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Putin is Bluffing That Sanctions are Nothing Says Zelenskyy; Federal Agents, National Guard on D.C. Streets; White House Orders Review of Smithsonian Museums. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 13, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: NINA KHRUSHCHEVA, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF FORMER SOVIET LEADER NIKITA KRUSHCHEV: -- dealmaker, he's now going to convince Putin and then he'll convince everybody else. I'm concerned just because I don't think Putin is willing to blink. I think Putin is not going to blink. And I think he's ready to continue the war because he thinks he's doing quite well on the battlefield. The only thing he may agree to, in my view, is the partial ceasefire in land and sea, which actually may work even better for him because the drones -- Ukrainian drones attacking Russia, but Ukraine cannot really defend the territory in the ground while Russia could push.

But for Trump, this is -- in some ways, it is a vanity project. The project that he sits down Putin and then he convinces him to end the war, that may not happen. But ultimately, it's just a -- from my point of view, it's a continuation of the same war of attrition that we've seen at least in the last two years.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Professor Nina Khrushcheva, the professor of International Affairs at the New School in New York, thanks very much for joining us. We always appreciate your wisdom. Thank you very much.

KHRUSHCHEVA: Thank you.

BROWN: And coming up, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're going to focus what's happening where we are right now, Wolf, in Washington, D.C. And see -- in fact, a member of the Washington, D.C. City Council joins us and weighs in on the federal agents and National Guard troops patrolling his streets right now as part of President Trump's federal takeover.

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[10:35:00]

BROWN: Happening now, hundreds of federal law enforcement officials are in the nation's capital and patrolling the streets after President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, D.C. That's happening despite data that shows violent crime is down in the city from 2023 when we saw a big spike at that year. Mayor Muriel Bowser is now changing her tone on the takeover. She had not criticized the president directly, but then that changed last night.

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MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON, D.C.: What you shouldn't do is wait for me to tell you what to do. This is a time where community needs to jump in to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect the Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And joining us now is Charles Allen of the D.C. City Council. He represents Ward 6, which includes Capitol Hill and parts of downtown D.C. So, Councilman, what is your response to the mayor's seemingly change of tone there?

CHARLES ALLEN, WASHINGTON, D.C. CITY COUNCIL: Well, I think I'm personally glad that she said it. I think it's important that we call this out for what it is. This is an attack on the District of Columbia and our autonomy here, putting in military members, putting in federal law enforcement, it doesn't make us safer.

We've been able to drive a 50 percent reduction in violent crime in our city over the last couple years, and that's because the council, the mayor, our police department, and partners across communities have worked hard to make that change. We have to continue that work and that's what's going to happen. But bringing in members of the military, bringing in federal law enforcement does not make our city safer, and it's dangerous. And I think that the only reason it's happening here in D.C. is simply because it can.

We don't have the same type of rights. We don't have statehood. We don't have members in Congress. And the president is able to control our city the same way he may be trying to control other cities in the very near future.

BROWN: So, you say it doesn't make. D.C. Safer. The administration says more than 20 people were arrested on Monday for homicide, firearms, offenses, stalking, possession of a high-capacity magazine, and more. These were arrests by federal agents that they put on the streets. So, what do you say to residents of D.C. who pointed to that and say, well, actually this is making us safer?

ALLEN: Well, those were arrests made with MPD and every night, every day. MPD is out in community. They make arrests, and they are working hard to make our city safer. If what we were actually talking about is a stronger partnership between the federal government, then I think that would be a different conversation. But this isn't a conversation. This is about control. There are any numbers, a way that we partner with and work with federal agencies every single day. That's not what's happening here.

If they truly wanted to make a difference, what you'd see is the federal government working to make sure that judges, for our courts in D.C., which are federally run for our local courts. We have a 20, 25 percent vacancy of our judges. They can only come from appointments from the president and confirm by the Senate, yet they're not doing it. There's so many ways the federal government could be a good partner. This is not that.

BROWN: The D.C. Police Union put out a statement saying that it was in favor of this. If the decision by the White House ultimately does reduce crime in D.C., are you willing to give any credit to the White House for that?

ALLEN: Well, you're using the phrase ultimately. Again, we have been driving crime down for the last several years. We've seen a 50 percent reduction, and that's a credit to the mayor, the council, our officers, and MPD, the chief all working to make that change. Those are the things that we want to continue doing.

Bringing in a federal presence, federal law enforcement and the military on the streets of an American city, that is dangerous and it is wrong. The politics of public safety are very powerful. And so, we're not having a conversation about what it means to have the military on our streets. Instead, we're talking about public safety and that's their goal all along.

BROWN: I just want to clarify, you said at 50 percent drop, I just want to understand where you're getting that number. I believe ours is 35 percent from 2023 to 2024.

