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Armored Humvees Near Washington Monument as Trump Deploys National Guard; Interview with Peter Strauss (D) Shadow Senator, Washinton DC: National Guard Troops Now in DC After Trump Takeover of City's Police; Trump, Zelenskyy and European Leaders Meet on Ukraine; GOP Lawmaker: Alex Acosta Can Still be Called to Testify. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: ... change, but certainly something still to keep an eye on, especially maybe if you've got a Caribbean vacation plan in the next couple of days. The storm is also expected to continue to intensify in the coming days. We do anticipate this to get at least a major hurricane strength over the next five days, but again, still keeping a very close eye on it because it will be entering incredibly warm waters.

You're talking a lot of the sea surface temperatures in those low to mid eighties. That is fuel for storms like these to have, especially as they kind of go unimpeded, meaning there's not really anything else there obstructing it from any further development. So certainly something we'll have to keep a very close eye on.

Back to you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. Alison, thank you very much for that update -- Jessica.

Oh, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, clear signs of President Trump's Washington DC take over. Hundreds of National Guard troops and federal officers right now patrolling the streets of the nation's capital as Trump's so called crime crackdown comes into focus.

And any moment now virtual meetings between President Trump, EU leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy begin just days, of course, before Trump's sit down with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Zelenskyy saying this morning more pressure needs to be put on Russia for the sake of a fair peace.

And the White House ordering a review to make sure some of the nation's biggest and most prestigious museums fall in line with the president's vision of the nation, American culture and history. Critics are warning, though it's a dangerous move.

I'm Jessica Dean with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: So this morning, the new reality for people living and visiting the nation's capital after President Trump's federal takeover. These air images of FBI and DEA agents patrolling the streets in Washington DC -- in in Georgetown in Washington, DC. And after the president hinted that he may not stop with the District of Columbia, the questions are growing of what city could be next.

The National Guard were seen out in force at the Washington Monument yesterday, and officers with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Marshals were seen taking part in traffic stops.

Plus, border agents on patrol in DC's Union Station, a major hub where tens of thousands of travelers pass through daily is all part of the president's new crackdown on the city. He's painted DC over several days as a city overtaken by his words, quote, blood thirsty criminals. That is, despite the facts of the math, which is they have seen a 26 percent drop in violent crime from this time last year. And with hundreds of federal law enforcement personnel on the streets there, the FBI says 23 arrests were made during the first night.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is on the National Mall for us. Gab, what are you seeing there this morning?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's a quiet morning. That's how it typically is out here. It's a lot of joggers, tourists, people walking to and from work.

And yet last night we saw this really public display of force from the Trump administration with this group of National Guard troops and Humvees who were out here sort of interacting with the public. And as you mentioned, we have also seen federal officers out in other parts of the city, and you can expect you're going to see plenty of that, including as many as 800 of those National Guard troops who are going to be deployed across the district in the days and weeks ahead.

And it has really raised questions, Kate, as we have sort of seen this start to play out over the last 48 hours or so. It's raising questions about who exactly is running the show when it comes to local law enforcement in Washington. If you ask local officials, the mayor, the police chief, they say it is still very much the district that is calling the shots here. And yet the Trump administration has made it clear that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Terry Cole, the head of the DEA are really the ones in charge.

And so it's interesting to see the clash starting to play out here. But again, that first public display with law enforcement, federal law enforcement out here in large numbers over the past 24 hours.

BOLDUAN: And Gabe, DC's mayor has been walking a fine line and how she has been talking about defending the District of Columbia but also saying that she would --will cooperate with the president and his edict. But she's now overnight -- she changed her tone.

COHEN: Yes, and to just to give a little context, Kate, over the past eight months, we have seen DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser really treading lightly when it comes to interacting with President Trump and his administration and publicly speaking about the president.

