing to call a second special session to push through new congressional map. The latest on the redistricting battle. That's coming up.

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[07:21:42]

BLACKWELL: This morning, Russian media are celebrating the images of President Putin getting the red-carpet treatment as he arrived in Alaska for the summit. He is been considered a pariah in the West since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us from Moscow with more on how Putin's day played back home.

Fred, what are you seeing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hi, there, Victor.

Yes, played pretty well. And you're absolutely right. Russian media is pretty happy. And then, also Russian officials pretty happy as well.

First of all, Russian media calling that handshake between Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump on the tarmac there in Alaska, a historic handshake. Also noting that it seemed as though, President Trump's body language towards Vladimir Putin showed that they have very friendly relations with one another is quite interesting, because the spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry even came out and said, look, for three years, the West has been telling us that Russia is isolated on the international stage, and now, they see Vladimir Putin on the red carpet on U.S. soil.

Obviously, also the fact that the two rode together in the president's limousine, The Beast, is also something that is playing pretty high here in Russia as well.

But, of course, the Russians also feel that they got the longer end of the stick. As far as the talks themselves were concerned, the former president of this country, Dmitry Medvedev, he came out earlier today, and he made some statements that were quite interesting. He said that he believes that there is now a mechanism, as he put it, in place, for talks between the U.S. and Russia, without threats, without preconditions.

He also noted that it seems as though the threat of massive sanctions against Russia is off the table. And quite key also, he also said that he believes that right now, negotiations are possible as Russia's military operations, the special military operation, as Russia called it, obviously, meaning, their military operations in Ukraine, still continue.

That is the position that the Russians have always had. The Russians have always said that they are against an immediate cease fire without preconditions in Ukraine, and that they want a longer-term negotiations process at the end of which there would be a larger agreement for peace, and obviously also for the relations between Ukraine and Russia. It seems as though to the Russians, at least for the time being, that is what they are getting.

So, right now, as Vladimir Putin slowly makes his way here to Moscow, he still has some events in the east of Russia, certainly, at this point in time, Russian media and also Russian officials, I wouldn't say celebrating, but certainly believe that for them, it was a pretty positive outcome in the summit. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Fred Pleitgen enforced there in Moscow. Thank you very much.

With me now, the former spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Michael Bociurkiw. Michael, good to talk with you again.

I had Jill Dougherty on at the top of the last hour. You know Jill, former CNN Moscow bureau chief.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, CNN OPINION CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: And she said that this discussion of moving to a cease fire deal, skip -- moving to the peace deal, not the cease fire deal, could be an off-ramp for the United States to say, listen, this is the time to end this. If you can't do it, we're washing our hands of it.

What do you think about the plausibility of getting a peace deal if the president couldn't get a 15-day cease fire?

BOCIURKIW: Good to be with you, as always, Victor. Well, look, I as a Canadian, I think, I have a right to say this. I have a tough time believing anything that comes out of Mr. Trump's mouth or what he plans to do.

[07:25:07]

Sure, this is what the Ukrainians want. Is a long term, durable peace deal. Not something that is going to last just a few days. The problem of that, of course, well, there are two problems. Number one, who is going to be the granter. In other words, who is going to guarantee things, if things -- if the Russians violate it, which they have a good record for doing.

And also, you know, the process of verification too, on the ground, if some kind of agreement is reached, what's going to be the mechanism to verify things?

I think things are -- they could have gone a lot worse for Ukraine in these talks. They could have been shoehorned into some of deal, but I think we still have to wait until Monday to get a bit more, you know, light on what exactly was discussed and what's going to be proposed.

BLACKWELL: Are you convinced that, that is not what is happening now? I mean, once, immediately after this summit, it seemed as if it was one senator called it a nothing burger, that there wasn't much progress.

But now, to hear that the White House is moving to a peace deal --

(CROSSTALK)

BOCIURKIW: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Are you sure that they are not being shoehorned into some deal on Monday? We remember what the last appearance at the Oval Office was for President Zelenskyy.

(CROSSTALK)

BOCIURKIW: Sure. Yes. Well, a couple of things here. I mean, look at what just happened in Alaska. You had a situation which was completely under the control of the White House, but yet it seemed as if it was scripted by the Kremlin from beginning to end, especially, that so- called press conference there.

