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Donald Trump Enroute To China For Talks With Xi Jinping; U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Says Keir Starmer "Has My Full Support". Number of Hantavirus Cases From Cruise Ship Rises to 11; Passengers From Virus-hit Ship Being Quarantined, Monitored; U.S. Raises Gas Prices Forecast Amid Busy Travel Season; CIA Escalates War on Cartels With Deadly Operations in Mexico; Trump Suggests Making Venezuela America's 51st State; Dubai Tech Company is Developing Smart Contact Lenses. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 13, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:38]

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

Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Donald Trump heads to Beijing, a high stakes visit amid a stalled cease fire with Iran and a flagging economy at home.

Defiant as ever, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows to get on with governing, ignoring growing calls for him to resign.

Plus, contact lenses like you've never seen before, will look at the cutting-edge technology that's pushing boundaries.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. It is 2:00 p.m. in Beijing, just a few hours until the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump for a high stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The war with Iran is expected to dominate their discussions.

Before leaving Washington, President Trump said he would have a long talk with his Chinese counterpart, but he downplayed the need for China's help in ending the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think President Xi can help contribute to a deal with Iran?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He could. I mean, it might be. I don't think we need any help with Iran, to be honest with you, they're defeated militarily, and they'll either do the right thing or we'll finish the job. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. also announced a more than $12 million military sale to Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. The president also brushed aside the financial pain Americans are feeling over his policies and the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

TRUMP: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters, when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about American financial situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Let's go live now to China's capital and CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang. So, Steven, a lot at stake and some very sensitive issues to discuss. What's the mood there and what are the expectations?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Rosemary, I think the mood here is probably the calm before the storm, although I think they could also use a big storm to clear up the smog here in the city to create a more blue-sky backdrop for the summit.

Now, we have noticed closed public spaces and heightened security in parts of the city where the president is presumably going to visit, including the Temple of Heaven, a famous landmark, and also a hotel near the U.S. Embassy.

But this kind of disruptions, though, pales in comparison to the potential disruption to global trade and international relations if this summit doesn't go well, because obviously, it's a meeting between two increasingly powerful leaders of the world's superpowers.

But as the cliche goes, it's high stakes, but low expectations. Less than 24 hours before the two leaders are going to meet Scott Bessent the U.S. Treasury Secretary, still in South Korea, meeting with his Chinese counterpart, presumably trying to hash out some last minute deliverables out of the summit.

Now, trade and economic issues obviously going to dominate the agenda, very much a reflection of the president's policy focus and personal interests or disinterest. You just heard him say he doesn't need China to help on Iran, but it's all but certain he is going to ask Xi Jinping to do more to pressure Iran, one of China's closest partners in the Middle East.

And indeed, Beijing actually may be waiting for that in person ask before they do more so they could potentially tout positive results out of this summit as well.

So, the bottom line is, this kind of meetings, it's very unlikely to change the overall trajection of this relationship, increasingly competitive on multiple fronts.

So, both sides are, in a way, trying to buy time so they could address their own strategic vulnerabilities. For the U.S., it's about its supply chain risks, especially on things like rare earths. For China, it's all about, as Xi Jinping has put it repeatedly, self-reliance in key technologies trying to free China from the U.S. chokehold, as he put it, in key technologies to ensure national and economic security.

So, at the end of day, Rosemary, both sides are very much incentivized to extend that tariff truce they first reached last October, so they could prolong this rather fragile stability in this relationship, at least for now, Rosemary.

[02:05:07]

CHURCH: Steven Jiang in Beijing, many thanks for that live report. Appreciate it.

Yan de Yang is the Kremer chair professor of economics at Willamette University and senior fellow at Boston University's group. Yan Liang is the Kremer chair professor of economics at Willamette University and senior fellow at Boston University's Global Development Policy Center. She joins me now from Portland, Oregon. Appreciate you being with us.

YAN LIANG, KREMER CHAIR PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY: Good to be with you.

