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Erin Burnett Outfront

GOP Rep: Key Player In Epstein Case Could Be Called To Testify; Trump Surges Federal Authorities To Washington, D.C.; Mad Scramble Behind The Scenes To Finalize Trump-Putin Details; Trump's Pick For BLS Chief Could Suspend Monthly Jobs Report. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 12, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:23]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news in the Epstein investigation. A key player with close ties to Donald Trump may be called to testify under oath, just as Trump was trying to change the subject. But it's his own party standing in the way.

Plus, more breaking news. The White House is confirming that Putin and Trump will meet one on one. No Zelenskyy. And new details about a mad scramble happening behind the scenes.

And, is the United States going to stop issuing monthly jobs reports?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a key figure in the Epstein case who later worked for President Trump could soon be called to testify under oath. Alex Acosta was the prosecutor who infamously gave Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal in 2008, a deal that allowed Epstein to serve minimal time in prison and a deal that shut down the federal investigation into his alleged sex trafficking ring.

Acosta then went on to serve as Trump's first term labor secretary. For reasons unknown, Acosta, the man who would know everything about the Epstein case, was left off the House Oversight Committee's list of subpoenaed witnesses. But tonight, a Republican on that committee, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, is telling "The Palm Beach Post" that calling Acosta to testify is not, quote, "off the table". She also says at any time he can be called to testify.

I'm going to speak to the top Democrat on that committee in a moment about plans to subpoena Acosta because even though dozens of victims had come forward at that point, Acosta as I mentioned, let Epstein off easy, allowed him to plead guilty to just two prostitution related charges. Epstein served only 13 months in a county jail and allowed and was allowed to leave the jail nearly every day for 12 hours.

The Department of Justice review later found that Acosta exercised poor judgment in the case, although he continued to defend his actions years after the case was closed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX ACOSTA, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: There was value to getting a guilty plea. You can always look at a play after the fact and say, should it have been the safe play? Or should you have gone for the big score?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This comes as President Trump is, many think, trying to change the subject from Epstein as he threatens a full on federal takeover of Washington, D.C., but it's Trump's own party who won't let Epstein go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): The American people are sick and tired of this government holding on to all these secrets. They are sick and tired of being lied to by the intelligence community and by deep state. I hope that we don't have to wait 60 or 70 years to find out what -- what really happened when it came to Jeffrey Epstein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT at the White House for us tonight.

Kristen, just as President Trump was trying to shift attention to D.C., his takeover of the police department there, members of his own party are making Epstein front and center again.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They are, Kate. And just to be clear, I mean, President Trump, the White House, they don't want to be talking about this. And you talk about how he's been shifting the narrative. Of course, we've seen this happen time and time again as they've tried to get away from this story.

But they were just starting to see some success in that. I mean, they had been over a month of them being on the defensive when it came to the Epstein story, and I was actually told that they were starting to circulate some of our polling that we put on air of how the searches for the Epstein case had dropped down, and they were sending that amongst themselves to try and show that there was no reason to insert this into the narrative, again, to bring up the Epstein files in any kind of conversations about the transcripts between Blanche and Maxwell, something, of course, we had been reporting on that they were considering.

And now, you have Republicans themselves coming out and saying, why don't we no more, talking about subpoenaing Alex Acosta. And even the vice president himself over the weekend, in an interview bringing up Epstein again. I mean, most of the people who responded to that interview responded with release the Epstein files.

So, they're having a hard time actually getting away from this story. But I can tell you they want nothing to do with this. And the hope is that, of course, with this D.C. takeover, with the federalization, with the fact that they are so focused on that and then moving into the Putin-Trump summit at the end of the week that they can try again to move away from the story. We'll see how successful they are.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, try, try again. I guess.

Kristen, thanks so much for the reporting tonight.

OUTFRONT with me now is the Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia. He's the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. I noted what Congresswoman Luna said, also, you know, Republican on the committee, about calling Acosta to testify.

[19:05:07]

Do you want a subpoena issued for Alex Acosta?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Absolutely. And we would support the congresswoman in her efforts. I've actually just already sent her a message, just earlier, just reaffirming that Democrats on the Oversight Committee would absolutely support any subpoena of Mr. Acosta. He was a central figure, probably knows more about what happened in the orig -- in the case and what and what was really a sweetheart deal, of course, for Jeffrey Epstein goes on, of course, to play a pair of very powerful role in the Trump administration.

I have very close friends with -- knows the president well, and so I think he should absolutely testify in front of both Democrats and Republicans so he can be asked a tough questions, and we can ensure that all the information about the Epstein case, the files, the documents are released to the public.

