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Trump Meets Polish President as Russia-Ukraine War Rages; Xi, Putin, Kim Stage Defiant Show of Authoritarian Strength in China; Russia Launches New Assault on Ukraine as Putin Visits Beijing; Trump to Speak With Zelenskyy Soon as Ukraine Peace Talks Stall; Epstein Survivors to Congress and Trump, Release the Files; Trump Calls Epstein Case a Democrat Hoax Minutes After Some Survivors Say This is Not a Hoax, the Abuse is Real; Court Says Trump Unlawfully Used Alien Enemies Act for Deportations. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 03, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:31]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Beijing displays its military might and President Trump says he was watching. That's after he accused the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea of conspiring against the U.S.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And an emotional appeal, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse speaking out on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, calling for a full release of documents. One victim saying it could help her put the pieces of her own life back together.

And an appearance in court for the suspect accused of shooting and killing an 11-year-old boy who is playing Ding-Dong Ditch. Police say this is not a case of self-defense. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

KEILAR: It was a warm and dramatic reception for Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the White House today. He and President Trump touting their strong relationship and shared military alliance as a message to the world and to Russia. Hours earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin was sending his own message, an unprecedented show of solidarity with China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-un as they attended a military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II. It's the very first time that the three leaders have ever been seen together publicly.

At the same time, Putin's forces were launching hundreds of drones and missiles toward Ukraine. The fighting dragging on despite President Trump's push for peace. CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House for us. Kristen, President Trump's two-week deadline for Putin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is about to expire. Some questions over whether that was a real deadline anyway, has the White House said what is going to happen if they can't come to an agreement on this? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Brianna, there are differences here between what they say is going to happen or what they say they're thinking about and what ultimately ends up happening. The reason I say that is because we've been covering this now for a long time with President Trump in office. And even when we hear the administration kind of float threats at Russia, they never end up actually going through with it. So what I have heard is that secondary sanctions are certainly on the table. We heard this from the Secretary of Treasury who did an interview saying that Putin has done essentially the opposite of what he said that he wanted to do in those talks with President Trump, as well as with those European leaders.

And then I confirmed that with the White House, that they were still considering this idea of sanctions. But of course, as we know, President Trump has floated this idea on multiple occasions, never to actually go through with the secondary sanctions unless, of course, you count that 50 percent tariff on India. However, those would be a much larger kind of global secondary sanctions. One thing to point out, President Trump did not take the bait when it came to delivering a message to Putin. Here's what he said when he was asked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I have no message to President Putin. He knows where I stand. And he'll make a decision one way or the other, whatever his decision is. We'll either be happy about it or unhappy. And if we're unhappy about it, you'll see things happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Brianna, we've seen absolutely no movement in terms of getting this plan, this sit down meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, which is something President Trump said that he wanted to happen and something the White House said that Putin had agreed to. So of course, the big question now is what are the next steps? How are they going to move forward? Are they going to actually implement sanctions?

[14:05:00]

Because as you noted, when you were just introducing this segment, there are still bombs going off in Ukraine delivered by Russia every single day. Those attacks have been incredibly extreme. There's been no pause in the fighting. And these talks have essentially stalled.

KEILAR: Yeah, they have. Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House. Thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: For more on all of this, let's talk to retired U.S. Army Major, Mike Lyons. Major Lyons, thanks so much for being with us. Obviously, Russia's war in Ukraine, a major topic of today's bilateral meeting with the president of Poland. What is the Polish perspective here? What do they contribute to this ongoing debate about the path to peace in Ukraine? MAJ. MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, Boris, Poland is so important as a NATO ally. It's the front end of this conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the logistical supply base. Look for the past 200 years, Poland has been invaded, occupied by enemies from the east and the west. And right now, it's more secure than it's probably ever been in its history. It spends more money than other NATO countries on it from its GDP perspective. It is an incredible NATO ally. U.S., its headquarters is deployed there. The logistical supply base, which I'll give the Biden administration credit for building up, but all logistics come through Poland. So they are a key NATO ally right now and they project great strength for NATO and I think, very much the future of how this alliance is working.

SANCHEZ: I want to get your thoughts, Major, on something that Vladimir Putin said ahead of today's meeting. He said that every country has a right to choose how it ensures its own security, including Ukraine. But, "the security of one country cannot be achieved at the expense of another country." I mean, are there security guarantees that Ukraine or Europe would accept that would be effective against Putin, that fit into Putin's definition?

