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Trump Says Peace Agreement, Not Ceasefire, Best Way To End War; Russian Media Calls Trump Handshake With Putin "Historic"; Ukrainian Media Criticize Summit As "Shameful" And "Useless"; Trump: Zelenskyy Coming To Oval Office For A Meeting Monday; New Orleans Mayor Indicted After Long Corruption Probe; CA Dems' Redistricting Plan Aims To Flip 5 GOP Seats; Air Canada Flight Attendants On Strike, Operations Suspended. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired August 16, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[11:59:55]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with breaking news. A European official tells CNN President Trump left his meeting with Vladimir Putin believing the Russian President was open to the idea of a trilateral summit that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump has also confirmed that he will meet with Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday.

And shortly after Friday's summit in Alaska wrapped up, Trump said he and Putin reached a consensus on several issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on, actually. I think we've agreed on a lot. And I can tell you, the meeting was a very warm meeting.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Zelenskyy, who was left out of the Alaska summit, says Russia should face steeper sanctions if a trilateral meeting does not happen. Conversations between Trump and European leaders after the summit included discussions of security guarantees for Ukraine similar to those between NATO countries. The summit did not end with a ceasefire agreement.

And early this morning, Trump reversed his own position saying he now believes that a peace agreement, not a ceasefire, is the best way to end the war.

We've got full coverage for you. Nick Paton Walsh is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Kevin Liptak is at the White House. First to you, Nick. Does it seem like everyone is taking this idea of trilateral meeting seriously? NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's incredibly hard to tell, to be honest. And I should remind everybody that a trilateral meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin, and Trump, the three presidents, was proposed by Zelenskyy in May, and Trump supported it, and Putin rejected it.

But I understand from a European official that the impression got by European leaders during their conversation with Trump earlier today, was that Trump felt Putin was agreed or favorable to the idea of a trilateral meeting. Now that's something that Trump talked about during his interview after the Alaska summit, and it's something that has been on the mind of Europeans and Ukrainians for months.

But the notion that Putin might have come round to it, it's not something he's personally expressed. And indeed, in the past, we've heard he talk about the need for his team to deal with the logistics, the complicated series of events that they feel have to fall into place before a meeting like that occurs. So is it more time being bought by Putin? Is it real? We'll have to see in the weeks ahead.

We also understand too that the European leaders were basically told by Trump that Putin hasn't really moved from his key maximalist demand of getting back the remainder of the Donetsk region. So getting back, taking, occupying, the remainder of the Donetsk region, which is not currently under Russian military occupation.

That's something which seemed to emerge between the Kremlin meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff about 10 days plus ago now persistently demanded by Putin in, that meeting with Trump as part of a peace deal. Unclear what it means for the remaining territories Putin's had his eye upon, but, certainly, we know Putin is a pragmatist in all these events.

Finally, though, as you had mentioned, the security guarantees now appear to be one of those positive elements that European officials I was speaking to are keen to emphasize as emerging from this call with Trump. Not something Putin is involved in, but it appears now, according to a European official, that an Article 5-type security guarantee could be available to Ukraine with American backing.

Now, Article 5 is the part of the NATO charter that basically says you attack one of us, you attack all of us. I'm not suggesting, no one's suggesting that Ukraine becomes part of NATO or indeed NATO were used to enforce this in some way. But that there are European powers, the U.K., France, Germany, they will all meet in Paris with Zelenskyy tomorrow.

We understand that they may be part of a reassurance force and that that security guarantee will also have American backing. That's key and new. Trump's talked about security guarantees, but the idea that the Americans might be involved in giving them is a development.

We've not heard the White House's version of these discussions publicly either, but it's a rare piece of positive news, frankly, from an Alaska summit that evidently yielded no immediate results, led to a series of further conversations between Trump, European leaders, and Zelenskyy. Now it's leading to a White House meeting on Monday between Trump and Zelenskyy.

Will it just be them or others? Has to be something to work out in the coming days, but a significant series of phone calls. And, I think, concerns here that Putin is very much setting the agenda, but some positive news and the possibility of security guarantees. What Ukraine has to give up to get those quite, of course, for anxiety here, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much.

