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Trump Says, Putin Phone Call was Away from European Leaders or It Would Be Disrespectful to Putin; Justice Department Faces Deadline to Provide Epstein Records to Congress; Hamas Says It Agrees to New Ceasefire Proposal. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, President Trump speaking out this morning, what he just said about a Putin- Zelenskyy meeting and that phone call he made to Putin during yesterday's summit.

And life-threatening rip currents from Florida to Massachusetts. Watches are up this hour. Waves in some states could be as high as 20 feet.

And new reporting just in, Home Depot saying it will raise some prices because of the cost of tariffs. What could be affected, and when the price hikes will happen?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus this, very deadly airstrikes overnight, Russia launching its largest aerial assault on Ukraine. This month, late reporting just coming in, coming in from the frontlines in Kyiv.

And all night protests unfolding on the Texas House floor, one of them refusing to leave. We'll hear from her straight ahead.

And stranded on Lake Superior, the U.S. Coast Guard coming to the rescue of four girls.

Welcome to 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.

We begin with the breaking news, President Trump speaking out this morning and describing his phone call with Russian Leader Vladimir Putin over ending the war in Ukraine. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I didn't do it in front of them. I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin. You know, I wouldn't do that because they have not had the warmest relations. Putin told me years, it was years that he didn't speak to anybody from the White House. And it was a long time that he didn't speak to anybody from Europe. No, it's a fractured relationship. I told him that we're going to set up a meeting with President Zelenskyy and you and he will meet. And then after that meeting, if everything works out, okay, I'll meet and we will wrap it up.

But, you know, it takes, in this case, two to tango. They have to have somewhat of a relationship. Otherwise, we're just wasting a lot of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: This is new video coming in this morning, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is co-hosting a virtual meeting of the Ukrainian allies, known as the Coalition of the Willing. It is a debriefing of sorts on yesterday's remarkable and historic meeting over at the White House. President Trump brought together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seven European leaders.

And Moscow seems to have responded. Just hours later Ukraine reels from its largest Russian bombardment in weeks. Ukraine's Air Force says, Moscow launched 270 drones and 10 missiles overnight. 8 people have been killed and 54 have been wounded over the past 24 hours alone.

We're covering all the angles. CNN's Alayna Treene is over at the White House, CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Ukraine for us.

Alayna, let me start with you. Give us a sense of what you're hearing the latest development.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think the two biggest things that came out of yesterday, Wolf, are, of course, one, this idea that he wants to try and begin setting up the arrangements for Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet, first a bilateral meeting, the president said, and then if that goes well, potentially a trilateral meeting. Very unclear, of course, if that's actually going to happen.

We did see the Kremlin kind of pour cold water on the idea this morning. But that was always a goal for this White House and specifically for President Donald Trump. And he is trying to get the two of them in the room. From all of my conversations with people here at the White House, they tell me that they believe that is really the necessary, next step in order to see whether or not a peace deal is actually reachable.

But the other key thing, and this is what I was told the European leaders and Zelenskyy spent the most time focusing on yesterday while meeting here at the White House, was about security guarantees, and specifically what the United States was willing to commit to.

Now, yesterday, the president, when he was asked about the potential, you know, of having U.S. troops on the ground to try and defend Ukraine, should a deal with Russia be reached, the president had left the door open.

[10:05:06]

However, this morning he clarified. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what kind of assurances do you feel like you have going forward and, you know, past this Trump administration? It won't be American boots on the ground defending that border.

TRUMP: Well, you have my insurance and I'm president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, there you hear the president saying, you have my assurance and I'm president.

Look, he's making clear, and I spoke with a White House official about this, and they confirmed that he's ruling out now at this point having a military, an American military presence in Ukraine to defend them. However, it's still clear, and this is what I'm hearing as well from this official, that there are other ways to try and protect Ukraine and specifically prevent Russia from, you know, years down the line coming back and trying to take more territory.

So, that's still, I'm told what is, they're working out, they're trying to figure out what the specifics of these security guarantees could be. But as we heard from many European leaders yesterday, they were kind of praising the idea that the U.S. would even help at all when it comes to security guarantees as a major breakthrough for them.

BLITZER: Alayna Treene over at the White House for us, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Now, let's go to CNN's Ben Wedeman in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Ben, Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine this month, and new this morning, Ukraine is striking back on the heels of that White House meeting with President Trump, those European leaders and President Zelenskyy. What more can you tell us?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we can say that despite all the focus on the talks in Washington, the war here goes on. We saw overnight the largest Russian drone barrage on Ukraine since the 31st of July. The Ukrainians firing back, hitting two munitions depots in the occupied Luhansk area.

