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Israel Calls Up 60,000 Reservists Ahead Of Gaza City Takeover; Hurricane Erin Moving Up U.S. East Coast At Category 2; U.S., Russia Give Mixed Signals On Vladimir Putin-Volodymyr Zelenskyy Meeting; NATO Military Leaders Discuss Ukraine Security Guarantees; 95-Year-Old Former Soldier Wants To Return Home From South Korea; 95-year-old Former Soldier Wants to Return Home From South Korea; Texas Advances Republican Bill to Redraw Voter Maps; Trump Administration Expands Good Moral Character Requirement for Immigrants to Become Naturalized U.S. Citizens; 11-year-old Receives Life-Saving Heart Transplant in the U.S.; Panic at Major Milan Airport After Flames Break Out; New NASA Images Show Mars Under Earth-like Blue Sky. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired August 21, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:02]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, the first stage of a renewed Israeli military assault on Gaza City is underway, involving some 80,000 troops, that's despite international condemnation and a spiraling humanitarian crisis.

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JOSH STEIN, NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: Life threatening rip currents for most of the week, no one should be in the ocean.

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CHURCH: Not expected to make landfall, but powerful. Nonetheless, we are tracking Hurricane Erin as it turns up the U.S. East Coast.

The Kremlin downplays hopes of direct talks between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents as more lives are lost on the battlefield.

Plus, after waiting more than 200 days, a young girl can finally look forward to living her life. A heart warming story you won't want to miss.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And we begin with the latest Israeli plans for a renewed military offensive in Gaza City and new settlements in the West Bank. First, explosions in the night sky show the early stages of a massive

assault on Gaza City, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says is meant to drive Hamas from one of its last strongholds.

About 25 kilometers to the south, video shows another apparent explosion with large plumes of gray smoke rising over Khan Younis.

Mr. Netanyahu has ordered the military to shorten the expected five- month timeline for the Gaza City operation, and Israel is calling up an additional 60,000 reservists for the campaign and extending the service of another 20,000.

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BRIG. GEN. EFFIE DEFRIN, IDF SPOKESPERSON (through translator): We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organization, we will intensify the strikes on the terror infrastructure above and below ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, top diplomats from Britain and the European Union are condemning Israeli plans for New West Bank settlements that would effectively, "Bury the prospect of a Palestinian state." It calls for thousands of new housing units in an area called E1, east of Jerusalem.

Critics say it would cut the West Bank in two, making a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital virtually impossible.

More now on the Gaza City offensive from CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The drums of war are pounding Gaza City. A new Israeli military operation has been targeting the largest city in the northern strip, one that will require a surge of reserve soldiers to go back to fight again.

Avshalom Zohar Sal is a reservist who documented his time in Gaza in these photographs. He says he spent more than 300 days in Gaza on four different deployments, the last one ended one month ago.

I'm a little in shock that we're still in this thing, he says. I'm a little in shock that we're still talking about this war that was supposed to end a long time ago. And I think if you were to ask everyone in my unit, it's hard for everyone.

The doubts, he says, began creeping in one year ago, and they've only grown. This month, Israel's security cabinet approved the occupation of Gaza City, a major escalation that could take five months or more.

Zohar Sal says he's not going back I think this decision is a death sentence for the hostages, he says. The government talked and said all the time that we're talking about two missions for this war, to return the hostages and to defeat Hamas. Now it's telling us there's only one goal, which I believe is not achievable to destroy Hamas. And even this won't destroy Hamas.

Amid some of the largest protests Israel has seen since the beginning of the war, families of the hostages are calling the planned operation a deception, an unforgivable moral and security neglect. A recent study of reserve soldiers suggested approximately 40 percent were slightly or significantly less motivated to serve. The military's top general warned the security cabinet of the burden on manpower. An exhausted army in a war that won't end. Israel's military relies on reservists to keep fighting, and the military said Wednesday that the takeover of Gaza City will require up to 60,000 more troops.

Dan Halutz is the former Israeli military chief of staff.