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Really in an effort not to antagonize President Trump at all, because frankly, officials here in the district have realized that the president and Republicans in Congress hold the cards. And so we have seen Mayor Bowser really toe the line. And yet overnight, we saw her firmest yet response to the president's actions when it comes to this recent push to federalize local law enforcement here in Washington. Here's a little bit of what the mayor said at a town hall last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And and Kate, as of now, we have seen officials in Washington here in the district really trying to have a united front to this. They want to create as many roadblocks as they can, I guess, for for the president and for this administration. But as of now again, there are a lot of question marks as to how this is going to play out between the local government here and the Trump administration.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, Gabe. Thanks for being there for us. Much more to come -- Jessica.

DEAN: And joining us now is Democratic shadow Senator Paul Strauss. He represents the District of Columbia in the U.S. Senate. It's a nonvoting role in the upper chamber. And Senator, this is where it gets tricky for DC because just to remind everyone they do not have official representation within within Congress. And that is why President Trump has and the federal government has some authority over DC.

I do want to say thank you so much for joining us this morning. And we just heard from my colleague there talking about the mayor, what she's been saying about this issue. I want to play a clip from what she said earlier this week. This was from Monday.

This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, (D) WASHINGTON, DC: We engage with all officials that impact the district, and that includes the president. So I don't expect that that would change from our part.

The fact that we have more law enforcement and presence in neighborhoods that could not, you know, that may be positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Senator, do you agree with her?

PAUL STRAUSS, (D) SHADOW SENATOR FOR WASHINGTON, DC: Well, it could have been positive, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it's shaping up to be that. Having Humvees around the Smithsonian Institution on a day when you're trying to tell them to reorder the exhibits really smacks more of intimidation. It's not a crime strike fighting strategy.

Any neighborhood could probably benefit from more cops or more law enforcement if it's done correctly. If it's done in partnership with the community. But that doesn't seem to be what's happening. We certainly didn't need all these officers surging in Georgetown or the National Mall patrolling for joggers and other tourists.

It's not where the problem is. It's not a solution to the problem. It's at best theater, but at worst, it's a type of authoritarian intimidation. And DC Residents are upset. Even those that are concerned with crime don't really see this is helping in any way.

DEAN: And the DC Police Union leader has said in his words, something has to be done about the crime.

I hear what you're saying. What would you do instead of this? What do you think is a better way forward?

STRAUSS: The problem with our criminal justice system in the District of Columbia is because we're not a state, which is, of course, why we want DC stated.

Most of the problem areas of our law enforcement system are on the federal side. So the federal government controls the judiciary. It's actually up to President Trump to appoint the judges that sit on our local superior court.

We have a record number of vacancies. He has not made those appointments. It's the federal government, the president who appoints the U.S. attorney and the last U.S. attorney appointed by this president fired 60 career prosecutors only because they had a role in prosecuting the January 6th insurrectionists.

And so we have vacancies and prosecutors. That's not helping us fight crime. We have vacancies in judges. That's not helping us fight crime. So there's a role for more increased federal cooperation, but we're not getting it.

If the federal government would concentrate on the federal part of our criminal justice system, that would be much better for DC. But that's not what they're doing.

The problem necessarily hasn't been with the police. It's been with the other side of the equation to the extent that there is a problem.

Look, crime is down. We're grateful for that. If you're an unfortunate victim of a crime, it's never down low enough. One carjacking is one too many as far as I'm concerned.

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But the statistics don't bear out the reality that he is trying to distort here, and we need to get back to the facts.

The best policing is community based policing. Residents need to have a relationship of trust with the people who are there to protect and serve them. Listen, I have nothing but respect for the women and men who wear the uniform of our country. I welcome the guardsmen. I hope they have a good time here.

And -- but I feel bad. They're being taken away from their families. I heard today that there was a report of a guardsman that had one day home with his fiance before he had to be deployed again. This is not what we need these soldiers to be doing.

And --

DEAN: Yes.

STRAUSS: -- it does not look like this is a constructive partnership.

DEAN: All right, Shadow Senator Paul Strauss, thank you for your time today. We really appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So at any moment, a critical meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Just a short time ago, President Trump posted this.

