Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing for First Time in 33 Years; Israel Launches New Strike Amid Shaky Ceasefire; Group of Senators Negotiate Behind the Scenes to end Stalemate; Trump, Xi Agree to Lower Tariffs, Ease Trade Tensions; Blue Jays Dominate Dodgers in Game 5, Take 3-2 Series Lead. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired October 30, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: President Trump orders the U.S. military to restart nuclear weapons testing immediately. It is 09:00 a.m.
in Washington. I'm Erica Hill. Thanks for joining me here on "Connect the World".
Also, ahead this hour, new arrests in the Louver Museum heights. But just where are those priceless jewels? Hurricane Melissa now barreling toward
Bermuda as those in Jamaica and across the region grapple with the storm's devastating impact. And the leaders of the world's largest economies appear
to have finally settled a bitter trade war, at least for now.
We're also keeping a close watch on futures. The stock market here in New York set to open just about 30 minutes from now, and as you can see, we are
trending toward a lower open with all three major Indices in negative territory at this hour in terms of Futures. The DOW did break above the
48,000-mark for the first time, but did finish the day in negative territory on Wednesday.
U.S. President Trump is on his way back to Washington at this hour after his first meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, since returning to the
Oval Office. Mr. Trump says he and Mr. Xi agreed on almost everything. Trump also said he would lower the tariff on Chinese goods by 10 percent
because of progress that was made between the two nations.
When it comes to soybeans, those rare earth minerals we hear so much about and issues around the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Trump also
sounding an optimistic tone about a wider trade deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think pretty soon, we have not too many major stumbling blocks. We were -- 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Ivan Watson joining us from Hong Kong. Kevin Liptak joins us from the White House. Kevin, I'm going to start with you. There's so much
being made of I do want to get to the deal, but first, there are so many questions about what President Trump meant when he vowed to resume nuclear
weapons testing after more than 30 years. Is there any further clarification at this hour from the White House or from the president about
what he meant?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Not really, and the president was talking about it on Air Force One, and even after that, it
was not precisely clear what he meant by this most provocative message that he sent.
You know, the U.S. hasn't tested a nuclear weapon since 1992 so this would be a resumption of something that has been halted for decades. And just to
set sort of the scene here, the president sent out this message as he was aboard Marine One, flying to that airport in South Korea where he was due
to meet President Xi for talks that were meant to create a dialog.
In part to avoid surprises and confrontation, which essentially the president upended even before he touched down. And so, the biggest question
that I think we don't have the answer to right now is whether the president is talking about testing a nuclear warhead or whether he's talking about
testing some of the delivery systems for these nuclear weapons. He did talk a little bit about what he was intending when he was speaking on Air Force
One. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It had to do with others. They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don't do testing. We've halted
it years, many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTAK: So, when he was saying we're talking about others here, he was asked whether he was talking about China specifically. So essentially
suggesting that this is about Russia. But we should note that both China and Russia have both observed a moratorium on nuclear testing for decades,
along with the United States.
I think perhaps what has caught the president's attention here was Russia's test just in the last few days, of a nuclear capable cruise missile and
torpedo. The Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering those tests up after the summit between himself and Trump in Budapest that Trump had previewed
essentially fell apart.
Now, when you talk to nuclear engineers, they say that this type of testing of warheads is actually not necessary that they're able to do a number of
computer simulations that give them idea, an idea of how this would all progress. I think we should also note that the president in this directive
was issuing it towards the Pentagon.
But it traditionally has been the U.S. Energy Department that has oversight of the maintenance and testing of the nuclear stockpile. So, you know, a
lot of questions that are unanswered here, I think, for a president who is in Asia to try and work to stabilize this U.S. China relationship. This
shows that his foreign policy is just as volatile as ever.
[09:05:00]
And I think you know, for President Xi, who referenced the quote twists and turns in the U.S. China relationship in his opening remarks, this is just
another twist that he will have to navigate.
HILL: Yeah, certainly. Kevin, appreciate it. I want to bring in Ivan now, who's joining us from Hong Kong, with a little bit more on this deal. And
what we know about it. There were some key goals, obviously, heading into this meeting between the two leaders, some of them were met. There are some
questions, though, about the durability of the deal. Can you walk us through what was agreed to?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. And we heard President Trump on Air Force One saying, well, we'll probably have to talk
about this again every year moving forward. But he says it's effectively a deal. He's celebrating the progress that was reached today.