LYONS: I don't think so. The only security guarantee that he would get and understand is military force. Any treaty in the past that we've ever had, that's been successful, has that as part of it. It's a viable and verifiable way to make sure, putting boots on the ground go back to the Dayton Accords, for example, in the mid-'90s and how that situation was resolved then. So, I don't think so. You're going to have to put troops on the ground inside of Ukraine. The European nations are trying to figure out whether they'll do that or not.

I just don't believe Vladimir Putin will accept that, which likely tries to extend this a little bit longer. But no, unless you have that security guarantee of actual military force, I don't think Putin understands anything else.

SANCHEZ: Do you believe that Putin's offer to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow is serious?

LYONS: Well, I think he's still trying to run out the clock. And I think this president is losing patience with that. The sanctions that the president's talking about should have been implemented months, if not years ago already, to squeeze Russia out, create this divide, economically take away their means to wage war. Ukraine has been successful with strategic strikes. If you open up the paper every day and see a strike, they have deep with their oil supplies. We need to be pouring more weapons in there, more air defense platforms. Let them deep strike, keep the targets as military, so they're not violating any Geneva Conventions.

But, Ukraine is more than holding their own right now. And so, I think that that's what this administration's going to do. Putin is clearly acting as a bad actor here and just because he's aligned himself with Russia, North Korea in this fake show of force, that this parade that they're holding really means nothing. The NATO alliance and the European Union is much stronger. SANCHEZ: I wanted to ask you about the parade in Beijing. It's a -- this huge show of force as President Xi has Putin and Kim Jong-un at his sides, and he's talking about a multi-polar world, clearly sending a message about U.S. dominance. You didn't take anything of note from the parade that you thought is of importance or is a legitimate threat to the U.S.?

LYONS: No, this is just a convenience way of these countries getting together. They don't speak the same language. They've been combatants before in the past. They're not all of a sudden going to flip a switch and decide they're on the same side. These parades are all scripted. Who knows what's exactly behind some of that equipment that's there. They have so many different issues that are going on between them. You just can't add this, put this alliance together, this what -- access of upheaval together and (inaudible) force.

So I think the president's right. We'll continue with real military deterrence. I just don't see it. I think if for more than the show, you saw India, for example, didn't even participate in the parade. They were smart to back away from it. They're the wild card in this situation because of a billion people and the fact that they can have real economic pressure on one side or the other. But I think China is trying to create this new Cold War, Cold War v 2.0 and they'll -- if that's what they want, I think the president's ready for a trade war and he'll do it. He'll give it to him.

[14:10:00]

SANCHEZ: Major Mike Lyons, thanks so much for your point of view.

LYONS: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: Now to the pressure intensifying in Washington to release the Epstein files. Just a short time ago, 10 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse stood together on the steps of the Capitol and it was extraordinary. It was something to behold. Each of them urging all of Congress and President Trump to release more of the many files to help them get justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAUNTAE DAVIES, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: President Trump and members of Congress, why do we continue to cover up sexual abuse and assault? Who are we covering for? Let the public know the truth.

JENA-LISA JONES, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Please, President Trump, pass this bill and help us, make us feel like our voices are finally being heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Manu Raju was at this press conference. Manu, can you tell us what has been the immediate response here? MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's actually one key reaction that just came in from Speaker Mike Johnson who said, it does not change his mind. He's still opposed to the bill that those victims were pushing for, that bill being pushed by Congressman Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, a Democrat Ro Khanna, to compel the release that the Epstein documents. Johnson still contends. He said that there are flaws with this bill and said he supports the ongoing investigation that's happening in the House Oversight Committee.

That is something that simply does not go far enough for the likes of Massie and those victims that you heard there, who believe that additional action needs to be taken, given the release of documents last night that came from the Justice Department as a result of a subpoena, roughly 33,000 pages of documents. But what's something that the critics, including Massie say, that is largely public and includes lots of redacted information that does not fully portray the extent of this scandal.

Now, the question is going to be whether or not there are six Republicans who sign on to this effort by Massie and Khanna to try to force a vote in the full House. They need a majority of the House to sign on to this effort. Right now, they have four Republicans. Can they get two more? That is the big question. And I put the question also to the Republican supporters of this plan, including Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the closest allies of Donald Trump, about the criticism coming from the White House that this would be a hostile act according to a White House official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, (R-GA): You know, I really like to call out whoever that person is, in the administration. They said that in such a cowardice way, without saying their name.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE, (R-KY): Politically, it's really bad for Republicans. They should just have this vote and put it behind them. 80 percent of Republicans -- it's not just independents and Democrats who want these files released. 80 percent of Republican support releasing these files. So they're at odds with our base right now, and particularly the MAGA base.

