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North Carolina in State of Emergency as Hurricane Closes In; Kremlin Downplays Trump Push for Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting; Little League to Gamblers: Don't Bet on Kids. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 20, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: -- lottery tickets and gift cards worth $275. Guilford says he never expected to see it again, but just a few days ago, he received a Facebook message from Chad Volk in Minnesota, asking Guilford if he'd lost his wallet. Volk had found it in the engine bay of the car he was repairing, safe and sound.

[06:00:19]

Volk mailed it back to Guilford, who says the act of kindness, quote, "restores your faith in humanity."

Love that story. So wild. Great way to end the note. Thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Danny Freeman in Atlanta. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The East Coast braces for Hurricane Erin. No direct hit but still a life-threatening danger.

CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to be the Amityville mayor in "Jaws."

I would just say to you flat-out, don't go in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: See where deadly flooding and treacherous rip currents pose the biggest risk right now.

President Trump invites Putin and Zelenskyy to meet in person. But one of the guests won't RSVP.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON, D.C., MAYOR: This is not about D.C. crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The White House calls the D.C. takeover a matter of safety, but America's black mayors say there's something more sinister going on.

The Smithsonian under assault. President Trump questions why so many exhibits still talk about how bad slavery was.

And good moral character. New applications for U.S. citizenship designed to weed out anti-American views.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE BAKER, NCAA CHAIRMAN: I'm not looking for you to lose a game. I just need you to miss the first two free throws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Betting on sports. Harmless fan fun or a threat to the integrity of the games?

It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. And this is a live look at Virginia Beach as Hurricane Erin churns in the Atlantic.

Good morning, everybody. It's Wednesday, August 20. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and this is CNN THIS MORNING. And here's where we start.

The sprawling threats of rip currents and dangerous waters that are impacting much of the East Coast as Hurricane Erin tracks closer to shore.

Parts of the North Carolina Outer Banks are under mandatory evacuations, as high surf and waves crash on the shore, even though Erin's center remains hundreds of miles away.

And even though Erin isn't forecast to make landfall, the threats from dangerous waters stretch from New Jersey down to the Carolinas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM PROFFITT, DIRECTOR, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH OCEAN RESCUE: It's been very dangerous out here. Very dangerous. Yesterday, we had between 60 and 70 rescues, and today is going to be even worse.

So, you know, we can't stress it enough. If you come to the beach, you can hang out in the beach, you know, do -- just definitely do not get in the ocean.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. The person with the latest: CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar. And Allison, where is this storm now?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, it's just off the shore of Florida here, continuing its trek off to the North. It is going to slide in between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast.

But the thing is, it's going to get close enough that it's going to have some very big impacts to the U.S. East Coast.

And part of that is because of its size. It's already grown since we've seen it just a few days ago, when it was able to make it all the way up to Category 5 strength. But it's expected to grow even more.

And that size is really what's going to be the big concern, because the bigger it is, the more likely some of those outer bands are expected to reach portions of the U.S. But also, even Bermuda, as well.

So, that's why both of these areas have those tropical storm watches and warnings in effect. Now, some of the worst impacts are likely going to be on the day Thursday. And that's because that's when it's really going to make its closest pass to the U.S. East Coast.

Now, some of those tropical-storm-force winds in those outer bands could reach as early as, say, late -- late tonight into very early Thursday morning along the Carolina coast. And then, we'll continue to sweep up along the Eastern Seaboard.

Here's a look at some of those forecast wind gusts. Again, you can see over there around Hatteras, 50 to 55 miles per hour. Some areas could even see some 60- to 65-mile-per-hour wind gusts.

Keep in mind, folks: those are the equivalent of some of these severe thunderstorm warnings that you may get just from a typical summertime thunderstorm.

So, you're talking some pretty potent outer bands that could be part of Erin even as it slides by the coast.

It will then continue its trek off to the North, so then the concern becomes states like Maryland and then into New Jersey as it continues to slide farther to the North.

Here's where we also have the biggest concern for storm surge. It's really going to be on those Outer Banks of North Carolina. Two to 4 feet is what is forecast for some of these areas.

The surrounding areas, yes, it's going to be less, 1 to 3 feet. But keep in mind, a lot of these areas suffer from things like coastal erosion from storms. So, to have that extra storm surge coming in could cause some additional impacts.

