NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, May 14, 2026

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

Trump’s high-stakes summit in China; Inside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics; Exclusive look at Chinese pandas preparing for trip to America; and more on tonight’s broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight we're live again in Beijing, just steps from the forbidden city. Day two of the superpower summit set to begin within hours just beyond those walls. And tonight we take you inside the room between the two leaders from the Secretary of State himself. The high-stakes summit kicking off in maximum style, the elaborate welcome ceremony next to Tiananmen Square, the handshake between the two leaders and the lavish state dinner, hacked, with American CEOs. Amazing people, and they're all with me. The two leaders meeting for hours face to face.

We had extremely positive and productive conversations. Tonight we have new details of what happened inside that room. Chinese aren't going to like it? As I go one-on-one with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Do you think China wants to invade Taiwan? Did President Trump get China's promise to help with Iran? Did President Trump raise the issue of Iran with China? He did.

As the president is criticized for, comments seeming to brush off American economic concerns. Doesn't that sound out of touch, though? Breaking news back home, a plane crashing into a home, engulfing it into flames at least too dead. More hauntavirus exposure, the three Americans now in the hospital in Kansas, isolating after high-risk contact. Protest erupting in Cuba as the nation is plunged into darkness and our new reporting, why was the CIA director there today? exclusive never-before-seen images of the Coast Guard, seizing Brian Hooker's boat,

weeks after his wife vanished in the Bahamas, what do investigators want with it? Plain crash survivor speaks her message after that stunning rescue at sea, thinking she was going to die lost in the ocean. And back here in China, we'll bring you here where they're on the cutting edge of humanoid robots.

You'll see the assembly line up close. The robots marching into the future. Should it be seen as something that is going to be maybe part of your military one day? Is this the worker of tomorrow or just a fact? And what happened when we rented our own robot for the day? Plus, we take you 1,000 miles away from Beijing. They're this way. To meet the giant pandas, getting ready to move to the U.S.

And the caretakers preparing to say goodbye. So you've known her since she was a baby. Yeah, yeah. as our coverage of day two of this history-making summit starts right now. This is a special edition of NBC Nightly News, President Trump in China. Reporting tonight from Beijing, here is Tom Yamas. And good evening from Beijing. We are live as the sun comes up here in China, as these two world leaders prepare for round two.

We are standing right now on the steps of the imperial ancestral temple, The first live broadcast ever from here, foreign or domestic. It's a site celebrating the past. And just minutes from here, just over that wall over there, the two superpowers will grapple over the future. The images were stunning overnight. The two presidents meeting to massive fanfare on Tiananmen Square. We're now learning what was discussed and what was agreed upon in the meeting so far.

President Trump, saying China will help his efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and both sides issuing warnings to the other over the contentious issue of Taiwan. And we're gating our greatest insights from the man who was there for all of it, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his only interview since the summit began. He tells me where China now stands on the Iran War and what the U.S. reaction is to China's push on Taiwan and how this summit could benefit the American people. Tonight, the superpower summit and that handshake watched around the world.

China's President Xi welcoming President Trump here to Beijing Rolling out the red carpet for the American president with a stunning and elaborate ceremony Including children cheering for President Trump Those children were amazing and they represent so much And I know they represent so much to you Inside, the meeting kicking off with praise President Xi declaring they should be partners, not rivals.

And this from President Trump. You're a great leader? Sometimes people don't like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it's true. I only say the truth. But tonight, a reminder of tensions looming over these talks. A commercial ship was attacked and seized near the Strait of Hormuz and forced to sail towards Iran, according to the British military. Let's talk about Iran.

minutes after the meeting wrapped, we spoke with Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Did President Trump raise the issue of Iran with China? He did, and it was important because the Chinese side said, they are not in favor of militarizing the Straits of Hormuz, and they're not in favor of a tolling system. And that's our position. We will never support an Iranian tolling system in the Straits of Hormuz, nor do we think they have a right to put mines in international waters.

What exactly did President Trump ask President Shif for when it comes to a Iran. He didn't ask him for anything. I mean, we're not asking for China's help or we don't need their help. But he raises the issue. We raise the issue to make clear what our position is. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And that's what they were, you know, they were trying, they were on the verge of building a conventional capability where they had so many rockets, so many drones that you couldn't do anything against them. They would hide behind that conventional shield to do whatever they wanted with their nuclear program in the future. That's why the president chose to act. In response to that, Iran has decided that they're going to take an international waterway and turn it into their

and charged tolls for it. We're not going to allow that to happen. Late today, President Trump's saying President Xi offered to assist with Iran. China is Iran's biggest ally. President Xi would like to see a deal, man. He'd like to see the Hormor Strait open. He said, if I could be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help. And that China pledged not to give weapons to the Iranian regime.