And this cover up that the White House is trying to essentially put on the American public can finally end.

BOLDUAN: Do you think there are enough Republicans on the committee to support a subpoena that it actually would happen?

GARCIA: Well, remember, when we actually subpoenaed the full documents. It was a Democrat motion that we actually got a couple Republicans to join us. And so, the motion can be made by anyone. And so, the chairman doesn't have to -- Chairman Comer doesn't have to agree to subpoena or support it. But if she decides to make that motion or if someone on our side makes that motion and there's enough support, we would support that. Congressman Luna motion, certainly unanimously.

And so that's something that we want to work with her on. She has been someone that believes, I know in transparency and accountability, and I know there are other Republicans who are also pushing to get the facts out.

We just want the truth out. And I think, like the congresswoman, we don't care at the end of the day, who gets implicated. We don't care what political party they are or how powerful they are, or how much wealth they have. The victims have to get justice. And Alex Acosta is someone that should be testifying in front of the committee.

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, in the name of transparency, why wasn't Acosta included in the first batch of subpoenas? I mean, what did happen behind the scenes? Youve got the Clintons, you've got -- you've got Mueller. You've got a whole -- you issued tons of subpoenas. Why not Alex Acosta if he's so central?

GARCIA: Well, we would have supported that. The reality is that that list of who actually got the subpoenas was actually put together by the Republicans on the committee and Democrats on the committee wanted to expand that list. We said, hey, if you're going to subpoena all these folks, we should also be issuing subpoenas for members of the Trump administration and folks that work with Donald Trump. They refuse to actually expand that list.

Now, we did force them to actually release the files, but they wouldn't expand their initial proposed list. And so any additional names, particularly one like Alex Acosta, would be a huge opportunity to get the facts and the truth out to the American public, and certainly information that I know the victims, many of the victims who are reaching out, also want out to the public and the community.

BOLDUAN: At the end of the day, do you expect anyone who has been subpoenaed with regard to this to actually testify? I was just looking the chairman, Chairman Comer said in a new interview about the Bill Clinton, the subpoena for Bill Clinton to testify, at least that he says, I've never lost a subpoena battle is what Comer says.

But do you actually think anyone's going to come to testify?

GARCIA: Look, I think people will come to testify on the subpoena, whether some of those folks end up taking the fifth. That obviously is something that will be decided by them and their lawyers and their own strategy on their own kind of legal strategy. But yeah, the subpoenas are legally binding.

People have to come in front. They have to be deposed. It's done in a bipartisan way. Both Democrats and Republicans will be at that table from the committee as far as what they choose to do when they arrive there and what they choose to answer, of course, is up to them.

But we would hope that people would be whoever is subpoenaed is going to be and give us as much information, be as factual as possible, and remember that the end of the day, we just want justice for those that have been impacted and the horrific, horrific crimes against these women and young girls.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, I mean, Acosta worked in the Trump administration, the first Trump administration. Do you think he knows something that would be harmful or embarrassing to the president here?

GARCIA: Well, I don't know how the person that essentially put together the sweetheart deal for Jeffrey Epstein and then goes on to work for President Trump in his administration as a cabinet secretary, wouldn't have additional important and relevant information to our work on the oversight committee and getting to the truth. And actually understanding why Donald Trump did a complete, complete flip on his position from campaign now as president.

We just want him to honor his campaign promise to release the Epstein files. And we just want to get the information out to the American public and to, once and for all, get justice for those that have been impacted. I would hope that Alex Acosta would come and testify before us. He has an open invitation to do so without a subpoena. But certainly, if Ms. Luna and other members of Congress want to move forward, we're ready to move forward.

BOLDUAN: Very interested to see what happens with this in the coming days. Congressman, thanks for the time. I appreciate it.

OUTFRONT with us now, Jamal Simmons, Gretchen Carlson and Arick Fudali. He's an attorney who represents 11 victims of Jeffrey Epstein. You guys were kind enough to sit here as we were listening to the congressman there.

I mean, Arick, how significant is it that you have a Republican congresswoman, Paulina Luna -- Anna Paulina Luna, who now is saying that she wants to have Alex Acosta come testify. How big of a deal is this do you think?

ARICK FUDALI, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING 11 EPSTEIN ACCUSERS: It's its significant, But I'll believe it when I see it. Weve seen this administration. Republicans say a lot of things about Epstein files, about the Epstein investigation, about how transparent they want to be about Jeffrey Epstein. And so far, we haven't seen anything.