Kevin Liptak at the White House now. What are we hearing from the White House about the Monday meeting? How it is being planned?

[12:05:03]

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And it seems as if this is now coming together fairly quickly, although President Trump had said ahead of this summit that he wanted to speak to Zelenskyy to brief him on what exactly he heard from Vladimir Putin while they were sitting down in Alaska.

But really, the precise contours of what was discussed in that nearly three-hour summit remain largely unknown. President Trump very clearly telling an interviewer last night that he did not want to divulge a large number of those details. And though he did brief the Europeans early this morning as he was landing back here in Washington and, of course, he spoke to Zelenskyy as well.

Many of the details of that summit are now coming from the Europeans, including how President Trump has described Putin's attitudes towards what he calls the land swaps, essentially saying that Putin hasn't given up this ambition to take Russian control of the entire Eastern Donbas region.

Perhaps the most notable thing though that we've heard from the President today is the suggestion that he's giving up on, the ambition for an immediate cease fire in Ukraine, saying that it was now his goal to move directly to these larger peace agreements and suggesting that all sides of this, the European, Zelenskyy, and Putin, were under the agreement that that was the best path forward.

Now, there's nothing to suggest that the Europeans and Zelenskyy have actually come around to this idea. And in fact, their position for quite a long time is that a ceasefire needs to be in place before the parameters of the final peace accord are negotiated. They say, essentially, that Ukraine can't be expected to discuss its future while it continues to be under bombardment, from the air, from drones, on the land.

Now President Trump is suggesting that a ceasefire is no longer his goal. And then we should know, heading into yesterday's summit, the President said that he would be very disappointed if an agreement for a ceasefire was not reached while he was sitting down with Putin. So that in and of itself does seem like it's now a reversal.

And so now all eyes are on this meeting in the Oval Office on Monday with Zelenskyy. You know, I think we should note this will be Zelenskyy's first time back in the Oval Office after that explosive scene back in February when the President really berated Zelenskyy for the war, for not sort of agreeing to some of the parameters to come to an end to the conflict.

They have gone quite a long way in repairing their relationship since then, but I think it will be interesting to compare the reception he receives in the Oval Office to the reception that Vladimir Putin received yesterday in Alaska. The red carpet, the military flyover, the applause from President Trump on the tarmac. Comparing these two events, I think, will be very significant as we and President Trump sort of head towards this idea of trying to resolve this conflict permanently.

WHITFIELD: Right. It is -- it's going to be difficult not to compare their meetings, especially when you have the Oval Office once again involved as a backdrop.

LIPTAK: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kevin Liptak in Washington, Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right. So the Kremlin has its own take on how the Alaska summit went. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with that story.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians seem to be pretty happy with the way the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska went down. Russian media celebrating the way that Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, was received by U.S. President Donald Trump calling the handshake between the two leaders, quote, "historic."

Also, the spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, she came out and said that for three years, the West has been telling people that Russia is isolated on the international stage, and now they see Vladimir Putin on the red carpet on U.S. soil.

Another person who also, talked about this was the former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and he said, first of all, the Russians are quite happy that it seems as though that threat of massive sanctions by President Trump, at least for now, is off the table. Medvedev also saying that he believes there is now a mechanism in place for Russia and the United States to speak to one another without any threats or pressure.

But most importantly, he says, he believes that right now the door is open for negotiations even as what Russia calls its special military operation continues. That is, of course, the position that Russia has had for a very long time where they have said they are against an immediate ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. Instead, what they want is longer term talks towards a wider agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

WHITFIELD: Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much. All right, while President Trump may be expressing some optimism over the summit inside Ukraine, it's being met with skepticism.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

YEVHEN MARTOVYTSKYL, KYIV RESIDENT (through translation): This meeting only benefited Putin. He presented himself as someone who can be shaken hands with. Now all countries will treat him differently. What did Trump gain from this? Absolutely nothing. On the contrary, he lowered his status in front of Putin.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[12:10:13]

WHITFIELD: With us now is Toby Gati, she is former Assistant Secretary Of State for Intelligence and Research under President Clinton and played a key role in U.S. policy with Russia. Great to see you.