As for what's about to happen on Monday, I'm very, very nervous about it. I actually have a gut feeling, Victor, that Mr. Zelenskyy is walking into another trap. In fact, given everything that has happened, I think Mr. Zelenskyy might want to think about sending a very, very powerful signal, not only to Mr. Trump, but Mr. Putin, and refused to shake his hand. Just say, Mr. Trump, with all due respect, you just shook hands with a wanted war criminal. You just shook hands with someone with tens of thousands of -- the lives of -- blood of tens of thousands of Ukrainians. You just shook hands with someone who has forcibly abducted and taken to Russia thousands of Ukrainian children. That would be a very powerful thing to do. It would send a very strong signal, also to his folks back home and among the diaspora.

BLACKWELL: But Michael, yes, that would send a strong message. But the last time that President Zelenskyy went to the Oval Office, and he didn't say, thank you.

BOCIURKIW: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We saw what Vice President Vance did. Here is -- here is a reminder for people who don't remember February 28th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.

(CROSSTALK)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): I'm not playing cards. I'm very serious, Mr. President. I'm very serious.

TRUMP: You're playing cards. You are gambling with the lives of millions of people.

ZELENSKYY: I'm the president --

TRUMP: You're gambling with World War III!

ZELENSKYY: What are you speaking about? What are you speaking about?

TRUMP: You're gambling with World War III!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And for a president who prioritizes the personal relationships with these leaders, that would be the death knell for us support for Ukraine, would it not?

BOCIURKIW: It could be. But you know, Victor, we're finding out as Canadians, the others, especially, Keir Starmer in the United Kingdom, that you can butter up Mr. Trump as much as you want to the extent that it's going to put his cholesterol level through the roof. But yet, he will turn on you, and we have found this out as Canadians. He, just before leaving for Alaska, said Canadians will do anything I want to right now.

So, that is why I mentioned it here, and in previous interviews that Mr. Zelenskyy would do well to study what has happened to Canada and make to -- take some cues from them.

But yes, there is a fine line to walk. But more and more, the Europeans have taken on more responsibility for Ukraine. They are spending double what the U.S. has for defense of Ukraine, and Ukraine also has that domestic production.

It's a very tough situation, but given again, what has happened in Alaska, Zelenskyy could also say, hey, I'm not taking any questions from the media either. Let's see what happens with that.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about a policy more than just kind of the pleasantries.

BOCIURKIW: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Do you think there's a scenario in which to get that security guarantee that President Zelenskyy would ever agree to a deal that would cede that land that Russia is in control of now in Ukraine?

BOCIURKIW: 100 percent no. And the reason I say that is not only is he hemmed in by the Ukrainian constitution, he doesn't have the right to give away land. He would have -- he would go back home with another Maidan, another civil war on his hands.

[07:30:01]

This is what I've been reading today in the Ukrainian language media, on telegram channels, is that so much blood has been shed, not only in this war, but in previous wars where Russia is the aggressor.

The reason I say this too, Victor is, as you know, I have been based in Odesa for a long time. I've been in Ukraine since the start of the war. I have visited personally many times those military cemeteries. I've talked to the families there, and those numbers are growing hugely.

There is also cracks now in military recruitment tactics. People, yes, are tired of the war, but there is no way they're going to say, let's give up land for peace. That day passed a long, long time ago.

BLACKWELL: Michael Bociurkiw, always good to have you. Thank you.

Still to come. The Trump administration is dialing back its efforts to control the D.C. Police Department, but not letting go. What we learning about a new power sharing agreement.

Also, Hurricane Erin, has intensified now into a powerful Category 4 storm. Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm. She'll be with us in a moment.

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[07:35:37]

BLACKWELL: We'll get the latest on President Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin in just a moment. But let's get you caught up on some other headlines we are following.

Longtime soap opera actor Tristan Rogers has died. Rogers was best known for his role as spy Robert Scorpio in the soap opera, "General Hospital".

The Australian actor landed the role in 1980, shortly after moving to the U.S. In a statement, the show's executive producer said that Port Charles will not be the same without him. Last month, it was announced that Rogers was battling lung cancer. He's survived by his wife and two children. Rogers was 79 years old.

