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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Russia's War On Ukraine; War In Gaza; Food Stamp Changes; Skibidi Dictionary. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 19, 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 CORRESPONDENT: Thank you for that, Steve. All right. Coming up, a high stakes meeting at the White House ends with cautious optimism on Ukraine, but sticking points still remain. We'll have all the details coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:08]

FREEMAN: The Ukrainian president is pushing for an unconditional meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia suggested two way talks with Ukraine followed by a trilateral meeting with Donald Trump. But President Zelenskyy says he's ready for any format of talks with President Putin, and the question of territory is between them.

And this comes as seven European leaders met with President Trump in the Oval Office Monday, insisting that a ceasefire must still precede talks with the Kremlin. While those meetings were happening, Russia launched what turned out to be its heaviest aerial attack on Ukraine since July. Ukraine says 270 drones and 10 missiles were fired. At least eight people were killed and 54 wounded within a 24 hour period ending Tuesday morning local time.

CNN's Kristen Holmes has more details on the meeting from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump posting on through social after wrapping up his meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and various European leaders, saying essentially that the next steps were a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy. Then after that they would look into a trilateral meeting, including President Trump.

Now, this was news to almost everyone reading this post because we were told by the White House, by President Trump and by European leaders that the big goal coming out of this meeting was to get a trilateral meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy and Trump in the works. Now apparently this now seems as though that's going to be kick the can down the road. This has long been something that US officials have been concerned about, that Putin would continue to try and lengthen out this process of negotiation so that he could acquire more territory. And certainly here with the inclusion of a bilateral before a trilater, this is going to be an extended period of time.

So we know a couple of things. One, we know that President Trump talked with these European leaders and Zelenskyy about three main sticking points behind closed doors, one of them being land concessions. At one point, we saw photos of President Trump presenting Zelenskyy with a map of Ukraine that showed the various territories that were under Russian control.

The other part of this were security guarantees. Earlier in the day, President Trump had said that he would he didn't rule out being US Troops to help with security guarantees. He did appear to rule that out in his post where he said that he would be coordinating with European leaders, not necessarily providing his own or our own United States resources there.

The other one, ceasefires. President Trump had called for a ceasefire almost the entirety of his time in office. Then after meeting with Vladimir Putin, he said that they could move straight to a peace agreement. But the European leaders, they were to close clear when they went around the table to give their comments to the cameras.

They believe there has to be a ceasefire. We should note that there were bombs being dropped and explosions in Ukraine as these European leaders were showing up to have this meeting at the White House. They believe that there needs to be a ceasefire before there is any other meeting.

So during all these negotiations, we are told that President Trump left the room. He called Vladimir Putin to kind of go through what they were talking about, how the negotiations were going. And that's where they seem to have landed on this bilateral then trilateral meeting.

And there are still a lot of questions here as to what exactly that format would look like, and whether or not this is just an extension or kicking the can down the road. One of the things to note as we move forward here was, that this did these negotiations with these European leaders lasted longer than they were expected to that President Trump, when he came back or when he finished his call with Putin, he met back with these European leaders to continue in a leaders only setting the conversations around what was going to happen next.

So in terms of these three sticking points, it's still unclear completely where they landed on land concessions, security guarantees or fighting for a ceasefire. But one thing was clear. It did appear today, specifically when you had Zelenskyy in this meeting with these European leaders, that President Trump was trying or working to be on the same page with these leaders as they try to all bring an end to this war in Ukraine.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thanks for that, Kristen. All right. For more on this, we have Malcolm Davis, a Senior Analyst for Defense Strategy and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He joins us live from Canberra. Thank you so much for being with us today to talk through just an incredibly consequential day yesterday.

Let's start here if that's all right. I want to talk about security guarantees because that seems to be potentially the closest thing to reality at the moment. From your perspective, are any security guarantees accepted by Putin really secure?

[04:40:04]

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST FOR DEFENSE STRATEGY AND CAPABILITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, I wouldn't trust Putin as far as I could throw him in terms of security guarantee. I mean, we've had the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, which he violated almost immediately. So I think that anything that Putin says in regards to security guarantees, we need to take with a grain of salt.

