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"National Day Of Action" Rallies Underway Amid GOP Redistricting; Trump's Sway Within The GOP Tested In Louisiana GOP Primary; Interview With Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming; Trump Back At The White House After Crucial China Summit; Interview With Chairman Of Silverado Policy Accelerator Dmitri Alperovitch; Kentucky Voters Facing Loyalty Test In GOP Primary; Ships Face Higher Fuel Costs With Oil Prices Over $100 A Barrel. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 16, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:36]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Reid in Washington. Jessica Dean has the night off.

We're following voting rights rallies happening across the country. The events called "All Roads Lead to the South" come as a major redistricting battle is underway.

Last month, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana congressional voting map. In the ruling, the high court effectively gutted parts of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a wave of redistricting efforts across America before this year's midterm elections.

Activists kicked off their events in Selma, Alabama before heading to Montgomery, where a rally is underway right now.

CNN national correspondent Rafael Romo joins us now from Alabama. Rafael, what are you seeing and hearing from today's events?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, it is hot and humid here in Montgomery. It's sunny, too.

But that's not stopping thousands of people from gathering here at the bottom of the steps of the Alabama state capitol.

Just a few moments ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the congresswoman from New York, spoke in front of these people on the stage behind me. Just before her, it was Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock. And we're expecting that in just a few moments. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is also going to speak to the crowd here.

And it's been political leaders, activists people from this area, many leaders that have spoken to this people, and also the people who are attending the rally are sending the message that they're very concerned that their voting rights are being diluted, especially after that landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that happened less than three weeks ago. Now, some of the things that we have seen, because people have come

with signs and posters trying to express themselves, saying things that their vote matters. Black voters matter.

They say things like, if your voice didn't matter, they wouldn't be trying to silence it.

Earlier today, CNN -- Senator Booker gave us an interview for CNN, and he said -- he tried to -- he explained to us, what's at stake at this moment. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): When we organize and mobilize, we accomplish victories, not just for black people or for democrats, but for our democracy. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Too many people are lavishing in the democracy they inherited from our ancestors and forget that from fields in Gettysburg to the Boston Massacre to even the Edmund Pettus Bridge, every generation people had to fight to secure our democracy and make it more open and more accepting and more democratic.

Our generation, this is our test. This is our moment. What are we going to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And here's the thing. One of the things that people are telling me here is that they're looking at how different states across the south are taking action to limit the power as they perceive it, of black voters by redrawing the maps, by redistricting, by limiting the power that it's taken, they tell me generations, decades to get those rights. And so that's the main concern here.

Now, this rally is not over. They started promptly at 1:30 p.m. Central Time, and I took a look at the list, Paula. They still have a number of people that are going to appear on this stage behind me.

Now, back to you.

REID: Rafael Romo in Montgomery, Alabama. Thank you.

And voting is underway right now in Louisiana in a race seen as the latest test of President Trump's sway within the Republican Party. Trump is looking to boot Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who's held his seat for 12 years.

[17:04:45]

REID: But five years ago, Senator Cassidy voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment. This morning, Trump attacking Cassidy and telling people to vote him out.

Cassidy is being challenged by Congresswoman Julia Letlow, who is backed by Trump and state treasurer John Fleming. Fleming, a former four-term congressman, has been a consistent force

in the race, making it nearly certain that tonight's primary will head to a runoff in June.

Joining me now, John Fleming.

Congressman, President Trump is still backing one of your opponents. Obviously, he wants the other one out. And then there's you.

How far do you think President Trump's influence goes in this race?

JOHN FLEMING (R-LA), STATE TREASURER, SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, his endorsements are very influential. I will note that on Truth Social today, he posted that he was ready to turn out Bill Cassidy and that he appreciated two great people. And of course, he was referring to the other two, which would be Letlow and myself.

So he's made it clear that his aim is to remove Cassidy. He doesn't want him reelected. That Cassidy could actually vote again in a future trial for the U.S. Senate.

Remember, Trump was impeached twice, and this could happen a third time, so he can't afford to have Cassidy to return.

