Trump in Beijing, Inflation Bites, and a Murderer Gets a Second Shot

In this episode of The Morning Rundown, hosts break down a fast-moving news cycle spanning global diplomacy, economic data, and major developments in crime and public health.

On the geopolitics front, President Trump has arrived in Beijing for a face-to-face summit with President Xi Jinping, with trade, Taiwan, and the aftermath of the Iran conflict all on the agenda. A new Washington Post report finds that China gained a significant intelligence advantage over the U.S. by closely observing American military operations during the Iran war, a finding with major implications for how the Beijing summit plays out. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made a secret visit to the UAE during the conflict, with his office describing the results as a historic breakthrough linked to Israel providing Iron Dome systems to the Emirates.

On the economy, wholesale inflation surged 6% annually in April, the largest jump in four years, according to Reuters and CNBC. Despite the hot producer price data, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are pushing toward record highs on the strength of an AI-driven rally, while the Dow slipped. The hosts also discuss a major Silicon Valley tech company that announced record revenue and 4,000 job cuts on the same day.

In health and legal news, the hantavirus cluster tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship has grown to 11 confirmed cases across multiple countries. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, an oncologist who volunteered to assist sick passengers, is now the sole patient in a Nebraska biocontainment facility. The episode also covers two high-profile criminal cases: Alex Murdaugh has been granted a new murder trial after the South Carolina Supreme Court confirmed jury clerk interference, and Utah mother Kouri Richins was sentenced to life without parole for poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail, a case made more unusual by the fact that she later wrote a children's book about grief.

• Trump-Xi summit: Trade, Taiwan, and Iran top the agenda as Trump arrives in Beijing with China holding stronger diplomatic cards post-conflict.
• China intelligence report: The Washington Post finds China gained a meaningful edge on U.S. military capabilities by monitoring the Iran war in real time.
• Wholesale inflation: Producer prices rose 6% year-over-year in April, the steepest increase since 2022, raising new questions about the inflation outlook.
• Hantavirus outbreak: Eleven confirmed cases across multiple countries, with an American volunteer doctor now in isolation at a Nebraska biocontainment unit.
• High-profile verdicts: Alex Murdaugh wins a new trial on jury tampering grounds; Kouri Richins receives life without parole for her husband's murder.

