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White House Prepares for Historic Trump-Putin Meeting in Alaska Tomorrow; Interview with Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL): New Comments from Putin This Morning Ahead of Trump Summit; Trump Says He Will Seek Long-Term Extension of DC Police Takeover. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired August 14, 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]

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Airlines flying the flights for ICE, Avelo Airlines, told CNN in an e-mail, quote, Flights operated on behalf of the United States government are often unidentified at the government's request.

So we reached out to the Department of Homeland Security. That's the agency that oversees ICE to get a better understanding as to why these flights are blocking their tail numbers. But the agency did not comment.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Moments ago, new comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Is he trying to butter up President Trump just before they sit down to talk about the war in Ukraine? And if he is, will it work?

And tension on the streets of D.C., a checkpoint sparking outrage from protesters as federal agents ramp up their presence and President Trump threatens to take his D.C. police takeover further and farther.

And we are standing by for new key inflation data offering a fresh read on how President Trump's tariffs are impacting prices.

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

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, brand new comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin and new details about the high stakes summit President Trump is set to hold with him to discuss Ukraine. Putin during a meeting with top Russian officials this morning, praising what he calls, quote, energetic and sincere efforts by the U.S. to end the conflict.

We're also standing by to hear from President Trump today in the Oval Office before he travels to Alaska for that meeting tomorrow. Of course, that's where the two leaders will be for the first -- they're going to be meeting for the first time in six years at a U.S. military base there in Alaska. A senior Putin aide saying they will speak one on one with

interpreters. Then afterward, they will hold a joint news conference.

But, of course, there's one prominent figure who will not be there, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was in London this morning meeting with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. Zelenskyy said he discussed security guarantees during their sit down, as well as the possible outcomes of this Trump-Putin summit. Trump has said that if tomorrow's meeting goes well, he'd like to immediately schedule another one with all three, him, Putin and Zelenskyy. But it remains to be seen what tone the president will take with Putin.

Here's what he said on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is really a feel out meeting a little bit. And President Putin invited me to get involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: But yesterday, he was taking a different tone. Here's the president from then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

TRUMP: Yes, they will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will the consequences be --

TRUMP: There will be consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- sanctions, tariffs?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow this morning. Fred, interesting to hear from Vladimir Putin earlier today. Walk us through what he said, what more he's saying. And the context around all of this as we head into this meeting tomorrow.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Good morning, Jessica. And it was quite interesting because over the past couple of days, the Kremlin really has been quite silent about all of this, seemingly holding the cards close to their chest.

But a flurry of information coming out today, not just from Vladimir Putin, but from the Kremlin in general. Senior Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov had a call with journalists earlier today. And you mentioned some of the information that he was giving about how the Russians see this summit.

What are some of the things that are going to happen as far as meetings are concerned? The other thing that we've also gleaned from that call as well, that this is really a very high-level delegation that the Russians are sending there to Alaska to speak with the Trump administration. Obviously, Vladimir Putin heading that delegation. Yury Ushakov, senior Kremlin aide, part of that. Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister as well.

But for instance, also Russia's defense minister, Belousov. He's also going to be part of that delegation, also showcasing how seriously the Russians are taking this and how important all of this is for them.

Now, you're absolutely right. Vladimir Putin, he was on video actually meeting with some of those senior aides that he has with his senior cabinet members as well, informing them about the meeting that is about to happen with the U.S. president. And there he did say that he found the efforts by the Trump administration sincere and some other things as well. Let's listen in to what Vladimir Putin said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: To tell you about the stage we are at with the current American administration, which as everyone knows is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict in order to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe and in the world as a whole. If by the next stages we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:00]

PLEITGEN: So Vladimir Putin there speaking about a long-term peace with Ukraine and that really plays and shows the message that the Russians have been sending really over the past couple of months, is that they are not in favor of the kind of ceasefire President Trump wants an immediate ceasefire, but rather for longer term peace negotiations. Of course, at the same time, the Russians have been saying they believe that their president Vladimir Putin is going to go into the summit with a strong showing by his military on the battlefield.

The Russians, of course, have been saying that they've been making fairly significant gains over the past couple of days. And that shows the Russians believe that Vladimir Putin will have a lot of momentum on his side as he travels there to Alaska to meet with President Trump.

DEAN: There are so many dynamics at play. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out with so much on the line. Fred Pleitgen there in Moscow for us. Thank you so much -- Kate. BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He is the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

When you -- when Vladimir Putin says that he thinks that President Trump is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities and reach agreement that is in the interest of all parties. How do you read that?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Well, first, the fact that Zelenskyy is not there gives me a great concern. Obviously, they have the most at stake here. And obviously, you can't trust a bloody tyrant.

