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White House Orders Review of Smithsonian Museums; Trump Talks to Zelenskyy; Trump Seeking Long-Term Takeover of D.C.?; Interview With Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA). Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 13, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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DAVID KIRKPATRICK, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Do you have reason to believe that they're going to give you something in return?

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: David Kirkpatrick, just fascinating reporting. Thank you so much for being here and sharing it with us.

The White House responded to David's reporting with this from the Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told "The New Yorker" -- quote -- "The claims that this president has profited from his time in office are absolutely absurd. The American people love him precisely because he is a successful businessman."

She says: "The president has sacrificed money by leaving business for public office."

Thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS today. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: All hail the influencer in chief, President Donald Trump wielding his power over Washington, D.C., from National Guard on the streets to national museums and the capital's premier institution for the arts.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: Plus, he's the godfather of A.I., but now he's warning the very technology he helped build could wipe out humanity. We will tell you why he says tech bros are taking the wrong approach to it.

And also people are being told to leave Alaska's capital, as a melting glacier threatens to send billions of gallons of water surging toward that city.

We're following these major developing stories and many more coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start with breaking news this afternoon.

Forget 30 days. President Trump says he's now considering -- quote -- "a long-term extension" when it comes to his federal takeover of Washington, D.C.'s police force, signaling that, if necessary, he will declare a national emergency. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C. It's almost -- we're going to use it as a very positive example, and we're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days.

We're going to want extensions. I don't want to call national emergency. If I have to, I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The president demanding that Congress act with National Guard troops now patrolling D.C. streets, the president felt, amid scenes like this one, military Humvees parked right outside the Washington Monument.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is live for us on the National Mall.

And, Gabe, the president also just raised questions about the crime data that's being gathered here in D.C. He without presenting firm evidence called it bogus.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right.

Frankly, the president made a lot of news during that event. You mentioned the crime data. Remember, when the president announced the federalization of the local police department here just a couple days ago, he said that violent crime was at record highs here in the District.

But data from the local police department shows that, over the past couple years, violent crime has really been declining at a pretty rapid pace even after an alarming and significant spike back in 2023, but the president today saying that data is not to be trusted,essentially that the books have been cooked. Here's what he said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You're going to see a big change in Washington crime stats very soon, not the stats that they gave, because they turned out to be a total fraud, the real stats.

The stats went through the roof. They had a man that was forced to put up stats, like they were doing better. They're not doing better. Crime is the worst it's ever been. But it started as of about yesterday. It started to -- you see a big change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And, Boris, I don't know if you can hear it right now, but there's a helicopter, a U.S. Park Police helicopter, flying over our head. It has just been doing laps around the National Mall over the past few hours. Gives you a sense of what the increased federal law enforcement presence looks like here, especially after last night, after we saw the National Guard troops who are all across the Mall, as well as those FBI agents and DEA agents who are being deployed across the city.

You can expect now that, in the coming days, weeks and now maybe even months, that is only going to continue potentially in larger numbers. We also heard the president during that press briefing criticize D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser, essentially saying that two have had a fine relationship, but that the mayor really has not done her job here.

Well, it's notable because in recent months we have really seen Mayor Bowser and other local officials here really temper their language, trying not to antagonize the president because they know that President Trump and Republicans in Congress hold the cards and they're concerned about what could happen to D.C.

Over the past 24 hours, we did see here the mayor last night say -- call what the president has done here an authoritarian push, seemingly sort of the stiffest criticism she has made of the president's actions. And yet this morning we heard her and the police chief in an interview say that, well, maybe the surge in federal resources is going to be a good thing for the District.

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And I also asked her office about the president's criticisms earlier today. So far, they have said, Boris, they don't want to comment.

SANCHEZ: Interesting.

Gabe Cohen from the National Mall, thank you so much.

We're also following breaking news ahead of President Trump's critical meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week. Trump now says that the summit in Alaska on Friday could be the precursor for a second meeting. And while yesterday the White House characterized these talks as a -- quote -- "listening exercise," the president seemed to set different expectations today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

TRUMP: Yes, they will, yes.

QUESTION: What will the consequences be?

TRUMP: There will be consequences.

