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Key European Leaders Will Join Zelenskyy At White House; Nationwide Strike, Protests As Israelis Demand Hostage Deal; Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Is Interviewed About Zelenskyy With Europeans In D.C. After Trump-Putin Summit. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:01:04]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, diplomatic drive. European leaders converge on Washington as Ukraine works to shore up support from President Trump.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. Just a short time from now, a new push to end Russia's war in Ukraine will get underway. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet with President Trump at the White House.

Seven European leaders have rushed here to Washington and will also attend that meeting. This is new video, by the way, coming into the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arriving at Joint Base Andrews just minutes ago. Zelenskyy is meeting with some of those leaders before he sits down with President Trump.

BROWN: And right here, this is new video of Zelenskyy meeting this morning with Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. This is considered one of the most critical days for European security and the Western alliance since the end of the Cold War. And it comes just a few days after the President's summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

And President Trump is now pushing two of Putin's key demands, putting the onus on Ukraine. On social media last night, Trump said Ukraine must accept that it will not see the return of Crimea and it will not be allowed to join NATO in the future. As the diplomacy kicks into overdrive here in Washington, this is the scene back in Ukraine.

New video showing Russian drones striking a building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Officials say at least five people were killed.

BLITZER: We're following all of these late breaking developments on this very important day. Our correspondents are in Washington, Ukraine and London. Let's begin with CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's over at the White House for us. Kristen, what are the expectations for today's meeting?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've heard, Wolf, from a number of various administration officials who have tried to tamp down expectations for coming out of today with a peace agreement. But we know President Trump wants two things. He wants a trilateral meeting on the books with Putin and Zelenskyy. He wants that to come out of today. He also wants eventually an end to the Ukraine war.

Now, part of today is going to be a tough conversation between President Trump and Zelenskyy. They're going to be going over a series of details that came up during his conversation, Trump's conversation with the Russian President Putin when they were in Alaska. And we already know that President Trump is going to be hitting Zelenskyy with two things at least, things that he said, Zelenskyy, that he never wanted to do. One of them, ceding territory back to Russia, the other is skipping past a ceasefire and going straight to a peace agreement.

Here's what President Trump posted on his social media. He said, it was determined by all the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which oftentimes does not hold up.

Obviously, it is clear you just played the video from what is going on in Ukraine, why it is that Zelenskyy so desperately wants a ceasefire. Putin, on the other hand, wants to continue to be able to drop those bombs. And now you're hearing President Trump say, let's try to get to a peace agreement without any ceasefire.

Now, what we don't expect to come out of this is any kind of sanctions or punishment on Russia. The reason why that's key is because there have been questions by European allies as to whether or not the United States is going to raise the stakes on Russia. Keep in mind, this is what President Trump said before he met with Putin on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, they will. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will those consequences be, sanctions, tariffs?

TRUMP: There will be -- I don't have to say. There will be very severe consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, obviously, we've heard from administration officials who say it wouldn't be worth it to put these sanctions in place. It would blow up any kind of negotiations. But one thing to watch here is the tone and tenor of President Trump when he has these conversations with Zelenskyy when the cameras are in the room. Obviously, we saw what happened in February when the two sat down. Their relationship has significantly changed.

[11:05:17]

But the question is whether or not President Trump starts to view Zelenskyy as an obstacle to peace, as he did back in February. Does that change the dynamic once again between the two men?

BROWN: Yes, we all remember that February meeting. That was very contentious.

All right, now let's go to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is in Ukraine's capital. Ben, how are people there in Kyiv viewing President Zelenskyy's meeting at the White House?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they're worried, Pamela, Wolf, that you could have a repeat of that meeting in February. We do know that, of course, all those European leaders have come to Washington to sort of back up President Zelenskyy when he meets with President Trump.

But initially, President Zelenskyy is going to meet with his aides, with President Trump, without those European leaders. Now, here in Ukraine, people are worried about what is going on. They saw, many of them saw that post on Truth Social by President Trump, in which he yet again puts the onus on President Zelenskyy to make peace.

He said that President Zelenskyy can finish, end this war almost immediately if he wants, as President Trump put it. Many people here feel that the blame is being put on Ukraine for allowing itself to be invaded by Russia, that the whole thing is absolutely backwards. And this talk about Ukraine having to surrender even more territory, more territory that it's already fought to hold, is simply unacceptable.

