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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
California Governor Announces Plan To Redraw Congressional Maps; Israel In Talks With Several Countries About Taking In Displaced Palestinians; Ukrainians Rally In Kyiv Ahead Of Trump-Putin Summit. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 15, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And Washington, D.C. is at its worst point, and it will soon be at its best point. You're going to have a very safe -- you're going to have a crime-free city. I mean, I say that. You're going to have virtually a crime-free city.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And California Governor Gavin Newsom -- he's now moving ahead with his push to redraw the state's congressional maps. Newsom says that he hopes to put the changes up for statewide votes come November. The moving coming in direct response to the Republican effort to reshape House maps in the state of Texas.
Meanwhile, ICE agents -- immigration agents -- they actually made arrests just outside the Los Angeles venue where Newsom was giving remarks on Thursday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming that migrants accused of committing crimes -- they were believed to be in the area, which is what prompted this response, according to the secretary.
Steve Contorno with more on this redistricting battle.
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STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: California Democrats, on Thursday, formally announced their plans to push for new congressional maps in their state in an effort to counteract what Republicans are trying to do in Texas with their congressional maps.
Governor Gavin Newsom saying that he will ask voters this fall to override the state's independent redistricting commission, a step he said is necessary because of what President Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to do in other states.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across this country. Not just in Texas but in Missouri where J.D. Vance went just a week ago. In Indiana. In places like Ohio, in places like Florida. We need to stand up -- not just California; other blue states need to stand up. We need to be firm in our resolve.
CONTORNO: Newsom is already facing some notable resistance in his state, including from former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the League of Women Voters, and Charles Munger Jr., the son of the late Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman. Munger put more than $12 million into a ballot referendum that put the independent redistricting commission in place in 2010. And he told CNN that he intends to "vigorously defend the reforms he helped pass."
Meanwhile, Texas Democrats signal they're ready to end their standoff and return to the state. They have been out of the state since August 3 but said that they would be willing to go back to Austin if the Texas legislature adjourns on Friday, as they are planning to do, and if California moves ahead with its redistricting proposals, which it says it's ready to do.
Texas Rep. Gene Wu saying in a statement, Texas House Democrats broke quorum and successfully mobilized the nation against Trump's assault on minority voting rights. Facing threats of arrest, lawfare, financial penalties, harassment, and bomb threats, we have stood firm in our fight against a proposed Jim Crow congressional district. Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we're prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and take this fight to the courts."
Once Democrats return to the state, Republicans are expected to move swiftly and deliver Donald Trump the victory he has long sought.
Steve Contorno, CNN, Chicago.
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SANDOVAL: Still ahead here on EARLY START, reporters asking President Trump for help in getting foreign journalists into Gaza to cover that worsening crisis. Does he support it? And also, conflicting statements about alleged talks over resettling Palestinians from Gaza. All that and more after the break.
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[05:38:25]
SANDOVAL: The U.S. president says that he supports allowing international journalists into Gaza. When reporters asked Donald Trump if he would pressure the Israeli government to let them inside to cover the humanitarian efforts underway, he said, "I'd like to see that happen."
The Israeli government has blocked foreign journalists from reporting independently in the enclave since the war started. Palestinian reporters from major news outlet, like Al Jazeera -- they have become the world's eyes and ears of those suffering inside Gaza while at the same time also struggling to survive in the same horrific conditions.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reporting that at least 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
And meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister says that Israel is in talks with several countries about taking Palestinians displaced by the war, but some countries -- they seem to be pushing back, saying that those discussions are not happening.
Here is CNN's Oren Liebermann with more.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has several times talked about what he has described as a voluntary emigration from Gaza -- something he says other countries should accept and be willing to take in Palestinians who want to leave. But he's never given any real details on this, and it's never been clear if this plan might actually come to fruition or if there's even any traction behind it.
What we've learned from a senior Israeli official that Israel is in talks with at least five different countries about the possibility of this plan. Those countries include South Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, Somaliland, and Indonesia. The problem is a number of these countries have already rejected these talks.
[05:40:07]
For example, South Sudan, just a few days ago, rejected the idea of talks about the displacement of Palestinians. Somaliland did the same several months ago. And Indonesia, within the last week or two, said they could take in about 2,000 Gazans but it would be for temporary treatment and then they would return to Gaza.
So it's not clear that any of the countries with which this official tells us Israel is discussing this plan are willing to entertain this beyond mere discussions.
