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Now, Trump and Xi Attend State Banquet in Beijing; Investors Closely Watching Critical Trump-Xi Summit; Livestreamer Known for Racist Content Facing Charges After Shooting. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by for new details about President Trump's private talks with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, after a very public threat on Taiwan.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The live streamer known for his racist content is charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside of a courthouse that left him and another man injured. This morning, questions about how that confrontation unfolded.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a high-speed chase ending in a frightening rollover crash, and then a toddler emerges from the wreckage.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, President Trump is attending a state banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. These are pictures from just a few minutes ago. The two leaders made a toast as Xi hailed a new era of, quote, constructive, strategic, and stable relations.

We're told the talks there have covered Iran, trade, and energy, but the headline so far seems to be a warning from Xi that some read as a threat. It was about Taiwan, the democratic self-governing island that Beijing views as part of its territory. Chinese state media reports that Xi told the president that Taiwan is, quote, the most important issue in China-U.S. relations and could create a, quote, very dangerous situation if mishandled. The Chinese Communist Party has long vowed to unify the island with the mainland by force if necessary.

Now, on Iran, a White House official says the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

Let's get right to CNN's Kristen Holmes live in Beijing, monitoring this all night long for us, all day long for you there. Yes, a lot of pomp and circumstance, but the things said out loud fascinating, Kristen. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And what we're really trying to get to is the nitty-gritty here, the sticky issues of Taiwan and Iran, and how they were dealt with behind the scenes.

Now, it is likely that tomorrow when they're going to be having this tighter knit group, President Trump and Xi, it's going to be much smaller. That might be where they really hammer out these issues. That's how President Trump generally tends to operate in these situations. He feels as though he can really command a negotiation when it's just a smaller group.

But right now, what we're hearing is really not much. We knew that there were going to be some economic deals out of this, but both sides, other than President Xi talking about, or what we're hearing at least from state media, and President Xi talking about Taiwan, it's been very vague as to whether or not anything has actually been agreed upon.

Now, that is really par for the course, particularly if they are having these conversations even preliminarily about Taiwan or Iran. Neither one of these sides would want to rock the boat and talk about this publicly. It's also been quite stunning, John, to see President Trump kind of be completely deferential to President Xi.

I mean, President Trump is somebody who loves taking questions. He loves hearing from reporters. He loves engaging reporters. He stood there stoically next to President Xi, only briefly saying how great the trip was, but not answering any questions about what the two had talked about.

Now, one of the things we heard in this White House readout from an official on the talks was this idea that President Xi had said that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be open. There shouldn't be military action there, that he also said that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.

One thing to make clear is these are already public stances that President Xi has taken on Iran. He had already publicly called for the strait to be open. He has already said that he agrees with Iran's decision not to continue their nuclear program or not to obtain a nuclear weapon. So, this is not new when it comes to Iran.

What is new is what you mentioned, again, this kind of veiled threat or maybe not so veiled threat about Taiwan, and this idea that if it's not handled properly, the entire relationship could crater, which really goes to show you where President Xi's head is going into any sort of negotiation in which he is trying to get leverage, or at least both sides are trying to get leverage.

BERMAN: Yes, you could read it as a message of, you better be careful with the Taiwan issue, from President Xi.

[07:05:04]

All right, Kristen Holmes for us in Beijing, as we said, monitoring what has been very tight-lipped so far, but thank you for trying to glean a few details from it. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, John.

Investors around the world are, of course, keeping a close eye on President Trump's visit to China. U.S. futures slightly higher this morning after the S&P 500 hit a record high on Wednesday. A mixed performance, though, in Asian markets. Some of the world's wealthiest and most influential leaders in tech are in Beijing right now, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Here is what Trump said about the leaders in the delegation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We asked the top 30 in the world, every single one of them said yes. And I didn't want the second or the third in the company, I wanted only the top, and they're here today to pay respects to you and to China. And they look forward to trade and doing business, and it's going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's David Goldman joining me now. I mean, you heard the president's words there, that he wants this to be a reciprocal relationship with tech. But there is an A.I. race going on here as well, and China has kind of pulled back on foreign investment and sort of foreign companies there. What do you see here with the markets? Because it's a little confusing. It's kind of up and down, can't figure it out.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: I think that the markets are just in wait and see mode right now. There hasn't been anything that's come out that's really surprised anyone right now. But A.I., you're right, that is the big thing that they're going to be talking about.

