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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Ukraine Summit At The White House; Trump's False Claims On Mail-In Voting; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:35]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Danny Freeman. Rahel Solomon is off. It is Tuesday, August 19th, 4:00 AM here in Atlanta.

Straight ahead on Early Start. After a high stakes White House summit, President Trump says the leaders of Russia and Ukraine could soon have a meeting of their own. Trump also launches a new assault on mail-in ballots and voting machines, saying he wants to bring honesty to 2026 midterms. Plus, Hamas says it has agreed to a new ceasefire proposal as Israel vows a military assault on Gaza City.

Our top story this morning, US President Donald Trump says he's already working to arrange another meeting amid a Bush to end the war in Ukraine, but this time it would between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

That word came as Trump hosted the Ukrainian president and key European allies for talks at the White House just three days after the US President sat down with Vladimir Putin. Now, Trump stepped away from Monday's talks, though, to phone the Russian president. And it was during that call, the German chancellor says, that Putin agreed to hold a meeting with Zelenskyy within the next two weeks. A Kremlin aide said the call was candid and constructive, but stopped short of confirming Putin had agreed to a bilateral meeting.

Zelenskyy, though, says he's ready to talk with Putin under any format and said he had a good conversation with President Trump, a far, far different outcome than the last Oval Office meeting back in February. On Monday, the leaders appeared to share a mostly united front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: I believe a peace agreement at the end of all of this is something that's very attainable and it can be done in the near future.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I think if we play this well, we could end this.

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones. Now the path is open. You opened it last Friday. ZELENSKYY: I think that we had very good conversation with President Trump.

TRUMP: Very good.

ZELENSKYY: And it really was the best one, or sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future. But it was really good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Zelenskyy says security guarantees were discussed on Monday, and that included plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion in US weapons through European funding. The British prime minister says negotiations on the security guarantees will continue today.

Now, leaders did not, though, discuss redrawing Ukrainian boundaries, according to the NATO chief who said any talks about territory would need to involve Zelenskyy and Putin, a sentiment shared by the Ukrainian leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (Through translation): The question of territories is a question that we will save for me and Putin to decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following all of this from London, joins us now live. Good morning, Claire.

You know, we talked yesterday, right, about the optics ahead of this meeting. It certainly seemed like the image sent around the world was a united NATO and Ukraine, no?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's absolutely right, Danny. I think in terms of optics and certainly the mood, this went as well as it could have done for Ukraine. Number one, of course, they exercised the demons of the end of February when that Oval Office showdown happened.

It was a very cordial meeting, lots of smiles, lots of gratitude from Zelenskyy. And, of course even wore a suit, which is something he was criticized for not doing last time. And then, of course, he got to take his place among European and NATO's leaders, which is, of course one of the key principles that Ukraine is fighting for in this war.

And that unity was on display and what was said around the table with those European leaders as well. So I think optics wise, this was a success for Ukraine.

In terms of substance, I think the results are less clear at this point. On the issue of security guarantees, which was the main talking point certainly for European leaders going into this, the US suggesting it would now be willing to be involved. It's not at all clear really at this point. They need to do more talks. As you said, the British prime minister is trailing more talks on the concrete issues.

And President Trump, all he said on Truth Social coming out of this was that the guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination from the United States. It's sort of even maybe a downgrade from what we heard from Steve Witkoff on Sunday talking about Article 5 style language, a reference of to the NATO founding principle, all for one and one for all. So we don't know exactly what that's going to look like at this point, but at least they're talking about it.

[04:05:10]

On the next steps, the issue of a bilateral trilateral meeting getting Putin and Zelenskyy to the same table. Of course, Ukraine has agreed to this, but we did hear later from a Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, on the results of the phone call between Putin and Trump. And this is what he had to say about the next step.

