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Trump, Xi Meets in South Korea, Agrees on Almost Everything; Cuba Devastated by Melissa, Recovery Efforts Underway in Jamaica; Nvidia Reaches Financial Milestone. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 30, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

President Trump says he's heading to China in April after a meeting with Xi Jinping.

Hurricane Melissa is barreling toward Bermuda as people in Jamaica grapple with the storm's impact.

The U.S. government is approaching a deadline for distributing next month's federal food aid, but there's no deal in sight to keep SNAP benefits going.

Plus, chipmaker NVIDIA has hit a major financial milestone and the company shows no sign of slowing down.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

A 12 out of 10 that is how U.S. President Donald Trump described his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just a short time ago. President Trump is flying back to the United States right now after those crucial talks, which were the final engagement on his whirlwind tour of Asia. Now we're learning more about what the leaders discussed.

The President says they agreed on, quote, "many very important points during their talks," including joint efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine. He says they came to an agreement on a trade deal, which could be signed soon and settled the issue over rare earths, that's according to Trump.

Speaking with reporters, the President said China pledged to buy large amounts of soybeans and in return, he would reduce fentanyl-related tariffs.

CNN's Will Ripley joins us now live from Seoul. Good to see you again, Will.

So President Trump revealed on Air Force One a short time ago that he has made a one-year trade deal with China's President Xi Jinping, and that includes soybeans and rare earth minerals. What more are you learning about this?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So the big question right now, Rosemary, of course, is what's the fine print going to show?

You know, the devil's always in the details, and President Trump has made some pretty broad statements, but we have yet to hear clarification or more details on the Chinese side, which of course is unsurprising. That's a government where things don't leak out, they're put out deliberately when the time is right.

President Xi at times looked a little bit visibly awkward, perhaps, standing next to President Trump when they were in front of a row of Western media cameras and reporters were shouting questions. President Xi never takes unscripted questions.

But in his remarks to President Trump, he did talk about the fact that even though the two countries have differences, they also have a lot of reasons to cooperate. Let's play that sound first from President Xi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other, and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Well, one of the biggest areas of friction was the issue of rare earths. China basically controls not just the mining, but also the processing of the rare earths that are used to produce semiconductors, the microchips that power all of our global tech. That has been a big sticking point.

President Trump's been trying to secure deals with other nations, such as Japan and Australia, to eventually mine and process their own rare earths, but that's years down the road. Well, President Trump saying that the rare earths issue has been solved and settled. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have a deal. Now, every year we'll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year. We'll negotiate at the end of the year, but all of the rare earth has been settled, and that's for the world. I mean, you know, worldwide.

I guess you could really say this was a worldwide situation, not just a U.S. situation. So we continue to produce the rare earths and buy the rare earths and everything else, you know, what you see from other countries, but China is that whole situation, that roadblock is gone now. There's no roadblock at all on rare earths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: In that same gaggle with reporters on Air Force One, President Trump also said Rosemary that China is going to buy lots and lots of American soybeans, but again, the devil's in the details. Let's see what it says in black and white. Interesting that President Trump is saying he may be traveling to China in April.

That would give the respective teams in D.C. and Beijing six months or so to get the details ironed out, and perhaps the two leaders could have a big signing ceremony in Beijing, and we know President Trump likes a lot of pomp and ceremony and big state visits, and maybe he'll get that.

[03:05:08]

He didn't get that here in South Korea when he met with the Chinese leader, although he certainly got a lot from the South Korean President. By the way, he also said that he finalized a trade agreement with South Korea. We have to see when that could potentially be signed, but certainly a lot unfolding here on the ground, considering that President Trump was here just over 24 hours.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. It has moved swiftly. Will Ripley, you've been on top of it, bringing us that live report from Seoul, I appreciate it.

Well, there have also been some key nuclear developments. The U.S. President said about two hours ago that he would like to see denuclearization, that it would be a tremendous thing. But earlier in the day, he announced that the United States will immediately begin testing nuclear weapons on an equal basis with China and Russia.

