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China Says It Is Looking At American Proposals To Scale Down Tariff War; Waltz Out As U.S. National Security Adviser, Tapped For U.N. Role; Israeli PM: Defeating Hamas More Important Than Freeing Hostages; Pentagon Looking Into Second Hegseth Signal Chat; Zelenskyy Credits Vatican Meeting for Minerals Deal with U.S.; Workers' Day Rallies, Anti-Trump Protests Merge on May Day; Tariffs Force Japanese Auto Factory to Revamp Operations; Kenyan Start-Up Working to Extract, Store Carbon from Air; Inside China's Surging Electric Vehicle Market. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 02, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: So was it let go? He is being made ambassador to the United Nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: So he's being let go. Many believe he was a dead man walking long before his role in Signalgate, one of the biggest ever leaks of highly classified intelligence.

And the Israeli prime minister says the quiet part out loud. Defeating Hamas is the main priority of the war in Gaza, not saving hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: Well, the wording is subtle and nuanced, but a statement from China on Friday hints at a slightly softer tone of a possible trade talks with the US. For weeks now, the U.S. President has repeatedly said direct trade talks with China are underway. Officials in Beijing have repeatedly said they're not, but they remain open to that possibility.

And on Friday came an unnamed spokesperson of the Commerce Ministry saying Beijing had taken note and was evaluating recent statements by White House officials that they would be willing to negotiate over tariffs.

Let's see how this is now impacting the markets in the Asia Pacific. Nikkei up again still from over the last hour now one and a quarter percent. Hong Kong Hang Seng is up by more than one and a half percent. And Seoul Kospi is slightly down to where it was last hour, but still in positive territory. Let's take a look at the Dow futures as well because they're all

trading in the green as well. Expecting a positive open. In about eight hours from now, the Dow will be up by about almost 1 percent, same for the S and P, and Nasdaq just over half a percent. Let's go live to Hong Kong. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.

Now, Kristie, this statement came at what, 8am on a Friday morning, which also happens to be Labor Day and a public holiday. OK, so there are some challenges here, but what is the exact wording in the statement and why the excitement?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting because it's very subtle, but it is significant. China's Ministry of Commerce is now saying that it is, quote, evaluating the possibility of trade talks. This marks oblique but nonetheless significant shift in the overall tone of what we've been hearing all along and it could open the door to negotiations.

This is what we heard in that statement that was released earlier today. The Commerce Ministry saying that the U.S. has recently sent messages to China through relevant parties hoping to start talks with China and China is currently evaluating this, unquote.

Now, previously, China has been locking horns with the United States and with U.S. President Donald Trump over tariffs. Donald Trump hikes tariffs on China to an eye watering 145 percent with China striking back with its retaliatory tariffs of 125 percent.

And Donald Trump repeatedly saying that he's been talking to Chinese officials about trade only to have Beijing dispute that. And yet on Thursday, we also had interesting comments from America's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, who spoke to Fox News saying that it is the Chinese who are reaching out to the Americans. I'm not too sure if we have the SOT available, but we do have his quote, available.

This is what Marco Rubio told Fox News saying, quote, that's what they want. Chinese are reaching out, they want to meet, they want to talk. We got people involved in that. And obviously our Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is involved in those efforts and their talks are going to come up soon.

Now, there have been signs of deescalation as we've been reporting. Import agencies have been telling CNN that China has been rolling back retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. made semiconductors. We also heard from the American Chamber of Commerce saying that some U.S. made pharmaceutical products had been allowed entry into the Chinese market tariff free. And we have this oblique but significant shift in tone from Beijing indicating that the door is open for trade talks. Back to you, John.

VAUSE: For weeks now, China has been steadfast insisting they won't be bullied nor will they kneel to bullies. It was almost so portrayed nationalistic tones at some points. So word of possible, maybe even holding trade talks, just looking at that, how is that now being greeted on mainland China by I guess the netizens there? LU STOUT: Yes, we quickly went on to Sina Weibo, the social media

platform to the Ministry of Commerce site to check out how netizens were reacting to this apparent shift in tone, this openness to talks that was indicated by the Ministry of Commerce earlier today. And there have been some unhappy responses. Here's a couple of them for you.

