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Russia Attacks Ukraine Again As Volodymyr Zelenskyy Heads To White House; Russian Media Ramps Up Attacks On Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Donald Trump's Social Media Post Puts Pressure On Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Egyptian Foreign Minister Talks To CNN About Gaza, Aid And Displacement; Massive Protests In Israel Demand Hostage Deal; United States Suspends Visitor Visas For Palestinians From Gaza; Texas Democrats Returning To State After 15 Days Away; Runoff Presidential Election Set To Take Place On October 19. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 10:00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:50]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And a warm welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Paula Newton in New York, where the time is

just after 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will soon meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, and unlike February's infamous shouting match,

this time, he's brought reinforcements with him, a group of European leaders.

Plus, our Becky Anderson spoke to the Egyptian foreign minister from the Rafah border crossing in Egypt just outside Gaza. He told her, displacement

of Palestinians there is a red line.

And the end of 20 years of dominance of Bolivia's Socialist Party, will have a live report from La Paz on the country's presidential election.

OK. Happening this hour, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with key European leaders before they head to the White House to sit down

with U.S. President Donald Trump, the Europeans will be pushing for Mr. Trump to take a harder line against Russian President Vladimir Putin after

Friday's summit in Alaska.

Now, the U.S. president, though, appears to be putting the onus for peace on the Ukrainians, posting on social media that Zelenskyy can, "End the war

with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

Before making clear, the Ukrainian president will have to meet Putin's conditions of giving up Crimea and agreeing to never join NATO.

Meantime, Russia carried out a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine overnight in what President Zelenskyy says is proof Putin wants to

humiliate diplomatic efforts in Washington today.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has been following all the latest developments from London. And we need to get to a key point here, Clare, I know Zelenskyy

continues to say that so far, getting through to President Trump has been so difficult, and part of the problem has been the land that President

Trump believes Zelenskyy and Ukraine have to give away, the Donbas. It is crucial, Zelenskyy says, for Ukraine to defend itself. What is the issue

here with that land and how has it really been in stark focus, really, not just in the last few years, but since 2014?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly Paula, the Donbas region, where they've seen fighting, not for 3.5 years, but for 11.5 years, you'll

remember fighting broke out there just as the annexation of Crimea was happening in March of 2014, Russian backed separatists fighting with

Ukrainian forces for control of that region. Historically, the Donbas, which is made up of Donetsk and Luhansk. I think we have some maps that we

can pull up there in East of Ukraine, on the border with Russia, has been the most Russian speaking part.

And after a year or so fighting in that region, they did sign some peace accords, first Minsk I, and then Minsk II in early 2015 which gave that

sort of black shaded area, the striped bit of the red section there, a special status.

But all of that went out the window, of course, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Russia, three days before launching that invasion

officially recognized those People's Republics, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic as independent states, a

reminder that they were still officially according to international law inside Ukraine, and then launched the invasion a few days later in the

pretext of protecting Russians and Russian speakers in that region.

So, that is why this area is of such major importance to Russia. Yes, look, in the autumn of 2022 they held more sham referenda. They annexed

illegally, not just Donetsk, but also Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

But historically, it's the Donbas region that really matters to Russia, and that's why what we're hearing has come out of the Alaska talks, as Trump

has presented it to the Europeans, is that Russia is asking for the control, not only of the part of Donetsk and Luhansk that it occupies, but

the part that Ukraine still controls, which includes key fortress cities like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. They would essentially need to just walk out

of those cities as we talk about the South, the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Russia, may it seems, accept simply the land that is

currently under Russian control in return for peace.

So, that is what we're looking at in terms of territory. Crimea down in the south, meanwhile, has been under Russia's de facto, not did -- not legal

control since 2014, so possibly the discussion is looking at whether or not that status could now be extended to the other regions, not a legal

recognition, but an acceptance of freezing the lines where they are.

[10:05:08]

Zelenskyy there ruling out land swaps, as it stands right now. But Paula, that is why, historically it's the Donbas region that is really at the

crux, at the heart of Russia's demands.

NEWTON: And you're getting a look see as to why this is so difficult. President Trump himself admitting he didn't expect a cease fire or a peace

agreement here to be so difficult, and yet it is. And that brings us to the European allies themselves. What more can they bring to the table here as

they get ready for their meeting at the White House?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, look, what we're seeing today I think, given that the Europeans are ostensibly in a worse position than they were last week, the

idea of sequencing the events as they had hoped, with a cease fire first and then a peace deal seems to have gone out the window. President Trump

came out of the Alaska summit saying that he wants a full deal immediately and not a cease fire, which is, of course, the exact way around that the

Russians want it.