This would mark the end of a more than 30-year voluntary moratorium on such testing. Japan issued a statement a short while ago saying it will keep working toward a world without nuclear weapons. Japan is, of course, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack.

Right now, Hurricane Melissa has regained some strength back to a Category 2 as it makes its way out of the Bahamas and heads toward Bermuda. It's already left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, hammering Jamaica, Cuba and other islands with torrential rain, flash flooding, dangerous storm surge and fierce winds.

Flooding remains the biggest concern in Cuba hours after the storm slammed into the island on Wednesday. Streets and homes were washed out and the floodwaters damaged hospitals and schools and knocked out communications. Officials in Jamaica say catastrophic isn't even strong enough to describe the type of devastation they're seeing in the hardest hit areas. More than 70 percent of the country has no electricity and heavy equipment is needed to reach some cut-off areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: Yesterday was horrible, horrific, terrifying, the worst day of my entire life. It was terrifying for me and my child. The water level reached me to my waist, I was stuck in my house, they had to break into my home to save me.

DANA MORRIS DIXON, JAMAICAN MINISTER OF INFORMATION: There are many communities in Western Jamaica, St. Elizabeth, in Montego Bay. I know a lot of American tourists come and see beautiful Montego Bay. That has taken a big hit and so we need to get to those marooned communities.

And so having heavy equipment, having crew that can come in and assist us in getting to those areas is really very important. We also need to get food to these areas because a lot of these people are cut off and do need food supplies flown into them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And international aid is on its way to Jamaica as the airports reopen. Melissa is one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, responsible for at least 30 deaths throughout the Caribbean.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam reports from Jamaica where there is a long road to recovery.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Widespread devastation. After the deadly Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record whipped through Jamaica Tuesday, leaving behind a path of destruction, most of the island without power.

On the ground, a muddy mess as people come out to survey the damage for the first time, crumbling infrastructure.

Flooded roads, down trees, causing major disruption and making getting aid to those most in need a very difficult task.

VAN DAM: We are literally on the front lines of the Jamaica Defense Force, ambulances, local NGOs, police, volunteers trying to clear the roadway leading into Black River, some of what we believe is the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Melissa.

It's a monumental effort to try and get aid through to this area, including medical provisions. We've seen ambulances and people coming together to push those ambulances through debris and thick mud. This effort trying to get aid and people and the help that is desperately needed into portions of Western Jamaica.

VAN DAM (voice-over): People banded together. Some did whatever they could to survive.

UNKNOWN: I had to climb over a house, a wall, just to get shelter in another person's home, just so that I didn't drown to death with my child. VAN DAM (voice-over): Jamaicans also can't get a break from the heat.

The humidity from Melissa shot the heat index over 100 degrees, making conditions to clean up even harder.

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ANDREW HOLNESS, JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER: Black River is what you would describe as ground zero. The people are still coming to grips with the destruction. But from what I've seen and the interaction, the people here are strong, resilient and positive in outlook.

VAN DAM (voice-over): Melissa also hit Cuba, flooding streets of Santiago and cutting off road access.

UNKNOWN (through translator): There was a lot of wind, a lot of rain. This area was flooded. Where you see now, the water reached almost knee high.

VAN DAM (voice-over): In Haiti, Melissa's outer bands brought deadly flooding.

Back in Jamaica, the road to recovery is long, but some are staying strong.

UNKNOWN: Jamaica is a disaster right now, so we just have to pray for the best and the good, help each one when we can help, and that's it.

VAN DAM: This is some of the heavy machinery being used to clear a route into the Black River region, which is still about 15 miles to my south and west. A very difficult and challenging task ahead.

We were on a medical convoy following along with the Jamaican Defense Forces today, working along this very road. But we encountered so much debris that we had to turn around, and many other people clearly are doing the same. It is going to be a challenging, monumental task to clear this road to get the necessary aid to the hardest hit areas of western Jamaica.

I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Santa Cruz, Jamaica. Back to you.

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CHURCH: And to find out ways you can help those affected by Hurricane Melissa, you can go to cnn.com/impact.