You know, Iran, Taiwan, all of those are really, really important, but A.I. is crucial to national security. And Trump bringing out the big guns, right? The biggest CEOs coming there. They understand that there's an enormous market in China for their products. China says that 600 million people in the country are using agentic A.I. right now.

Now, that's China's numbers, we'll take that with a grain of salt. But there's an enormous population there. Clearly, there's a need for the United States to take its best CEOs, bring them there and try to, you know, make -- put on a good show at least to see if they can get some of that market.

SIDNER: Is there a reason why Wednesday, one of the markets showed such high returns?

GOLDMAN: Yes, well, I mean, we've seen crazy, you know, machinations going on in the markets, in world affairs. And I think that what the markets are trying to do is sort out China, Iran and gas prices, oil prices, all of that. All of that, though, is secondary to A.I. for the market. There are enormous returns going on in the A.I. space. And if you are an investor, you just want to make sure that you're not left holding the bag. You're not out exactly. You're not missing out on what could be an enormous opportunity. That's where the opportunity is right now in tech.

And there is Jensen Huang is also there, the head of Nvidia. A lot of people made a lot of money on that stock. We'll have to wait and see what happens here. But like you said, kind of a wait and see. I think that's what we're all doing at this point.

GOLDMAN: Exactly. That's right. We'll be watching.

SIDNER: We'll be watching. David Goldman, thank you so much. It's a pleasure. Kate?

BOLDUAN: A live streamer known for making racist videos is in custody after allegedly shooting a man outside of a Tennessee courthouse. A lot of questions around all of this, what we're learning this morning.

And the wild twist in the murder case for South Carolina Lawyer Alex Murdaugh. His conviction for killing his wife and son overturned. So, what now?

And an incredible story of survival, 11 people rescued after their plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, and they're found floating for hours in a life raft.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: There is a live streamer known for posting racist content now facing multiple charges after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse. Dalton Eatherly goes by Chud the Builder online. He and another man, they're both shot. But, quite frankly, beyond that, there are so many questions this morning.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is tracking the very latest on this, and he's here with me now. Omar, what are you learning here?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Chud the Builder, his real name is Dalton Eatherly, as you just put out. He is known for being especially provocative, essentially rage-baiting people, posting videos using racist language, racial slurs, things like that. And so in this particular incident, there was a confrontation between him and another man outside of a courthouse north of Nashville, Tennessee.

Now, beyond that, some of the details are a little murky, mainly we don't know exactly how the shooting unfolded or what exactly led up to it, but let's at least start with the charges that Eatherly's facing. For one, he's facing attempted murder, employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. These are serious charges here. And I mention it's not totally clear how this unfolded or what led up to it. We do, though, at least have what appears to be one account of this from Eatherly during what appears to be right after the shooting. He was essentially talking while it appears to be he was still on live stream. I just want to play a little bit of that for you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, you start saying all that (BLEEP) to me, I'm going to hit you. He hit me, started wailing on me, even after I had to defend myself by shooting him. He's still wailing on me.

[07:15:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is your weapon at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose weapon is that right there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that's his.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that yours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, you heard some of that there. He's clearly saying he had to defend himself, but, again, that's his account, and it's unclear if he has legal representation. We're trying to nail that down right now.

But both men here had gunshot wounds, were taken to the hospital, are in stable condition. But, by the way, this is someone, Eatherly, who is not unfamiliar to Tennessee law enforcement, especially over the past few days. There was another incident at a restaurant a few days ago. But bottom line, with this particular incident, a lot of details we're still trying to nail down. We got that one account, but obviously we need a whole bunch of other pieces to the story.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. I mean, it's just weird and sad and scary and dangerous and all mixed up into one.

All right, much more to come. Omar's on top of this. Thank you so much, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

BOLDUAN: Good to see you. John?

BERMAN: All right. The mother who wrote a children's book about grief will spend the rest of her life in prison for killing her husband. Her message to her children during her sentencing.