Still, Netanyahu is pursuing this. We first really heard about this in terms of -- in terms of a goal of Israel when it was, in fact, President Donald Trump who mentioned it earlier in his term at the beginning of the year, but he appears to have since cooled on the idea.
Israel, meanwhile, is pushing forward insisting this is not an ethnic cleansing of Gaza -- it's not forcing people. Netanyahu is saying this would be voluntary.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): First of all, inside Gaza we are not pushing them out either, but we are allowing them to leave. It is happening very slowly. You need the receive countries. We are talking to several countries. I can't detail it here.
The most natural thing would be for all those who say they're concerned for the Palestinians and want to help the Palestinians to open their doors. Why are they coming and preaching to us? Open your doors. LIEBERMANN: Israel has never laid out a clear day-after plan for Gaza. What would happen for more than two million Palestinians in the besieged territory. This potentially is as close to a day-after plan for what to do with the Palestinians in Gaza as Israel has ever come. The problem is it's unclear if this really has any possibility of happening. Not to mention the fact that for this to happen you need Palestinians willing to permanently leave their home and permanently leave Gaza, and it's simply not clear that that's the case.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.
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SANDOVAL: Well, Donald Trump -- he is set to meet with Vladimir Putin in just a matter of hours, and the stakes have perhaps never been higher as he seeks to bring an end to Russia's war on Ukraine. Our coverage continues here on EARLY START.
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SANDOVAL: And welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. And here are some of the stories that we are closely watching today.
U.S. President Donald Trump -- he is set to host Russian President Vladimir Putin for a rare one-on-one summit in the coming hours. The two leaders -- they will be meeting on U.S. soil in Anchorage, Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine. President Trump says the talks are aimed at setting the table for another meeting that would involve Ukraine's president.
And President Trump -- he is calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump to meet possibly on Friday. Mr. Zelenskyy not scheduled to attend the summit though. Ukraine's president says that he is discussing possible outcomes about the Trump-Putin talks when he met with the British minister in London -- prime minister in London.
And demonstrators in Kyiv -- they are now urging Mr. Trump not to forget the prisoners of war and also those missing in action. They're holding a rally outside the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. They also sent a letter to the embassy saying that the summit should focus on bringing home Ukrainian prisoners of war as well as troops that are missing in action.
Let's go live now to Kyiv and bring in Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian journalist and also CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab. Nataliya, welcome on what it an absolutely critical day in this war.
NATALIYA GUMENYUK, UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST, CEO, PUBLIC INTEREST JOURNALISM LAB: Um, hello.
I should probably say Ukrainians, of course, cannot ignore this meeting but the large public isn't very much expecting anything connected to the end of the year. Yes, there are things Ukraine can expect, like return of the prisoners. But this meeting is largely things as the attempt of Donald Trump to organize his relations with Vladimir Putin, but also why Ukrainians are not truly thinking seriously that this is a serious attempt to bring peace as there is no sign that the Russian president is willing to stop. He has clear goals.
SANDOVAL: Yeah.
GUMENYUK: The wants the United States to stop any support of Ukraine. That's his, like, initial goal. And, of course, he tried to play in this game, therefore this meeting is -- I've spent the last night and also talking to a lot of military and also seeing the -- observing the situation from the control center on what's going on in front line. It's as active as usually.
However, of course, there is some kind of disappointment shortly to explain that what Vladimir Putin wanted some kind of time for getting out from the isolation that's really happening on the U.S. soil.
SANDOVAL: Nataliya, let me ask you this. How would Ukrainians gauge any potential progress to come out of this meeting -- and that, of course, is considering what you just said, which so far, we have seen no signs of any sort of concessions from the Russian leader?
GUMENYUK: So the hope is like searching between the current and the worst, and a couple of the worst scenarios is if there would be stronger pressure from the United States on Ukraine after this summit to give up or maybe it would remain on the current stage.
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There is a bit of the irony, of course, also about the meeting in Alaska. Ukrainians know very well the Russian kind of modern culture and since Alaska was sold to the U.S. by Russia, in the Russian public culture Alaska is like Crimea, which has been occupied and is considered kind of our territory -- what you want to return. So there are a lot of the jokes about kind of can Donald Trump return Alaska to Russia instead of Crimea.