Well new developments now on a story that's captured the world's attention. A third suspect has been arrested in connection with the theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris, that is according to BFMTV in France.

The broadcaster added that the man was suspected of being present at the crime scene in the museum during the robbery; two suspects had previously been arrested in connection with the brazen theft. On Wednesday, French prosecutors say those two suspects admitted their involvement in the heist. The crown jewels have not yet been found. A group of Democrats and Republicans are working to end the U.S.

government shutdown to avoid the Saturday deadline that could see a lapse in food aid benefits for millions of Americans. We'll have details on that after the break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: For the second time this year, the U.S. Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates as it tries to keep unemployment from surging. The Fed voted for another quarter-point rate cut on Wednesday, putting the lending rate between 3.75 percent and 4 percent, the lowest level in three years. It's the first time the Fed has set monetary policy without the benefit of an entire month of government employment data, which was unavailable due to the government shutdown.

Well, there appears to be some movement in the standoff over the U.S. government shutdown. A group of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate working behind the scenes believe they have found a possible path to end the stalemate. Here's what the House Speaker had to say.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I mean, the Democrats are eating up the clock. We have very important work to do here, and that's why we're pleading with them, not Chuck Schumer.

Look, I think Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are irredeemable at this point. I don't think they'll be able to tell Mamdani in New York and his disciples that they voted to open the government. I've given up on the leadership, so we're trying to appeal to a handful of moderates or centrists who care more about the American people and will put the people's interests over their own and do the right thing in the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The push comes as the food assistance program known as SNAP is set to lapse on Saturday if no deal is reached. The group is also trying to resolve the impasse on health care subsidies. CNN's Manu Raju caught up with one Senate Democrat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV): I don't think federal workers should be political pawns. I don't think we should swap the pain of some Americans for others. I think we should be lifting all of them up and helping them.

I think we can keep the government open and address this looming crisis of the health care cliff that we are seeing.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have your fears about the shutdown been borne out?

CORTEZ MASTO: I can tell you what I know and I'm hearing in my state. People are suffering because they're not getting a paycheck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and co-author of the new book, "Campaign of Chaos - Trump, Biden, Harris and the 2024 American Election." Good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Nice to be with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So the U.S. government shutdown has hit the 30-day mark with neither side willing to compromise and make a deal to end the pain being felt by federal workers and 42 million Americans about to lose access to food benefits. How and when will this shutdown likely end?

SABATO: There's going to be a lot of additional pressure in the next week. For one thing, as you know, we'll be going into record territory next Wednesday, as a matter of fact. We will be the longest government shutdown in American history.

That isn't anything to be proud of. And as you mentioned, the SNAP benefits, the food benefits will be cut off for 42 million Americans as of Saturday.

[03:20:01]

And there are all kinds of other unpleasant parts of this coming, including dramatic increases in the Obamacare health care premiums that people will be paying in order to keep their insurance. And that's going to be a shock to most Americans when they get their insurance estimates on what it's going to cost for them in the coming year.

So you put all that together and you also add in the fact that there may be sick ends -- call in sick from air traffic controllers and TSA agents and possibly others and you're talking about major dislocations.

CHURCH: And Larry, Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to tap into a contingency fund to keep Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP payments flowing. But Republicans are refusing to do this. Why?

SABATO: They're refusing to do it because they don't want to make it easier on Democrats to continue their opposition to ending the shutdown. Although, remember, it's both parties for different reasons.

And I also think they believe, well, that's not really our constituency, the Republicans, that is, which is a terrible way to look at it. But I think that's part of their calculus.

CHURCH: And Larry, with 42 million Americans set to lose SNAP food benefits on November 1st and many federal workers also hurting under this government shutdown, will Democrats in the end be forced to consider opening up the government to save all of these Americans instead of digging in to fight to protect the other 20 million whose health insurance premiums are about to skyrocket in cost?

SABATO: I think the Democrats are feeling some pressure, particularly because the largest government employees union has called on them to stop the shutdown. Actually, they called on both parties. But the surprise is they're a Democratic group mainly, and they went after the Democrats.