Now, here, there's still a lot of skepticism, a lot of doubt that this bilateral between President Zelenskyy and President Putin that President Trump is talking about is actually going to take place. However, we did hear from President Zelenskyy outside the White House last night saying talks can go ahead, but they have to be without preconditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: If Ukraine starts creating conditions for a meeting, even fair ones for a ceasefire and such, the Russians will come up with a hundred conditions for their part. So, I believe without any conditions, we should meet and think about how we can develop this path towards ending the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And there really is scant Ukrainian confidence in the Russians. In fact, the Russians, when asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting, Yuri Ushakov, the foreign affairs adviser to President Putin, said this, the idea was discussed that it would be appropriate to study the opportunity of raising the level of representation of the Russian and Ukrainian sides, which certainly does not sound like a positive response. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

BLITZER: And happening now, the U.S. Justice Department faces a deadline from Congress today to turn over highly anticipated documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said yesterday that department officials informed his panel they would begin providing those records on Friday.

I want to bring in CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, what do we know about this delay from the Justice Department?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the way it sounds from how the House Oversight chairman, James Comer, was speaking yesterday, is that this is a bit of a pleasant agreement that's happening between the Republican-led committee and the Trump administration, the Justice Department.

We do know that there was a deadline. The House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed essentially everything in the Epstein files, so the investigative material, as well as anything around Epstein's death in 2019 when he was in jail.

And the Justice Department, they did have that subpoena deadline today, but Comer came out yesterday and said they're going to start producing things, beginning to produce document, this Friday. There will be redactions, we expect, related to victims, especially since this is a situation of child sexual abuse.

But the big question here, as always, is, is anything the House Oversight Committee going to get, something that we haven't seen before because we have seen slivers of the Epstein documents. Ghislaine Maxwell went to trial, but those Epstein files, they just haven't been released. Will the House Oversight Committee get them?

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Katelyn. Chairman Comer's announcement came the same day that the former U.S. attorney general, Bill Barr, testified before the committee behind closed doors about Jeffrey Epstein.

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What do we know about that?

POLANTZ: Well, Barr is one of six different attorneys general, former attorneys general who've been subpoenaed to testify to this committee in a deposition. He's the first one to go up to the Hill. There was no issue with him, no lawsuit arising, no standoff for his testimony. But he went and what Comer said in the middle of that deposition is, publicly, he said that Barr testified Epstein died by suicide. That did happen whenever Barr was the attorney general in 2019. There was no foul play around it, and that Barr also said that he didn't have any conversations with Donald Trump about a client list that Epstein may have had. And there was nothing incriminating Barr said about Donald Trump, specifically someone we know who knew Epstein.

Again, we're going to have to see what others will have to say and what one thing no one's talking about right now is what did Ghislaine Maxwell tell the Justice Department just a couple weeks ago? Will that transcript be something that the House Oversight Committee pushes for? Right now, what they're pushing for is information from so many attorneys general, FBI directors, the Clintons people who are in the rearview mirror of the Epstein investigation.

BLITZER: A lot of history there. All right, Katelyn Polantz, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf, Happening now, Democratic lawmakers are back in Texas, but Representative Nicole Collier spent the night on the floor of the State House. She refused a Republican demand to have a state law enforcement officer escorted her around the clock in order to leave the Capitol grounds.

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STATE REP. NICOLE COLLIER (D-TX): I refuse to sign the permission slip to be able to leave the capital. I disagree with that authoritarian tactic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Two other Democrats joined her in the House overnight. Republicans now appear to have a clear path to a redistricting plan that could bring them five more seats in Congress. And in less than two hours from now, California's House will reconvene after it began a redistricting plan of its own.

Let's go live now to CNN Correspondent Arlette Saenz in Austin. Arlette, do the Democrats have any moves left to block or delay the Republican plan?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, there really is not much that Democrats can do at this moment to block these new Congressional maps from moving forward in Texas. They used up their ability to delay the proceedings when they had that quorum break. But now with the necessary Democrats returning to the Capitol, this map appears to be on a glide path to passage potentially as soon as this week.

Now, just down the hall from where we are is the House chamber where State Representative Nicole Collier is having this sign of protest by refusing to comply with the order that would require these House Democrats to have 24/7 law enforcement escorts if they are to leave at the Capitol. She has been on the house floor for nearly 21 hours at this point, saying that she won't agree to that order.

