Tomorrow: Trump Meets Putin In Push For Ukraine Deal

25:31CNN's Brydon Todd, who witnessed that intense yet peaceful protest, takes a look at the federal presence in the nation's capital. Get off our streets! Get off our streets! Open tension on the street between D.C. residents and local and federal officers as President Trump's law enforcement surge in Washington ramps up. You're looking at me over here. What is your badge? How's that work? What part of the government do you work for? Metropolitan DC police and federal agents, some wearing masks, set up a checkpoint in an area popular for bars and restaurants. Stopping motorists, handcuffing and detaining at least one that we saw as furious local residents screamed at the officers.

26:16Can you guys go f***ing home? What the f*** are you doing out here? I need to be a good check, right? Go home, fascist! Go home! The spur-of-the-moment protest was non-violent, but residents got angry when we relayed that one of the commanders told us this was a routine operation. Hell no! I've lived here for 17 years off of this street, and this has never happened. The president's law enforcement surge clearly getting more aggressive last night and today. Late at night, we saw six FBI vehicles pull a motorist over and question him in the Anacostia section of D.C., one of the area's hardest hit by crime.

26:54We tailed a caravan of metro police and federal vehicles as they snake through the area looking for criminal activity. The president and his team today applauding the daily arrests and getting criminals off D.C. streets. People are so happy to see our military going into D.C. and getting these thugs out. Today, near the Lincoln Memorial and the Kennedy Center, where President Trump's motorcade and a lot of tourists often pass by, bulldozers uprooted a homeless encampment, its occupants forced to move out. And the idea that he's targeting us and persecuting us feels wrong to me. The president said he wants to move the homeless out of the city and give them places to stay far away from the Capitol.

27:37One homeless person we spoke to doesn't hate the idea. It'd be a place to live, for one. I want to be outside. If it takes me having to move to get a place, I'm all for it. D.C. National Guard troops also out in greater numbers today. A National Guard official telling CNN, for now, these troops will be stationed near the monuments at Metro train stops and have not been asked to deploy to high crime areas. The guardsmen could help with crowd control and could detain people if needed, the official says, but won't make arrests or carry firearms. Law enforcement sources now tell CNN that some rank-and-file FBI agents are now worried that the deployment of FBI agents on the streets of D.C.

28:21will pull those agents away from investigations into terrorism and other high-priority cases. But President Trump is downplaying those concerns, saying those agents are not being pulled away from anything. The president again claiming that the streets of D.C. are now safer. Jim?

28:39Brian Todd there alongside that quite remarkable show of force. Thank you. We're turning now to our politics lead. California Governor Gavin Newsom has just announced plans to redraw the state's congressional maps. This in response to what Texas Republicans are currently attempting to do there. CNN Steve Conterno joins us now. Steve, I wonder how the governor plans to do this in California, given that there's an independent commission there, which has been charged withdrawing those districts. So how does he change that? And would it be in time for the midterm elections? Jim, that is certainly the hope, if not the expectation of California Democrats.

29:24and they will meet back in Sacramento, the state legislature, starting next week, where they hope to quickly pass Newsom's plan and give voters a chance to review it in November. But look, there is a long road ahead. This is a popular constitutional amendment that passed in 2010 with more than 60 % of the vote. But Newsom's pitch is essentially, look, this is a temporary adjustment and one that is necessary to counteract what Trump is doing in Texas and potentially elsewhere. And Newsom also saying that California cannot be acting alone. Take a listen. We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across this country, not just in Texas, but in Missouri, where J.D.

30:14Vance went just a week ago, in Indiana, in places like Ohio, in places like Florida. We need to stand up, not just California. Other blue states need to stand up. We need to be firm in our resolve. There's already some pretty high profile opposition to this in California, including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the League of Women Voters, and Charles Munger Jr., the son of the late Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman. He put more than$12 million into getting this passed in 2010, and he said that he intends to fight what Newsom is trying to do here, Jim.

30:56Steve Quintorno, one of many redistricting fights around the country now. Thanks so much. Coming up next, a coach getting the green light to move forward with his claims of discrimination, racial discrimination by the NFL. His attorney will join me next live.

31:18In our sports lead, a federal appeals court says the NFL can be put on trial over civil rights claims that black coaches faced racial discrimination. Today's ruling allows former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores' 2022 lawsuit to go forward. Flores, who is now the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, is suing the NFL, the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos and the New York Giants over allegations of racist hiring and promotion practices of black coaches. Responding to today's ruling, an NFL spokesperson says, quote, we respectfully disagree with the panel's ruling and will be seeking further review.

31:59Joining me now is David Gottlieb. He's an attorney for Ryan Flores. And David, I wonder what Flores' reaction is today to this ruling. Well, the ruling is an unequivocal win for our clients, for Mr. Flores and his co-plaintiffs, but also for employees around the country, because today's decision impacts not just our clients, not just NFL employees, but everybody who could be subjected to an unlawful arbitration agreement. And so what happened here was the NFL has a policy which says it's in the NFL constitution, which says that any employee who brings a dispute of discrimination or any other kind of this nature has to be arbitrated in a private forum behind closed doors before the commissioner.