He said, the idea was discussed that it would be appropriate to study the opportunity of raising the level of representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian sides, that is the representatives taking part in the mentioned direct talks. No mention of leaders, no mention of the names of the two leaders. I think this is a textbook case of obfuscation as the Russian side tries to slowball this diplomatic process so it can make as much progress as it can on the battlefield.

And also I think, a reflection of the fact that Putin simply does not see Zelenskyy as a legitimate leader and does not see Ukraine as a sovereign country, which is, of course, at the heart of why this war has happened to begin with. So they're going to keep talking. That is the key moment. President Putin struck a very optimistic tone throughout, including in this moment when he may or may not have been aware that the cameras were actually rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think he wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me. You understand that? As crazy as it sounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, look, I think certainly there are major challenges standing in the way of that at this point. But the European leaders certainly want to capitalize on the momentum. And I think certainly the idea that Putin is ready to make a deal will ring pretty hollow in Ukraine today, a day that Russia has fired some 270 attack drones and 10 missiles at Ukrainian cities, which is the highest number in August so far. Danny?

FREEMAN: Yes. And again, to that point, you can see why so many European leaders still pushing for that ceasefire. Clare Sebastian in London, thank you so much as always for your insight.

And joining me now is Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. Peter, thank you so much for joining us on this morning to break down such a consequential meeting and week. Let's start here.

From your perspective, is there now optimism in Ukraine after this meeting that some sort of peace could be closer?

PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR OF THE EURASIA DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Well, if not -- there's not necessarily an optimist, but a sigh of relief as your reporters so ably put it. You know, worse did not happen, of course. There was some correction that needed to be done. This show of force by the European leaders, I think made an impact.

But when we're talking about a peace agreement, that could be a trap Ukraine would be walking into. When Donald Trump talks about peace agreement and going straight for that, instead of buying, bothering with any sort of ceasefire, that is precisely Vladimir Putin's wish. And that is a code for something else.

That is a code for Ukraine's essential capitulation. That means a lasting peace that would address what Russia calls the root causes of this conflict. And that means Ukraine's standing army, which Putin cannot countenance being above, let's say, 100,000 men and women under arms, the official status of the Russian language, Ukraine's derecognition of Russia's sovereignty over its occupied territory, and probably more.

Now Putin is talking about Ukraine needing more territory, essentially no control over its foreign policy choices. So we're talking about a protectorate of Russia at best. And of course, new elections whereby Zelenskyy would be out office. Those are Putin's wishes. That's what he's after. And I'm a little concerned that Donald Trump is a bit too eager sometimes to rebroadcast that.

FREEMAN: Well, let me ask you, though, because I think to Clare's point, the optics surely did mean something. And I just wanted to know your perspective. What do you think it meant to Ukrainians seeing really all the heavy hitters of NATO standing shoulder to shoulder with Zelenskyy?

ZALMAYEV: That was, of course, very important. And that's the, I think, demonstration of the realization on the part of the Europeans of what the stakes are. Finally, it has dawned on them that Ukraine's demise can come. It's realistic. And then what would be the implications for Europe in its continued security.

You're talking about more, millions more of Ukrainian refugees spilling over the borders to Europe. That means that, you know, all these millions of men who would remain in Ukraine, those who would not be deported to the gulag in Siberia or leave Ukraine altogether, but who would stay, they automatically would be considered as, you know, recruitment material for Russia's army in the future, so.

And Russia reenergized, reinvigorated by this victory with Ukraine and its industrial base and its manpower would be right up on the doorstep of Europe, menacing Baltic States, Poland, Moldova, whatever have you. So Europeans understand that they have actually been trying to work out a formula with the American president whereby there will be paying for weaponry for Ukraine. [04:10:04]

And Zelenskyy was quite smart yesterday to announce that Ukraine would be buying up to $100 billion of American made weapons for Ukraine. And that's obviously music to Donald Trump's ears.

FREEMAN: Yes. You know, and it's interesting that you talk about just the sigh of relief that Ukrainians may have been having because it definitely seemed like a lot of those European leaders also had some relief that at least there was some catalyst in trying to approach some form of peace. I want to get your perspective though, on this because of course, one of the big things that was talked about was security guarantees.