I think, for the security guarantees to be meaningful, firstly, there must be as close as possible to NATO Article 5, which means an attack one is an attack on all. So, in that sense, another attack on Ukraine by Russia in the future would be effectively an attack on NATO, and NATO would then have to respond to that.

Second point is, that that security guarantee must be backed up two ways. Firstly, it must be backed up by peacekeeping forces on the ground that are Western forces, ideally from NATO states with US coordination or US lead. And secondly, they must be backed up by Western continued support for Kyiv in terms of military assistance, in terms of sales of weapons capabilities, and most importantly, the sharing of critical military intelligence.

If those components are not there in a security guarantee, then it's really not worth the paper it's written on.

FREEMAN: Malcolm, one of the more remarkable things about yesterday's meeting, at least the public part, with the European leaders, was pretty much all of them pleading publicly for a ceasefire and President Trump repeatedly saying over and over. No, thanks, it's not necessary.

Do you see a ceasefire as a crucial next step?

DAVIS: Absolutely. There has to be a ceasefire for any peace process to go ahead. You cannot negotiate peace under fire of enemy missiles and bombs. And I think that it's completely unfair on Ukraine to expect them to do that. I think that so long as the Russians are continuing to attack Ukraine, they'll have little incentive to engage in any meaningful peace process because Putin feels that he can win militarily.

So there has to be a ceasefire. That ceasefire has to be enforced through some sort of Western peacekeeping force with boots on the ground, and there has to be some sort of essentially ability to control the airspace and to make sure that Ukraine is not attacked directly by Russia during peace negotiations. So we are talking a no- fly zone in that potential possibility. And that's the only way you're going to have an effective ceasefire is if it's enforced.

FREEMAN: Malcolm, I actually do think it seemed like the Europeans were genuine when they were thanking President Trump for at least being a catalyst to get things moving to try and end this war. But I'm curious your perspective here. Do you think that these European leaders trust President Trump when, say, in the middle of these meetings, he pauses to update Putin, or are they glad that he is acting as a mediator here?

DAVIS: Look, I think that Trump wants peace for his own reasons. I don't think necessarily he's focused on Ukraine's interest or Europe's interests. But I think that you can't really have a peace agreement without the United States on board. So it's vital to include President Trump.

But I think that here is where the European states do need to step up and realize that they need to act more assertively, not only in terms of Ukraine's defense, but also in terms of their own defense. Because maybe they cannot count on either President Trump or whichever president that follows to always be there for the Europeans under Article 5 of the NATO charter. So I think that now is the time for the Europeans to step up to make sure that they have Ukraine's security at heart.

And in doing so, they're only they're defending their own security as well. Because if Russia is allowed to win somehow in Ukraine, then they will use -- the Russians will use that to regroup, rearm, and then turn their attention to NATO's eastern frontier. Putin's territorial ambitions do not stop at the Ukrainian border.

FREEMAN: Malcolm Davis from across the world in Australia, thank you so much for breaking that all down for us. Really do appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you.

FREEMAN: To the Middle East now, Hamas says it has agreed to a new ceasefire proposal in the war in Gaza. Now, it's similar to the plan that was on the table when negotiations fell apart last month. A senior Hamas official says it calls for the release of 10 living and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Now, a regional source says Hamas also wants written American guarantees for a ceasefire after 60 days. Well, an Israeli official says the government's position, I should say, has not changed. It wants all hostages released, the disarming of Hamas and security control over Gaza.

[04:45:08]

Egypt and Qatar are looking to restart negotiations, meanwhile, in Cairo.

And Gershon Baskin is a former hostage negotiator, now Middle East Director at the International Communities Organization. He spoke with CNN earlier about the chances of this latest ceasefire plan succeeding. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: I think the chances are slim because I think that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government want to essentially continue the war. They have a position which says that they will free all the hostages once Hamas is totally defeated or Hamas surrenders. And that's not going to happen. Hamas will never surrender.

They will continue fighting to the last Gazan. So this is not in the cards. It's not going to happen. And it's bewildering to me why Hamas agreed to this deal when they've been saying for weeks now what they want is an end of war deal. They voiced a willingness to release all the Israeli hostages within 24 to 48 hours, but they demanded an end to the war.