One is in saying this, quote, we can't negotiate with countries that lack integrity. Another saying this, quote, Trump's credibility has been bankrupted. As you just mentioned, John, there has been a flood of Chinese propaganda that has been prepping, preparing the Chinese people for a long and painful tariff war and struggle ahead. This week there was that new video released with the Chinese propaganda machine saying that China, quote, won't kneel to Trump's tariffs.

But now a lot of anger is still out there and directed mainly at Donald Trump. Now for the shift in tone from Beijing, of course, mainly at Donald Trump for being the one who instigated all this. Back to you, John.

VAUSE: Well, there you have it, Kristie. Thank you. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thank you.

LU STOUT: Thank you.

[01:05:05]

VAUSE: Now to the first major shake-up of the second term of the Trump White House. With White House national security team in apparent disarray of a Signalgate, President Trump has removed National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. He will be heading to the UN as U.S. ambassador, assuming he is confirmed by the Senate.

The move comes after Waltz admitted he mistakenly included a journalist in a Signal chat group with senior administration officials. They were discussing plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. Vice President J.D. Vance says don't call this a demotion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: So it wasn't let go. He is being made ambassador to the United Nations, which of course, is a Senate confirmed position. I think you can make a good argument that it's promotion. The media wants to frame this as a firing. Donald Trump has fired a lot of people. He doesn't give them Senate confirmed appointments afterwards. What he thinks is that Mike Waltz is going to better serve the administration, most importantly the American people in that role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And a day before, he was not let go. Photos from Wednesday's Cabinet meeting show Waltz browsing through Signal messages on his phone. They're including messages from the vice President and Director of National Intelligence. The White House says Signal is an approved app that's loaded onto government phones, but it is not approved for discussing classified information. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take on the role as national

security adviser for a while. He's also serving as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. He's also the national archivist and he's very busy.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official tell CNN the Pentagon inspector general is looking into a second Signal chat in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed military planning. This chat included his wife, his brother who works at the Pentagon, and his personal lawyer. More details now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting in from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In one of the first big staff shakeups of this new Trump administration, President Trump sending his national security adviser, Mike Waltz to the United Nations and sending Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, into the West Wing to be the temporary national security adviser.

This has been long in the works. Mike Waltz, who of course initiated the one of the biggest scandals of this administration with the group chat on Signal about those war plans in Yemen a couple months ago, the president finally decided that it was time to send him away.

Now, this was a decision that could have been reached quite a while ago, but we are told that the president and the White House did not want to essentially give the satisfaction to The Atlantic magazine or other reporters who had written skeptically about this.

But Mike Waltz will be elevated, if you will. But it's a Senate confirmed position to be the ambassador to the United Nations. But for the President, it is not a position that he is that interested in. He has never thought very highly of the U.N. to say the least. So there's no doubt that Marco Rubio, a one-time rival to Donald Trump now was one of his closest advisors. He'll be working just steps away from the Oval Office as well as being Secretary of State.

But the bottom line to all of this is in this big shakeup of this administration, the president clearly wanted to keep Mike Waltz on the line, if you will, by giving him this other position. He well remembers the four national security advisers from his first administration. Two of them wrote very harsh books about the president.

So the president does not want that narrative to set in. We also think the administration, one administration official telling us the president was eager to change the conversation about the economy to be talking about this. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A ruling from a federal judge in Texas has found President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked a rarely used 18th century wartime authority to speed up mass deportations. The Trump administration claims it's using the Alien Enemies Act to target Venezuelan gang members who are invading the U.S., they say. The administration will likely appeal the ruling. Use of the law is being challenged in courts across the country, but this is the first case to have reached a final decision. An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who helped bring the legal challenge says, quote, this is the first court to squarely rule on the fundamental question of whether a wartime authority can be used during peacetime and properly concluded it cannot.

Ambassador Norm Eisen is co-founder of the Contrarian, a self- described, pro-democracy media outlet. He served as the House Judiciary Special Counsel for Donald Trump's first impeachment trial and before that, he was the ethics czar in the Obama White House. It's good to see you.

NORM EISEN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC: Great to see you, John.