ALLEN: If you look at this timeframe compared to over the last two years, it's about a 50 to 52 percent reduction in violent crime over the last two years.

BROWN: So, last year you faced a recall effort, as I know you well know, over your handling of crime in D.C. during the pandemic. And that recall effort pointed to cuts in the police budget where leniency for those convicted of crimes. It fell short and you kept your job. Now, that we are in this moment where crime is a major focus again, do you regret any of those decisions that you had made?

ALLEN: Well, that effort not only fell short, it didn't even make the ballot. So, let's be very clear about that.

BROWN: Fell short by less than 1,000 I believe.

[10:40:00]

ALLEN: Correct. It didn't even qualify to make it to a ballot. So, it fell short and failed. Because people know that when we're working hard, D.C. has some of the strongest and smartest laws on public safety in our country and making sure that we are focused on holding violent offenders accountable, we know that we will do better with public safety when we have swift and certain consequences for anybody who commits harm in our city, whether you're a young person or an adult, and that's what we want to work toward.

But we also know that we can stop violent crime and we can make communities safer by investing in those communities. Too often what you see with the politics of public safety is this tribalism of putting people into these two camps of an either or approach. And I and the district believes in a both and and. We want to see accountability when harm is done. We want to make sure that somebody who does harm and hurts our community there's accountability that comes with that. But we also know that there's an and to that. And that is investing in the families, investing in communities, investing in our city.

D.C. is a beautiful place. It is an amazing place where more than 700,000 people call at home that is larger than the population of Vermont, larger than the population of Wyoming. It's about the same size as the population of Alaska. This is a beautiful place that we call home. To see a president just completely casting a dystopian vision that does not exist in reality is very frustrating. And I think it's important that we tell all your viewers, D.C. is a wonderful place. It is a place that we want to welcome visitors, we welcome people who move into our city, but there are generations of Washingtonians that have worked hard to make this such a great place that we celebrate every single day.

But I also think every American should be concerned about what they're seeing because this is a risk, not just a D.C., it's happening right now here, but this is a risk to every city, every state, every American, because this is fundamentally un-American what is happening.

BROWN: All right. D.C. Councilman Charles Allen, thank you very much for your time.

ALLEN: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: And I'll second what you have to say. I've been living in this area now since college and I love Washington, D.C. and it's just very, very special place.

ALLEN: I'm proud to call it home and proud to raise my family.

BLITZER: And you make a very important point that the 700,000 people who live in the District of Columbia are all U.S. citizens, and that's a larger population than several states out there, yet they don't have statehood. Why don't they have statehood?

ALLEN: Well, statehood would allow us to be the full Americans that we are.

BLITZER: Right.

ALLEN: Again, we are -- we pay federal taxes. We can fight and die for our country. We are treated like second class citizens. I think if you look at the legacy of racism, if you look at why the district has been held back for so long, it's the only capital city in the western world where the residents of that capital city have no representation in its Congress. That's wrong. It needs to be fixed. And I think one of the best ways to do that, D.C. should be the 51st State in our country.

BLITZER: We have a delegate in the House of Representatives with no voting rights and a two shadows senators with no voting rights either. It's really pretty simple.

ALLEN: Eleanor Holmes Norton does incredible work with no vote. But we do not have representation. We do not have a vote. And that is fundamentally un-American. It is anti-American.

BLITZER: Very important. Thanks very much for joining us.

ALLEN: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Appreciate it. All right. And just ahead under review, the White House checks if the Smithsonian Museums here in the nation's capital and the exhibits align with President Trump's new directives. The concerns for historians, we have details, new information coming up next.

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[10:45:00]

BLITZER: New this morning, an iconic American institution on notice. The Trump administration has ordered a review of the Smithsonian's museums and exhibits.

BROWN: The White House says it wants to ensure the nation's major museum system aligns with the president's directive to, quote, "celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions." That is what the White House says.

Graham Bowley joins us now. He's an investigative reporter on The New York Times Culture Desk. So, Graham, you reported on this story, what impact could this directive have?

GRAHAM BOWLEY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Good morning. Well, it's certainly a special moment. It's probably been a while coming. Through this year, President Trump has made clear he wants to redraw the Smithsonian. He issued an executive order in March setting out his vision for a more celebratory view of American history, less divisive, less ideological as he put it. And the -- and then, in the interim, we saw a move, he fired the director of the National Portrait Gallery, which the Smithsonian resisted and insisted that it was independent. And indeed, it has traditionally operated as an independent institution outside the executive branch. Nevertheless, the director left.