DAN HALUTZ, FORMER ISRAELI MILITARY CHIEF OF STAFF: I believe that some of them will stay home when something is coming to an end. You feel it and it comes to an end.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the intense fighting would be over by now.

BENJAMIN NETANYANU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion, not months, weeks away from completion.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): That was February 2024. Eighteen months later, Netanyahu says a new operation is the fastest way to end what has long since become Israel's longest war.

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[02:05:14]

LIEBERMANN (on camera): The military says the new operation to take over and occupy Gaza City will require 120,000 reserve troops in total, 20,000 of whom they say will have their time in the reserves extended as part of this operation. And that's in addition to the active-duty troops required for this new fight. And there you see the burden on the military after two years of war.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

CHURCH: The U.N. is repeating its demand for Israel to lift severe restrictions on aid entering Gaza as the humanitarian situation worsens and continues to worsen.

Cases of child malnutrition have tripled in Gaza in less than six months. According to the U.N. Nearly one in three children in Gaza City are malnourished.

Overall, more than two million people, practically the entire population of Gaza have been struggling with severe hunger, disease and displacement amid Israel's siege following the Hamas attacks of October 7th, nearly two years ago.

The head of the U.N.'s Agency for Palestinian refugees says, "This is not a natural disaster, it is a man made preventable starvation."

The U.S. East Coast is already feeling the effects of Hurricane Erin as it moves north through the Atlantic Ocean. Storm surge, strong winds and heavy rain are hitting parts of the southeastern coast, but the choppy waters are extending as far north as Rhode Island, where this ferry was trying to navigate the rocky seas.

Right now, Hurricane Erin is Category 2 storm, and it's not expected to make landfall in the U.S. Instead, it's forecast to turn into the open ocean over the next few days as it picks up speed, but North Carolina's Governor warns the danger is still real.

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STEIN: We are anticipating coastal flooding from massive waves, tropical storm force winds and tidal and storm surge for much of the state's shoreline. Life threatening rip currents for most of the week, no one should be in the ocean.

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CHURCH: CNN's Michael Yoshida is in North Carolina with more on the severe weather.

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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The waves crashing here in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. These are some of the biggest waves our team has seen over the few days we've been here.

Obviously, officials warning about the impacts of Hurricane Erin, the massive waves, the strength they will have, the storm surge, also those dangerous rip currents.

This beach one of many that are up and down the East Coast that have issued no swimming advisories. It was earlier in the week here at Wrightsville Beach where we saw some 60 water rescues of people being pulled out by those dangerous rip currents, people starting to heed those warnings, only four rescue those warning.

As this storm continues to move through the Atlantic, as the impacts and effects of it are felt here in the Carolinas being beyond, stay out of the water. Hunker down and just listen to local authorities and give them the space they need until this storm passes.

Reporting in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. I'm Michael Yoshida.

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CHURCH: Well, now to the fallout from the deadly flooding disaster in Central Texas last month, a state senate committee heard emotional testimony on Wednesday from the parents of some of the little girls who died in the catastrophic flash flooding at Camp Mystic on July 4th. At least 27 children and counselors were killed when flood waters ravaged the camp, which sits in a flood prone area. Several of the girl's parents are calling for accountability and urging state lawmakers to pass a law that would require stronger safety standards at camps across the state.

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CECE WILLIAMS STEWARD, MOTHER OF ONLY CAMPER STILL MISSING AFTER JULY 4 FLOODS: Obvious common sense safety measures were absent. Protocols that should have been in place were ignored. As a result, my daughter was stolen from us. Cile's life ended not because of an unavoidable act of nature, but because of preventable failures.

CLARK BAKER, FATHER OF MARY GRACE BAKER: My daughter should still be here. Her death was 100 percent preventable. Complacency, among other things, led to the death of 27 amazing, innocent, beautiful girls. We can't let complacency claim the life of another child. We simply ask for mandatory common sense state regulated safety protocols for camps.

CARRIE HANNA, MOTHER OF HADLEY HANNA: I promised her she would be safe and OK. I told her camp was the safest place she could be and should make new friends and learn new things. I lied to her. She not only wasn't safe, she died.

