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Trump-Putin Meeting Friday in Alaska; Julia Ioffe is Interviewed about the Trump-Putin Meeting; National Guard in D.C.; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is Interviewed about the Trump-Putin Meeting. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean like going through -- going through Epstein files 24/7, working long weekends. I mean what are you -- what are you seeing?

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: Right. You had agents that were brought in to review those Epstein files and make redactions for that release earlier this year.

And you'll remember, that release really didn't do anything to quell the conspiracies and the questions around Jeff Epstein, but that required agents to come in on 12 hour shifts and detracted from their -- their normal duties. And again, you have the same thing here where you have over 100 agents that are being taken off their normal duties to work the streets of -- of D.C. with MPD officers. And the FBI, when I kind of asked them these questions and asked them about this criticism from within, they really did not want to -- to comment and they didn't want to weigh in.

BOLDUAN: Great reporting, Holmes. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, the White House sharing new details about tomorrows Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, confirming there will be a joint news conference.

Plus, we've got new comments from Putin this morning. What's his possible motive for lavishing praise on President Trump?

Also new, you're looking at live pictures of National Guard troops and Humvees in the nation's capital, as the White House says a significantly higher presence is expected on the ground today.

And why many Americans are rethinking having that drink. We're going to break down the results from a new study on alcohol.

I'm Jessica Dean, with Kate Bolduan this morning. John and Sara are out. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: The breaking news. We have new details in of how the summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin is going to play out. President Trump and the Russian president meet tomorrow in Alaska to talk about the war in Ukraine, of course. The White House now says, and the White House confirms, that following their meeting, the two leaders will hold a joint news conference where reporters can ask questions. But to be clear, it also allows the leaders themselves to have their say with the other standing right next to them. Recent history, read Helsinki, can show you how dangerous that can be for President Trump.

I want to play -- do we have the sound ready? I want to play for you what Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Tomorrow, bright and early, he will be departing the White House for our joint military base in Anchorage, Alaska, where he will engage in a one on one meeting with President Putin, which will be followed by a bilateral lunch with the respective delegations from both countries, and then a press conference.

And so, what comes after that meeting is up to President Trump. And that's part of the reason he is going. He has incredible instincts, and he wants to sit down and look the Russian president in the eye and see what progress can be made to move the ball forward to end this brutal war and to restore peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, when Vladimir Putin arrives in Alaska, it will be the first time in a decade that he has set foot on American soil. President Trump will be meeting him at a U.S. military base there. According to the Kremlin, the two will be speaking one on one with the aid of translators.

But the other key party in all of this, of course, is Ukraine. And the Ukrainian president was -- will not be there and will not be taking part. Today, instead, he met in London with the British prime minister, where he says afterward they discussed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace deal.

If tomorrow's Alaska meeting goes well, President Trump has said he would like to immediately schedule another meeting that would involve him and Putin and Zelenskyy. Let's see what "going well" actually looks like.

CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now from Anchorage, Alaska.

Matthew, can you just set the stage now for this summit tomorrow?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it's absolutely a lot of anticipation about it. Particularly now, it's been confirmed by the White House, as you were just mentioning, that at the end of it there will be this joint news conference with Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump standing next to each other, answering the questions from the media that has gathered here in Anchorage, Alaska.

As you rightly said, the last time that really happened was back in 2018, in Helsinki, and that did not go down particularly well when President Trump infamously said he supported the word of President Putin over those of his own intelligence services on the issue of whether or not Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

So -- so, let's see. It's certainly going to produce some potentially electric moments. But there's a widely anticipated agenda as well that's going to be talked through at this summit, that's going to be taking place tomorrow.

[09:05:01]

The focus very much on whether or not there can be an end -- or whether the two leaders can find a way of ending the brutal war in -- in Ukraine. That's certainly the focus from the White House.

