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Iranians Urged To Prepare For War As Trump Issues New Threats; Putin Heads To China For Official Visit, Talks With Xi; New Graduates Face Job Market Hungry For A.I. Expertise. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 19, 2026 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:30:32]
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And President Trump says that he's holding off on a planned attack on Iran at the request of Gulf allies. The decision comes, as Trump says, that negotiations to end the war are becoming more serious. But he's also instructed his military leaders to be ready, "On a moment's notice if a deal isn't reached."
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that it has sent a response to mediators from Pakistan after the U.S. criticized its latest proposal. Tehran, however, says that it plans to approach every diplomatic process with deep distrust and serious skepticism of the U.S. Iran has maintained that it will be ready if the U.S. decides to resume military operations.
Now, some Iranians are getting ready for that very possibility. And before we give you this unique look inside of Iran, a quick note, CNN operates in Iran only with government permission, but it does retain full editorial control of what it reports. Here's our chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across Iran, the tension and the rhetoric is getting stronger. Thousands have been gathering every night for state-sponsored rallies, mobilizing supporters against the United States.
CHANCE: How concerned are you that the war may start again soon?
TIANA, RALLY ATTENDEE: Uh, concerned --
CHANCE: Worried.
TIANA: Ah, I'm not worried. Why should I be worried? Because I'm so ready to sacrifice my life for my country and for my people. So, no, I'm not worried at all, at all. CHANCE (voice-over): This man's sign reads, nuclear technology and missiles are as important as borders, key sticking points in stalled peace talks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need nuclear, nuclear, not for the bombs, for peaceful, peaceful talks.
CHANCE (voice-over): Still amid escalating threats from the White House, ordinary Iranians are now being urged to prepare for war.
CHANCE: Right, well, these rallies or gatherings have been taking place every single night for the past, you know, several weeks, and so they're not new. But what is new is the introduction of weapons. And these kiosks have been set up in each of these sort of squares where members of the military, they can see them with masks on.
They're showing people, in this case a woman, the basic skills of how to use what I think is an AK-47 or a Kalashnikov, things like that. Look over here, they're showing children how to use them as well. It's all part of a sort of state-sponsored call to arms in case the war begins again.
CHANCE (voice-over): It's all guns on state television too. It's several Iranian channels broadcasting their hosts' brandishing assault rifles. They gave me a weapon so I could learn how to use it, like you, this anchor tells her viewers.
After his on-air training, this presenter fires off a round into the studio ceiling. But not all Iranians are gunning for a fight. Just around the corner from the rally, hints at the diversity of views about their country's plight.
CHANCE: Well, it's a very different atmosphere in this part of town. People are sitting with their partners, having coffees, strolling around the bookstores or just hanging out with their friends. And you talk to people, you get very different views as well. You know, people didn't want to talk on camera, but off camera, one woman said to me she just wanted peace and freedom. Another one said she wanted to live in a normal country where there was a potential future for her children.
CHANCE (voice-over): But Iran's future to many Iranians looks increasingly clear, especially amid regular threats from President Trump.
CHANCE: Waiting for the war.
FATIMA, RALLY ATTENDEE: We're waiting. We are here because we know this war isn't over. We know he's not going to negotiate anything. He's just going to be like, either you do what I tell you or I'm going to kill you again.
[04:35:05]
CHANCE (voice-over): And it may be that bleak sense of inevitability, drowning out any voices of compromise. Matthew Chance, CNN in Tehran.
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SANDOVAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to kick off a two- day visit to China in the coming hours. Putin will be holding talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The Kremlin says that the two leaders will be discussing bilateral issues. And this will come just days after U.S. President Donald Trump made a visit of his own to Beijing. Let's go now to CNN's Mike Valero joining me from Beijing.
Mike, now this would make it two major world leader visits to Beijing. What message does that essentially send to the world about China's role?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Beijing wants to send the message that make no mistake, this is the only place from their point of view in the world where such a meeting can happen. I mean, we were talking last hour how this meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping was planned for months because this is the 25th anniversary of a treaty that pretty much signals to China and Russia in 2001, this is how we're going to comport ourselves and interact with one another.
So it's a historic treaty, it's the anniversary of that. But still happenstance in the fortuitousness of the situation where Donald Trump pushes his meeting back and you have these leaders back to back, Beijing is saying, we are a center of gravity that is growing stronger and this shows our diplomatic might, that two nations, both of which are at war, in wars that don't have clear off-ramps, come to Beijing to talk about that among other myriad subjects.
So in terms of what we're expecting, so Vladimir Putin isn't here yet, but we'll go to the rundown of what we are expecting both leaders to talk about. First and foremost, they're going to talk Trump, what exactly happened behind closed doors in Zhongnanhai, the presidential and communist party complex. Both leaders are known to talk to each other about what exactly Trump said to them. Both nations, of course, China and Russia are partners with Iran, so the Strait of Hormuz being closed and this war not being over looms large.