So he did refer to us as the two great people. So I really appreciate it. And I did sort of retweet that or tweet back, "Thank you for that."

REID: Well, Letlow's campaign clearly sees you as a potential threat. They have labeled you a, quote, "never-Trumper". How do you, given your resume, respond to that?

FLEMING: Well, it's like many things they've said because they've been lagging behind me in the polls. They want to get past me and they've said many things that are absolutely, 100 percent false.

So I was one of the first congressmen who endorsed President Trump in 2016. I worked in his administration all four years at different levels, ending in the last year as his deputy chief of staff in the White House.

And President Trump endorsed me for my current position, which is state treasurer. So I've never been a never-Trumper. Again, that's just simply a lie. I don't know how else to describe it to you.

REID: So even though he said that he, quote, "appreciates you", that's different than getting a formal endorsement like one of your opponents has. Why do you think that he didn't endorse you this time around?

FLEMING: Well, this was an operation run by our current governor, Jeff Landry. He and his cronies and who encircle the Trump campaign worked very hard to get that endorsement for her and blocked my access to the president.

Eventually, I did speak with the president after the endorsement was given, and we got reacquainted because he does a lot of endorsements. And finally he said, well, you're fantastic. He said, why didn't you

call me before? And I said, sir, I was blocked at every turn so I never really had an opportunity to seek that endorsement.

REID: So whatever happens in this campaign, it requires money, right? You've largely self-funded your campaign. FEC records show that you loaned yourself more than $10 million since the start of your campaign.

FLEMING: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: And at the end of April --

FLEMING: That's what I did.

You know, what I did is I lent myself $2 million. And then during the lull, I would put it back into my account to draw interest. So no, it's the same 2 million that I would withdraw and put back into the account.

So I really have not, you know -- I want to be sure you understand that I can see where someone could misinterpret that from the paperwork, but that's not really the reality.

REID: So at the end of April --

FLEMING: I've been outspent -- I've actually been outspent 20 to 1, and yet I've led in the race the entire time. So that kind of tells you how grassroots our campaign is.

We have 20,000 yard-signs across the state, over 250 volunteers. We've had ten times the number of personal appearances and interviews of both my opponents put together. So that's really the strength of our campaign, is the grassroots part of it.

REID: So at the end of April, it does appear that both of your opponents will have more money on hand. So can you sustain a runoff financially if that's what this ends up being?

FLEMING: Yes, absolutely.

REID: Now, Cassidy has focused his attacks on Letlow, largely ignoring your campaign. Do you think that he views you as a serious challenger?

FLEMING: Oh, I'm sure he does. He's said so many times. I don't know why he's chosen to hit her. Generally, the way it works is you hit the candidate who's above you in the polls. So I think he's been fighting for second place with her.

She, on the other hand, has been bombarding me with millions of dollars of attack ads -- all that are not true, 100 percent false. So she views me above her.

[17:09:53] FLEMING: So despite the fact that Julia Letlow has the Trump endorsement it's clear that she's worried that I'm leading in this -- in this race.

REID: All right. So tonight, the polls close at 8:00 p.m. Louisiana time, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. When are you expecting to get the first results?

FLEMING: Well, they'll roll in immediately. Probably we'll pretty much know who's going to be in the runoff by, I would say, 10:00.

REID: All right. Congressman John Fleming, thank you.

FLEMING: All right. Thank you.

REID: And I want to note we did invite his opponent, Senator Bill Cassidy, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow, to come on the show as well.

Now, still ahead, President Trump is back from China with no breakthrough on the war in Iran. So how does he move forward with a peace deal?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:10:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: President Trump is calling his trip to meet with China's President Xi Jinping, quote, "an incredible visit". But there's no clear breakthrough coming out of that meeting. Trump says the two discussed Taiwan and the war with Iran, with both leaders saying they want the Strait of Hormuz open.

Now. China, of course, has deep ties with Iran, and Trump says Xi wants the war to end. Trump says Xi offered to help end it, but quote, "we don't need help".

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. Alayna, what exactly did this trip accomplish?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think there was a lot in the way of optics, Paula, but not a lot in the way of deliverables.

