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The Situation Room

Trump Administration Screening Immigrants For 'Anti- Americanism'; How Companies Are Navigating Trump Tariffs; Russia Continues Attacks on Ukraine; Texas Moves Forward on Redistricting Bill; Hurricane Erin's Wrath. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 20, 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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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news; Hurricane Erin's wrath, dangerous waves, life-threatening storm surge slamming the East Coast. We are, of course, following the very latest.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: 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.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the breaking news on Hurricane Erin. It is churning hundreds of miles off the East Coast right now, but driving home the force and the fury of a sprawling storm. Right now, we're getting the latest updates on how strong this storm is and where it is actually heading right now.

We will have all of that coming up in just a moment, but already some of the images that we're seeing are remarkable.

BROWN: Here, you can see dangerous surf crashing into the Outer Banks of North Carolina and threatening oceanfront homes. Also, dozens of swimmers and surfers needed to be rescued from those treacherous rip current, and to North Carolina, the worst is yet to come.

So let's begin with CNN national correspondent Dianne Gallagher. She is on Pea Island, which is part of the Outer Banks.

Tell us what you're seeing there, Dianne.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, I think you can see behind me exactly what's going on.

These are these preparations trying to ensure that they protect the area from what is expected to be significant storm surge, large waves coming as Hurricane Erin passes by the Outer Banks. Now we're on Pea Island. This is a wildlife refuge. This is not where people live. It is in between several residence islands, though. And so the issue here and why you see these dump trucks, these

construction vehicles moving the sand and fortifying these dunes here, the ocean is on that side. The sound is on this side. In between here is Highway 12. It looks like a regular old road, except this is the only road that connects the 200 miles or so of the Outer Banks.

These are very narrow geographic areas. We're talking about 3.5 miles at the widest point, about 150 yards at the most narrow, all connected by NC-12, many of these on bridges. And that's the big concern for a lot of emergency officials right now, saying, look, they want people to stay out of those dangerous rip currents, of course.

They know that there is potential damage to property that could come here, but they also worry about if this highway is damaged or becomes impassable, which has happened in past storms, they may not be able to get to people for rescues or people just can't get out for up to a week, they're warning.

So there are three mandatory evacuations, Ocracoke Island, Hatteras Island and an area up in Currituck County. But the others have just been voluntary basically, saying, look, if you want to get out, you should get out. Just know, if Highway 12 is busted up, we may not be able to get to you.

BROWN: All right, Dianne Gallagher, important information there. Thanks so much -- Wolf.

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BLITZER: And just minutes ago, the governor of North Carolina, Josh Stein, issued a warning for residents along the coast. Listen.

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GOV. JOSH STEIN (D-NC): The storm remains dangerous and is already impacting lots of people here in North Carolina. Folks on the coast need to take care. Based on the current forecast, we are anticipating coastal flooding from massive waves, tropical-storm-force winds, and tidal and storm surge for much of the state shoreline, especially the Outer Banks from this evening through Thursday.

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BLITZER: The National Hurricane Center has just provided a new update on Hurricane Erin.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is joining us with the latest update.

Allison, what do you know?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, so we know that the storm has actually strengthened.

Per this last update, the sustained winds have now increased up to 110 miles per hour. That is just shy of a Category 3 hurricane, meaning it's very close to major hurricane status and it's expected to strengthen some more. So images like this that you can see behind me of North Carolina, all that water surging in, is likely only going to get worse in the coming hours as that storm gets closer and closer to shore.

And it is expected to do just that, again, as we mentioned, sustained winds now up to 110 miles per hour. You can see it's really developed a rather good eye right there. That is an oftentimes a sign of strengthening, and we have seen it do so.

Here again, another look, but from the visible satellite, where you can see that eye wall really starting to try to open up as best it can. It's in very warm water right now. So, the Hurricane Center saying, look, we do anticipate that it will get back up to a major hurricane here and likely in the next 24 hours as it slides between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast.

Both of those areas do have tropical storm watches and warnings in effect in anticipation of all of these impacts that are expected from the storm. That includes very gusty winds, 50-, 60-, even as much as 70- or 75-mile-per-hour wind gusts not out of the question. Not only does that take things like trees and power lines and could potentially knock them down.

It also takes all of that water that's over the ocean and pushes it onshore. So that's going to be one of the concerns high surf, but also rip currents. And notice this is pretty much up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard. So even if you don't, say, live in North Carolina, you live in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, doesn't matter. You still have the potential for rip currents over the next 48 hours.

BROWN: Yes, I think that's important.

BLITZER: Good point. Let's not forget Delaware too. Rehoboth, Delaware, potentially could have some serious problems.

Allison Chinchar, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, Wolf, happening now, a live look here from the floor of the Texas House of Representatives. Lawmakers, as you see, they are reconvening and inching closer to passing Republicans' redistricting bill.

Now, this legislation would redraw congressional districts ahead of next year's midterm elections and could eliminate five Democratic-held House seats on Capitol Hill.

Let's go live now to CNN's Arlette Saenz in Austin.