CHURCH: So, what are you expecting to come out of this historic high stakes summit between Presidents Trump and Xi in the midst of the Iran war, and with other top issues also on the agenda, including Taiwan trade and, of course, A.I.

LIANG: Yes, so I think Gordon (ph) pointed out this is a very symbolic, high-level face to face meeting between the two leaders.

And as you remember last time when Trump visit, that was to eat 2017, so many things have changed in the past nine years, especially in the last year and a half.

So, I think the two leaders have a lot to talk about, and this kinds of face-to-face communication is very important. So, I think just the fact that Trump is going to China, I think that makes a lot of significance.

And as you also mentioned, to talk about, of course, Iran war will be part of the topic, but I think the bilateral relationships will still be the focus of this talk.

So, as you mentioned, Taiwan tech and trade, the three T's, I think would really be the focal point. And so, I don't think there's a lot of deliverables, as a reporter also, I think rightly points out. But even just trying to purchase more agricultural purchases, you know, also energies and airplanes, all of this would then allow Trump to come back home to boast right that his wings, and I think that is super important for his political base, as you know, very close to the midterm election.

CHURCH: And President Trump says he doesn't need any help from President Xi to end the Iran war, but with a cease fire falling apart and negotiations stalled, what help could China potentially offer to end the conflict by getting Iran back to the negotiating table to sign a nuclear deal, perhaps, and open up the Strait of Hormuz?

LIANG: Well, I actually think that President Shawn could use a lot of help right now, as we know, you know, the military maneuver with Iran is not really going well for the United States.

Washington Post has just recently reported that Iran very much still retain over 70 percent of its missiles and 75 percent of its mobile launches. And the Strait of Hormuz is still being closed, and the U.S. inflation, just in April, has risen to, you know, 3.8 percent compared to 3.3 percent the month before.

So, I think, you know, the Trump would really want it to end the war, and it really wants to, you know, have the visible sort of the wings to show to both domestic basis and also, you know, to Israel.

So, I think you will want it to have some more help from China. And China definitely is in a position, in a way, to play a positive role, which is what they have been consistently saying. They do want to help to put an end to this, to this war.

You know, as you know, China is the large -- the largest right importers or Iran's oil, close 90 percent of the total Iran oil exports, and China is also Iran's comprehensive strategic partners since 2021, Iran is part of the U.S. China allied BRICS and also SCO.

So, I think, in a way, China does have a lot of persuasive power. Has a lot of influences on Iran.

But that said, it's hard for China to prac -- to promise anything, because Iran, of course, has its own essential threat due to this military attack. So, I think Iran has its own calculations, but I think China will try, you know, to play a positive role, to again, put an end to this -- to this war.

CHURCH: So, overall, what do both sides want to get out of this high stakes Summit, and what will they likely get in the end?

LIANG: Well, stability. I think stability, or stabilizing the relationships between the two countries, is really the highest goal of this meeting.

So, as we know, last year, in 2025 there have been, has been, you know, class escalation of the terror war between the two sides at the peak, I think the U.S. had 145 percent tariff rate on China, and trying to reciprocate, it was 125 percent tariff.

And so, it turned out this is really a lose-lose situation. That's why both sides reached agreement at the Busan meeting to have a tariff truce, which expired by November this year. So, I think at least these two sides will talk about how to manage the

kind of trade relationships, how to adjust the imbalances, how China could work with the United States to remove some of these tax restrictions, which is what China is really -- that China really wants.

[02:10:01]

But again, I think there's a lot of structural issues that will not be completely resolved in this just one meeting.

So, I think both guys will try to, first of all, achieve some deliverables like I mentioned earlier. You know, China has been purchasing U.S. soybeans, 12 million major tons that have been taught that -- the target has been met by early January.

But of course, China, you know, would probably promise to purchase more, probably, 25 major tons, million tons by the end of this year, which is still, you know, a possibility, but it would be difficult, because China's strategic, you know, stockpile of the soybean right now is actually quite high.