[02:10:15]

MICHAEL MCCOWN, FATHER OF CARRIE HANNA: We did not send Lenny to a war zone, we sent her to camp, we trusted she would be safe. No parent should ever again face what we are living through now.

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CHURCH: In a statement to CNN, Camp Mystic said it supports legislative efforts that will make camps along the Guadalupe River safer.

Well, there are mixed signals from the U.S. and Russia over a potential face to face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What the Kremlin is saying now, that's just ahead.

And then later, NASA has released new photos of Mars that show what the red planet looks like under a clear Blue Sky. Stay with us for that and more.

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[02:15:24]

CHURCH: The Kremlin is now openly contradicting the White House and downplaying the prospect of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. Trump administration officials have said plans for a face to face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are underway, but Russia's Foreign Minister is again indicating that Putin has not agreed to such a meeting. Still, U.S. officials are staying optimistic.

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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the president's preference, and my preference would be, let's have them meet regardless. You don't have to figure out every issue, and sometimes leaders sitting down face to face can break the log jam that their teams don't necessarily have the ability to do.

We shouldn't say that they can't sit down until you figured out every little detail. Sometimes them sitting down is what facilitates figuring out those details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, NATO military leaders met on Wednesday to discuss potential security guarantees for Ukraine once the war is over, but Russia says discussing Ukraine's security without Moscow's participation is, "A path to Nowhere." CNN's Ben Wedeman is following developments from eastern Ukraine.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The prospect of an imminent Zelenskyy-Putin meeting seems to be fading with a senior Russian official throwing cold water on White House claims Putin had agreed to one. Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov didn't explicitly reject the idea, only saying Russia is ready to raise the level of delegations.

Kremlin speak for perhaps, there will be a slightly more senior level of official participation in future negotiations, but certainly, not involving the Russian President. President Zelenskyy has made it clear, he's ready for direct talks, but Putin has long called into question the legitimacy not only of Zelenskyy as President, but also Ukraine as a sovereign state.

Putin is more than happy to stroll down the red carpet with the likes of President Donald Trump, but not the head of a state he has invaded. While Monday, European leaders left Washington seemingly satisfied with the consensus they had reached with American officials on the broad outlines of post-peace agreement security guarantees, Lavrov made it clear, there's no point in discussing those guarantees without direct Russian involvement.

And he accused European leaders of aggressively trying to change the position of President Trump after his friendly summit with Putin in Alaska.

All the while, the war goes on, Wednesday, the commander of the Ukrainian army toured the eastern front, reporting back that his troops remain on the defensive as Russia pushes ahead with its Summer offensive.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from eastern Ukraine.

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CHURCH: Cedric Leighton is a CNN military analyst and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. Thank you so much for joining us.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's so great to be with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, NATO military officials met virtually on Wednesday to discuss options to guarantee Ukraine's security as part of a peace deal between the war torn nation and Russia, what all came out of those meetings?

LEIGHTON: Yes, one of the most important aspects of this, Rosemary, is the fact that it seems right now is if the U.S. is going to provide minimal support to any type of peacekeeping efforts that could be happening in Ukraine at some point here. So, this definitely seems to be a bit of a backtracking from the statements that President Trump made when the European leaders and President Zelenskyy were at the White House the other day.

And it is also one of those moments where I think the what we're seeing is basically in fighting within the U.S. administration as to how much support the Ukrainians and by extension, the Europeans would actually be getting from the United States, because President Trump first mentioned putting U.S. boots on the ground when he was meeting with President Zelenskyy, that simply walked back the very next day.

And now on the second day after this, we're looking at a situation where the U.S. will perhaps provide aerial support, logistical support, weapon support, to some degree, but the bulk of the European force is going to be required to go in there and actually provide security for a peacekeeping effort of one type or another, or cease fire, monitoring whatever it actually turns out to be.

[02:20:03]

CHURCH: Right. So, what is your understanding of how these security guarantees for Ukraine would work? Given what we do know so far from this NATO meeting and what came out of Monday's Oval Office talks between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy as well as, of course, the European leaders?