We'll be speaking to European leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done.

Zelenskyy has arrived we're told at the -- in Berlin for this virtual conference, if you will, with President Trump and a whole cast of European leaders.

The meeting serves as an opportunity for Ukraine and European partners to urge President Trump to respect Kyiv's interests before he meets with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskyy again, not expected, very clearly not going to be invited to be at the table with Putin and Trump.

A short time ago, President Zelenskyy issued a blunt assessment, saying this: Pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a fair peace.

And he also said we must learn from the experience of Ukraine and our partners to prevent deception on the part of Russia.

CNN's Alayna Treene live at the White House for us. Alayna, with this -- it's a very important moment for the president and and European allies is this is probably the last -- maybe the last word that they will all have before this summit in Alaska. Are you hearing what the White House is hoping to get out of this conversation? ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Look, the stakes are very high for this, and it's very much clear that these European leaders they include, of course, being hosted this this virtual call by the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but also with leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine. Of course, with Zelenskyy arriving in Berlin this morning.

Their goal is to try and bend the president's ear before this one-on- one between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And when the White House side I think they are trying to reassure them, and we've heard that from them now publicly multiple times before the president try to say that it's not up to him to make a deal that, you know, he's not expecting a deal to be made.

We heard the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt say yesterday that this is going to be a listening exercise for Donald Trump.

But, of course, this president is very unpredictable, and he also believes that he is a great negotiator. It's a long held belief of his that when he can sit down in a room face to face with a leader like Putin, he's expecting to yield progress and results.

And that, I think, is what is a bit scary to some of these European leaders who want to seat at the table, who want to ensure that Zelenskyy has very much a big say in whatever comes out of all of this. And so that's what this call is about.

Now, we do know as well that later today the president is going to be at the Kennedy Center, a good opportunity to take questions from reporters, I am sure we'll be hearing at that moment, at that event, you know, more out of what the president had to say on this call.

But again, it's a very precarious moment because Putin has so far been very duplicitous. And that is something that we know has frustrated this White House. And they know that, you know, despite what he often says on a phone call with Donald Trump, he then continues to ramp up his bombings and attacks on Ukraine.

And so there's a lot of nervousness going into what is going to happen on Friday. I think the White House's main goal, though, Kate, is to really reassure them that he has their interests aligned as well.

BOLDUAN: Important day. Alayna, thank you so much -- Jessica.

DEAN: And let's go now to CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh who is on the ground in Kyiv. Nick, we just heard from Alayna what President Trump is hoping to achieve from this.

But then there is, of course, what President Zelenskyy hopes to achieve from this virtual meeting today. What message he and EU leaders want to get to the president before he meets with Putin?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it is important to remember that a wartime leader leaving the country to go to Berlin to stand alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is about sending that symbolism of their unity here. And that's been apparent since Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, travelled to the Kremlin, emerging with plans for a potential peace proposal that were frankly unclear.

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And there's been a lot of -- not panic, but unease amongst European officials I've been speaking to over the past week because they've simply been trying to work out exactly what the details of that plan was.

One European diplomat I spoke to described Witkoff's performance as amateurish at a time of utmost consequence and that that indeed had left European allies uncomfortable and uneasy.

They don't really know what Putin suggested. Was it a concession for less territory for a ceasefire than his maximalist goals, or was it the same old give me everything I want and the war can stop?

The point I think of this conversation out of Berlin, as Alayna was saying, is to solidify yet again in the minds of those in the White House exactly what Europe's position is for Donald Trump to see those European leaders with whom he has great personal relationships, Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz even, though he's new to the job, and hear them say this is about our security as well as Ukraine security. And again, hear President Zelenskyy remind how they want to be at the table for any deal being made.

But there is great anxiety as to the unpredictability of this. Trump has said two things, that he'll know within two minutes potentially if a deal is possible, but also that he's not sure if Putin has given up on his maximalist demands of wanting all of Ukraine. Incredibly hard to see how we can enter into a meeting like that thinking Putin wants everything unacceptable to Ukraine and Europe, and also a deal potentially emerges that could be acceptable. So that's the challenge.

