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Trump Says, Severe Consequences If Putin Doesn't Agree to End War; Zelenskyy Meets With British Prime Minister Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit; D.C. Police, Fed Agents Met With Protest Over Traffic Checkpoint. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Final preps happening now for the moment of truth, really, between Trump and Putin. Russia just releasing new details about the summit as President Trump offers some new tough talks.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we are tracking Tropical Storm Erin growing larger by the hour over The Atlantic. It could officially become the first hurricane of the season as soon as tomorrow.

And Taylor Swift gets personal on a podcast with boyfriend Travis Kelce, opening up about their relationship in her new album, and growing emotional over the fight to reclaim the master recordings of the music.

I'm Jessica Dean with Kate Bolduan this morning. John and Sara are out, and this is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: This morning final preparations are underway for the high- stakes summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. We are expecting to hear from the president today from the Oval Office before he leaves to travel to Alaska for their first face-to-face meeting in six years. We're also getting new details from the Kremlin on how it will supposedly play out, it being the summit.

The meeting will take place at a U.S. military base in Alaska. Afterward, according to a senior aide to Vladimir Putin, the two will hold a joint news conference. That will be something to see.

But one key party who will not be at the table is Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He was in London this morning with the British prime minister on the heels of his virtual summit with President Trump and key European allies. Zelenskyy and those European leaders, they urged the president, we were told on that call, to not strike a unilateral deal with Vladimir Putin. And afterward, President Trump had a new warning for Russia's leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes, they will. Yes.

REPORTER: What will the consequences be, sanctions, tariffs?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: But as we well know, President Trump has set many a deadline for Vladimir Putin before made many a threat of consequences before, and that has not come to fruition. Is he serious this time? Will he follow through this time? A lot of big questions.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House this morning for us with all the answers to these exact questions, I'm only partly joking. Betsy, what are you hearing from there this morning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER: Yes, I have all of the answers, Kate, but, certainly, this is the eve of a high-stakes and extraordinarily historic summit for President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two set to meet face-to-face in Alaska tomorrow.

But we are learning some key details about what to expect from the Kremlin side of things. We've asked the White House to confirm these details and no update yet, but we are expecting the two leaders to meet one-on-one with the accompaniment of interpreters, and then they will join a business lunch. After that, the Kremlin aide said they don't know how long that is going to take. The two leaders will then hold a joint press conference that will certainly be highly anticipated.

But as we think about this summit, it's worth thinking about the element of unpredictability that has long characterized President Trump's diplomacy. The president, of course views himself as a deal maker, would like to view himself as a peacemaker, and he believes that a face-to-face meeting can and should yield some progress.

But we're seeing a little bit of contradiction in the messaging from the White House. The White House and the president himself seeking to tamp down expectations, characterizing this meeting as a listening exercise. And we have seen the president grow increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent months, as he has had conversations with him, encouraged him to shift away from some of the more violent attacks he has made on Ukraine, and Putin just turns around and does it again. The president has been embarrassed by that.

But listen to how the president laid out his goals for the summit just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one.

[07:05:02]

I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they'd like to have me there. And that would be a meeting where maybe it could be absolutely work. But the first meeting will not work that after. Certain great things can be gained in the first, it's going to be a very important meeting, but it's setting the table for the second meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: You can see how the president is tempering expectations there. White House officials telling us that the president is just trying to get a sense of where Putin stands, believes he can do so in that one- on-one setting, at the same time, warning of very severe consequences if he does not believe that Putin is serious about peace.

The president not saying whether that would take the form of sanctions, tariffs, secondary sanctions, or something else. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, also offering something of a contradiction right there, the president saying he is just setting the table, but then saying if Putin doesn't agree to end the war, he's going to face consequences. So, much more still needs to be known.

Betsy, thank you so much, great to see you. Jessica?

DEAN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not part of tomorrow's summit, but he is making sure President Trump and other world leaders know exactly what he wants to come from that sit down and what he will not tolerate. Zelenskyy just wrapping up a meeting with the British prime minister in London, and that's where we find CNN's Clare Sebastian.

Clare, you were there on Downing Street as the two men met earlier today. Take us inside this meeting. What were they talking about and where did they leave it?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Jessica, the two leaders have been pretty tightlipped. They did not take any questions going in on the way out. Zelenskyy simply got escorted sort of part of the way to his car by Starmer and got in and left. So, we don't exactly know what was discussed.