VAUSE: OK, so now this is the first time a judge has ruled that using the Enemy Aliens Enemy Act in itself is actually illegal. Referring to Trump's executive order, he wrote this. The proclamation's language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within in the meaning of invasion for purposes of the Aliens Enemy Act.

The U.S. is not officially at war with Venezuela. Venezuela as a country hasn't or is not about to invade either. Most people, that seems pretty obvious. But it took a court hearing to simply confirm reality. So is the Trump administration here sort of playing a legal version of catch me if you can.

[01:10:00]

EISEN: John, if they're playing catch me if they can, they're tripping over their own feet. Everyone understands that there is no basis for an invasion. And yet they insist yet again, there have been almost a hundred of these court orders striking down illegal acts. Yet again, they've overreached.

Donald Trump said he wanted to be a dictator on day one. The essence of dictatorship is contempt for the law, he's continued in the 99 plus days since then to be a dictatorship. Thank goodness for democracy. He and his team are so incompetent at it.

VAUSE: Well, one of the members of his team is the vice president, J.D. Vance. He rejected this ruling from a federal judge in South Texas. He explained why during an interview on Fox. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: First of all, the judge doesn't make that determination whether the Alien Enemies Act can be deployed. I think the president of the United States is the one who determines whether this country is being invaded. And under the Biden administration, it was.

We're aggressively appealing this stuff. We do think that the higher appeals courts, and in particular the Supreme Court is going to recognize immigration enforcement is a core function of the president of the United States. If you tell the president he's not allowed to deport illegal criminals, then you're telling the president he's not allowed to be the president. We reject that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: How does the judge here specifically deal with that question of judicial oversight when it comes to the execution of presidential power? And if this does go to the Supreme Court, as Vance suggests, and the White House goes against them and the White House ignores the ruling, what happens then?

EISEN: John, it's hard to believe that J.D. Vance is a graduate of Yale Law School. They really ought to ask that he send his legal diploma back. He doesn't understand the most basic structure of the Constitution of the United States that this Judge Rodriguez, who was appointed by Donald Trump, pointed out in his ruling. Article 1, Congress passes laws like the Alien Enemies Act.

Article 2, the presidency is supposed to execute the laws, to apply those laws. But if they get it wrong, if they say there's an invasion when there's no invasion under the Constitution of the United States. Article 3, the judges rule that Donald Trump, you're out of line as he is here.

That is why Donald Trump is on a losing streak on immigration cases at the United States Supreme Court. First, nine, nothing. Then in the second immigration case, seven-two, that Donald Trump is breaking the law. I don't think the Supreme Court is going to rule for him here because his approaches are so unlawful. If J.D. Vance is advising him, no wonder Trump has been thrown out of court so many times.

VAUSE: Well, there does seem to be a trend here because it's been about a month since the U.S. President invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Take a look at the White House statement. Here it is. But essentially, if you want to sum it up, the national economic emergency which Donald Trump is referring to and needs sweeping authority to avoid imminent national harm are trade deficits with a bunch of other countries.

There are smart people in the White House who know that emergency powers are not meant to deal with long term problems, no matter how serious those problems might be. So again, we're looking at sort of this catch me if you can, they're going to do it and then you go try and stop them. Is that how this White House sort of approaches these issues?

EISEN: Well, the judiciary has caught them about 100 times in that game of catch me if you can. That's statute that they're relying on requires an economic emergency. There's no invasion. And just like there's no invasion, there's no economic emergency. The statute doesn't even talk about tariffs, John.

And the only economic emergency is the one that Donald Trump is precipitating by his abuse of that statute, the IPA, to deploy illegal tariffs that are not needed, that are crushing our economy. So these, there's a bunch of tariff litigation. I think Donald Trump faces a very steep legal hill there as well.

VAUSE: A lot of steep legal hills in Donald Trump's future, it would seem. Norm Eisen, thank you for being with us.

EISEN: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: A ship with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla has come under attack off the coast of Malta, according to a group of pro-Palestinian activists who are on board and say they're carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza. They issued an SOS what they claimed was a drone attack. Telling CNN 30 activists were on board the ship when it happened international waters just after midnight local time.