You get the sense, though, from the Russians that they've got a much wider agenda than that. Yes, certainly the Ukraine question is one of the issues that needs to be discussed. And the Kremlin have come out and said, look, we understand that's the focus. But they always talk about other issues as well. And they very much see the Ukraine -- Ukraine question as just one in a much broader array of questions in a -- in a -- in a bilateral relationship with the United States. So, they're talking about arms reduction as being something they potentially discuss and reach an agreement here as well about, exploration of resources in the arctic region, space exploration, economic cooperation. And so, it's really part of the -- of the Kremlin's agenda to, you know, broaden out the relationship as much as possible away from just that narrow focus on the Ukraine war question.

The other big issue from the Kremlin is the fact that they're here at all. The fact that he will be meeting President Trump at all in an international arena like this is a big victory for him because he's been, you know, I think, very concerned about the isolation that Russia has been under since the start of the Ukraine war. This is going to enable President Putin to say to his population and to say to others in the world, you know, look, I'm back at the top table of international diplomacy once again. So, it's already a bit of a victory diplomatically for the Russian president.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: We're learning a lot of important new details about what this is going to look like and how it is being set up.

Matthew, it's great that you're there. Thank you so much.

Jessica.

DEAN: Although Vladimir Putin is praising President Trump and the U.S. this morning, assessing and figuring out where he actually stands has been historically difficult.

Joining us now is CNN's Kylie Atwood. Kylie, you've been hearing from sources about what may be going on

behind the scenes at the White House as they prepare for all of this. Putin is -- is notoriously manipulative. What more are you learning?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, one of the things that we've learned is that in recent months, as President Trump's frustration with Putin was growing, he was asking Europeans and White House aides what had changed about Putin since he last interacted with him, you know, six years ago during his first term. And one of the rationales that he was given is the Covid pandemic is at least partially responsible for the change in Putin.

Now, around the time of 2022, there were U.S. intelligence officials who did believe that Putin had grown incredibly paranoid during Covid. He wasn't able to see many people. People had to be screened and take, you know, multiple weeks before they could get in and see him. There won't -- weren't folks around him who he had been typically surrounded with.

But when it comes to the intelligence assessment now, while there are some indications that Putin's short term goals for Ukraine may have shifted, he may be more open to pocketing some of those territorial gains or to getting some of those economic wins, some of those economic deals on the table, the overall view is that his maximalist demands, when it comes to Ukraine's territory, really remain intact. And one official who is familiar with U.S. intelligence assessment says, "Putin thinks he is winning, so he has no reason to bend."

When it comes, however, as you were saying, Jess, to Putin's decision making, it is incredibly hard for U.S. intelligence to get inside his head, to know how he makes decisions. U.S. intelligence knows a lot about President Putin, just because he has been ruling Russia for so long now. But it remains a question what it actually takes for him to make a decision.

And President Trump, we'll watch and see, you know, what his assessment of Putin is because he has been saying over the last few days that he personally believes that he will be able to get a sense of Putin within the first few minutes of their meeting and know whether or not it will be a successful one.

DEAN: All right, Kylie Atwood with the latest reporting. Thank you so much for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk much more about this. Joining us right now is a founding partner and Washington correspondent for "Puck," Julia Ioffe.

Julia, we learned an important new element of what's about to happen tomorrow, is that the White House now saying that there will be a joint press conference after their sit down. Is -- I'm not -- is just -- that is going to be so important to watch, not only how the men interact, but what is said. I mean, what do you think of that?

JULIA IOFFE, FOUNDING PARTNER AND WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "PUCK": Well, we know that Donald Trump loves these things, right? But that they've gotten him in trouble when it comes to Vladimir Putin in the past.

From the. Russian side, you know, I've heard the Helsinki press conference brought up a lot since that Donald Trump said one thing, you know, he sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies.

[09:10:05]

He accepted -- he said he accepted Vladimir Putin's disavowal of any Russian interference in the 2016 elections. And then shortly after that, America imposed a harsh new round of sanctions on Russia.