So, you know, certainly, its significant that the name Alex Acosta is even being discussed because, in my opinion, as representing a lot of victims, I think if anyone should be subpoenaed in the entire world about Jeffrey Epstein right now, it's Alex Acosta.

BOLDUAN: Really?

FUDALI: Yeah, absolutely. He knows so much, and there are so many questions I would have for him.

BOLDUAN: That's my question for you. What questions do you have for him?

FUDALI: Well, the first question is why, why, why did you give a sweetheart deal? And frankly, I think sweetheart sort of underplays how what a travesty of injustice this was. Why did you give the most notorious predator of our time a deal that allowed him to continue to abuse underage women? Why did you ignore the alleged 36 underage victims who allegedly the federal investigators identified when giving him this plea deal that allowed him to escape a federal investigation, federal charges? And most significantly, why did you allegedly attempt to keep the secret?

There's been reporting that there was an email that he sent to the defense attorney on the case that ultimately said, I've instructed my team to not inform the victims of this plea deal. That is a very big deal. That is 101 when you were a prosecutor, you tell the victims what the plea deal is.

And anytime a prosecutor is working with a defense attorney to hide the plea deal from the victims, something is wrong there.

BOLDUAN: So, I mean, it's like, I mean, this is like going in the wayback machine, but it is so very relevant at this moment.

And the fact, Gretchen, just that Donald Trump really wanted to move away from this. If it had to do with the D.C. takeover or not, it was very clear he was calling it a hoax and wants to move away from this. And it's still -- I mean, Anna Paulina Luna is a huge supporter of the president. It is his base. That is not -- that will not, will not move away from this.

GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST: One thing I will just mention about back in the early 2000, the MeToo movement hadn't happened yet, much easier to hide this kind of behavior. Much easier to do this sweetheart deal that you talk about without repercussions. That's why it's not happening right now.

But I think what happened is Anna Paulina Luna went home to Florida. Florida has a huge MAGA base. This is where Alex Acosta is from.

She heard from her constituents and they said, what are you doing? Why is he not on this list? Where are the Epstein files?

I think she got an earful. And that is why she gave that interview down in Florida. But she's not alone. There's another Republican from Missouri, Eric Burlison, Congressman, he wrote on Twitter the other day, we are demanding records, taking depositions and putting officials under oath. The American people need to get to the truth. These are Republicans saying this. So, whoever thought that the Epstein files would be something that would bring Republicans and Democrats together on this, but I don't think this goes away now.

I mean, the one thing is Trump had the ability to skirt this with the D.C. story because the influencers who he also can't control were saying the D.C. move was a good one, and they got off the Epstein story. Now they're going to be right back on it.

BOLDUAN: It is words and actions, though, right? I mean, these you -- you have the words from the congresswoman, but it is the actions of the committee that is will be curious to see if they move.

And I meant that when I -- when I was speaking to the Democratic congressman, why is it that it's Anna Paulina Luna that's coming in saying that this is what she wants? Why aren't Democrats doing this?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think you just heard the congressman talk about Democrats. Ask for more people from the Trump administration to be on the subpoena list. The Republicans had a list that they did not want to include any Trump.

BOLDUAN: You can be a lot louder if you want to, as you know, Jamal. SIMMONS: They certainly can be. They certainly can be.

Listen, the tragedy about this is just immense, about what this means for individual lives. And so, the question that we all have to wonder is, why is it that the administration is also stonewalling so much? Because whatever it is that they are feeling sensitive about, Kate, is worse or more painful or more something than the pain that they're being inflicted that's being inflicted upon them by their friends and allies who are beating the crap out of them.

BOLDUAN: The White House just today asked -- Karoline Leavitt asked about the fact that the judge is not going to release the grand jury. She said that they were just they were disappointed and that's what they wanted.

But we well know that the president can take action himself to direct the Justice Department to release more files if they wanted to.

[19:15:04]

SIMMONS: Right. In the old days, the president wouldn't talk to the Justice Department. And he could always say, oh, you know, we don't do that. That's --

BOLDUAN: Good point.

SIMMONS: But this administration has decided that the attorney general is the president's lawyer. He tells the attorney general what to do. He doesn't have the same kind of hands-off approach previous presidents had.

CARLSON: The administration thought that they were going to be able to get this grand jury testimony to be released, and that that would be the end of it. It's not happening now.

BOLDUAN: Can you just put a fine point on this for us, Arick, which is what Alex Acosta offers that basically everyone else that's on the list, especially a grand jury transcript, is not going to offer.