[06:05:05]

CORNISH: OK, Allison, we're going to check in with you later. Thanks so much.

This morning, the Kremlin is downplaying expectations for a direct meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelenskyy, even as Trump floats the idea of potential talks between the two leaders.

In an interview on state TV, Russia's foreign minister said that any future contact must be prepared with the utmost care. So, are they ready or not?

Back in May, when things got close to a potential face-to-face with Zelenskyy, he had traveled to Turkey. But Putin never showed up. The White House insists the door is open, even as Ukraine reports its

largest Russian air strike of the month following that, Trump-Putin Alaska summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has spoken to both leaders about this, and both leaders have expressed a willingness to sit down with each other. And so, our national security team will help both countries do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, we've got Jerusalem, Demsas, editor in chief at "The Argument"; Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration; Daniel Koh, former Biden deputy and special assistant; and Matt Gorman, Republican strategist.

You guys, thanks for joining the chat this morning.

And, Joel, thanks for being with us.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes.

CORNISH: Because with your State Department experience, I'm going to want a translator.

So, first, when the Kremlin responds in this way, "utmost care," we're taking our time, while the military offensive is happening, what do you hear?

RUBIN: Well, clearly, the boss, Putin, wants a little more out of Donald Trump than he's gotten. And quite frankly, I don't think this should be a surprise to anybody.

Look, Donald Trump, by meeting with Vladimir Putin last week, gave away the store. He gave away the political isolation that had been built for the last several years to keep Putin at bay until there was a meeting that was meaningful. -But by meeting with Trump on American soil, Putin got what he needed.

He got his photo op. He doesn't need any more. Now he needs to continue this war, keep the pressure on Ukraine militarily, and hope to continue to try to crack the American European alliance. And so, he's in no rush.

CORNISH: Matt, can you kind of respond to this a little bit? Because we've also got Trump kind of handing off this meeting to Putin and Zelenskyy, like, You guys come together and figure it out, which doesn't seem like something they would do.

MATT GORMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I'm bearish on the possibility of a one-on-one meeting.

I think anything that was going to happen meaningful is going to have some -- U.S. in the middle of it; U.S., Europe in the middle of it. And look --

CORNISH: So, you're bearish on it should happen. But are you bearish that it will happen?

GORMAN: I would say bearish on it will happen.

CORNISH: Oh, OK.

GORMAN: And I think we're -- if they're going to see a meeting at all, it's going to be some sort of a trilateral, if that. I don't see Putin and Zelenskyy coming together one-on-one without some sort of third party there.

And look, let's be honest here. Like, what was -- what was the previous several years getting us? Nothing. So, coming to the table --

RUBIN: That's not true.

GORMAN: Yes, it is, because what --

RUBIN: It's called protecting Ukraine from getting taken over by Russia's invasion.

GORMAN: Oh, really? We get some more airstrikes.

RUBIN: And the last I checked -- the last I checked --

GORMAN: Hold on, hold on. You got your time, Joel. You had your time.

RUBIN: -- this was going to be resolved with a phone call.

GORMAN: Excuse me. OK. You've had your time. Look, there's nothing wrong with sitting down with Putin.

We talk about legitimizing Putin. The guy invaded another nation. Do we want peace or not? Whether we like it or not, we have to deal with him in order to get what we need to get done in terms of Ukraine.

CORNISH: I think the question is --

RUBIN: You're asking the wrong people.

CORNISH: Hold on, let me let people come in, because there are multiple ways to deal with a dictator, including increased sanctions. There are a number of paths that have not been taken. And I think one of the things people are trying to figure out is how and if the U.S. uses its leverage.

DANIEL KOH, FORMER BIDEN DEPUTY AND SPECIAL ASSISTANT: I think we are seeing a reverence for Vladimir Putin with a red carpet. I think we need to take a step back and realize who this man is.

This is a man who shot down a commercial airliner and killed 298 civilians. This is a man who called the United States a global parasite. And so, my question to people is what indication do we have that this

is a president who is going to stand up for democracy, stand up for a country that was invaded, versus continuing to show reverence for a dictator who has openly mocked the United States?

CORNISH: But I think the thing the administration and Matt seems to be raising here is prior administrations did not prevent Crimea from being taken, did not prevent those borders from being moved.

