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U.S. China Agree on Trade Deal Framework Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting; Trump to Meet Tomorrow with Japan's First Female Prime Minister; Hurricane Melissa Nears Jamaica as Catastrophic Category 5 Storm; Canada, U.S. Could Lose Measles Elimination Status. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired October 27, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Your message to Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, your message to the Department of Agriculture and the White House to understand, well, they have this political fight and you are very clearly stuck in the middle.

JUAN SARO, DISABLED VETERAN AND SNAP RECIPIENT: Like you said, the president can move money overnight to fund pet projects and he can move money shortly to keep veterans and children and working families from going hungry. You know, I would say any man, woman, or child in the United States, the richest country, the most powerful country in the world, should never have to wonder where their next meal is going to come from. The world is watching.

We need to get this right. I understand there is divisiveness in politics, but this isn't about politics. This is about priorities, and our priorities should be our citizens and making sure that we have food on the table when that was promised to us.

BOLDUAN: Juan Saro, we'll definitely stay in touch. Thank you very much for coming on this morning to tell your story.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, President Trump is in Japan right now. Just hours after the U.S. reach a framework for a crucial trade deal with China. We have details on key developments from Trump's trip to Asia.

And breaking overnight, Hurricane Melissa strengthening to a dangerous Category 5 storm as it takes aim at Jamaica. Mandatory evacuation orders as the island braces for the potentially catastrophic storm.

Also, how a woman's decision to pull over and stand on the side of a highway helped save her life.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: This morning, President Trump's high-stakes trip through Asia has brought him to Japan. But all eyes are on what's happening between the U.S. and China, actually, the world's second-largest economy, now that the two sides appear to be on the brink of a trade deal that could avoid new tariffs. Just days before President Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced what he described as a substantial framework for that agreement, which includes provisions, they say, on fentanyl, China purchasing U.S. soybeans once again, rare earth exports coming out of China, and the ownership of TikTok. Aboard Air Force One, the president expressed high hopes about closing the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have China coming and it's going to be very interesting. I have a lot of respect for President Xi, and we are going to, I think we're going to come away with a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kristen Holmes live in Tokyo for us right now. What more are you learning about this framework, Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Kate, everything we know either comes from Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent or his Chinese counterpart, and it doesn't all 100 percent line up. We haven't seen any kind of paperwork, any kind of actual framework. It's just snippets here and there.

Scott Bessent has sounded incredibly bullish, whereas his Chinese counterpart sounded more reserved. Now, that's to be expected. But here's what we believe to be in this framework.

One, when you talk about fentanyl, a further cooperation on stemming the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Now, as you mentioned, soybeans, which is a huge issue in America, particularly for American farmers, China would buy a, quote, substantial amount of U.S. soybeans. China could delay export controls on rare earth minerals. This is what we heard from Bessent, that he expected some kind of deferral, possibly even up to a year.

And just a reminder, Kate, that export control, that is what actually triggered President Trump to announce that November 1st they would have these 100 percent tariffs, which Bessent said essentially now no longer exist. So we're back to the drawing board on both of those, with a deferral on rare earths as well as this no 100 percent on tariffs.

And then lastly, this finalizing of the deal on TikTok ownership, transferring that ownership to the United States. Bessent essentially said that was a done deal, only for the leaders to sign off on. The rest of this seems to be there's still a negotiation around it.

BOLDUAN: And, Kristen, also, so that is -- there's a lot more to come on that. But also, what's the update on the president's health? Speaking to reporters on the way over, talking about getting an MRI.

HOLMES: Yes, I mean, it was kind of a stunning moment. President Trump was asked specifically if he had gotten an MRI during his recent visit to Walter Reed. We know he had gotten, quote unquote, advanced imaging.

That's what his doctor's note had said.

[08:05:00]

And we even asked the press secretary the other day what advanced imaging was. She said she didn't know. He bluntly answered yes that he had had an MRI.

Now, he didn't answer why he got an MRI scan or what it was for exactly. But, of course, in President Trump fashion, he said that it was great results, perfect results, that he went through the machine and it was all perfect.

