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Zelenskyy Meets With Allies As He Prepares For "Any Scenario" At Summit; Veteran Democrats On The Party's Future; New Mamdani Ad Urges Cuomo To Release His Client List. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired August 14, 2025 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:32:54]
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: A face-to-face summit, a bilateral lunch, a potential joint news conference. While a flurry of preparations are underway at the Kremlin and the White House, the key player who will not be there, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met with another ally, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as he prepares for, quote, "any scenario".
On the ground in eastern Ukraine, the anxiety is especially palpable. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his desire clear -- permanent control of their land.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kyiv. So, Nick, what is the reality there as Ukrainians hold their collective breath and look towards Alaska?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it's interesting to hear U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio refer to how there needs to be some kind of stoppage of the fighting as a result of this bilateral summit. Also saying how the ground is changing hands as we wait for diplomacy to take action, I paraphrase there.
But a real reflection, I think, of the Russian progress across the eastern front line, we've seen ourselves over the last two weeks that villages that we heard or felt were under Ukrainian control suddenly overnight are accessible to Russian drones, sparking civilian evacuations, sparking a sense of a loss of control. And that really capitalized in the last three to four days, where there appears to have been a breakout, limited perhaps of Russian troops through Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian officials accept that at the highest level. But they played it down, saying these are very small numbers, and subsequently appeared now to say they have that under control. But it was a significant advance and a sign potentially that the tiny gains we've seen over weeks and months that are increasingly encircling important Ukrainian towns on the eastern front line might suddenly have a significant strategic impact.
That's the backdrop of the talks in Alaska. Talks that increasingly, if you listen to Putin and Trump, sound like the Kremlin are trying to phrase it more in a bilateral context, strategic offensive weapon treaties, praising Trump's efforts to work hard to get an end to the conflict.
[12:35:00]
But ultimately, we've heard Russia repeat its most maximalist demands, totally incompatible with what Ukrainian and European allies want. And the wider concern, Dana, is that even though Trump sounded very clear, capable to repeat his European allies' demands of a ceasefire first, no negotiating Ukrainian territory without Ukraine there, there are worries that when he's in the room with Putin, he'll end up agreeing to that position as well. Dana?
BASH: And so, given all of that, Nick, what is Zelenskyy's play right now?
PATON WALSH: I mean, ultimately, he's been really stuck for months since the February blowout in the Oval Office. He knows fully well that he cannot ever again incur the wrath of President Trump. Weapons, intelligence sharing, things that stop Russians, frankly, from getting to here, Kyiv, are so much down to Trump's general mood towards Zelenskyy personally.
So we've seen him issue multiple statements of gratitude towards the European allies who supported him alongside Trump, trying to lay down the European and Ukrainian position, clearly in Trump's mind, in a videoconference hosted out of Berlin yesterday. Trump clearly heard that, seemed to repeat a lot of what was being said, unclear how long it's necessarily going to last.
But for Zelenskyy, he simply has to continue to be grateful, to constantly speak to the Americans about what they would like to see out of this, be willing to come to a trilateral if Putin agrees. He's refused it in the past, as recently as May, and hopes somehow that whatever comes out of this Trump-Putin meeting is not so close to the Russian narrative that it becomes unpalatable here.
The Europeans will back him in refusing a deal, but ultimately, if Trump's unhappy, that can spell disaster for their military performance here.
BASH: Yes, I mean, I'm still back on that first word that you used in answer to my question, which is that Zelenskyy is stuck, and it really does sum up his position right now and the position of the Ukrainian people.
Thank you so much, Nick, for that report.
Coming up, Democrats are grappling with their path forward. I'll be joined by two successful Obama-era Democrats. There's an Easter egg in this tease. Stay with us.
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[12:41:48] BASH: Seven months into President Trump's second term, and Democrats are still trying to find their footing. I'm joined now by two veteran Democrats who I am thrilled to have right here in the studio. David Axelrod is a former senior adviser to President Obama and CNN chief political analyst. Rahm Emanuel is former Obama White House chief of staff, congressman, mayor, ambassador, and now a CNN senior political and global affairs commentator.
And you guys are also, can I say you're besties?
RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: It's all right (ph).
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, that's not good for either of our reputations, but it is what it is.
BASH: I think that shift to say all the answer (ph).
EMANUEL: We don't have a reputation.
BASH: Oh, I like that. You're already doing the Taylor Swift analogies. All right.