So, I want to bring in you, Jerusalem. I don't want you to be left out of this conversation. Everybody has asked the same question: how do you move what has been an immovable object with Putin?

JERUSALEM DEMSAS, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE ARGUMENT": I think in many ways, people have really high expectations of what the United States can do in a conflict like this where, you know, regardless of who's in charge, at some level, Russia has invaded another country.

And that -- Ukraine has to decide whether or not they're going to continue fighting or not. That's not a decision we can make as a United States.

And for Trump, his entire position is really around wanting to find some deal to make, because that is his domestic political priority.

And so, in terms of, like, really ending the war, that's something that -- that's between Ukraine and Russia at some level. I would love for the United States to be involved in providing security guarantees, which is exactly what Zelenskyy is asking for and what the E.U. is asking for.

But at the end of the day, it's really not going to happen unless Putin decides he wants -- he wants to stop fighting.

CORNISH: Also, interesting moment yesterday on FOX when the president was talking just sort of lightly in the end of his conversation about what he wants out of this war in Ukraine and leaning into what people know, which is that he is trying to seek peace in multiple conflicts, including this one.

[06:10:19]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT (via phone): I want to try and get to heaven if possible. I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I hear I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole. If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, Joel, thanks so much for being here. Appreciate your time.

RUBIN: You got it.

CORNISH: The rest of you, stay with me. We've got a lot more to cover here on CNN THIS MORNING.

Coming up, a vindictive prosecution. Lawyers are trying to get a criminal case thrown out for that Maryland father who was wrongfully deported earlier this year.

Plus, President Trump has called them lawless cities. Now the mayors are fighting back, and I'll be talking to one of them live.

And a couple speaks out after a brush with death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NINA SANTIAGO, INFLUENCER: Beyond grateful.

PATRICK BLACKWOOD, INFLUENCER: Absolutely.

SANTIAGO: Beyond grateful.

BLACKWOOD: Beyond grateful.

SANTIAGO: Grateful, lucky. Fortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:38]

CORNISH: It's now 15 minutes past the hour, and here are five things you need to know to get your day going.

National Guard troops from West Virginia have begun arriving in D.C., and they're there to help in what President Trump calls a crime crackdown on the city.

It comes as the Justice Department has opened a new investigation into D.C.'s crime statistics and if they were manipulated.

And lawyers for the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year. Well, they're now -- they're now fighting to get the criminal case against him dropped.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is facing charges for human smuggling. His attorneys call it a vindictive and selective prosecution. Abrego Garcia's trial is set to begin in January of 2026.

Health officials in Texas say the measles outbreak there is over. More than 750 people in the state have been diagnosed with measles since January. It's been more than a month since the last new case was confirmed.

2025 has been the worst year for measles in more than three decades.

Police in Dubai have arrested three men who they say tried to pull off an elaborate $25 million pink diamond heist. Police say the thieves passed themselves off as wealthy dealers and lured a merchant and then snatched the 21-carat diamond.

But the heist was short-lived. They were caught just a few hours later.

An influencer couple speaking out after this death-defying video went viral. It started out as just a food review and then turned horrifying when a car slammed into the building, hitting their table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: It was a terrifying, scary experience. And like I said, the one thing that keeps replaying in my head was his facial expression. Like, we knew that was the end, but for some reason, it just wasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: As you can see, the couple miraculously made it out with just scratches.

After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but maybe not in this case. Is the California governor's new strategy of mocking President Trump on social media actually working?

Plus, the risk of betting on sports. Could we all lose more than just money?

And I want to bring you a live look of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from EarthCam. There's some rough waves this morning as Hurricane Erin moves North. We're going to be live from the coast, coming up.

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[06:21:58]

CORNISH: It's illegal in the U.S. to bet on games involving children's sports like, say, the Little League World Series, but that hasn't stopped offshore sports books from offering it, forcing the league to issue a statement denouncing the practice, saying, "No one should be exploiting the success and failures of children playing the game they love for their own personal gain."

That's actually already the case at the college and pro level, where people can make micro-bets on the most minor aspects of the game, like even the color of the Gatorade at the Super Bowl.

