Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Trump Heads to D.C.; Positive Result Expected After U.S.-China Meeting; Trump Departing Beijing After Summit With Xi Jinping; U.S. Supreme Court Allows Access To Abortion Drug For Now; Blanche Told To Recuse From DOJ Matters Involving Trump. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 15, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

You're looking at live pictures right now from Beijing where we are watching closely the summit between President Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. President Trump is now heading for the airport to re-board Air Force One after that summit just wrapped. It has, of course, been a whirlwind of meetings and pageantry with Trump inviting Xi to visit Washington later this year in September.

Now, the two leaders spoke with reporters a short time ago. They didn't take questions but offered a positive assessment of their talks. President Trump says they're in agreement on quite a few issues, and they've made a lot of trade deals for both countries, although there was no official mention of any agreement on Taiwan. But here's what President Trump said about the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar about Iran. We want that to end. We don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open. We're closing it now. They closed it, and we closed it on top of them. But we want the straits open, and we want them to get it ended because it's a crazy thing. They're a little bit crazy. And it's not good. They can't have it. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is standing by for us live in Hong Kong and our Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang, joins us as well.

I'll start with you Steven. This summit just wrapping up. It has run much longer than expected. We know, you know, from the outset, Xi Jinping identified Taiwan as China's top priority, warning that a mishandling of that issue could lead to clashes, even conflict. President Trump, of course, more focused on seeking help with Iran and trade. Are we expecting any major breakthroughs? STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: I think that was never the expectation, Lynda. This has always been called a high-stakes, low expectations summit. But what you just heard Mr. Trump say in that clip you played, obviously, he was very direct with President Xi earlier this morning when they sat down for tea inside the Zhongnanhai Garden. But, of course, if you watch the whole thing, it seems President Xi really much prefer to talk about the trees and flowers in this ancient garden.

But, of course, a lot of hot-button issues have been raised and discussed, and views were exchanged, according to the latest readout that just came out from the Chinese side, even though a lot of things were just mentioned in passing very vaguely.

But I think one thing the two leaders did seem to agree was when Mr. Trump again mentioned he is inviting President Xi and his wife to visit the White House in September. Mr. Xi definitely echoed that sentiment in terms of the success of this summit and the need for more face-to-face meetings down the road. And it seems as if now they have at least potentially two more chances to meet in person this year because the Chinese are also hosting the APEC summit in November.

Now, this is actually an important tangible out of the summit because what has been lacking in this relationship in recent years is what many consider a doable stabilizer, and having this kind of regularized and structured leadership summit track is actually very helpful on this front because whenever you have these meetings on the schedule, I think both sides would think twice in terms of trying to derail bilateral ties by doing things that could anger the other side.

But, of course, the other issue, very much perhaps the reason for the prolonged working lunch the two leaders just had, was on the trade and economic front. Now, President Trump and his team have been dropping hints in the past few hours in terms of the Chinese having agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets as well as, according to U.S. Trade Representative Greer, a double digit billion dollars-worth of agricultural products.

Now, again, not surprising, perhaps even a little below expectation when it comes to Boeing jets, but this is the easy part because the Chinese can always easily do this to placate the Trump team to avoid talking about some of the underlying structural issues that have been the root cause, according to many, to cause this huge trade imbalance, which actually has widened in the past few months.

[02:05:05]

But at the end of the day, though, I learned that this summit very much went according to plan, which is probably much to the relief of both sides. Now, of course, we are waiting to hear more of these signable agreements perhaps the two leaders have finally hashed out over their lunch of Kung Pao chicken and brownies. Lynda?

KINKADE: That does sound delicious, making me hungry. Steven, in terms of the portrayal of this summit, I mean, what are you seeing on state media as to how this summit is portrayed domestically? And beyond the official messaging, what are you hearing from people in Beijing about Trump himself in this trip?