David, I do -- both of you, I want to start with -- I'm not sure if you saw what your former colleague and friend Dan Pfeiffer --
AXELROD: Yes.
BASH: -- wrote about. He was a senior adviser to Obama. He just published a piece and he called it Trump's Quiet Coup. And he lays out three parts. Part one, stealing the House through redistricting. Part two, a new and corrupt census. Part three, eliminating the Voting Rights Act.
AXELROD: Yes. Listen, and I've said this for 10 years now, the thing about Donald Trump is he believes that rules and laws and norms and institutions are for suckers. And you do whatever is to your advantage, however you need to do it. He desperately wants to keep control of the House because he doesn't want any oversight.
And he thinks back to what happened the last time Democrats had the House when he was president. And I think that he will do whatever he thinks can give him an edge in these midterms, which by historical standards he should lose.
EMANUEL: I would pick up on the last point. This election, the midterm, when both parties control either side -- both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue, is a verdict election. And he knows what the jury is going to issue, the American people. So rather than talking about redistricting, I would advocate talking about reducing the price of food and affordability. And he doesn't want that conversation.
And I do think both Donald Trump --
AXELROD: Low candidate mode. EMANUEL: I do think Donald Trump and the entire Republicans are scared of the American people on their view on the One Big Beautiful Bill, immigration. And they know exactly -- if they were confident, they would run on it.
BASH: OK, but you're talking within -- you're coloring within the lines. And the point that --
EMANUEL: I --
AXELROD: That's only by mistake in his case.
BASH: Yes.
EMANUEL: And since I'm colorblind, that's really hard for me to do. OK.
BASH: Are you really?
EMANUEL: No.
BASH: Pfeiffer is -- the point Pfeiffer is making is that he's just -- never mind not coloring within the lines, he's just --
AXELROD: Yes, but that is his modus operandi.
BASH: So what should -- what can Democrats do about that? Because you're --
EMANUEL: Well, it's not --
BASH: -- both followers.
EMANUEL: Listen, it's not a single thing. It's not a single thing. Governor Newsom is doing exactly what -- a piece of this, staying on message, forcing the Republicans that are in vulnerable seats to defend a certain set of things, like their vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill and other pieces of this.
So the idea that this is a singular thing -- and look, he is changing the rules mid-game, and the Supreme Court hasn't permitted him to do that. And I would hit him on multiple fronts, but the core element of this is bringing the argument back to the terrain that is most favorable to us --
AXELROD: Yes.
EMANUEL: -- which is on the --
AXELROD: From a message standpoint, that's absolutely right.
[12:45:10]
BASH: And I should say, as an Illinois boy, we should just set the record that --
AXELROD: Yes.
BASH: -- their gerrymandering has been two-plated that game.
EMANUEL: A hundred -- I have participated in --
BASH: Most gerrymandering state.
EMANUEL: Yes. The question is it was done exactly when the census data was done --
BASH: Yes. OK.
EMANUEL: -- not mid-cycle, not mid-game.
AXELROD: And I don't know actually what currency that has with voters.
EMANUEL: Right.
AXELROD: But --
BASH: Yes.
AXELROD: -- your point is such an important one, which is you say Democrats are rule followers. This is a disadvantage. Democrats actually believe in rules and laws and norms and institutions, and it creates a kind of asymmetric warfare because the other guy is willing to do anything.
EMANUEL: Well, you got to make --
AXELROD: And that's a problem.
EMANUEL: You've got to flip it, which is part of any strategy. You've got to flip it into a negative, which is do you really need more politics or do you need more progress? Do you need more redistricting or more reduction in costs? And you've just got to make it an advantage, given that I think that, in fact, it all plays out.
It's not going to be a great thing --
AXELROD: And you have to say it all with alliteration. That's really an important part of it.
EMANUEL: I didn't know that you actually passed 8th grade. That's a big, big deal. That's a big accomplishment.
BASH: Somebody who is closer to 8th grade than any of us here is the top candidate or the Democratic nominee for New York mayor, and that's Zohran Mamdani. I just want to play a little bit of a new ad that he has or a video that he has out about Andrew Cuomo.
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ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK STATE REPRESENTATIVE: In 2022, Cuomo started Innovation Strategies, LLC, to represent individuals and corporations in a variety of matters. Definitely not vague. Last year, it raked in more than half a million dollars. Who paid for Cuomo's services? He refuses to say.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BASH: So I wanted to play that for lots of reasons. Number one, the substance of it, but maybe even more importantly, the style and the way that he's communicating. You guys communicated in a very different, but at that point, very of-the-moment way --
AXELROD: Yes.