A federal judge in Florida has sentenced rapper Sean Kingston to three and a half years in prison.

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, was convicted in a $1 million fraud scheme in March. And prosecutors say Kingston and his mother Janice Turner; made fake wire transfer receipts as proof of payments for high-end items they never actually paid for in July. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison.

Hundreds of protests are expected across the country today against Republican-led efforts to redraw congressional maps in order to gain seats in the House.

More than 200 events are planned across 34 states, with the largest rally expected in Austin, Texas, where Democrats left the state to block a new congressional map that could give Republicans five extra seats in 2026. Organizers say that this fight goes beyond Texas, calling it a battle for the future of democracy.

And Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order Friday returning control of Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department to Chief Pamela Smith. That was after the chief's removal was challenged in Court, but the order still requires the city to answer to the Trump administration for the time being.

CNN's Brian Todd has more from Washington. Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the latest tense chapter on this political standoff between the Trump administration and the D.C. government, started on Thursday, when President Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi issued an order for the D.C. government to accept the DEA administrator, Terry Cole as the "emergency police commissioner," and give him full control over the Metropolitan Washington Police Department.

Well, the D.C. government sued to block that order. And on Friday evening, District Judge Ana Reyes issued instructions for the Trump administration to rewrite its directive. The Trump administration complied.

Now, Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb claimed victory, since DC police chief will not be replaced. But even with this rewriting, the Trump administration will still be able to make demands of the D.C. police.

Terrence Cole the DEA administrator, would have to go through Mayor Muriel Bowser to request any police action. But under law, Mayor Bowser would not be able to refuse any such request. So, in effect, this does not change the big picture of Pam Bondi's order or of President Trump's emergency declaration earlier this week.

It just makes the entire process of conducting a police action a little bit more cumbersome. Meanwhile, local police and federal agents, along with the D.C. National Guard, have stepped up their patrols of D.C. streets and police and federal agents have moved more aggressively to break down homeless encampments in the city. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right. Brian, thank you.

Still to come, Texas Republicans powering ahead with plans for new congressional maps backed by President Trump. We have the latest in the redistricting fight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:49]

Texas, lawmakers are being called back for another special session on redistricting. Now, both parties are bracing for what comes next as the Democrats who left to block the plan are planning now to return to the state.

CNN's Steve Contorno is in Chicago, where a number of the Texas Democrats have been staying since they left.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Texas Governor Greg Abbott, on Friday, called for a new special session of the state legislature to consider, once again, new congressional maps that would give the GOP an advantage in next year's midterm elections.

This time, it appears, he will actually get past what he wants. Democrats have been blocking any legislative action since August 3rd, when they left the states to block a quorum in the state legislature.

However, those Democrats have signaled they are ready to return to Austin, allowing these new maps to proceed. Texas representative, Ann Johnson, one of the Democrats who has spent the last two weeks in Illinois saying, "I am proud of what we accomplished. We ended a session that had nothing to do with helping Texans and everything to do with silencing them. And we expose the truth behind the governor's political agenda: to hijack the maps, erase opposition, and decide the next election before a single vote is cast."

[07:45:14]

CONTORNO: The proposed maps could give Republicans an advantage in five additional seats in Texas, heading into the Midterm Elections, where Republicans face a challenging environment to hold on to a narrowly divided House of Representatives.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott didn't close the door, however, to pushing even further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Every strategy is at play, depends on when and whether the Democrats show up, you know, they talk as though they are -- they are going to be showing up today or tomorrow. We'll wait and see. But we hold a lot more bullets in our belt that we are -- we'll be ready to use if we need to. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Texas lawmakers will return to action on Monday, and so will California lawmakers. They will be meeting to consider a Democratic proposal to redraw their state's lines in a way that would counteract what Republicans are trying to do in Texas.

Victor, it will be a side-by-side battle between two of the country's most populous states, and a sign that the extraordinary efforts taken by Republicans to maintain their hold on power in Washington will be met with an unprecedented response from Democrats.

BLACKWELL: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you.

Still to come, the skies are not very friendly for Canada's biggest airline and its flight attendants. How their dispute is causing major disruptions for thousands of travelers.

