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Hostage Families Call on Trump to End War in Gaza; Court Battle Begins Over Trump Sending National Guard into California; Trump Administration Pushing to Finalize Details of Friday Meeting with Putin; Health Experts Criticize RFK Jr. in Wake of Targeted CDC Shooting. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

YEHUDA COHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE SOLDIER NIMROD COHEN: ... pressure from the outside, either Donald Trump, where in the past we were asking him to force Netanyahu to end the war and go to a hostage deal, we had a lot of hopes in Trump's declaration he is for ending wars, or take the European channel, declaration of Palestinian state, it's not for the declaration itself, it's for putting pressure on Netanyahu to end the war, what everybody wants, except him and his extremists, and return all the hostages. So only external pressure, either from the Trump administration, or from the European, UK, through the declaration, and even sanctions.

Something had to be done after 22 months to stop the war and get the hostages back. My son enrolled in person, was serving in the army, he was there because he was posted there, but more than that, he was posted with a dismantled tank, he couldn't fight, he couldn't do anything. He and his team were helpless there at the front. They, Hamas easily neutralized their tank, killed the driver at that action, and then forced the three -- the rest of the three teammates out, assassinated two of them on the spot, and took Nimrod alive, the rest were taken dead.

This is a situation, and my country, my government has a basic responsibility to bring him back, because he was posted there by the government, and he was brought there with dismantled equipment, meaning the responsibility is triple. The fact that he's an Israeli citizen, the fact that he's a soldier, and the fact that he was posted there with dismantled equipment.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yehuda, Yehuda Cohen, thank you so much.

COHEN: That is the situation.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. Nimrod Cohen, 22 months, his son has been held captive in Gaza now. Thank you very much for your time.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are standing by for a key legal test. A huge political battle hitting one of the most ambitious Democrats in the country against President Trump, all over the President's use of federal power and troops.

This morning, U.S. officials scrambling to nail down details for Friday's high-stakes meeting between the President and Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Still no venue, and still no definitive answer if Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be allowed to show up.

Also this morning, raging wildfires fueled by severe heat waves, putting some of the world's treasures at risk.

Sara is out. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Jessica Dean today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, we are expecting to hear from President Trump speaking from the White House about his crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. Over the weekend, federal agencies launched a surge on D.C. streets with up to 450 officers taking part. The President has been floating a federal takeover of D.C.'s local government and police. And that push is raising questions about just how much power he does have to deploy federal resources on U.S. soil.

And those questions also really at the center of a trial set to begin today in the battle between President Trump and California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. California filed a lawsuit after the President deployed the National Guard to crack down on protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles back in June. The state argues the President violated a nearly 150 year old law when he sent the guard in against the governor's wishes.

Joining us now is Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor. Jeremy, thanks so much for being here this morning. Good to see you.

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: You as well.

BOLDUAN: OK, so let's let's start in California. Then we can kind of zoom out. At its heart, this trial that's going to start in California is about how much power the president of the United States lawfully has over the military on domestic soil.

What's at stake here?

SALAND: It's a really interesting question. And the circuit court that appealed the initial decision that said basically we give wide deference to the president to enact this law and to use his powers. But really at the soul of this is there's a state rights issue.

Can the federal government mean the president say, you know what, I'm going to just put in the military as a civilian police force on American soil when there's a statute that specifically says unless Congress says you cannot or you can do so, then you cannot. At what point and what is that threshold that the president can use this? And then we're hearing Washington, D.C., what is next?

[08:05:00]

DEAN: Right. And look, there's also this question over kind of getting at what you're saying, this the 10th Amendment argument, which Governor Newsom's attorneys are arguing that by overriding California officials in this case, who did not want the National Guard to come in --

SALAND: Didn't ask first.

DEAN: -- didn't ask, said, in fact, please don't, that the president violated the 10th Amendment that governs the power sharing between the federal government and the states.

How strong is that argument, do you think?

SALAND: Well, the argument is unless it's explicitly carved out for the federal government, it goes back to the states. You know, it's not just something that the government and federal government can come in and just do without following the law. It's a strong argument.