So, you know, it's -- it's interesting that, from the Russian side, there's also not a lot of trust going into these negotiations. As much as they prefer Trump to Barack Obama or Joe Biden, they still feel burned by his first term. I think he's a pragmatist, but they also know that he's quite mercurial. His -- his needs, his prerogative doesn't quite line up with what Moscow wants. So, there's some caution. You know, there's a lot of public (INAUDIBLE), but there's a lot more caution that you hear privately when you talk to people in Moscow.

BOLDUAN: You know, on Monday, from -- hearing from President Trump, he described this as a listening exercise, how this was going to play out, a feel out meeting, or he was going to feel it out. And then yesterday it was severe consequences are coming if Putin doesn't agree to end the war in Ukraine. What's your read on that? Because it turn he -- on one side he's downplaying expectations, and then he's really upping the ante just yesterday.

IOFFE: I think that's pretty typical of President Trump. I think he feels like a lot of other -- honestly, a lot of other politicians. (INAUDIBLE) Vladimir Putin. There's a sense that -- or Zelenskyy even, you know, that if I can just get in the room with the other guy, I can convince him, or I can get a better sense than my subordinates who have been meeting with my counterpart on my behalf. I could have a better sense of him. Or I could get him across the line.

And I also think that the threats are also very much par for the course with Donald Trump. That if -- if D.C. doesn't do what I want, I'm going to send in the National Guard. If this person doesn't do what I want, I'm going to threaten them with tariffs, with sanctions, with a lawsuit, right? But with Russia, I don't know that that really works. Russia sees itself as strong, as winning on the battlefield, and as morally superior to the U.S., that the Russians are prepared to fight and die for what they believe in, whereas Americans prioritize their (INAUDIBLE) comfort above all things.

So, threats don't really work. This is what I'm hearing from my sources in Moscow, is that they find these threats really off putting. They want to be talked to as equals. And that that is the better chance of reaching some kind of path to peace, some kind of framework to peace.

But again, who knows what will actually happen when these two men get in the -- in the room.

BOLDUAN: We heard from President Putin this morning talking about -- describing how he sees the relationship, I guess I would say, between Russia and the United States heading into this discussion. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): 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 for peace between our countries and in Europe and in the world as a whole. If by the next stage as we reach agreement in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Julia, how do you read that?

IOFFE: Well, I (INAUDIBLE), I -- the same things when I speak to well- placed (ph) sources in Moscow, that there's this kind of cautious optimism that maybe that they -- maybe Putin and Trump can agree to some kind of framework going forward, that they won't get peace overnight, but maybe start talking about how to get there.

One source told me that, you know, that Putin made the calls to all his allies in China, India, Brazil, North Korea, Iran and gave them the skinny that he thinks that he's ready for some kind of compromise. Again, what a compromise looks like to Putin, though, might not be acceptable to Ukraine. Probably isn't acceptable to Ukraine. And Donald Trump is going to have to get Ukraine on board to move forward with this. But again, it's very similar to what I'm hearing from Russia, that this public bluster.

[09:15:01]

We're winning. We're better. We don't need peace. We can just push forward and break through the lines and win militarily. And then behind the scenes, this kind of more pragmatic, cautious optimism that, you know, maybe we're ready for a limited work of a deal. And we can figure some -- start figuring something out in Anchorage.

BOLDUAN: Julia Ioffe, good to see you. Thank you so much.

Jessica.

DEAN: The White House is promising an even more pronounced presence of National Guard troops in Washington as residents express their frustrations with the police takeover there.

And Taylor Swift gets personal in a podcast with her boyfriend Travis Kelce. The details she's sharing about their relationship and her new album. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT: This is the record I've been wanting to make for a very long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: This morning, federal law enforcement are making their presence known at Union Station in Washington, D.C. National Guard troops detaining someone last hour, though it's unclear why. The White House saying a, quote, "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 at night.

[09:20:07]

Let's go now to CNN's Gabe Cohen, who is live in Washington, just outside of Union Station.