TOBY GATI, FORMER ASSISTANT SECY. OF STATE UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Well, that was an interesting comment, wasn't it, coming from that Ukrainian citizen talking about lowering the status? Do you agree with that potential outcome from this summit?

GATI: Well, I think there's a lot to disagree with this summit. The first thing is, whatever Trump's goals were, he didn't achieve them. Whatever Putin's goals were, he came closer to them. The Russian audience is really happy. We are rewarding the Russians for intransigence.

The Russians are watching the clock and the calendar. They're figuring soon winter's going to come, and then whatever happens is going to be a stalemate again. So, you know, the whole world is watching. I would think that this is really the art of no deal, you know?

If it doesn't -- you throw something at the wall, if it doesn't stick, you throw something else. And the Russians don't operate like this. They have a much different view of what's going on. And I kind of wonder what's going to happen when Zelenskyy comes, not so much from Trump, but from Vance, who's been much, much more negative about the possibility of, you know, with the Europeans and whatever.

So there's a lot up in the air here, and I don't think that we should be sanguine about any of it. The whole world is watching.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GATI: This is not just about Ukraine. This is really not just about Ukraine. We have to remember that. How Trump treats allies, how he treats conflicts, how he looks at the world, it's all up for grabs, and it changes every 10 minutes. And Putin doesn't change like that, and his advisers don't change like that.

They have a much clearer view of where they want Russia to be, and they are very diligent and determined to push it. And Trump, frankly, lets them get away

WHITFIELD: Wow.

GATI: They get away with it.

WHITFIELD: All fascinating points. I want to delve into that even further with you because, you know, you're saying this was the art of no deal. President Trump is calling it a successful day, you know, even though no deals, as we know, were made. The White House even, you know, putting out this photo right here -- perhaps you've seen it already this morning -- implying Trump's dominance perhaps, you know, but with the headline saying the goal is always peace.

So how is Putin now either plotting or planning, especially after Trump says it's now up to Ukraine's Zelenskyy?

GATI: Well, it was never up to Zelenskyy. If it was up to Zelenskyy, we would have been providing weapons, and we would have been supporting him. And that would have been true under Trump, and it would have been true under Biden, frankly. Also, we would have been doing more.

So it's never up to Zelenskyy. This is the European security environment we live in where the great powers have always been dominant and little countries have never fared very well in European history. So I think it -- it's only a successful day if you're letting Trump do the scoring.

Give that -- give yesterday a 10 out of 10, I don't think there are too many people who would do this. And I think there are a lot of really, really nervous people because they don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. And that's not the way that a great power has to conduct its foreign policy.

It has to know what it wants. It has to have papers that explain what the other side is doing. It has to have people have experience. I have often thought how incredible it is that the Russian team, not just the two who were sitting there yesterday with Chicago and Lavrov, have over 100 years of experience dealing with the West and the United States.

WHITFIELD: Let's zero in on --

GATI: And --

WHITFIELD: Let's zero in on one of those that you are speaking of surrounding -- the people surrounding a leader as in Putin. And you have actually written about one of the people that you just mentioned, Yuri Ushakov.

GATI: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You know, he is Putin's top foreign policy adviser and so called America guru. I don't know if that's your terminology or he's been coined that by someone else but, you know, during --

GATI: It is.

WHITFIELD: OK. It's yours. OK. Well, so during most summits, right, help us understand his role. He traditionally is elusive, but he does feed Putin information. What kind of information do you think he may have been providing Putin during this summit yesterday?

GATI: Well, I think Ushakov did a lot before the summit to provide information and to make sure that all the diplomats in the world and all the ambassadors knew what was going on. All the papers were prepared, if not for Putin. Putin knows what he's, you know, he knows a lot.

[12:15:02]

And he knows a history of Ukraine, which most of us would not recognize, frankly, because it has nothing to do with the history that we see of Ukraine. So Ushakov is his guru in a sense, but he knows that Putin knows an awful lot, and you don't have to pass him notes, you know, did you mean to say kind of stuff, you know, which you might have to do with Trump.

So he's on the same wavelength. I mean, he knows America. He knows American business leaders, but he also knows his boss. And he knows his boss is very distrustful of the way the world has treated him. He thinks they've been unfair, and he is never going to question those principles.