He said he's not going to give military equipment. That's a big say of me. But at the same time, he said, you know, they buy a lot of their oil there and they'd like to keep doing that. Iran has been attacking commercial oil tankers and blocking the street of Hormuz driving up gas prices. For our viewers back home in America, every day Americans are spending more and more

and they're saving less and less. How do you explain to them? Why is this taking so long in Iran? Well, first of all, I would say, obviously it may seem like a long time from the perspective of other conflicts that we've seen in the past. It's only been weeks, not months, and certainly not years.

But longer than the president has told the American people to be fair. Well, we achieved the missions of Epic Fury. We destroyed there. There is no Iranian Navy. There is no Arabian Navy. They have small little speedboats of the machine gun on it, but that's not a Navy. I understand, but the strait is closed. They're still uranium. Well, the straits, the straits are closed as their reaction to the aftermath of Epic Fury. They decided they're going to take the world hostage. And what they're doing is illegal. It violates every law on the books in terms of international law. They are threatening to sink commercial vessels that don't pay them at toll. That's unacceptable to the whole world. As the president was leaving for China, did he make a mistake when, He told a reporter that America's financial situation isn't playing, quote, even a little bit of a role in his motivations to make a deal with Iran. I don't think about American's financial situation. I don't think about any, but I think about what day you could not let Iran have a nuclear weapon. The American people understand it. When it's over, you're going to have a massive drop in the price of oil.

No, I think what the president is claim is that Iran's not going to use that as leverage against us. Doesn't that sound out of touch, though? I mean, Americans are spending so much for gas. Because I think what the president is making clear is that we're not going to let Iran use that as leverage. Remember, there's no free press. There is no you in Iran, right? There is no press in Iran that can criticize the regime or, say, you know, create any pressure on them. And I think what the president's making clear is if the Iranians think that they are going to, you know, use our domestic politics to pressure him into a bad deal, that's not going to happen.

We've taken extraordinary measures to keep gas prices lower than they are in some other parts of the world. and it will go down. Those straits will be open, and we will see those prices go down. But I would also say there's a price attached to a nuclear Iran. If Iran ever acquires a nuclear weapon, they will immediately,

what would stop them from controlling the straits then, and then forget about it being a three-month or a six-month problem. It could be a permanent one. Back at the summit. How are you talked, clerk? It's great. Great place. Incredible.

China is beautiful. A late-night dinner. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America. America great again, can go hand in hand. We had extremely positive and productive conversations. But also a stark warning about the island nation of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy

that China's communist government claims as its territory. After the meeting, a Chinese spokesperson saying if the issue is, quote, mishandled, the countries could collide or even conflict, pushing the relationship into dangerous territory. Did President Xi request to President Trump not to sell weapons to Taiwan? Well, that topic may have been, has been discussed in the past. It did not feature primarily in today's discussion. But nothing has changed in the way the U.S. views the relationship with Taiwan. It will defend Taiwan as has been. Yeah, U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today and as of the meeting that we had here today. It was raised. They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics. Do you think China wants to invade Taiwan?

Well, I think China's preference is probably to have Taiwan willingly, voluntarily join them. We think it would be a terrible mistake to force that through force or anything of that nature. There would be repercussions for that globally, not just from the United States. And we kind of leave it there. And then there's trade. President Trump trying to level the playing field for U.S. companies here in China, bringing with him top American CEOs, including Apple's Tim Cook and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang. President Trump were in global.

And Elon. bus there, taking selfies at dinner. Earlier President Trump posting he would tell President Xi to open up China to American business. Tonight, Chinese state media says China's leader told the American CEOs, China's door will only open wider. One thing he agreed to today is going to order 200 jets. That's a big thing. Boeing. Boeing. 200 big ones. That's a lot of job. There's going to be some agricultural purchases, which are important and important for our growers. And on the case of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy publisher and critic of China's Communist Party, serving a 20-year sentence on a controversial conviction for violating a national security law,

Chinese officials say he was a principal mastermind of Hong Kong's riots. But Lai's daughter told us this week she hoped President Trump could secure his release. We are extremely confident that it's this administration that will be the one to bring our father back home to us. Did the president bring up the case of Jimmy Lai? The president always raises that case and a couple others. And obviously, we'll hope to get a positive response from that. If China were to release him, could he come to the United States? I think we would like to see him released.