FUDALI: Well, I think we can really cross-examine him, as the congressman said, that you can really dig in and get to the bottom of what actually happened here in 2007. What went into this plea deal? You know, I've said multiple times, Jeffrey Epstein is the only person I've ever seen who's been getting not only special treatment for decades as a notorious criminal, but even beyond the grave, he still gets special treatment. He is still treated specially by this administration, by the Department of Justice, by everyone involved.

Ghislaine Maxwell is still getting transferred to minimum security prisons. There still continues to be this effort by the administration and federal law enforcement to continue to allow this to just slide by. And it's not okay for the victims.

The victims want exposure. The victims want closure. And the more information that can be let out, whether it's from Acosta, whether it's just releasing these files, whatever it is, on behalf of the victims, get the get the information out there. Let the public know who facilitated who enabled Mr. Epstein, who perhaps even co-abused with Mr. Epstein.

But then let's just get some closure for these victims. Get Acosta in there, get the information out, and then let's let this go so the victims can sort of just move on in peace.

BOLDUAN: Give the victims something. I mean, that's the one thing that lingers out there and continuously does a hard shift over to the D.C. takeover, though I do want to ask you guys about it today, because we are watching this play out now. We're watching National Guard troops arrive. We're watching FBI on the -- on the streets of D.C.

Today, the D.C. mayor and the attorney general, Pam Bondi, were -- they met today and Bondi posted about afterward that they agreed, quote, there is nothing more important than keeping residents and tourists safe.

And then Mayor Bowser, let me play with the mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: How we got here or what the -- what we think about the circumstances right now, we have more police and we want to make sure we're using them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Kind of making this trying to make the most of the moment, making most of all of the law enforcement are coming in. What do you think of that message?

CARLSON: Well, keep in mind, this is an executive order, a federal executive order. I don't think she's going to go up to the microphone and say, hey, we're just going to defy it. And I think underneath you know, they would like more police presence, not necessarily the National Guard, but every little bit helps, right?

And so, I think that that's maybe the undertone of this as well. But big picture that we should all be aware of is that Trump chose D.C. on purpose because he has a certain amount of control over D.C., other cities, not so much.

For me, this is the slippery slope. Where does this go after this? Because there's a report today that he's putting together a task force of 600 units that would be deployed to other cities if they also need help.

BOLDUAN: And yes, D.C. is distinct and the mayor is dealing with that herself. But take another example of the mayor of Chicago asked -- Democratic mayor of Chicago asked -- asked how he would respond if President Trump would try to use the Insurrection Act to bring the National Guard to Chicago. Let me play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO: It's clear that the president of the United States of America is very much interested in insurrections. He led one. We will not bow down or succumb to his tyrant rage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: From the podium today, the White House downplayed that Trump wants to do anything, is looking anywhere beyond D.C. Is this something or is this not something?

SIMMONS: Donald Trump has never been a man of modest ambition. That is not something we have seen from him in public. He started down this path. We started in Los Angeles around immigration. Now he's going to Washington, D.C., and he's been focused on crime. We know that he's expanded military control on the border of some states from California, all the way over to Texas.

What makes us think Donald Trump's going to stop? He won't stop until he -- until someone stops him. And I'm not sure exactly how that occurs. I fully expect he will look for ways to go into other cities.

Look, I have great sympathy for the mayor of Washington, D.C. She is walking a tightrope that we cant believe. And one hand, she's got her citizens who don't -- who never voted for Donald Trump, who don't particularly trust Donald Trump. And now he is saying he's in charge of their policing.

On the other hand, she's, one, got to get more officers on the street. But two, she's got to keep the wolf somewhat at the door as close to the door as possible, because who knows what the first offer was that Donald Trump was going to do in Washington, D.C.

[19:20:02]

This may have been the best of the options that she had to deal with.

BOLDUAN: Guys, great to see you. Thank you so much.

Arick, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it.

OUTFRONT for us next, an exclusive CNN KFILE investigation. Everything we know about Trump and Epstein's relationship, flight logs, notebook messages and private photos tell a story Trump hasn't wanted the world to know.

Plus, there's more breaking news. It's a mad scramble behind the scenes of the Trump-Putin meeting. We'll tell you what we're learning tonight.