32:49The commissioner gets to decide the outcome of the case. And since this lawsuit was filed, we have been screaming from the rooftops, at least proverbially in our legal filings, that this is wildly unfair and it prevents Mr. Flores from getting reasonable and fair hearing on his rights. Today, the Second Circuit agreed with us, found that that policy offends basic principles of fairness and cannot proceed, that Mr. Goodell cannot be both the judge and the jury here. So the NFL will now have to do away with their policy. And again, this will impact not just the NFL, but employers across the country.

33:32Given the NFL season, it's about to officially kick off next month, already in the preseason. Does Flores want this to go to trial?

33:41Yes. I mean, Mr. Flores, a very principled person, felt that he had been wronged. He and many, not just him, he and many other black head coaches and head coaching candidates had been wronged, had not been getting an equal opportunity. You know, when his lawsuit was filed, there was only one black head coach in the NFL. The NFL has recognized that black head coaches had not been getting an opportunity when they passed the Rooney Rule in 2002, because there were only two black head coaches in a league where 70 % of the players were black. 20 years after the There's been no increase in the number of black head coaches and the opportunities they were provided.

34:25Today, there's only four black head coaches out of 32 head coaches. So this is a problem that persists. And all Mr. Flores wants, he has two co-plaintiffs, Steve Wilkes and Ray Horton. All anybody wants is equal opportunity for black head coaches. I wonder what Flores' experience has been in the NFL since he filed this lawsuit three years ago. At the time, he alleged the league's rife with racism. Are other people in the league supporting him in general or are some of them shutting him out? Well, I think the answer to that is probably that there's a mixed bag. but I don't want to speak for Mr.

35:09Flores on those specific things. I prefer to stick to the legal topics. But, I mean, thankfully, Mr. Flores has remained in the league and some teams have given him opportunities. He's not a head coach, and he should be. But, you know, the issue really is how, going forward, can the league provide equal opportunities for black head coaches? And, you know, in our complaint, we laid out a number of things that the league can do to try to accomplish this and and to try to advance the ball the nfl hasn't been willing to sit down with us and have this discussion at all one of the things that we wanted to do was do away with mandatory arbitration mandatory arbitration prevents internal decisions such as hiring decision firing decisions all sorts of decisions from being shielded from public view And we felt that that only encourages and fosters an environment where discrimination can exist.

36:08So today, at least, we've accomplished that goal, but there's still more work to be done. Yeah, listen, a lot of companies prefer arbitration because they don't want them to go to trial these cases. David Gottlieb, thanks so much. Thank you. Coming up next, a closer look at Russia's long history with Alaska as Vladimir Putin prepares to travel here tomorrow.

36:41We are back with a live look here in Anchorage, Alaska. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, right over my right shoulder in the distance. That is where President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet face-to-face in less than 24 hours, a crucial summit in a time of war. Ahead of Friday's summit, many are taking note of the story passed between Alaska and Russia. Just 55 miles apart, some Russian nationalists believe the last frontier should still belong to their country, as it once did, until the U.S. purchased it in 1867. CNN's Tom Foreman explains. It's not exactly a home field advantage for Vladimir Putin, but Alaska might feel like home.

37:29A vast land with centuries-old cultural, political, business and military ties to his country. Every Russian knows that Alaska used to be part of Russia. And when you get into kind of the far-right nationalists, they want it back. I'm going to see Putin. I'm going to Russia on Friday. President Trump stumbled this week in calling Alaska Russia, but some Russian commentators are speaking clearly. Alaska is our wound that never heals, one said on Russian TV. Why? In the 1700s, Alaska was claimed by the Russian Empire, a place where Russian fur traders violently pushed aside and enslaved native people, and Russian missionaries established Orthodox churches, dozens of which still exist.

38:20When the United States bought Alaska in 1867 for just over$7 million or two cents an acre, many Americans considered it a foolish deal until vast reserves of natural resources proved otherwise. Ever since, some Russians have persisted in their belief that they were swindled and Alaska remains as much Russian as American. The descendants of Russian colonists, another commentator notes, for them everything around is part of a common heritage. The two nations are physically quite close. About two and a half miles separate islands belonging to Russia and Alaska. Mainland to mainland, it's about 55 miles.

39:03You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska. So while Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was ridiculed for this comment in 2008. I can see Russia from my house. She was also right. In World War II, when the Soviet Union was an American ally, some downed Soviet pilots were buried in Alaska. The summit will take place near their graves. And even though the Cold War saw Alaska emerge as a powerful military position for keeping an eye on the Soviets, plenty of Russians still nostalgically eye Alaska. Land, territory, language, culture, history, that is really important to Russians.

39:47So when they look at Alaska, it's all there. And they remember it used to be ours. And even if Russia does not make a bid to take Alaska back, this whole narrative fits into a theme that Putin has been pushing, the idea that just because some land belonged to one country once doesn't mean it can't own be owned by another one now. Jim.