If the president, our president, has shown any extraordinary naivete, it's that he wrote, I thought he meant what he said, and I don't think he wants to end this war. And by the way, I've heard these stern warnings before. We're now blowing past the sixth deadline that President Trump imposed on Putin.

While Putin has escalated the war and has continued to ask for, you know, maximalist conditions for the ceasefire to take place or the war to end.

BOLDUAN: Of course, if, you know, a good outcome from this meeting would be a ceasefire. I've also heard, though, that the administration and the United States should not be afraid of a failed summit, because that could actually set in the longer term the real conditions for peace. If Donald Trump doesn't think what he's hearing is good for Ukraine or good for the United States, that he leaves and says no deal.

Do you see that?

QUIGLEY: Look, I'm forever the optimist, but the fact that the that the U.S., the Trump administration has gone in there giving concessions before we even begin negotiations. His NATO ambassador said on territorial issues that they're not going to just give large chunks of land that haven't been, quote, earned on the battlefield. The functional equivalent of that is if FDR had met Hitler and said, we're not going to give you land that you haven't earned after he had taken most of Europe.

I mean, this is the same sort of bloody tyrant we're talking about. He -- Putin understands strength. So if Trump wants to end this, he'll say, we're going to work with our NATO allies. We're going to do another supplemental. We're going to take the money that we hold, the U.S. and the United States, $9 billion in Russian money. And Europe will take the 300 billion to aid in that fight and to push back.

That's what Putin gets. He gets strength.

BOLDUAN: When the president is talking about severe consequences, I hear that what you're laying out right there is what you think are the severe consequences that are left that could be effective. But do you get any sense of what the severe consequences are that the White House would be open to at this point? QUIGLEY: Maybe the sanctions package. It's a bilateral package that unfortunately the Senate didn't act on before they left for the August break. I think that's probably as far as this administration would go.

The fact that they won't do another supplemental, they have to sell arms to NATO that then go forward. Remember, this is a president who has never said which side he wants to win. So it's hard to be optimistic with a president that's the most that he's done really so far is post stern warnings to Putin on Truth Social.

That's never going to work with Putin. We have to start talking about real demands and working with our NATO allies to push Putin, who's now using about 40 percent of his economy toward this effort. He will treat his people like cannon fodder, but he can't go forever if the U.S. is united again with NATO.

[08:10:00]

BOLDUAN: President Trump conceded yesterday that he is powerless to control Vladimir Putin when it comes to killing civilians in Ukraine. Let me play how President Trump put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'll tell you what, I've had that conversation with him. I've had a lot of good conversations with him. Then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the streets.

So I guess the answer to that is no, because I've had this conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Is he acknowledging the reality of dealing with Putin or do you see that as managing expectations for what will come out of their meeting tomorrow?

QUIGLEY: I think it's further evidence that Trump is afraid to really confront Putin. Putin's not going to go along with things that are just warnings or talk. I think he sees Trump as weak, frankly, and he knows he can continue to do this.

There's certainly an arsenal at the president's availability. Again, he can increase these sanctions. He can provide a supplemental. He can tell Putin that he's going to be held accountable for these war crimes. This is what an active president should do. You know, we learned what appeasement does in 1939 and appeasement is not going to work now.

He should work with not just those allies, but the sanctions he's talked about. And the only one I know that he's enforced is with India for those who are still buying goods from Russia funding this war machine.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Mike Quigley, thank you so much for coming in -- Jessica.

DEAN: Joining us now, CNN senior military analyst and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, retired Admiral James Stavridis. It's so good to have you here with us as we're getting this new information. We are, as we've noted, hearing from Vladimir Putin this morning.

First, I just want to get your thoughts strategically on what Putin is saying and what you think it might mean. Read between the lines for us.

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Putin is trying to accommodate President Trump. He's trying to stage manage the conversation. He's trying to be a little obsequious to President Trump. I hope none of that will impact how our president goes into this meeting.

And the key here, I think, is we need a president at this point who is going to be very stern with Vladimir Putin. We need the president who ordered the bombing of the Iranian nuclear program.

We need the president who ordered taking out General Soleimani of Iran. I think just like Iran, Russia is a nation that responds to strength. And I know President Trump has the cards to play.

And I think I am very hopeful that's exactly what we'll see here on Friday.

DEAN: And when you're looking at those cards that the president has to play, that's sanctions. What else? Walk us through what those are.

STAVRIDIS: Sure. Let's put sanctions at the very top. That's secondary sanctions against nations, particularly who are buying oil and gas from Russia. As John McCain used to say, Russia is a big gas station masquerading as a country. So take away the funds that come from oil and gas.

Secondly, it's the Russian monies that are currently locked up in Western banks. $300 billion in Europe, about $10 billion here in the U.S. Apply those toward Ukrainian military needs.