And I don't understand why the Qataris and the Egyptian mediators put such high pressure on Hamas to agree to a deal, which I believe is a bad deal. We know that Israel broke the last ceasefire deal because they wanted to continue the war. And there's nothing to say that it won't do it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Lot to watch on that front, all right. In just a moment, US health officials say they're trying to encourage low income people to eat healthier. But critics say their new food stamp policy won't actually solve the problem. We have that story coming for you right after the break.

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[04:51:18]

FREEMAN: In 2023, "Friends" star Matthew Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home. Overdose of the anesthetic ketamine was ruled the primary cause of death. Now, the woman accused of selling him that fatal dose of the drug has agreed to a guilty plea. Known as the Ketamine Queen, Jasveen Sangha, became the fifth and final defendant to settle with federal prosecutors. She faces up to 45 years in prison.

Now, Perry's struggle with addiction dated back as far as his time on "Friends." He was using ketamine as an off label treatment for depression, but sought more than his doctor would prescribe.

Ozempic is now available for around half price in the US for self paid patients. Novo Nordisk says patients can get a month's supply of Ozempic for $499 now if they pay on their own and not through insurance. It's part of a push by the maker of the popular diabetes and weight loss drug to sell directly to consumers. President Trump has also been pushing companies to lower the price of drugs by cutting out insurers altogether.

The Trump administration is pushing a health initiative to keep people from using food stamps to buy junk food. At least a dozen states are now allowed to prohibit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits, known as SNAP, from being used on certain processed food and beverages. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez reports on what this may mean for low income consumers.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: SNAP is the largest anti-hunger program in America providing assistance to low income individuals. The HHA secretary and other leaders say this new move encourages people to buy healthier items, but experts tell me that's an oversimplification of how Americans access food.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ROLLINS, US SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: Our department has encouraged states to think differently and creatively about how to solve the many health issues facing Americans.

RODRIGUEZ: Earlier this month, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado and West Virginia were granted new waivers to restrict the purchase of so-called junk food with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits starting in 2026. They joined six other states that have already received the waivers.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., US SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: US taxpayers should not be paying to feed kids foods. The poorest kids in our country with foods that are going to give them diabetes.

RODRIGUEZ: Of the states that have been granted waivers so far, most will restrict the use of SNAP funds on soft drinks or sodas, while at least eight restrict candy purchases. Some also prohibit food benefits from being used on energy drinks.

And in Arkansas, the purchase of fruit and vegetable drinks was less than 50 percent natural juice.

KAVELLE CHRISTIE, HEALTH POLICY EXPERT: These restrictions, they don't solve hunger or improve health. They only limit choices for people who already face barriers.

RODRIGUEZ: Kavelle Christie says, if healthier communities is the goal, the answer isn't controlling grocery carts. She says, families do want healthier foods, but they're often inaccessible or too expensive.

CHRISTIE: There's also the barrier of not having places that actually sell those type of healthier food options in a lot of communities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODRIGUEZ: A USDA report from 2021 found 88 percent of SNAP recipients say they face some type of barrier to achieving a healthy diet throughout the month. The most common barrier is affordability. Recipients receive on average about $185 a month according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In Atlanta, I'm Ivan Rodriguez.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: All right. My producers are hazing me with this read right here. No, you're not delulu. Skibidi really is in the dictionary. It's one of 6,000 words that the Cambridge Dictionary added to its online edition in the last year.

[04:55:00]

Skibidi, which was coined, I'm told by a YouTube series, is an intentionally nonsensical word that has no real meaning on its own. Depending on the way it's used, it can have many different meanings, like cool or bad. Delulu, though a little bit easier for us millennials to understand. It's a play on the word delusional and means choosing to believe things that are not real or true.

Another word added is tradwife, an abbreviated form of the term traditional wife. It's used to describe influencers who glorify that role. And finally, a word plucked from the headlines, broligarchy. It's a mashup of bro and oligarchy. It's a reference to the tech leaders who attended President Trump's inauguration in January.

I learn something new every day on this show. All right. Thanks so much for joining us for this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Danny Freeman in Atlanta. We'll be right back with more news after a quick break.

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