40:15Seward's folly. They called it back when the U.S. bought it. Tom Foreman in Washington. Thanks so much. You're welcome.

40:23CNN anchor chief White House correspondent Caitlin Collins just touched down here in Alaska. What she is hearing about President Trump's goals heading into tomorrow's crucial summit. We're going to ask her coming up next.

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41:33Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jim Shudeau. In today for Jake Tapper, live from Anchorage, Alaska. In less than 24 hours, a major summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tonight, what exactly is at stake? President Trump believes he can deliver a deal in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and says that both sides are ready to make peace. He is also teasing a second meeting which would involve the Ukrainian president. So what does this mean crucially for Ukraine? Any peace deal may need to involve an agreement on territory, as Russia currently occupies almost a fifth of Ukrainian land.

42:14We're going to break it all down. Plus, Putin is also hinting at deals. Can Moscow and Washington get to an agreement on nuclear arms as well? I'm going to speak to someone who has negotiated deals with the Kremlin before. And inside the mind of Vladimir Putin, a closer look at the notoriously tough negotiator's psyche. Has Trump already given him the upper hand?

42:46CNN's Caitlin Collins is in Anchorage with me now. And Caitlin, as I was listening to the president earlier in the Oval Office, he sounds optimistic to me. And I wonder if that's what you're hearing and what then would he base that optimism on? He was optimistic, but he had a lot of caveats that I was actually surprised to hear, peppering in way more than he had earlier this week or even, you know, just a week ago when we had first been hearing from White House officials as they were cobbling this summit together what this could potentially look like. And the president very much was saying that so much of what happens next here really does depend on what is said when he and Putin actually get in the room together 24 hours.

43:24Those first few minutes, you said, yeah. hanging so much on that saying within the first two minutes he thinks he would know the Russian leader is ready to make a deal, which I think is why it raises a lot of questions of what the Russians are coming here, what they'll be prepared to bring to the table if they try to offer any distractions when it comes to trade or business deals with President Trump or investment and something that obviously he has talked about a lot. But he added a lot of caveats about what a second meeting could look like, a second meeting that he said could even be more important than his sit down with Putin, which would be a trilateral meeting with Putin, Trump and Zelensky.

43:55and this is what he had to say about what that could look like and what would need to happen. Tomorrow all I want to do is set the table for the next meeting which should happen shortly. I'd like to see it happen very quickly, very shortly after this meeting. I'd like to see it actually happen maybe in Alaska where we just stay because it's so much easier. But I think it's going to be very interesting. We're going to find out where everybody stands.

44:25The president really hinging that on what is said when he is in the room with Putin tomorrow. But obviously this question of Zelensky coming here, one, it's an incredibly long trip from Ukraine. But two, when Putin was raised with this idea a little over a week ago about sitting down with Trump and Zelensky, he said that certain conditions would have to be met for Putin to sit down with the Ukrainian leader. Obviously, he said those conditions had not been met. He wants more Ukrainian territory, more guarantees that they would not join NATO. So that is a real question of what that looks like. And I think the question here for tomorrow for Trump is whether or not he takes this tack of trusting what Putin says, if he is ready to bring this war to an end, or if we see that frustration that is bubbling up in recent weeks where he's had good conversations with Putin, but then very much said he felt like he was potentially tapping him along.

45:10And I do think it's not an overstatement to say so much of that rides on what happens here tomorrow. You know, it reminds me of the Trump-Kim summits in the first administration. And there were three of those, of course. And what we saw in the last one was that when Trump felt he wasn't getting enough, he did walk away. I wonder, do you believe the president would walk away from this summit if Putin doesn't give enough ground, in his view? Potentially. But obviously, we know the Russian leader is going to come prepared to cater to Trump, to appeal to him. I will say Trump's history of meeting with authoritarian leaders, these strongmen types, he has not often yielded much.

45:41Obviously, his meetings with Kim Jong-un did not. we'll see if this meeting with Putin does. But I think a lot of Russian analysts have said, you know, this meeting in and of itself is a huge win for Putin, who has been totally isolated on the world stage and has been sanctioned, is under threat of being arrested if he goes basically to half the places in Europe. And so the meeting in and of itself is a big win for them. Whether or not what Trump sees as a win coming out of this still remains to be seen. But he very much raised this idea today, saying maybe we'll do a joint press conference if this goes well.

46:10And if not, Maybe I'll just do him by myself and then I'll just go back to the United States. He's leaving a wide door open for himself to walk out. Caitlin Collins, thanks so much. Of course, don't miss Caitlin on her show. The Source with Caitlin Collins. That is tonight live from Alaska. Look for that at 9 Eastern right here on CNN. President Trump said again today that there would be some, quote, give and take of land. Even as Ukrainian President Zelensky remains adamant, he will not cede any of his country's territory in the eastern Donbas region. Right now, Russia controls just over 18 % of Ukrainian territory.

