What we're covering
• Second strike update: President Donald Trump said today that he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not know about a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September. Hegseth echoed the comments, saying he “watched the first strike live” but then “moved on to my next meeting.”
• Ukraine war talks: Meanwhile, the meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US delegation of special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner has concluded after nearly five hours – but no compromise on the plan for Ukraine was reached, according to a Kremlin aide.
• What Zelensky says: President Volodymyr Zelensky described the current diplomatic situation as “one of the most challenging and yet optimistic moments.” The Ukrainian president also said he may meet with US representatives soon after the Moscow meetings.
Trump repeats attack on legitimacy of Biden's autopen orders
President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued his attack on the legitimacy of actions during Joe Biden’s presidency, declaring all documents allegedly signed with an autopen “null” and “void.”
“Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized ‘AUTOPEN,’ within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Anyone receiving ‘Pardons,’ ‘Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect,” he added.
It is unclear what documents the president is referring to, and a list of those specific actions and orders affected was not made available by the White House.
Voiding a pardon would be an unprecedented maneuver of political retribution and something for which there is no basis in the Constitution or existing law.
The president made a similar claim last week, declaring in a post on Truth Social that he was “cancelling all executive orders, and anything else that was not directly signed” by Biden.
Trump has long fixated on Biden’s use of the autopen. In March, he leaned into the idea that the former president’s use of the tool to sign documents showed that he wasn’t in charge while in the White House and that his actions were “null and void.”
In 2005, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (under Republican President George W. Bush) conducted an extensive review of the legality of a president using the autopen. It found that “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it within the meaning of Article I, Section 7.”
While talks take place, strikes and blackouts create uncertainty for Ukrainians
While talks were held in Moscow today between a high-level US delegation and President Vladimir Putin, Russia is continuing its strikes on Ukraine and people are living with freezing homes, rolling outages and constant fear.
See more here:
As Russia continues its strikes on Ukraine, people are living with freezing homes, rolling outages and constant fear.
USDA threatens to withhold SNAP funds for Democratic states that don’t turn over enrollee data
Only weeks after the government shutdown disrupted critical food assistance for tens of millions of Americans, the Trump administration said Tuesday that it will start withholding funds from Democratic states that refuse to provide enrollee data to the US Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Cabinet meeting that the agency is focusing on reforming the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, to root out fraud and abuse. She said aid is being sent to people who have died and to people who are receiving food stamps in multiple states.
The USDA has asked states for the first time to send their enrollee data to the agency to ensure the assistance is going to the correct enrollees. While 29 states have done so, 21 — including California, New York, Minnesota and other Democratic-led states — have not, Rollins said.
Nearly 42 million Americans receive food stamps, which are funded by the federal government and administered by the states.
The USDA initially requested enrollee data — including personal information and benefits received — earlier this year, threatening to withhold crucial administrative funds from states that did not comply. A coalition of Democratic states sued and won a preliminary injunction last month.
Colombian president pushes back against Trump’s threat to attack countries involved in drug trafficking
Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned President Donald Trump against attacking Colombia’s sovereignty after the US leader said that any country trafficking drugs into the United States is “subject to attack.”
Trump did not explicitly say the US would carry out an attack on Colombia, but he did name that country when asked to elaborate on potential land strikes against drug traffickers.
“If they come in through a certain country, or any country, or if we think they’re building mills for – whether it’s fentanyl or cocaine. I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia is making cocaine. They have cocaine manufacturing plants … anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack,” Trump said earlier on Tuesday.
In his response, Petro invited Trump to Colombia so he could see first-hand the country’s efforts to disrupt drug trafficking. “If there is a country that has helped stop thousands of tons of cocaine so that North Americans do not consume it, it is Colombia,” Petro said.
No compromise on plan for Ukraine reached between Moscow and Washington, Kremlin aide says
No compromise on the plan for Ukraine was reached during talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US delegation, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
Ushakov said that some of the American proposals look “more or less acceptable, though they need to be discussed,” while other points “do not suit us.”
Putin and the US delegation also discussed territorial issues, “without which we do not see a solution to the crisis,” Ushakov said.
He added that no meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump had been scheduled. A prospective meeting would “depend on the progress we’re able to achieve,” Ushakov said.