And then he went on to say, you have all this information, which, of course, we do not have. This was all news that he had gotten this MRI. So we've reached out to the White House to see if there are any other details that they're willing to provide on this MRI, what it was of, why he needed to get it.

So far, radio silence.

BOLDUAN: We shall see. It's good to see you, Kristen. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Soon after touching down in Tokyo, the president met with Japan's Emperor at the Imperial Palace. Tomorrow, he's set to hold talks with Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

This will be Takaichi's debut on the global stage, with billions of dollars in trade and defense commitments with the United States on the table.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is live in Tokyo for us. Can you set the stage for this critical meeting and how you see this will play out?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sara. It's good to see you. So we're largely expecting the two leaders to get along pretty well.

They're both conservatives, they're both quite nationalistic, and they share a lot of the same personal and political values. So, again, from the Japanese side, we are expecting Trump and Takaichi to get along well during their very first official bilateral summit. Now, sources tell me that Takaichi will likely lean into her close personal relationship that she shared with the former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

Now, Abe was very close to Trump. The two leaders played many rounds of golf together. They enjoyed Japanese culture together.

They fed koi fish together at one point. So, again, very colorful relationship. And Takaichi will likely be trying to emulate that with Trump because, again, this is a very uncertain time for U.S.-Japan alliance, and especially when it comes to trade.

So Takaichi will do her very best to really just have a good relationship with Trump, try to get as close to Trump as possible. Now, sources tell me that Takaichi will likely try to do that by gifting Trump golden golf balls and also a golf putter and really a golf club that Trump used when he used to play golf with the former Japanese prime minister. So, again, engaging in golf diplomacy to try to get closer to the U.S. president.

But there are some potential roadblocks ahead for the U.S.-Japan alliance, especially when it comes to trade. The U.S. and Japan do have a tariff agreement, but there are some questions about this $550 billion investment deal that Japan has pledged to.

Now, this is a huge sum for Japan. It's actually more than a tenth of Japan's entire annual economy. But Japan still doesn't know where that money will go, how that will be invested. So during this bilateral summit, we are expecting both leaders to try to iron out some of those details, especially, again, because this tariff war has been continuing for so long -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, Hanako Montgomery, thank you. Great reporting there from Tokyo for us.

All right, in just a few seconds, Kate, I was just going to talk about the hurricane, but I'm going to let you do it.

BOLDUAN: Okie dokie, I will do that. Right now we are tracking Hurricane Melissa, a dangerous Category 5 storm, heading for Jamaica. The island issuing mandatory evacuation orders as it braces for what could be the worst ever hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica.

Plus, caught on camera, the scary moment a tire flies off a semi and lands in the middle of a busy, busy highway.

And Canada is at risk of a major setback in its fight against the measles, and the United States could be next.

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Breaking news this morning. Hurricane Melissa is now a category 5 storm with winds of up to 160 miles an hour and it is now expected to make a direct hit on Jamaica in just hours, potentially becoming the strongest storm to ever make landfall there. Jamaican official told us just last hour that 70 percent of the population on the island lives within three miles of the coast.

He also says this about the risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SAMUDA, JAMAICAN MINISTER OF WATER, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE: When you're speaking about waves 17 feet high, a storm surge that will come inland. You're speaking about massive flooding, 30 inches, 40 inches of rain simultaneously. There isn't infrastructure that's built, I think, anywhere in the world to navigate that sort of risk. So we do expect that if it does come on shore, we will be facing significant damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And the description is significant damage. CNN meteorologist Chris Warren is tracking this for us. What does the path look like so far?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's heading right for Jamaica. Which part of the island it hits will really determine who gets some of the strongest of the winds. But the entire island will not escape this. It will be hit by this.

The entire island will be seeing tropical rain for hours and hours and hours. A category five hurricane, five or four making landfall, either one will create catastrophic damage.

And you see just how long it takes for this hurricane to move across the island from late tonight. It's already raining there and this is tropical rain.

[08:15:00]

The mountains get that much more water out of the atmosphere. It will continue to rain with now add in the winds overnight tonight into early tomorrow afternoon.

The rainfall footprint alone, even without the winds, will be a catastrophe in terms of the flooding that's expected, the landslides that are expected as well with this. And you can see this is 10 to 20, even more than 20 inches, three feet or more of rain is a possibility in about a day's time. Another way to look that you can see how quickly the storm appears to go across. But that again is a long time from now until tomorrow afternoon.