Saying, if you rated the meeting on a scale of 0 to 10, this would be a 12. Not surprisingly, the Chinese Leader Xi Jinping was much more conservative
with his language, saying, well, both sides have come to consensus. Take a listen to what President Xi had to say at the start of their meeting,
acknowledging that there have been some real problems in this bilateral relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT: 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)
WATSON: So, let's look at what seems to have taken place. On November 1st, just two days from now, President Trump had threatened 100 percent
additional tariffs on Chinese goods. That seems to have gone away. In fact, he cut in half a 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods that was tied to
fentanyl, that he claimed China is sending into the U.S.
That's going down to 10 percent and he says it will be around a 47 percent tariff on Chinese goods into the U.S. China has agreed to pause strict
export controls on its rare earths, which are effectively a monopoly and needed for the manufacture of everything from iPhones to jet fighters.
The pause in purchase of American soybeans, which China did back in May in response to these escalating tariffs that the Trump Administration was
imposing that seems to be coming to an end with the U.S. Treasury Secretary saying that China has agreed to buy some 12 million metric tons of soybeans
this season alone, with a pledge to buy more than twice that annually for the next three years.
President Trump, he teased the possibility that China would be purchasing energy from the U.S. in the future, possibly oil and gas from Alaska. We
did not hear anything about the future of TikTok. No specifics about the social media platform.
But it does appear that the tensions are now ramping down. Xi Jinping has shown he went toe-to-toe with the Trump Administration over the past 9, 10
months, and he came and stood and Trump acknowledged that he was a tough negotiator, and I think that's probably what we've seen take place in Korea
today, Erica.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Ivan, really appreciate it. Thank you. Turning our attention now to Paris, where five additional suspects are now in custody,
arrested in connection with that daring heist at the Louver that stunned the world earlier this month.
Authorities say one of the suspects is believed to be part of the four- person gang that carried out the brazen daylight theft in the museum's Apollo Gallery. Two other suspects, of course, had been taken into the --
custody over the weekend. Despite the arrest, the stolen jewels worth over $100 million have yet to be recovered.
CNS's Melissa Bell is following all the developments for us from Paris. So, Melissa, what more do we know about these five arrests and the suspects?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you say, we do understand that one of these latest five arrested is one of those who
was here on that day. Of course, those two that have been arrested over the weekend, also part of that four-man team, have now been placed under formal
investigation.
This was yesterday evening. When we heard from the prosecutor a bit more about the investigation. A bit more about them. These two had been known to
police. It was DNA samples that had matched them to the scene of the crime. This latest arrest of one of those four also tied to the scene of the crime
we understand by DNA.
As to the other four arrests that have been made since yesterday. We understand that these are people who are not there necessarily that Sunday
morning, but may have elements that can help this investigation move forward. But certainly, a sense here in Paris that 11 days Erica after this
manhunt began, there is -- there are big developments, and they are really zooming in now on those who may have been responsible for this.
[09:10:00]
To try and figure out how big the team was? How it had been planned? Who was involved? For now, though, as you say, no sign of the tools, and this
was confirmed by the prosecutor yesterday evening. And of course, that is really what French authorities are hoping to get their hands on.
Hopefully before they've been dismantled and sold and are still intact. But of course, with every day that passes, the hopes of that happening appear
to diminish, so we wait to hear more. For now, they're not giving that much away simply because this is an ongoing investigation, and they don't know
Erica whether there are other people that they need to speak to.
But it will have taken them 11 days to get their hands on seven suspects. Progress being made, but a lot of questions that still remain. And for the
time being, the rest you can see the Louver Museum is open behind me. It's a sunny day here in Paris. The rest of the Crown Jewels, we understand,
have been moved out of the Louver for safe keeping and placed at the Banque de France, France's Central Bank until better security arrangements can be
made here at the Louver.
HILL: It is really something. Really quickly, Melissa, before I let you go, as you mentioned, there are still a number of questions when it comes to
this investigation, some of the investigation some of those questions are about security measures. Do we know if there's been any change in security
measures at the Louver, even in terms of the cameras, which seem to be fairly lacking based on what we've learned?
BELL: Certainly, we had heard that it was the cameras on the other side of the Apollo Gallery, so on the Senate side of the Louver that simply hadn't
had a view on that any through which they entered. So, a lot of questions, a lot of soul searching here in France from authorities.