RAJU: What about the fact that she has moved to a lower security prison, does that concern you?

REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA, (R-FL): I mean, from my insight and investigations into that, it looks like she's at a country club compared to where she was at previously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment covering from Congressman Anna Paulina Luna, who was responding to my question about the Epstein associate, former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who's serving this prison sentence for her role in the sex trafficking scheme. She was moved recently last month to a lower security prison in the aftermath of talking to Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General. That has raised a lot of concerns you hear from some Republicans as well as the victims who spoke out about that today as well.

But Luna, herself not yet signing on to this effort because she says that she is looking into the documents that were released last night by the House Oversight Committee. But that's the ultimate question here, Brianna. Will other Republicans who have raised major concerns about these Epstein scandal, about the fact that there are -- these documents have not been released, will they ultimately side with Thomas Massie or will they listen to the administration and fall in line behind Donald Trump? That's a big question for some of these more MAGA supporters who have been demanding release, side with Trump or with Massie at a key moment, try to force a vote on this issue on the House floor.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah. Side with Trump or side with the victims who are with Massie on this. Manu Raju, thank you so much for that report from the Capitol. With us now is Mike Rothschild. He's a conspiracy theory journalist and researcher. He's the author of "The Storm Is Upon Us," which is a book about QAnon. Mike, I am sure you were glued to this press conference. It was, I mean, this was a wow moment unlike -- I just haven't seen something like this in Washington. What did you think about it?

MIKE ROTHSCHILD, CONSPIRACY THEORY JOURNALIST AND RESEARCHER: Well, it was heartbreaking.

[14:15:00]

These women are taking enormous risks by telling their stories publicly in front of large audiences. And they are met with quips from the president that what they are saying is a hoax. I think it's heartbreaking and it's scandalous. And I would imagine, in a just world, that every single Republican would be looking for answers for what really happened and why this is being covered up. But instead they're not. So we're leaving it to these survivors to tell their own stories.

KEILAR: Yeah, I mean, to what you said about the hoax, let's look at these moments. This is one on the Hill, where one of the survivors, Haley Robson, who Epstein used to recruit other victims. She is a victim herself. She addressed the president. And then let's listen to what President Trump said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY ROBSON, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican, not that that matters because this is not political. However, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person, so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma.

TRUMP: So this is a Democrat hoax that never ends. From what I understand, I could check, but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given. But it's really a Democrat hoax because they're trying to get people to talk about something that's totally irrelevant to the success that we've had as a nation since I've been president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, we should note the president was not responding directly to what Robson said, but she was responding to this idea of it being a hoax or being called a hoax. And what was her reaction to that? And she gave it there.

How is this going to be seen, do you think, Mike, by the MAGA base that is very invested in the release of the files, kind of seeing that split screen?

ROTHSCHILD: Well, I think we're going to have a repeat of what we saw a few months ago when there was this push for Epstein transparency, and it was met by President Trump who campaigned on exposing all of the secrets of the traffickers like Jeffrey Epstein with insults and quips about how it's all fake and it's all Joe Biden and it's all Barack Obama. So you're going to see another instance of this cognitive dissonance in conspiracy-minded Trump believers where they have to reconcile two things that are completely in opposition to each other, which is Trump campaigning on revealing the truth about Epstein. But the truth about Epstein is that it's a hoax.

Those two things cannot exist in the same universe. So for hardcore Trump believers, they have to find a way to make it all fit together. And it puts you in a loop where you can't really make sense out of anything and you're not hearing what's really happening. I think a lot of these people are not hearing the anguish that these women are expressing, and all they're hearing is these excuses from the president about why nothing is happening with it.

KEILAR: Lisa Epstein, who was another survivor, said -- she said the fellow victims are going to put together their own list of abusers if all of the information related to Epstein's case is not released. What's your reaction to seeing -- to hearing that?

ROTHSCHILD: Well, I'm not surprised that these women are now taking it into their own hands to get some kind of justice because they're not getting it from the president and they're not getting it from Congressional Republicans who have the power to release all of this stuff. Just put all of it out there. Let people make up their own minds. Let the chips fall where they may, no matter who is on this list, let's expose them. Instead, you have the president and the enablers around him saying, there's nothing here. There's nothing here, but we have to keep it secret.

I don't know why you would need to keep it a secret if there was nothing there, but that's the reality we live in, where two completely opposing things have to be digested at the same time.