And all eyes on the South China Sea after a major collision between two Chinese warships now calls for revenge in the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:10] BOLDUAN: A KFILE in-depth CNN investigation Donald Trump has long claimed that he was no fan of Jeffrey Epstein, but KFILE's extensive reporting now shows the two shared a close social circle for nearly two decades, from private jet flights to high profile parties. And that's only part of the story. Photos, flight logs and court records help reveal how long their personal history really was.

KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is here with all of that.

And it is an extensive research and reporting that you all did. You've chronicled this relationship between Trump and Epstein from the '80s to, what, mid 2000s is, obviously, when their contact probably cut off. What's the most striking thing that you found that kind of contradicts this? Donald Trump is no fan of Jeffrey Epstein.

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. So, what we found, it really actually paints a portrait, starting, as you said, in the 1980s up to the mid-2000s. It paints this portrait of a long, enduring friendship. I think there were several associates who have called them best friends. Epstein himself said that he was Donald Trump's closest friend for ten years.

And we looked through these hundreds of hours or hundreds of hours of video, hundreds of photos. We went through documents from court files, exhibits from lawsuits. So, we really chronicled this whole relationship through time. And one thing that I found really interesting was these flight logs from Epstein's private jet, which were part of that investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell. And they really tell you a story of how close these guys are.

Look at just a few of them. This is in 1993, for instance. This is the same year that we found as well that Jeffrey Epstein attended Donald Trump's wedding to Marla Maples. Trump flew on that plane four times with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell between Palm Beach, where Mar-a- Lago is and where Epstein also owns a home.

Let's fast forward, then, to 1994. Trump flew from palm beach to Washington, D.C. with his then wife, Marla Maples. His daughter Tiffany, and a nanny before they returned to New Jersey that day.

In August 1995, just he and Eric were on board with Epstein and Maxwell again. They flew from Palm Beach to Teterboro in New Jersey, and then in 1997, January 1997, Trump flew with the pair from Palm Beach to Newark, New Jersey. All of these trips, eight in total, were documented in logs that I mentioned were from that trial.

BOLDUAN: You also took a look at what Donald Trump himself has said about Jeffrey Epstein. What did you find?

KACZYNSKI: Yeah, that's right. And one of the things that's always been so striking is that quote that he said in 2002 that we found in that "New York Magazine article where he said he was a terrific guy. He liked beautiful women just like him. And then that quote where he says, he likes many of them on the younger side. That was from an article entitled "Jeffrey Epstein, international money man of mystery" in "New York Magazine". Now, just two years later, we were going through Donald Trump's book,

and he had one called "How to Get Rich". And then he wrote in his book that somebody named mysterious Jeffrey had called him, and that you could see it right there. Thats the passage from his book. He says, Jeffrey calls in, but there's actually a lot of activity between these two. In 2004, one of the things that was seized from Jeffrey Epstein's home during that initial investigation to him in the mid-2000s were message pads. And on those message pads, there were two. If you look here, two messages from Donald Trump in November of 2004.

This is around the time the two of them actually were competing to buy a property in West Palm Beach. Trump ultimately won out. He beat Epstein. And this is allegedly part of what made their relationship deteriorate.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump talked about that as well.

Your review also -- I mean, you looked also through tons of photos and tons of video of Trump and Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell together, from Mar-a-Lago to here in Manhattan. Walk us through kind of some of those moments that you found.

KACZYNSKI: Yeah, Kate. And these images, they really speak for themselves. In November 1992, there's an image that a lot of people have seen, and it's of Trump and Epstein, and they're dancing there. You can see with models. I think it -- actually you can see Ghislaine Maxwell in the background. If you look, she was there just a second ago.

Just a year later, Trump, we had found previously, Trump was at -- Epstein was at Trump's wedding in 1993. That's the photo there on the left.

1997, you can see in that photo on the right, that's them at a Victoria's Secret Angels Event. And then in 1999, this is footage that I found in some archives. It was Trump and Epstein, and they're actually chatting at a Victoria's Secret fashion show in 1997. He was also photographed with Maxwell at a fashion show. These guys attended a lot of fashion shows together. It looks like.

And then, in February of 2000, there was an event at Mar-a-Lago that featured not only Trump, Epstein and Maxwell, but also Prince Andrew was also at this event.

[19:30:04]

And these images were initially published in "The Palm Beach Post" in the year 2000.

So, there's a lot of public appearances, and it definitely undercuts Trump's claim that he was not a fan and they were sort of just distant acquaintances.

BOLDUAN: So, what is the president saying about this?

KACZYNSKI: So we reached out to the White House. We asked them about all of this, and it's on CNN.com. If you read the timeline, it's very extensive. They didn't respond to any of the detailed questions that we sent. But Steven Cheung, who is the communications director for the White House, sent along a statement said, quote, the fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep.