President Trump maintains he believes that Vladimir Putin wants peace. I know you and many others are skeptical of that, but are these types of security guarantees being discussed? Is that enough to hold Putin to that?

ZALMAYEV: Well, I mean, obviously what Donald Trump said coming out of the Alaska summit was completely unacceptable. He basically said Ukraine would be giving a piece of paper on which Russia would solemnly pledge to respect Ukraine's sovereignty. Well, we saw how it played out in 1994, the Budapest Memorandum that guaranteed Ukraine's security in return for nuclear weapons that it turned over after the fall of the Soviet Union.

You see how well that worked out. So none of the agreements with Russia are worth the paper they're written on. Right now, a formula is being worked out. What would come in place of NATO that Donald Trump said is a no.

I mean, Giorgia Meloni has suggested that it could, you know, we could provide Ukraine with this ad hoc kind of security guarantee that would actually function as a collective security agreement within NATO. But then the question is, is that acceptable to Putin?

I believe it's a non-starter. Putin cannot stomach the idea of foreign troops from so-called hostile nations such as UK and France and in Ukraine. So I'm not sure he's going to be amenable. So we're still, I think, very far from a workable formula that would be satisfactory to all sides.

FREEMAN: Well, and again, you know, as we said after the Putin meeting, when Zelenskyy wasn't there, and after this meeting when Putin wasn't there, it's hard to, you know, come away with something concrete when a key player is missing from the table.

Peter Zalmayev, thank you so much for your time on this morning. Really do appreciate it.

Other headlines now, US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have announced what appears to be a first for the FBI. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed co-deputy director of the agency. He will share the role with the current deputy director, Dan Bongino, who's reportedly had significant differences with Bondi over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Now, the deputy director is usually responsible for managing the bureau's day to day operations and it's not exactly clear how two people will split those duties. Take a listen to what Andrew McCabe, who used to hold that role with the FBI, had to say about the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I'm shocked that the attorney general hasn't asked for his resignation up until this point. But I do think that this somewhat awkward news that we've heard today about having two deputy directors, it's possible that this might be in anticipation of Mr. Bongino leaving his tenure. I don't think there's any secret about the fact that he hasn't been entirely happy with the way things are going.

That's just speculation. But it is hard knowing the job as well as I do, it's almost impossible for me to understand how this could work out well with two deputy directors for a variety of reasons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Other headlines now, Louisiana's governor has deployed more than a hundred members of its state's National Guard to Washington, DC. That's the sixth US state led by a Republican to dispatch troops to the nation's capital amid President Trump's crackdown on crime in the city.

But local officials say the response is overblown. CNN's Brian Todd has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON, DC MAYOR: This is not about DC crime.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser growing more frustrated over the escalation of federal agents and National Guard troops on the streets of the nation's capital.

BOWSER: You know what doesn't make sense. The numbers on the ground in the district don't support 1,000 people from other states coming to Washington, DC.

TODD: Republican governors from West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio and Mississippi have announced that they are sending additional National Guard troops to Washington in response to President Trump's call to increase law enforcement on the streets.

TRUMP: We went from the most unsafe place anywhere to a place that now people, friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up and they're saying, sir, I want to thank you. And you did that in four days.

TODD: But Mayor Bowser does not seem to share that sentiment.

BOWSER: Why the military would be deployed in an American city to police Americans? That's the question.

TODD: Around the Capitol today, DC National Guard troops could be spotted near national monuments and major transportation hubs.

Have they told you anything about your mission, like what you're supposed to be doing around Union Station at least?

[04:15:09]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just how helping out with local law enforcement.

TODD: Are you carrying any firearms?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

TODD: A White House official had previously told CNN that National Guard troops in Washington may now be armed. But a Defense Department official tells us that so far, guardsmen on the street in DC are not armed, and have not been requested to carry firearms. The official says they'll be prepared to arm if they get the order.