JIANG: Yes, I think the state media is all about, of course, being the mouthpiece of the party. So, you see all these really -- the rolling out of the carpet, the friendly encounters between the two leaders, and how they are really ushering a new chapter of this bilateral relationship is very much highlighted. The front page of the People's Daily, the party's ultimate mouthpiece, is nothing but the Trump-Xi summit.

But, of course, on the streets, we've been hearing varied views with a lot of people still considering Trump very untrustworthy given how they've been bombarded with the previous state media coverage of him being a chaos agent throughout the world.

And, of course, they've also noticed some of the interesting anecdotes not only by Trump but by his team, including, of course, a lot of viral Marco Rubio moments we have been playing on our air, but also other Trump officials who are very much the -- the first trip for them to China, in terms of how they have been impressed and awed by what they have seen in Beijing.

But all of that, of course, pales in comparison to the actual consequences of what the two leaders have agreed to. And on that front, I think both leaders have largely stuck to the script. Perhaps not surprising for Mr. Xi. A lot more challenging for President Trump with this reputation for making off the cuff remarks as well as giving impromptu interviews. He did none of that. But now with him reaching at the point of his Air Force One almost taking off, maybe we'll be starting hearing a lot more from him very soon. Lynda.

KINKADE: That is true. We will be following that closely as he makes his way to Beijing Airport to depart this summit. Thanks to you, Steven. We will come back to you shortly. Steven Jiang in Beijing.

And I want to check in with you, Kristie Lu Stout, in Hong Kong because much of this summit was about Iran, obviously, as Trump and Xi discussed the global energy crisis and more ships crossed the strait. What is happening with the price of oil?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Strait of Hormuz, the global energy crisis certainly front and center this day with more oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz. All this coinciding with talks underway in Beijing between Chinese Leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.

We heard earlier at the top of hour that quote from Donald Trump, who said that he and Xi Jinping are in alignment when it comes to Iran. And according to the White House, both these leaders, they agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be open. And according to Donald Trump, he added that China has agreed to buy American oil. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, what has happened, and one thing I think that we're going to make a deal on, they've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States. They're going to go to Texas. We're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska. And I think that was another thing that was agreed to. That's a big thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: China is yet to confirm that energy purchase. And we are continuing to monitor the price of oil. And oil is jumping. Let's bring up the price that we have for you, the dynamic pricing of Brent crude oil, the global oil benchmark, as well as West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark. Brent crude is up 1.8 percent. WTI is up two and a quarter percent. Already at elevated levels. Trading even higher despite the signals that we heard from Trump, from Xi in Beijing, that they were urging for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Still a lot of concern there about the tightening of supply.

We're also keeping an eye on average gas prices at the pump in the United States. And according to AAA, let's bring up the data for you, the average price right now, it stands $4.53 a gallon.

I'm also keeping an eye on the vessels and the traffic going through the Strait of Hormuz. According to Iranian state media, they said since Wednesday evening, about 30 vessels have managed to transit this critical waterway. Among them, oil tankers, Japan flag and China flag oil tankers. They managed to make this crossing. Thirty is a pretty significant number during the war. It's a very small number, just pales in comparison to the near 140 ships that were crossing the Strait of Hormuz every day before the conflict broke out in February the 28th.

[02:10:02]

Now, one economist pointed out something very interesting, drawing a line between that kind of spike in the number of vessel crossings that we've seen in last couple of days to these talks that have been underway in Beijing between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. This is what Tim Snyder said. He's the chief economist at Matador Economics. And he said -- quote -- "Many are wondering if Iran is allowing these ships to pass to not tip the scales of the talks away from China's protection of Iran" because, remember, China is very close to Iran, a key ally of Iran, and also a main buyer of Iranian oil.

We're also keeping an eye on just the maritime incidents that are happening at sea. It's very much a dangerous place for vessels and for the 20,000 seafarers who remain stranded in the Gulf. What we've learned is we had one ship that was seized off the coast of UAE, and it was steered towards Iran. Another vessel, which was a container ship that was laden with livestock, an Indian ship, came under attack and it sank. The Indian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement condemning that attack, an attack that just underscores the risk and the danger for the seafarers and for the vessels who remain there in the Gulf.