But even as there's this sign of protest, it's not going to change the calculus about these maps here in Texas. What Texas Democrats say they're now going to do is turn their attention to making the legal arguments so with the hope that the courts will eventually step in and prevent these Congressional maps from going into effect. Of course, just to recap, Republicans are trying to pick up as many as five U.S. House seats by redrawing these maps. And they could be considered on the House floor as soon as tomorrow. We will get a little bit more guidance on that in the coming hours.

Meanwhile, over in California, the committees will begin meeting to consider their Congressional map push to try to pick up five Democratic House seats. And that could potentially pass by the end of this week. In California, though, the voters will eventually have to weigh in to approve this.

So, a lot at stake in this moment in both Texas and California and the nation at large when you think about the potential makeup of the U.S. House, if these maps are able to go into effect.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And, Pamela, happening now. Qatar's prime minister is in Egypt trying to hammer out an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza. Hamas says that it has agreed to a new ceasefire proposal that includes the release of ten living Israeli hostages in exchange for around 200 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Let's go live right now to CNN anchor Becky Anderson, who's joining us from Cairo. Becky, Hamas is also saying it wants, quote, written U.S. guarantees for a ceasefire. How likely is it the U.S. would be willing to do that?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: That is very unclear at this point, Wolf. What we do know from the mediators is that Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy on this file, has now been invited to Cairo now that this proposal has been accepted by Hamas and is sitting with the Israeli prime minister. We have had no official response from Benjamin Netanyahu to this latest proposal.

So, Steve Witkoff's arrival here would certainly be positive news as far as these mediators are concerned. Unclear at this point when or if he will come.

What these mediators are trying to do is ratchet up efforts to get a deal done to provide a framework for a comprehensive solution to end this near two-year conflict amid real concerns between the mediators and around this region that Israel is threatening to expand its operation, its war in Gaza. That is the real concern of these mediators. They say that would put the lives of the remaining hostages at risk and indeed make worse an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

What we do know at this point is that Benjamin Netanyahu's position has hardened since the last proposal penned effectively by Steve Witkoff was sort of rejected, talked about, and then rejected. That talked about a sort of a partial plan, which is similar to what we have got now.

Since then, Israel has announced that it will start this new operation in Israel, which is really concerning two mediators, as I said. And also suggested that it wants to see that complete defeat of Hamas and believes that Hamas is on the ropes, implicitly sort of suggesting that it can see the end of Hamas at this point without a ceasefire deal with the group.

Look, I traveled to the Rafah border yesterday with the Egyptian foreign minister. And we discussed the importance of getting a ceasefire deal done at this point. He talked about this Witkoff proposal that's being discussed at present, this partial planned, phased temporary truths, as it were. And he also talked to me about Israel's hardened position. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BADR ABDELATTY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Israelis are talking about ending the war.

ANDERSON: A one and done.

ABDELATTY: Having a comprehensive deal, but they are putting impossible, you know, conditions to be realized on the ground.

ANDERSON: Can you explain what those impossible conditions are?

ABDELATTY: I mean, by talking about of course disarming Hamas now, that they will not allow neither Hamas or Fatah or the Palestinian Authority to be there in Gaza. This is something, you know, not logic and not practical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And I think it's important to note, as I close this out, Donald Trump on true social yesterday perhaps giving some indication of the U.S. position at this point. This was just ahead of the announcement that Hamas had agreed to this latest proposal. And he said, and I quote on Truth Social, we will only see the return of the remaining hostages when a Hamas is confronted and destroyed. The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.

So, as we await confirmation of whether Steve Witkoff indeed will come to Cairo, whether Israeli delegation will come to Cairo, perhaps some indication there of the position of the U.S., which, given that true social post, sounds as if it is hardened to align with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Wolf? BLITZER: Becky Anderson reporting from Cairo for us, always nice to see the Nile River in Cairo, brings back a lot of memories for me as well. Becky, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now from Florida to New England, the East Coast is bracing this morning for the impact of Hurricane Erin. You're looking right here at a drone footage of high rip currents in North Carolina where 75 rescues have already been reported. Evacuation orders are now in effect along North Carolina's outer banks.

And this is satellite video showing lightning flashes around Hurricane Erin's cloud covered eye as it passed near the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos yesterday evening. And look at this house right here, literally on the beach in the small outer bank town, over Rodanthe, especially vulnerable to the storm surge and high tides.

Let's go live now to Meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Atlanta. Derek, Erin is not expected to make landfall, but it could still, as we know, we were just talking about bringing these large waves and coastal flooding.

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Tell us more.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. The big threats will certainly be along the coastal areas of North Carolina, but we can't forget about the entire eastern seaboard. Nearly 2,000 miles of coastal real estate that will feel the impacts from an expanding hurricane.