Not everybody agrees that National Guardsmen should be sent in from other states. One Republican governor, Phil Scott of Vermont, turned down a second request from President Trump to deploy its National Guard troops to DC to help Trump in his mission.

The Governor's Office saying in part, while public safety is a legitimate concern in cities across the country, in the absence of an immediate disaster, and unless local and regional first responders are unable to handle such an emergency, the governor is opposed to utilizing the National Guard for this purpose. Some popular right wing media figures are saying that even the current escalation of law enforcement in Washington, while controversial, still isn't enough.

CHARLIE KIRK, HOST, "THE CHARLIE KIRK SHOW": We need full military occupation of these cities until the crime desists, period. We need a desisting of crime in our cities. We're not going to put up with it. I want to be able to walk Magnificent Mile in Chicago.

TODD: Data from the restaurant reservation company, OpenTable shows a 25 percent to 30 percent drop in DC reservations since the surge. But one week since Trump's announcement of federalizing the DC Police, he's already claiming victory.

TRUMP: All I want is security for our people. But people that haven't gone out to dinner in Washington, DC in two years are going out to dinner.

TODD: A Defense Department official tells CNN. West Virginia is sending about 350 of its National Guard troops to Washington. That official says some of those troops from West Virginia have already arrived. Now, we didn't see them on the streets of DC on Monday, but that official says that those troops from West Virginia will be integrating with the other forces soon.

That same official says that troops from Mississippi, South Carolina and Ohio will be here in the coming days. And we just heard from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry that he is sending about 135 of his state's National Guard troops to Washington. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: The head of the US House Oversight Committee, James Comer, says the Justice Department will begin providing records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation on Friday. This comes after former US attorney general, Bill Barr, appeared before the committee on Monday. He is one of several former high ranking officials subpoenaed by Comer to testify about what they knew, if anything, about the sex crimes committed by Epstein. But according to Comer, Barr's deposition did not yield much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMER, US HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: He had never communicated with President Trump on a potential Epstein list or anything else. He was -- and he had never seen anything that would implicate President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Comer says, Barr claimed to know nothing about a possible client list Epstein may have had and that Barr testified that Epstein died by suicide and there was no foul play.

Coming up in just a moment, Texas Democrats end their walkout over a controversial plan to redraw election maps. We'll tell you why the minority party is declaring victory. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:40]

FREEMAN: US National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for much of North Carolina's Outer Banks region. The Category 3 storm could bring large waves and coastal flooding to parts of the coast this week and has already triggered rip current warnings along the Eastern Seaboard. Amy Kiley has the latest on the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a problem.

AMY KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some areas along the East Coast are bracing for Hurricane Erin. Today, forecasters predict it'll stay offshore tomorrow. Towering waves and local flooding could impact North Carolina. Evacuations are underway in parts of the Outer Banks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know the drill and probably better to be safe than sorry.

KILEY: Dare County is in the hurricane's crosshairs and it's under a state of emergency. Officials say some beach houses there are at risk.

BOBBY OUTTEN, DARE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MANAGER: We needed to get the visitors and get our public out of there before those events occurred.

KILEY: County officials say this evening's high tide could impede travel along the main highway of the island chain. They say hurricane waves could be worse.

DREW PEARSON, DARE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: The water doesn't roll back. It's going to push up into our communities and up onto our infrastructure, our highways, our roads.

KILEY: Officials say that could cut off people later if they don't evacuate now.

OUTTEN: If you take out pavement breach the road anywhere along Highway 12, then anything to the south of that breach you can't access.

KILEY: A high risk of rip currents will continue up the Atlantic seaboard through Thursday. Parts of Maryland could see 11 foot waves. Officials in New Jersey say water conditions there are dangerous already.

ED SCHNEIDER, WILDWOOD BEACH PATROL: We have a rip current warning. We have rough surf warning. We have storm warning and conditions are bad.