Back to you, Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Kristie Lu Stout staying across there from Hong Kong for us, we appreciate you. Thank so much. We will check back in with you later as well as we watch Donald Trump depart Beijing following this summit.

Staying on this right now. I want to welcome Victor Gao. He is a chair professor of Soochow University and former translator for the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. He joins me now from Beijing. Appreciate your time today.

VICTOR GAO, CHAIR PROFESSOR, SOOCHOW UNIVERSITY: Thank you very much for having me.

KINKADE: So, you worked very closely with the former Chinese leader during an era when China opened itself up to the world economy. Looking at this summit between Xi and Trump, are we witnessing a temporary tactical truce between two rivals? What was your takeaway?

GAO: First of all, I think the presidential visit, the state visit by President Trump to China is a complete success. If you ask me to rank it, I probably will rank it 9.99 out of 10. Very successful, highly choreographed, but also a lot of spontaneity and also a lot of excitement. China did put its best foot forward. And the Americans, government officials as well as business leaders all did the right thing. So, this is truly a historical moment.

Secondly, President Trump really brought back to the right track one very important tradition. You may recall, ever since President Reagan, every sitting president of the United the States would make a state visit to China until President Biden broke off with that tradition. He never paid a presidential visit to China. So, President Trump restored that very important tradition. And in that sense, I personally very grateful to President Trump for this important step in the right direction.

Thirdly, China has demonstrated that China can be the largest purchaser of American goods of all kinds, including agricultural products, high-tech products, as well as oil and gas, you name it. But China wants to do this on reciprocity. That is free trade for Chinese goods to the United States, American goods to China. And I think President Xi Jinping really demonstrated his commitment to buy more American goods. And hopefully, eventually, China-U.S. trading goods will be more balanced rather than completely out of whack. So, this sets a very good goal for China-U.S. going forward.

Then all the important things they talked about will really be worked out in greater detail in the coming weeks and months. Fortunately, there are three more opportunities for President Trump and President Xi Jinping to meet during the remainder of this year.

And President Xi Jinping talked about his view about China-U.S. relations. I understand President Trump also reciprocated. Whether the two countries can come up with a mutually agreed framework for China- U.S. relations in the coming three years as well as beyond is something I'm personally very much excited about. So, I think this is a historical moment.

And the fact I want to emphasize is that President Xi Jinping and President Trump visited the Temple of Heaven together. This is profound because the Temple of Heaven has significance -- great significance in the Chinese mind. It's where the emperors pray for good harvest and for peace and stability. So, for the Chinese president and President Trump to visit the Temple of Heaven together, hopefully they will pray for something, hopefully it will be peace in the world, is very significant, and I hope it will carry the significance for many years to come.

[02:15:07]

KINKADE: Because you referenced Joe Biden earlier, I wanted to just mention Donald Trump's post on Truth Social. He was talking about a comment from Xi Jinping, saying that when President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, Trump said he was referring to the damage suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden administration. What do you make of that Truth Social post? What's your reading of that? Does the Chinese leader believe that the U.S. power is waning?

GAO: First of all, President Biden, in my best view, was a Cold War president, and the President Biden administration was a Cold War presidency. In that sense, I think China has a particular view as to what President Biden was, what his presidency was, and whether they were really creating Cold War mentalities in different corners of the world. I personally have very negative view about President Biden because he was not making America great again, that's for sure, and he probably caused a lot of upheavals and instability in the United States.

Now, I would not comment on anything that President Trump said, especially when he quoted someone else. And in this particular case, the remarks by my president, I'll be very cautious about that. And on the other side, I think it would be much better to listen to the authentic comments from the Chinese side if it relates to the remarks made by the Chinese president.

But suffice it to say that President Trump wants to make America great again, China and the Chinese president said, we have no problem with that, we can actually help.