He's been in Moscow and seen how Putin operates, but he's a very, very good diplomat and a very carefully preparing for these kind of meetings. So I think this is the kind of person that I wish we had on our side, obviously, protecting our interests.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. Putin, as you mentioned, you know, he knows a lot himself. He doesn't have to rely on too many people to get in his ear. Putin is former KGB. You know, analyzing people is a skill of his, right?

So, even with Ushakov being a, you know, career diplomat from the, you know, Soviet diplomatic service, what do you believe is the shared goal here, you know, between Ushakov and Putin? Is it really about trying to encourage a good business partnership between the U.S. and Russia, you know, global dominance? What's going on here?

GATI: Well, first of all, there's no such thing, and the Russians will often say this as a former KGB agent. OK?

WHITFIELD: I guess not for all.

GATI: You know, that's --

WHITFIELD: Once KGB, always KGB, right?

GATI: There's no former.

WHITFIELD: OK. Got you. GATI: There's no former. And in the same way, there's probably no such thing as a former diplomat, and Ushakov has been a very successful diplomat.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GATI: The America he was in 2008 to 2018 is not the America of today, and it's not the Russia of today. But he will make sure that every -- all the information is available. Everything is there. He will make sure the papers are all in order. And he will provide, if asked, if asked advice.

But as you could see at a summit like this, Putin does not need an adviser to go off and riff, you know, on Ukraine, on the state of the world, whatever. Actually, I think the interesting thing is on the American side, I've thought about this. There's only one person who's close to Trump who could provide him with real advice, and that's his wife, Melania.

WHITFIELD: Do you think it's happening?

GATI: It's really strange to say that which -- well, it did happen. He mentioned once that he had been talking to Putin, and she said, but did you see what he did in Kyiv that night?

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes.

GATI: Where he --

WHITFIELD: That is pretty powerful.

GATI: -- have been bombing. He's from Slovenia. Slovenia was part of the former Yugoslavia, and so that she knows a little bit about communists and Russians. So, you know, it's -- you didn't see many women there yesterday. But in this case, I would -- my advice to Trump would be listen to your wife.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. OK. You hear that, Mr. President? That's what Toby Gati says.

All right, Toby, I learned a lot. Loved it too. Thank you so much. What a pleasure. We'll have you back.

GATI: Thank you. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you. I'd like to come back. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Still to come, we saw historic moments at the summit in Alaska with the meetings between Presidents Trump and Putin could mean for U.S.- Russia relations in the future.

Plus, details about the indictment against the New Orleans mayor over allegations of trying to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:23:26]

WHITFIELD: President Trump's one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin marks the latest superpower summit that could have history making implications, not just for Ukraine, but also for Trump.

Joining us now to help break it all down, Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley, so great to see you. Thanks for being here.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. So it's hard to forget the imagery, right, from yesterday, the red carpet, the handshake, smiles even, Putin, you know, riding in Trump's limo called the beast. I want to get your reaction to all of that.

BRINKLEY: Well, this was very rushed in the idea of meeting in American soil. And the first time ever a Russian President has met at a U.S. military base ever, it all kind of had a hurly burly, a feel to it. Putin had met famously George W. Bush in 2007. And in, you know, in -- was able to, you know, go to Maine and have a meeting, but that was, you know, towards the end of Bush's tenure.

This time around, this is just really about the Ukraine, and it seems to be that the ceasefire idea is no longer in play. And the big thing is Trump saying they want to end the war, and the ball really is in Zelenskyy's court, and he'll be coming to Washington next week. So this isn't just the one day in Alaska, but a process here to try to resolve the war between Ukraine and Russia.

WHITFIELD: And then now today, I mean, there's -- those images right there from yesterday. But then now today, the White House is releasing this, this moment. And it encapsulates, you know, in black and white, this meeting between the two men.

[12:25:13]

I don't know if this, you know, is to perhaps upstage the other ones where in this case, has a much more, I guess, dominant posture being displayed by President Trump, you know, his finger being pointed. We don't know what's being said. And then there's a caption that says, the goal is always peace. I mean, do you see something remarkable here?