[01:15:05]

They say the vessel caught fire, there's a hole in the side and the vessel is sinking without electricity. No word yet on whether they have casualties as well. The flotilla did not accuse any particular group or government. CNN, though, cannot independently verify the information or the images which they have posted online.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls itself a network of pro- Palestinian activists, and they are working to try and end Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Still to come, how much money Apple CEO says President Trump's tariffs may cost the tech giant in the first quarter or this year? Rather. More on that in a moment.

Plus, outrage from the families of hostages held in Gaza. Why the Israeli prime minister says freeing them is not the main goal of his war.

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[01:20:14]

VAUSE: The families of Israeli hostages in Gaza have been left outraged once again, this time after the Israeli prime Minister publicly declared the supreme objective of the war in Gaza is to defeat Hamas, not bringing home up to 24 hostages who may still be alive. CNS Jeremy Diamond has details reporting in from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli prime Minister is now making clear for the first time that he believes defeating Hamas is more important than securing the release of the hostages. The Israeli Prime Minister, in comments that came on Israel's Independence Day, said that while Israel has many objectives in the war and that releasing the hostages is a, quote, very important goal, he said that in the war there is one supreme objective and he said that supreme objective is, quote, victory over our enemies.

This is the first time that we've heard the Israeli Prime Minister be so explicit about something which many of his critics have long suspected, that the Prime Minister was more concerned with the defeat of Hamas than with securing the release of the hostages. And these comments quickly drew criticism from representatives of the 59 hostages still today being held in Gaza.

The Hostages Family Forum saying in a statement that the release of the hostages is not less important, but rather that it should be the, quote, supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel. They say that the hostage families are very concerned to hear these comments from the Israeli prime minister. And they also note correctly that a majority of the Israeli public in fact disagrees with him.

A majority of the Israeli public, as many as 70 percent according to one poll, support a deal, free the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza.

This puts the Israeli prime minister, though, in the same camp as his right wing finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said last week, made very similar comments last week saying that while releasing the hostages is important, it is not the most important goal of this current war.

And as the Israeli prime Minister makes these comments, he is set to sit down with his security advisor on Friday to discuss plans to expand the war in Gaza. This is something that we've heard for over a month now from Israeli officials. These plans to expand ground operations in Gaza if Hamas doesn't agree to a new ceasefire to release additional hostages.

It's largely been viewed as a negotiating tactic up until now. But the Israeli Prime Minister, by having this meeting tomorrow, very much telegraphing that there is some real seriousness behind these plans to expand operations in Gaza. No clear timeline yet on when that will happen, as we know, those negotiations still ongoing to see whether or not a cease fire deal and hostage release deal can be reached to avert that expansion. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Yaakov Katz is a senior columnist at the Jerusalem Post and a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. He's written three books on the Israeli military, including "Shadow Strike." He joins us now live from Jerusalem, 23 minutes past 8. Thank you for being with us.

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, JERUSALEM POST: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: So did the Israeli prime minister just say the quiet part out loud? This statement that defeating Hamas is more important than rescuing hostages seems to be more confirmation, less revelation.

KATZ: Well, I think that there's no doubt that the prime minister has long been conflicted or sent conflicting messages to the Israeli public. What is the main objective and primary goal of this war? And the fact is that when he made that comment, it did crystallize for a lot of people what has long been the dilemma?

What is the victory going to look like for Israel in the aftermath of October 7th when 251 people were taken and there is a terrorist group that needs to be eliminated? These two things don't work necessarily together and is always going to have been from day one very difficult to achieve both of those objectives.

Israel has been struggling for the last 18 plus months to find a path to a victory that would, on the one hand, deny Hamas the ability to reconstitute itself, to continue to present a threat to Israel, to be able to launch another attack and on the other hand, be able to get back its people. This is extremely difficult. And the prime minister is finally at least saying, well, this is how I view the objectives of this war.

VAUSE: Well, here's the reaction from the Friends and Family Forum of the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. The majority of the Israeli public wants the return of all the hostages before anything else. They call the captives return, the supreme goal that should be guiding Israel's government.