46:47CNN's Nick Payton Walsh shows us exactly which territories remain in Putin's sights. Any peace deal in Ukraine is going to ultimately be about land. When President Trump talks about swapping territories, this is Russian-occupied areas. But it's these three parts here, black surrounded, that have always been part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most maximalist war goals. It's what he wants. The lines we've drawn as best as we can here, but the stakes are incredibly high. Any minor inaccuracy of my pen could be a place that thousands of people have fought and died for, or still live. Now, in just recent days, there's been a tiny advance here by the Russians, but it's significant.

47:33and caused some concern and even denials and reinforcements sent from Kiev. But this Donetsk area is potentially, if we understand what the Kremlin's proposed, somewhere they want Ukrainians to withdraw from entirely in exchange for a ceasefire. And look at it. It's a huge area. What could they give back? These tiny border parts occupied by Russia, a buffer zone, President Putin calls it, but it's hardly a fair exchange. And so the real hard-to-solve question, what happens to Zaporizhia here and Kherson? Now, Russia occupies probably about two-thirds of each, but Putin wants all of it. They were kicked out, the Russians, here in the first year of the war.

48:20But it's impossible to imagine Ukraine deciding to pull out of massive areas like this, and equally impossible to imagine that Russians will give up a big strategic gain of a land corridor that they managed to take when the big invasion began down to Crimea that they've held since 2014. That's the sticking point and there's very little obvious way through it. Jim, it doesn't look like it's even going to work on paper but imagine trying to force those huge movements of population or militaries in the real world in potentially a continuing battlefield zone. That's the reality of the idea of territorial swaps already flat out rejected here by Ukraine.

49:02A tough political ask, an impossible military ask, you might argue. And that really leaves people so anxious here that if the bedrock of these talks potentially is territorial swaps, and that is impractical and unsellable here, what possibly could Trump emerge from that meeting with that Ukraine likes, Jim.

49:25Our Nick Payton Walsh in Kyiv, thanks so much. Joining us now to discuss further, former Russia director on the National Security Council, Jeffrey Edmonds, and CNN contributor, and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Doherty. Good to have you both on. Jill, I wonder if I could begin with you on the question of territorial swaps. I've noted before that a Ukrainian official told me some time ago that the political pressure against ceding territory for a Ukrainian president are many tens of thousands of Ukrainian mothers who lost sons and daughters on the battlefields protecting that territory. I'm curious, could Vladimir Zelensky agree to ceding territory and maintain his position, maintain his leadership?

50:11Is that politically survivable? uh that's a real danger a real political danger for zelensky and i think you know the russians would be very happy to put him in that position because it what they would like to do is have zelensky out of power and if there is a political problem and many ukrainians you know more and more want to come to some type of agreement and end the war but how and most of them still at this point do not want to give up land. So if Zelensky does give up land, then that could be a political problem. Now, of course, it's all in the details, because ultimately it may be realistic that there would have to be some, but it's really a political minefield.

51:02Yeah. Jeff, the Kremlin's top economic envoy, Kirill Dimitriyev, told my colleague Fred Pleitkin that this summit is a chance for something bigger to reset U.S.-Russia relations if the meeting goes well. I just wonder how likely that is. And forgive me, wasn't the intention of these talks to end the war in Ukraine? And would that discussion of broader goals mean he's trying to drag attention away from the war in Ukraine? Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, in one sense, Ukraine is, from the Russian perspective, is a problem, is a symptom of a bigger problem of Russia's relationship with us and with the security architecture in Europe.

51:43But certainly, I think Putin understands that Trump wants a deal. And so if you put things like a nuclear arms treaty on the table, rare earth minerals, that in a certain sense, I think Putin believes can draw Trump away from really focusing on Ukraine. Yeah. And listen, it has been an ambition of President Trump's going back to the first administration to have some sort of nuclear agreement with Russia, which of course would be good for the world. I suppose the question, Jill Doherty, is Russia serious about such a discussion? Because nuclear arms agreements take many years and a lot of hard work to negotiate, and Russia has been moving forward on nuclear weapons.

52:28The U.S. assessed that Russia was close to using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine back in 2022? Yeah, there are issues with it. But certainly when you look at, let's say, the New START agreement, the very last agreement, disarmament agreement between the United States and Russia, it will be ending in February of next year. So there is some inducement to do that. But, Jim, I would also say nuclear is one thing, But this economic side, I think that they really feel that they can entice President Trump into something. I mean, if you look at the composition of the group that they are bringing with President Putin, it contains that, you know, their finance minister and the person CNN has been talking to a lot, Kiril Dimitriou, who's in charge of international investment.

53:23These are all people, I think, that Putin thinks can really, you know, talk with Trump and his people and convince them that, yeah, we can move ahead, we can restore relationships. Yeah. I mean, listen, they must have been watching other Trump negotiations, right? Because there always seems to be a business or trade element. Jeff, Ukrainian lawmakers have been telling me for some time, and they're not alone in this, that Putin only responds to strength. Do you believe Trump is showing such strength leading up to this summit? I think he has to some degree. I think his turn where he spoke rather harshly of Putin and talked about sanctions has prompted what we're seeing in Alaska.