BRINKLEY: I do. I mean, at the press conference yesterday in Alaska, Putin dominated. He just rattled off while Trump really kind of stood there, and it seemed to be a sort of embarrassing visual when you see Vladimir Putin, a war criminal in much of the world, you know, just hanging out, going in the beast, the limo car hanging out with Donald Trump.

It was a validation for Russia there, and it made President Trump look kind of fickle. But this photo, the White House is smart to release because it's showing that Trump in private moments had these sort of, you know, pointing -- pointed finger moments or seem to be the alpha male of the shots you're showing. And I understand why the White House would want to correct the film from yesterday, which really made Putin seem like he dominated the entire summit.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, you said, you know, just minutes ago, Zelenskyy, the ball is in Zelenskyy's court. But overall, do you see this summit as a step toward progress toward ending the war?

BRINKLEY: You know, I grew up earning my doctorate in Cold War studies, and I learned hard about what the Soviet Union was and what Russia is today, and Putin can never be trusted. The fact that he buttered up President Trump telling him that he actually won the 2020 election because, you know, you can't all mail, voting is fraud, you know?

Putin's telling us, giving us, schooling us in democracy when he's -- the entire country of Russia lives for human rights abuses and to be nondemocratic. So that was very rich to me. But this is a process. And if Donald Trump can pull off a ceasefire, if Zelenskyy is willing to give up territory and the war ends, it'll become a big moment in the Trump presidency the way Theodore Roosevelt won a Nobel Prize for mediating the Russia-Japanese war, and that took place in New Hampshire.

This may be known as the Alaska process here. And if we get a result (ph), Trump will skip -- put points on the board. But it's never great to be trusting Vladimir Putin as George W. Bush learned when he said, I looked into his soul and in our eyes, and I saw his soul. And given these quotes about how Putin is really a good guy happens from American presidents. Because as you were just intimating, he's very talented at reading his character. And he's got Trump down to an art form of psychological instinct.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Really fascinating. And, of course, no one can really predict what may potentially happen with the next step, which is that meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump back at the Oval Office. Who can forget what happened earlier in the year? No one wants to see a repeat of that, but maybe this will be a redo on Monday.

We'll see. We'll have you back, and hopefully, you can analyze for us.

BRINKLEY: You've got it. Thank you so much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley.

All right. Coming up, California now redrawing congressional districts in response to what's happening in Texas. Will Governor Newsom push his plan through first?

Plus, a brand new forecast for Hurricane Erin. How the massive storm's rapid expansion may have altered its predicted path.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:33:30] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. After becoming the first female mayor in New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell is now the first sitting mayor in the city's history to face federal charges.

Cantrell and her former bodyguard are now facing 18 felony counts combined, including conspiracy, fraud, and obstruction. Prosecutors accuse the pair of scheming to hide a romantic relationship and using taxpayer money for personal ends. CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us right now with more on all this. And how is the mayor responding to this?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she is not for the time being. We've tried multiple times and -- and they haven't really said anything, painting whatever the attorney is going to say. But, Fred, local media reports about the relationship and the couple's alleged conduct began circulating in November 2022.

But it was not until yesterday that a federal grand jury indicted New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell on 18 counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. According to Michael Simpson, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Cantrell and her former bodyguard, identified as Jeffrey Vappie, engaged in a nearly three-year fraud scheme that, in his words, exploited their public authority and positions.

The city of New Orleans told "The Associated Press" in a statement that it was aware of the indictment and that the mayor's attorney is reviewing it. Until his review is complete, the city will not comment further on this matter. The statement said, we tried to reach the mayor by phone and e-mail, but there has been no response.

[12:35:02]

According to Simpson, the couple took many steps to hide their alleged scheme and perpetuate their fraud, including using WhatsApp to exchange over 15,000 messages, pictures, and audio clips in an eight- month period, using the platform to intimidate subordinates, harass a citizen, and lie to colleagues and associates. They are also accused of lying to FBI agents and giving the government an affidavit with false statements.