That could probably lead into discussions about whether or not China buys more energy products from Russia, because of course, China is largely energy self-sufficient, but there are still tons of people here, Polo, who do not drive electric cars. There are still factories that need fuel, still tons of airplanes that need petrol refined into jet fuel, or I should say crude oil refined into jet fuel, which leads to a dependency on the Strait of Hormuz being open. We're also going to wait to see if a pipeline from Siberia coursing through Mongolia into China also gains ground and see what if any economic deals are made as a cadre of CEOs also follow Vladimir Putin, much like we saw with Donald Trump, Polo.
SANDOVAL: CNN's Mike Valerio with that live report from Beijing. Thank you, Mike.
Well, let's stay on that visit from a week ago between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. As more questions are being raised about that meeting, both parties seem to have a different take on what they agreed to during that summit, but both have confirmed that they are set to establish boards for trade and investment. CNN's David Goldman has more on what was possibly discussed during the U.S. and China summit. Take a look.
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: All right, so the United States and China both came out with their statements about what they agreed to in that two-day summit between President Trump and President Xi. And the thing is they can't even really agree on what they agreed to. So the United States said that China has agreed to buy $17 billion of agricultural products. And that's on top of the 2025 commitment to buy 25 million pounds of soybeans. That would combine to about $27 billion in agricultural purchases, which U.S. farmers desperately need. But the question is whether or not China is actually going to make good on that promise.
It didn't say anything about a specific number, only that it had agreed to some kind of agricultural agreement. They also said that there were going to be tariffs reduced and the United States said nothing of the sort. In fact, President Trump said that they didn't even mention that during the two-day summit.
So what actually got done? Well, both signs agreed to some kind of board of trade and board of investment. It's not totally clear what that means other than maybe some kind of formal arrangement so that they can discuss trade and other progress along the way. But right now, it's just a lot of murky, nebulous kind of talk without any real specifics.
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The devil will be in the details and it will become clear perhaps what China and the United States actually agreed to in the coming weeks, months, and maybe years. Back to you.
SANDOVAL: David Goldman, thank you
A severe storm system in central parts of the U.S. is calming down, but it is not over yet. And the heat wave, it could bring record high temperatures up and down the east coast of your very latest weather forecast in a moment.
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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Millions of dollars in foreign aid and several tons of emergency medical supplies are currently pouring into Central Africa, amid a global effort to try to contain that deadly Ebola outbreak. The Africa CDC is moving to expand response efforts after declaring the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security. Health officials, they estimate that there are now more than 130 suspected deaths linked to the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The U.S. State Department is saying that it is currently working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that the U.S. military is also working on a potential repatriation of Americans that have been affected by the health crisis. On Monday, the CDC confirmed that an American working in the Democratic Republic of Congo tested positive for Ebola, but they did not name the individual. However, the international charity called Serge reported that a Christian missionary doctor, Dr. Peter Stafford, caught the virus while treating patients at a hospital in the region.
Powerful thunderstorms are sweeping across multiple states and parts of the central United States. The storm is producing several tornadoes, large hail and flash flooding across Kansas and Nebraska. Some of this happening on Monday evening. CNN meteorologist, Melissa Nord, has your forecast.
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MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More reports of tornadoes and really large hail in the plains. And as we head into Tuesday, we're going to see this front marching further east as it meets up with that warm and humid air mass. Additional storms are going to redevelop as we head through Tuesday afternoon and evening, where that warm and moist air meets up with our incoming cold front.
Now, for Tuesday, though, the risk of severe weather, not quite as high on Monday. We have a level two risk in this yellow color from Syracuse all the way through Detroit, who saw severe storms on Monday afternoon. Also, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and down towards Dallas, Fort Worth, we could see additional severe weather. There are storms ongoing overnight with more of that damaging wind threat now, but then going into Tuesday, we add more heat and humidity to the pot, and that adds more fuel to the storm, so they'll regenerate in the afternoon, producing damaging winds and those clusters of thunderstorms. And then for Wednesday and Thursday, storms move further east.
Now, in advance of the front, there is a lot of hot air. We saw record highs set on Monday, Philadelphia, also Raleigh and Washington, Dulles International Airport. Tuesday, once again, Mid-Atlantic up into the Northeast. We've got a lot of areas that are dealing with heat advisories and potential record high temperatures. One more day on Wednesday before finally that front passes through, bringing a brief cool down, much welcome cool down, as we look towards the end of the week, heat leading into the holiday weekend. For example, Boston, you can see 93, that forecast high on Tuesday, will be in the 90s as well, New York City and out towards Washington, D.C.
SANDOVAL: Thank you for that.
The Trump administration is rolling back key Biden-era limits on so- called forever chemicals in drinking water. They're commonly known as PFAs. The Environmental Protection Agency says that it will scrap and rewrite regulations on several PFA chemicals, arguing that the previous administration failed to properly follow legal procedures.