Pro and college players are dealing with harassment from fans who have turned every base hit, touchdown, free throw into a financial life-or- death situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER: A big part of the abuse that's coming from the stands also involves classmates, schoolmates, friends, who -- who literally talk to them in a way where they basically say, Look, you're my friend. I'm not looking for you to lose a game. I just need you to miss the first two free throws. And --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's the prop bet?

BAKER: And that's the prop bet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. Joining me now to understand all of this: Randall Williams, U.S. sports business reporter at Bloomberg. Good morning, Randall.

I want to talk about what we just heard from that congressional hearing. That was from December. But how has all of this betting and these prop bets kind of changed fan culture?

RANDALL WILLIAMS, U.S. SPORTS BUSINESS REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: It's had a drastic impact. I mean, if you listen to the way that athletes are talking about this, in some ways it's unhealthy.

There are athletes like Kevin Durant, who in some ways make fun of fans and say like, Oh, you know, look at you. You lost money because, you know, athletes aren't supposed to care about these things.

But there are other athletes like Tyrese Haliburton, who has said, you know, all I am is a prop bet to someone who's trying to bet on DraftKings.

And there's a mental side of this that we have yet to see the ramifications of, in terms of what does an athlete's mental health look like when someone is on the sideline or on the court side seats yelling, Hey Tyrese, I need you to get eight assists all night long. And he's just trying to play his game and, you know, get his team a win.

CORNISH: And to that point, the NBA and its players' union actually called for a limit on these prop bets, these micro bets, after one player, Jontay Porter, was banned for -- for limiting himself in games on purpose -- right -- for bets.

And then there are two more players, I think, under federal investigation. So, what kind of guardrails is the union calling for?

WILLIAMS: I think the leagues and the unions are trying to figure out what is the right amount of offerings for prop bets.

And a reminder as to what a prop bet is. In baseball, a prop bet would be betting on the number of strikeouts someone has; betting on a number of hits.

But it can also go down to the micro betting, which might be betting on a strike, a ball, or someone being hit by a pitch.

In basketball, that could be rebounds, points scored, things like that. Points scored in a first quarter.

And so, with that in mind, if these books are offering such expansive prop bets, that creates the opportunity for someone to essentially manipulate this.

Where in Jontay Porter's situation, he was checking in and checking out of games, and he had an absurd amount of money bet on him.

[06:25:07]

And so, if there's a way that these leagues can shrink these offerings down, but also still allow fans and consumers to want to gamble on these things, then they're going to try to figure that out.

CORNISH: We're showing folks just how much money is being made on U.S. commercial sports betting since the Supreme Court ruling that allowed it in 2018, going from less than $1 billion to a record 14 billion, in part because the leagues themselves embraced this. Right? It's baked into the apps. There's the licensing; there's the advertising.

How do they regulate something they're making so much bank from?

WILLIAMS: I mean, the way that they're regulated, I say the leagues and the sports books are regulating this is by working together.

I mean, the people in all of the leagues that have been caught have been caught by both the NFL, NBA, MLB, and their betting partners.

What's interesting to me is the business side of things. You can't go on ESPN or FOX or any of the places that you normally watch a sports game on and not see a gambling advertisement. It is, in some ways, it's part of the business now.

You're going to see a betting analyst. You're going to see the analyst of the game, someone like Charles Barkley, who might say, Hey, this is my parlay for the day.

And it's just a -- it's part of the business now. And once they open Pandora's box, they are having, I wouldn't say that they're trying to close it. But I think it's having some ramifications that maybe they didn't necessarily anticipate.

They knew there might be trouble. But you know, these -- these cases are threatening the essence of the game.

CORNISH: In the world of sports writers, are you all betting on the next big scandal?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely not. I mean, I think that, in some ways, you're hoping that the integrity of the game is kept pure. Of course, that's what you want.

But when these things happen, it is absolutely absurd to figure out the lengths at which some of these athletes have gone to try to bet, especially when they're making hundreds of thousands of dollars. And if they'd play better, then you'd like to think that they might be, you know, able to make millions.

So, I wouldn't say that anyone's rooting for it, but everyone's keeping a watchful eye, because these stories are huge. CORNISH: Randall Williams is with Bloomberg. Thanks so much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Next on CNN THIS MORNING, Hurricane Erin churning in the Atlantic. We're live from the coast after the break.

And throw it all away. The major recall for a big box store that sold radioactive shrimp.

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[06:30:00]