Transcript

0:13

[Maya] Good morning and welcome to the morning rundown. I'm here with David,[Maya] and we have a packed show for you today.[David] Yeah, we really do.[David] Big stuff happening on basically every front right now.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] so kicking things off, Trump has landed in Beijing for a face-to-face with Xi.[Maya] CNN's covering it live.[Maya] We're talking trade, Taiwan,[Maya] the Iran war,[Maya] all of it on the table.[David] And the Washington Post has a report out today finding that China actually gained an entire[David] an intelligence edge on the U.S. during the Iran conflict.[Maya] Wow.[David] That's not a small thing.[Maya] Yeah,[Maya] that's wild,[Maya] right?[Maya] We'll get into what that means.[David] Then on the economy,[David] Reuters is reporting that producers'[David] prices just posted their biggest jump in four years.[David] Wholesale inflation hit 6% annually.[Maya] Meanwhile,[Maya] the Dow's dipping,[Maya] but the S&P and Nasdaq are pushing towards records.[Maya] Markets are doing a lot right now.[David] A lot.[Maya] And we've got the hantavirus cruise ship story getting bigger.[Maya] The WHO confirmed 11 cases now across multiple countries, plus a pretty remarkable story about an American doctor who volunteered to help and ended up isolated in Nebraska.[David] Rough trip.[Maya] To say the least.[Maya] All right, let's get into it, starting with Trump in Beijing.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] so Trump is in Beijing,[Maya] like physically in Beijing right now, sitting down with Xi Jinping.[David] Yeah, and I don't think you can overstate how high the stakes are in this one.[Maya] CNN's coverage this morning put it pretty clearly.[Maya] This is a multi-day state visit between the world's two largest economies,[Maya] and basically every major tension point is on the table.[David] Taiwan,[David] trade,[David] the Iran situation,[David] all of it.[Maya] Right, and Fox News noted Trump is heading into this with real...[Maya] real questions hanging over U.S. strength,[Maya] like is America negotiating from a position of power here,[Maya] or is Beijing sensing an opening?[David] I think that's the real question. And here's the thing,[David] the timing is not random.[David] CBS News had Trump himself predicting a quote,[David] long talk about the war with Xi.[David] So Iran is very much part of this conversation.[Maya] Which makes sense,[Maya] but also tells you something.[Maya] The U.S. just fought a war with Iran.[Maya] And now we need China's help sorting out the aftermath.[David] That's not a great look strategically,[David] you know what I mean?[Maya] No, it's not.[Maya] And the Washington Post had a pretty striking report on exactly that.[Maya] An intelligence assessment found China gained a significant edge on the U.S. during the Iran conflict.[David] Wait,[David] like an intelligence edge?[David] How?[Maya] So basically,[Maya] watching how the U.S. fought,[Maya] how we deployed assets,[Maya] what our systems look like under real...[Maya] a real pressure,[Maya] China got a close-up look at American military capabilities in a way they never had before.[David] That's wild,[David] right?[David] We're fighting one war and essentially giving our biggest competitor a detailed scouting report.[Maya] Yeah, and now Trump walks into Beijing having just handed them that information so Xi is sitting across the table with a lot more cards than he had six months ago.[David] Which makes this summit even more loaded.[David] I mean, Trump needs something.[David] Something out of this visit,[David] whether that's trade movement,[David] help on Iran,[David] some kind of signal on Taiwan.[Maya] All three,[Maya] probably.[Maya] And Beijing knows that.[David] Right. Meanwhile,[David] Iran is not exactly waiting around.[David] CBS News reported this morning that Iran's military says it's trained and ready for any new U.S. assault.[David] Peace talks are stalled.[Maya] So, while Trump is in Beijing trying to work the diplomatic angle,[Maya] Tehran is out here basically saying,[Maya] come at us again.[David] Not a lot of goodwill in the room there.[Maya] And then there's the Netanyahu thing, which honestly surprised me.[David] Oh, the UAE visit?[Maya] Yeah,[Maya] AP News reported that Netanyahu made a secret trip to the UAE during the Iran war,[Maya] met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.[David] Okay,[David] so that's actually a big deal.[David] Israel sharing the Iron Dome with a UAE Arab nation in the middle of a war?[Maya] It really is,[Maya] and it fits this broader picture of the Abraham Accords architecture quietly doing real work even when the headlines are chaos.[David] Non-escalation stuff keeps moving even when nobody's watching.[Maya] Right,[Maya] so you've got Trump in Beijing,[Maya] Iran digging in,[Maya] Netanyahu doing secret diplomacy,[Maya] and China walking away from the Iran conflict with more knowledge about us than we're comfortable with.[David] A lot of moving parts.[David] And the thing is, none of this happens in a vacuum.[David] All of this global uncertainty has a price tag.[Maya] It really does.[Maya] And speaking of price tags,[Maya] there's a number that dropped this morning that has a lot of people talking.[Maya] What does all this global uncertainty actually cost the average American?[Maya] Alright, so that geopolitical turmoil has a very real price tag, and we're feeling it.[David] Yeah, and Reuters dropped some numbers this morning that are hard to ignore.[David] U.S. producer prices posted their biggest jump in four years in April.[Maya] Four years?[David] Right.[David] CNBC put the annual figure at 6%, biggest increase since 2022,[David] so Wholesale inflation is back and it's not being subtle about it.[Maya] I mean, producer prices feed into consumer prices eventually,[Maya] so this isn't just a Wall Street headline.[Maya] This shows up at the grocery store,[Maya] the gas station,[Maya] everywhere.[David] Exactly.[David] And CNN framed it pretty bluntly, actually.[David] They said Americans are in for another long spell of...[David] of price pain,[David] which,[David] I mean, that's not great to read over your morning coffee.[Maya] No kidding.[Maya] And look,[Maya] when you've got a war,[Maya] massive government spending on military operations,[Maya] supply chains getting rattled, this is what happens.[Maya] Prices don't just absorb that.[David] Right.[David] The bill always comes due somewhere.