54:08I think Putin is concerned about sanctions. But I also think that Putin understands that in the end, this isn't about land. Right. I mean, he's trying to get relief from sanctions and a better relationship and sideline with us and sideline Ukraine. But in the end, I think he knows what he wants. He wants a new regime in Ukraine. And a land deal is not going to give him that.

54:34Well, we're going to learn a lot more tomorrow. Jeff Edmonds, Jill Doherty, appreciate you joining. On Friday, here in Anchorage, President Trump and Vladimir Putin's very high stakes summit. Will it lead to an end to the war in Ukraine? Please do join us live from Alaska for special coverage Friday right here on CNN. Coming up next, what Trump can expect when he meets with Russia's leader. Some insight on Putin's negotiating tactics. That's next. And later, some big economic news. A jump in prices for producers and manufacturers. What that could mean for the American consumer. That's just ahead.

55:19President Putin would like to see a deal. I think if I weren't president, he would take over all of Ukraine. But I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me.

55:30That was President Trump this afternoon in the White House, one day before he meets face-to-face with Russian leader Vladimir Putin right here in Anchorage, Alaska. Joining me now, Dr. Kenneth Duklava. He's a psychiatrist, former regional medical officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Kenneth, thanks so much for joining. Thank you for having me, Jim. Earlier this year, you wrote in the cipher brief, quoting negotiating with Putin, a trained KGB officer, politician, diplomat and currently indicted world war criminal presents unique challenges for even the most talented politician. So I wonder, as Trump goes into this meeting tomorrow, what's his best angle?

56:17And is there a smart way to play Vladimir Putin? I think there is. And so far, I think President Trump and starting with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have offered something to Putin that he wants that wasn't talked about in the earlier segments. But it is a way back from his pariah status, which includes being an indicted work criminal, by treating and appealing to Putin's sense of respect, dignity, and treating him with empathy. They've avoided name calling. They've been very careful in their comments about President Putin. And I think Trump has offered a lot. That being said, it also has to be remembered, President Putin is a nuclear arm hostage taker whose country holds 20 ,000 Ukrainian children hostage.

57:10And I think President Trump should set a high bar in terms of reciprocity. President Trump has given President Putin something, and that's a good negotiating strategy. President Putin must now respond with a ceasefire and releasing the 20 ,000 Ukrainian children. At least in his public comments recently, President Trump has been more critical of Putin. He recently accused him of peddling bullshit over the phone. He hasn't backed it up with new penalties against Russia, but at least his public comments have been critical. Do you believe Putin is likely to believe, even fear, that Trump's view of him has changed?

57:57I think President Putin should be very careful. I think it's an excellent point. A lot of the media, even in Russia, has really downgraded President Trump's efforts, which I actually applaud in bringing this meeting together. But given President Trump's recent successes in negotiating other difficult conflicts, both during his first term with the Abraham Accords and more recently between Rwanda, Congo, and importantly, just last Friday, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, President Trump's on a roll. And I think President Putin should be very careful not to underestimate President Trump. A lot of politicians have done that and been forced to eat crow.

58:45Do you believe Trump's discussion, at least discussion of more sanctions, but also that the Iran strike might factor into Putin's calculus, that he saw President Trump, granted on a small scale, big attacks over the course of just one day, willing to strike Iran, And that might at least raise a question in Putin's mind as to how far Trump might be willing to go as relates to the war in Ukraine. A hundred percent. I think the strike against Iran showed what many people would call control deterrence. And it showed resolve, a Reagan-esque resolve on President Trump's part. And I think President Putin, I'm sure that has changed his calculus in the sense that at least it's got to give him a sense of pause that this is a different President Trump than the President Trump he dealt with during President Trump's first term.

59:48We'll see how that all comes together tomorrow. Dr. Kenneth DeCleva, thanks so much for joining. Thank you for hosting me. And coming up next, a rise in the prices that businesses pay for goods. Will that trickle down to American consumers? And what does it mean for inflation in general? We'll discuss.

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1:00:53We've covered over 25 million windows and have 50 ,000 five-star reviews to prove we deliver. Whether you DIY it or want a pro to handle everything from measure to install, we have you covered. Real design professionals. Free samples. Zero pressure. Right now, get up to 45 % off with minimum purchase. Plus, get a free professional measure at Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions apply. In our money lead now, an unexpected spike in the prices that producers and manufacturers pay. Inflation at the wholesale level picked up steam in July, that according to the Producer Price Index, or PPI. And though consumer inflation is holding steady to a large degree, the new July wholesale numbers could serve as a bellwether for what shoppers could soon see.

1:01:38Joining me now is Gene Soroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles. Gene, good to have you on. Good evening, Jim. So speaking of bellwethers, ports are a good bellwether. And we know that businesses were rushing to import goods earlier this year, get in before the tariffs. I wonder what you're seeing right now. Jim, it's been a roller coaster. After the announcement of tariffs back in April, volume plummeted by 19 percent in the month of May. took a while to pick back up again, making for an all-time good news story at the back half of June. And then July, which we just closed, was our best month on record in the 117-year history of the port.

