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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump and Zelenskyy to Meet at White House in Hours Ahead; Gallup Poll: Most Ukrainians Want a Negotiated End to War; U.S. Suspends Visitor Visas for Palestinians from Gaza; U.S. Farmers Aim to Compete as Tariffs Target Coffee Imports. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: John, thank you so much for joining us to talk about such an eventful and significant day here in the States. Let's start here. From your perspective, is President Trump going to roll out the red carpet, either literally or figuratively, for President Zelenskyy when they're at the White House today?

What do you think?

JOHN FOREMAN, ASSOCIAT FELLOW, RUSSIA AND EURASIA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning, Danny. I think, obviously, President Trump likes the appearance of high-level diplomacy. So I expect the optics to be positive.

But I think once the press are no longer in the room, I think President Zelenskyy is going to face a very difficult meeting with President Trump this morning. And I think the stakes are extremely high. I can't think of a more consequential set of meetings in Washington since the end of the Cold War.

FREEMAN: So are you hopeful that we perhaps don't see the same sort of fiery interaction with Zelenskyy like we did in that last Oval Office meeting?

FOREMAN: Well, I think it's a risk, isn't it? You know, President Trump last week was saying he was going to bring down severe consequences on Russia if Russia didn't agree to a ceasefire. And now he's pivoted completely to another position, a more Russian position, demanding President Zelenskyy give away land, as discussed with Ben and Kyiv.

And it's going to be very difficult for President Zelenskyy to say one week he thinks he has an agreement with Trump, and he spoke positively about their meeting on Wednesday, and now be faced with being given an ultimatum in the Oval Office by Trump and Witkoff alone, because his initial meeting will not be with the Europeans. There's a great risk, I think, for him to be isolated and get blamed, and then the relationship to start deteriorating again.

FREEMAN: Well, John, let's talk a little bit about the, again, the perspective that President Trump has potentially going into these meetings, because that Truth Social post by the President last night, as Ben alluded to as well, pretty remarkable, essentially saying that all of the onus is on Zelenskyy to end this war. Crimea is a done deal, essentially, and that joining NATO is off the table as well. I mean, when -- I'm sure there are a lot of people both in Europe and certainly in Ukraine who read this as pure perspective of Vladimir Putin, no?

FOREMAN: Yes, well, I think what we've suffered through consistently is a lack of clear strategy by the American administration, which leads this veering backwards and forwards between extreme positions, one week being positive on Ukraine, next week blaming Ukraine for being invaded. I think it also characterizes American policy as ill- disciplined, chaotic, and incompetent, and I think the use of Mr. Witkoff in particular, certainly not a diplomat and certainly not an expert on Russia and Ukraine as the point man in Moscow last week, a couple of weeks ago, exemplify that sort of chaos. You know, and I think ultimately, Trump doesn't care.

I think it's wrong to blame Ukraine for being invaded, and it's wrong to portray Ukraine as being the blocker for peace. You know, all want a peace, but it has to be an honorable peace, and nothing ends war faster than surrender. And I think, unfortunately, Trump has come around to a position to demanding Ukrainian capitulation and risk abandoning maybe up to a million Ukrainians who still live in unoccupied Donbas and who want to remain Ukrainian.

FREEMAN: Well, let's talk about that a little bit, because I thought that Ben's reporting was very, very poignant in this moment to acknowledge this human impact. And you mentioned those people who are still living in, of course, so many eastern cities in Ukraine. I mean, when President Trump talks about land swapping, what would that actually mean for those Ukrainians in the area potentially at risk?

FOREMAN: Well, I mean, the horrors of Russian occupation being visited upon them, you know, the ethnic cleansing, the rapes, the disappearances, the torture, the abduction of children, the banning of Ukrainian language, the smashing up of Ukrainian schools, the demolishing of Ukrainian museums. Russia doesn't want just a sort of friendly, nice, fluffy type of occupation. It wants to bring those people who live in that area under the Russian jackboot.

And, you know, this is a moral question. It's not just an issue of where we draw the lines on which village is where. It's a clear moral bankrupt position to start demanding people hand over territory to another country at the point of a gun.

You know, the whole principle of the post-1945 settlement has been to not allow the principle, the crude principle of might equals right. And it's not just, therefore, a question about Ukraine. It's also a question about all other borders around the world, which the American president would be acquiescing to changing borders at the stroke of a pen for a quieter life.

FREEMAN: John Foreman, thank you for sharing your perspective on, as you and I both noted, an incredibly consequential news day ahead of a very consequential meeting in our nation's capital. Appreciate you.

FOREMAN: Thank you, Danny.

[04:35:00]

FREEMAN: On the same subject, a recent poll found that most Ukrainians actually do favor some sort of negotiated end to the war.