[Maya] So what are markets doing with all this?[David] Mixed, honestly.[David] MarketWatch had a good breakdown this morning.[David] The Dow slipped about 150 points,[David] but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are pushing towards records.[Maya] Wait,[Maya] how does that work?[Maya] Hot inflation data and the Nasdaq is near record highs?[David] I know,[David] right?[David] So basically,[David] there's an AI rally carrying tech stocks and investors are watching the Trump-Xi summit closely, hoping for trade.[David] for trade progress.[David] Yahoo Finance had a piece on Asia markets being uneven for the same reason,[David] everyone sort of holding their breath on Beijing.[Maya] So the stock market is doing that thing where it's ignoring the bad news because shiny AI stuff is happening.[David] Pretty much.[David] CNBC actually had a headline that literally said the market isn't ignoring Iran,[David] it's rising for three real reasons.[David] So they know it looks weird too.[Maya] Fair enough.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] so speaking of things that look weird,[Maya] David,[Maya] did you see the tech layoffs story?[David] Oh,[David] I saw it.[Maya] A major Silicon Valley tech company,[Maya] per the San Francisco Chronicle,[Maya] posted record revenue and then cut four thousand jobs same day.[David] Same day.[Maya] I had to read that twice, like, congrats on the best quarter ever,[Maya] also you're fired.[David] And this is what's so strange about the current tech economy.[David] Record revenue doesn't mean job security anymore.[David] They're basically saying we made more money than ever,[David] and we still think we can do this leaner.[Maya] Which, to be fair,[Maya] is probably AI automation doing some of that work,[Maya] but try explaining that to 4,000 people who just lost their jobs.[Maya] on a record earnings day.[David] Yeah,[David] no amount of we're investing in the future softens that landing.[Maya] Nothing.[Maya] And this is the stuff that doesn't show up in the Nasdaq number.[Maya] The market's happy,[Maya] but the workers in those companies,[Maya] that's a different story.[David] Right,[David] two very different realities running at the same time.[Maya] Okay, so from wallets to something a little more unsettling because the next story involves a cruise ship, a rare virus,[Maya] and a doctor now sitting in a biocontainment unit in Nebraska.[David] Yeah,[David] that one's, yeah,[David] let's get into it.[Maya] We absolutely will right after this.[Maya] Shifting gears now because this next story is genuinely unsettling.[David] Yeah,[David] the hantavirus situation has gotten more serious since we last talked about it on the show.[Maya] So here's the update.[Maya] According to the WHO,[Maya] as of May 13th, there are now 11 confirmed cases tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship.[David] Wow.[Maya] Two new cases just came in from France and Spain.[David] And there's a one inconclusive result here in the U.S., which the WHO flagged.[David] Flagged in their latest disease outbreak news report.[Maya] Right. And then there's Dr. Stephen Kornfeld.[Maya] This one really got me.[David] Tell people who he is.[Maya] So he's an oncologist who was a passenger on the ship.[Maya] When people started getting sick,[Maya] he volunteered to help care for them.[Maya] And now he's in a biocontainment unit in Nebraska.[David] He helped and ended up isolated.[Maya] According to AP News,[Maya] he's the only patient at the hospital.[Maya] And at the Omaha facility right now,[Maya] one of his two nasal swab tests came back positive.[Maya] He's waiting for confirmation.[David] That is a rough situation.[David] The man did the right thing, and now he's sitting in a biocontainment unit.[Maya] There are 18 Americans total under observation at various specialized facilities.[Maya] So this thing is still very much active.[David] Okay,[David] pivoting to the true crime corner of the morning.[Maya] Oh, there's a lot happening there.[David] Alex Murdaugh, South Carolina.[David] NPR is reporting that the state Supreme Court just granted him a new murder trial.[Maya] Wait, why?[Maya] He was convicted.[David] Jury tampering. The jury clerk apparently interfered with the jury during deliberations.[David] The Supreme Court said that was enough to throw out the conviction.[Maya] So a guy serving life for killing his wife and son gets a do-over because of what a court employee did?[David] That's the situation.[David] The evidence against him hasn't changed, but the process was compromised.[David] For[Maya] Hmm.[David] most,[David] courts take that seriously,[David] and honestly they should.[Maya] I mean, I get the principle. If the process is broken,[Maya] the verdict doesn't hold.[Maya] It's still a wild outcome.[David] Yeah,[David] wild is the word.[Maya] And then there's Kouri Richins.[David] Kouri Richins,[David] life without parole.[Maya] CBS News has the details.[Maya] She's a Utah mom convicted of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail back in 2022.[Maya] The jury found her guilty of murder and other charges.[David] Then,[David] after he died she wrote a children's book about grief.[Maya] She wrote a children's book about grief.[David] Yeah.[Maya] I don't have anything to add to that.[David] Neither do I. The judge apparently did,

[David] though: 10:34

[David] life,[David] no parole.[Maya] Three completely different stories today and they all just sort of leave you sitting with something.[David] A doctor quarantined for helping,[David] a conviction thrown out on a technicality,[David] and a woman who poisoned her husband and then wrote a book about loss.[Maya] What a morning![Maya] Okay, that's a wrap on a packed one,[Maya] David.[David] Yeah,[David] and the thread running through all of it, every story today connects back to strength and leverage.[David] Who has it, who doesn't?[Maya] Totally.[Maya] The China intelligence angle really stuck with me.[Maya] We're fighting a war and handing our biggest competitor a scouting report.[Maya] That's not a great trade.[David] Not exactly.[David] And with Trump sitting across from Xi right now, the timing couldn't be more loaded.[Maya] A lot riding on those conversations.[Maya] All right, if you got something out of today's show,[Maya] subscribe.[Maya] Subscribe and leave us a review.[Maya] It genuinely helps.[David] Thanks for spending your morning with us. We'll see you tomorrow.[Maya] Take care, everyone.