[01:25:05]

So if you look at the opinion polls, most Israelis do want the hostages to be brought home. The only ones who really want Hamas defeated as the main priority here is in fact the far-right extremists in the Netanyahu coalition. So did Benjamin Netanyahu just simply fall in line with the far right in many ways?

KATZ: Netanyahu has consistently, throughout this war, John, and I think we've spoken about this in the past, sided with the survival of his coalition and whenever there was a threat to the continued survival of that coalition. And we saw, by the way, Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the more far-right elements and ministers in the government, even said, I had a number of times succeeded in torpedoing a hostage deal.

So it just goes to show that the power of what will happen is actually in the hands of those members of Netanyahu's coalition and not necessarily in Netanyahu's hands himself. Netanyahu has made this now clear that where he's going is the elimination of Hamas. But here's the real question. What does that even mean, the elimination of Hamas?

For that to happen, it's not only militarily, it requires the establishment of a new governing entity inside the Gaza Strip. And Israel has rejected any offer, any proposal that's been put on the table. It has not allowed that to happen.

Now, I'm not saying that the Palestinian Authority that's now in Ramallah is the right solution for this, but there have to be options on the table and not just the continued military conflict that is unfortunately dragging along, bringing more Israelis into the line of danger, and of course, endangering the continued existence of those hostages who are languishing in Hamas captivity for over a year and a half.

VAUSE: Yes, look, every day has been a nightmare for the families and for the nation. But at the same time, there is a nightmare unfolding in Gaza right now. The 2 million Palestinians are essentially being starved to death because of a blockade of humanitarian supplies at the border.

One of the reasons for that blockade, when Israel, when the ceasefire started to unravel and Israel resumed the military offensive, was essentially to make life, as this is from Itamar Ben-Gvir, was to make life so miserable, so horrendous, that the people of Gaza would rise up and put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. So if releasing the hostages is no longer the main goal, why not lift the blockade?

KATZ: Well, that's exactly the right question. To an extent, because Israel said that it was restarting the military operations in Gaza to put that pressure on Hamas. It was stopping the flow of humanitarian aid, excuse me, was stopping the flow of humanitarian aid to be able to put pressure also, like you said, John, on the Palestinian people to rise up against Hamas.

It was all aimed at pressuring Hamas to come into a deal. But if that is no longer the case, if the deal is not the objective, then what is this all about? And we're starting to see the recruitment now. Notices have been sent out to tell thousands, if not tens of thousands of Israeli military reservists, civilians who also serve in the reserves, to be ready for call up orders that might come because they might need to be sent to other fronts, whether in the north or the west bank, or to Gaza itself to be able to bring more soldiers to bear on the Gaza Strip.

Currently, Israel is mostly operating in the south, but it might go back in and start to operate in the north. And I'm hearing from Israeli soldiers, some of them I spoke with just yesterday, who are saying we're being sent into places that we've already been five, six times. Why are we keeping on doing the same thing? Where is that solution? And we just don't see that happening or coming anytime soon.

VAUSE: Israel survives on the strength of its reservists. It's a key element of national security. How much longer can this war footing continue for Israel?

KATZ: It's a great question, John, and I'm afraid to say I don't think for that much longer. The military, let's go back before October 7th, Israeli reservists used to serve maybe two weeks, in some cases three to four weeks a year. Now they've set the new minimum in the military at two and a half months. Right, that's 10 weeks.

Now imagine, just so our viewers understand what that means. 10, you're a regular, you're a high tech worker, a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist. Doesn't make a difference. You're taken, you're plucked out of your civilian life, your family, your office, your workplace for 10 weeks and you're put into a very dangerous situation, whether in Gaza or somewhere else, along many of Israel's different fronts.

Now we're saying, no, it's going to be more than two and a half months. Some of these people have already served 300, 400 days over the last 18 months. It's not sustainable. We need more soldiers. We also need an end to the war that hopefully ends with the hostages coming home and some sort of victory vis-a-vis Hamas. But we need. This country needs to be able to heal, to rebuild, to recuperate after such a long conflict, the longest that we have known in our history. VAUSE: Yes, it has dragged on for far too long. I think there is a

universal agreement on that. Yaakov, thanks for being with us. Really appreciate it.