But anyway, I think that some of these lower-level deliverables, right, China's pledges that purchase soybeans, energies, you know, trying to use to purchase four million tons of LMGs in 2024, but that drastically reduced last year because of the tariff war.

So, I think China could increase the purchase of the U.S. LNGs and other petrochemicals.

And finally, you know, airplanes. I think that there has been a lot of talk about 500 possible, you know, 737 Max Boeing airplanes and some idle white body planes.

So, I think those are really tangible deliverables, which, again, as I said, it will allow Trump to come back home with some sort of you know, deals that could show to his political base.

CHURCH: Yan Liang, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

LIANG: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. A senior Pentagon official says the Iran war has cost the U.S. $29 billion so far, that estimate is higher than the $25 billion figure the Defense Department provided to Congress just two weeks ago.

According to one public policy expert, the conflict will ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers at least $1 trillion.

Now, this comes as inflation in the United States is soaring. The annual rate rose to 3.8 percent in April. That is the highest reading, and the first-time inflation outpaced wages since May 2023.

New CNN polling shows Americans are increasingly concerned about high prices. 73 percent say they believe current economic conditions are poor and cost of living is one of their biggest economic concerns.

Well, deadly fighting has once again erupted between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese state media report at least six people were killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Israel says it intercepted rockets and drones in that region where its forces are operating, the IDF, adding that two Israeli soldiers were injured by a drone attack in Israel near the Lebanese border, both sides have accused each other of violating the cease fire.

Digging in and fending off a challenge from within. Britain's prime minister is in the fight of his political life. Why he may now have the upper hand. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:17:34]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Britain's embattled prime minister is making it clear he has no intention of resigning despite a revolt from inside his own party. More than 80 labor members of parliament have called on Keir Starmer to step down, and four Junior ministers have resigned citing a lack of leadership.

However, more than 100 other labor MPs signed a statement backing the Prime Minister, saying this is no time for a leadership contest.

Well, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister says he fully supports his boss, and points out that so far, no potential rival has the numbers to challenge Keir Starmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LAMMY, DEPUTY BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The only person that benefits from the Labor Party -- the Labor Party, naval grazing in this way is Nigel Farage and the populist right.

Keir Starmer was elected just under two years ago with a mandate from the British people for five years. He has my full support, and what I say to colleagues is, look, let's just step back, take a breath. Let's remember that we have the King speech. We are in government to do a job of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: I want to bring in Tim Bale now, who is a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London. Appreciate you joining us.

TIM BALE, POLITICS PROFESSOR, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Good morning.

CHURCH: So, Britain's Prime Minister is refusing to step down, despite calls to do so from inside his own party. Instead, Keir Starmer is challenging any potential rival to launch a formal leadership bid against him, which would require at least 81 of the 403 labor MPs to unite around a potential leader. Is there any sign of that happening? BALE: Well, there are rumors that Wes Streeting, the health secretary, does have the numbers and would be able to challenge Keir Starmer. He is having a meeting one on one with Keir Starmer this morning. I guess there's a possibility that he could. Tell Starmer that he is about to challenge him.

However, it's not looking as good, perhaps for Keir, for Wes Streeting as it was yesterday. It appears that the PLP, the Parliamentary Labor Party, has, to some extent, anyway, rallied round Keir Starmer, there are more people who have signed the letter supporting him than there are people who have called for him to go.

[02:20:03]

Keir Starmer has been able to replace the junior ministers and the other front benchers who resigned, which is a sign that perhaps people in the parliamentary Labor Party still feel that he is the prime minister for some time yet.

CHURCH: And you mentioned those labor MPs who support Starmer saying that this is no time for a leadership contest. But how did the Prime Minister go from winning a landslide general election victory back in 2024 to such a bleak outcome in recent local elections?