So it's going to be interesting to see because he says they weren't close. He says he was not a fan, but we continue to just see more and more revelations come out.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and we've heard that similar statement from Steven Cheung many times about questions that linger.

It's great to see you. Great reporting as always. Thanks, Andrew.

Coming up for us, breaking news, military trucks and the National Guard right now gathering near the Washington monument on the National Mall. Trump's show of force in the city growing this hour. We have a reporter on the ground and Trump's pick to lead the nation's labor stats, pushing to suspend the jobs report, saying the numbers are flawed and only MAGA can fix it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

E.J. ANTONI, SENIOR FELLOW, UNLEASH PROSPERITY: I think that's part of the reason why we continue to have all of these different data problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:32]

BOLDUAN: Breaking news, we're following two major international stories tonight. Trump's high stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin and a massive collision between two of China's warships.

First, CNN has just confirming that the last-minute Trump-Putin meeting set off a mad scramble by U.S. officials to find a location, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is also just issuing a warning ahead of the meeting that he will not be part of, saying he has not seen any plan to end the war that would -- that would ensure a new war doesn't break out.

The White House, though, defending the decision to not invite Zelenskyy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: Look, only one party that's involved in this war is going to be present. And so, this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT covering this major story from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Kremlin controlled TV feasting on U.S. President Donald Trump's comments, calling Russia a, quote, warring nation ahead of his landmark summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon.

PLEITGEN: The U.S. president is heating up interest with loud statements, the host says. Trump said that it is impossible to defeat Russia. State TV with a countdown to the summit sending a clear message -- Russia is winning in the trenches, showcasing recent accelerating Russian advances in eastern Ukraine. Moscow saying its forces are close to taking several strategic towns there.

And the defense ministry releasing this video of evermore new recruits signing contracts with the military undergoing medical checks prepared to go into battle for Russia's president, while Ukraine deals with serious manpower shortages.

Putin will go to the summit in Alaska as a winner, who holds the strategic initiative, this analyst says. The Russian armed forces are moving forward. Ukraine is retreating and leaving its territories. This is the most important factor that will influence the general background and the results of the negotiations.

Just days ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, the Kremlin uncharacteristically silent. The last official comment coming last Friday when Moscow vowed it hasn't changed its position on Ukraine, meaning no quick ceasefire. But demands for a major territorial concessions as part of any long-term peace deal.

On Moscow's streets, folks optimistic Vladimir Putin will get results.

We support our president, this man says we are for Putin because he is our president, president of the Russian Federation. We are defending our position.

I think they will both have an equal position at this meeting, he says. But President Putin wont make concessions if they will harm his interests. Therefore, I think his position is quite firm.

A firm position bolstered by recent battlefield successes. Russia's leader recently showing little appetite for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Fred, thank you so much for that.

Also breaking tonight, two Chinese military ships colliding in the disputed South China Sea, which you see, you're going to see it right there. Tensions are high there tonight.

Ivan Watson is OUTFRONT from Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Chinese ships colliding at high speed. This crash took place on Monday in a tense part of the South China Sea.

Video released by the Philippine coast guard shows a China coast guard ship with a water cannon and a gray Chinese PLA navy ship, both appearing to pursue a coast guard ship from the Philippines. Chinese sailors hold a bumper at the front of the coast guard vessel when it suddenly smashes into the larger navy ship. Seconds later. No sign of those sailors on the heavily damaged bow of the Chinese coast guard ship.

Aggressiveness and incompetence, says 125-year veteran of the U.S. Navy.

[19:40:01]

TOM SHUGART, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: There's a saying in the fleet, you know, play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. And the PLA navy has been engaging in what certainly the U.S. Navy has characterized as pretty unprofessional operations for quite some time. And it seems like that may have come home to roost in this case.

WATSON: The incident took place near Scarborough Shoal, which both the Philippines and China claim. These contested waters, the scene of frequent confrontations which CNN witnessed firsthand last year.

It is just after sunrise and, as you may see, there is a large Chinese coast guard ship directly in front of this Philippines coast guard vessel.

It's a David and Goliath style contest where the Philippines faces off against the world's largest navy. That little boat in front is a Philippines resupply boat, and it is currently being pursued by one, two, three, at least four Chinese ships.

They blast the boat with water cannons. And it's not just ships from the Philippines and China that have come in close contact in the South China Sea in recent years. We're getting a close up look at a Chinese fighter jet. And it's been shadowing this U.S. Navy plane now for about 15 minutes.