We've heard the Director of the Louver was speaking to a Senate Committee saying that they were urgently looking at security, not just here at the
Louver, but at other French Museums. And there's a debate going on about the guards. You know, the guards here are trained to get the people out of
the museum, as we discovered on that Sunday morning.
One of the questions is whether they shouldn't have full time police actually base here all the time who would be armed and able to intervene.
So, a lot of questions about how they secure their prisons. But of course, that's going to take some time to put in place Erica.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Melissa, appreciate it. Thank you. Happening this hour, crowds are gathering for so called "Million Men Rally" in Jerusalem.
Ultra-orthodox Israelis protesting mandatory military service being extended to include them. Now, in the past, many in the ultra-orthodox
community were exempt from that draft, from the mandatory service, allowing them to focus on Religious Studies.
Recent efforts though to change that those are being bitterly resisted. CNN's Jeremy Diamond Joining us now live from Jerusalem. So far, you know,
a fairly large crowd it looks like behind you. What is happening at this rally today?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, at a minimum, there are already tens of thousands of Orthodox men who have come out to
pray and to protest against the conscription of ultra-orthodox youth who are studying in the interest to join the Israeli military.
This is a debate that has been roiling Israeli society for decades. But that has really ramped up over the course of the last year. Since last
year, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the exemption that ultra- orthodox young men enjoy -- to serve in the Israeli military since they turn 18.
That exemption was effectively illegal, calling on the military to begin to enlist these young ultra-orthodox men. And we have seen those efforts from
the Israeli military ramping up since that ruling actually took place. We have seen that ramping up as the military has begun to arrest some yeshiva
students.
And that is one of the reasons that prompted these tens of thousands of people to come out here today and to protest against the arrest of some of
those Yeshiva Students (ph) and also against the latest efforts to try and young men into the Israeli military.
There is now a new draft of this latest attempt to kind of square this circle between the recruitment of these young men and the fractious
politics involved with the Israeli Prime Minister's right-wing government.
He has wanted to maintain the support of many of these ultra-orthodox parties, and so as a result, there is a new bill that has been drafted
that's set to go before Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee next week. And ahead of that, you are seeing this massive protest today. Israeli
police have said they should expect as many as -- people to be attending, and it is disrupting all of Jerusalem today. A very massive show of force
from the ultra-orthodox community in addition that has been -- Israeli society at large.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. We see all the people behind you, and then we have a split screen Jeremy, but the streets as well, just full of people across
what appear to be major roadways. Really appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, Israel, for its part, meantime, says it has carried out another strike in Northern Gaza. This happening overnight, targeting what Israel
described as a weapon storage facility that U.S. brokered ceasefire is still technically in effect. But as CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Oren
Liebermann, explains, it does appear, the new normal in the Enclave is a truth without peace.
To read more about his take and what is happening there on the ground. Be sure to check out our new App at CNN or log on to the website for more of
that important analysis.
[09:15:00]
Still ahead here, Hurricane Melissa regaining strength, barreling now toward Bermuda after leaving behind a trail of destruction across a number
of Caribbean countries. We have a closer look at that and questions about the rebuilding next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: At this hour, Hurricane Melissa is turning in open waters toward Bermuda, where a hurricane warning is in effect. This slow-moving storm has
left behind a massive trail of destruction across the Caribbean over the last several days. Melissa is one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on
record, to ever hit the region.
And is now responsible for at least 30 deaths, including 23 people in Haiti alone. For more CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is joining us now from
the Weather Center in Atlanta. So, in terms of this storm, which has just proven to maintain such power over so many days. Where is it at this hour
and what more is to come, Allison?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, so right now it's over the open Atlantic, not really impacting much of anything, and it is still getting
weaker. This is what we like to see. This is not the same Category five storm that we had several days ago. Now down to a category two sustained
winds of 105 miles per hour, and it's going to slide.
It's going to continue to slide off to the north and east, just missing Bermuda. So, it is going to go just to the west of the island nation. Now
it may still be close enough to provide some of those outer bands, but Bermuda is not going to see the type of damage and destruction that places
like the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti or even Jamaica saw with this storm, simply because it is now a much weaker storm.
Here's a look at the system, though, as it continues to slide up to the north and east. By early Friday morning, it will then since be past Bermuda
and just continuing off into the open Atlantic. Here's a look at the storm as a whole. Again, you can kind of see says it slides off to the north and
east.