KATZ: Thank you.

[01:29:50]

VAUSE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's new minerals deal with the United States is the result of his meeting with Donald Trump at the Vatican. They met briefly on Saturday ahead of Pope Francis' funeral. Zelenskyy suggests that more results could be coming.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Be in no doubt this is a landmark agreement but perhaps not because of the immediate effect it's going to have on American finances. They're not going to suddenly start seeing billions from Ukraine in the weeks and months ahead.

But I think more for how it shows that Kyiv and Washington's relationship is being salvaged. It's functional. It might even indeed be improving.

The document, it does seem pretty favorable to Ukraine. It creates a fund which benefits the United States and Ukraine from revenues from Ukraine's natural resources, a wide spectrum of resources, not just rare earth minerals.

And it has two key things that I'm sure will be particularly to Kyiv's liking. One is a phrase that the United States has clearly signed onto that says a full -- it talks about the full-scale devastation caused by Russia's invasion. That's remarkably unambiguous condemnation of Moscow's conduct.

We've heard the Trump administration often talk in slightly more pro- Russian terms at times about the origins of this conflict.

Also, this particular document establishes some kind of payment mechanism in the event that the United States agrees to sell arms to Ukraine in the future.

Now, we have not had clarity from the Trump administration if they are considering continuing to arm Ukraine, but they have here worked out a mechanism for Ukraine paying them if they did. And I'm sure Moscow will take specific note of that.

This document does have some teeth. It does have technical elements to it, certainly. And there are further technical documents that may well put some more onerous terms on Kyiv.

But Ukraine has been able to sell this as a success to some degree. I think more simply because, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, it's a sign of the positive tone he felt his meeting in the Vatican with President Trump had during the Pope's funeral.

Well, this may also leave Russia potentially nervous that what they think may be has been their rapprochement with the Trump administration is perhaps coming unstuck, given they're able to form an agreement like this long term and strategic as it is with Ukraine.

Particularly given the turmoil around the national security adviser as well, this is a good piece of news, I think, for Ukraine and its allies, and it comes to an intense time of focus as to whether peace really can move forwards.

Trump administration unsure, saying repeatedly how it's losing patience. And Moscow will, of course, look at this as a sign of Kyiv and Washington becoming closer as Moscow continues to reject the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire from the United States and Ukraine.

So a symbolic agreement, certainly, perhaps a landmark one as well, but not one that immediately will have effect. It's likely that different administrations will be in Kyiv and Washington when the terms of this are in fact implemented in perhaps a peacetime Ukraine.

And the investments put into infrastructure to start yielding those kind of revenues that they need. But certainly a step in a direction that really Ukraine was forced to take. Without this, there would have been a seismic rupture with its relationship with the White House. And instead we have a day of very positive news.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In a moment here on CNN, from the macro to the micro -- a closer look at the profound impact of Trumps tariffs on just one small business in Japan.

[01:33:49]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Across the U.S., thousands gathered to celebrate International Workers Day, also known as May Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say it clear. Immigrants are welcome here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: While marking the struggles and successes for workers' rights, many others were there protesting against the Trump administration.

CNN's Sherrell Hubbard has our report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Global citizens reveled in May Day, traditionally a day of protests and civil action for labor rights, also known as International Workers Day.

Demonstrators advocate for fair wages and working conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here talking about everything that's going on with these corporations. We've got to let them know that without us, there would be no use.

[01:39:49]

HUBBARD: In the United States, May Day got a boost from the 50501 movement, short for "50 Protests, 50 States, 1 movement". Protesters demonstrated against the Trump administration's actions over its first 100 days.

CROWD: Dump Trump.

HUBBARD: Protesters from the May Day Strong coalition say they are quote, "demanding a world where every family has housing, healthcare, fair wages, union protection and safety, regardless of race, zip code or immigration status.

Among the speakers, the family of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador.

JENNIFER VASQUEZ SURA, WIFE OF KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: My husband was. Illegally detained, abducted and disappeared, thrown away to die in one of the most dangerous prisons in El Salvador.

HUBBARD: Followers of the movement are optimistic that this national and international day of solidarity will bring change.