Here’s what we heard during the Trump Cabinet meeting today
President Donald Trump’s Cabinet held a two-hour meeting today at the White House, where the president aired grievances old and new and his Cabinet members lavished praise on their boss.
The lengthy meeting appeared to lose the president’s attention multiple times, with Trump seen at times slouched in his chair with his eyes closed.
Here’s what else happened:
Trump’s complaints: Trump railed against Democrats who have criticized his handling of the economy and affordability, continued to lament his 2020 presidential election loss and took aim at climate change efforts among other issues. Trump ended his meeting by escalating his inflammatory rhetoric against Somalis in Minnesota, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, by referring to them as “garbage” who should “go back to where they came from.”
Trump on border: The president touted lower border crossing numbers, prescription drug price negotiations, his signature policy legislation, and renaming the “Department of War” while also renewing calls to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
On US strikes: Trump said he will soon begin striking targets inside Venezuela, an escalation of his administration’s offensive against alleged drug traffickers. Trump also said neither he nor Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth knew about a second strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean in September, as the administration continues to say that an admiral gave the order. But Hegseth also said strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have “only just begun,” insisting the administration would continue to pursue the offensive despite growing concerns on Capitol Hill.
CNN’s Lauren Kent, Darya Tarasova, Betsy Klein, Adam Cancryn, Kit Maher, Samantha Waldenberg, Donald Judd, Michael Williams, Holmes Lybrand, Chris Boyette and Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.
Meeting between Putin and US negotiators was "highly substantive," Kremlin aide says
The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner was “very useful, constructive, and highly substantive,” Russian foreign policy adviser and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
“There was an opportunity to thoroughly discuss prospects for further joint work on achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” he added.
Ushakov, along with Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, accompanied the Russian leader in the meeting at the Kremlin, which lasted nearly five hours.
Trump says National Guard will be in New Orleans “pretty soon”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said New Orleans will be the next city that will see a National Guard deployment, adding more federal resources to a city that is already expected to see an influx of immigration enforcement.
While discussing last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, the president said during a Cabinet meeting that the shooter “probably was upset that the National Guard is so effective.”
As an aside, he then mentioned that the Guard is currently deployed in Memphis before adding “and we’re going to New Orleans pretty soon.”
“Over there, the governor called me. He’d like to have us go there. Gov. Landry, great guy, great governor. He’s asked for help in New Orleans, and we’re going to go there in a couple of weeks,” the president said.
Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said one of her primary concerns is the operation appears to be racially profiling rather than an attempt to arrest violent criminals.
“What [people] are seeing is what appears to be racial profiling of brown people and then going after these individuals and treating them like they are these significantly violent offenders. And they’re masked and then they’re thrown into vehicles and that is a very scary situation,” she said, adding that as a Latina, she finds the situation “gut-wrenching.”
“I know that I don’t look Latina, but my father very much does. And my father speaks with an accent. So to me that was very personal to me. So, this does feel personal in some ways because of my family.”
CNN previously reported that New Orleans is the latest Democrat-led city expected to see a surge of federal immigration authorities, possibly as soon as this week.
Trump has often cited surging crime as the impetus for troop deployment, but in New Orleans, like other cities which have seen troop deployments, crime is trending downwards.
Overall year-to-date crime incidents are down 16.7% while murders are down 6.4% from this time last year, according to data maintained by the city.
This post was updated with comments from Mayor-elect Moreno.
Trump appears to doze during Cabinet meeting
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the last person to deliver remarks as members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet went around the table lavishing praise on their boss Tuesday — a process that took two hours and 17 minutes, by CNN’s count, and appeared to lose the president’s attention multiple times.
Rubio heralded Trump’s “transformational” foreign policy as the president, seated beside him, slouched in his chair, his eyes closed. Then he abruptly shifted, straightened, and looked at the secretary of state.
Moments later, the president’s eyes again appeared to close as Rubio made a joke about the college football playoff season. The Cabinet members around the table loudly laughed. The president, unmoved, barely raised his lips, his eyes fluttering briefly.
Trump narrowed, closed or appeared to close his eyes multiple times throughout the lengthy meeting, including during impassioned remarks by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and as Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer detailed workforce development efforts. He also seemed to look down at a paper on the table in front of him at times, giving the appearance his eyes were closed.
The White House said the president was “listening attentively and running” the meeting.