In the interim, we've seen some moves, which seem to some like self- censorship by the Smithsonian to change exhibitions, displays at the museums, and that seemed, to some in the Smithsonian leadership, they hoped to kind of curb the administration's interest in the Smithsonian, but that wasn't to be. And yesterday this letter, which was sent by the White House to the secretary of the Smithsonian really sets out in a great forceful way that it is now going to be reviewing and giving an ultimatum to the Smithsonian to change not just parts of exhibits, but everything. It's going to review everything.

It's looking at current and planned exhibitions. It's going to send people into the Smithsonian to interview curators. It's given a timeline, 30 days for the first material to be presented to the White House from within the Smithsonian Museums, and 120 days for the first corrections to be made to how it presents the nation's story at the Smithsonian.

BLITZER: And as you know, Graham, the Smithsonian Institution was established by Congress as an independent federal trust, and it's governed by the organization's Board of Regents, a bipartisan group of 17 individuals. Can the White House do what is being suggested right now legally?

BOWLEY: Many, many historians saying are saying it can't. They're saying this is an assault on the independence of the Smithsonian. It's certainly the strongest challenge to the Smithsonian's independence in its history, in its long and storied history. There have been partisan questions in the past about how it presents the nation's story.

[10:50:00]

Nothing like this. This is a root and branch, some historians are saying, assault on the Smithsonian. The White House sees it as a correction to tell a more positive story. But so far, the Smithsonian has reacted once to say that it indeed is independent and has the sole responsibility to appoint directors. It committed though, at the time, a few months ago, to doing its own self-review of its contents for bias. And we started to see some changes.

For example, last week we saw an exhibit about Donald Trump's past impeachments taken down and then restored in a way that some historic -- with words cut in ways that some historians saw us watering it down. It was less fiery about is his subscription. And so, already we saw some changes within Smithsonian.

What happens now is certainly puts a spotlight on the secretary and on the Board of Regents, which oversees the Smithsonian, whether to go along with President Trump's orders or not.

BLITZER: Graham Bowley of The New York Times, thank you very much for your expertise. Appreciate it very much. Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, thank you very much.

BOWLEY: Thanks.

BROWN: And coming up the Baltimore Ravens trade helmets for goggles and hit the pool with the one and only Michael Phelps. How a viral social media post led to swim lessons from the most decorated Olympian of all time.

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[10:55:00]

BROWN: A new home run King of Queens, an angelic triple play, and an inspiring swim for the Baltimore Ravens. BLITZER: CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes is joining us right now to tell us about all three of these developments. Andy, let's start with a truly historic night in New York.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Wolf and Pam. The ball was just flying out of city field last night and we now know that the Mets only have enough fireworks each game for six home runs. Any more than that, they're not going to have enough fireworks. But coming into last night in Mets, they had lost 11 of 12, but they broke out of that skid in a big way. Third inning, Pete Alonso, the two run home run off Spencer Strider. That was his 253rd home run, moving him past Darryl Strawberry for the most all time in a Mets uniform. And the polar bear wasn't done. He homered again in the sixth for his 28th of the season.

And after the team's sixth home run of the game, Citi Field putting this message on the video board, it said, due to too many Mets home runs, we have run out of fireworks. Sorry for the inconvenience. Mets fans, though not too worried about it, they're just happy to get a win. It was final, 13 to 5 over the Braves.

Shohei Ohtani meanwhile, he was back in his old stomping grounds, taking on the Angels. Top of the six, two-all, no outs for Ohtani. He's going to line this ball up the middle, but Zach Netto in perfect position steps on second throws to first for the triple play. Netto said that was the first triple play he's ever been a part of ever.

Now, Ohtani was back up at the plate in the ninth inning with the game tied. And look what he did, a missile to right field. His 43rd home run of this season gave L.A. the lead. But the Angels would rally end up winning on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th. Final was seven to six. The Angels now 5 and 0 in the freeway series this season.

All right. And finally, a few weeks ago, the Ravens made a video saying many members of the team could not swim. And they asked Ravens super fan Michael Phelps for help. Well, yesterday Phelps was on hand at training camp and then he took a bunch of the players to the pool to give them some instruction. Here's Phelps giving Travis Jones some pointers. Then Ravens all pro linebacker, he was in the -- Roquan Smith, he was in the pool as well. You see him on his back there. He said he felt more confident in the water after this lesson from Phelps. And some of the players who kind of already knew how to swim, they had a little diving board competition towards the end.

But, Wolf and Pam, certainly a nice team bonding event. And how nice is it to have the best swimmer of all time in your back pocket able to come give you some lessons?

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: I think it's fabulous that it's a really wonderful experience. I'm surprised these professional football players don't know how to swim, but that's just me. Let's see how that goes. Andy Scholes, thank you very, very much. Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Wolf, coming up here in the Situation Room, we've got a lot more news. President Trump is about to visit the Kennedy Center after hinting at a possible name change. That's ahead.

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