BALE: Well, the first thing to understand is that Keir Starmer was never that popular, and indeed 2024 the labor victory, was to some extent a loveless landslide, as some people called it, was a very shallow win, and Keir Starmer was not particularly popular in his own person.

I think early on, he made some missteps. There was a whole debate around him accepting freebies from a donor. There were mistakes with regard to his messaging on Gaza and Israel, which really upset a lot of labor South Asian voters in the U.K., he attempted, via his Chancellor, to row back on the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, and then you turned on that.

So, there are a whole series of early missteps which kind of set the tone, I think, for the way that people see Keir Starmer and indeed the government.

And of course, in the end, it's the failure to get growth going. And of course, the cost of living crisis, the inflation that we're seeing partly as a result, now, obviously, of the Iran war that is causing the government so many problems.

CHURCH: And of course, despite no real sign yet of a potential contender mounting a formal leadership challenge against Starmer. Three names are being mentioned. You mentioned Health Secretary Wes Streeting Manchester mayor, also Andy Burnham and Starmer's former deputy, Angela Rayner. But all three have some major challenges to overcome if they want to do this.

So, is there anyone else hiding in the wings, perhaps?

BALE: Well, there's always the possibility of some sort of dark horse candidate, and some people mention al Kahn, who is a first-time labor MP with an impressive military record. But it would be very unusual, I think, for someone like that to come through normally when we see these leadership contests. It is the big beasts, as it were.

But as you say, they all do have problems in some ways, obviously, Streeting, in some ways, is seen as too right wing for many labor grassroots members who, in the end, have the final say in any leadership contest. Angela Rayner is still trying to get out from under the failure to pay tax on a house purchase. We haven't seen how that's going to be resolved yet.

And in some ways, the man with the biggest problem, although it's one that maybe he can solve now, is Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, because you need to be in parliament in order to be able to stand in a leadership contest, he would have to find a labor MP willing to give up their seat trigger a by election, and he would have to actually win that by election, which might be difficult given the way that labor performed at the local elections last week.

CHURCH: Yes, he's very popular, though, isn't he? And of course, in the meantime, what damage is being done to the country and, of course, its economy while this infighting continues?

BALE: Well, if you look at the bond markets and the financial markets more generally, Sterling, for example, that did take a bit of a hit yesterday. However, it does seem to have kind of rallied around the government in some ways, partly because I think it feels that Starmer probably has got the measure of his opponents anyway, at least for the next few days and weeks.

Obviously, the uncertainty is never really good for the economy, but in the end, it will be the underlying realities of the economy, whether we can get growth going, whether we can get productivity going in this country, and whether in the end, inflation will be conquered, because that is the killer normally for a party's prospects of reelection. It is, to some extent, still, I'm afraid the economy is stupid.

CHURCH: Right. Tim Bale, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

Well, in the coming hours, Catherine, Princess of Wales, will head to Italy for her first official overseas trip since her cancer diagnosis. The British royal is traveling to the historic town of Reggio Emilia and in northern Italy.

Kensington Palace says the two-day solo visit will focus on early childhood development. An aide describes the trip as an important step in the princess' recovery journey. The cancer has been in remission since last year. The visit will mark Kate's first international trip since 2022.

[02:25:05]

And still to come, CNN's exclusive investigation into this Russian ship which may have been carrying nuclear reactors to North Korea before it sank to the bottom of the sea. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Now to the mystery of a Russian cargo ship that sank in the Spanish Mediterranean in 2024.

[02:30:00]

A CNN Investigation finds that the ship was likely carrying nuclear reactors and may have been on the way to North Korea before ending up on the bottom of the seafloor.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh brings us this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A mystery in the Mediterranean, the possible torpedoing of a Russian ship to stop the Kremlin handing submarine nuclear reactors to North Korea begins in a quiet Spanish port.