They seem to have moved beyond that and are now focusing on the one glimmer of light that came out of Alaska, which is that the U.S. may now be

willing, according to Steve Witkoff, to get involved in Ukraine's future security guarantees.

And obviously, security guarantees are critical when we're talking about the territory that we just spoke about. If Ukraine is to agree to any

freezing of the line of contact, they need to be sure that Russia won't go any further.

So, it's clear that the Europeans, you know, want to discuss that, and they want to make it clear that not looking for peace in a rush peace at any

cost. Take a listen to the British prime minister. He posted a video talking about what he's looking to get out of this on the plane over to

Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've got to make sure there is peace, that it is lasting peace, and that it is fair and that it is just,

and that's why I'm traveling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face-to-face with President Trump and President Zelenskyy,

because it's in everyone's interests. It's in the U.K.'s interest that we get this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, look, I think a quick note on who exactly is going. I think they're going not just because they're friends of Ukraine. I think they're

going because among that group of seven, we have a lot of leaders who have a traditionally good relationship with Trump, who've managed to cultivate

that over the past few months.

Starmer himself is getting set to welcome Trump for what he called unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. in just about a month's time.

We've got Macron, who's got a bit of a rapport, Alexander Stubb of Finland, who's played golf with Trump, and, of course, the NATO Secretary General

Mark Rutte, with that now infamous charm offensive that managed to keep Trump in the fold at the recent NATO Summit in June, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, a lot at stake as we continue to follow developments at the White House. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Kyiv, and, of course, all

eyes in Ukraine as well on the White House right now.

You know, I'm curious, Ben, we talk about all of these maps and these lines and these fortress cities, Ukrainians have spilled significant blood and

have had a big cost just to try and keep these lines of defense against Russia. How are they interpreting the White House posture right now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're very concerned about what they're seeing, what they're hearing, starting with that Alaska

Summit, and for instance, this overnight posting on Truth Social by President Trump, in which he says that President Zelenskyy can stop this

war almost immediately if he wants giving up any claims to Crimea, this really does not set the stage for a positive outcome for today's meeting in

the White House.

The feeling is that suddenly, since the Friday summit in Alaska, the onus is back on Ukraine, the country that has been invaded, no longer the onus

the possibility of severe consequences or sanctions on Russia. It's now, it seems, according to the White House, this is all the fault of President

Zelenskyy and Ukraine.

Now, we were at a funeral today here in Kyiv for one, David Chichkan, who is very popular Kyiv artist, who was killed earlier this month on the

Eastern front. This is something that Ukrainians have become very accustomed to. These funerals, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of

thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and spilling their blood to defend this country against the Russians, against the invaders,

they find it frankly offensive that the onus is on them to somehow make concessions, as opposed to the Russians.

In fact, we spoke to one young man, a filmmaker, who said that the idea that Ukraine has to surrender its territory to Russia simply is not a

recipe for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SASHKO, FILMMAKER: It's a fake peace. It just -- it just, it's like only the word that Donald Trump can use. But it doesn't look like a peace for

the Ukrainians. You can't trade, you know, lives of Ukrainian people, our lands and our values, just for the Donald Trump's desire to make business

as usual with the Russians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:10:15]

WEDEMAN: And this morning, we see that President Zelenskyy has already met with Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration special envoy for Ukraine. It

seemed to have been a very cordial meeting, very professional, but it's going to be later in the day when President Zelenskyy and his delegation

meets with President Trump and his advisers, not with the European leaders who have all assembled in Washington to back up Ukraine.

So, there is concern that certainly there's also a very recent social -- Truth Social posting by President Trump seems to be very unhappy with

perhaps the coverage of the media of the Alaska summits would indicate, according to one commentator, that President Trump has not woken up in a

good mood. So, we shall see if there's going to be more fireworks in the Oval Office, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, a nervous few hours ahead as they continue to watch this White House meeting to make a fine point of it, not just because of the

diplomacy, but the fact that Russia continues its assault in Ukraine, and that includes from the air, striking civilians.

Ben Wedeman for us in Kyiv, grateful to you.

Now, we do want to get the view from Moscow since Friday's summit in Alaska, Russian media has been ramping up its attacks on the Ukrainian

president and his supporters in Europe.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen live for us in Moscow and Fred, you know, in reviewing some of the Russian press, some

believe that the U.S. and President Trump now are actually on Russia's side of this conflict, and you can forgive them for thinking that, because the

fallout from the Alaska summit seems to be that Trump is now advocating certainly the line that Putin has put forward.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, if you look at the Russian press, but also if you look at some of the

Russian leadership, you'll see that they do believe that they do believe that President Trump and Vladimir Putin do see eye to eye on a lot of

things as far as the conflict in Ukraine is concerned.