PFAs have been linked to higher risks of cancer, fertility problems and immune system damage, among some other health issues. And scientists say that they can last in the environment for many decades. Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, new college grads, they are getting their first glimpse of a changing and challenging job market. And this as the tech industry pushes for greater use of A.I. We'll be sharing some of their thoughts, some of their stories on the looming job search. Stay with us.
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SANDOVAL: Elon Musk and his legal team are already planning to appeal the outcome of his lawsuit against OpenAI. On Monday during California, they found that Musk's lawsuit simply took too long to be filed and that it was beyond the statute of limitations. Musk accused OpenAI and some of its current executives of abandoning their nonprofit practices, all in favor of lucrative business models, which has helped them become one of the world's most valuable tech companies. Musk himself is a co-founder and former investor in OpenAI. He left the company back in 2018 and later started his own company, xAI, in 2023.
And as more and more tech companies push further into A.I. while slashing jobs, many new college graduates, they're entering the workforce with growing uncertainty. CNN's Lynda Kinkade spoke with students and faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology, spoke to them about how the class of 2026 is being prepared for their first jobs in tech and also the challenges that may come with that.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The class of 2026 is graduating. The computer science degree at Georgia Institute of Technology is considered a golden ticket to secure a position at a major tech company like Google, Meta and Amazon. But after tens of thousands of layoffs and a rapid shift towards A.I., students are entering a job market that looks very different.
KINKADE: So with all the mass layoffs in tech, how are you feeling approaching graduation?
HUNTER RICHARDSON, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE: I won't lie. We -- my friends and I have been a little bit scared about entering the workforce.
KINKADE (voice-over): But this year, more than 100,000 jobs were cut in the tech sector according to industry trackers. LinkedIn shows entry-level hiring has fallen about 6 percent year over year.
RICHARDSON: How's your finals going?
KINKADE (voice-over): Hunter Richardson is graduating with a job already lined up.
RICHARDSON: A few years into my degree program, I added accounting as a second major to be able to apply the things I learned in computer science. KINKADE (voice-over): Hunter represents one side of the story, students who took steps to adapt early, combining technical skills with business experience and internships.
RICHARDSON: What I think excites us, particularly at Georgia Tech, is how we are being equipped to work with A.I. tools in a way that is unique and keeps us on the, you know, the forefront of being able to work with these tools. And as things are evolving constantly, we're ready to change.
KINKADE: What's one piece of advice you're giving students as they navigate this A.I. disruption?
OLUFISAYO OMOJOKUN, ASSOC. DEAN FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF COMPUTING: Yes, certainly is to not skip the fundamentals. Things can change over time because of A.I., but the fundamentals are going to always be important.
KINKADE: Which are?
OMOJOKUN: Well, we have this whole notion of computational thinking that's part of our curriculum. Being able to look at large problems and break them down into smaller pieces and understand the patterns and processes that make a solution.
KINKADE (voice-over): Professor Olufisayo Omojokun is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Computing.
KINKADE: Do you worry about preparing students for jobs that might not exist in five years' time?
OMOJOKUN: Not necessarily, because our goal is to create computational thinkers. We have 97 percent, at least last year, of our students landing a career placement within six months of their graduation. And we're doing the same survey this year and we're hoping for even better. We're the only computer science program, at least in the top 25, that has its own career services unit for its computing students. We're having or asking students to broaden their horizons. There's a whole space of companies that aren't big tech, but are looking for students to hire.
[04:55:05]
KINKADE (voice-over): Goldman Sachs estimates that gen A.I. could affect 300 million jobs worldwide, though less than 7 percent are at risk of full displacement. In other words, most jobs are being reshaped, not eliminated.
KINKADE: So how do the number of jobs being lost compare to those being created?
ANDREW MCCASKILL, CAREER EXPERT: I mean, I think if you look at the jobs numbers from the last few months, we are not creating jobs at the numbers that we traditionally have.
KINKADE (voice-over): Career expert, Andrew McCaskill, says the numbers reflect a reset, not a collapse.
KINKADE: Andrew, when you look at white-collar jobs over the next 18 to 24 months, what does the landscape look like?
MCCASKILL: 2026 is going to be one of the most competitive job markets that we've seen in years. Think about it like this. Right now, 36 percent of the people who are unemployed in this country hold college degrees. So there's a lot of competition in the marketplace right now.
KINKADE: So you're saying the key is to pivot, to adapt. What does that mean in real terms?
MCCASKILL: Yes, the reality of the marketplace is not optimal, but you don't panic, you pivot. You adapt, get as many data points as you possibly can about where people are hiring.
KINKADE (voice-over): According to the World Economic Forum 2025 report, key growth areas include artificial intelligence and machine learning. Data and digital infrastructure, cyber security, robotics, healthcare and biotech.
MCCASKILL: One of the fastest growing industries right now is utilities as the entire grid gets changed in advance of the A.I.- assisted workforce.
KINKADE (voice-over): For decades, a tech-based degree promised certainty. In 2026, it offers something different. Opportunity, but most likely only for those ready to adapt.
Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
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SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. The news continues with CNN Headline Express.
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