So, we're taking you to the outer banks, talking a lot about this area because they'll get tropical storm conditions. But what I'm concerned about here is the triple threat, the combination of storm surge, some of the highest tides of the month occurring right near the pass of this hurricane, and then on top of that waves that will crash onto the shoreline of 15 to 20 feet. So, that's going to put those communities at risk for coastal erosion and obviously the dangerous riptides that we've been talking about.

So, last -- yesterday, at this time, we were waking up to a strengthening Category 4. Now, some upper level shear has degraded the western portion of the storm, weakening it to a Category 2, but still a formidable storm. This is normal with large hurricanes. They fluctuate in intensity, but look at it just kicking between the uprights. We're talking the East Coast to Bahamas, splitting the difference, but it's the wind field that will be so important as it expands in size. Tropical storm conditions Wednesday night into Thursday morning for the outer banks. And then we can't forget about the 20-foot storms or at least seas that will crash upon the shores and two to four feet of storm surge in this area. Highway 12, particularly vulnerable. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Derek Van Dam, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And still ahead. President Trump is pushing for quick peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, but European leaders are pushing back while wanting to ceasefire. We're going to discuss what's going on with Democratic Congressman Ami Bera.

BROWN: And then later, disturbing you details. How fellow students are describing Bryan Kohberger and this newly released trove of documents.

You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: Well, new this morning, President Trump speaking out about his plans to set up a meeting with Russia's president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During a call with Fox News, the president expressed an urgency to end the Russia, Ukraine war. He says he's pushing for quicker peace talks than some European leaders are.

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TRUMP: And one of the things at the table was one of the gentlemen, who's a great guy, but he said -- I hope I didn't insult him. He said, well, let's meet in another month or two and let's see if we can start, you know, making somewhat. I said, a month or two, you're going to have another 40,000 people dead in a month or two. You have to do it tonight. And I did actually. I called President Putin and we're trying to work out a meeting with President Zelenskyy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Ami Bera of California. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees, and he's also a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. Congressman, nice to see you.

How do you evaluate President Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders?

REP. AMI BERA (D-CA): Yes. Thanks Pamela. You know, it's better than our readout from the Alaska meeting. I'm glad the Europeans were there. It seems like President Zelenskyy came out of the meeting somewhat unscathed in like last February. And it seems like there's at least a framework here.

Now, there's still a lot to go. I don't trust Vladimir Putin, I think, you know, he's going to try to push the envelope. But, again, you know, if we can find a framework and a path to at least get some negotiations going that involve Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the Europeans, at least there's that possibility of finding a path forward.

BROWN: Zelenskyy, for his part, called yesterday's talks a significant step forward toward ending the peace -- the war, and he noted that the world leaders are, quote, already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees. Do you view that as progress?

BERA: Yes, I think that's a positive. Again, the devil's in the details. So, what kind of territory is going to be ceded to the Russians? You know, how is that framed? You know, is there, you know, an area of a ceasefire where, you know, no one's really occupying it, so, you know, similar to what you see between North and South Korea? And then, you know, what are security guarantees for Ukraine? Because I don't think any of this works without defining what those security guarantees are.

BROWN: Yes, and that is still an open question. Today, President Trump said on Fox and Friends that while he is president, there would not be boots on the ground from the U.S. in Ukraine. And in terms of the ceasefire, world leaders disagreed, right, on this need for a ceasefire. You had the German chancellor and the French president stressing it's a necessity, and then you have President Trump instead focusing on achieving a long-term peace deal. What did you think about that?

BERA: You know, a long-term peace deal is going to take some time to negotiate, but if you can at least get Russia to stop dropping the bombs, you know, again, I think President Trump's been pretty clear. He doesn't want to see unnecessary deaths. So, maybe we can get some context of a ceasefire, which then leads to a longer term peace deal. I think that's the ultimate goal.

We still don't have a peace deal between North and South Korea, and we don't want to have this tenuous long-term thing. We want to have some certainty. I'm sure the Ukrainian people want to understand what their future looks like. So, the ultimate goal should be a peace deal.

BROWN: I want to turn to redistricting. Your governor in California, Gavin Newsom, is moving forward with these new proposed Congressional maps to retaliate against Republicans efforts in Texas temporarily. I want you to watch what Kevin Kiley, a possible opponent for you, a Republican in the House, told me about that last night.

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REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): Well, I'd say when you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns. I mean, this fails the test of kindergarten logic. You know, two wrongs don't make a right.

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And so just because some other state is doing something that we don't like, doesn't mean that California voters should be deprived.