And I want to say, if the United States really want to bring more manufacturing jobs back to the United States and make America manufacturing industry stronger, there is only one country in this world which can really help the United States. That is my country, China. So, if China and the United States can be on the same page, we can talk about miracles and deliver miracles.

And I want to see China being the largest purchaser of everything made in the United States. And I'm pretty sure, my countrymen, the Chinese people, we want to be friends with the United States. And we want to see America be made great again, but not at the expense of China or any other countries in this world.

KINKADE: Maybe they prayed for miracle in the Temple of Heaven. Professor Victor Gao in Beijing, we appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

GAO: Thank you very much for having me. KINKADE: Still to come, a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling will keep a popular abortion drug available by mail mifepristone, but the battle of the access to it isn't over yet. We are going to have details. That story is coming up. And also, we will continue to follow the end of the Trump-Xi summit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

KINKADE: You're watching CNN. Welcome to our live coverage of the Trump-Xi Jinping summit in Beijing. The U.S. president's motorcade has just pulled up at Beijing Airport. President Trump is set to depart after what has been described as a successful summit.

Both presidents largely sticking to the script, no potentially off- the-cuff remarks. They discussed trade, some potential deals with Boeing and, obviously, the war in Iran. President Trump and Xi Jinping both agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should be open and that Iran war should come to an end. President Trump asked for help when it comes to ending that crisis. We can see President Trump giving a fist bump. Clearly, he has been happy with the success of this summit.

Leader Xi Jinping took Trump on a tour of his gardens. They also went to a very sacred temple known as the Temple of Heaven throughout this two-day summit. And they discussed not just the war in Iran, but the key decisions on trade. Obviously, the trade war last year caused quite a bit of tension between the two nations. So, this is seen as a bit of a reset between the two countries.

For more, I want to welcome back our bureau chief in Beijing, Steven Jiang. Steven, we're just seeing the pictures right now of President Trump departing Beijing. The pomp and ceremony has been on display the entire time. How is this visit being viewed in Beijing?

JIANG: I think if you read state media, of course, it's very much a reflection of the government narrative and because they are mouthpieces of after all, for example, the front page of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party on the Friday edition today, there's nothing else but smiling Trump and Xi, shaking hands, meeting in the Great Hall of the People, as well as visiting the Temple of Heaven.

And of course, they just reprinted all the statements and the readouts we have been talking about in the past 24 hours. And this is the new chapter, a repositioning of this relationship, as they put it. And one term, of course, they have coined, as Mr. Xi himself has said repeatedly, including just a few hours ago, this tea chat with President Trump is quite a mouthful. It's constructive strategic stability. But it really is important for the Chinese because it indicates maybe for the first time in a long time, they now accept the rivalry part of this relationship. Even though they still insist cooperation should be the main theme, but they can live with what they describe as moderate competition as well as manageable differences.

Obviously, this is how they're going to sell this to their domestic audience in terms of how they have stood their ground to Mr. Trump and his team and also, they are now setting the term, if you will, as well as the tone for the relationship going forward. But this, of course, is also an important part of this summit because for the longest time, a lot of analysts have agreed what this relationship has lacked, sorely lacked, if you will, is a doable stabilizer. There's just so many ups and downs and twists and turns.

So, on that front, as Trump himself has said more than once, that he's inviting Xi Jinping and his wife to visit the White House in September. And also, given that China is actually hosting the APEC leadership summit in November. So as of now, there are at least two more potentially face-to-face meetings between the two leaders of the two superpowers of the world.

Now that, of course, has now created this regularized and structured leadership summit track in this relationship which is actually a good thing according to most analysts, because when you have this kind of summit on a schedule, both sides will think twice in terms of doing things that may jeopardize this, that may upset this atmosphere, the relationship before the leaders meet face-to-face.