QUESTION: Sanctions? Tariffs?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: President Trump not getting into specifics there.

The announcement, we should note, comes just hours after Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other E.U. leaders who were trying to get in a final word before the Alaska summit.

FREEMAN: Meanwhile, Russian forces have been intensifying attacks in recent days, so much so that children in the Eastern Donetsk region are being evacuated.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live for us in Kyiv.

Nick, what's the latest on the ground there? And are European leaders more optimistic about Trump's meeting on Friday after their talks today?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Possibly.

I think what we have heard from European leaders in the last hour since they had that virtual conference with President Trump is a bid publicly to shore up their position. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying that he felt that there could be serious decisions made in Alaska on Friday, again a suggestion that we're not looking to lower expectations potentially, that there could be consequential decisions taken in that bilateral summit between Presidents Putin and Trump.

We have also heard from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reaffirming the idea that Ukraine will not be ceding territory, particularly the Donbass region, which appears to have become part of the discussion between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Kremlin last week.

Europe clear they want a cease-fire first. Now Trump's comments suggesting very severe consequences if they don't get a peace deal in Alaska. I understand from one European official who was familiar with the call had with European leaders that may well be referring to secondary sanctions against India.

The official I spoke to said that the threat is on of secondary sanctions if Russia doesn't agree to a deal. And they pointed out how there had obviously been an impact of the threat of sanctions against India. Remember, they are still due to kick in about two weeks from now if Trump lets that continue to go ahead.

They are a key energy customer of Russia and a key ally of the United States, all that in the background as this meeting in Berlin which Zelenskyy personally attended despite it being otherwise entirely virtual. The signals come from that the continued European desire for a cease-fire first and the negotiations start on the premise of a frozen front line as it currently stands. But Trump's suggestion in that press conference that if he likes the outcome of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin he might swiftly engender a trilateral with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there's a lot of logistical problems potentially around that certainly.

He even said, Trump, that Putin was against originally the idea of a trilateral. And you have to remember as well that there will be an awful lot of procedural hurdles, the sheer physical distance of Zelenskyy getting from here to Alaska, a lot ahead of that most importantly, but if Trump likes what he hears in that meeting with Putin -- back to you.

FREEMAN: Yes, the stakes seem to keep getting higher day by day.

Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much for that.

And for more on all this, we're joined now by Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. He's a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us today.

I want to jump right into this news overseas right now, Trump promising very severe consequences on Russia if Putin does not agree to end the war during Friday's meeting. Do you think Vladimir Putin is intimidated by that threat?

(LAUGHTER)

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): No. I mean, Trump has -- President Trump has already twice imposed a deadline on Vladimir Putin. Both times, that deadline came and went with nary a peep from President Trump.

I have to say, I'm very concerned about this upcoming bilateral summit on Friday. I know that many of my Ukrainian American constituents -- as you may know, I represent one of the largest concentrations of Ukrainian Americans anywhere in our country. They are incredibly nervous and anxious about President Trump giving away the store on Friday.

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Let's not forget Vladimir Putin launched this brutal war. He is a lifetime career KGB operative who once said the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet Union. That's why he's launched this war. That's why he moved on Georgia in 2008. That's why he has his designs on other former Soviet republics. That is really what's at stake on Friday.

FREEMAN: Congressman, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that Putin is bluffing when it comes to how much sanctions actually impact Russia and said in fact that sanctions are hitting Russia's war economy hard and Zelenskyy wants more.

I wanted your perspective here. Does Zelenskyy, though, need to be careful at this moment on pushing President Trump too publicly?

BOYLE: Well, I don't envy the position that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in.

He's had very strong support from the United States and from European leaders up until President Trump took office on January 20. And, since then, of course, it's been all over the map. I mean, we saw President Trump and Vice President Vance personally humiliate and ridicule Zelenskyy in an embarrassing performance in the Oval Office.

At that point, I was quite worried that the U.S. would abandon its support of Ukraine. Since then, though, we have seen President Trump signal perhaps greater support of Ukraine and express disappointment with Vladimir Putin. And now again it's back on to warm comments from Trump about Vladimir Putin.