1:02:26Importers trying to advance inventory underneath the wire before new deadlines on tariffs are announced.

1:02:37you and others have made clear that it is u.s importers that are paying these tariffs you see this their container comes in they have to pay x amount of money to get that container off the ship have you seen those importers willingness to do so to pay those tariffs begin to wane I think so, because I believe that July will be noted as our peak. Typically, getting ready for the year-end holiday season, you see August, September, October as your high-volume import months. I think we've got so much inventory in the country right now that will start to wane a little bit, and folks still really apprehensive as to the permanency of these trade tariffs that are in place today.

1:03:28So now we have this number, a full 3.3 % change year over year, full percent jump in wholesale inflation for this month. How soon could wholesale inflation begin to impact consumers and show up in the prices consumers pay? We believe end of September and it's imminent. The numbers you just recounted are all that of the middle mile, the product that's sitting in the warehouses that have been there. The inventory that was padded for months ahead of time is really being burned down now. And so what we're seeing is that just around the corner from those producer prices, usually the consumer prices start to tick up.

1:04:16What goods, is there a category of goods you think will be most affected for consumers from the start? We'll take the highest prices first and the products you need to buy earlier. The back-to-school numbers looked less than good, according to the retail community, and prices had already gone up. Think of backpacks, pens and pencil sets, blue jeans and sneakers for the kids going back to school. Next up will be Halloween. And then as we see the finished goods, especially out of China, with an effective tariff rate of 55 percent, that's going to be furniture, toys, clothing, footwear and electronics.

1:05:01Well, I've certainly done a lot of back to school shopping myself. Gene Soroka, thanks so much for joining.

1:05:10That brings us now to today's Business Leaders, our series where we speak to small business owners about the impact of Trump's tariffs to their businesses. Right here in Anchorage, Alaska, Ehrman Skate is the first and only Nordic skate manufacturer in North America. It's a specialized skate that can be used to fly on wild ice found in Arctic environments around here in Alaska. owner Paxson Welber joins me now and he brought he brought one of them first of all they look very cool yeah thank you long blades and I guess the heel comes up when you're when you're going along on like a frozen lake or something like that exactly so this is a Nordic skate setup so what we make here in Alaska is the skate portion so the metal portions on the bottom and then it uses a binding typically from cross-country skiing and then a cross-country ski boot and then has a free heel like this.

1:06:01So how are tariffs impacting your business? So our lead times for manufacturing our product are fairly long. So the materials that we ordered to make our skates, we generally ordered quite a while ago. Gotcha. So tariffs aren't really impacting the cost of our skates going into the next season, but they do have a major impact on our sport, on our industry, and on our product. As you can see here, you know, a lot of what goes into a Nordic skating setup is not the stuff that we make, it's these other parts like the binding and the boot and ice poles and rescue picks and backpacks. And all of those things are subject to substantial tariffs, in some cases, very high tariffs.

1:06:41So we're definitely concerned that the products that we rely on to make our sport work are going to get more expensive. And that correspondingly, people are going to have less disposable income to buy something like skates. I mean, I like to think that Nordic skating is an essential, necessary part of life. But the reality is for most people, it's kind of a luxury fun sport. Has that already filtered into the prices that you charge for the skates? Or do you expect that to happen soon? The prices that we're going to charge for the skates themselves, I don't think are going to change going into the next year.

1:07:12But the other components that we sell, we do sell bindings, we sell rescue picks. And I've already informed our customers by email and social media that they are going to be paying higher prices for those items. They're imported from Scandinavia, from the EU, etc. So they're subject to pretty substantial tariffs. You've spoken to Senator Lisa Murkowski about the impact of tariffs. What has she told you, given you're in Alaska business? I imagine she wants to do her best for you. It's hard to tell how effective anybody can be at helping businesses like mine with tariffs. The policy is coming from the executive branch, and it doesn't seem to me that any other branch has any control over this or is willing to exert any control over this.

1:07:57When I speak to small business owners and others, one issue they consistently bring up with me is just they don't know what's going to happen, right? Uncertainty about where prices, tariffs will stand from one month to the next. Is that your experience too? And how does it affect your business? Absolutely. So talking with companies that make things for us, there's a lot of stress and anxiety and uncertainty over lead times. Sometimes that plays to our advantage in a way because we'll have companies say, hey, if you put a five-figure order down in the next week, we'll give you a very substantial discount.

1:08:32So I have to rush to get all the money together and get it to them. So I think we're doing okay right now, but there is very substantial long-term uncertainty in the cost for our own product and then also all this other stuff that we sell and the industry generally. Pax and Welber, neat products. Wish you the best of luck as you navigate all this. Yeah, thanks very much. You can purchase your pair of Nordic skates online at erminskate.com. Thanks so much for giving us a view inside the business. Vladimir Putin suggests there could be more on the table at these talks tomorrow. Is a nuclear arms deal a genuine possibility?