I think clearly, you saw both of these leaders really try to show and tout this positive relationship, not only between them, but between Washington and Beijing more broadly.

But when it came to, as you mentioned, some of the key issues, more of the thornier issues that they were expected to discuss, things like Iran and Taiwan, but also A.I. chips and tariffs and a potential deal on rare earth minerals. We didn't hear a lot from that.

Yes, we heard about some economic deals that we are still waiting to see the actual details of. But no kind of big announcement, particularly trade announcement that you often see when the president does a foreign trip like this.

But one of the things I really want to zero in on specifically is Iran, because, Paula, before the president left and departed for China, I had been talking to my sources here at the White House who essentially said that he was at a point where he was so frustrated with how the Iranians were handling negotiations with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, that he had been closer to wanting to order more strikes in Iran than he had been throughout the entire ceasefire.

But, of course, he was going to China. And so what they told me was essentially, we want to wait and see how these talks go before any determination is made.

But he is now back in Washington, D.C., and it doesn't seem like a lot has really, you know, moved on Iran, given those talks in China.

I do want you to listen, though, to what the president told Fox News last night, specifically about saying, you know, how he wasn't going to ask for help, but that, you know, he wanted to see how things went. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They cannot have a nuclear weapon because --

(CROSSTALK)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR: The president of China agrees with you on that and --

TRUMP: He agrees with me on that. He agrees with me that he wants to see it end. He'd like to see it end.

He would like to help. If he wants to help, that's great. But we don't need help. And you know, the problem with help when somebody helps you, they always want something on the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: I think that last line there in that clip, Paula, is so interesting because that was another thing I had been discussing with different Trump officials is that, look, you know, you don't want the Chinese to see the Iran issue as potential leverage.

Now, to his point about saying that Xi said that they do not want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon, that they want the strait reopened. Those are things we have heard China say previously.

So again, not really much new on that front. And that's because, of course, it's in Chinas interest to have the strait reopen. They are the biggest consumers of Iranian oil.

I'll just say, though, the president is now back in Washington, I think there's a key decision that he now has to make about how he wants to see this war concluded.

And if he believes more strikes and more combat operations is really going to be the only way to do that so he's likely to meet with his national security team in the coming days. But we'll have to stand by and see ultimately what path he takes, Paula.

REID: Alayna Treene, thank you.

And joining us now is former special adviser to the Department of Defense, currently chairman for the nonprofit bipartisan think tank Silverado Policy Accelerator, Dmitri Alperovitch.

He's also the author of "World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century".

All right. Dmitri, from your perspective, what do you think was actually achieved in this trip to China?

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, CHAIRMAN, SILVERADO POLICY ACCELERATOR: Well, look, I don't think much was achieved, but not much was expected, frankly, because the name of the summit was stability.

In fact, administration officials like Jamieson Greer, the head of USTR, U.S. Trade Representative, was actually at our summit at Silverado about a week and a half ago.

And he said that what we want is the continuation of the truce. It was established in South Korea last fall because remember, last year was a time of huge escalation.

[17:19:46]

ALPEROVITCH: We had tariffs going up on Chinese imports upwards of 140 percent. We had a block on export of rare earths from China to the United States.

So there was a pause button pressed in Busan. This continued here in Beijing. But frankly, the summit could have been an email.

REID: We just heard the president talking about not asking China for help, saying they would want something in return. That is probably true, but do you think the president is right in this strategy?

ALPEROVITCH: I think so. Look, we didn't want to look weak and begging China for help. Look, we obviously care a lot about exports of oil from the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

But the one that really cares is China, because much of their oil imports are coming from the Middle East, not just from Iran, but from Saudi Arabia, from UAE. They're being impacted.

Obviously, they have huge inventories that are being drawn down right now. That can't continue indefinitely. So they have a lot of interests here. So I think the president is actually right that we don't want to beg them for help when it's in their self-interest to help.

REID: Well, how do you think they would potentially use leverage if President Trump had allowed their assistance?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, they have some leverage over Iran, for sure. Obviously, they're big trade partner with Iran, they've supplied them with military systems. They're buying some of their oil.