But as we wait for this meeting, the ground is changing fast in Ukraine, particularly in the area under discussion, it seems, between Witkoff and the Kremlin, Donetsk region. Remember the suggestion had been that they might cede that in exchange for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Well, Russia is moving forwards in a key area called Dobropillya. Ukrainian officials playing it down as an infiltration, not an advance, but we're hearing again and again that it's more serious than that. Mandatory evacuations of children's being ordered in that particular area now. This is the place being discussed by peace talks, and the reality is changing as we wait for Alaska on Friday.

Back to you.

DEAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, live for us from Kyiv. We really appreciate that reporting -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. So will the man who negotiated the highly controversial sweetheart deal with Jeffrey Epstein face new questions now from Congress? What a Republican congresswoman is now pushing for?

And the President's culture wars now turns to the Smithsonian, the White House ordering a review of their museums and exhibits what that means for the historic institution.

And new surveillance footage shows the moment two armed men steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from an armored Brinks truck.

We'll be back.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: This morning, a new development in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a Florida House Republican telling the Palm Beach Post a key figure in the case, Alex Acosta, could be called to testify on Capitol Hill. Acosta was the U.S. attorney in South Florida who oversaw the agreement back in 2008 that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges. Epstein served only 13 months in state prison for charges concerning his sexual involvement with underage girls. A Justice Department review later found Acosta exercised, quote, poor judgment in striking that deal.

Joining us now, CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig. Elie, great to have you here with us.

Catch everyone up, remind them -- I just went through like the top lines of it. But give us some more details around Alex Acosta's role in all of this.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Right, Jess. So one of the biggest questions here is how did Jeffrey Epstein essentially get away with it the first time back in Florida in 2006, 7 and 8? So Alexander Acosta was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, which includes Miami. His office, the FBI and local police put together a case where they identified 30 plus underage victims. A prosecutor in Alexander Acosta's office put together a massive federal indictment, which would have subjected Jeffrey Epstein to 10 years to life behind bars. But instead, Alexander Acosta had a series of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein's high priced, high powered legal team, including Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz and others.

And Acosta ends up agreeing to this outrageous deal where Epstein gets a pass federally and only has to plead guilty to state level crimes. As you said, Epstein ends up serving 13 months, much of which he's allowed to leave for 12 hours a day to basically hang out at his attorney's office. And in the process, Acosta signs a deal with Epstein that says we will not prosecute your co-conspirators, which Ghislaine Maxwell is now using to attack her conviction.

So this was an inexplicable, inexcusable deal. And if Congress is serious about getting answers, they need to ask some questions of Alexander Acosta.

DEAN: So that leads me to my second question, which is when you look at the current subpoena list from that committee, what does that tell you that he's not again, not currently on it?

HONIG: Yes, if you look at the people who have been subpoenaed, there's about a dozen former attorneys general, president, former president, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, directors of the FBI. Those folks, if you look at individuals on that list, have a fraction of a fraction, if anything, of the relevant knowledge that Alexander Acosta has.

I'll give you two examples. If you look at the letter that the House sent to Hillary Clinton, one of the reasons it says they need to talk to her is because she hired Jeffrey Epstein's nephew to work on her campaign and then at the state department. That's a reason for a subpoena.

If you look at the subpoena to Jim Comey, the former FBI director, there's no reason given. Jim Comey wasn't even director of FBI during the first or second Epstein investigations. He was the FBI director in between.

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So compare what those people might have that's relevant knowledge to Alexander Acosta, the guy who gave the case away to Epstein in the first place.

DEAN: And just a reminder to everyone, we're seeing him with President Trump. He was his labor secretary for a time during his first term. That's why we're seeing them together.

Elie, just lastly, if Acosta is subpoenaed, could he fight that? What might he say to that?

HONIG: Sure, anyone can try to fight a subpoena. They can argue they don't have any relevant testimony.