I'll add a couple more. I would send them more F-16 fighters. We have accommodated F-16s in their hands. It's making a difference in the air war. I'd also provide more offensive cyber capability as well as better and more precise intelligence. Also long-range weapons systems.

And then finally, I think it would be very important to put all that together and to say to Vladimir Putin, look, one of your red lines is Ukraine joining NATO. If you don't come to the table and negotiate, we're going to walk away from this meeting and start a conversation with Ukraine about joining NATO.

Look, we don't want to get there on any of this. What we want is Putin to take a ceasefire in place and come to the negotiating table. That's the desired outcome.

DEAN: Yes. We also know that President Zelenskyy is in the U.K. sitting down with the British prime minister today. And Zelenskyy said they talked about kind of gaming out what the outcomes of this might be and talked about some of the security guarantees that Ukraine would need.

What would those look like? And are they realistic, getting those security guarantees for Ukraine if there is indeed a ceasefire?

[08:15:00]

STAVRIDIS: Gold standard, of course, would be actual membership in NATO. I think we can park that to one side for the moment. That would be a complete deal breaker.

But what are the other ones? Bring them into the European Union. There's a certain level of security guarantee within the European Union.

Number two, as just discussed, Jessica, would be to amplify the channel of offensive weapons that are going in, not accept any cuts to the level of capability that we're currently providing the Ukrainians.

I think number three would be to training missions for the Ukrainian military. They're currently conducted outside of Ukraine. Perhaps talk about bringing those inside Ukraine, direct training by European troops.

And I'll close with this, Jessica. You had conversations a moment ago of the Europeans with Zelenskyy. I think it's fine that President Trump and President Putin have an initial bilateral meeting. Next, most obviously, you get Zelenskyy into it. To my eye, what we need here is quad talks.

Russia, U.S., Ukraine, and the Europeans. Have Ursula von der Leyen, the leader of the European Union, at those conversations ultimately going forward. There are really four parties involved here.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Admiral James Stavridis, always good to see you. Thank you for your time this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, protesters take to the streets of Washington, D.C. as the White House says the federal law enforcement presence there is only going to grow. The White House says more National Guard troops will be seen today.

Plus, new privacy concerns sparked after YouTube says it's going to start using AI to help keep younger users safe.

And a diamond in the rough. Literally, a woman spent weeks digging for her own diamond for her engagement ring and stumbled upon her prized possession in an Arkansas park.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: New this morning, we're showing you an image right there of the federal law enforcement presence outside of Union Station in Washington, D.C., National Guard troops and Humvees very clearly seen. The White House has said that a significantly higher number of National Guard troops will be seen in the nation's capital today, and they will now be patrolling 24-7, not just having shifts at night.

Tackling crime -- which is what the President says he's doing here -- tackling crime was a key campaign promise and message from Donald Trump.

So how do Americans feel about it now as we head into this new chapter? Harry Enten is here. Where do things stand with how people feel about crime right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, I think that Democrats have to get it around their heads that Americans are far more hawkish on crime than they think that they are. What are we talking about? Trump's not approval handling crime.

Where was he last year? He was way underwater at minus 13 points views of term number one. But look at where he is now. He's on the positive side of the ledger. He's on the positive side at plus one points. Americans view Trump far more favorably now on crime than they did a year ago.

And while this polling doesn't take into account what's exactly happening in D.C. right now, it does take into account what happened in Los Angeles, what's happened earlier this year. And Americans, for the most part, actually view Trump favorably. Crime is one of Trump's best issues. It's one of the reasons why he wants to talk about crime, because it favors him.

BOLDUAN: It will be very interesting when there -- when you can see polling that has what's happening and rolling out right now, settling in to see --

ENTEN: If it moves everyone.

BOLDUAN: -- what the impact really is, because it's been a lot of messaging --

ENTEN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- than what we've seen. Compare Trump to Biden in handling of crime.

ENTEN: Yes, OK. I think this sort of gives the game away here because Donald Trump is like Air Jordan towering over Joe Biden when it comes to their handling of crime.

Look in 2024 look at where Biden's net approval was on crime. Way on the water there at -26 points. It was one of Biden's worst issues. Granted, pretty much every issue was one of Biden's worst issues.

And again, look at where Donald Trump is way, way, way above Joe Biden. What is that? That's 27 points. So Americans vastly prefer Donald Trump's approach to crime than they did to Joe Biden's. And again, I think it gets back to the point that Americans are far

more hawkish on crime than a lot of Democrats want to admit.

BOLDUAN: Americans writ large, how does it break down by party?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So I think that this is you know, we're talking about Donald Trump here, right? So I think it's very important to note that this isn't just about Donald Trump. It's about Republicans versus Democrats, right? And that, of course, is a key question going into next year's midterm election. I think the party closest to your views on crime.