And I think the most important one of those being the fact that the Trump administration is now no longer calling for an immediate cease fire in the

conflict in Ukraine, but instead saying that there needs to be a negotiations process at the end of which there would be a larger peace

agreement between Russia and Ukraine. That certainly is what the Russians have kept saying.

Now, the crux of that is, of course, that at the same time as those talks would be going on, the fighting on the ground would also be going on as

well.

But certainly, some of the things that President Trump has posted on his social media account, on Truth Social are also being replicated here on the

ground in Russia. You mentioned that one post where I think Ben mentioned that one post where President Trump says that Ukraine needs to see any sort

of things that they want with the Crimea and then also never become a made -- a member of NATO either.

Those are things that, for instance, Kirill Dmitriev, who is one of Russia's main negotiators and the head of the Russian sovereign wealth

fund, also put on his social media account as well, while he was retweeting that post from Donald Trump, from President Trump.

So, certainly, the Russians do believe that they had been heard by President Trump, and that important things as far as Russia is concerned,

were decided also at that summit as well.

It was quite interesting, because Vladimir Putin, coming back here to Moscow, took a little bit of time. He obviously was coming from Alaska. He

also had some meetings still in the far east of Russia.

But on Saturday, he was pictured together with some of his top cabinet officials in the Kremlin informing them about the summit with President

Trump, where he said that he was able to calmly lay out Russia's position. He felt that Russia's position had been heard.

At the same time, he also said that he respects the U.S.'s view that an end to the hostilities needs to be achieved as fast as possible. But now it

appears as though both the U.S. and Russia have agreed that the track to achieving that needs to be via negotiations rather than an immediate cease

fire, and then having negotiations after that.

Well, one of the people was also commented on that as well, Paula, over the weekend, is the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev. He came out

and he said that this for the Russians is obviously a very good thing, because that threat of strong sanctions that President Trump had put

forward before the Alaska summit was no longer there.

But also because the Russians can now continue their operations in Ukraine, their combat operations in Ukraine as talks are going on, and don't need to

fear those massive sanctions being put in place by the Trump administration, at least for the time being, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and that has been the criticism all along, that no matter what happens with these negotiations, the Russian government has been given more

time to prosecute this war with zero consequences.

Fred, grateful to you as we continue to watch the goings on at the White House.

My next guest writes, the root cause of the war is Russia's refusal to accept Ukrainian identity and statehood. Only when this is addressed can

there be peace. Nigel Gould-Davies is a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and former British ambassador to Belarus.

And he joins us now live from London.

[10:15:08]

I do want to get to this issue of what Putin calls causes, says are root causes, because these are the key points. It is how Russia justifies their

aggression. In fact, they don't call it aggression into Ukraine, they say this is a righteous and just war.

So, depending on where we are now, the fact that, you know, Russian media seems to indicate that, look, the United States is on Russia's side now,

how much more does this feed in to Putin's, you know, theory that this is a just war and that the root causes need to be solved first?

NIGEL GOULD-DAVIES, SENIOR FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Well, on the first point about the Russian view that President

Trump has swung around to their side, it is profoundly disconcerting what's happened in the past two weeks.

Firstly, Trump's rewarding, rather than punishing, of Putin for failing to meet Trump's deadline for a cease fire, rewarding him with the Alaska

Summit, and then what has emerged in the after after that summit, where it seems that Trump has now completely abandoned his demand for a rapid cease

fire and his threat to impose sanctions, and is increasingly taking Putin's view that, instead, the war can only be ended by a comprehensive

settlement, and that means, in Putin's terms, a settlement that addresses what he regards as the root causes.

And on that, the first thing to say is what root causes does not mean, it's not primarily a matter of territory.

So, the idea that this war can end satisfactory for both sides by some small transfer of land, which also means people from Ukraine to Russia, is

totally absurd and really irrelevant. The area of Ukraine that Russia occupies amounts to 0.7 percent of Russia's totally recognized

international land mass, that won't end the war.

And as you suggest, it's for much more fundamental reasons that Putin launched it. He wants to bring about a far-reaching revision, ultimately,

of the European security order, it's not only a matter of subordinating Ukraine's statehood and identity as I wrote earlier, his ambitions clearly

go beyond that, and we saw that in the draft treaties that he presented in late 2021 which envisaged the reversal of the consequences of NATO

enlargement since the 1990s, so his ambitions are continent wide.

NEWTON: Yes, and Donald Trump, we must say, has already accepted that as an argument, saying even a few hours ago on Truth Social that Ukraine ever

joining NATO is a nonstarter.