CNN has also filmed U.S. and Chinese warships and planes operating in close proximity here.

CHINESE NAVY: U.S. aircraft, U.S. aircraft, this is Chinese navy warship. You are approaching me. Keep safe distance away from me over.

WATSON: After Monday's maritime collision, Chinese state TV issued this statement from the China coast guard. CHINESE STATE TV: The China coast guard took necessary measures such

as tracking, monitoring, blocking and controlling to drive away the Philippine vessels. Onsite operations were professional, regulated and legitimate.

WATSON: No official mention of the crash or possible casualties, exactly the kind of incident experts have long warned could happen when huge ships play a dangerous game of chicken.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And our thanks to Ivan Watson for that report.

OUTFRONT next, we have breaking news. We are seeing military vehicles and the National Guard gathering in D.C. right now. We're going to take you to the ground down there.

And also, OUTFRONT next, Trump's pick to be the next jobs numbers commissioner calls on ending monthly jobs reports. Is he right to question the data? A woman who held that job for years is our guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:48]

BOLDUAN: Breaking news, National Guard troops deploying to the Washington Monument moments ago, all part of President Trump's takeover of Washington, D.C.'s law enforcement.

Brian Todd is on the ground for us.

And, Brian, what's going on?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this is your first really confirmed and significant visual of the National Guard deployment and the increased federal law enforcement presence in the city of Washington. This is a series of five armored personnel carriers that have lined up here, basically at the foot of the Washington monument. The monument is about a block over my shoulder. You might be able to see it there.

These guys are lined up here now, as far as you know, where they're going tonight, whether they're going to patrol this area around the mall and the monuments or go to other neighborhoods. They are not saying they're referring us to their public information people. Weve tried to reach out to them and they've not gotten back to us. So the specific mission of these armored personnel carriers not clear tonight.

Now, what we have been told, though, guys, is that the overall mission of the National Guard will be logistics. It will be administrative, but they will have the authority to briefly detain people if it comes to that, if they're in a given situation where it requires them actually detaining people, while they won't necessarily have the power of arrest, they will be able to detain people, at least briefly, temporarily, in any given situation that might call for it.

Also, we can tell you as far as the deployment of their weapons is concerned they are -- they are not actually carrying guns on their person, rifles or anything like that on their person. But they will have them at the ready in their vehicles if need be.

But the plan right now, according to guard officials and others, is that they are not going to be carrying their weapons with them on the streets here. Let's go back down along the line here and see if we can't just show you a little bit more of this visual.

Again. This is, you know, we have been told about the increased federal law enforcement presence in the city. And this is really the first major visual that we have seen. You have some onlookers coming in kind of asking these people questions and posing for pictures. And we're going to see in earnest what the what the National Guard presence is going to be in the -- in the nights and days ahead as they really increase law enforcement presence in this city -- Kate.

BOILDUAN: Yeah. As it ramps up and what it looks and how it evolves.

Brian Todd, thank you so much.

Also breaking tonight is the question is, could there be no more monthly jobs reports? That was the threat from Trump's new pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics which issues those reports every month.

E.J. Antoni telling Fox Business in an interview that was published today this, "Until it is corrected, the BLS should suspend issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data."

Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, claiming, without evidence, that the July jobs numbers were rigged, and implied that McEntarfer manipulated it for political purposes.

OUTFRONT now is Erica Groshen. She held this very same position from 2013 to 2017.

Thank you so much for giving us the time tonight.

Not issuing a monthly jobs report, not only is it unprecedented, it's really against the law.

[19:50:01]

I mean, how much dysfunction do you think this would signal to the rest of the world?

ERICA GROSHEN, FORMER COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS: A huge amount of disruption. So you have to realize that the employment situation, which is the official title of that report, is the most important timely indicator of the U.S. business cycle of economic conditions. It affects financial markets all over the world, not just in the U.S.

So depriving those markets of this information would cause huge disruptions. It would increase uncertainty about what was going on. It would decrease -- it would reduce the quality of decisions made. And it would decrease trust in the U.S. and in the BLS.

Of course, also in, you know, nationally and internationally, you'd see higher interest rates. And I think you'd see very unhappy political donors.

BOLDUAN: That's an interesting point. You know, the day that President Trump fired your friend Erika McEntarfer, Antoni was on Steve Bannon's podcast, and he called her incompetent.