PATON WALSH: This really is the craziest of stories about a Russian shadow fleet ship that sank off the coast here in the strangest of circumstances, whose Russian captain confessed to investigators here that it was carrying two nuclear reactors possibly for a submarine.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The incident is shrouded in silence but concerns the most serious of issues, weapons proliferation between two nuclear powers and force being used to stop it. The Ursa Major ship loaded up near St. Petersburg in early December 2024, on paper bound for Vladivostok with a cargo of two huge cranes and over a hundred empty containers.

It made another stop loading two large manhole covers. It set sail. A shadow fleet ship used by Russia in Syria, the Portuguese Navy followed it from above. You can see the blue covers here until just before it ran into trouble in Spanish waters.

PATON WALSH: It was way further out to sea when the Ursa Major on the 22nd of December, 2024 suddenly slowed, and Spanish rescuers noticed this and they radioed to ask if anything was wrong. The ship insisted it was fine and could deal with the situation.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): But about 24 hours later it made a sharp deviation and issued an urgent call for help. The boat was listing this video shows filmed from a nearby tanker, but probably not going to sink too fast. The captain of the ship would later tell investigators he'd seen a 20x20 inch hole in the hull, the damaged metal facing inwards.

He said it had been followed by three explosions on the starboard side of the boat, killing two of his crew.

PATON WALSH: So the Russian military arrive in force and they tell everyone to stay two nautical miles away from their ship, the Ursa Major. But the Spanish know they need to conduct rescue operations, so they send this ship to pick up 14 Russian survivors who were brought back here and that includes the Russian captain, who it seems starts to help investigators piece together some of what's happened.

But it is hours later that day that the mood changes over the Ursa Major ship and the Russian military fire flares over it and then a series of explosions follow, which Spanish seismic sensors picked up and they send the ship to the seabed floor.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Moscow demanded their crew back, but the Russian captain told Spanish investigators something remarkable, that the ship was carrying components for two nuclear reactors likely for a submarine he said, adding he could not be sure if the reactors had fuel in them.

There's no evidence of contamination. He also told investigators he thought he would be diverted not to Vladivostok but to North Korea's port of Rason. Russia was in North Korea's debt at that time after they sent 10,000 troops to help fight Ukraine two months earlier. And in December 2025, North Korea would claim to have built this, their first nuclear-powered submarine.

PATON WALSH: Everything may have been on the bottom of the sea, but the Russians weren't done yet and according to a source familiar with the investigation, about a week after the incident, a Russian research vessel called the Yantar linked in the past to all sorts of allegations against Moscow, sat over the wreckage for about five days and four more explosions followed, possibly the Russians destroying what was left of the wreckage.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): In the months after the U.S. may have shown interest in the site, twice sending a rare WC-135R Constant Phoenix, usually secretly sniffing out traces of nuclear activity in Russia's Arctic or over Iran, over the path of the Ursa Major weaving low at 5,000 feet. One had flown a similar route 13 months earlier perhaps suggesting it is routine. The aircraft's U.S. base declined to provide any details.

Spanish lawmakers have urgently sought answers but got few.

JUAN ANTONIO ROJAS MANRIQUE, SPANISH OPPOSITION POLITICIAN (through translator): When someone doesn't clearly and fully provide the information that you request, you at least suspect that they are hiding something, of course.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): So why did the ship sink? The Spanish investigation said the first impact was likely from a projectile called a super cavitating torpedo that fires air in front of itself to reach very high speed. Others suggested something simpler.

MIKE PLUNKETT, SENIOR NAVAL PLATFORMS ANALYST, JANES: Sounds like a limpet mine. It sounds like a shaped charge explosive that was placed against the hull by somebody or something.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The Russian owners immediately called the sinking a targeted terrorist attack.

[02:35:00]

They, the Russian, Spanish and British militaries did not reply to a request for comment and the Pentagon declined to. There are few Western militaries operating there, capable of noticing, tracking and stopping a cargo like this. All sides, it seems, happy for this secret to stay on the seafloor.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Cartagena, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The head of the World Health Organization says there's no sign of a larger Hantavirus outbreak after it spread aboard a cruise ship. The number of reported cases is now up to 11 among passengers and crew, including three deaths reported early in the outbreak. All passengers are now off the ship and it is headed to the Netherlands to be disinfected. The WHO says the risk to global health is low.