I do want to get to this issue, though, of what security guarantees are on the table. I want you to listen to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, what he had

to say to CNN, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game changing. We were able to

win the following concession that the United States could offer Article 5V, like protection, which would -- which is the -- which is one of the real

reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO, we sort of were able to bypass that and get an agreement that the -- that the United States could offer

Article 5 protection, which was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, Steve Witkoff is right, that would be a game changer. And yet, we've already had Secretary of State Rubio, we've had the U.S.

ambassador to NATO, already pouring cold water on this. Do you believe that this is something that would actually happen? And even Europe seems to be

showing some optimism that this is a game changer.

GOULD-DAVIES: Well, pay attention to what Mr. Witkoff said. His language is absolutely extraordinary, if one understands it properly. He said that

Putin made the concession that the United States can offer security guarantees to its partners.

Now, in effect, he's saying, well, America needs Russia's permission and approval to decide to whom it extends security guarantees. That is an

astonishingly weak and viral position for Mr. Witkoff to take, and that hasn't been sufficiently appreciated. He's basically asking Putin's

permission to do the things that America should have the right to do anyway so -- if it so chooses.

The second and deeper worry here would be that if we look at how much the American position, at least for the moment, appears to have changed and

moved towards Putin in this abrupt way over the past two weeks, firm and clear markers that Trump had put down simply dissolving. That raises the

question, inevitably, even if America were to extend security guarantees, to say, a European Reassurance force in Ukraine, what credibility with

those guarantees have? Could those not equally dissolve very quickly if Russia were to challenge or threaten a reassurance force in some way? So, I

think there's much -- too much to worry about here.

[10:20:13]

NEWTON: Yes, much to worry about, and it is difficult to see how the next few hours, a lot of the calculus that you just outlined for us would

change. We will leave it there for now, but grateful to you for your insights.

OK, ahead for us on CONNECT THE WORLD. CNN's Becky Anderson is at the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side, and she's been speaking exclusively

to Europe's foreign minister. Find out what he's saying about supporting Gaza.

Plus, as anger grows inside Israel over the war on Gaza, some stunning comments from a leaked recording of Israel's former military intelligence

chief. You will want to hear this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The displacement is a red line, we will not accept it, the words of Egypt's Foreign Minister speaking exclusively to CNN's Becky Anderson about

Gaza and Israel's plan to displace some one million Palestinians in the territory.

Now, a short time ago, Badr Abdelatty and the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister made a joint visit to the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian

side, often seen as Gaza's only lifeline for getting aid into the Enclave. Both officials held a news conference at the crossing, CNN's Becky Anderson

was there and sent us this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: You join me on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, and behind me here are trucks that are filled with

humanitarian aid waiting to get across this border.

Just meters away, of course, is Gaza, the drivers, though, telling us that some of them have been here for some 20 days waiting for access. And these

trucks, just part of what I'm told by the Egyptians are some 5,000 trucks waiting to get access.

Now the Egyptian government, at present, is under huge pressure to do more to alleviate the suffering and hunger of Gazans on the other side of this

border. I travel here with the Egyptian foreign minister, and I asked him what his response is to critics who say they are simply one not doing

enough, and further, that, they are complicit in the blocking of aid. This is what he told me.

BADR ABDELATTY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: What's imported by some certain is a big lie. You have two terminals, one on the Egyptian side, which is

open, and the Palestinian terminal, the Israelis destroyed the Palestinian terminal four times, and we tried to rehabilitate.

The Israelis now, physically, they are on the Palestinian terminal of the Rafah crossing, and they are blocking it. They are not allowing any single

truck or person to move in, because Israel is the main country which is blocking and putting restrictions on the floor of humanitarian at the

ticket ahead.

[10:25:16]

ANDERSON: What's the point of having a peace agreement if we can't negotiate at?

ABDELATTY: Well, of course, the point of having peace treaty with Israel is essentially that this is the main pillar of stability in our neighborhoods.

We have contacts with them on the security level, on the intelligence level, and we are working very hard with them. The problem is, you know,

sometimes, and they are saying on the political level, the lack of political will to work out again, this is the main impediment.

ANDERSON: We're here with the Egyptian and Palestinian delegations, who are extremely eager to counter any criticism or protest about what is being

done from the Egyptian side.

President Sisi has said that this Rafah will be a gateway for aid, but it will not be a gateway for displacement.

ABDELATTY: You know, displacement is a red line. We will not accept it. We will not participate in in it, and we will not allow it to be happy because

displacement, first of all, there is no moral, ethical or legal or political reason for that. Those people are attached to their own land, why

we should distract them from their homeland? This is one issue.