[02:24:52]

So, on the more concrete front, especially on the trade and economic issue front, which of course has always been Mr. Trump's top priority, it seems that there are also some tangible results coming out of that with both sides dropping hints. Mr. Xi himself, telling all the CEOs that the pre-summit trade negotiations has produced, in his words, overall balanced and positive outcomes. And Trump's team, including himself, have been dropping hints in terms of some these concrete results, including China agreeing to buy 200 Boeing jets and also, a double digit billion dollars' worth of agricultural products in the words of U.S. Trade Representative Greer.

But a lot of that of course has yet to be confirmed officially. That's probably something we're going to hear very soon once Air Force One takes off. But the, you know, they're working lunch which was the last official item for the two leaders to get involved on the agenda that ran long. So maybe that was part of the reason as they were having more prolonged conversations to hash out more last-minute details to put the bow on all of this. Lynda?

KINKADE: Yes, and also China appearing more interested in buying U.S. energy while trying to reduce vulnerability on the Strait of Hormuz. Is Beijing reassessing potentially its economic strategy when it comes to energy or is this a temporary fix? And what else do know about what the two sides discuss when it comes to technology and restrictions and semiconductor exports, which we know create a lot of tension during those trade talks.

JIANG: Yes, that's very interesting because a lot of people have expected this technology issue, especially AI, to be one of the top issues on the agenda. Because that's actually in terms of AI governance, one of the, you know, perhaps one of the small number of issues that both sides agree, there is a neutral interest and mutual benefit here in terms of reaching some sort of consensus. But so far in the readouts, we haven't seen much details.

Now, one thing a lot of you mentioned was the last-minute edition of Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA as part to join the CEO delegation. But I think that was more because Trump was trying to highlight the importance of the commercial interest of U.S. companies in China and demanding more access for them than any sign of concrete changes in terms of U.S. export controls targeting China.

But still, I think this is an important part of the conversation because as far as Xi is concerned, tech self-reliance is indeed one of the most important goals for China to achieve because he has said repeatedly, China needs to free itself from the U.S. chokehold on these key technologies to ensure its own national and economic security. Because of that, a lot of people also think a major part of this detente, if you will, is also both sides are still trying to buy some time for themselves to address their own strategic vulnerabilities.

For China, of course, it's the tech issue, as I just mentioned. For the U.S., it's supply chain risks, including things on rare earths, which of course China really dominating the global supply of rare earths. And rare earths under the spotlight again because it's essential to make weapons at a time when the U.S. is fast depleting its munitions because of the war with Iran. Lynda?

KINKADE: Steven Jiang, at what appears to be a successful summit coming to an end there in Beijing. We can see everyone moving away from the tarmac with U.S. President Trump set to depart Beijing and make his way back here to the U.S.

Steven Jiang, thanks so much. We'll cover more of this on the other side of the break. We will be live from Beijing in just a moment. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:33:23]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade, coming to you live from Atlanta.

I want to take you right back to Beijing, where U.S. President Donald Trump is departing after wrapping up his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. We're still waiting for details on any concrete agreements. But President Trump says President Xi agrees with him that Iran should reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

And that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon. Taiwan was a thornier issue, with President Xi warning that if its not handled properly, it could lead to conflict. Take a listen to what President Trump had to say to reporters about President Xi just a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a man I respect greatly, become really a friend. We've known each other now, 11 years, almost 12 years. That's a long time. And we've said a lot of different problems that other people wouldn't have been able to settle. And the relationship is a very strong one. And we've really done some wonderful things, I believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Let's bring in CNN senior China reporter Simone McCarthy live in Beijing for us.

Good to have you with us, Simone.

So it seems both sides largely stuck to script with a few spontaneous moments. How would Beijing grade the success of this visit?

SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA REPORTER: Well, Lynda, I think it's fair to say that Beijing is breathing a big sigh of relief right now. President Trump is known to be a leader that can go off the cuff. And China is a place where pomp and circumstance and order are incredibly important. And so, we can certainly see this trip, as you said, went incredibly smoothly.

And I think that for China, it's that smoothness that they hope to see continue into the weeks and months ahead.

