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Friday: Trump, Putin Meet In Alaska For Ukraine War Talks; Zelenskyy Pushes For Global Pressure On Russia: "Concessions Do Not Persuade A Killer"; Texas Democrats Defiant Against GOP Push To Redraw Map; Sanders: The Democratic Party Has Turned Its Back On The Base; Gov. Pritzker Defends Personal Wealth: Values Matter, Not Income. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:33:22]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Moments ago, President Trump gave some new details about his summit this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He talked about the chances of reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to meet with President Putin and we're going to see what he has in mind. And if it's a fair deal, I'll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to the NATO leaders and also to President Zelenskyy. I think, out of respect, I'll call him first and then I'll call them after. And I may say, lots of luck, keep fighting, or I may say we can make a deal.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: In a post on X this morning, Zelenskyy wrote this, "Russia is dragging out the war, and therefore it deserves stronger global pressure. Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits. And this is not just a moral position, it is a rational one. Concessions do not persuade a killer."

My panel is back. What did you make of what the President said today?

ELI STOKOLS, WHITE HOUSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Well, he did give us some more specificity about how he's viewing the summit on Friday, so that's interesting. I think you step back, giving Vladimir Putin a summit is a benefit for him, especially -- and it's striking given that Trump has been frustrated with him for months about continuing to bomb Ukrainian cities as they're trying to push towards a peace deal.

He's spurned all of Trump's overtures so far. Putin suggests a meeting and Trump says, sure, let's do it. That is shocking to a lot of people in Europe -- European leaders, NATO allies, and obviously to the President of Ukraine who have felt like they have made some very hard- won gains in pushing the President a little bit more in line with the consensus NATO position in supporting Ukraine.

[12:35:07]

What did he say about Friday? He did not say he's going to sit there and dictate and determine that there's a deal. He said he's going to find out what Vladimir Putin wants to do and then take that to Zelenskyy and to Ukraine, and he suggested that there could be another summit down the road.

Ukraine wants a ceasefire before they begin any real peace negotiations. It does not seem likely that Russia is going to be there and, you know, for all of Trump's like, well, I'm just going to be the intermediary. He did say, when I -- I will tell Zelenskyy, you know, keep fighting lots of luck or let's make a deal.

He still is saying, even though he's not saying I'm going to decide this, he's still telling you he may put pressure on Zelenskyy after meeting with Putin, and that's all that Vladimir Putin could hope for is this opportunity to sit with President Trump and to try to persuade him again that Ukraine is the problem, that what he's suggesting, his maximalist positions about taking all of the territory, not giving anything back, that that is reasonable and that Ukraine is the problem.

So we'll see where it goes. It's going to be an interesting meeting on Friday for sure.

BASH: David?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, I think hearing him say, I'll be able to tell in two minutes whether or not they -- they're just going to keep on fighting, and basically, once again, Donald Trump expressing this notion that he will be able to wash his hands of this in some way. I don't know how a U.S. president is going to fully wash their hands of this.

He tried that at the outset, to some degree, as a tactic, I think, to force these folks to a resolution. His frustration has been so clear in all of our reporting throughout this process. But hearing him acknowledge that there may not be an actual outcome or resolution to this summit, a, maybe a little bit of expectation setting, but b, a little bit of reality too, perhaps.

BASH: And it was pretty clear to me, and maybe this will change, because we still have several days until Friday, that Zelenskyy is not coming. Even though they, over the weekend --

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Left that open.

BASH: -- sources were saying that it's possible.

TREENE: Right. I mean, that was one of the most notable things from Friday when they announced that this summit was going to be this upcoming Friday in Alaska. There was no mention of Zelenskyy at all. We talked to people at the White House this weekend who said the door is still open to that. But it was very clear from how the president was framing all of this today that he's looking at Zelenskyy's not going to be a big part of this. He already said it wasn't a concession for meeting with Putin. Now we know, good chance he doesn't even show up.

What he did say, though, was that he's hoping that maybe after this, he'll get the two of them in a room. He said, I'll force them into a room if I have to. But of course, we have to see how this goes.

But I can't -- I think we have to also, like, we cannot overstate how remarkable it is that he's going to be welcoming Vladimir Putin on American soil at this moment in time, especially -- and you brought this up, but especially after the context of everything we've been covering. I mean, remember, the president thought he would come into office and would be able to leverage his relationship with Putin and get a deal fairly quickly.