Second issue, the displacement. It's one way ticket, I can assure you, those who will leave Gaza, they will never be allowed to go back to Gaza,

and that meant to have one objective, the liquidation of the Palestinian cause that's within the hand of the Palestinian call.

ANDERSON: What is needed, of course, to get this humanitarian aid moving, to get the hostages out and to get towards a sort of final solution is a

cease fire.

But when I asked the Egyptian Foreign Minister whether he was optimistic about the current round of talks, he said that he'd given up using the term

optimistic.

Becky Anderson, CNN at the Rafah border crossing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: In Israel meantime, the country's former military intelligence chief can be heard on a leaked recording saying the deaths of tens of

thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are, "Necessary and required for future generations." And this follows massive protests right across the country on

Sunday, some of the largest since the beginning of the Gaza war nearly two years ago.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now live from Jerusalem. You know, as all of these protests are playing out across the country, we have that audio

recording, right? What's its significance, especially when you consider that it's a tacit admission that civilians would pay the price of Hamas's

actions?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: The recording itself quite striking and quite lengthy, leaked to Israel's channel 12 news. It is the

former head of Israel's military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva. Worth noting, he was the first senior officer in the military to resign

over the failures of the military to stop or foresee October 7th.

But much of these lengthy leaked recordings is about who he sees as responsible, not just himself or the military, but other security agencies

as well. That's not the striking remark here. The lines that are quite striking are when he starts to talk about the death toll in Gaza, and he

says it is, "Necessary for tens of thousands of Palestinians to die."

Here is some of the leaked audio recording. He says, for everything that happened on October 7th, for every one person on October 7th, 50

Palestinians must die. It doesn't matter now if they are children.

The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations. It's worth noting that the recordings are

undated, but the death toll in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, surpassed 50,000 some months ago. In fact, that death toll now

stands, according to the ministry, at more than 61,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war.

Still, this is an insight into one of the senior officers on October 7th, and it comes it is leaked as Israel is facing growing condemnation for the

military's conduct in Gaza, and after the security Cabinet approved the takeover and occupation of Gaza City.

We have seen increasing accusations against Israel of intentional starvation, of war crimes and of genocide, accusations that Israel has

vehemently denied. We have also seen in recent days, increasing condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

For example, the Danish Prime Minister said just days ago that Netanyahu has become --

[10:29:59]

LIEBERMANN: We have also seen in recent days, increasing condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself. For example, the Danish prime

minister said just days ago that Netanyahu has become a problem within himself.

We have also seen condemnation from Hamas from these remarks. They say that the remarks "confirms that crimes against our people are high-level

decisions and official policy from the enemy's political and security leadership."

So, Paula, some striking remarks as Israel faces increasing criticism over the conduct of the war in Gaza.

NEWTON: Yes, and considerable division within the country as well. Oren Liebermann for us in Jerusalem, appreciate it.

Now, the U.S. is suspending visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza. In a post on X, the state department says it would review the process that

allows them to temporarily enter the U.S. for medical and humanitarian reasons.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, saying he's seen evidence linking visa recipients to terrorist groups in the region.

The group HEAL Palestine, an American nonprofit that provides critical aid to Palestinian families and children from Gaza criticized the visa move,

saying, "This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program."

CNN's Nada Bashir tells us more about the dire medical issues the Gazans are facing now.

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: The need for medical aid and support is dire. There are few functioning medical facilities left in the

Gaza Strip. Many of the children and adults, of course, traveling abroad to receive treatment are suffering from severe physical injuries as well as

psychological trauma and, of course, severe malnourishment, which, as we know, is an increasingly and deepening crisis in the Gaza Strip.

And, of course, we, ourselves, have visited a number of these camps and field hospitals that have been -- have been established outside of Gaza to

provide treatment. So, these are very much important organizations and opportunities for Palestinians to receive treatment.

But at this stage, no clarity on the timeline as to how long that review process might take by the Trump administration.

NEWTON: Our thanks to Nada Bashir there.

As we await a meeting with President Trump and European allies, there you see Keir Starmer, the british prime minister, arriving in Washington. He

was categorical on that plane, saying that it was imperative that Ukraine is the one that decides what exactly happens going forward in terms of any

peace agreement. He and his European allies will try and convince the White House that they need to have more clarity on the Ukrainian position and

have a united front on what exactly any kind of land swap would look like.

We will be right back after a quick break and have more.

[10:35:10]

NEWTON: And a very warm welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Here are the headlines we are following this hour.