But, look, I think it's clear President Zelenskyy didn't have to go to Berlin yesterday to join what was a virtual meeting involving? European leaders and President Trump, and he didn't have to come to the U.K. today. So, I think the optics of this are crucially important.

Ukraine, don't forget, is fighting for its place as a sovereign nation in Europe, and President Trump is about to go into a meeting with President Putin, who has made it pretty clear that he thinks at the very least Ukraine's sovereign rights should be curtailed, its army limited, its borders changed. So, these optics are critical. You have the photo there that you just showed of the two leaders in the Downing Street Garden drinking tea, the sunflowers, which are a symbol of Ukraine in the middle. I think this is part of what we've seen this week, a big display of support and solidarity from European leaders towards Ukraine.

I think, look, there's still a lot of nervousness. No one knows what's going to come out of that one-on-one. President Zelenskyy has been warning all week that Russia is going to seek to deceive the United States. And I think despite the positive noises. From President Trump coming out of that meeting with the Europeans yesterday, that fear still very much remained. So, he cut a very serious figure going into Downing Street this morning.

I think the question, of course, now for these leaders is what happens next after Alaska. Will there be a second meeting, as President Trump has trailed, or will they have to then address the question of how to up the pressure on Russia?

DEAN: Yes, that seems to be certainly the central question. Clare Sebastian in London for us, thank you so much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, the White House says, a significantly higher National Guard presence will be seen in the nation's capital today. Crowds of people overnight were out protesting federal law enforcement patrolling the streets of D.C.

And also this,

That is a van outside of Atlanta's airport exploding as first responders rushed to put out the flames. What happened to lead up to this? We've got new details.

And also brand new details on The Life of a Showgirl. Taylor Swift's newly announced 12th studio album, and more importantly, the green flags from her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, so he's got, which is an incredible -- like a huge green flag is that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And you want to talk about green flags.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then just, you have a lot of other, just like big, bulky dudes that you're friends with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Green flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00] BOLDUAN: So, overnight, it was a tense scene in part of the nation's capital that played out as President Trump's takeover of the D.C. Police stretches into now its fourth day. D.C. Police and federal law enforcement had set up a traffic checkpoint along 14th Street, which is a major thoroughfare in D.C. and a popular area for restaurants and bars, A CNN team on the ground saw cars being pulled over, at least one person taken away and handcuffed by law enforcement. A police commander called the checkpoint operation routine, but some local residents appeared to dispute that, yelling, shame, and get out of here at the officers.

Also new this morning, 17 people, including multiple children, are hospitalized with injuries after a school bus rolled over in a suburb of Austin, Texas, yesterday. The bus was leaving an elementary school thereafter the first day of classes when it veered off the road and crashed. 42 children were on the bus, which did have seat belts. The cause of that crash is now under investigation. Jessica?

DEAN: Right now, stock market futures are flat as investors wait for more key data on inflation, the producer price index out next hour. The closely watched wholesale inflation report could give a sense as to how much President Trump's tariffs are raising prices paid to producers.

The report comes on the heels of the monthly inflation report, the consumer price index, which just a couple days ago showed inflation held pretty steady in July, thanks to falling gas prices.

[07:15:04]

But a broader array of products did get more expensive, indicating those expansive tariffs are, in fact, being passed along to customers.

Still ahead this morning, ahead -- or ahead this morning, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reveals a private health battle he's been fighting for a decade.

And secrecy in the skies, ICE deportation planes have been nearly impossible to track down, but CNN was on the ground when one landed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the plane that we've been tracking all morning. This is it. And we just saw like more than 30 detainees handcuffed, walked off those steps and get on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

DEAN: Not only are the Brewers the best team in baseball, they just won the whole city of Milwaukee free burgers.

With us now, CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes. Hey, these guys got to be beloved right now.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, for sure, Jessica. And you know this promotion, it's actually more than 70 years old. It's way back in the day local restaurant George Webb promised free burgers if the then Minor League Brewers won 17 straight games. They dropped that promotion to 13 games by the time the city had the Milwaukee Braves in the 50s, but they never won 13 in a row before moving to Atlanta. And George Webb then changed the promotion again to 12 games when the brewers moved from Seattle in 1970. In '87, they opened the season with 13 in a row, 170,000 burgers were giving away then, the Brewer did it again in 2018.