And, Gabe, I've gone to that train station many times. I don't recall seeing a Humvee there. Set the scene for us.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I -- I walk by this train station every single day on my way to work and I have not seen it like this. You can see a National Guard Humvee behind me, and we've seen, I don't know, Josh, if you can pan over, there are a couple National Guard -- guardsmen who are walking across the street over there. We have Humvees basically at each corner of the train station here and on a fairly busy Thursday afternoon.

And this is what you can expect here in the coming days. Let's pan over there. You can see another Humvee there. This is what you can expect over the next 30 days, and possibly a lot longer after that, Jess, because we know just yesterday President Trump said that they are planning to indefinitely extend their federalization of MPD and really ramp up federal law enforcement resources here in the district.

It's not just National Guard. We have also seen Homeland Security officers, DEA officers, park police. There were vehicles here just a little bit earlier. This is one of the areas of focus. And we have heard a lot of concerns about crime around Union Station, people who are loitering outside.

I will tell you, as somebody who walks this route all the time, it does seem like there are fewer people just sort of hanging around. But we don't know exactly what that is. I mean, but that is a big part of the visibility side of things here. These National Guard troops, they are not here to make arrests. They do have zip ties on their back, but they are really here just for presence and to assist MPD any way they can.

I will tell you, sources have told me as recently as this morning that Metropolitan Police, that the district itself, and the police chief, are still the ones ultimately calling the shots when it comes to safety in the district. They have essentially been communicating with those federal partners, but ultimately, they are the ones sort of drawing up the game plan and getting assistance from their federal partners.

But if you ask the White House, they say it's Attorney General Pam Bondi and the head of the DEA, Terry Cole, who are the ones who are ultimately in charge here. We'll see how that dynamic plays out. But again, outside Union Station, this is what folks who live or visit D.C. can expect to see, a lot of federal law enforcement presence.

DEAN: Yes. And as we noted, Gabe, they are promising more, 24/7, around the clock.

All right, Gabe Cohen there outside Union Station. Thank you.

Still ahead, breaking news. We've got new details of how the summit between Trump and Putin is going to play out, including the two the two leaders will hold a joint news conference where they will take questions from reporters. We'll have more on those details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:29]

BOLDUAN: We have some breaking news just in to CNN. We've learned that the Russian delegation, minus President Vladimir Putin, is boarding a plane right now to head to Alaska ahead of that joint summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. And we also just learned from the White House that the leaders will hold a joint press conference together after their sit down, their face to face tomorrow.

The meeting will take place at a U.S. military base tomorrow afternoon, and the president is set to depart tomorrow morning. We'll have that for you live.

One key party in all of this not at the summit and not at the table is Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He spent today in London meeting with the British prime minister instead on the heels of his virtual summit with other European leaders and President Trump. They discussed security guarantees for Ukraine in detail is what we are learning from President Zelenskyy.

Joining me right now is Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. She is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, thank you for being here.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Good morning.

BOLDUAN: You have said that you do not think this is going to be a serious negotiation without Ukraine at the table. So, what do you think is going to happen tomorrow?

SHAHEEN: Well, we'll see. Unfortunately, President Trump has set one red line after another, and Vladimir Putin has continued to cross them. And the history there is not good because Vladimir Putin has been playing President Trump virtually since he got into office.

But hopefully what the president said yesterday after his call with European leaders and President Zelenskyy was that he understood that there would not be decisions made about Ukraine without Ukraine, which has been a mantra for a long time, and that no territory accession, no land swaps, would be part of any discussions tomorrow.

So, I'm hopeful that that's the case. There is -- seems to be a recognition that Ukraine needs to be at the table. The president has talked about if -- if there's some agreement tomorrow for a ceasefire, that a follow up meeting with President Zelenskyy could happen. I think that would be a positive step.

BOLDUAN: Learning this morning that the leaders are going to hold a press conference together after that sit down. It had been a big question of how it was going to play out.

[09:29:58]

How risky do you think a joint press conference is right now considering the history that President Trump has in joint press conferences with Vladimir Putin?