According to the indictment, the scheme started as early as October 2021 when the relationship began, until June 2024 when Vappie retired from the police department. Simpson said he wanted to make it clear that the indictment does not allege that our relationship constitutes a crime or that the alleged criminal activity occurred on merely a handful of days or involved discreet actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SIMPSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA: Rather, it reflects the prosecution of two public officials alleged to have engaged in a years-long continuing fraud scheme that used public money for personal ends by exploiting their power and their authority. JONATHAN TAPP, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Citizens of New Orleans work hard to provide for their families, and they expect their public officials to be honest stewards of those funds. And today's indictment outlines a betrayal of that trust by Mayor Cantrell and Mr. Vappie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Vappie, who retired from the police department in 2024, was already facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements, and as "The Associated Press" previously reported, has pleaded not guilty. Cantrell was known for being the first female mayor in New Orleans' 300-year history and was elected twice.

With this indictment, she has also become the first mayor to be charged while in office less than five months before her term comes to an end. Lastly, Cantrell was listed as a guest speaker at an event launching new Amtrak service to New Orleans this morning, but did not show up, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Rafael Romo. Appreciate it.

All right, as Texas Republicans renew their push to get congressional lines redrawn in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterms, Democrats are now moving forward with plans to offset any potential gains in California. California Democrats unveiling a new map that would strip Republicans of five of the nine seats they currently hold in the deep blue state.

State lawmakers plan to hold hearings and a vote to put the new maps on the ballot next week. CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones is joining us right now from Los Angeles. Julia, what more are you learning?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Fred, the Democrats are saying that this new map they're proposing allows for more compact districts, that it keeps more communities together so it splits fewer cities in California, and it makes minimal disruptions to the old map.

They really are looking at about 43 Democratic seats, stay with me, and nine Republican seats and going over to 48 to four. Five seats, right? California is matching exactly the number of seats that Texas Republicans want to add virtually, trying to make their redistricting efforts a moot point.

And you may say it's only those five seats out of more than 400, but the majority in D.C. is so thin that these California seats will matter. The breakdown is at about 219 to 212, so those five seats will make a difference. And why are we having this gerrymandering battle? It's because President Trump wants to do more. He wants to do more legislatively to have more wins and enact his policy, so he will need those five seats.

But California Republicans are saying that they will fight for their party and that these are, so, Doug LaMalfa right there, that we just saw his photo up there. He particularly just took to X yesterday to say that this was unacceptable, calling this a naked politics at its worst, asking, how is it that Modoc County in the Nevada and Oregon border, I'm sorry, I'll ask to bring that up, have anything in common with Marin County and the Golden Gate Bridge?

He's talking about a district right above his that's California District 2 in the proposed maps that is stretching all up into Northern California. Now, that's a question for Governor Gavin Newsom to try to answer in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: And then how is the governor trying to, you know, sell his plan to voters?

JONES: Well, he's taken a page out of President Donald Trump. Over the past 24 hours, the governor has been extremely vocal in poking fun at the style of the president. He had a press conference on Thursday where he announced that these changes were coming, Fred.

[12:39:58]

And then he also took to X and posted a post that says, many people are saying, and I agree, that I, Gavin C. Newsom, deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Because of the most incredible maps in the history of mapping, even Columbus. Now, this is quite clear, this -- the governor's campaign. I should say his press office poking fun at the President and -- and at the feud that they have had over the last several months that has been escalating, not only in the redistricting efforts.

You know, we saw lawsuits that California has filed against the President. And now he has a new opponent, Fred, with former governor of California and movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger posting this photo that says, F the politicians, terminate gerrymandering.

He's also posted saying that he would oppose gerrymandering, I should say, both from Democrats or Republicans in this case. But seems like a tough battle ahead for the governor here.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it does indeed. All right. Julia Vargas Jones, hasta la vista. Thank you.

All right, still to come, the skies are quiet for Canada's biggest airline and its flight attendants, how their dispute is causing major disruptions for thousands of travelers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following breaking developments out of the Atlantic where Erin has just intensified into a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds near 160 miles per hour. The storm is the Atlantic's first major hurricane of the season and is expected to double or even triple in size by the middle of next week.

And right now, Erin is tracking above the northeastern Caribbean with the forecast holding as a Category 5 for at least the next 24 to 36 hours. And you're looking right now at live EarthCam footage of the British Virgin Islands as the storm churns forward.