And then it doesn't get bigger than this. The halftime show at the World Cup finals, the details have been announced. And don't worry, you can watch it on T.V. if you can't afford tickets, if you can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: An overtime thriller in the NBA playoffs. Let's get right to CNN's Andy Scholes for the latest on this. And I like Detroit so much, they're kind of cool, but, man, that was a collapse.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, Berman, the Pistons fans, they've got to be waking up this morning still trying to figure out what happened last night. I mean, they were in complete control with three minutes left, but then fell apart.

I'll show you what happened. Tobias Harris, he hits a three right here to put Detroit up by nine with three minutes to go. But from there, the Cavs went on a 9-0 run to close out the game. And off a turnover here, Evan Mobley, a huge three during the run.

We would go to overtime in this one, and then Donovan Mitchell turned it on. He scored seven in O.T. He finished with 21. James Harden finished with 30 points in his best playoff game as a Cav. Cleveland takes game five 117-113 to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES HARDEN, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS GUARD: We're a fairly new team for the most part, so we got to find out, you know, who we are in the moments, which is -- this is good for us.

So, this is our story. This is how we're shaping our story. Great time to win the game, great time to have a first-road win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. We also had a crazy comeback in the Stanley Cup playoffs last night. So, Minnesota was trying to stave off elimination, went up 3-0 on the Avalanche, but Colorado comes roaring back. Jack Drury goal made it 3-2 late in the third. Then the Avs pull the goalie and Nathan MacKinnon comes through in the clutch. Two goals in two minutes, sends the game to overtime, and in the extra period,

Brett Kulak sends the fans home happy. His goal wins the game 4-3. The Avs take the series in five, book their ticket to the Western Conference finals.

All right, the second golf major of the year has teed off this morning, as the PGA Championship is underway from Aronimink, just outside of Philadelphia. And can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy right now? They've won four out of the last five majors, and they are the two favorites coming in. And Rory says he's certainly appreciating where he is in this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RORY MCILROY, SIX-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION: I know that this isn't going to last forever. You know, there's going to be a day where I'm not sitting up here and I'm not competing for major championships, and I'm not doing what I'm doing. So, coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year. And, you know, I feel like I've got, you know, some nice clear road ahead to try to get some more of these majors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Rory tees off at 8:40 this morning with Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth. Spieth still a PGA Championship away from winning that career Grand Slam.

All right, finally, FIFA announcing this morning that Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will headline the first ever World Cup final halftime show. Madonna has done the Super Bowl back in 2012. Shakira did it as well with J.Lo back in 2020. And BTS is now back performing together after serving that mandatory military service in South Korea.

The final in 2022 for the World Cup, it drew more than 500 million viewers worldwide, could get even more with this musical performance now added. The final's going to be July 19th at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

And, Berman, I know you are a big Shakira guy, so how excited are you about this?

BERMAN: I actually do own a Shakira album that I purchased in 2003. It was way back in 2003. I was pretty into her back then, Andy. And I think she's very talented.

Thank you very much. You can mock me. Mock me as you will, but Shakira and I go back a long way. So, thanks for that.

SIDNER: As you both know, hips don't lie.

BERMAN: Yes. He doesn't know what to say.

SIDNER: He doesn't. He's shocked.

BERMAN: Shakira's very talented. And BTS, you were looking at BTS videos backstage.

SIDNER: I was. There's such a huge crowd that is going to show up because of BTS. I'm telling you, I think I'm becoming a BTS fan, so watch out, K-pop up in here. All right, wait for it.

BERMAN: Shakira -- wow. I'll go with Shakira. You hang with BTS.

SIDNER: Dude, the hips don't lie.

All right, ahead, China's President Xi issues a warning to President Trump over Taiwan. If it's mishandled, it could create a, quote, very dangerous situation.

And the hunt for buried treasure worth $10,000 in San Francisco is tearing up parts of that city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's at this park.

REPORTER: You think it's at another --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know --

REPORTER: A nearby one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not nearby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right. Breaking this morning, right now, President Trump and China's President Xi are attending a state banquet in Beijing after the first day of their bilateral talks.

Now, a White House official described it as a good meeting and said the two discussed Iran, trade, and energy. But beyond the pomp and circumstance, tensions are growing over Taiwan. Chinese state media reporting that Xi warned Trump that Taiwan, the democratic self- governing island that Beijing views as part of its territory, is, quote, the most important issue in China-U.S. relations, and could create a very dangerous situation if mishandled.

[07:30:07]

Some observers viewing that as a threat.

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