Look in 2023 Republicans were favored by 13 points. Look at where they were in May of this year. Republicans were actually favored by 60. They actually gained ground on crime. They were maintaining their edge and actually add a little bit to it. So Republicans in the House, Republicans in the Senate. They absolutely want to be talking about crime. The more they feel that we're talking about crime, the better they feel that the electoral landscape is for them.

BOLDUAN: OK. It's good to see you. Thank you.

ENTEN: Nice to see you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Jessica.

DEAN: And with us now is the former Republican governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and executive committee chair for the New York State Democratic Party, Christine Quinn. Good morning to both of you. And thank you for being here with us.

I want to start first with what Harry was just walking us through.

[08:25:00]

Christine, we have the GOP plus 16 on the issue of who's closest to your views on crime. It's one of President Trump's strongest issues.

And again, those numbers Harry just went through do not include polling with what's going on in D.C. right now. But as he noted, it does include what happened in Los Angeles, etc., etc., the border. Do you think Democrats are misreading the situation?

CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NY STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: Well, you know, I think the question really is, is what President Trump is doing really about making D.C. or other places safer or is it a political stunt? And what we Democrats need to do is show kind of the hypocrisy here. If he really wants to help make D.C. safer, why isn't he coordinating with the mayor before this announcement? Why isn't he getting Congress to pass the D.C. budget so they know the resources they have and increase the resources so they can hire more police officers? Why isn't he filling the judicial seats that are vacant that are necessary to prosecute crime in D.C.?

No one wants to be soft on crime. If you don't feel safe, it's very hard to thrive as Americans. But is this really about making D.C. safer or is it just about attacking blue area mayors?

DEAN: And Governor, I think that actually is an interesting question. What do you say to that?

TIM PAWLENTY, (R) FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: What I say to that is that this is an important issue both substantively and politically. And for all the reasons Harry just outlined, this is a powerful issue for a reason. People are fed up with cities, particularly our major urban centers, being filled with homeless encampments, crime, graffiti, and other livability issues. And they've had it. And President Trump has tapped into that.

And by the way, it's not like he just came up with this problem now. D.C. has been dysfunctional for big parts of its modern history. And no mayor, no city council has really made substantial progress. It's a mess. And I'm glad that he's actually taking bold treatment towards D.C. They need a shock and they're getting it.

DEAN: Christine, New York's Governor Kathy Hochul, obviously a Democrat, she deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to the subway system last year and said that the crime there declined by 27 percent in the following year. Is that different than what the president's doing now?

QUINN: You know, what the governor did was in coordination with the mayor of the city of New York. It was a partnership to try to address a crime category that was spiking. That's not what's happening here.

But you know, if the president is really concerned about homelessness in Washington, D.C. and in the rest of urban America, and I share a deep concern about that, nobody, Republican, Democrats, nobody wants people living on the street or encampments in their neighborhood. But if there is really a concern about that, then he needs to change his budget because his budget is full of not just cuts, slashes to programs that get homeless people off the street and get them into permanent housing. What will increase homelessness in Washington, D.C. and in New York and elsewhere is the budget that Trump has proposed and is now pending in Congress.

DEAN: And Governor, as we're looking at video while you all are talking, we were just seeing one of the checkpoints in Washington, D.C. last night in kind of a very busy corridor there on 14th Street, which is home to a lot of bars and restaurants and apartments and shopping, that sort of thing. And you see it looks aggressive.

Do you think, you know, there's been so many instances with President Trump where people have said, we agree with the idea of what you're doing. It's the implementation that we don't love. And when you look at this, it does look like an aggressive push. Do you think that they are at risk of that here?

PAWLENTY: Potentially, but again, people are so fed up with these issues. I think they're willing to tolerate at least for a while a little bit of perhaps overreach or aggressive behavior. And by the way, I lived in D.C. for six years. I'm a frequent visitor there and they've got problems. And as to your question, though, does it look overly dramatic? Maybe initially, but when more business as usual, more of the same isn't working. And so something different has to be tried.

There's been no administration either federally or in the D.C. district where they fundamentally have solved these problems for any length of time. So just saying a little more money for a little longer time isn't going to work. We have to try something different. I applaud the president for trying.

DEAN: Christine, the president looks like he's poised to ask Congress to extend that federal control over D.C. beyond this 30 days. Democrats are obviously in the minority. What do they do here? How do they handle this?

QUINN: You know, I think this really is a moment where Democrats need to stand up, be united and send a message to America that, yes, we want crime to go down, but we want it to be a real coordinated effort with localities, not this where things are just forced on a jurisdiction without even giving the real support like budget increases like ...

[08:30:00]