The U.S. and Ukrainian presidents will hold a high stakes meeting at the White House in the coming hours. European leaders will join Volodymyr

Zelenskyy in a show of support for Ukraine. That's ahead of these meetings.

Donald Trump called on Ukraine to give up Crimea and to never join NATO. Conditions Russian President Vladimir Putin was set for ending -- has set

for ending this war.

CNN's Becky Anderson has been speaking exclusively to Europe's foreign minister about Gaza, and Israel's plan to displace some 1 million

Palestinians in the territory. Badr Abdullatty told her, "Displacement is a red line. We will not accept it." Earlier today, he and the Palestinian

Authority's prime minister made a joint visit to the Rafah Border Crossing on the Egyptian side.

Texas House Democrats are returning to the state as Republicans push ahead with redistricting. They left Texas earlier this month to stall a

Republican effort to redraw the congressional maps. Republicans will now have enough lawmakers present necessary in order to hold a vote on those

maps.

Arlette Saenz is following this for us from the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

Arlette, so, the Democrats we know are coming back now. What do they feel that they achieved? And why are they coming back now?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, these Texas House Democrats have laid out two conditions for their return. One of those was

having the first special session, and that ended on Friday.

The Texas Governor Greg Abbott, quickly called a second special session to kick off right away. But Texas Democrats feel that they effectively killed

that first special session by staying out of the state.

Secondly, they wanted to see California introduce their legislation to re craft the congressional maps in their state. A lot of what these Texas

Democrats are arguing right now is that they were able to spark a national conversation about the need for redistricting to push back on these GOP

efforts, which started here in the State of Texas.

And now, at this time, these Texas House Democrats are currently on their way back to Austin. And, in fact, a few of them were seen boarding a plane

in Chicago this morning, and their return will end a 15-day standoff over redistricting.

The Texas House is set to convene here in about 2-1/2 hours, and it is expected that there will be enough Democrats on hand to meet the quorum,

and that can kick off the legislative process to pass these congressional maps.

There is not much that these Texas Democrats can do to prevent these maps from going into effect, at least from the State Capitol, but they do plan

to try to make their case against it and lay out the legal arguments for why this should not go into effect.

It is expected that there will be lawsuits in the coming weeks, heading into September and October, as they want to prevent the map from going into

effect before those midterm elections.

Then, in addition to Texas, there's that round of action that we're expecting in California, as they could vote on their measure as soon as

Thursday. But the big difference between Texas and California is that Texas, they can pass their bill through these maps and signed by the

governor all through the legislature.

In California, they will still need voters to support a ballot initiative on those maps in the November election. So, there is still a big question

whether in California there will be enough support from voters to get this through.

But certainly, this is a very high stakes moment for lawmakers, both in Texas and California, as well as the national level, as these changes to

the maps here in Texas, for Republicans and for Democrats in California could have big consequences for the Midterm Elections and what the U.S.

House will look like in the second half of President Donald Trump's term.

NEWTON: And that is the bottom line. Those states trying to have an impact on Washington, D.C. Arlette Saenz for us. Thanks so much.

Now, President Donald Trump is mounting a campaign against mail in voting, posting on social media that he'll sign an executive order to, in his

words, help bring honesty to the 2026 Midterm Elections. He accused Democrats, without any evidence, of cheating, and has in the past falsely

vilified mail in voting and fraudulent -- as fraudulent, even though his campaign pushed for it, remember, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene last

year.

Now, a video obtained by CNN appears to show two masked federal officers tackling a delivery driver before tasing him to the ground.

Now, the incident happened in Washington, D.C. You are looking at some of the video now, and was recorded by bystanders who called on the officers to

identify themselves. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the officers did, in fact, do so and had their badges

clearly visible. The statement also says that the man who is being tackled alleged entered the country illegally from Venezuela in 2023 and had active

warrants out for traffic violations.

[10:40:08]

And the law enforcement officer in this video did not violate DHS policy. CNN has not been able to determine if the man has an attorney. It comes

after hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed across the city is part of President Trump's crackdown on crime.

OK, still to come for us. We are standing by for a high stakes meeting at the White House. President Trump and his Ukrainian counterparts set to meet

surrounded by top European allies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: And we want to get right to our "BREAKING NEWS" this hour. All eyes on the White House for what President Donald Trump calls a big day ahead of

meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders. That's on the eve of this summit.

President Trump turned up the pressure on Mr. Zelenskyy on social media, calling on him to give up Crimea and to agree to never join NATO.

You may recall the last time Mr. Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart met in the Oval Office in February; the whole thing descended into a shouting

match.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.

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

TRUMP: Right now, you don't -- you're playing cards.