This morning, we were at a funeral for a Ukrainian soldier who was killed on the Eastern Front. And there we spoke to one man who told us that the idea of surrendering land to the Russians is not a recipe for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SASHKO, FILMMAKER: It's a fake peace. It -- it just -- it just -- it's like only the word that Donald Trump can use, but it -- it doesn't look like a peace for the Ukrainians. You can't trade, you know, lives of Ukrainian people, our lands and our values just for the Donald Trump's desire to make business as usual with the Russians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And another person at this funeral told me the problem is that if Ukraine stops fighting, then there will be no more Ukraine. If Russia stops fighting, there will be no more war. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: All right, Ben -- Ben Wedeman, thank you very, very much. Stand by, we'll get back to you. CNN correspondent Clare Sebastian is joining us now from London. Clare, seven European leaders have rushed here to Washington for today's White House meeting with President Zelenskyy. What are they hoping to see at the end of the day?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I think if the Europeans get their way, the key talking point and the key deliverable from the summit will be getting concrete details on security guarantees. I think the one piece of that sort of hopeful news for Ukraine coming out of the Alaska summit was what we heard from Steve Witkoff to CNN on Sunday, that the -- that the U.S. may be ready to get involved in future security guarantees for Ukraine, which is new.

The U.S. has been traditionally reticent on this and has been pretty vague in their responses around this. He called it game changing. He said there could be Article 5 style language suggesting kind -- some kind of collective defense pact. So they'll be wanting more on that. We've heard leaders welcoming this. I think this is also obviously we're returning to the scene of that horrifying Oval Office spat at the end of February. These European leaders want to have Zelenskyy's back.

We want to show this sort of sense of solidarity and strength in the face of those optics coming out of the Alaska summit. And we want to make the point to President Trump, who seems to now be in a rush to get this done, is already trailing a potential trilateral meeting even as soon as by the end of this week, that getting this done properly in a lasting fashion will take time. Take a listen to the -- the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who posted a video of himself outlining his priorities on the flight to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Everybody wants it to end, not least the Ukrainians. But we've got to get this right. We've got to make sure there is peace, that it is lasting peace and that it is fair and that it is just. And that's why I'm traveling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face to face with President Trump and President Zelenskyy, because it's in everyone's interests. It's in the U.K.'s interests that we get this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So a huge amount at stake here, of course, and very delicate for these European leaders, how to push their principles and -- and -- and keep Ukraine's principles on track without, of course, antagonizing the U.S. President. Wolf and Pamela?

[11:10:10]

BROWN: All right, Clare, Ben and Kristen, thank you so much for joining us.

BLITZER: And there's other important news we're following here in The Situation with Israel. We're getting new details this morning about the massive protests in Israel over the war in Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of people going on strike and joining nationwide demonstrations, Israelis venting their frustration at the war, demanding the return of the remaining hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here today because this is our last chance to stop the insanity, stop the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Israel's military commander says the next phase of the operations in Gaza is set to begin soon. Let's go to CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief, Oren Liebermann, right now. Oren, you were there in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv as these protests were unfolding. What are you hearing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Easily, Wolf, one of the largest, if not the largest protests we've seen, calling on the government to bring home all of the remaining 50 hostages and end the war. Organizers say there were more than 400,000 people in Hostages Square and on the surrounding streets and certainly on the streets of Tel Aviv, we felt that. It was difficult to move around.

The crowds were so large. Many of them wearing shirts or holding signs that said, bring them home now. And what's amazing about this is the speed with which this came together. Organizers, both from hostages families as well as bereaved families from October 7th, pulled this together in just a week, a grassroots organization calling for a nationwide strike.

They also say beyond just the masses that were in Tel Aviv last night, over a million people took part in the protests and the demonstrations across the country throughout the day. That is 10 percent of the country, one in 10 Israelis taking part in these protests and these demonstrations calling on the government to bring home the hostages and end the war. A striking number.

BLITZER: Striking indeed, Oren Liebermann, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Wolf, we're also learning that the U.S. is suspending visitor visas for people from Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that's because of possible ties to terror groups like Hamas. Let's go live now to CNN State Department reporter, Jennifer Hansler. So, Jennifer, walk us through the argument that Secretary Rubio is making here.

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Pamela, on Saturday morning, the State Department rather unexpectedly put up this post on X saying, quote, all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical humanitarian visas in recent days.