“President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNN.
“In all of these historic meetings, the President and his incredible team highlight the exhaustive list of accomplishments they have delivered on behalf of the American people to Make America Great Again,” she added.
The Cabinet meeting came not long after a New York Times report analyzing Trump’s schedule and public appearances generated new questions about his age and stamina. The president responded to that story by heralding his “perfect physical exam” and attacking the reporter’s appearance.
This post has been updated with comment from the White House.
Putin and US delegation finish meeting at Kremlin
The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US delegation of special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is now over, sources told CNN’s Matthew Chance.
The meeting lasted nearly five hours, Russia state media RIA Novosti reported.
In a post on X, Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev tweeted the word “productive” beside a peace dove emoji.
Senate Intel Committee leaders to meet Thursday with commander the White House says ordered second strike
Sens. Tom Cotton and Mark Warner, the chair and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee of Intelligence, will meet Thursday with the commander of the US Special Operations Command, who the White House said gave the order for the second strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean in September.
Warner said it “feels like” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is trying to shift responsibility for the decision to Bradley. He also pushed for the Trump administration to release the unedited video of the strike.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in Secretary Hegseth. You know, we know he was bragging about the fact that he watched real time. This is happening September 2, and if there’s no problem there, why not release the unedited video?” said Warner.
Warner went on to criticize Hegseth’s leadership style, saying that he has claimed to be “a leader and tough, and it seems like he can’t get his story straight, whether it was a second strike or maybe even more, in terms of third or fourth on this boat.”
Trump says he had a "very good talk" with Brazilian president today
President Donald Trump said he had a “very good talk” on the phone with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva today.
“We talked about trade. We talked about sanctions. … But we had a very good talk,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding, “I like him.”
Trump signed an executive action in July imposing a 50% tariff on Brazil after threatening the hefty levy if the country didn’t end its trial against right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The administration previously accused the Brazilian government of carrying out a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro, who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting an attempted coup.
Trump did not say whether he and Lula spoke about Bolsonaro in their call.
Putin has been meeting with US delegates for more than four hours
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US delegation of special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been meeting for more than four hours, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
It’s unclear how long the meeting will last. Before the talks began, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was no time limit and they would speak for “as long as it takes.”
Putin is accompanied by his aides, Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin has said.
Trump defends pardon of former Honduran president convicted on drug trafficking charges
President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his move to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, telling reporters at the White House, “I feel very good about it.”
“Well, he was the president, and they had some drugs being sold in their country, and because he was the president, they went after him — that was a Biden horrible witch hunt,” the president told reporters. “A lot of people in Honduras asked me to do that, and I did it.”
Trump had announced his intention of granting a “full and complete pardon” to Hernández last week in a move that erases a major US drug-trafficking conviction for a onetime US ally, formally issuing the pardon this week.
Hernández was convicted and sentenced last year to 45 years in prison and given an $8 million fine by a US judge for drug trafficking offenses.
On Tuesday, Trump downplayed the charges against Hernández, telling a reporter in the Roosevelt Room, “If you have some drug dealers in your country and you’re the president, you don’t necessarily put the president in jail for 45 years. That was a Biden inspired witch hunt.”
But as CNN has reported, prosecutors accused Hernández of conspiring with drug cartels during his tenure as they moved more than 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras toward the United States. In exchange, prosecutors said, Hernández received millions of dollars in bribes that he used to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.
Trump’s pardon has drawn bipartisan criticism from members of Congress.
Thune won't say if he has confidence in Hegseth amid Caribbean boat strike controversy
Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined address whether he has confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as the Pentagon faces bipartisan scrutiny over a controversial follow up strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.
Thune instead emphasized his confidence in the Trump administration’s approach to the region.
Pressed on whether he supports Hegseth in the role, Thune responded,
On the boat strikes: Thune said the Senate Armed Services Committee will “get the facts” on the Caribbean boat strikes, and then “we will get those answers in due time.”
“But I have every confidence that the policies that this administration is employing when it comes to keeping people in this country safe and ensuring that our policy is one of peace through strength, that those policies are being adhered to,” he continued.