So the reality is, there is no strategy here from President Trump. He makes it up as he goes along, and every single day, there's something different.

FREEMAN: Last thing I want to ask you about this topic for now is, what are you hearing from leadership or counterparts in the E.U.? I know you have many close contacts there.

Do they feel powerless at this moment because they seem to be on the sidelines, or are they hopeful for something good to come out of Friday?

BOYLE: Well, I happen to have a leadership position within the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, so I have a lot of colleagues I speak to who are from the other 31 NATO nations.

They are deeply worried about this bilateral summit on Friday. Frankly, whether talking to British or Lithuanian or Polish or German or French colleagues of mine, they have the same view that I have expressed here on CNN, a real wariness about this summit on Friday and the potential that it ends up with Putin playing Donald Trump, just flattering him, appealing to Donald Trump's fragile ego.

Frankly, this is relatively easy for Vladimir Putin to do, because we know time and time again President Trump craves the approval of Vladimir Putin.

FREEMAN: Congressman, I just want to get a quick question in about some of the other news today from the president, specifically about the federalization of the police department here in D.C. and the activation of the National Guard.

He's raised the possibility that other cities could be next. I live in Philadelphia. You live in Philadelphia. Are you concerned that the president could try to do something like what we're seeing in D.C. in Philly?

BOYLE: Well, I have to say, the timing doesn't make any sense in this respect. While we did see violent crime spike in Philadelphia and Washington,

D.C., in most American cities, whether they are in blue state America or red state America, we saw that happen in 2020, when he was president. We saw it happen in 2021 as the pandemic was continuing.

Since then, however, we have seen a record drop in crime in urban America. You brought up my hometown, Philadelphia. Half of the city is in my congressional district. Philadelphia actually leads the nation in the biggest reduction in violent crime today versus where we were a few years ago, almost a 50 percent drop in violent crime.

We are now at a multidecade low in the city of Philadelphia. Here in Washington, D.C., pretty similar story. They are also at a multidecade low in crime. What President Trump could do, however, specifically for Washington, D.C., is finally approve the budget that is supposed to come from Congress every year for the District.

D.C. is in a unique case, in which most of its budget actually comes from the federal government, per the United States Constitution. That has been held up for months and months. So I find it quite ironic that President Trump is asking for more funds for Washington, D.C.

Many of us on Capitol Hill have been calling on Congress to do that for many months now, and it's been the Republican-led Congress that has refused to act.

FREEMAN: Congressman Brendan Boyle from my also hometown of Philadelphia, thank you so much for breaking so many big issues down for us today. Really appreciate it.

BOYLE: Thank you.

FREEMAN: And still to come: President Trump expands his capital crackdown to D.C.'s museums. We will tell you how the White House says it plans to ensure their displays align with Trump's view of history.

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Plus: The number of deportation flights has skyrocketed under the Trump administration, but the planes are harder than ever to track. CNN took a look at the flight data to find out why.

And a little later: The flood danger is ramping up for Alaska's capital. A river fed by the massive and melting Mendenhall Glacier has swelled to a record level within the last few hours, threatening to send billions of gallons of water surging into Juneau.

All of this and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Today, President Trump imposing his influence on two of D.C.'s most storied institutions, the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center.

He just announced the recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors, and they include country performer George Strait, actor and singer Michael Crawford, film star Sylvester Stallone, and "I will Survive" songstress Gloria Gaynor, alongside the rock band Kiss.

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The president also revealed he will be hosting the event and that he played a major role in the selection process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I would say I was about 98 percent involved. No, they all went through me. They came over, Ric and Sergio, and everybody. They said -- I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I turned them -- I had a couple of wokesters.

No, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Yesterday, the White House also ordered an internal review of the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the nation's major public museums, starting with the eight seen right here on your screen.

The White House says the move is to -- quote -- "ensure" exhibits align with the president's agenda.

CNN's Betsy Klein is following all of these developments at the Smithsonian.

But we begin now with CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter on the Kennedy Center Honors.

Brian, what do you make of how hands on the president is in everything involving this Kennedy Center event?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, I have always thought that if President Trump had not decided to run for office, he could have been a great television host, a cable news host or a gossip columnist.