And again, I would say that we heard from Judge Breyer, who happens to be the brother of the former Supreme Court judge, who said, you know, the president is not the king. The president can't just willy-nilly say, I'm going to enact the law and say, this is what's going to happen. There needs to be a rebellion. There needs to be, in this particular case, an insurrection. There needs to be something that requires the federal government to say, we are needed to enforce the law and prevent the obstruction of the law to protect federal, you know, property personnel and the public because there's a failure and inability of the states to do so. And that's really not so easy.

But I would just share with you that even if Judge Breyer says I agree with you, state, which it seems like he has based on what he's previously said, we're going to find this litigated even further. It's not going to end there because Donald Trump is constantly using the courts to challenge the courts, right or wrong.

DEAN: Yes, certainly. And look, more broadly to that point, the Trump administration continues to take aim at the courts. They are suing and they are -- there are lawsuits against judges that are critical of the White House.

This is supposed to be a check and balance with using the judiciary and the executive. Is the judiciary losing its ability here?

SALAND: You know, I hasn't used this word, but I think it's necessary. To a certain extent, Trump is neutering the judiciary and it's incredibly, incredibly frightening because they only have so much power. Certainly someone could be held in contempt as an individual.

But if you as a judge is going to refer something for prosecution and you have a Department of Justice that is doing the president's bidding and disagrees with you, how far can you go as a court? It's concerning and it should concern everyone extremely about what's happened with the courts.

DEAN: That's -- and that is what is at stake today and will continue to be. Jeremy, thank you so much for being here.

SALAND: My pleasure. DEAN: We really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the White House is making final preparations for a high stakes summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska this Friday. We understand they still have to pick a venue.

Also undecided what role, if any, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelenskyy will have in determining the fate of his own country. Overnight, Zelenskyy said, quote, Russia refuses to stop the killings and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits. Concessions do not persuade a killer.

Let's get right to seeing as Alayna Treene at the White House with the latest. Good morning, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning, John. I mean, look, this is an incredibly quick timeline for any type of meeting of this magnitude with a foreign leader, let alone a potential foreign adversary. And so we are seeing people here at the White House really scrambling to try and make this possible.

And again, hosting Vladimir Putin on American soil, I cannot go or overstate enough just how big of a deal this is and how little time they have had to prepare for this. Now, you mentioned this, John, but as of this morning, there is still no official venue for this face-to- face meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

We know, of course, that it's expected to be in Alaska. It's central to, you know, Moscow as well as Washington. But that's really all that they are sharing on that front thus far. And I think the stakes, of course, are so incredibly high.

We are now seven months into the president's first term. And his big goal, one of the top priorities for him when he came into office, was to try and find a swift end to this war between Russia and Ukraine.

And recently, of course, in recent months, we've really seen his tune change. He had hoped that he could leverage his relationship with Putin to make progress on that. But in recent weeks, you've really seen his frustration with the Russian president grow because of his duplicity. And now, of course, we are seeing the president host him on American soil and seeing if hopefully he can make further progress by having it face-to-face.

It's really a major test for President Donald Trump and his long-held faith in having these face-to-face meetings and hoping that they are really the key negotiating tool that he believes in.

Now, I think there's still, of course, a number of questions that are hanging over this. You mentioned one.

But the big one, of course, is whether or not we're actually going to see Zelenskyy travel to Alaska as well for this. We did not hear the president or other top officials say that he was going to be coming when they announced this on Friday. But from our conversations with people here at the White House, they are leaving that potential open.

But the priority for them has remained in these conversations. They say the priority has remained that they have Trump and Putin come face-to-face.

[08:10:00]

Another key question, of course, is what exactly did Putin share with the special envoy for the president, Steve Witkoff, last week when Witkoff met with him in Moscow?

That was really the key meeting that set all of this in motion. And what was it exactly? What are the exact details that Putin was offering that made people here in this administration believe that it was the time, the time was right to have these two come together?

And so, really, a number of questions that still need to be answered. A lot of people here scrambling ahead of the Friday summit. But we'll have to wait and see exactly what they can work out in these next few days.

BERMAN: Yes. What, if anything is Russia conceding in this process?

TREENE: Right.

BERMAN: Such a key question. Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: There are really only nothing but questions surrounding this at this point, it appears. Joining us right now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier and CNN Political and National Security Analyst, of course, of The New York Times, David Sanger. It's good to see you guys.