KATE OVERITH-SPECK, PROTESTER IN PHILADELPHIA: To show that we have a voice and we're not going to be quiet. We're not going to shut up. We're going to be loud.

HUBBARD: I'm Sherrell Hubbard reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The CEO of Apple believes Trump's tariffs could see costs rise by almost $1 billion by the third quarter. We should note the administration did say in April smartphones are exempt from reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports. Most of the supply chain for Apple is in China. The White House is eager to bring Apple's iPhone production to the United States, but in the meantime, a lot of production has now shifted to India, tariff free.

Japanese automakers are also bracing for Trump's tariffs. Concern has caused the Bank of Japan to slash its economic growth forecast.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery spoke to one local businessman who's having to revamp his operations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 40 years, Hiromutsu Hamaguchi has run his car parts factory, taking pride in supplying major Japanese automakers with parts used by drivers around the world.

But with Donald Trump back in the White House, Hamaguchi says he's forced to try something new.

HIROMUTSU HAMAGUCHI, CEO, HAMAGUCHI URETHANE (through translator): Rescue boats are something we manufacture entirely in-house with our brand name so we can sell them ourselves.

Right now it makes up for about 5 percent of our total sales, but we'd like to double it to around 10 percent.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You got to see what's happening.

MONTGOMERY: In his 100 days back in the Oval Office, Trump has driven the U.S. economy to the brink of a crisis and waged a tariff war no country wants.

A new executive order signed Tuesday eased some auto tariffs, but that help doesn't trickle down to small suppliers like Hamaguchi, who are struggling to stay afloat.

Now all the car parts being made here, like part of a car seat, headrest, are all going to be 25 percent more expensive thanks to the U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff on all auto imports.

Now, that could be devastating for Japan's economy. About 3 percent of its GDP comes from the auto manufacturing industry, and it also employs millions of people in Japan.

MAYU FUJIMORI, FACTORY WORKER, HAMAGUCHI URETHANE (through translator): If I lost this job, I'd have no choice but to look for another one. But I've only ever worked in factories, so I'm a bit worried about whether I'd be able to do something different.

MONTGOMERY: Trump has threatened auto tariffs since his first term, using them as leverage to cut deals with friends and foes alike.

TRUMP: And I said one thing you're going to have to open up your country because we sold no cars like zero cars in Japan, and they sold millions of cars into our country.

MONTGOMERY: It's true that U.S. cars don't sell well in Japan, where only 0.3 percent of cars sold last year were American. But for very good reason.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): American cars are large and have poor fuel efficiency, so fundamentally their vehicle size doesn't fit Japan's road and traffic conditions. Cars are too big, for example. In Japan, highly fuel-efficient cars like hybrids are mainstream, and American manufacturers often don't offer hybrid models.

MONTGOMERY: As Japan's top tariff negotiator is in Washington for another round of talks, suppliers like Hamaguchi say a deal can't come fast enough.

HAMAGUCHI: I want to say to Trump, please do it better. Don't be so intimidating.

MONTGOMERY: Hanako Montgomery, CNN -- Shizuoka, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The fight against climate change is a global challenge. It requires more than reducing your carbon footprint. Ahead, one African startup is working to clean the air in hopes of protecting the planet.

[01:44:21]

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VAUSE: The fight against climate change is essentially a fight to stop producing carbon emissions to pollution from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, which is mostly responsible for trapping heat and increasing global temperatures.

Now a tech startup in Kenya's Rift Valley is working on carbon capture, technology which removes carbon from the air and along the way, they're rewriting Africa's role in the fight against climate change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUNCAN KARIUKI, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, OCTAVIA CARBON: My name is Duncan Kariuki. I am the co-founder and chief product officer here at Octavia Carbon. And I lead on everything to do with the engineering and project development.

[01:49:47]

KARIUKI: Our goal really is to reverse climate change. That was a goal that came from, at least personally for me, having grown up in a farming community here in Kenya and seeing the devastating impacts of climate change on people like my parents, who are smallholder farmers.

That made me want to work on the greatest problem of our time. We take CO2 from the atmosphere, sequester it deep underground, and from that we sell carbon credits to corporates and individuals that have climate commitments.