Some of those outer bands are going to get awfully close to Bermuda. They could have some showery periods of time as we go through late Thursday and
then into the overnight hours, but at that point, then things are finally going to clear back up.
Here's a look at the winds, though, again, notice how strong some of those winds are still and even towards the center. The good news is that center
of the storm is not expected to pass over land, keeping the strongest winds well out over the open waters.
Now another thing to note is the wave height, because even with this storm, it's going to start growing in size here in the next couple of days as it
continues to weaken. And when it does, you can see it starts to spread those wave heights. So, Bermuda, even though they may not get the
destructive wind speeds out of the storm like some of the other islands did.
They are still expected to get some pretty decent wave heights out of this as the storm continues to pass on by. One thing to note, though, see this
cold front right here, this blue cold front, this is what is actually helping to prevent Melissa from coming back towards the United States.
It's going to kind of help steer it just in between Bermuda and the U.S. Now, in some cases, you are still going to see that high rip current risk
and some high surf along the eastern seaboard, but we're not expected to see any of the damage and destructive nature that we did in some of the
other countries over the last few days as Melissa hit.
[09:20:00]
Simply because that cold front is really going to kind of keep the system offshore, allowing us to really just see honestly, at this point, the only
damage we're likely to see is in the form of rip currents and some high surf.
HILL: All right. Appreciate it. Allison, thank you. I do want to give you a closer look at some of the destruction left behind by Hurricane Melissa
across a number of Caribbean countries. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Santa Cruz, Jamaica, where there is a long road to recovery ahead after
the catastrophic damage to this island nation, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Widespread devastation after the deadly category five 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, downed trees, causing
major disruption and making getting aid to those most in need a very difficult task.
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 the 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
help that is desperately needed into portions of western Jamaica.
DAM (voice-over): People batted together. Some did whatever they could to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.
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.
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.
DAM (voice-over): Melissa also hit Cuba, flooding streets of Santiago and cutting off road access.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of wind, a lot of rain. This area was flooded. Where you see now, the water reached almost knee high.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamaica is a disaster right now. So, we just have to pray up for the best and the good help each one we can't help, and that's
it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAM (on camera): 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.
HILL: And we thank Derek and his team for that report, for ways that you can help those affected by Hurricane Melissa, just log on to
cnn.com/impact. President Trump set to arrive back in Washington to a mess that remains as this government shutdown is now in its 30th day.
There could be, though, some movement when it comes to the standoff, a group of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, working behind the
scenes, believe they may have found a possible path to end the weeks long shutdown. And may get a chance to discuss it with the Senate Majority
Leader that group is trying to resolve the impasse on health care subsidies.
And this push comes as the food assistance program in the United States, known as SNAP is set to lapse on Saturday. If no deal is reached. This
would leave some 42 million Americans, 15 million of them children, without critical food aid. On Wednesday, the Senate Majority Leader vented his
frustrations at a Democratic lawmaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): SNAP, recipients shouldn't go without food. People should be getting paid in this country and. We tried to do that 13 times.
You voted no 13 times. This isn't a political game.
[09:25:00]
These are real people's lives we're talking about. And you all just figured out 29 days in that, oh, there might be some consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Let's get up to speed now with some of the other stories on our radar. In the Netherlands, the Centrist D 66 party is locked in a tight
election contest with the far right PVV Party of their builders. Now, despite that close vote, the next Dutch Government is likely to exclude the
far right, as all the major parties have now ruled out governing with him.
The U.S. military conducting another strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat, killing four people. This one taking place in the Eastern Pacific,
near the Coast of Mexico. It is the 14th known strike the Trump Administration has carried out against suspected drug traffickers at sea.
The Trump Administration extending the deployment orders for the National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., through at least February. That is,
according to people familiar with the orders that deployment order, the deployment order to the nation's capital had been expected to lapse at the
end of November. The mobilization itself is currently the subject of a legal battle.
Still ahead here on "Connect the World", more on President Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping, including some of the new agreements that were made during
that meeting in South Korea. And YouTube announcing a restructuring plan that could serve as a warning about the future of tech industry jobs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Welcome back. I'm Erica Hill in New York. You're watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines. U.S. President Donald Trump vowing to
begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in more than 30 years.
Shortly before his meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, Mr. Trump said he'd instructed the Pentagon to begin testing on, quote, an equal basis
with Russia and China. Hurricane Melissa has brought death and destruction to the Caribbean as it tears through the region, and the storm, of course,
is still continuing to push through, turning in open waters now toward Bermuda, where hurricane warning is in effect.