More than a dozen Americans who were on that ship are now being monitored here in the United States. CNN's Dianne Gallagher has the latest from Nebraska.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The American cruise ship passenger who is currently in the biocontainment unit here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is speaking out for the first time from that very room.

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld talked to Erin Burnett on Tuesday evening from that biocontainment unit, telling her about his experience so far. Now, CNN previously spoke with Kornfeld about what he was doing on that cruise ship. He's an oncologist who stepped up, he said, to help some of the people who were critically ill from the Hantavirus.

That is in part why he is here in the biocontainment unit, because authorities wanted to do tests on those who had been in close contact with those people, and one of his tests showed a mild positive when he was tested again. That was a negative, but U.S. Officials exercising extreme caution treated him as a positive Hantavirus patient.

So they used the biocontainment protocol when they evacuated him from Europe to here in Nebraska, and he went straight into that biocontainment unit.

Now, Kornfeld said he has since been tested again. Those tests went to the CDC, and they're still awaiting results. Now, we have also learned that the 15 passengers who are currently in the national quarantine unit in the building behind me here have also been offered testing for Hantavirus, and at least one of them has chosen to get those tests done.

Jake Rosmarin told CNN that he had blood work done on Tuesday for PCR and antibody testing. Now, all of these passengers are about halfway through the 72-hour assessment period at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where doctors and nurses are interviewing them, trying to trace their close contacts, go over their steps on that cruise ship and get an idea of just what they've been up to for the past couple of weeks.

Also, they're doing health monitoring to see how they're feeling, trying to determine if they have any symptoms of the virus whatsoever and checking their temperature a couple times a day. Now there were two cruise ship passengers that once they arrived here in Nebraska, they were sent to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, because one of those passengers was starting to display mild symptoms of the virus. It was a couple. Both the person with the symptoms and their partner were sent to Emory.

But the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday that the person with the mild symptoms had been tested and that test came back negative for Hantavirus. Now, according to the World Health Organization, there are 42 days recommended in this quarantine period for these patients who are being observed right now. They also say that at this point, there are 11 cases of Hantavirus associated with that cruise ship.

Back to you.

CHURCH: Ahead of Donald Trump's visit to China, we take a look at a network of Chinese refineries allegedly processing Iranian oil. We'll have details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:43:56]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Disappointing news for Americans ahead of the busy summer travel season. The U.S. Energy Department is raising their forecast for gas prices and warns oil futures will likely stay above $100 a barrel in the coming weeks. This as officials now expect Brent crude oil, the world benchmark, to remain near $106 a barrel in May and June.

Well, just a few hours' drive from where Chinese leader, Xi Jinping will welcome U.S. President, Donald Trump this week, sits a refinery that's allegedly part of a network helping fuel Iran's economy by importing oil. CNN's Simone McCarthy reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA REPORTER (voice-over): As we drove to this oil facility three hours south of Beijing, it was soon clear we weren't welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are just trying to block the camera basically.

MCCARTHY (voice-over): A black van pulled up, blocking our view of one of the many refineries dotting China's coast.

[02:45:00]

MCCARTHY: Security here is really tight. This is a facility which is sanctioned by the U.S. government for allegedly importing Iranian oil. MCCARTHY (voice-over): Iran sends most of its oil to China. That trade is in the spotlight ahead of President Trump's arrival in Beijing this week, with the U.S.-Iran ceasefire under strain. The day before Trump departed for China, Washington blacklisted a dozen people and entities it says are linked to the trade of oil from Iran to China. Five Chinese oil refineries and multiple port terminals have been sanctioned by the U.S. since last year for allegedly importing Iranian oil.