Also, a new CNN original series, "AMERICAN PRINCE: JFK JR.", explores the story and the legacy of John F. Kennedy Jr.

In this week's episode, John Jr. launches "George", a first of its kind magazine mixing pop culture and politics. Here is a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLE RADZIWILL, AMERICAN JOURNALIST, AUTHOR: There was a higher expectation, and she didn't play the game. She didn't like, suck up to anyone. No one in his family, she was just like, hi. Yes.

Carolyn and I came from a very similar backgrounds. I grew up very humble beginnings, like working class upstate New York. Her mom was a single mom, raising three daughters in very working-class neighborhood. I think we felt like a real sisterhood because of it. We were like the ultimate outsiders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's funny, so many people felt like they got to know them through black tie or going into kind of fancy things where there were photographers, but their life really was not fancy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: A new episode of "AMERICAN PRINCE: JFK JR." premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m., only on CNN.

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[07:52:16]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, Air Canada has suspended operations after 10,000 of its flight attendants went on strike overnight. Now, that will have major implications on passengers around the world, including here in the U.S.

CNN's Paula Newton has more. PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this labor dispute will represent a significant disruption to air travel, not just here in Canada, but beyond. So many people using Air Canada not just to fly in and out of Canada, but to get to places like Asia, Europe, and South America.

Right now, Air Canada said it has no choice. It must shut down its entire passenger service. They are in labor dispute with the flight attendants, the flight attendants saying that they no longer can put up with the fact that they are not paid for things like delays, that they are only paid exactly when they are flying in the air.

Air Canada calling on the government in green to send both parties to binding arbitration. So far, the government has not relented. Business groups say that, look, the economic damage to Canada already in such a vulnerable position because of the tariff war with the United States, that the damage to the economy here will be extensive, and really, at this point in time, every day that goes on, Air Canada warns, even if there is a settlement here, it will be more difficult to bring the airline back to full capacity.

Really, it won't happen in a matter of hours. They are saying it will take at least days. What does that mean? It means that the disruption to air travel, not just here in Canada, but beyond, will continue for the foreseeable future.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottowa.

BLACKWELL: All right. Paula, thank you. A breaking news in the Atlantic, Erin, the first major hurricane of the season, is now a Category 4 storm.

Live look from the British Virgin Islands this morning, where high surf and dangerous rip currents are expected to increase this weekend.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is here tracking it. What are you seeing for the near future?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, right, so, we actually just got the 8:00 a.m. update in just about 30 seconds ago. So, we have now seen it increase even more. Sustained winds are now up to 145 miles per hour, gusting even higher than that.

This storm has not only rapidly intensified overnight. It is double rapidly intensified. And what I mean by that is, technically the term for rapid intensification is when the storm's winds increase of 35 miles per hour in 24 hours or less, we have doubled that.

So, it just goes to show you, we have hit extreme rapid intensification with this particular storm, as it continues its westward track off into the Atlantic.

Now, the good news is, where it stands over the next 72 to 96 hours is it's going to be close, but not close enough to really make any kind of direct impact to any of the Leeward Islands or any of the other Caribbean islands as well. It will continue to start turning a little bit more towards the north as we go through the -- starting maybe about Monday or Tuesday of this week, sliding in between, hopefully, between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast, keeping the worst of the impacts over water instead of over land.

[07:55:09]

But further intensification is not out of the question, because it's headed into incredibly warm water that is fuel for storms like these.

Now, here you can also see as it kind of slides up the coast, notice it's also going to expand in size. Victor. This is concerning because it has the potential to double, if not even triple in size, increasing the threat for that high surf as well as rip currents along the U.S. east coast.

BLACKWELL: It is just remarkable how quickly that happened. Allison Chinchar, thank you.

"FIRST OF ALL," is coming up at the top of the hour.

Could President Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin really has just been an e-mail? Or is something substantive starting to emerge after their summit in Alaska? We've got a group of experts to help us make sense of what happens next.

Plus, my interview with Spike Lee. His reaction to Trump's plan to review how museums are teaching history, his endorsement in New York City's mayoral race, and what it's like working with Denzel Washington now for their fifth movie, the newest one is highest to lowest.

Those conversations are coming up after a short break on "FIRST OF ALL".

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