Now, earlier this season, they won 11 in a row but they failed at getting to 12, but not this time with all of Milwaukee's dinner plans on the line, Brandon Woodruff coming through, throwing four shutout innings. He said he was extra nervous for this start because he wanted to win all those burgers bad. Brewers, they beat the Pirates 12-5. George Webb says they will announce details about the burger giveaway later today.

All right, elsewhere, Shohei Ohtani making his first start ever against his former team, the Angels, based off against Mike Trout twice. First time caught him looking with the breaking ball, then they faced off again in the fourth inning. This time, Ohtani freezes him with 101-mile-per-hour fast ball. Ohtani got Trout twice, but he did give up four runs. And the Angels, they would end up winning this game 6-5. They sweep the season series with the Dodgers winning all six games, and the Dodgers are now out of first place in the N.L. West for the first time since April.

All right, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones meanwhile revealed that he dealt with Stage 4melanoma and an experimental trial drug saved his life. Jones made the revelation about his treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston on the new Cowboys documentary, which comes out on Netflix next week. The 82-year-old then told the Dallas Morning News he was saved by a miracle drug called PD1 Therapy. And according to the American Cancer Society, PD1 therapy helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.

Now, Jones said he was diagnosed in 2010. And over a ten-year period he had two lung surgeries and two lymph node surgeries, but now has no tumors.

All right, and, finally, Shedeur Sanders, after a great preseason debut, is now unlikely to play against the Eagle Saturday after straining his oblique yesterday at practice. Sanders, he is considered day to today. And after his injury, Eagle's quarterback Jalen Hurts, he picked him up in a golf cart and gave him a ride off the field at their joint practice. Good deed there from Jalen Hurts.

But, Jessica, sad for Shedeur, had such a great preseason debut. Here's hoping he can get back on the field soon as he continues to battle for one of those spots in the Browns' quarterback room.

DEAN: Absolutely. In the meantime, nice of his teammates to, you know, give him a lift. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

New developments this morning ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes, Alaska summit, the private meeting between President Zelenskyy and the British prime minister today for that summit, and what President Trump warned to Putin if Putin doesn't agree to stop this war.

And what does Taylor Swift say to expect on her new album? Bangers. She says, expect bangers. What we're learning about The Life of a Showgirl from her emotional appearance on her boyfriend's podcast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: So, moments ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin is speaking up, praising in new comments the Trump administration for making what he calls, in his words, energetic and sincere efforts to end the war in Ukraine. But will Putin do the same when he meets with President Trump tomorrow in Alaska? A huge question.

Well, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, he just wrapped a meeting in London with the British prime minister this morning, which is part of Zelenskyy's tour, really, to rally support among European leaders since he is not going to be joining that historic summit tomorrow.

Trump has said that the Ukrainian leader would be included in a follow-up meeting if everything goes well, again, a huge question mark.

CNN's Zach Cohen is in Washington with some new reporting. And, Zach, you have been talking to your sources about what they see and what is going into this meeting. What are you learning?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate. It's really interesting. We've often heard Donald Trump brag effectively about his positive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but we're learning that in recent weeks, Donald Trump has been asking a question of those people around him, asking him what has changed about Putin just in the last few months, really noticing anything that he's noticed a shift in how Putin has been behaving. And most of this is an effort by Donald Trump, as our sources characterized it, to understand why he's been unable to secure a peace agreement with Russia and effectively in the war in Ukraine. It's something that he's looking for an answer to in the immediate lead-up to this Alaska summit.

But it also gives us a sense of what sort of mindset Donald Trump is going into ahead of this one-on-one meeting with Putin. It's something that is really different. The context is really different than his previous meetings with Putin.

Take a listen to what Donald Trump said though yesterday. He really does sort of hint at this shift in how he is viewing Putin ahead of the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Sir, when you meet with Vladimir Putin Friday in Alaska --

[07:30:01]

TRUMP: Yes.

REPORTER: -- do you believe you can convince him to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine?

TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you what. I've had that.