[02:35:03]

That's really critical. Really, I think we can think about the optics here. We have Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcoming not only Trump, but a huge cohort of heavy hitting American business leaders, Trump saying theyre here to pay respects to China. Trump himself, as we just saw in that clip, being incredibly laudatory of Xi Jinping of China, of the relationship. And it's this kind of optics that's critical to China, which genuinely wants to be seen as an equal to the United States, both in the eyes of Washington as well as on the global stage.

And the other thing is, you know, certainly we're seeing here, okay, there's questions about what are the tangibles that are going to come out of this. But I think that tone for Beijing really is part of the tangible, because what they want to see is stability in the relationship. We've had both sides talking about constructive relationships, strategic stability.

And for Beijing, they want to be able to continue their own rise economically, technologically, militarily, without having a confrontational United States.

And so to have Marco Rubio talking about using similar language to China to talk about this constructive relationship that theyre building, that's incredibly important to China. And, you know, it's not just important to the leadership. I think people across Beijing have been watching this really closely.

Last night in front of the Four Seasons where the president was staying, there was huge crowds of Beijingers waiting to catch a glimpse of the motorcade, because people here really understand that the health of the U.S.-China relationship very much impacts their daily lives, when there's a trade war, when there's tech restrictions.

I'd like to play a clip, if I may, of how some of the Beijing residents have been talking about this visit, as it's been going on in recent days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANG YANXIA, BEIJING RESIDENT (through translator): I believe that the tensions between China and the United States have been persistent over the past eight or nine years. This development represents a relaxation in relations, which is a very significant signal of easing tensions. This should be very beneficial for the people of both countries.

HANG JINGYIU, BEIJING RESIDENT (through translator): Yesterday, I saw President Trump and President Xi Jinping visiting the temple of heaven together. Afterwards, Trump said that China is a wonderful place. I believe this marks a turning point in Sino-U.S. relations, a good starting point. In the future, things should be better and better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: So certainly we can hear a little bit of echo of Beijing's own party line in some of these comments, but at the same time, it genuinely reflects a mood on the ground that while there still is mistrust of the United States and an understanding that this is a volatile relationship, that this effort from the American leadership to come here, spend the time on the ground, meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, does put the two countries on better footing, certainly, than we saw at this time a year ago, when they were engaged in a brutal trade war.

KINKADE: Yeah, what a contrast. Simone McCarthy for us in Beijing, our thanks to you.

Well, President Trump is Xi Jinping also discussed the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr. Trump telling Fox News that the Chinese leader offered to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: President Xi would like to see a deal made. He would he would like to see a deal made. And he did offer. He said, if I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help because --

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: He did say that?

TRUMP: Yeah, he did say that. And look, anybody that buys that much oil is obviously got some kind of a relationship with him. But he said, I would love to be a help if I can be of any help whatsoever. He'd like to see the Hormuz Strait open. He said, if I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Iran claims that some 30 ships, including Chinese vessels, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since Wednesday night. Quote, with Iran's permission.

Iranian state media says arrangements were made to facilitate the passage of the Chinese ships following the talks between Chinas foreign minister and the Chinese ambassador to Iran.

On Capitol Hill, U.S. Central Command told congressional lawmakers during a Senate hearing Thursday that Iran still has a, quote, very moderate, if not small, capability to carry out strikes in the Middle East. U.S. intelligence recently estimated that roughly two thirds of Iran's missile launchers had survived U.S. strikes.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers rejected a resolution Thursday aimed at limiting president Trump's war powers against Iran. The measure failed on a tied vote, largely along party lines. It's the second time in as many days that Congress has failed to rein in the presidents war powers.

And Israel and Lebanon will continue their talks in Washington in the coming hours. That's the word from a U.S. state department official who described their meeting Thursday as positive and productive. The fragile ceasefire in Lebanon is set to expire in the coming days. Negotiators are trying to agree on a more durable truce and a potential long term peace deal.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire on the ground, while the IDF is pushing ahead with the creation of its security zone in southern Lebanon.