And today's announcement at the Kennedy Center really underscores, that by making himself the emcee -- he says he had to be talked into it. But by choosing to host this event in December, which is broadcast nationwide, by choosing to be so involved in the selection process, that's exactly what he's doing.

He's playing out an alternative life that he could have had as a TV host, as a gossip columnist, as an award selection committee member. That's part of what he enjoys about being president and it came through very clearly today. But, more broadly, we're talking about a president who does want entrenched cultural power.

He does not want fleeting change in these proverbial culture wars. He does not want Hollywood to be snubbing at the Trump White House anymore. He wants some control over these institutions and he wants it to be as permanent as possible. That's why we see him joking about the Kennedy Center being renamed the Trump Kennedy Center.

I don't know if that's actually going to happen, but certainly he has clearly put his fingerprints on this and it's going to be a heck of a show in December.

SANCHEZ: And, Betsy, walk us through the details on this internal review at the Smithsonian Museums.

What changes might we expect and based on what criteria?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER: That's right.

I mean, it could be a lot of sweeping changes, but the White House ordering a comprehensive internal review of all exhibits and materials at the Smithsonian Institution. This really marks the latest move by the Trump administration to impose President Trump's views on cultural and historical institutions in this country and also crack down on what they believe is a focus on diversity.

A letter from the White House to the secretary of the Smithsonian saying -- quote -- "This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the president's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions."

Of course, the Smithsonian is the overall institution that governs the nation's 21 public museums, as well as the National Zoo, receiving about 17 million visitors each year. And this review is going to target an initial eight museums. That includes the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Portrait Gallery, along with the Air and Space Museum, and a couple of others.

And they are going to be looking at all current exhibits, as well as assessing the tone and the historical framing of those exhibits. They will take a look at all staff manuals, job descriptions and organizational charts. They are also expected in this review to assess internal communications about how work is selected to be on display.

But within 75 days, the White House said, they are expected to start conducting interviews with staff. Within 120 days, museums should begin -- quote -- "replacing divisive or ideologically driven- language" on things like placards, other public-facing displays with what they describe as unifying descriptions.

The Smithsonian is saying in a statement that they are reviewing this letter for the White House and plan to work collaboratively on a path forward. But taken together, all of this, the president's steps underscore an effort to reshape American pop culture with his personal and political brand.

FREEMAN: Brian, you said today that this review is essentially like having a MAGA editor at the Smithsonian. What do you mean by that?

STELTER: Yes, right, because purging history and pilfering museums is pretty high up on the autocratic checklist. History has recorded examples of this happening in other countries,

and it's not pretty. But is that actually what the Trump White House is going to do here? We don't know. This may not actually amount to much. And there may be some areas of real common agreement that could be found.

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Maybe they're going to find an exhibit or two that actually does need some updating. But do Americans really want Trump political appointees like the budget director deciding what content is appropriate? The letter yesterday refers to content corrections and changing -- and taking out divisive content.

I think, if I were the visual arts curator at the National Museum of African American History today, I'd be on pins and needles. I'd be wondering, how aggressive is this review going to be? I'd be worried about the Black Lives Matter exhibit that exists in that museum. I'd be worried about some of the artwork at some of these museums.

So I think it's important to underscore that Smithsonian is not actually a part of the executive branch. It was created by Congress. It's funded by Congress. So this may be yet another one of those standoffs or at least tug-of-war situations between different parts of the government.

And so far, we have seen the Trump White House be very aggressive and win many of those battles. What will the Smithsonian do? How constructively actually work with the White House? How open will they be with the White House aides? I'm very curious to find out.

And I think many of the millions of people who love these museums are going to be curious as well.

SANCHEZ: Brian Stelter, Betsy Klein, thank you both so much.

Next, CNN is examining why it's becoming increasingly difficult to track an unprecedented number of ICE's deportation flights.

FREEMAN: Plus, historians are calling out the Department of Homeland Security's new recruitment and mass deportation campaign, warning that the posters and posts, some of which call on Americans to report -- quote -- "invaders," are alarmingly nationalist.

We will take a look.

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