Now, of course, there were very few Palestinians from Gaza even coming to the United States throughout the course of the war there. The Israeli government has put up a number of restrictions on who is allowed out of the enclave. But many of those who were granted visas were coming here for medical treatment, and many of them were children. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pressed about this decision yesterday on Face the Nation.

He claimed that they had received questions from congressional offices about the program. He also claimed that there had been evidence that the organizations who were helping facilitate these visas may have ties to Hamas. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There is evidence been presented to us by numerous congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas. And so we are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANSLER: Now, Pamela, he did not go into details about which congressional offices had presented this information, what that evidence was, or how long this review could take. The State Department has not offered further details about this. But it is important to note that far right advocate, Laura Loomer, who is a strong Trump ally, is taking credit for the decision on this pause. She said she had done a review and claimed that there were national security risks with a particular group that was bringing these people over. That group has rejected any of these claims, Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Jennifer Hansler, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela. Happening now, Republican governors of three states say they're deploying, ready to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops here to Washington, D.C. It's a show of support for the Trump administration after it federalized law enforcement here in the nation's capital. The attorney general of the United States, Pam Bondi, says there have already been more than 300 arrests since President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, D.C. last week.

BROWN: CNN's Gabe Cohen joins us now. Gabe, which states are sending troops to D.C.?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we heard from the Republican governors of three states, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio, all of them over the weekend saying that they are going to send National Guard troops to Washington to assist with this law enforcement effort being carried out by the Trump administration.

[11:15:00]

You can see the numbers on your screen there. We're talking about roughly 700 soldiers from these three states that are going to be sent into Washington to work with D.C.'s National Guard, who we have already seen out in these high-traffic areas across the city over the past week or so. What this doesn't include, and I will also note, we're hearing from an Army official who says now some of these National Guard troops are going to be armed. That is something we did not see over the past week. We were out outside Union Station, a big transportation hub, where we were seeing troops with zip ties on their back, but they were being told, do not make arrests, do not use force if you do not have to. You are really there for visibility.

So again, now we're going to see more armed soldiers. And that is also in addition to the hundreds of officers from these various agencies, the FBI, the DEA, Homeland Security, who have been out doing their own operations across D.C. And we have seen videos starting to circulate of these arrests being carried out by federal officers. It's creating a lot of tension here in the district.

Yes, among local officials, the mayor and the police chief who are using the most forceful language against the Trump administration that we have heard in recent days, but also local residents who do not believe that this presence, even with those arrests that you're seeing on the screen, that this presence from federal law enforcement is warranted, or even whether or not it's legal.

There are a lot of questions about whether or not these officers are properly identifying themselves, showing their badges. So that tension really brewing. And as you send it -- as we see the Trump administration sending more law enforcement, more troops into the city, major questions and concerns about whether those tensions will boil over.

BLITZER: Because there's a lot of criticism going on here in Washington that these troops are being deployed to high visibility locations, but not necessarily the most potentially dangerous parts of Washington, D.C.

COHEN: Yes, that's definitely true. And something we're seeing with the National Guard, there are bigger questions about the various other agencies, like I said, the FBI and Homeland Security, where they are sending people. And we have heard Trump officials say those groups are going to be going into more high crime areas. Which areas exactly? We don't know. And you're exactly right, Wolf, that a lot of people say they're not going into the areas that need the most help.

BLITZER: Yes, because there's still some crime here in Washington, as we all know. Gabe Cohen, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf, we have some new details on a stunning helicopter rescue in California. Look at this amazing footage of police using a helicopter to save a man who had been trapped for two days behind a waterfall. He had planned to rappel down the waterfalls known as the Seven Tea Cubs in a remote area south of the Sequoia National Park. But the force of the water pushed him off his climbing lines.

Police used a drone to pinpoint his location early Sunday before that daring rescue. He was treated for minor injuries and dehydration and then reunited with family.

And still ahead, congressional response. A key member of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Ukraine caucus joins us next. We're going to ask him about the crucial negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

[11:18:06]

BLITZER: Plus, diplomatic push. What today's meetings say about America's role among Western allies. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman will be here in The Situation Room to discuss. That's coming up. Stay with us.