LEIGHTON: Yes. So, this is, you know, I think one of the areas here that we're looking at, Rosemary, is that the U.S. would provide logistical support, perhaps aerial surveillance support, certainly intelligence support to the Europeans and to the Ukrainians.

Now, this is different from what they should be doing in order to provide this support, but as of now, we believe the support is going to be one of more or less a logistical nature, a in essence, a background type of support, as opposed to actually being at the foreground of various events.

So, this is very different from what the U.S. used to do, for example, in the post-World War II era or during the Cold War.

So, it's in essence, a representation of the retrenchment of the U.S. from some parts of -- you know, of international engagement. CHURCH: And Colonel, what do you see as some of the challenges ahead with a European security force on the ground in Ukraine after the war has ended? And how premature is all this, given we're a very long way from the war coming to an end, and it doesn't even look like that these bilateral talks between Putin and Zelenskyy will happen anytime soon, if ever, in fact?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's absolutely right. Rosemary, I think one of the key things here is that we have to be very careful not to get the cart ahead of the horse in this particular case.

So, what we're looking at, I think, if something like this were to happen where there is a cease fire, or some kind of a cessation of hostilities, there would have to be a force that would go in there to, in essence, keep the Russian side and the Ukrainian side separated. Eventually, that could result in something akin to the demilitarized zone in Korea, where you have a strip of land that is actually the separation between the two warring sides.

And it's possible that there actually may never be a full peace treaty in the case of the Ukraine-Russia war. So, if that's the case, we could see something like again on the Korean Peninsula, where you have a demilitarized zone and an armistice, but no full cessation of hostilities, as is normally understood under international law.

So, this could be basically something that could involve a long-term commitment. The U.S. is absolutely reluctant to provide long term support under the current administration, and it also means that the Europeans will have to, in essence, share the burden among themselves, as opposed to going to the U.S. for further help.

So, it will strain European resources, and it will also potentially strain Ukrainian resources, and that could be a very dangerous recipe for Ukrainian security in the future.

CHURCH: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much, as always, for talking with us. Appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Rosemary, thanks so much for having me.

CHURCH: A former North Korean soldier long held in the South wants to return home before he dies, but at the age 95, time is running out, and South Korea won't let him go. We'll explain.

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[02:28:18]

CHURCH: A 95-year-old former North Korean soldier who fought in the Korean War is asking the South Korean government to let him return home to the North before he dies. Ahn Hak-sop was captured during the war and spent decades in prison in the South.

Now, his health is in decline, and he lives very close to the border he still dreams of crossing.

And Mike Valerio met with him near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind us is one of the roads that leads into the DMZ towards North Korea, and for a brief moment, a former prisoner of war made it as close to North Korea as he'd been since the Korean War.

VALERIO (voice-over): On a sweltering morning along South Korea's heavily fortified border, a frail 95-year-old shuffles towards North Korea. His name is Ahn Hak-sop, a North Korean soldier captured during the Korean War. He spent most of his life south of the border. He says, against his will.

AHN HAK-SOP, NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER (through translator): I miss the north where my comrades are. It's unbearable. I want to be buried in the free land, independent nation, a land free from imperialism.

VALERIO (voice-over): Ahn is pleading to be sent to North Korea, where he tells us he belongs.

He and dozens of his supporters marched to South Korea's Unification bridge, one of the last military checkpoints before entering the DMZ.

VALERIO: You can see Ahn behind us trying to get farther. This is the farthest point that most civilians can get, on the path, on the roadway that would bring you towards North Korea. He says he's come this far. He is not going to stop.

VALERIO (voice-over): He pushed past police and walked to meet South Korean officers and soldiers.

[02:30:29]

They said they were not authorized to let him cross. The wish in the twilight of Ahn's life denied, for now. He left as a precaution in an ambulance. As for how he got here, Ahn was just 23 when he was captured during the Korean War.