Arlette, what do we expect to happen in the Texas legislature today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the Texas House reconvened just a minute ago and pretty soon they will begin debate on this redistricting bill.

House Republicans are hoping they could begin voting on these new congressional maps as soon as today, though the timing still is a little bit in flux. Now, Democrats have used up all their legislative options to try to block these maps from moving forward. In the coming hours, they do plan to make their case against the maps on the House floor during the debate time, as they're trying to prepare their legal cases and challenges that they will file in the coming weeks to try to get the courts to stop these maps from going into effect.

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SAENZ: Now, there will also be an opportunity for both sides to introduce amendment. We have learned of one amendment from state Representative Gene Wu, who leads Texas House Democrats.

He's filed an amendment requiring that these maps could only go into effect if all of the Jeffrey Epstein files were released. It's unlikely that would pass, but what they're trying to do is put Republicans in a politically tough spot when it comes to voting.

Now, there's still questions about how quickly this will move through the House. And then, once it's approved in the House, it will move over to the Senate for approval. It could be a matter of days before these new congressional maps could go into effect. And overall they could help Republicans pick up as many as five GOP seats heading into next year's midterm elections.

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

BLITZER: Also happening now, Russia is escalating attacks on Ukraine, as U.S. and European nations are trying to work to resolve the war in Ukraine.

Stunning video out of the port city of Odesa shows the aftermath of an overnight drone strike on one of Ukraine's fuel and energy facilities. Ukrainian officials say one person was injured in the attack and five civilians were killed in other attacks overnight.

Let's go live right now to CNN correspondent Clare Sebastian.

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Clare, what are we learning about this latest Russian attack and how is Russia responding to these talks to try to end the war?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf.

Look, this was a hit, Ukraine says, on an energy facility at an oil terminal owned by an Azerbaijani company, which they say is not only an immediate danger to life, and one person was injured there, but also to Ukraine's energy security. Now we're approaching, of course, the fourth winter of this war.

And in attacks overnight, there was another wave of drone attacks, there were also a significant amount of injuries, over a dozen injuries up in the northern Sumy region, also including a 5-month-old, according to President Zelenskyy. So these attacks continue. This is why, of course, it's so critical to

Ukraine and to its European allies that a cease-fire should be put in place first before any peace talks. And, of course, for Russia, I think the opposite is critical at this point. They have banked a victory this week in the fact that Trump has rejected the idea of a cease-fire first.

So these talks -- this is coming, of course, as this diplomatic process is ongoing, but we heard from the foreign minister today, Sergey Lavrov, pouring cold water on another sort of diplomatic win that the White House has talked about this week, the idea that the Kremlin signed off on U.S. involvement in Ukrainian security guarantees.

Lavrov coming out today and saying that any talks of security postwar are impossible without Russia. So I think the more that we hear from Russia, the more of an uphill battle this diplomatic process seems -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Clare Sebastian reporting from London, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, Wolf, we want to turn now to a SITUATION ROOM special report on the effects of President Trump's tariffs and whether the new policies are actually bringing business back to the states.

Let's bring in CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich.

Vanessa, what's the big picture of what's happening here?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And, Pamela, the two main reasons why President Trump says that he likes tariffs is that he wants to shrink trade deficits, but also bring manufacturing back to the United States. So we set out to answer that question. Has that actually happened? How many companies have moved 100 percent of their manufacturing to the United States since President Trump took office?

Well, the answer? Pretty clear, zero. And we have looked at big companies and mid-sized companies and still came up with that same answer. Of course, there could be some smaller companies that we don't know about, but the ones that we track, zero.

Companies, though, instead of moving all of their manufacturing, have moved some manufacturing to the United States, and big companies that are really important to the U.S. economy, Apple, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, foreign automakers Hyundai, Ford, and Nvidia, the A.I. chipmaker. And they have invested quite a bit already into the United States.

Look at that, Apple $600 billion, IBM $150 billion, Johnson & Johnson $55 billion, Hyundai and Ford together $26 billion. And then an interesting way that Nvidia is bringing revenue into the United States, 15 percent of all of their A.I. chips sold in China, now those sales coming back into the United States.

So, Pamela, really the hurdles to setting up manufacturing in the United States is high labor costs and just the ability to manufacture the items themselves because there isn't the manufacturing set up here in the United States.

A company called Afina who I spoke to, they make showerheads. To produce one of their showerheads in China costs $129 for consumers to buy. But if they were to source the parts and make it right here in the United States, it would cost more than 80 percent more, $239 for the consumer.

So the CEO wanted to see, hey, will any of my customers pay more if it's made in America? He sent an e-mail to 25,000 of his customers and asked that very question. Here is what he found out and here is what he told me. Watch.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sold 584, I believe, of the made-in-China version priced at $129, and, unfortunately, zero made-in-the-U.S. version priced at $100 more.

YURKEVICH: Were you surprised?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: OK, so there you have it, Pamela. Zero, zero people were willing to buy a showerhead at $239, even though it was made in America. So that is a hurdle that many companies face.