ZELENSKYY: I'm very serious, Mr. President.

TRUMP: You are playing cards.

ZELENSKYY: I'm very serious, Mr. President. I'm very serious. I am the president in war.

Trump: You are gambling with the lives of millions of people. You are gambling with World War III.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: We want to go straight to CNN White House reporter, Alayna Treene. Alayna, good to see you.

I mean, look, we all remember that scene in the Oval Office, and yet, here we are, right? Zelenskyy will be backed up by his European allies, but the

president in the White House have gone to great lengths right to lay out their position ahead of this meeting.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS REPORTER: They have, and look, the circumstances under which they are meeting now, though,

are very different from that February meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

We know that the president has seen him since he is gotten to know Zelenskyy better. They have had several different phone calls, and I do --

you know, from my conversations with people here at the White House, they are on better footing today. Of course, you know, key question is, will he

wear a suit? That was one of the things that had upset President Trump back during that first overall first meeting.

And also, there is this idea that perhaps he wasn't grateful enough for all of the support and the aid that the United States had been sending Ukraine.

But again, they are meeting today under very different circumstances, and the seven different European leaders who are coming are all really going to

be a buffer as well for Zelenskyy.

And part of it is not just because, you know, of some of the history, but more so because there are concerns that while they commend President Donald

Trump for being very committed to wanting to try and find an end to the war, there are concerns from the Ukrainians and also Europeans that perhaps

he is willing to give up more than they are, willing to concede more in order to actually reach a peace deal.

So, today will really be a crucial day to really, first of all, feel out each other, you know, for the United States to see what Zelenskyy is

willing to concede, what the Europeans are willing to concede.

[10:45:04]

But also trying to see how specifically they could potentially move the ball forward.

We know that the president, President Donald Trump, has said that his goal would be to try and get another meeting, a trilateral meet all this time

with President Zelenskyy, President Putin, and himself, to continue to try and hash out the details of what this could look like. Some things I think

are worth noting. One is that over the weekend, we saw the president move away and really change his position in saying that, rather than push for a

cease fire, again, something he had called for. He actually heading to Alaska on Friday, Paula. He had said he would be very unhappy if they did

not reach a cease fire.

On Saturday, we saw President Donald Trump say, actually, we're not going to go for just a mere cease fire, we're going to push directly for a peace

deal. Unclear how that's really sitting with the Ukrainians and Europeans right now, because, of course, no cease fire while they try to negotiate

these terms allows Russia to continue their bombing campaign against Kyiv. And we saw that happen to great extent overnight.

Another thing, you mentioned this, Paula, but I think it was so crucial seeing what the president laid out last night, kind of his message to

Zelenskyy before he arrived, saying, you know, Ukraine is going to have to give up Crimea and is going to need to agree to not become a member of the

NATO alliance as part of trying to end this war. We'll see whether or not that's something that Zelenskyy can stomach.

Another thing, though, and this is good for Ukraine, as we have heard from different allies of the president, different Trump advisors, including

Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, who was in the room in Alaska on Friday, meeting with Putin, in addition to the others. He said that Ukraine is

willing to commit to some security guarantees, or allowing, I should say, some security guarantees.

If the United States were to really move forward with that and ensure some of those security guarantees, it would be a huge win and big departure from

their past position.

All to say all of those different elements are going to be discussed, land swapping, all of that. We'll see what ultimately comes out of this and how

they react once these meetings are out.

NEWTON: Yes, a lot at stake, as you point out. Thanks so much. Grateful to you at the White House.

We are now joined by CNN politics Senior Reporter Steven Collinson and Steve, good to see you. You write that this is one of the most critical

days for European security and the Western alliance since the end of a Cold War. And you also point out this will test Trump's sincerity and his

capacity. Let's talk about that sincerity and that capacity.

Listen, he set high expectations for the Alaska summit. He met the expectations of Russia and the Russian leader at that summit. In fact, he

probably exceeded them. So, what now?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, I think, the underlying question today is, whose side is Trump going to be on? Are we

going to see a summit in which he is trying to find some space between the Ukrainian and European position and the more maximalist Russian position?

Or coming out of the Alaska summit is Trump lining up with Russia against Europe and Ukraine.

And I think that's one of the reasons why the European leaders are very happy to be there, first of all, to act as somewhat of a bodyguard for

Zelenskyy, because, as you mentioned, what happened in February when he got dressed down the Oval Office by Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

But also, because this is not just crucial to Ukraine, if Vladimir Putin is able to validate his invasion by getting a very favorable settlement in

Ukraine, that puts the whole of European security at risk. It's not clear that Trump really cares that much about European security or what happens

to Ukraine, his interest is trying to get a quick peace deal.