Convicted of being a spy, he refused to renounce the north, which would've made him eligible for parole. He would spend the next 42 years and six months in prison. He was pardoned in 1995 and had the chance to go back to North Korea in 2000, but he stayed south, he says, as an act of defiance against the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea.

AHN HAK-SOP, FORMER NORTH KOREAN POW (through translator): How could I go back feeling ashamed? If I'm to shout U.S. out, I must do it from here, not the North.

VALERIO (voice-over): For Ahn, health scares this year led him to think he needs to return to North Korea before he dies.

HAK-SOP (through translator): I want to go back to the home of my ideology, the place where my life began, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It would be too much of a resentment to be buried in the colony even after death.

VALERIO (voice-over): A man caught between two Koreas still waiting after seven decades for a chance to go where he says is his true home.

VALERIO: And after all of this, Ahn says he will try again. Mike Valerio, CNN, outside the DMZ, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Texas is another step closer to changing its voter maps to help Republicans pick up as many as five congressional seats in next year's midterm elections. The Texas House easily passed the Redistricting Bill Wednesday with a vote of 88 to 52. This comes just days after Democratic lawmakers ended their two-week standoff to keep the bill from advancing. It now goes to the State Senate where it's also expected to pass.

The Trump Administration is expanding a longstanding requirement for immigrants to display good moral character to become U.S. citizens. They'll now have to affirmatively establish that they're worthy of naturalization. For example, by paying overdue taxes in full rather than using a payment plan as in the past, as well as other obligations including child support payments. Critics say this merely adds a new burden to the overall process.

An 11-year-old girl in the U.S. has a new hope and a new heart. Just ahead, her fairytale ending after a long struggle with multiple heart defects.

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[02:37:20]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Chaos erupted Wednesday at one of Italy's busiest airports. Bystander video shows passengers fleeing the flames inside Terminal I of Milan's Malpensa Airport after an individual reportedly set fire to a counter at the check-in area. No injuries have been reported. We are also seeing images of a man being restrained by police. Airport officials say the situation was quickly brought under control and the terminal was partially evacuated. The airport warned of possible delays and cancellations following the fire.

Well, now to a heartwarming story and a second shot at life for an 11- year-old girl in the U.S. Ava Cooper was born with multiple heart defects and underwent four open heart surgeries by the age of five. But over time, doctors determined that her best long-term option was a heart transplant. After waiting more than 200 days in the hospital, this is how she broke the news to her dad that a donor had been found.

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AVA COOPER, HEART TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: Hi, daddy.

SEAN COOPER, FATHER OF AVA COOPER: What?

A. COOPER: I'm getting a heart.

S. COOPER: What?

A. COOPER: I'm getting a heart.

S. COOPER: Are you serious?

A. COOPER: Yeah.

S. COOPER: Oh my goodness. Like tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like tomorrow.

A. COOPER: Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness, Ava.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ava walked out of the hospital in Cleveland, Ohio back in April, about a month after her successful heart transplant. Hospital staff gave her a big round of applause on her way out, as you hear there. Ava later celebrated her birthday at home. Doctors say her new heart is functioning well, but they'll continue to monitor her. Ava has regained enough energy to play with her sister and her dog, and she's looking forward to starting school again.

Great story there. Well, NASA has released these new photos of Mars that show what the red planet would look like under a clear blue sky. The image you are -- images you're looking at right now, that's actually a mosaic of 96 images that were taken by the Perseverance rover. The photos were then enhanced by NASA to increase their clarity, giving them that blue hue. And as you can see in the natural color version, Mars maintains its reddish tint. Former NASA Astronaut, Mike Massimino spoke to CNN about these new images.

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MIKE MASSIMINO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: It's a pretty cool image there, the way they've done that mosaic to get everything together.

[02:40:00]

And it's -- I thought it was interesting to see that whole landscape, to see the mountains in the background. The way they've showed it in different colors, by different filters. It tells a story. You can see the abrasion that the rover made in one section. You see a rock kind of sitting there in another -- in another section of that mosaic. So it kind of tells a story of if you were on Mars and could look around, that's the kind of landscape you would see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:35]

(WORLD SPORT)