David, at this point, do you see a last-minute invitation being extended to Zelenskyy to join? I mean, and if not, does it necessarily mean that Ukraine is going to be on the losing end of any deal?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I could imagine them inviting him. But depending on how that first meeting goes with President Putin and President Trump, it might not work out so well. So just imagine for a moment, Kate, this scenario, that Putin comes in and makes a series of land demands.

The president we've already heard is talking about land swaps. What's he not talking about? He's not talking about security guarantees for Ukraine.

He hasn't spoken yet about whether or not Ukraine could eventually join NATO. The administration has been pretty negative on that. And so then he presents something to Zelenskyy and puts him in a room with Putin.

If Zelenskyy rejects it, then it puts Putin and Trump on the side of pressuring Zelenskyy and puts us right back where we were during that disastrous Oval Office meeting back in February. BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, it does seem that, I don't know if we could say it's the most likely scenario, Kim, but you've got, just as David was saying, either Putin walks in, gets a good deal for him, and Trump successfully convinces Zelenskyy to accept it, or Putin walks in, gets a good deal for him, and then Zelenskyy rejects it, and then we've got this wedge created once again between the United States and Ukraine. I mean, what are you hearing from your sources?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, and the fireworks from Alaska would be seen from space at that point. In Ukraine, what people are worried about is Putin's track record of convincing Trump of the rightness of his position and the inevitability of Russian efforts to take over parts of Ukraine. So they are worried that no matter what Europe is doing right now to to bolster Kyiv's position and say we won't accept something that gives away territory for nothing.

The fact of the matter is Trump gets in a room with Putin and frequently gets educated about history from the Russian point of view and takes it at face value. So the question is, will Trump have anyone in the room with him to give him an alternative point of view? Is it going to be another one of those Helsinki-style events where it was just Putin and Trump and, I believe, a translator?

And that is a dangerous situation for Kyiv. Meanwhile, you've got Zelenskyy saying we're not going to give up territory, that Russia is demanding that it get territory that it has not yet won on the battlefield, including major cities. I can't see anyone in Ukraine standing for that.

BOLDUAN: And David, then there's this secondary sanctions kind of effort and threat hanging out there at the same time. Trump imposing new tariffs on India as punishment for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas.

And then Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, they've been pushing an even tougher plan. I mean, they've been working this for over eight years at this point. This tougher plan trying to get through Congress. I want to play how Graham kind of put it all in perspective yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Putin could give a damn about sanctions. He evades them. He could give a damn about how many Russians die.

The one thing that he can't tolerate and live with, if we go after his customers, the whole goal is to crush his customers, India and China and Brazil, that if you keep buying Putin's oil and prop up his war machine, you will be denied access to our economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And David, what are you hearing about this?

SANGER: So, if you're looking for an example of strategic incoherence, this is one of the most prime ones, Kate. We have put secondary sanctions on India, which has been buying Russian oil. OK, got that. Check.

[08:15:00]

We have not put any secondary sanctions on China. And in fact, the president, because he's got a much bigger deal in mind with China, has put off all of the decisions about China for about 90 days. China buys more Russian oil than India does.

And Russia itself, the aggressor in the war, has about a 10 percent tariff on it right now, one of the lowest that's out there. Can anyone explain -- if you had to walk into a classroom and try to explain to a group of international relations students why it is that you did this way, I don't understand really how you'd go do it.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Hence why the Graham Blumenthal bill has like almost all of the Senate endorsing their plan versus the way the president's taking this piecemeal one.

SANGER: Which makes perfect -- and that makes perfect sense, yes.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Kim, David, I mean, it's going to be a week, guys. Thank you so much -- Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, staffers at the CDC say they felt like, quote, sitting ducks when a gunman opened fire on their offices Friday and attacked the agency's leaders are now calling targeted and deliberate.

Also, Milwaukee issuing a state of emergency as record breaking rain spark major flash floods. Millions in the Midwest still under that flood threat this morning. We'll tell you where that danger is.

And dial up Internet. Yes, it still exists. But that sound not going to exist for much longer as AOL is set to pull the plug.

[08:20:00]

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BOLDUAN: This morning, hundreds of staffers at the Centers for Disease Control Prevention are on edge after, of course, that gunman opened fire on the agency's headquarters Friday. CDC leaders held a call with those staffers this weekend and told them that the attack was in their in their words, targeted and deliberate.