They want to be able to bring manufacturing here to the United States, but it's too expensive. And then if consumers don't buy it, you're out of business. And that is why you see companies investing, not moving their supply chains totally, but investing slowly. But, ultimately, as we know, President Trump wants companies to move all their manufacturing back to the United States.

But as it stands right now, zero companies, Pamela, have done it so far.

BROWN: Wow, that is a very illuminating report, Vanessa. Thank you so much -- Wolf.

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BLITZER: Very good report from Vanessa indeed.

And still ahead: why a suggestion from President Trump has Homeland Security painting parts of the border wall black, this as the administration looks to tighten the screening process for people applying to live or work in the United States.

BROWN: And there's new polling now that shows people living in D.C. are overwhelmingly against President Trump's deployment of the National Guard as the president escalates his push to gather troops in the city.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BROWN: New this morning, people applying to live and work in the United States will now be screened for -- quote -- "anti-Americanism," including on their social media.

The announcement is drawing criticism from immigration advocates and lawyers, who argue the term anti-Americanism is too vague and they say it could give immigration officers more power to reject applicants even if they don't pose a real threat.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

So, a big takeaway here is just how open to interpretation this screening could be.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Without question.

I mean, anti-Americanism, what does that mean exactly?

BROWN: Right.

ZELENY: And particularly one group that is really concerned about this are students, foreign students who are studying in the United States, those who are left doing it.

Looking at social media accounts, what is anti-Americanism? I mean, obviously, it's very American to be able to question your leaders, question history and other things. But it really potentially paints a broad brush and umbrella of what being an American means. So it's very unclear.

What it does -- and at least immigrants' rights groups are saying that it just ascends one more message that, stay away, don't come to the U.S. So that's kind of the big question here, especially on college campuses, people who are visiting the United States, the best and the brightest who are studying here.

Of course, one of the reasons that the colleges have so many international students, the U.S. hopes that they will stay afterward and invest and sort of help lead this country here. But the idea of anti-Americanism just as a umbrella is troubling to many.

BROWN: Yes. I also want to ask about this new reporting at the southern border. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they were planning to paint the wall black to deter people climbing it during hot weather. What more can you tell us? ZELENY: Very interesting.

I mean, obviously, there was a lot of money inside that One Big Beautiful Bill Act for the southern border. As we know, crossings at the southern border have largely disappeared entirely. So we are told one of the things you can see right there on screen painting the entire wall black.

The secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, said yesterday this was President Trump's own idea. Of course, we have seen him take a great interest in construction projects at the Kennedy Center, obviously at the White House, and now at the wall as well, painting it black.

She said it will make it more difficult to climb the wall in hot weather and other things. We will see how that goes, but as of now they are painting it black. And just a reminder, the wall is largely there. It's not completed. There's also money in this bill to complete portions of this wall as well.

BROWN: It's interesting to see the DHS secretary get in there with the paint. I wanted...

ZELENY: Right, a photo-op, to say the least.

BROWN: A photo-op, yes, at the very least.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Let's talk about your home state of Nebraska and its plans for its own immigration detention center. What do we know about that?

ZELENY: Look, we have been seeing states across the country, Republican-led states, have really been rushing to try and help the administration in terms of the immigration policy.

We have seen it with the Alligator Alcatraz in Florida, but now a new facility in Nebraska is going to be coming on board. It was announced just yesterday. There is an existing work prison a facility in McCook, Nebraska a, small town in Southwestern Nebraska. It's directly between Omaha and Denver. It has a runway there so it would be viewed as a good place to be perhaps.

But Governor Jim Pillen minced no words when he said he's doing this to thank the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JIM PILLEN (R-NE): I think that the one thing that all of us agree on, highest calling a government is to keep us safe. We're really, really proud to make the announcement today to be a part, to be a part of President Trump's team, Secretary Noem, to make sure that we keep our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: So this is just one more example again how Republican governors are rushing to help the Trump administration particularly on immigration.

We have seen it with sending the National Guard here to Washington as well, and a great way to show your gratitude and really get acknowledged by the president is to create something that he likes. Obviously, this immigration facility is one.

It's being criticized by some across the board. I have talked to Republicans and Democrats who are concerned about the phrasing of this. The governor said it will be called the Cornhusker Clink. Obviously, Cornhusker is the mascot of the football team there, but clink an old word for jail.

Some are wondering, is this really kind of mocking the whole idea of what it's being held for? These are people, after all, likely to be held in this facility.

BROWN: That's right.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

ZELENY: Sure.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: We haven't heard the word clink in a long time.

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ZELENY: Indeed.

BLITZER: But now we're hearing it.

All right, Jeff, thank you.

And up next, the D.C. councilmember Zachary Parker will join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM. How he says his constituents are reacting to President Trump's expanding federal crackdown in the nation's capital.

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BROWN: Breaking news: tense moments just moments ago in Austin, Texas, over the state's redistricting fight and whether Democratic state representatives would be arrested for leaving the chamber.

Take a listen.

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