Erin is expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents along the beaches of the Bahamas, much of the U.S. East Coast and Canadian Coast next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

And happening right now in Canada, more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants are on strike, leaving travelers in limbo during peak summer travel. The threat of a walkout had already forced tens of thousands of flyers to change their plans, and now it could get even worse.

The airline's entire operations are grinding to a halt. CNN correspondent Paula Newton joins me now from Ottawa. Paula, what are the sticking points on trying to reach a deal right now?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, I wish I had better news that these two parties had come to the table and worked something out, but it is something that, in fact, is familiar to flight attendants at American Airlines -- American Airlines in the United States as well. The issue here is when flight attendants get paid, and so many of them, it may come as a surprise to some, do not get paid for any kind of ground delays. They actually sometimes only get paid when the actual door of the airplane closes. That is the main issue, along with a pay increase in general.

I want you to listen now to the head of the union just in the last few hours talking about what they're fighting for. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESLEY LESOSKY, PRESIDENT, AIR CANADA COMPONENT OF CUPE (CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES): We are here because Air Canada pays our junior flight attendants so little we had to open food banks in our union offices because our flight attendants are living six or eight or ten to a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto or in RVs in the parking lot in the Vancouver airport.

We're here because Air Canada forces us to work for free for hours and hours every day. And we are here because we're not going to accept it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So, Fred, for its part, Air Canada says it remains engaged and committed to negotiating a renewal to its collective agreement with its flight attendants, and it argues that, look, there was a substantial increase on the table.

All eyes now, Fred, and I mean even in the next hour, on the government, because it could intervene to try and stop this mess. And when I say a mess, I want to underscore that. It is not just that about 700 flights from Air Canada have been cancelled, 130,000 passengers a day affected.

The issue here, Fred, is that it's straining capacity and increasing prices for so many travellers in North America and beyond right now, because so many people travel through Canada to get to South America, Asia, Europe, and that is really making life very difficult for everyone.

If you look at some of the boards that have been posted with travellers just absolutely at their wits' end, travel consumer advocates say, look, don't take the refund from Air Canada. Let them help you, if you can get through to them, to rebook another flight.

Needless to say, all eyes on whether the government or either of these two sides can get back to the negotiating table.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a very big deal. I mean, Air Canada, a major artery for a lot of global travel, a lot of people counting on it. All right, Paula Newton in Ottawa, thanks so much.

[12:49:48]

All right, still to come, will a land swap be a key factor to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine? We'll examine the territories that could end up changing hands.

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WHITFIELD: All right, Friday's meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin gave the Russian president a chance to pitch his conditions for peace. The biggest one, forcing Ukraine to hand over big chunks of its territory.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh shows us now which chunks of land Putin wants and what the Ukrainians could possibly get in return.

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[12:55:05]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Any peace deal in Ukraine is going to ultimately be about land. When President Trump talks about swapping territories, this is Russian occupied areas.

It's these three parts here, black surrounded, that have always been part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most maximalist war goals. It's what he wants. The lines we've drawn as best as we can here, but the stakes are incredibly high.

Any minor inaccuracy of my pen could be a place that thousands of people have fought and died for or still live. Now, in just recent days, there's been a tiny advance here by the Russians, but it's significant and caused some concern and even denials and reinforcements sent from Kyiv.

But this Donetsk area is potentially, if we understand what the Kremlin's proposed, somewhere they want Ukrainians to withdraw from entirely in exchange for a ceasefire. And look at it. It's a huge area. What could they give back? These tiny border parts occupied by Russia, a buffer zone, President Putin calls it, but it's hardly a fair exchange.

And so the real hard-to-solve question, what happens to Zaporizhzhia here and Kherson? Now, Russia occupies probably about two-thirds of each, but Putin wants all of it. They will kicked out, the Russians, here in the first year of the war.

But it's impossible to imagine Ukraine deciding to pull out of massive areas like this and equally impossible to imagine that Russians will give up a big strategic gain of a land corridor that they managed to take when the big invasion began down to Crimea that they've held since 2014. That's the sticking point, and there's very little obvious way through it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, excellent explanation, really helping to fill in the blanks for a lot of people. We'll be back with the latest details on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's upcoming visit to the White House.

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