A law enforcement official also tells CNN that 30 year old Patrick Joseph White, the suspect, believed that he was sick and believed that the COVID-19 vaccine and blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for it.

Police say that he fired more than 40 bullets on at least four CDC buildings. This shooting prompted an hours long lockdown, terrorizing the agency, of course, and the surrounding neighborhoods. One employee told the agency's director that they just felt like sitting ducks inside.

A police officer who responded to the scene was shot and killed by the gunman. The gunman was also later found dead. Joining me right now for more on just what this means and where this

goes is CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, of course.

Dr. Reiner, I mean, on that call when with CDC staffers, the CNN reporting is that the leaders also told the employees that essentially basically warning them that they're going to -- they might start hearing that it's their work that was targeted as a possible motivation for the shooter. I mean, do you think the conspiracy theories around vaccines that have, well, flourished, especially in recent years, but really flourish have been promoted by the current HHS secretary is reason behind this?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I do. I think that, you know, this terrible incident on Friday was the result of, you know, now years of misinformation. And there is no greater purveyor of misinformation about vaccines in general and the COVID vaccine in particular than Mr. Kennedy. In fact, he's not just created doubt about the, you know, efficacy and safety of COVID vaccines, but he's essentially instilled doubt about the integrity of CDC. And he's called CDC a cesspool of corruption. He's called the vaccine division at CDC fascist.

He's likened vaccines to children as -- giving vaccines to children as death camps. He's outrageously said that back in World War II during the Holocaust, at least Anne Frank could hide in a attic, whereas American children must get the vaccine. So over and over and over again, he's created a really vicious, you know, distrust about, you know, the science related to vaccines.

And he's both villainized and vilified, you know, the staff, really largely wonderful public servants at CDC. And in this toxic environment, a you know, mentally ill man decided to take action.

BOLDUAN: Jerome Adams, the former surgeon, generally under President Trump in his first term, he is speaking out and he's also lashing out against RFK Jr. after all this and RFK Jr.'s response to what happened on Friday. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, FORMER SURGEON GENERAL: We have to find better, more peaceful ways to express our concerns and work towards solutions. How you respond to a crisis defines a leader. And quite frankly, Secretary Kennedy has failed in his first major test in this regard.

It took him over 18 hours to issue a tepid response to these horrific shootings. And that's not even considering how his inflammatory rhetoric in the past has actually contributed to a lot of what's been going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you think of that?

[08:25:00] REINER: Well, I completely agree. Secretary Kennedy, look, I'm sure he didn't, you know, wish that anyone would be hurt at CDC. But he's created an environment that really has enabled this hatred to grow. And he's -- look, and not just from his rhetoric, he's, you know, since January, 25 percent of CDC employees have been fired. The next budget for CDC is cut by 50 percent.

So he has shown very vividly, not just with his words, but his actions, what he thinks about, you know, again, these public servants who work at CDC, and they must feel betrayed. It's like in those old horror movies, where, you know, the babysitter finally learns that the call is coming from within the house. The call is coming from within HHS.

BOLDUAN: What is the impact, speaking of actions, the Secretary, Secretary Kennedy, he announced that he is cancelling 22 mRNA vaccine research projects, that comes out to $500 million for vaccine research, and said that he's not going to be approving any new ones. I mean, what is a funding cut like that going to do?

REINER: You know, I find this endlessly ironic, because the singular rate, undeniably great achievement of the first Trump administration was the rocket fast development of a COVID vaccine, using mRNA technology, that estimates suggest saved somewhere between 2 and 4 million lives in this in this country. The technology has the ability, has the ability not just, you know, to treat emerging pathogens, like bird flu, if that should jump from birds into human transmission, but potentially even diseases like pancreatic cancer. But he just doesn't believe in it.

But he's never been a physician. He's never gone to medical school. He's not a scientist. He's never worked in a lab. He's never run a clinical trial. And he literally knows nothing about this.

But yet, he holds the key to research in this country. It's really shocking to me. We've put control of the world's greatest research organizations in the hands of someone who is singularly unqualified to lead it.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you for being here this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, new details on an Israeli attack that killed several journalists.

And high time for a change, some might say. President Trump weighing major adjustments to laws on marijuana.

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