But we shouldn't overestimate how much leverage they can really have over this new regime that's now in place in Iran, really run by the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that views this as an existential fight with the United States.

So they might listen to the Chinese, but they're not going to sink to their -- dance to their tune.

REID: Of course, Taiwan huge issue during this trip, Trump had this to say about Taiwan after he got back. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Has the policy changed at all?

TRUMP: No, nothing's changed.

BAIER: The U.S. policy.

TRUMP: No nothing's changed. I will say this. I'm not looking to have somebody go independent. And you know, we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that.

But they have somebody there now that wants to go independent. Well, it's a risky thing when you go independent, you know, they're going independent because they want to get into a war and they want to -- they figure they have the United States behind them.

I'd like to see it stay the way it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: What's your reaction to that?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, Paula, going in, there was a lot of speculation that maybe Taiwan is going to be on the table for some sort of deal, sort of a rare earths for Taiwan type of scenario.

I never thought that was going to be real for two reasons.

One, that China never really wants to negotiate over Taiwan. They view it as their own sovereign territory. It is never on the table as a chip to sort of bargain over.

And then I think also, President Trump has learned, even going back to 2015, when he was still president-elect the first time around when he received, of course, the call from then-president of Taiwan, something that was a huge diplomatic faux pas because, of course, we don't have direct recognition of Taiwan since 1979.

And he's learned that this is a very, very sensitive issue in the relationship.

I thought it was very interesting when on Air Force One, he was asked by the reporter about the comments from Xi Jinping about how Taiwan is really at the center of the stability of the relationship between the United States and China.

And he, the president said, I listened, but I didn't respond. So he knew enough not to utter anything that might jeopardize this very, very fraught relationship.

REID: Now, he also though, said that the pending $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan is a good negotiating chip. What do you make of that?

ALPEROVITCH: Yes, that wasn't so great. We'll see what -- where it happens. And I'm not sure if he meant that that was a negotiation chip with China or with Taiwan itself.

Obviously, he is not very happy with Taiwan, he said in that interview on Fox News that Taiwan has stolen our chip industry. He wants to pressure them to invest more in Arizona, where TSMC, of course, the largest chip maker in the world, is building up fabs for manufacturing.

So I think it might be leverage over Taiwan versus actually leverage with China.

REID: Lastly, I want to ask you about some new reporting from CNN yesterday found that U.S. officials suspect that Iranian hackers are behind a series of breaches of systems that monitor the fuel tank readers at gas stations in multiple states. How does this raise security concerns?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, this is totally expected. The Iranians have had an ongoing cyber program for over 15 years. They're quite good. They're not as good as us. They're not as good as Russia or China, but they're certainly second tier actor.

And given what they've suffered in the course of this war, enormous destruction of their military infrastructure, some of their energy infrastructure, you would expect for them to retaliate.

They don't have missiles that can reach our infrastructure, but they do have cyber. And it's a great asymmetric tool for our enemies to reach out and harm us from half a world away.

REID: Now, what exactly do you do with that access?

[17:24:47]

ALPEROVITCH: Well, the fear would be that they would actually cause disruption. We've seen them do that before. We've seen them do that to Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world back in 2012. We've seen them target dams in the United States in the past.

So they're capable of causing some disruption to those assets should they decide to move forward and if they're able to execute those operations.

REID: Dmitri Alperovitch, thank you.

ALPEROVITCH: Thank you.

REID: And happening now, the "All Roads Lead" to the rally against rollbacks in the South on black voting rights.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:29:55]

REID: The Republican primary in Kentucky is heating up, as President Trump seeks to unseat Republican Congressman Thomas Massie.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be campaigning in the state on Monday. As CNN's Jeff Zeleny found out the race is shaping up to be a major loyalty test for voters that could reveal how the president's MAGA movement is holding up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Can you escape this?

JONI PUGH, REPUBLICAN VOTER, KENTUCKY: No.

ZELENY: Fight between Trump and Massie?

PUGH: No, it's everywhere. It really is, and that's what really worries me.