KEILAR: Mike Rothschild, thank you so much for being with us. And if you or someone that you know has suffered from sexual abuse, help is available. Just text "Hope" to 64673 or you can call 800-656-hope. And still to come, a major legal setback for the Trump administration. An Appeals Court just weighed in on the president invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport people. Plus, new details about the man accused of shooting and killing an 11-year-old boy who was doing a ding-dong ditch prank. What we are learning from this court appearance today. And Florida could soon become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including for children in schools. We'll have that a much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:24:09]

KEILAR: A new legal blow to President Trump's immigration crackdown. A federal Appeals Court says he unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the administration cannot move forward with using the centuries-old wartime law for deportations in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In a two-to-one decision, the judges rejected President Trump's claim of an invasion or predatory incursion by the gang Tren de Aragua.

The case is widely expected to end up before the Supreme Court. We have CNN Senior Legal Analyst, Elie Honig here with us on this. All right, Elie, first off, why did the court two-to-one say that there was no predatory incursion by the Venezuela gang Tren de Aragua as trumpet claimed?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, because those terms simply do not apply to this situation here in the court's ruling.

[14:25:00]

Now, Brianna, this is a historic ruling. This is the first time a federal Court of Appeals has ever reversed a president's invocation of that Alien Enemies Act. Now, it's only been invoked a handful of times in our history, most recently before this World War II, but this is a first. Now, as you said, the law empowers the president to deport non- citizens if they are part of an invasion or a predatory incursion carried out by a foreign nation or government.

And in this decision today, the court goes through those terms and said there needs to be some element of organization. You can't just say, well, we have large numbers of immigrants or immigrants coming to this country. That's not enough. And there's not enough of a tie that any of this comes from a foreign state or a foreign government. So simply put, the court just looked at the terms of the law and said they do not properly apply to the actual situation here.

KEILAR: So what's the -- what's the effect of this ruling? What are the limitations of this ruling?

HONIG: So for now, it means that at least in the Fifth Circuit, there cannot be deportations under the cited Alien Enemies Act. But I think, Brianna, this one is absolutely headed back to the Supreme Court. Now, it did make a detour at the Supreme Court earlier in the spring, and the Supreme Court did not rule on whether the Alien Enemies Act applies. They simply said that people who are going to be deported under this law, they do get some minimal due process rights.

And in the process of exercising those due process rights, that's how we got to this decision. So, the Fifth Circuit is one of 13 circuits, federal circuits in this country. And typically, once a case has gone up to the Court of Appeals, the circuits, the next step here is likely going to be the U.S. Supreme Court. And I think it's a case the Supreme Court has been expecting to come back to it and really almost has to take because we can't have a situation where you have potentially different outcomes in the different circuits.

KEILAR: So to the lay person, they might look at that and say, wait, why did they get this as an emergency matter, kick it back down, only to ultimately get it again?

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: It seems like a bunch of back and forth when, ultimately, the Supreme Court is going to have to decide on this.

HONIG: It's a perfectly reasonable response and one that I share. Why not just decide it? Instead, they do what they do sometimes on the Supreme Court. They decided it on a very narrow basis. They basically just said, for now, these deportations can proceed. However, lower courts, you have to make sure that people are getting due process. It was all but a certainty that we would come back to this point that in the process of that due process, someone would challenge the Alien Enemies Act. And now, we have our first Court of Appeals saying that the way the president has used it is unconstitutional.

KEILAR: I also want to ask you about this appeal from the President and Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, of a California federal judge's ruling yesterday that they violated the Posse Comitatus Act by using, U.S. Military for domestic law enforcement in Los Angeles this summer. What are you watching for here?

HONIG: Yep. Good use of Latin, Brianna. So I want to see whether Judge Breyer gets reversed again. Let's remember, this is part two. Back in part one, Judge Breyer said that Donald Trump as president does not have any authority to send the National Guard into California, and then he got reversed. That's why the National Guard is in California. Now Judge Breyer has come back with a narrower ruling saying basically, well, the way that the National Guardsmen are being used violates that posse Comitatus Act, basically the idea that your military cannot perform civilian law enforcement functions.

He went through the record and said there are several examples of them crossing that line. So now, the Trump administration is appealing that one as well. I don't know that he's likely to get overturned on this one because it's a much narrower ruling and I think much more in the judge's discretion. But we'll see. He got reversed once and we'll see if the Ninth Circuit is with him or against him the second time through.

KEILAR: You say Comitatus, I say Comitatus, which means that you're right, because most of the Latin that I use is in our segments, in fairness. Elie Honig, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

A man who has suffered chronic pain for decades gets relief after a groundbreaking procedure involving brain implants. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look at this innovative treatment.

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