1:09:12I'm going to speak with a former State Department official who has negotiated such deals before. That's coming up.

1:09:27In our world lead now, we are just hours away from the consequential meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, aiming to end a war. Today, Putin praised Trump for trying to end Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. and offered a potential next step. Have a listen. The current American administration, which as everyone knows, is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries and in Europe and in the world as a whole.

1:10:08If by the next stages we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons. With me now, CNN chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance. He is at the airport here in Anchorage, waiting for members of the Russian delegation to arrive. Matthew, in recent weeks and months, Russia has been far more likely to rattle the nuclear saber than to talk about nuclear arms deals. So why is Putin floating a possible nuclear deal now? Yeah, that's a good question. And I think it just shows that the Kremlin is very keen indeed to, you know, take its place on the top table of international diplomacy, hark back to the old superpower era when the Soviet Union, as Russia was then, was on an equal footing with the United States.

1:11:03And it's still that one area, which is nuclear weapons, where the Russians and the Americans have about the same amount, the same level of strength. In fact, the Russians have a few more warheads than the Americans do. And it's sort of always been one of those areas of big strategic conversations where the Kremlin is able to turn around and say, look, we are dealing with the US president as equals. We are top tier, top table military and diplomatic power. And so I think that's one of the areas, one of the reasons why that's been raised now. But it's also, Jim, part of a much broader agenda that the Kremlin are keen to push in the relationship between the United States and Russia.

1:11:53They're constantly talking about areas of arms control, economic cooperation, space exploration, exploitation of the Arctic, anything to get the focus away from the narrow question of the war in Ukraine. They want to expand it, get away from Ukraine, talk about all the areas they can do deals in. Jim. Yeah, I suppose the concern is that could be a distraction, right, from attempts to end the war. Matthew Chance there at the airport here in Anchorage as we await the arrival of the Russia, the Russian delegation for this summit. Joining me now is Rose Gottmiller. She served as NATO Deputy Secretary General from 2016 to 2019 and as the U.S.

1:12:38State Department's Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security. Rose, it's good to have you here. Following Russia in recent years, it's largely been backtracking on nuclear agreements by the Kremlin. So why do you believe the Russian president is raising the possibility of a nuclear arms deal now? You're absolutely right that in recent years, Vladimir Putin has really linked up New START continuation or any kind of nuclear arms control with his top priority, which is Ukraine. And he said, unless at the time President Biden dropped support for Ukraine, no more nuclear arms control.

1:13:19So this is very interesting. Now, it does seem to me, as your correspondent noted, that he may be trying now to shove aside Ukraine by bringing up the arms control topic with Donald Trump and saying, hey, here's this great deal we could work on to control this weapon of mass destruction that you're so concerned about, Mr. President. Let's get on with that and shove aside the Ukraine issue, which I think would be a terrible shame. And I'm hoping that the president won't fall for it. To paraphrase the late Senator John McCain, Russia is a gas station with nuclear weapons, right? I just wonder, given nuclear weapons are one of Putin's ways of projecting power with an economy that is really not growing, a shrinking population, what would his incentive be to limit his nuclear arsenal, even as part of a negotiation with the U.S.?

1:14:18Well, I have to say at the outset, I respect Senator King greatly, but I never quite agreed with that assessment, knowing that there was a great deal going on with the USSR and with Russia in terms of our technology cooperation throughout the Cold War and afterwards our efforts to work with them on the Arctic, on space cooperation and so forth. So there are a lot more than a gas station with nuclear weapons. But I think that for President Putin, he is looking for a way to attract Mr. Trump to something that Mr. Trump places at a very high priority. And so for this reason, he, I do believe, thinks he might be able to distract Mr.

1:15:00Trump from his efforts to pursue the Ukraine peace deal. My view is that Trump is going about this in a kind of phased approach. He wants Ukraine to get done. He wants to be successful with that. And then he'll be ready to move on. I don't think he's going to be ready to shove aside Ukraine. At least I very much hope that's the case. Yeah. To your point, of course, a country of 170 million people more than a gas station. But the point is about, I suppose, what this brings him. And he is a leader, very conscious of his power and role in the world. President Trump has raised the possibility of a three-way nuclear negotiation involving China, and China is another country that draws enormous influence or perceives itself to draw enormous influence from the size of its nuclear arsenal, which it is growing rapidly now.

1:15:52Would China be a realistic player in any such negotiations or have realistic interest in any such negotiations? China may have an interest in the matter, but I don't believe they would come to a three-party table. And that is because their numbers are still very much smaller. You're right. They're modernizing. They're building up rapidly. Our DOD thinks they'll be at 1 ,500 warheads in the next decade. But at the moment, they're at 600 warheads approximately on a total basis. And the United States and the Russian Federation both have over 4 ,000 warheads each. And so that's a great differential.

1:16:32There is parity, there is an equality between the United States and Russia. That means we can continue to limit nuclear weapons working together. But I think in terms of China, they need to start being able to talk to us about what their objectives are. They need to start talking about some controls they right place on their modernization. And we can work with them on that.