ZELENY (voice over): Joni Pugh feels like she's stuck in the middle of a family feud between President Trump and Congressman Thomas Massie,

PUGH: And I'm not putting Trump down at all, because I'm very much a fan of his. But I'm still going to vote for Thomas. I think he is a great guy. He is very careful about he wants -- how he wants our taxpayer money need to be spent.

ZELENY (voice over): No Republican has infuriated Trump more than Massie.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got to get rid of this loser.

ZELENY (voice over): Who led the charge to release the Epstein files.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I'm not going to give up.

ZELENY (voice over): And voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

MASSIE: it's going to add to the deficit. It's all -- everything else is semantics. ZELENY (voice over): Two of many grievances the president won't forget.

TRUMP: He is disloyal to the Republican Party. He is disloyal to the people of Kentucky.

MASSIE: That loyalty will be tested next Tuesday when Massie faces Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL, in a district stretching from the Louisville suburbs up to Cincinnati and along the Ohio River.

More than $29 million has been spent on T.V. ads in one of the most expensive House primaries ever.

STEVE FRANK, REPUBLICAN VOTER, KENTUCKY: And the problem is, Thomas Massie has burnt every bridge he could possibly have to be effective.

ZELENY (voice over): Steve Frank is among the Republicans who believes Northern Kentucky needs a member of Congress who's not a White House enemy.

FRANK: He will say in his own statistics, he agrees with Trump in the Republican leadership 91 percent of the time. Well, hey, you know, a monkey shares 91 percent of our DNA with us, but they isn't the same thing.

ZELENY (voice over): Massie has long stood up to the establishment of both parties, after first winning 14 years ago in the Tea Party era as a deficit hawk. He defends his independent libertarian brand.

MASSIE: There is three branches of government, and we are supposed to keep each other accountable, and that's what we are doing here today in the people's House.

ZELENY (voice over): In seven elections, Massie has never faced an onslaught like this, including an attack ad with A.I. images depicting a romantic relationship with two Democratic congresswomen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thomas Massie caught in a throuple in Washington.

ZELENY (voice over): Massie blasted the ad from a Trump-aligned super PAC as disgusting and defamatory.

Steve Doan, a Republican lawmaker and friend of Massie's, said some voters are torn.

STATE REP. STEVEN DOAN (R-KY): How do I square this? You know, Trump doesn't like him, but I like him, and I just don't know what to do. And I always compare it to mommy and daddy fighting. You know, we love both of those people. We love Trump, we love Thomas, and we just have kind of figured it out here.

ZELENY (voice over): Inside the shortstop diner in Garrison, Nedra Jamison said she votes for the person, not party.

NEDRA JAMISON, REPUBLICAN VOTER, KENTUCKY: I like Thomas. I like Trump. ZELENY: So, Trump came in here and said, don't vote for Massie. What would you say?

JAMISON: I'd say, well, if I want to vote for him, I'll vote for him. If I don't want to vote for him, I won't vote for him. It's my -- it's my choice, not yours.

ZELENY (voice over): Ramona Bivens believes the attacks on Massie could backfire.

RAMONA BIVENS, REPUBLICAN VOTER, KENTUCKY: I'll vote for Thomas, just because Trump is giving him such a hard time.

ZELENY: That's why you are going to vote for him? Why is that?

BIVENS: Yes, I just think it's silly. It's politics, and they are running for office. They are not running against each other.

ZELENY (voice over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Garrison, Kentucky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

And we are back at the All Roads Lead to the South rally in Montgomery, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:21]

REID: And we are back with coverage of the voting rights rallies taking place across the country. The events today come after a recent Supreme Court ruling effectively gutting the Voting Rights Act, which then reignited nationwide redistricting battles by both parties.

Now, joining us now from a rally in Montgomery, Alabama, is Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. She is also the former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Congresswoman, what do you hope to achieve from today's events?

REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH): Well, today we are out here in Montgomery, Alabama, and as you may be able to hear, it's crowded, it's loud. We want to educate the individuals. We want to tell them how important it is for us to organize and mobilize, and more importantly, to go and vote. Because we know all roads lead to the South.