In Paris, five new suspects arrested in connection with the daring Louver heist, which saw jewels worth nearly $100 million stolen from the museum's
Apollo Gallery. One of those suspects is believed to be part of the four- person gang that carried out the day left theft.
A group of U.S. Republican and Democratic Senators working together now on a possible path to end the weeks long government shutdown. This comes as
the food assistance program known as SNAP is set to lapse on Saturday if the government fails to reopen, that would put 42 million Americans without
food assistance. The group is also trying to resolve an impasse on health insurance subsidies.
[09:30:00]
And we all know that sound, of course, the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. You see there Fortune, the Global Business
Media Company there for the ringing of the bell this morning after publishing the Cyber-60, it recognizes the top 60 cyber security startups
of the year.
So, trading now underway. We'll keep an eye on the markets for you. Of course, futures pointing to a lower open just a short time ago. We are
learning a bit more about U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping's meeting and what came out of it in South Korea just a few hours
ago.
In addition to a trade deal that Mr. Trump says could be signed soon, the U.S. President says he and Mr. Xi settled their differences over access to
rare earth minerals. Mr. Trump also telling reporters that China promised to buy large quantities of soybeans from the United States, and said he
would lower tariffs by 10 percent tariffs that had been raised supposedly to punish China for the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
Shahzad Kazi is the Managing Director at China Beige Book, and joins us this hour from New York. So, Shahzad, good to have you with us. I'm just
curious your overall take on this. I think it's interesting to see there has been perhaps a PR win for each and yet, when we look a little bit
closer about, we know about the deal.
It does seem to be, I'm seeing a fair amount of analysis that China may be coming out ahead in some aspects here. Would you agree?
SHEHZAD QAZI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHINA BEIGE BOOK: Yeah, absolutely. I think the Chinese perspective most certainly is that they have once again,
managed to outmaneuver America's quote, unquote deal maker in chief.
HILL: In terms of that. It was also interesting, just noting how the meeting went? Mr. Trump was asked how he would rate it on a scale of 10. He
said it was a 12. President Xi, saying that, you know, both sides have come to a consensus, also highlighting that it's normal not to see eye to eye.
Some parts of this, specifically, when we're talking about those rare earth minerals will need to be renewed. So overall, just how durable do you
believe this deal, these agreements, are?
QAZI: Yeah, they're not durable at all, to be honest with you. I mean, even the framing is that they've essentially decided to punt for a year at best.
That's the most optimistic takeaway. But what this means is that if the rare earths magnets and such from the Chinese side, are not released in a
timely fashion, or they release some but not others, especially those that are used for military purposes.
You could see a breakdown of this deal sooner rather than later. Same thing with Chinese purchases of soybeans, or perhaps a lack pushback that there's
not enough fentanyl cooperation taking place, which means the U.S. might ramp up tariffs again. We might go back in be more aggressive on export
controls from the U.S. angle. So, this is not durable in the least.
HILL: What is it -- what does it say about the relationship of these two countries as well moving forward?
QAZI: Well, you know, they're unable to decouple fully, but they're also struggling to decouple in any kind of strategic manner from each other.
Now, I think that may get resolved. If a lot of the rare earths challenges that the U.S. faces, perhaps you start to see some solutions to that, and
there's some decoupling in that area.
But the reality is that Beijing maintains lots of choke points. Another big one that's almost never being talked about is pharmaceuticals, which means
you could be back in the same boat, just with a different supply chain problem in the future, with this, not rare earth.
HILL: It was important to note that soybeans were addressed. And I know you touched on soybeans. This has been I've spoken to a number of farmers over
the last several months about their frustrations and their concerns, but to your point, will interesting, be interesting to see how that materializes.
Not a lot of details when it comes to TikTok. How important is that?
QAZI: I think that's quite important for the president claiming the President of the United States claiming a win with his base. But I think
again, it just underscores that a lot of wins can be announced in front of cameras and for PR purposes, but the details are light.
There's not anything in writing here, from what I can tell, which means that the uncertainty just only continues, and the risk of this breaking
down or turning even becoming a hotter trade war and export control war with each other, that risk, I think, is very much alive.