Gallup conducted this poll in early July before President Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Still, though, it's a sharp change from some of the early days of this Russia-Ukraine war.

CNN's Harry Enten is breaking it down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hi there. Ahead of the big talks in Washington with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy paying a visit to the states, Ukrainians' views on the war effort have changed tremendously since the start of the war. The war effort support for it has absolutely collapsed in Ukraine.

What are we talking about here? OK, Ukrainians on the war versus Russia. You go back to 2022, the start of the war.

Look at this. 73 percent of Ukrainians said fight until Ukraine wins. Just 22 percent who wanted a negotiation to end the war as soon as possible.

Look at where we are now. Oh, my. That 22 percent who want to negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible has jumped all the way up to 69 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage who say we should that Ukrainians should, in fact, fight until Ukraine wins the war. Look at that. It's plummeted to 24 percent.

The two positions have become the inverse of each other. At the beginning of the war, Ukrainians wanted to fight until Ukraine wins. And now look at it.

The vast, vast majority, more than two thirds, want to negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible. Now, what is a big reason why they want an end to the war, negotiate one as soon as possible? It's because Ukrainians don't see an end to the war in sight.

What are we talking about? Ukrainians on the war ending within a year. Get this. Just 25 percent say that it is likely. The vast majority, 68 percent, say it is unlikely. That 68 percent, of course, very, very close to the percentage right now who say that they want to negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible.

Now, of course, there were many goals that Ukrainians and Ukraine had at the start of the war that they wanted to carry out if they were to win the war. One of those was the idea that Ukraine could, in fact, join NATO.

But do Ukrainians see that as a likely possibility? Not within the next 10 years. Get this. Ukrainians, NATO mission within 10 years.

At the start of the war, look at this. It was 64 percent. Now, in 2025, look at that, plummeted to just half that level at 32 percent.

So, again, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens with these talks tomorrow in Washington, D.C. But what is clear from the polling data is that Ukrainians want an end to the war, a negotiated end as soon as possible. And they believe that they are not going to get an end to the war as soon as possible. And more than that, they believe that, in fact, many of the goals that they had at the beginning of the war at this particular point are not going to be fulfilled within the foreseeable future, including NATO mission within the next 10 years.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Turning to the Middle East now, the families of Israeli hostages led a nationwide strike on Sunday. They're demanding Israel's government reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. Massive protests drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis, according to organizers.

And it's one of the largest demonstrations since the war in Gaza began nearly two years ago. Israel's prime minister blasted the protests and said they will delay the release of hostages.

Now, the strike was organized after Israel's security cabinet approved a plan earlier this month to take over Gaza City and eventually occupy the entire strip. Israel now says it's ready to begin the next phase of its offensive. The country's military chief visited the enclave on Sunday and vowed to ramp up attacks on Hamas until it is defeated.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is suspending visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza. In a post on X, the State Department said it would review the process that allows them to temporarily enter the U.S. for medical and humanitarian reasons. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, saying he's seen evidence linking visa recipients to terrorist groups in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There is evidence been presented to us by numerous congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas. And so we are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: The group Heal Palestine, an American nonprofit that provides critical aid to Palestinian families and children from Gaza, criticized the visa move, saying, This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program. We'll stay tuned to more on that. Coming up in a moment. The United States has an insatiable thirst for

coffee, but President Trump's tariffs are targeting its largest supplier, Brazil, and U.S. producers are struggling to meet demand. We'll show you why in a minute.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: Air Canada flight attendants are defying their government's back-to-work order. More than 10,000 will continue their strike for higher wages and pay for time spent while planes are on the ground. Canada's jobs minister, who issued an order for arbitration, says the two sides are at an impasse and need help to resolve it.

More than 99 percent of the airline's flight attendants voted for the strike, and they say the government is giving Air Canada exactly what it wants.

And Hurricane Erin is back to a Category 4 storm. Erin currently has sustained winds of about 130 miles per hour, or 215 kilometers per hour.

[04:45:00]

It is not expected to make landfall, but tropical storm warnings are in effect for Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. Meanwhile, dangerous rip currents are expected to pose a threat across the entire U.S. eastern seaboard beginning today on Monday.

Now, Erin's outer bands hit Puerto Rico with heavy rain causing flooding. The island is expected to get up to two more inches of rain, and Puerto Rico's governor says 100,000 people lost power on Sunday.

Erin, meanwhile, has quickly gone through remarkable changes. It rapidly intensified between Friday and Saturday, making history as one of the fastest-strengthening Atlantic storms on record. On Saturday, the storm became a fearsome Category 5. That's when NOAA's Hurricane Hunters flew through its eye and recorded this amazing and, frankly, terrifying video.

The National Hurricane Center says Erin's intensity will fluctuate in the coming days. Wow, look at that right there.