We have four machines that capture CO2, but then there's a whole process between capture and storing it into like -- into cylindrical tanks. So we are just optimizing those processes. What is the best way to capture the CO2? How do we get the highest purities and even the flow rates of CO2, so that we can get the most output from the machines?

JACK KIMANI, CEO, CLIMATE ACTION PLATFORM FOR AFRICA: Direct air capture is really a relatively new industry. It just so happens that Kenya and the East African Rift happens to have the right kind of geology in terms of carbon mineralization.

You're capturing carbon from ambient air, and then once you capture that, you're able to essentially dissolve it in water and be able to inject it into porous basalt rocks.

There are still some areas whereby we need to make some improvements, but at least the purity of city that we're getting, we are at least seeing some good output from the machines.

Where we are at right now is that there is a number of companies that have been set up in Kenya from a capture standpoint, but also a storage standpoint that are operating and demonstrate -- going to be demonstrating in the next few months, if not weeks, the viability of direct air capture within the region.

Getting to the point of not just talking about it, but being able to demonstrate that, hey, listen, it actually can be done and we have done it.

We have the likes of Octavia creating very advanced machines and equipment that allow that you're able to do this in a cost-effective way.

KARIUKI: It's a race against time. And climate change is waiting for no one. And with continual progression and development of our technology, we'll be able to scale up and drive down the cost of the technology to meet the global climate ambitions. Because innovation is what is going to get out of this mess we are in as humanity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, the biggest selling EV in the world is now made in China. After a stunning rise in sales, production and battery technology, China's EV maker is facing their own challenges as they push for greater market share.

More on that after the break.

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VAUSE: The latest numbers show Tesla sales not just dropping across the U.S., but also across Europe, partly because of Elon Musk's political views, but also because Europeans are increasingly turning to China for electrical vehicles.

Chinese companies more than ready to meet that demand, while also keeping one eye focused on a U.S. market.

Marc Stewart has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a campus resembling a sci-fi film set, staff in white gloves work alongside robots of all shapes and sizes, with the capacity to make 300,000 vehicles a year.

This factory in eastern China makes Zeekr electric vehicles, a luxury brand under one of Chinas biggest EV companies, Geely.

[01:54:52]

STEWART: Safety first. Got to put on the hat, the protective hat.

It's a rare chance for us to catch a glimpse inside the mechanics of China's quest to dominate the global EV race.

You got to -- you got to use caution here because these robots just come passing by.

Now, the world's largest car market, China is forging ahead at full speed despite a trade war with the U.S. launched by President Donald Trump.

The company is producing vehicles like these to win over drivers not just in China but around the world.

GIOVANNI LANFRANCHI, VICE PRESIDENT, ZEEKR GROUP: It is not just having the car in China and just shipping to Europe, but really to customize and adapt the car to the driving habits in Europe that are different from what China wants.

STEWART: That includes the just released 7GT.

This car can go fast, zero to 60 in just about three seconds. And when you hit the pedal, you really feel the pickup.

But speed alone can't quash rivals. Zeekr is part of a crowded field of Chinese EV brands, as we saw for ourselves at the auto show in Shanghai. Government subsidies have helped fuel this explosion of brands. But China's slowing economy and stiff price competition means many may not survive.

ANDREW FELLOWS, GLOBAL HEAD OF AUTOMOTIVE AND MOBILITY, STAR: There will definitely be a reduction of the number of manufacturers. There's no doubt.

Not only in the market itself, but because of needing to go overseas.

STEWART: Still, these companies are innovating fast, giving them a potential edge over the American car giants.

FELLOWS: If I'm honest, we westerners were asleep while the Chinese were developing stuff.

STEWART: Because of tariffs, most of which were imposed even before Trump returned to the White House, EVs made in China have a minimal presence in the U.S. For now, with the U.S.-China trade war showing no signs of easing,

Chinese EV makers appear focused on maintaining their head start at home and abroad.

Marc Stewart, CNN -- Ningbo, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Maybe a little sign of easing.

Thank you for joining us this hour.

For CNN NEWSROOM, I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. Kim Brunhuber takes over after a very short break.

See you next week.

[01:57:09]

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