HILL: When it comes to the uncertainty the president's comments about resuming nuclear testing, I think sort of everybody, everybody just raised
up when they -- when they saw those comments, you know, President Xi talking about that. You know, there's going to be a lot of continued
uncertainty, as there has been in these negotiations.
We don't have a lot of detail on what the president meant by those comments. And of course, is looking for clarity. We have yet to get it from
the White House or the president. Do you believe those comments, though, could complicate in any way what was agreed to?
[09:35:00]
QAZI: I'm not sure if they will. I think they're probably being treated in China by and large as the president trying to assert American dominance or
showcase American strength in areas where you know, where you can.
HILL: Shehzad really great to have your perspective. Thank you. YouTube is now offering voluntary buyouts to employees in the United States as part of
a restructuring plan. The company is shifting its focus, like many others, to artificial intelligence.
Now the plan does not involve mandatory staff cuts, but it just comes the tech industry is experiencing wider layoffs amid growing concerns about AI
replacing human jobs. Clare Duffy joins me now. This, of course, is often the first step when we see companies say, hey, here's an option for a
voluntary buyout. We know what comes next. And it is not just YouTube when we look at the impact of AI here on tech employees Clare.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica, I think this is probably a friendlier, less disruptive way for YouTube to try to cut down on its head
count. But of course, this does fall in the larger context of the cuts that we've seen across the tech industry and really across the economy that are
adding to these concerns about AI's impact on the job market.
At YouTube, CEO Neil Mohan told employees in an internal memo yesterday that the next frontier for the platform is artificial intelligence, and
it's not exactly clear whether that refers to a focus on AI features on the platform, or AI doing more work within the company, or potentially some
combination of the two.
But AI, or YouTube, is splitting up its product team into three different teams. It's got a subscription products team, viewer products, and creator
and community products. And in some ways that does make sense, just given how big YouTube has become, it is now a huge platform for people, not just
watching videos on their phones and computers, but actually watching on their TVs as well.
But as part of this restructuring, as you said, YouTube is allowing these voluntary buyouts for U.S. employees who it says may want to leave the
company. And again, I think this does, you know, add to the potential concerns, as we've seen these other major layoffs at other big companies,
Amazon, 14,000 employee cuts, and that company is pointing to AI as a reason for its reductions.
UPS said earlier this week, it's cut 48,000 employees since the start of the year. Target 1800 layoffs this month. Meta, 600 layoffs from its AI
division. And again, I think all of this adding to these worries about what AI means for the job market and the labor market for employees in this
country and around the world, Erica.
HILL: Yeah, adding just uncertainty, adding to the stress levels all of this happening, of course, when we also have the backdrop of Nvidia hitting
that $5 trillion valuation. And when we look at what is happening with that company, it is -- it is remarkable Clare.
DUFFY: It really is. I mean, Nvidia becoming the first public company to hit a $5 trillion valuation, and only three months after it blew through
the $4 trillion valuation mark. I really think we're starting to see this sort of divergence in terms of the companies that are becoming very wealthy
on the back of their AI investments.
And of course, Nvidia is at the heart of this with its AI chips. And then the impacts of that investment, that success on the rest of the economy.
And Nvidia, this week at its GTCAI conference, talked about its desire to get its technology into more areas of our lives, putting its tech into
self-driving cars, cell phone towers, robots that might be working on surgeries are working on factory floors.
And so, the company really trying to cement its position in the AI era. And of course, investors seem to be very happy about that.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Clare, really appreciate it good to see you. Thanks. All right, let's talk a little sport, shall we? It is win or go
home for the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, dominating there to take the lead In the World Series. More on that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
HILL: it is now advantage Toronto in the World Series. The Blue Jays taking an early lead and never looked back in game five Wednesday against the Los
Angeles Dodgers. Patrick Snell joining me now. This is proving to be quite an exciting World Series Patrick.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Hi, Erica. Yeah, it most certainly is. And if the LA Dodgers thought they were going to have things all their own way.
Well, they now know they're in for a right battle if they're trying to win back-to-back and consecutive World Series titles.
I will give full credit to Toronto Blue Jays. They've been absolutely magnificent throughout these series. And they're now just one win away from
clinching it, from making history and winning their first full classic crown since 1993. And they can get the job done if they win game six on
Friday in front of their home fans in Canada.
What a great story line that would be? We'll have it all for you on "World Sport" in just a few moments from right now, Erica back to you.
HILL: All right, looking forward to that. We will see you after this quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
[10:00:00]
END