[02:40:03]

A U.S. delegation held talks with Cuban officials in Havana Thursday as tensions between the two countries continue, leading the us group was the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who met with Cuban intelligence officials from the minister of the interior. Cuba says their side stressed that their country is not a threat to the U.S. They also objected to being listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, arguing that there is a, quote, no legitimate reason to label Cuba as such.

The island nation still suffers from a worsening energy crisis as the U.S. continues its oil blockade. It has caused rolling blackouts across the island, with hardships causing unrest.

President Trump previously signaled that he's willing to open discussions with the Cuban government, as the U.S. is promising millions of dollars in aid contingent upon reforms to its communist system.

Speaking on Fox News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed doubt that Cuba could turn things around with the current Cuban leadership at the helm. Take a listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it's impossible to change it. I wish it were different, but I believe -- it's my personal opinion. You cannot change the economic trajectory of Cuba as long as the people who are in charge of it now are in charge of it. That's what's going to have to change, because these people have proven incapable.

I hope I'm wrong. We'll give them a chance, but I don't think it's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: A new ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is clearing the way for women to continue getting access to the mainstream abortion pill, which is often needed in miscarriage via the mail and telehealth. But the decision may not hold for long. The case will now return to a U.S. appeals court to decide the merits, with a potential return to the Supreme Court.

Our Paula Reid explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On Thursday, the Supreme Court held that women can continue to access the abortion medication mifepristone through telehealth or virtual health appointments and have it mailed to them.

Now, during a COVID times, regulations were changed previously, an in- person appointment was required for this medication. But during the COVID era that was changed by the FDA to make it more easy to access this medication. So it was allowed for women to access this through telehealth, through the mail.

Then those changes were actually made permanent by the FDA. But that change has been the subject of a lot of litigation, especially after the fall of Roe v. Wade, where a lot of conservative states banned abortion clinics and clinics where abortions were performed. That prompted an increase in the demand for this drug.

Now, about two weeks ago, the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that mifepristone would need to be prescribed only in person. Drug manufacturers appealed to the Supreme Court, which put a pause on that ruling gave itself about a week to make a decision. And on Thursday, they revealed that they are going to continue to allow this drug to be available through telehealth and through the mail while the questions continue to be litigated in lower courts.

So this is not the final word on mifepristone. There are also two dissenting opinions. Justices Alito and Justice Thomas dissented from this decision Thursday. Justice Alito suggesting that the prescription of this medication through telehealth is part of an effort to get around the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

So it is possible that after this works its way through the courts, the Supreme Court could formally take up this question and make a final ruling. But for now, mifepristone continues to be available through telehealth appointments and can be mailed to women.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Now to exclusive CNN reporting involving acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Sources say that the Justice Department's top ethics lawyer told Blanche last year to recuse himself from the DOJ matters involving President Trump in his personal capacity.

Before joining the Justice Department, Blanche, of course, was Mr. Trump's personal defense attorney in multiple criminal cases.

CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump has made clear he wants the leader of the Justice Department to deliver on his agenda. But can that person be his former defense lawyer? Todd Blanche, currently the acting attorney general.

Our reporting has found that Todd Blanche, when he first entered the job as the deputy attorney general at the Justice Department last March, he was explicitly told by a career ethics official there that he would need to recuse for at least a year from overseeing or taking part in any investigations where he had previously represented Trump if those investigations might touch on Trump's interests in his personal capacity. So, potentially, if he were a witness, if it was aftermath of an investigation that had been into Trump.

So after Todd Blanche had represented Donald Trump in both his criminal cases in Washington, D.C., and in south Florida, there is the possibility now in this Justice Department that additional investigations are arising and prosecutions could as well.