The United States is the world's largest importer of coffee. I'm probably about half of that. But that could change thanks to President Donald Trump's trade war. Last month, he slapped a 50 percent tariff on goods from Brazil, the United States' main coffee supplier.

So prices are already rising across the country. Some U.S. farmers are hoping to fill in the gaps, though, but they face significant challenges, as CNN's Julia Vargas Jones reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Against all odds 100 percent American-grown coffee.

VARGAS JONES: It's like a cherry.

DAVE ARMSTRONG, COFFEE FARMER: I believe we're the largest farm in California, coffee farm, and you know if the experiment works I'd love to expand.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): David Armstrong is part of a group of farmers trying to make California a synonym for specialty coffee.

ARMSTRONG: We're in Ventura County so we're going to go up to the foothills. We have multiple canyons where we grow coffee.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): This is part of the only one percent of coffee consumed in the U.S. grown domestically. 35 percent of what coffee is imported comes from Brazil, now slapped with tariffs of up to 50 percent on some goods including coffee.

You would think it would be a great opportunity for all American beans but other nations can deliver a product just as good for a fraction of the cost.

ARMSTRONG: Brazil has been hit very hard with tariffs but they're looking at somewhere around $4 a pound for coffee and we're in the hundreds of dollars a pound.

VARGAS JONES: You want Ventura County to be the next Napa Valley but for coffee.

ARMSTRONG: Correct, that's a great way to put it.

VARGAS JONES: And could California ever produce a product that could be competitive with Brazil, with Colombia, Ethiopia?

ARMSTRONG: I think that our costs of production, our labor, our water, everything else, mean that we can never get to that point where we could be a worldwide competitor.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): For 23 years Jay Ruskey has been challenging the norm of where coffee could be grown by championing California. All of this was his vision.

JAY RUSKEY, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, FRINJ COFFEE: In terms of growing locations, wherever avocados can grow, we have a good chance of growing coffee and so there's over 45,000 acres of avocados last I heard in California. But even if we planted all that, that would just be a drop in the bucket in the whole coffee industry globally.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Ventura, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the best Pokemon players in the world gathered in one spot this weekend. We'll explain the allure of Catch Them All at the Pokemon World Championships. Stay with us. [04:50:09]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: The U.S. Postal Service says it will issue a commemorative stamp honoring former President Jimmy Carter. The Postal Service plans to release the Forever Stamp in Atlanta on October 1st, which would have been his 101st birthday. The executive director of the Friends of Jimmy Carter says this stamp will give the world an opportunity to share his legacy with others on daily basis. Love that.

Other news now, Star Trek is celebrating its 60th anniversary with new action figures. The show first aired, of course, in 1966, and this new set includes rare characters such as Peter Preston from Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, and Valkris, a Klingon character who appeared in Star Trek III, The Search for Spock.

Now, the first set is scheduled to be on sale by the end of this year. Future sets will include favorites like Kirk, Spock, and Captain Janeway. I feel like that's going to be a hot seller.

And I like this story right here. The best Pokemon players, or trainers, gathered in Anaheim, California over the weekend for the 2025 Pokemon World Championships. They competed in multiple games featuring, of course, the popular characters -- I see Pikachu right there -- with exclusive merchandise and special appearances from everyone's favorite Pokemon. CNN's Rick Damigella was there to catch them all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.

RICK DAMIGELLA, CNN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS PRODUCER/REPORTER (voice-over): A giant, inflatable Pikachu welcomed competitors and spectators to the 2025 Pokemon World Championships in Anaheim, California.

NICK SALAZAR, ASSOCIATE PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, THE POKEMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL: It's the culmination of the 2025 season. We're playing for the, you know, the title of Pokemon World Championship across Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet video games, the Pokemon trading card game, Pokemon Go, and Pokemon Unite.

We've got over 2,500 competitors, and that's not to mention the expected 20,000 spectators that we'll have on hand.

[04:55:00]

DAMIGELLA (voice-over): And while players must earn their way into the championships, competitive play leading up to it is open to anyone.

SALAZAR: All of our events are open to everyone with the exception of, you know, you have to qualify for the world championships, of course. But everything is open to everyone. We want it to be as inviting as humanly possible for everybody and see that there's an entry point for everyone in our brand. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please find your seats for round number three.

DAMIGELLA (voice-over): In addition to the competition, other events taking place include panels, autograph sessions, and plenty of photo opportunities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perfect.

DAMIGELLA (voice-over): And while pictures with Eevee, Pikachu, and other characters were a big draw, the center of attention is definitely the competition.

In Anaheim, California, I'm Rick Damigella.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Fierce competitors right there. Man, love that. All right.

Thanks so much for joining us this hour of Early Start. I'm Danny Freeman in Atlanta. I'll be right back with more news after a quick break.

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