KILEY: I'm Amy Kiley reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thanks, Amy, for that report. Donald Trump is gearing up for next year's midterm elections with some major changes in mind for voters. The US President says he wants to eliminate mail-in ballots along with what he calls highly inaccurate, very expensive and seriously controversial voting machines. Here's what he had to say on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Mail-in ballots are corrupt. Mail-in ballots, you can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots. And we, as a Republican Party, are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots. We're going to start with an executive order that's being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they're corrupt. And you know that we're the only country in the world. I believe I may be wrong, but just about the only country in the world that uses them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:27]

FREEMAN: In fact, dozens of countries allow voting by mail. And election experts say the incidence of fraud tends to be only marginally higher with mail-in ballots than with in person ballots. And fraud rates in federal elections are tiny even with mail-in ballots. And also mail-in ballots likely helped President Trump win the last election.

The President is also taking a unique approach to elections for someone whose party claims to be a champion of states rights. President Trump posted on Truth Social, the states are merely an agent for the federal government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the federal government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them for the good of our country to do.

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree says the Constitution, though in this is crystal clear.

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Article 1 Section 4 says that the states, states, have the prerogative to regulate the time, place and manner of elections. It also says that Congress can alter those rules by law if it chooses to do so. But I think the relevant point here is that what the Constitution says is that to the extent that there can be a federal override of these election related laws, that power is constitutionally vested in the Congress of the United States, not the President. So it's not something that President Trump can do simply by way of an executive order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: To this now, Texas House Democrats have returned to the state after fleeing for 15 days to stall a Republican redistricting effort. With the Democrats gone, the Republicans did not have a quorum to pass their measure that would see them likely pick up five congressional seats in the midterms on the orders of President Trump.

Now, the Texas House Minority Leader, Gene Wu, said the Democrats came back because they achieved their goals, one of which was getting California to pursue a redrawing of its own legislative maps with the purpose of erasing Republican gains in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE WU, TEXAS HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: So we are coming back to fight on our own terms, not on their terms. We are coming back to pursue the legal option now that we have an extra bit of safety with California coming on board and with other states potentially coming on board soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Wu and his colleague, Nicole Collier, are among several Democrats thought to be in the statehouse right now. Now, they rejected Department of Public Safety escorts assigned to them by the Republican leadership to ensure they return to work.

Meanwhile, the next front is California, where Democrats took the first step to redraw their congressional maps. And they were quick to point out that unlike in Texas, voters in California will have a say in the process. CNN's Steve Contorno reports from the California State Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: California state lawmakers returned to their capitol on Monday to advance new congressional maps that could potentially net them five additional seats in next year's midterm elections. This is all in response to Texas' move where Republicans are also pushing ahead their own congressional map to give them a five seat advantage in the Lone Star State.

Democrats in California in a press conference on Monday saying this was a necessary response to an unprecedented power grab from those Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT RIVAS, CALIFORNIA HOUSE DEMOCRAT: As Californians, we have had enough of this nonsense and we're not going to allow these abuses of power to go on unchallenged any longer. These redrawn districts that we're putting before our voters are a temporary response, a temporary response to Trump's power grab. They are designed to even the playing field until this threat to our democracy ends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Unlike in Texas, California Democrats have some additional roadblocks. They will need their own voters to approve of this plan, and that is because there is a independent redistricting commission in California that is mandated by the state constitution. And lawmakers will essentially be asking their voters to temporarily disband that constitutional amendment and let them choose the maps up until 2030.

Now, Republicans are planning a response. We've already heard from some of the opposition, including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. House Speaker Mike Johnson also saying that he intends to put House resources to fight this plan, saying, "I have instructed the NRCC to use every measure and resource possible to fight the California Democrats illegal power grab."

California lawmakers will have to act quickly. The Secretary of State in California gives them until Friday to make sure this is on the ballot in November. We expect them to hear these bills in committee this week and with final passage slated for Thursday. Steve Contorno, CNN, Sacramento, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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