But still, it's quite tragic for the people in the occupied areas because they probably would be concerned about any kind of trade off. But there is no signs that Ukrainians are ready to do that, mainly because it brings nothing as the alternative is just continuation of the occupation without any kind of condition and improving the situation.
SANDOVAL: Nataliya, because there are so many possible outcomes here let's discuss one of them -- particularly one that the Ukrainian government does not want to see play out. And specifically, do you think that we could possibly reach a point in this war where President Zelenskyy may be forced to keep perhaps an open mind and entertain a land-for-peace deal? And that's only if it would have the support of President Trump.
GUMENYUK: So the idea about any kind of concessions about the Ukrainian territory doesn't really make sense because it's largely symbolic and unpopular. It doesn't change the situation on the ground. And we can believe that would be the moment when the sides are exhausted and there is a kind of ceasefire without any agreement. But going for something which is symbolic, unpopular, and brings nothing good doesn't really make sense.
So for Ukraine, the whole point --
SANDOVAL: Yeah.
GUMENYUK: -- is about whether the United States would put more pressure on Ukraine, withdraw some support, withdrew some money, withdrew some military aid. And, of course, Ukraine try to play this game as well that it's not really happening and there would be maybe some different type of concessions.
But I think Ukraine would be ready for a temporary ceasefire, which the country demonstrated earlier. Let's see if the Russians would agree on that.
SANDOVAL: Yeah, especially if it could come with possible security guarantees, which we know is high on the priority list.
Nataliya, in your reporting do you see Ukraine trusting any sort of commitment from Russia when it comes to those security guarantees?
GUMENYUK: Uh, so, uh, I think that the security guarantees that even a bit out of table because the discussion about NATO is not there. What Ukraine considers a security guarantee realistically; it's the amount of the defense capabilities Ukraine can use in case of Russia attacks. So general scenario which Ukrainians are looking for in quite a few years if that would be the pose.
The risk is that Russia would continue to arm itself, but the Ukrainian partners won't do so. So the Russia in the end would be in the stronger position and would be capable to attack again and when Ukraine is, let's say, demobilized.
So what Ukraine is working especially very, very hard for the last half a year to find this alternative, which is not about, like, foreign troops coming into Ukraine or some kind of the peacekeepers, but a clear developing the capacities in which all the Russian military operation would be irrelevant or Ukraine's would be -- Ukraine would be capable to answer very, very fast with participation of the Ukrainian partners. That would be the best. But also there is chance that it would be lesser support from the international partners. That's how it's seen.
SANDOVAL: Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you very much for all your reporting in this.
GUMENYUK: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: And with that we'll be right back.
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[05:58:22]
SANDOVAL: Weather forecasters expecting Tropical Storm Erin to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season this weekend. Erin now tracking west over the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center expecting it to slowly strengthen, becoming a hurricane of category three or higher by late Saturday.
Erin now the fifth-named storm of the 2025 Atlantic season. Experts say that it is simply too early to know if it will pose any threat to land.
And Japan now marking the 80th anniversary of its surrender to -- that actually ended World War II. In Tokyo, the country's emperor and prime minister took part in a solemn ceremony. The events coinciding with a series of memorials across Hiroshima and Nagasaki where survivors from the nuclear bombs advocated for nuclear disarmament.
Japan's surrender sparking celebrations in allied nations while it was a somber day within Japan. The U.S. and U.K. also expecting to commemorate the end of the war today.
Elsewhere, robots -- they are competing in the world's first Humanoid Robot Games in China. This unique competition -- it actually kicked off in Beijing on Thursday. About 280 teams from 16 countries going head-to-head in 26 different events, and that included sports like soccer, track and field, and even boxing.
During the opening ceremony the robots showing off their martial arts skills. Some of them even playing instruments and, yes, even dancing some hip-hop.
One human team member describing the rules of the game.
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GAO QIAN, DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, BEIJING DANCE ACADEMY: We definitely based it on the original Terracotta warrior, including its appearance, color, and material texture. At the same time we had to take measurements for the robot. Since the robot wears the costume with added weights it cannot exceed three kilograms. We also had to address heat dissipation on its back and ensure the robot's 40 degrees of joint flexibility. Our costume cannot interfere with the robot's joint movements.
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SANDOVAL: The games are going to be featuring about 487 matches before they wrap on Sunday.
From the entire team, I want to thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. Our coverage of today's historic meeting in Alaska continues with "CNN THIS MORNING."