And clearly, the last couple weeks especially, he's been so frustrated by Putin's duplicity that it seemed like perhaps he was going to give Ukraine what they wanted. He's already started giving more aid and weapons. And now it almost seems like he's back to where he was before with believing that if he can get him face to face now, of course, his long held belief that getting anyone to sit down face to face will be the best kind of negotiation could actually change things.

It was interesting, though, that he wasn't vowing to make a deal, saying that I'm not going to make a deal, it's not up to me, because that was a heavy expectation setting.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It's a gift to Putin even having the meeting. I think the most persistent challenge for this president with this entire episode is that he has shown his cards a long time ago. He's been so deferential to Putin for so long that it's hard now to be in a negotiating position. And Putin knows sort of how to play Trump, right, that he responds well to flattery, that he responds well to certain things. And so he goes into trying to do something here really at a deficit.

BASH: Yes.

STOKOLS: I just think that, you know, Trump is being a realist when he talks about the land is going to have to change hands. But getting to that point where Ukraine is ready to talk about that, I mean, that's the thing that I think he wants to sort of skip over. And Ukraine has a vote in this.

You know, Ukraine is going to get a vote here. And we'll see what kind of pressure the Europeans are going to have a call with the President before this meeting. They're going to try to keep him in the fold, remind him of certain things. And we'll see where things are after Friday. But there's a lot of nerves right now in Europe and in Ukraine about what could happen, because we've seen this movie Trump and Putin before.

BASH: Yes, we have.

All right, everybody, stand by.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatens to fight for redistricting and that it could go on and on as Republicans get ready to reconvene in the statehouse in Austin. What exactly does that mean for the Democrats' path of resistance? Do they have much of one anymore? Well, we're going to go live to Austin to find out. Stay with us.

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[12:44:32]

BASH: A Texas roll call as state Republicans again seek a quorum. Democrats who left Texas to try to block redistricting efforts have now been absent for more than a week. They're facing threats of steep fines, expulsion, and even arrest.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the State Capitol in Austin. Is there any sense, Ed, from the sources that you talked to, that Democrats can continue down this path for a lot longer? I mean, what's kind of the timing here that you're hearing behind the scenes?

[12:45:09]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, remember the calendar is set up here is that this special legislative session ends next Tuesday, so eight days away from the end of it. What we heard toward the end of last week, Dana, were several Democrats saying that they'd be willing to stay out for the duration of this special legislative session.

But also remember, none of the threats that Governor Abbott, Ken Paxton, the Speaker of the Texas House issued last week, have really worked to get these Democrats back here to Austin as they continue trying to fight this redistricting bill. So I think the sense is -- and that the Democrats are very willing, at least in large part, they only need a few to break way the -- for everything to fall apart here, however, that they'd be willing to stay gone at least the length of this special legislative session.

The Democrats know that ultimately Republicans here have the votes at some point to pass the redistricting bill. But Governor Greg Abbott says he thinks this is going to last a lot longer.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS GOVERNOR: This could literally last years because in Texas, I'm authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days. And as soon as this one is over, I'm going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

LAVANDERA: Let me also add here some context. Based on our reporting over the last week and talking with many, many Democrats about how this could ultimately end, one of the things we've heard over and over again is that if other states were to join forces with Democrats and trying to offset the gains that -- in Republican seats that the Texas redistricting plan would be, that that would be something that could be measured as a win in their eyes.

And you have Governor Gavin Newsom in California proposing a referendum there that would essentially create five new seats for Democrats. So that could change the equation here as this stalemate continues. Dana?

BASH: Yes, that was a new or more detailed proposal that we saw from Governor Newsom this morning.

Ed, thank you so much. Appreciate your reporting always.

LAVANDERA: Yes (ph).

BASH: And Texas Governor Greg Abbott will be joining my colleague Jake Tapper on The Lead today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to tune in only on CNN.

Senator Bernie Sanders says the Democratic Party has turned its back on the base. So what's the path forward? Well, the Vermont senator was in deep red West Virginia. I talked to him there. We'll discuss what he said and more after a break.

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[12:52:01]

BASH: It's the story we have been talking about and will continue to talk about here on Inside Politics, and that is Democrats attempting to navigate their way back to power. One leading voice, Senator Bernie Sanders, is spending his congressional recess once again visiting red states. It's part of what he calls the fighting oligarchy tour.

I traveled to West Virginia and sat down with the Senator and talked about his message for Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: I think in many ways, Democratic Party has turned its back on what was its base. But I think our job and what -- the reason I'm here, and the reason we go to red states all over the country, is to make it clear that there are some of us who are prepared to stand up for the working class.