[02:45:11]

Now, the Justice Department has not been explicitly clear on just how far Blanche has gone to remove himself from cases like these, including potentially some of those ongoing investigations. Although the acting attorney general, Blanche, he did say in a social media post on Thursday, in response to this CNN story that the Justice Department ethics rules around recusal are black and white. And rest assured, I'm fully compliant. He did indeed sign an ethics pledge last March, but this is still a question that will hang over his tenure as acting attorney general.

And if he continues in this job, if there are cases that arise that that have some sort of intersection with Donald Trump in his personal capacity, did Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, do anything to participate in them from the Justice Departments side, given he was on the other side when he was Trump's defense attorney? Still a big question and one that we will continue asking. There are

also other concerns of this justice department and the way that they have approached ethics. Much of the ethics staff at the Justice Department, who were career employees, they are gone. Many have been fired. But the Department of Justice say they still are adhering to ethics, including in cases that might touch on Trump.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Our thanks to Katelyn.

Well, it might be tempting to turn over your finances to an A.I. assistant. Just ahead here, what you should consider before sharing your financial information with a chat bot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:51:27]

KINKADE: Officials say two people are dead after a small plane crashed into this home in the U.S. state of Ohio. A flight tracking website indicates that the aircraft was preparing to land when it went down and turned the home into a fireball. The plane had apparently taken off from the nearby Akron Fulton Airport about half an hour and a half away.

Officials say both the victims are on board the plane, and there are no reports of any other injuries. Federal investigators are looking into the cause of the crash.

Well, be warned if you're looking for money advice from A.I. Experts say artificial intelligence is not quite ready for prime time when it comes to managing your personal finances. You need to know how to protect yourself.

CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy has more on what to look out for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: That's right. These days, people are asking A.I. for all sorts of advice, and that includes financial advice about things like retirement planning, how to get out of debt, how to start investing.

And in some ways this makes sense, right? Because not everybody can afford to pay a human financial planner. A.I. could be a way of democratizing access to this kind of information. But experts say there are real risks here. And so, it's important to follow a number of best practices if you're going to be asking A.I. for money advice.

First and foremost, make sure that you are not sharing personal, sensitive details with an A.I. chatbot. So whether that means doing redactions on a bank statement or other document before you upload it to an ai chatbot to ask a question, or even better, just take the relevant information from those documents. Remove any sensitive personal information, and then create a prompt to ask that question.

But the key here is do not give A.I. personal information like your name, your birth date, account numbers, transaction dates, all of that could end up potentially hacked, or it could end up in A.I.'s training data. And hackers know how to send targeted prompts to A.I. in order to extract training data. So you do not want your personal information to be a part of that.

Also important to be checking in on the privacy and data retention policies for whatever A.I. chatbot you're using. And these can change periodically. So it's good to check regularly.

A final thing is that if you are asking A.I. chat bots for financial information, you can actually prompt them to give you privacy reminders so that you don't get caught up in the conversation and forget to remove those personal details.

Rachel Tobac, she's CEO of Social Proof Security. She put it this way. She said, people are trusting A.I. tools like theyre a trusted fiduciary, but your fiduciary is required to work in your best financial interest. Whereas a large cloud based A.I. service provider is often creating their policies based on their own best interest and not yours.

And finally, just remember that A.I. shouldn't be a single source of truth for financial advice. We know that A.I. chatbots can still make mistakes. They also can give very different advice based on who's asking.

So we could ask at the very same prompt about how to invest $1,000. It might give you great advice. It might give me less good advice. So make sure you're consulting other trusted sources, whether that is other reliable sources online or a human professional when you're looking for financial advice.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Some great tips. Thanks to Clare Duffy.

Well, FIFA will take a cue from the Super Bowl in next months World Cup final. The association says the event will include a halftime music show headlined by Shakira, Madonna and the k-pop sensation BTS. That will be a first for the World Cup final match will be which will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 19th.

But he halftime break in soccer is just 15 minutes, so its unclear whether that rule will be changed to accommodate the show.

[02:55:04]

Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. For our international viewers, I'll be back with much more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. And for our viewers here in North America, it's "CNN NEWSNIGHT", next.