The company we visited, Hebei Xinhai, was sanctioned last May. It declined CNN's request to be interviewed. It was hard to tell what kind of oil the plant was processing, but sanctions clearly hadn't shut it down.

The U.S. has been increasingly imposing sanctions on Chinese entities it believes are involved in the trade of oil from Iran.

SCOTT BESSENT, UNITED STATES TREASURY SECRETARY: They are the largest state sponsor of terrorism and China has been financing them with their energy purchases.

MCCARTHY (voice-over): For its part, China doesn't acknowledge importing Iranian oil. It also rejects U.S. sanctions and has been pushing back. Earlier this month, Beijing ordered companies not to comply with sanctions on refineries.

MCCARTHY: Multiple ports south of me here as well as across the ocean this direction are believed to have continued to import Iranian oil throughout the course of the war.

MCCARTHY (voice-over): This oil is carried by a network of vessels, including those known as the Shadow Fleet. The oil is loaded in Iran and shipped out, often to a floating gas station off the coast of Malaysia, where dozens of boats loiter with their tracking devices turned off, trading sanctioned oil and ferrying it to buyers like those in China.

CNN pinpointed one such transfer where the Iranian-flagged vessel, Herby, transferred oil to a China-bound tanker just last month. Weeks later, the Herby was intercepted by the U.S. Navy on its way back to Iran. Once those ship-to-ship transfers are complete, ships heading for China blend in with thousands of other vessels regularly transiting through these waters.

For the U.S., that's a major problem. But for China, this oil flow is powering its economy and keeping a close partner afloat.

Simone McCarthy, CNN, Hebei Province, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And now to a CNN exclusive report.

The CIA is escalating a secret war on drug cartels with deadly operations inside Mexico. One such operation happened in broad daylight on one of Mexico's busiest highways just outside the capital in March. A warning, the video you're about to see is graphic.

Mexico's attorney general says an explosive device was hidden inside the vehicle of an alleged mid-level member of the Sinaloa cartel, killing him instantly along with his driver. The cartel, based in Sinaloa state, is one of Mexico's most notorious drug trafficking syndicates. Multiple sources tell CNN the operation was part of an expanded CIA campaign inside Mexico.

The level of CIA involvement with operations targeting cartels has varied from intelligence sharing to direct participation in assassination operations. After this story was published, the CIA said the reporting is "false and salacious." But it did not specify what aspect of the reporting is false.

President Trump is not giving up on his idea for a 51st state. First it was Canada. Now he's targeting Venezuela.

On Tuesday, he posted an image of a map on Truth Social with Venezuela colored like the American flag. The post comes after a Fox News reporter said he spoke with Trump and that the president claimed he was seriously considering this. But Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, dismissed the idea on Tuesday, saying Venezuela is "not a colony but a free country."

Still to come, move over smartphones and smart glasses. The next big tech revolution could sit right on your eyes. We'll have details for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:51:56]

CHURCH: A bipartisan group of Senators is giving a hero's welcome to the crew of Artemis II. The four astronauts joined a meet and greet in Washington, sharing the details of their history-making flight around the moon. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee thanked the crew for inspiring millions of people and congratulated them for traveling farther into deep space than any humans before them.

Mission Specialist, Christina Koch offered her own message for lawmakers.

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CHRISTINA KOCH, MISSION SPECIALIST, ARTEMIS II: The most important word that I feel I can say here is not only thank you to enabling our mission, but congratulations. Because the people in these buildings are the people that made it possible for us to carry all of the dreams of all of humanity with us on this mission. And we like to say that what we do shows what humanity can accomplish when we come together to do great things.

But those great things also have to have purpose, value. And the people in these buildings are the people that make sure that that's true and hold us accountable to that.

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CHURCH: Last month, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced new legislation to reauthorize NASA in hopes that the U.S. will become the first country to put a permanent base on the moon.

A tech company in Dubai is pushing wearable technology to a whole new level. Its goal is to take smart glasses a step further to make smart contact lenses. CNN's Ivana Scatola takes a look at the development.