I like Kamala. She's a friendly one. But she was -- her core consultants, you know, were heavily influenced by very wealthy people. How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crisis facing working families?

You have more income and wealth inequality today than we've ever had. You have 60 percent of our people living paycheck to paycheck. You got a healthcare system which is broken and dysfunctional. And despite spending so much, we're the only major country not to guarantee healthcare to all people. How do you not talk about those issues?

BASH: She talked about affordability.

SANDERS: Well, but in a vague -- I don't want to rehash that campaign.

BASH: Yes.

SANDERS: But I think the clue to democratic victories is to understand that you got to stand unequivocally with the working class of this country. You need an agenda that speaks to the needs of working people.

Is it a radical idea that we join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people? Is that a radical idea? You tell me how many people are talking about that.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Back with our terrific group of reporters here. Eva?

MCKEND: Well, I mean, he is right that there have been losses there among working class voters, but this is really style over substance. I was out on the campaign trail with the vice president much of last year, and she was talking about these issues. Now, did it resonate? Apparently not, given the election results.

But I think more broadly, Democrats accept that the rules of engagement under this president have changed and that they have to be fighters. That is what the electorate, their voters are demanding of them, to just get more brazen, more bold. And if they get back in power, more bullish about achieving progressive policy priorities.

BASH: David?

CHALIAN: Yes. First of all, you know, Bernie Sanders, God bless him. The consistency of message over time --

BASH: Yes.

CHALIAN: -- is impressive.

BASH: Yes.

CHALIAN: But I do think he is -- the reason he's still very much in this fight is because he sees what's happening inside the Democratic Party. That there is this robust debate in the path forward that we've seen in previous cycles between more centrist Democrats and more progressive Democrats.

[12:55:00]

Though I will say, if you listen to somebody who I would say is very much from the centrist wing, Rahm Emanuel, who's thinking about a run, you're going to hear a message about affordability, right? I mean that -- so there is a consensus on that affordability message. I think it's on the policy prescriptions piece of this -- BASH: Yes.

CHALIAN: -- that you're going to see the larger divide inside the party.

BASH: Yes, and that's one of the things that I've talked to him about. And I know others have talked to him and those on the progressive left who have certainly the right idea for voters about what's wrong. But it's, do you really think that people in West Virginia or in other red states are into bigger government has a prescription for that?

You know, we don't know the answer to that. He says the answer is yes. Then there is kind of another -- well, there are lots of other voices on the Democratic side, but there's one in particular that caught our attention, JB Pritzker, because he is a billionaire. He was on with Kristen Welker over the weekend, and he was talking about his own wealth versus his policy prescriptions for people in America.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: Look, how much money you have doesn't determine what your values are. And I'm a Democrat because I believe that everyone deserves health care. I'm a Democrat because I believe we've got to fund education and have a free public education available to every kid in this country.

I'm a Democrat because I believe that we've got to stand up for our democracy and against the MAGA Republicans who are literally trying to take away people's rights all across this country. So it does not matter what your income level is. What matters is what your values are.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

STOKOLS: Well, he's got the messaging down already. But I think, you know, he's not wrong in the sense that voters accepted Donald Trump, a billionaire who lives on Fifth Avenue, as a working class populist. And I think what Bernie Sanders is saying, what Donald Trump is saying, and maybe what Governor Pritzker is also trying to say is that they appreciate the potency of economic populism.

They're all going to brand that in their own way. But that is going to be a defining piece of this 2028 primary. It's going to be wild. Everybody's going to jump in, it feels like. But -- and he's going to have to answer those questions as, you know, a billionaire, you know, hotel heir.

But I think they're all going to have to talk about that. And Democrats are going to have to figure out how to message that they care more about helping people than which constituents group they might offend. And that is, there's a lot of lessons. There's a lot of sort of, you know, autopsies that are taking place now.

But you are going to hear a lot of, you know, people presenting those messages tailored towards working class voters. Because, to your point, Democrats lost a lot of those voters from constituencies they thought they had a better grip on. They lost a lot of support from those constituencies in the last election.

BASH: Yes, and you just nailed something else that Senator Sanders and others are talking about, which is the fact that Republicans successfully divided traditional Democrats with culture war issues. You heard the President today talk about the trans issues, and that has been politically successful.

Thank you all. Appreciate you being here.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after a break.

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