Putin's interest lies in trying to gain the maximum he can because of his invasion and to neuter the Ukrainian state. Europe's security is at risk

here more than any other time since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

NEWTON: I do think it's important, Steven, for you to help us put this into context in terms of domestic politics in the United States. And I take what

you just said, right? The president, President Trump wants, he wants a Nobel Peace Prize, he wants this done with. He doesn't really care how it

gets done with the details. For Europe, the details are important.

If we get to Americans, what struck me was that in recent polling, the disapproval rating for Putin in the United States almost equal and

unanimous disapproval all around by both Republicans and Democrats for Vladimir Putin.

In that, what risk is there that Donald Trump, right now, seems to be siding with Vladimir Putin?

COLLINSON: You know, that's what the polls say. I'm not really convinced that Trump is facing huge risk here.

[10:50:02]

First of all, as you know, foreign affairs don't usually decide U.S. elections. They are important when American security itself is threatened,

but less so when it's an issue like this, which is a long way away for many Americans.

Trump also usually tries to rule for about the 42 percent, 38 percent of his base. It was very interesting watching conservative media over the

weekend, they were running interference for Trump, portraying the Alaska summit as a great triumph, and they are already accusing of Zelenskyy of

standing as a roadblock in the way of a peace deal. And this idea that Donald Trump is a great peacemaker is one that's very powerful among his

supporters.

Just writing stories about this, I can tell you, I get all sorts of e-mails from Trump supporters basically arguing that, you know, pointing out that

the summit went Putin's way is completely inaccurate, and Trump is out there trying to make peace.

So domestically, I don't think he runs a huge risk. I think what is at risk, of course, is, you know, if they don't get a fair peace deal, and

this blows up all over again, that would be a risk for the president down the road, and more immediately, the United States. But I think between

Trump's base and the conservative media, there is more sympathy for the Putin position than there is for the Ukrainian position.

NEWTON: So interesting, especially when you get to that MAGA media and how again, as you said, they have been trumpeting the Alaska summit as a great

success.

Stephen Collinson, you'll be watching along with us. Really appreciate it.

Now, ahead right here on CONNECT THE WORLD, Sunday's election in Bolivia saw no clear winner. Details on the unprecedented runoff presidential

election. We'll have that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Bolivians are heading back to the polls for an unprecedented runoff presidential election. Sunday's votes on no candidate able to secure the

needed 50 percent of the vote. Centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz, unexpectedly took more voters over from right-wing front runners. CNN's Cristopher Ulloa

is following the election from La Paz and joins us now. This was quite a surprise, right?

CRISTOPHER ULLOA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hurray, Paula, that's correct. It was a complete surprise on these presidential elections. We are talking about

Rodrigo Paz Pereira, from the Christian Democratic Party and son of Jaime Paz Zamora, the ex-president of Bolivia.

He didn't appear as a weird option in the polls, but he managed to take the first place of the preferences with at least a 32 percent of the votes.

This, according to the preliminary results of the Bolivian authorities.

In the other hand, according also to the Bolivian authorities, the ex- President Jorge Tuto Quiroga from Alianza Libre got at least 26 percent of the preferences. And with these results, Paula, these two leading

candidates will have to face each other in a second round on October 19th to finally find out who is going to be the next President of Bolivia.

We also have to remember, Paula that Bolivia is currently going through a very complex situation. We have a crisis of will that has not been solved.

The actual government of President Luis Arce has not been able to bring a solution to the table.

Also, there is a lack of foreign currency. Bolivia has no more dollars, and this also has impacted a lot to the economy. We have talked to many people.

Or to the table. Also, there is a lack of foreign currency. Bolivia has no more dollars, and this also has impacted a lot to the economy.

We have talked to many people here in La Paz in Bolivia, and they also told us that sometimes they don't even have bread to buy on the markets, because

there is no more bread. So, the situation is very complicated and very tough, especially for the families. We are already can talk, Paula, about

historic moment in Bolivia, because of the MAS Party, the left party is no more longer going to be in the presidential race.

We have two candidates from the opposition. So, this is a historic turn from Bolivia, and we'll have to wait until October 19th to finally find out

who is going to be the next president of Bolivia. Paula.

(CROSSTALK)

NEWTON: Right.

Yes. As you -- as you've just pointed out, it will be quite transformational for Bolivia, and something that many there, given the

economy, are looking forward to.

Thank you so much for the update. Appreciate it. And that is CONNECT THE WORLD. Please stay with CNN as we continue to follow all the breaking news

leading up to that all important meeting at the White House.

"ONE WORLD" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END