Let me play a little bit of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, PODCAST HOST: And have we put in our own person into BLS? Is a MAGA Republican that President Trump knows and trusts, are they running the Bureau of Labor Statistics yet, sir?

E.J. ANTONI, TRUMP'S NOMINEE FOR BLS COMMISSIONER: No. Unfortunately, Steve, we still haven't gotten there. And I think that's part of the reason why we continue to have all of these different data problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The thing is, is the position traditionally, it's not an ideological position. I mean, how concerned are you about, you know, he says that unfortunately there isn't a MAGA Republican in there. How concerned are you about having him now in this post? I mean, what is the damage one person can do at BLS?

GROSHEN: So, in the short run, not that much damage. The BLS commissioner alone has no access to any number before it's final. And there is a real a very important and carefully designed factory like process to get these numbers out fast. And in a -- so that they're really timely and really trustworthy.

So a -- an individual coming in there who doesn't know how all this works in advance and has no access to the process, really wouldn't be able to change anything very quickly. They could do things like trying to stop publication, I suppose that's not been an issue before and would probably violate -- I mean, it would violate Office of Management and Budget guidelines, directives for how statistical agencies operate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. I mean, it's just watching the watching the shoot the messenger that has been going on in recent weeks has been quite something.

Former Commissioner Groshen, thank you so much for coming on.

OUTRONT for us next, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, two New York power players with an interesting history and one rival weaponizing those ties.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:27]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, leading New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani sounding almost like a broken record, trying to tie his opponent, Andrew Cuomo, to Donald Trump.

Listen to Mamdani on the campaign trail today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Andrew Cuomo is ringing Donald Trump's cell. This is a former governor who is getting advice from the current president. He has spent more time criticizing me than he has in criticizing the legislation that Donald Trump has passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Andrew Cuomo denies reports that he asked President Trump to help him in this high profile race. But one thing is undeniable that Cuomo and Trump and their families have a long history.

Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAMDANI: Former Governor Cuomo has been conspiring with President Trump.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York's leading mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani has a new strategy.

MAMDANI: I have a responsibility to make the case everywhere.

CARROLL: Barnstorming the five boroughs in five days and trying to tie his opponents specifically former Governor Andrew Cuomo, to President Trump.

Mamdani capitalizing on a "New York Times" report saying Trump so concerned about a possible Mamdani win in November, was considering getting involved in the race and that the president had a call with Cuomo in recent weeks.

Cuomo, who is running as an independent, says the call didn't happen.

ANDREW CUOMO (I), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I can't remember the last time I spoke to President Trump. I did call and leave word after the assassination attempt, just expressing concern. I left word. I didn't speak to him at that time. I've never spoken to him about the mayor's race.

CARROLL: The reality is, the two men do share a history. Perhaps not a surprise, given New York City is politically a big small town. And the Cuomo and Trump name have been synonymous with it for generations.

Both men born and raised in Queens, a point Cuomo spoke about on "The Daily Beast" podcast in April.

CUOMO: What is the connotation your Queens guy? See, they'll never let us forget.

HOST: My point about the Queen -- the fact that you and Donald Trump have Queens in common is where are his vulnerabilities? Why have Democrats failed to puncture anything that he appears to be doing?

CUOMO: I don't think it's about him yet, right? It's about us. Let's look in the mirror.

CARROLL: Years ago, Trump's father, a politically connected real estate developer, rubbed elbows with Cuomo's father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, NY1 NEWS: We know that, you know, Trump was at a birthday party for Andrew Cuomo. We know that Trump was at one time the largest political donor to Mario Cuomo, the father. So, is that personal? Is that professional? It all starts to get really mixed up.

CARROLL: Cuomo described his relationship with Trump to a group of business leaders last week as a dysfunctional marriage. He certainly has been at odds with him over the years.

CUOMO: First of all, if he's sitting home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work, right?

CARROLL: Cuomo gained national attention in 2020 during the early days of the COVID pandemic with his televised briefings, where he often called for more federal resources and openly criticized President Trump's downplaying of the disease.

CUOMO: The president is attacking science. What a surprise. No surprise. He's been attacking science from day one.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Look, I think that was objectively a good moment for Andrew Cuomo.

CARROLL: Former New York city mayor, and Cuomo-Trump critic Bill de Blasio sees a striking similarity between the president and Cuomo.

DE BLASIO: What he understands and what he respects his strength. I mean, this is -- this is true of Trump. This is true of Cuomo.

CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Jason, thank you so much for that report.

And thank you all so much for joining us.

I'm Kate Bolduan.

"AC360" starts now.