And while the storm is moving across the island, bringing some very strong winds, hurricane force winds and this intense rainfall, we're going to be seeing that push of water on the ocean. So this is the rainfall. I have this map for you.

If you kind of take a moment and look the mountains here in Jamaica, you can see this fine line right here. That's just a sign of just how much more rain you get on the windward facing. So the part of the mountains that get the wind, the air goes up.

You get that much more. It cools and condenses. You get that much more rain.

So the point here is now that all this water is moving out trying to go back out to sea. Unfortunately, the hurricane is also pushing the seawater into the island and in some cases it will be over land. So the potential storm surge, so the wind pushing the salt water on shore will be around possibly nine feet in some locations. And while Kate, the same time that water is trying to drain out of the mountains and this is a very dire situation, I think for a lot of Jamaica with this situation being repeated all along the coastline, especially the south facing beaches.

BOLDUAN: Yes, big, big risk. It's all going to be getting started very soon. So many people need to take -- need to heed the warnings. It's good to see you Chris. Thank you so much.

Much more to track on this also had for us. Two suspects were arrested in that wild jewel heist at the Louvre. Now how police say they were able to track them down and how many more are still fought to be on the run.

And tariff trouble. The president escalating his feud with Canada even more over an ad that aired during the world series.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Today marks one year since continuous measles transmissions in Canada, the outbreak centered in Ontario. The country has reported more than 5,000 cases this year, more than twice what it's seen in the past 25 years combined. As cases rise, health officials warn, Canada could lose its measles elimination status and the U.S., not far behind.

CNN Health reporter Jacqueline Howard is joining us now. What causes the country to lose that status? And the fact that it could happen here because we are also seeing an increase in measles cases across the country.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, Sara. And when a country achieves measles elimination, that means that there has not been local spread of the disease over 12 months. So that means that over a year, one local person has not spread measles to another local person.

So when a country loses elimination status, that means they have had continuous local spread of the disease. And that's as you said, that's what we're seeing in Canada. Today marks a year since there has been local spread. And so there is concern about what that means for their elimination status.

Canada achieved measles elimination in 1998. So if that status is lost, that would be a major setback for that country's public health. And Sara, similarly here in the United States, we achieved measles elimination in the year 2000.

But so far this year, there have been more than 1,500 confirmed cases reported by at least 42 states and territories. So again, there's a concern about what that means for our elimination status as well. And there's actually a meeting that the World Health Organization is holding next month at one of its regional offices. That's where officials are going to talk about measles elimination. So many people are going to watch that meeting to see, OK, what are they going to say about Canada? What might they say about the United States?

Because again, elimination status appears to be at risk for both countries -- Sara.

SIDNER: Are there any sort of formal consequences if you have the status eliminated that you are no longer measles free?

HOWARD: There's not really like a formal penalty, but it is something that public health experts watch. When we asked the World Health Organization what that means, here's what they told us in an e-mail.

They said, quote, "There are no formal consequences of losing measles elimination status. However, having measles again as an endemic disease will have a profound negative impact on communities, including preventable deaths among some of the most vulnerable populations."

And Sara, countries that lose elimination status, they will be asked to submit an action plan. To kind of lay out, OK, what are they going to do to fix this? What are they going to do about getting more people vaccinated?

How are they going to respond to outbreaks and contain the disease? So again, this is something that is important to watch, especially as we see more discussions around this coming up in November.

SIDNER: Yes, it's really sad that we're seeing this back in such a big way in both countries.

HOWARD: Exactly.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Jacqueline Howard. It's always a pleasure.

[08:25:00]

All right, ahead this morning, the urgent search for a missing child continues as police say the child's mother is, quote, uncooperative. And teachers say the girl hasn't been in school in months.

Also talk about right place, right time, an officer rushing to rescue a driver who started choking behind the wheel. What happened here? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Busted. French authorities say they have caught two of the suspected thieves who stole priceless crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in a brazen daytime raid. Paris prosecutors say both men were arrested Saturday.

[08:30:00]