There's some pressure, but Democrats have already cast their lot and I think they're determined not to give in because their base was so angry with them in March for giving in.

CHURCH: And if the government shutdown continues and passes the previous record of 35 days, what will be the likely ramifications and who else gets hurt with this?

SABATO: Well, one thing we've noted in our 30-plus days of polling since the shutdown is that consistently Republicans have been blamed more than Democrats. Now, partly that's because we're combining those who blame President Trump primarily with those who blame the congressional Republicans.

But still, after all, Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress, and other power centers at the federal level. So it makes sense that people blame them more. As long as that doesn't change, then I think quite possibly Republicans will be the loser if this goes on and on.

And don't forget Thanksgiving, a big American holiday, is just a few weeks away. And if people aren't able to use their air tickets and get where they're going, they're really going to be angry.

CHURCH: And Larry, as you point out, polls previously have been showing that Americans were blaming Republicans for this shutdown. But could that change as more and more Americans start to feel the considerable pain of this shutdown and which party will ultimately suffer the most of the midterm elections next year?

SABATO: A lot of issues will intervene between now and next year and there are so many of them, it's difficult to say whether people will even remember the shutdown. But it's been so long already and it's going to go on for a while longer, it may be a major issue.

I would think that probably Republicans would suffer more because the economy also is shaky. If that continues, it will combine with the shutdown to produce some kind of democratic bomb.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always good to talk with you. Many thanks.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Crafting the narrative. President Trump is heading home after crucial talk with China's Xi Jinping and we're getting his take on what came out of that meeting. Back with that and more.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

Hurricane Melissa is back to Category 2 strength as it makes its way out of the Bahamas and heads toward Bermuda. It's already left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, hammering Jamaica, Cuba and other islands. At its peak, Melissa was one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, responsible for at least 30 deaths in the region.

There appears to be some movement to end the weeks-long U.S. government shutdown by a group of Republicans and Democrats who are working together.

[03:30:03]

The push comes as the food assistance program known as SNAP is set to lapse on Saturday if no deal is reached. The group is also trying to resolve the impasse on health care subsidies.

Donald Trump is headed back to the U.S. after wrapping up a tour of Asia and most recently an important meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The U.S. President says they reached a trade deal that could be signed soon. It's the first time the leaders have met face to face since President Trump's first term.

Let's get right to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout who joins us live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie

President Trump and Xi met after the Fed cut rates. For global investors, it's quite a day. How are Asian markets responding?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Asian markets also taking in the big news of the day, Rosemary, which is of course that very consequential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the leader of China. With the U.S. President Donald Trump saying that this was an extremely good meeting, the Chinese side saying, quote, "a consensus has been reached" but Asian markets kind of wavering in response, which is very interesting to see.

Now, they had already factored in a thaw in the relationship. On the back of the news of this meeting to take place, which took place a couple hours ago, the first time both leaders have met in person face to face since 2019.

After this meeting, the U.S. President Donald Trump said that a deal had been reached. It could be signed and would be renegotiated after a year. He also said that tariffs on Chinese goods would drop to 47 percent. Now, we're also keeping an eye on U.S. futures. If we could bring that

data up for you just to get an idea of what the trading day will look like in the U.S. and there you can see it's a mixed picture across the board there.

Now, President Trump and President Xi, they were widely expected to sign a framework on a trade deal. And to get there, negotiators on both sides were working furiously to untangle a host of contentious issues.

Here's a reminder, let's bring it up to you, of what those issues are, including fentanyl, including soybeans, including China's export curbs on rare earth minerals, including a deal on TikTok.

Now, let's walk through these issues step by step, one by one. On fentanyl, Donald Trump said that he is indeed reducing fentanyl- related tariffs to 10 percent.

On export curbs on rare earths, Trump says the issue has been, quote, settled. On soybeans, Trump says, quote, large amounts of soybeans will be purchased.

And this just in to us in regards to TikTok, we heard from the Chinese commerce ministry in the last few minutes that it will, quote, "properly address a TikTok deal."