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BROWN: Happening now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with European leaders at his nation's embassy here in Washington, D.C., and sources are telling CNN that they will coordinate their positions ahead of their sit-down with President Trump about ending Russia's war in Ukraine. This is video right here of Zelenskyy meeting earlier this morning with U.S. envoy, Keith Kellogg. You see Zelenskyy wearing a black T-shirt. We'll see what he wears when he meets with President Trump later today around 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman of California. He serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and is a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. Hi, Congressman. Thanks for coming on. So, based on everything you've heard about President Trump's summit with Putin Friday in Alaska, do you believe there's been any progress made towards peace?

REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): We've moved in the wrong direction. Alaska wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been, but we went into the Alaska meeting with Trump demanding a ceasefire and threatening Putin with crushing sanctions if that wasn't arranged. We came out of Alaska with Trump saying, no, we don't even want a ceasefire. Let's work on a peace treaty, which will take many, many months at best. No sanctions.

So, while Trump didn't make territorial concessions on behalf of the Ukrainians, he did shift to the Russian approach, which is no sanction -- no new sanctions on Russia and no ceasefire anytime soon.

BROWN: The President's envoy, Steve Witkoff, told CNN that Putin agreed to allow security guarantees for Ukraine and did make concessions on keeping Ukrainian territory as part of a potential peace deal or giving that up. Why don't you see that as progress?

SHERMAN: I have no idea what security arrangements Putin has consented to. He came out of that meeting talking about his phrase, which is root causes, which according to Russia, the root cause of this problem is that Ukraine has a military and that in order to prevent root causes from existing in the future, there have to be severe limits on the size of the Ukrainian military.

So, there -- the current Russian position is to set Ukraine up for an even more disastrous invasion next decade when Ukraine will have a much smaller army.

[11:25:08] BROWN: Putin at his news conference in Alaska also agreed with Trump that if -- if he had been president in 2022, that this war wouldn't have happened. What is your response to that?

SHERMAN: Everyone in the world is trying to flatter Donald Trump every day. And that of course makes no sense. Putin oper -- you know, wants at least 20 percent of Ukraine and if you believe that the war wouldn't have happened had Trump been elected, then you believe that Trump would have handed Putin that territory without Putin even having to fight for it.

So I -- I, you know, every world leader seems to start a meeting by saying, Donald Trump, you are the greatest statesman in the history of the world and they find that they get a better deal if they do that.

BROWN: So then what do you think President Zelenskyy and the European leaders should say to Trump when they meet with him later today?

SHERMAN: Well, I think -- I think Zelenskyy should wear a suit just as a token. And I am sure that -- I -- I don't think they'll -- they'll be quite as obsequious as -- as -- as others, but I -- I'm sure they'll compliment Trump on many things from decor to hairline to his great leadership. And I'm sure Zelenskyy will nominate Trump for a Nobel Prize if Trump will change to the views he had just a few weeks ago.

BROWN: President Trump is putting the onus right now on Ukraine. In that social media post last night, he said that Zelenskyy must agree to some of Russia's conditions for the war to end, specifically ceding Crimea and agreeing to never join NATO. Are those acceptable demands?

SHERMAN: They're acceptable if Ukraine makes them, and those would be two of the things that -- that a reasonable Ukrainian leader might make concessions on. But that level of concession is just the beginning. Putin isn't going to sell for -- for Crimea and no NATO. What he wants and has demanded is all the territory his military has seized in the last couple of years, plus additional territory that he has not been able to seize, plus not only no NATO membership for Ukraine, but a small Ukrainian army.

So I'm -- I -- I, you know, Zelenskyy's eventually going to have to make some concessions. Those are up to him. But my guess is they're more severe than the two you identify.

BROWN: And Zelenskyy has said he will not make any territorial concessions, and under the constitution in -- in Ukraine, that has to be done through a referendum. So, what would you propose here to reach an agreement?

SHERMAN: My guess is that you will not get a formal peace treaty. You will get an armistice. It will reflect where the battle lines are now, not the ones that Putin would like to have, and that there will continue to be a hostility between Ukraine and Russia. I don't think Ukraine will join NATO, but I don't think any Ukrainian leader is going to formally cede territory forever to Russia, let alone as much territory as Putin would demand. BROWN: Congressman Brad Sherman, thank you so much.

SHERMAN: Thank you.

[11:28:41]

BLITZER: And still ahead, born and brewed in the USA, how stiff tariffs on Brazil could affect your cup of coffee. That's ahead. We're live right here in The Situation Room.

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