But I don't really see a way out for him. I mean, there's not any type of privilege that he could invoke. There's no executive privilege. I don't think he'd have a Fifth Amendment privilege. I don't think he did anything criminal. So he could try to negotiate for a more limited subpoena.

But the fact of the matter is, if Congress wants to get Alexander Acosta's testimony, they almost certainly can. It's just a question of whether they have the political will to issue him a subpoena and then to enforce it.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Elie Honig, always good to see you on a Wednesday morning.

Thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And on a Thursday and a Friday as well, whenever we can get him.

Joining us right now is CNN's senior political commentators, David Axelrod and Scott Jennings. Hello, gentlemen. DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, how are you?

BOLDUAN: Let's start here. So, Scott, you have --this is not Democrats pushing this. This is a Republican congresswoman who is a strong, strong supporter of the president. And she wants this to happen. She says it's not off the table. She's not letting this go. She's not saying it's a Democratic hoax, like the president has said. So what's this going to do?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, they might bring him in. They're bringing in all kinds of other people. So fine with me if they do and fine with me if they find out things that lead to information gathering that puts other people in jail if they need to go to jail.

I don't have any problem with them following the facts where they go here. I mean, the polling on this, this is a political analysis --

BOLDUAN: Right.

JENNINGS: -- it's pretty clear, nobody cares. This is like the least important thing to the American people. And that includes Republicans, too.

So but if they want to continue to do their work here, there's no problem.

BOLDUAN: Why do you think they are continuing with them?

JENNINGS: Well, I mean, there have been questions about this. And so if you want to talk to folks, I don't know -- I don't know why anybody would be mad about that. But at the same time, I think we shouldn't mistake this for something other than a Washington story, because out in the country, this is not a big deal for the American people.

BOLDUAN: It is. It is. It's much more than a Washington story, actually, because --

JENNINGS: That is not what our or any other polling says.

BOLDUAN: Yes, maybe when you ask a voter what their top issue is, it's not going to be the Jeffrey Epstein saga. But you know that lawmakers have said this is the top call they're getting into their congressional office. They are hearing this when they go home.

I asked the top Democrat on oversight -- he was on with me last night -- about this. And he says Democrats are ready to stand with Congresswoman Paulina Luna if she moves -- continues with this move. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): If she decides to make that motion or if someone on our side makes that motion and there's enough support, we would support that Congressman Luna motion certainly unanimously. We just want the truth out. And I think like the congresswoman, we

don't care at the end of the day who gets implicated. We don't care what political party they are or how powerful they are, how much wealth they have. The victims have to get justice. And Alex Acosta is someone that should be testifying in front of the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: He makes a strong case for it. My question was, why aren't Democrats shouting from rooftops about this before this then?

AXELROD: Well, look, I can't speak to why Democrats haven't spoken to this before. But this thing does say -- I agree with Scott, by the way. I think people are worried that their costs are going up --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AXELROD: -- that the job market is tightening.

BOLDUAN: I'm not trying to --

AXELROD: -- all kinks of other things. But this thing stinks and it gets more and more smelly as time goes on. If Acosta, who says Elie described so much about the genesis of all of this, is not called, I think that's just going to accelerate the suspicion that there's a cover up going on. So, you know, now Luna has opened up this possibility. People are going to wonder why it didn't happen.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's a good point.

I want to turn to what's going on with the Smithsonian. I mean, the president has made no secret he wants to and is pushing to purge DEI from all government agencies. He's taking on universities over it in part. He's taken over the Kennedy Center over this in part. And now you have this the Smithsonian -- him taking on the Smithsonian Institution.

So I say that by saying maybe it's not a surprise that he's targeting here next. But what do you think of it?

AXELROD: Well, listen, under the same executive order, the Pentagon earlier this year removed historical exhibits about the Tuskegee Airmen, the all Black air corps from World War II that, despite segregation, made enormous contributions. The code talkers, the Navajos, who became essential to passing messages in the Pacific.

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