But still, there's a lot of deals that -- a lot of details that we still don't know. There's going to be a lot of skepticism out there, which is why I want to share with you this quote from an analyst based here in Hong Kong, kind of throwing water on everything that we've heard, especially from the U.S. President Donald Trump, saying this.

This is Dickie Wong, head of research at Kingston Securities.

"After the meeting ends, does it really mean that the two countries have a joint statement and then the U.S. will not back all tariffs on China, drop tech curbs, and China will export rare earths again? I don't see any possibility."

And then we also heard this from Fred Newman, he's the chief economist of HSBC. And I asked him his take on events this day. And this is what he offered.

He said this, quote, "The one concrete takeaway is the potential 10 percentage point cut in fentanyl related tariffs, which is a win for Xi. But investors are cautious because the details are needed here."

Now, he does add that overall, this week was a good step forward for U.S. relations with Asia, U.S. relations with China. Everyone had priced in and were anticipating a thaw. And it looks like a thaw has been delivered here. Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong with that report, I appreciate it.

And we do have another update on the investigation into the Louvre heist.

The Paris prosecutor has just told French radio that five new suspects have been arrested in connection to that robbery, two suspects had previously been arrested in connection with the brazen theft. On Wednesday, French prosecutors say those two suspects admitted their involvement in the heist. The crown jewels have not yet been found.

Still to come, from media giants to car makers, employers are slashing thousands of jobs. We will have details on the sweeping cuts.

And you're looking at the world's first public company to be worth over $5 trillion, as NVIDIA soars on the back of an A.I. boom that's put it at the center of a tug of war between the U.S. and China. Back in just a moment.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Let's take a look at today's business headlines.

YouTube will offer voluntary buyouts to its employees in the U.S. who wish to leave as part of a restructuring plan, it's part of a broader reshuffle to focus the company on A.I. While the plan does not involve mandatory staff cuts, it comes amid wider layoffs in the tech industry, as well as concerns that A.I. will replace human jobs.

General Motors says it's cutting close to 2000 manufacturing jobs, they're involved in making electric vehicles and their batteries.

[03:40:03]

More than 1500 other workers will be temporarily laid off. The company cites the slowing demand for E.V.s and a change in regulations under the Trump administration.

And Paramount is slashing 10 percent of its workforce. The company's new leadership is looking to reshape the media giant following its merger with Skydance earlier this year. The cuts will impact many of the company's divisions, including CBS News and its movie studio.

Well President Trump says he discussed computer chips with China's Xi Jinping, but did not say whether he'd lift restrictions on Nvidia's ability to sell advanced A.I. chips to China.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after a meeting with the Chinese President, Mr. Trump said that Nvidia will have their own discussions with China over chip sales. It showcases how important Nvidia has become a day after it surpassed a valuation of $5 trillion for the first time.

Clare Duffy filed this report a little earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: That's right. Chipmaker Nvidia is officially the world's first $5 trillion public company, and just three months after it crossed the $4 trillion valuation mark. The company's stunning growth has, of course, come because its chips are essential to the data centers that power the A.I. revolution.

And I've been at the company's GTC A.I. conference in Washington, D.C., for the past few days, where CEO Jensen Huang also talked about the company's desire and its plans to get its technology into even more of the tools and devices that we use every day. Everything from cell phone towers to self-driving cars, robots that will be used in surgery or in factories. And being at this event, you really get a sense of just how huge and how central Nvidia is to the tech ecosystem.

The company announced partnerships that range from Palantir to Uber; you've got the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, T-Mobile. And all of that is helping to fuel the company's stunning stock growth. This growth also comes as CEO Jensen Huang is set to meet with President Trump in South Korea at the APEC summit this week.

And, of course, President Trump is also expected to be having conversations at that event about the U.S.-China trade war at a time when Nvidia is hoping to get the channel back open for it to restart chip sales into China. That could potentially open up the opportunity to earn billions of dollars more revenue from that very crucial market.

So just, you know, the company continues to grow at this rapid clip. And yet there still seems to be so much more opportunity for Nvidia in the future. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "World Sport" is coming up next.

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