Thune also said he believes Trump is “acting under his authority as commander in chief in chief” in the region when asked if Congress should approve US military actions in Venezuela and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, with immigration enforcement blitz expected, uncertainty and fear linger around New Orleans
The French Quarter was mostly quiet this morning, even as more Federal Protective Service officers than usual sat in cruisers near the steel-and-glass high rise at the foot of Canal Street that houses the city’s immigration court.
The vehicles’ red and blue lights flashed as residents and local officials across the New Orleans region still had scant information about the expected deployment this week of a key Border Patrol official and 250 of his agents as part of the White House’s coast-to-coast immigration enforcement crackdown, they said.
As one of the nation’s oldest neighborhoods woke up — residents walking dogs, tourists drinking coffee, everyone trying to avoid puddles from the prior night’s heavy rain — some predominately Latino businesses and restaurants about 15 miles away sat closed Tuesday.
Along Williams Boulevard in Kenner, people seemed nervous, limiting time on the street and quickly hurrying to the shops that were open and back to their cars.
Venezuela has more oil than Iraq
The United States appears ready for war with Venezuela, a prospect that President Nicolás Maduro this weekend attributed to America’s desire to control the country’s vast oil reserves.
The US State Department has denied that oil played a central role in America’s military sending more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops to the region – or that oil is behind President Donald Trump’s warnings that land strikes could be imminent and planes should avoid Venezuelan air space. Instead, the Trump administration says its military threats are part of America’s effort to stop flows of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs from Venezuela.
Whatever the rationale behind the rapidly intensifying situation in the Caribbean, if regime change is coming to Venezuela, the largest proven oil reserve on Earth will play a central role in the country’s future.
Venezuela is sitting on a massive 303 billion barrels worth of crude – about a fifth of the world’s global reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration. It’s the planet’s single-largest known mass of crude oil.
The United States produces more oil than any other country in history. But it still needs to import oil – especially the kind that Venezuela produces.
That’s because the United States produces light, sweet crude, which is good for making gasoline but not much else. Heavy, sour crude like the oil from Venezuela is crucial for certain products made in the refining process, including diesel, asphalt and fuels for factories and other heavy equipment. Diesel is in tight supply around the world – in large part because of sanctions on Venezuelan oil.
Read more about Venezuela’s oil here.
No indication that Moscow is willing to make "meaningful concessions" to end war, senior NATO official says
A senior NATO official told reporters Tuesday they see no indication that Moscow is willing to make “meaningful concessions” to end the war in Ukraine, as top US negotiators meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to secure a deal to stop the conflict.
The official said they commended the efforts of negotiators to try to break “the deadlock” and acknowledged “much can change around the negotiating table.”
However, “as we speak, we still see no sign that Russia’s position has changed, or that they’re willing to make any meaningful concessions,” the official said.
The official said that Moscow “will try to re-establish its proxies and interfere in domestic political processes” in Ukraine “after a deal is reached.”
They noted that Russia maintains its territorial demands and will still “aim to ensure Ukraine’s military capabilities are weakened as much as possible to pave the way for further aggression.”
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are holding a high-stakes meeting with Putin amid accelerated US efforts to bring the war to an end.
We're tracking the US strikes on boats in the Caribbean
The US military has killed 83 people in strikes that have destroyed 22 boats as part of a campaign that Washington says is aimed at curtailing the flow of drugs into the United States.
There had been three survivors of those strikes, two of whom were briefly detained by the US Navy before being returned to their home countries. The other is presumed dead after a search by the Mexican Navy.
The Trump administration has told Congress that the US is now in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels beginning with its first strike on September 2, labeling those killed “unlawful combatants” and claiming the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding.
Read our detailed timeline of the attacks here.
5,000 arrests is the goal of New Orleans-area immigration enforcement operation, source says
We’re now getting more information about an expected surge of federal immigration authorities this week into New Orleans.
Officials aim to arrest up to 5,000 people — hundreds more than in Chicago — across a zone extending some 80 miles northwest to the state capital, Baton Rouge, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
The operation would make New Orleans the latest Democratic-led city targeted by Department of Homeland Security agents as the fevered anti-immigrant rhetoric that helped deliver President Donald Trump a second term plays out from coast to coast.
The push into south Louisiana is expected to include a key Border Patrol official and some 250 of his agents. This year’s enforcement campaign has terrified immigrant communities and spurred grassroots resistance in Democratic-led cities from Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Here’s what we know — and don’t — about the expected action.