We are here where Section Two of the Voting Rights Bill was eviscerated. We want to make sure that we don't have our vote suppressed. We want to make sure that those two Congress folks, Congresswoman Terri Seal -- Sewell and Congressman Shomari Figures, are reelected, so that the people of this state can have fair representation.

So, today. It's about standing up for our rights. It's about galvanizing. It's about making sure that everyone is united together.

REID: How would you explain to the average voter in your district the impact of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on Louisiana's congressional map?

[17:40:01]

BEATTY: We want to explain to the everyday person that this is not just about the South. If this administration, if this PAC, Supreme Court can do this. They will do more to harm all of us. They will take away all of our rights, whether that's what our children can read, what they will do to education, to health care, and so, we may need to make sure that we let everyone know that we are standing up.

There are thousands of people out here because they are everyday people, they are civil rights, they are foot soldiers, and they know the importance of what's happening here. This is the same capitol building that had a Confederate flag hang until recent years.

But when we galvanized, when we spoke up, we were able to remove that. History tells us, if we stay together, we can make change, and that's what I want the everyday person to know. It's not just for people like me who are elected, it's for our mothers, and our grandfathers and our grandchildren that we are fighting for this.

REID: What role do you think Congress has in ensuring voters' rights?

BEATTY: Could you give me that again, please? It's a little loud.

REID: Sure. What is the role of Congress here in ensuring voters' rights?

BEATTY: We have many members of Congress here, members of all of our caucuses, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, other caucuses here, because we are speaking out to make sure people know that when we organize and unite, it can make a difference, and that's what we are hoping to do. Get people on message. We want to take this all across the South, not only here in Alabama, but we want to go to Louisiana, to Mississippi. We want to then come back to Virginia and all of the states that are affected by this.

REID: In addition to these rallies, are there legislative actions that you intend to take to push back on the Supreme Court decision?

BEATTY: Absolutely. We are filing lawsuits in the state of Louisiana about this. We have people here from the NAACP, we have people from every civil rights organization, who are fighting legislative with us.

We also know that we are tying people getting out to vote, because when we take back the majority, the first thing that we will do is put up the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.

We did it before we were able to pass it in the House. So, if we get our four senators and we elect more senators, it is real that we could take the majority in the House, the senate, and that way we would be able to put forth the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, and that will be an amazing step towards victory.

REID: Well, as you know, getting the House majority is now a little more difficult after the Supreme Court last night tossed out that request to reinstate the congressional map in Virginia. What is your reaction to this news?

BEATTY: I mean, the news has been devastating to us, but we cannot be a people without hope. We cannot be a people that is not getting people to stand with us.

We know they eviscerated Section Two. I was here in Congress when they took the vote on Section Four and Section Five, but we have prevailed. And as many of our Congressional Black Caucus members are reminding us, we have been this journey before, but we won't give up.

Take back to when John Lewis and Martin Luther King III, were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They didn't make it on the first or the second or the third try, but they had to pick the right moment, and then, they were able to do it.

We are going to follow that same pattern, we are not going to be defeated, because if that's the case, we can't give up. But we know that this is a racist Supreme Court, we know that the President of the United States is afraid that we are going to take back the majority. So, we are not being naive, we know he's going to come after us with every illegal, unlawful thing that he can do. So, we have galvanized lawyers and organizations fighting and filing lawsuits every day.

REID: Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, thank you.

BEATTY: Thank you so much.

REID: And the leaders of the two largest economies in the world meet, and no big deals nailed down.

[17:44:59]

More on that, and whether Trump and Xi talked tariffs. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: After two days of talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Trump, the key word describing the summit has been stable. But all signs point to an ongoing stable relationship between the world's two biggest economic superpowers.

That factor of the summit was seen as business positive, with billions of dollars in Chinese and American trade on the line, because the big backdrop right now is the world fears of higher oil prices and inflation amid Trump's war on Iran.

[17:50:15]

And joining me now is someone who sees that trade close up and almost in real time. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Gene, I'm so glad to have you with me. Now, despite the tariffs and the oil shock, April actually looks pretty great for the port.