BASH: -- which is in part how you helped get Barack Obama elected. How does this -- you guys have been around a long time, and this is maybe a different way of communicating.
AXELROD: This guy is a great communicator. In this era, in this time, he comes across as authentic. His videos don't look like the typical political BS that people are used to. And one of the reasons he did well was that --
EMANUEL: This is from a former TV consultant.
AXELROD: This is --
BASH: Yes.
AXELROD: Yes, I made a lot of those BS ads. But he is authentic at a time when a lot of people are hungry for that, particularly younger people who he has very much inspired in this race (ph).
EMANUEL: You know, let me say one thing. Take away -- I actually think -- and it's a fair question about style or the TikTok or kind of the ads and stuff like that, but there's actually a substance to his critique, which is why he got elected. It wasn't just good commercials or TikTok.
The fact is people are making serious money, six figures or sometimes less but sometimes more, and can't afford to live. And if all it is a style question and not to the substantive of the critique, and I have disagreements with his solutions to -- I don't think New York City is set up to run a grocery store.
I don't think there's a way to do free busing. Except there's a way to do it, but not the way he's discussed. But the critique --
AXELROD: He's asking the right questions.
EMANUEL: And also making a critique on the sense of affordability --
AXELROD: Yes.
EMANUEL: -- which is also the lesson. And if you look at not just his election, but you look at the candidacy in New Jersey, you look at the candidacy in Virginia for governor, that's exactly the core substance --
AXELROD: It's the issue of our time. EMANUEL: Yes.
BASH: We have to sneak in a quick break, but you spoke with Mamdani.
AXELROD: I did.
BASH: Anything you want to report?
AXELROD: No. I mean, I found him to be very bright, very thoughtful. We talked about some of these issues that Rahm raised, but the thing that struck me more than anything else was that he was a pretty good listener and he was interested, and it suggested to me that this is a guy who's going to grow.
EMANUEL: As a former mayor, one of the pieces of the job is not only -- a couple things. One, analyze the problem the public is facing, address it. And two, having a personality that fills the office and looks like you own the office, not the office owns you, and he's pulling that off.
AXELROD: Yes. And that's clear. Just sitting with him, you can see that quality.
BASH: Don't go anywhere. We're going to sneak in a quick break. We have a lot more to discuss when we come back.
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[12:54:06]
BASH: As promised, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel are back here at the table. I just want to tell our viewers that during the break you were making fun of my very bright suit, but here's a pop quiz. Why am I wearing orange today? You better pass.
AXELROD: Rahm?
EMANUEL: Taylor Swift.
BASH: There you go! He gets a lollipop.
EMANUEL: U.S. history for 200.
AXELROD: Wow. That's amazing.
BASH: I'm actually impressed. I was not sure you were going to know the answer.
EMANUEL: Thank God for my daughters.
BASH: OK, back to serious, more serious discussion here. The midterms. You ran the DCCC and you were in charge of getting Democrats elected. You successfully helped Democrats win the House back, back in the day. And of course you did all of the political campaigns for Democrats across the country.
If you were in charge of that right now, what would be the most important thing that Democratic strategists and candidates should do?
[12:55:00]
AXELROD: Well, he did the most important thing, which was recruitment, was the first thing.
EMANUEL: That's -- I mean, look, in this election cycle, in this politics right now, the messenger is the message. Having their -- and you're seeing it play out in New Jersey and Virginia governor's races, those candidates coming from a military background, that opens up a group of voters that Democrats don't often get. And then focusing exactly what the voters are talking about, which is, in my view, the cost of living and affordability.
You know, the American dream is unaffordable and people feel like they've gotten the shaft here. The other piece that I would say that's also is, in these swing districts and swing states, independent voters are number one. You have a rubber-stamp Republican Congress. Put Donald Trump and the Republicans on trial.
BASH: Real quick.
AXELROD: I agree with accountability. There needs to be some sort of check. Even if you like some of the things Trump are doing, you don't want them to be unbridled and unchecked. And so I think there's going to be an audience for that message.
BASH: So good to see you. This was fun. Come back.
EMANUEL: OK, but only if the coat (ph) stays on.
AXELROD: Yes. Oh, yes, at least give us sunglasses if you're going to wear a suit like that.
BASH: I'm going to give you a different quiz, so you have to say in your tone (ph).
EMANUEL: AA -- AAA battery.
BASH: Yes, de-battery.
Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after the break.
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