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IVANA SCATOLA, CNN SUPERVISING PRODUCER (voice-over): The next stage of the technological revolution is coming, and it promises to be completely futuristic. XPANCEO, a Dubai-based tech company, is developing a prototype that sounds like it's straight out of the Matrix, a smart contact lens.

ROMAN AXELROD, FOUNDER, XPANCEO: Think of it as the ability to use all your typical apps and content directly on the cornea. Something similar to smart glasses, but even closer to your body.

SCATOLA (voice-over): The company says a version of this could be ready to buy as soon as 2030. Several other companies are developing something similar. The idea is to merge all personable gadgets into one single wearable that's invisible, weightless and A.I.-powered. The company calls it the next generation of computing, but aims to go one step further by monitoring biometric data in real time as well.

SCATOLA: Why do you think humans will benefit from a smart contact lens?

AXELROD: Think of it as an ultimate intelligent assistant surrounding you all the time. Think of it as an Iron Man helmet probably. Computing is around you, you operate it by eyes, by voice, by gesture, probably later by mind.

So basically you only need to think about it and it happens.

SCATOLA: Hello?

VALENTYN VOLKOV, CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, XPANCEO: Hello, how are you doing?

SCATOLA (voice-over): Good. Valentyn Volkov is the Chief Technology Officer.

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He's taking me on a tour of the labs.

VOLKOV: Bring it to your eye as close as possible, take a look through. Can you see something?

SCATOLA: Yeah, yeah, I can see speed, kiloliters per hour.

VOLKOV: Yeah. SCATOLA: So basically, it's like lots of different apps that I would have on my phone.

VOLKOV: Well, right now, yes. Of course, it can be used for gaming, for shopping, for monitoring your health, for basically measuring calories in your coffee, for everything.

SCATOLA: The driving one, like I can see so clearly how that would be helpful. Instead of me looking down at my screen, I'm taking my eyes off the road.

VOLKOV: Sure, sure, that's a big advantage.

SCATOLA (voice-over): The prototype comes with a wireless companion device, which serves as the charger and main data hub.

SCATOLA: And like medically, is there any risk of wearing something like this and having a companion device so close to your brain?

VOLKOV: The lens itself it operates at the level of microwatts. The amount of this electromagnetic field, which can potentially somehow influence your brain, your body is comparable to, I think, to those ibox (ph) that you are wearing here.

SCATOLA (voice-over): The team says it has produced more than 28 working prototypes. Its goal is to launch an integrated version with biosensors and the ability for augmented reality, ready for medical trials by the end of this year.

The smart lens would continuously measure glucose levels in human tears, providing real-time data in changes in blood sugar. That, in theory, would be revolutionary for diseases like diabetes.

VOLKOV: That's a very simple prototype. It does not require any batteries, any antennas, nothing. Only this smart chip integrated inside the lens. Instead of going to the hospital, you can just make a selfie, get a value and see how your pressure changes during the day. And then your doctor will make a diagnosis.

SCATOLA (voice-over): The company aims to target contact lens wearers first. According to a leading organization for contact lens education, that's around 250 million people globally.

AXELROD: They're still contact lenses. They still enhance your eyesight. But at the same time, they will provide you a picture with the ability to talk to your intelligent assistant and the ability to measure your biological parameters instantly.

SCATOLA (voice-over): XPANCEO says it would aim to market the lenses at around $2,000 a year.

SCATOLA: Lots of people would say a smart contact lens is kind of dystopian, will rarely be disconnected, right?

AXELROD: My son is four-year-old. I don't think he -- when he will be in his 30s, I don't think he will make a huge difference between digital and real world. I really do think that those worlds will inevitably merge at some point.

In the end of the day, it's up to you to decide how much time you want to spend in the digital world.

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CHURCH: Mind-blowing, isn't it? Thanks so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval is next after a short break. Stay with us.

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