GENE SEROKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF LOS ANGELES: Good evening, Paula. It does. And I think what you are seeing right now are importers taking advantage of relatively low tariffs and trying to speed those products into market.

You may remember that the temporary tariffs, the Section 122s of the 1974 Trade Act, are set to expire on July 24th. And it's anyone's guess right now where we go from there.

REIDD: So, even with American consumers looking resilient for now, there is no question that the shipping companies, they are facing sharply higher fuel prices since those cargo ships, right? They need millions of gallons of fuel to make their trips.

Do you expect this to lead to higher consumer prices?

SEROKA: Yes, I do. And here is why:

The ship fuel, or bunker, as it's called, that's powering these large vessels has doubled since the war in Iran began on February 28th.

And in some locations, especially around Asia, that supply is becoming more and more limited, similar to jet fuel and other refined products. At best, we'll see that, that price of fuel is passed on to importers and exporters, which means down to you and me as consumers.

The other piece to this that's really important is about two-thirds of all the cargo that moves in and out of the Port of L.A. moves by truck. Diesel fuel in Southern California is up 50 percent since last year.

REID: Wow, that's interesting. And, of course, to cut down on fuel, many overseas cargo ships are trying new routes. So, how does that affect what you are seeing at the Port of Los Angeles?

SEROKA: The route between Asia and Southern California ports remain very consistent. Cargo ships are leaving and arriving on time. I've been very pleased with that performance. I was just in China last month, and spoke to a number of folks in the shipping community, as well as ports and supply chain, and we continue to be prioritized.

But longer routes exist in just about every other trade, trying to do workarounds going past the Middle East war zone, and especially cargo ships going to Europe and the U.K. continue to take that long route across the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

REID: And help people understand how does what's happening with the Strait of Hormuz and the closure there affect your port all the way in Los Angeles. What's the connection, the ripple effect?

SEROKA: Well, number one, it's about 10 percent of all the cargo in the world that moves in and out of the Middle East, whether it's the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, or East Africa, Paula. But it's taking up about 95 percent of executive and company time planning different scenarios around ports of call that we both share, like Singapore, Shanghai, and those in Japan, and Korea.

If that area gets a little bit backed up, could it have an impact on other trades? Second, is this price of fuel, and even if we were to get the Strait of Hormuz open today, it will more than likely take about eight or nine months to get these supply chains, ships, and schedules, back to a more normal look.

REID: It's a long time. Was your industry hoping for more specifics on tariffs, or at least a softening of the tone when it came to, you know, the tariffs between President Trump and Xi Jinping over these talks?

SEROKA: So many in our business were watching these meetings the past week very closely, and while both sides appeared to be cordial and diplomatic, not a lot came out.

200 airplanes committed that were to be purchased from Boeing, my friends at the company were telling me their target was 500. The purchase of more oil. Now, what we're seeing in the United States are refineries spending a lot of time producing jet fuel to help out those countries that are limited right now.

And then, lastly, maybe a look at purchasing U.S. beef. But with prices on beef up 16 percent year over year, supply grappling to meet with our demand, we have been importing product from Mexico and Latin America to help with that American buying power of the beef. I'm not sure how that's going to work just yet.

And that we didn't see the discussions on what happens after the temporary tariffs, nor did we see real points of interest around American agriculture products.

[17:55:01]

So, there is a lot more to learn, and I think we are left with more questions than we have answers right now.

REID: I think that's right. Gene Soroka. Thank you.

And the CNN original series, "DISASTER: THE CHERNOBYL MELTDOWN", uncovers the full story from the explosion and KGB cover-up to today's war in Ukraine.

Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IGOR KIRSHENBAUM (text): On the right of the accident, I worked as a Senior Turbine Control Engineer at Unit Four. I was 28 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): Why did you keep quiet for almost forty years?

KIRSHENNBAUM: I want to start a new life and didn't want to return to the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: All episodes of "DISASTER: THE CHERNOBYL MELTDOWN", premier tomorrow night at 9:00, only on CNN, and streaming now on the CNN app.

Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the CDC is putting out new guidelines for people exposed to hantavirus. We will talk to a doctor straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)