1:16:56Given that START will expire soon, too, if there are no such negotiations, nuclear arms negotiations between the U.S. and Russia, then what happens? Are there no limits? Well, we won't fall off a cliff. And I'll take you back to history, which is the 1970s and 1980s. And Ronald Reagan, as you might recall, named the USSR the evil empire. He wasn't ready to do any arms control at all. But we embarked on a period of what was called interim restraint at the time. And we both agreed to continue to abide by the limitations we placed on each other in the SALT I and SALT II negotiations, the first strategic arms limitation talks in the 1970s.

1:17:41And that really held until Reagan and Gorbachev got together and started work on the first strategic arms reduction treaty, which resulted in an enormous reduction in our deployed nuclear arsenal. So I think that and I hope and expect that we will see the same type of restraint, even if new starts go out of force without a new treaty. Yeah. And that's such a good point historically, right? Because those negotiations faced a lot of roadblocks before they reached a breakthrough. Rose Gottmiller, thanks so much for joining. Absolutely. My pleasure. Please do stand with us. Jim Sciutto live here in Anchorage as we cover the forthcoming summit between Trump and Putin tomorrow.

1:18:30We'll be right back.

1:18:38in our law and justice lead first lady melania trump is threatening legal action against hunter biden and the president just gave her the green light to do so and she's suing hunter for a billion dollars is that the right thing to do well i said go forward you know i've been pretty well on these lawsuits lately and i said go forward with jeffrey epstein It had nothing to do with Melania and introducing.

1:19:04That legal threat after a claim by Hunter Biden about Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who introduced to him, CNN's Jeff Zeleny, joins me now. Jeff, a billion dollar lawsuit against the former president's son. Is this a serious legal effort? Well, Jim, I think given the Trump family's history of being litigious, yes. you would have to take it seriously. The billion dollars, I mean, that is a bit of a separate matter. That is almost always up for a judge or perhaps even a jury to determine. But Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States, is demanding a retraction. And this is all over the comment that Hunter Biden, of course, the son of the former president, who's long been in the Trump's crosshairs, he suggested that Jeffrey Epstein introduced Donald Trump and Melania Trump back in the 90s in New York.

1:19:59They said it's not true, but she is demanding a retraction on this. The president made news on it earlier today when he was on Fox News radio with Brian Kilmeade. And as we just heard there, he said he is encouraging his wife to go forward with a lawsuit. So we shall see if it happens. Of course, a lawsuit often invites a discovery that can be uncomfortable in some of these situations. So the Trumps obviously are trying to make the Epstein matter go away, this could certainly enliven it. But with the president encouraging his wife to sue, it certainly could happen.

1:20:38What's been Hunter Biden's response? Well, not surprisingly, perhaps, Jim, he is not responding very favorably to this. He had this comment earlier. So now we're here maybe to give you the platform to apologize to the First Lady for your statements that you made about her possible connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Uh, that's not going to happen. So that laugh there with an expletive saying that is not going to happen. So, Jim, we'll see where this goes. But again, there have been many lawsuits coming out of the First Family, and this is only the latest threat of one. However, this is the first one against Hunter Biden.

1:21:19So it's hard to know which side would want to discovery the least in this. But we'll obviously keep you posted if the lawsuit ever materializes, Jim. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. Well, one month after Florida opened what the president likes to call Alligator Alcatraz, the state now says it is creating a new detention center. We'll get more on that next.

1:21:51Our last leads begin with our national lead. Florida is building a second detention center for immigrant detainees. This one in a temporarily closed state prison west of Jacksonville. Governor Ron DeSantis is dubbing it, quote, deportation depot. The governor says the purpose of the detention center is to process and deport undocumented immigrants to their home countries as quickly as possible. And in the world lead, Air Canada is beginning to cancel flights ahead of a possible lockout and worker strike. After eight months, contract negotiations between the flight attendants union and the airline have now stalled.

1:22:32Now, Air Canada says about 130 ,000 of its passengers could be impacted. Unclear how long this standoff could last, Air Canada says a full restart of operations could take at least a week. A reminder, CNN will have special coverage tomorrow, live from Alaska, as President Trump meets here with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just behind me at Elmendorf Air Force Base. I'm going to join Jake Tapper as the anchors from here in Alaska, Anderson Cooper, will help lead coverage from Washington, D.C. If you're up late, join me at midnight Eastern as we count down to tomorrow's summit. Until then, find me on Instagram at Jim Sciutto on X as well.

1:23:15and you can also follow The Lead CNN and X. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts. Aaron Burnett, Outfront, starts right now.

1:23:31Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guests are David Frum and Danielle Crittenden. They're both journalists and writers who've been married for 38 years. They've had three children together, Miranda, Nathaniel, and Beatrice. Miranda, their eldest, worked as a journalist and model before she died unexpectedly. Parental death feels in the natural order of things. You lose a child, it not only upends the universe and your universe, but it was a grief with a capital G. There are those who are in grief, and the rest of humanity I now call pre-grief because it's coming.

1:24:17Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.