We'd be open to any arrangement that would work for them as long as he's given his freedom. And today we know the two presidents will meet again over tea and lunch with more meetings before the president heads back to Washington. Back at home, we're also following some breaking news out of Ohio we want to show you, where police and Akron say, Two people died after a small plane crashed into a home this afternoon. You can see it here. Video from the scene shows the home totally engulfed in flames. Officials say no residents of the home had been reported injured. Health officials in Kansas say three people with high-risk exposure to the Hanta virus

have been transferred to a local hospital for monitoring. All three had contact with an infected passenger who was on that cruise ship, but were not on board themselves. In total now, 41 Americans are being monitored after potential exposure. says the CDC, which adds there are no cases of that deadly andy strain of hauntavirus so far in the U.S. We're also monitoring a developing situation out of Cuba tonight. Rare protests breaking out in Havana. Take a look as the city faces its worst round of rolling blackouts in about a decade. Cuba's government says it has run out of oil amid a U.S. blockade, and there is this

intriguing development. CIA director, Sean Ratcliffe, was on the island today. You see his plane right there. A CIA official telling NBC News Ratcliffe delivered a message from President Trump that the U.S. is prepared to engage on economic and security issues if Cuba makes, quote, fundamental changes. It comes as Cuba's leader said his government will accept $100 million in humanitarian aid from the U.S., which Secretary Rubio told me had no strings attached, but needed to be distributed by non-government agencies, including the Catholic Church. When we return in just 60 seconds, the race to be the global leader in robots. What we found when we entered one of China's leading factories.

When we return, live from Beijing. And we're back with a look at the streets of Beijing, a city of not just 22 million people, but a growing number of humanoid robots. China is the world leader in the technology, and we went into a factory to see firsthand, how they're being built and how they actually work. Inside the ex-humanoid plant in Beijing, a new generation of robots is taking shape. Step by step the robots are assembled, tested, and then program.

They're big, bulky, ready to run or crawl through hazardous terrain. It looks aggressive. It's marching. Should it be seen as something that is going to be maybe part of your military one day? No, yeah, no. Yeah, we don't want the robots to do that. Yeah, we want a robot to help people. The company says these robots will make living easier by helping humans and could even be used in emergency situations. So when you talk about helping out in the house, give me some examples like help watch the children, help maybe elderly residents, clean dishes. I mean, what is it going to do? The elderly, maybe, because less and less people want to have kids nowadays.

It's clear there's still a lot of experimenting going on. including this silicone-like face on the humanoid head. What is this? So, bionic face, because in the future, we want the robot have more, say, like, temperature. So we want it, like, also look like human. So you're going to put these faces, these heads on the robots? Yeah, like in the future. Exhumanoid says these robots are still three to five years from hitting the market.

Most of the functions we saw were controlled by remote, but the goal is full autonomy. There is a big gap between what they can do physically and what they can do autonomously. This is where they need the training data and they need the improvements in the AI. But China is closing that gap with startling speed. At a recent half marathon pitting Chinese humanoids besides real-life runners, a robot named Lightning won the race, finishing in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds. A record-breaking pace and a huge leap from last year's race, where many models could barely maintain their balance.

Off the track, the technology is already being put to work in major cities. China has robots managing traffic at busy intersections. It's all part of an all-out sprint for tech dominance. Just like with EVs, solar panels, and cell phones, China is flooding the zone with more than 150 companies trying to outproduce the rest of the world. One part of the industry that is already bringing in cash, rent a robot. In China, these pine-sized humanoids are delivered straight to your door, like this soccer-playing robot we rented. A little rusty at first.

But after a few faceplants, this little guy finds his footing and he can kick around, even scoring some goals. He's pretty good with that soccer ball. And we're back in a moment with the images just in of the Coast Guard, seizing the sailboat of an American suspected in his wife's disappearance in the Bahamas. And from here in China, our exclusive access to these pandas as they prepare for their journey to America. Next. And welcome back. A survivor of that plane crash off the coast of Florida is speaking out.

A U.S. Air Force team rescued 11 Bahamians after their plane went down. They survived for five hours in the water, hoping that help would arrive. They saw us and they save us. And I keep on telling them, I say, Lord, save us, Lord, save us. Also tonight we're learning more about the search for Lynette Hooker, the American woman missing in the Bahamas. The Coast Guard releasing these new images exclusively to NBC News saying they seized the couple's sailboat 40 miles off of Florida's coast. It's the latest development in the criminal investigation into Hooker's disappearance. And we got an update on this man filmed throwing a roll.

rock at an endangered monk seal in Hawaii. You may remember this. He has now been federally charged. The incident sparked outrage from locals who know the seal as Lonnie. The man faces prison time and tens of thousands of dollars in fines if convicted. When we come back tonight, our exclusive, the next generation of panda diplomacy, are up close access to the two pandas before they leave for America. See them right here next. And we're back with the panda obsession here in China, and back at home. Our Janice Mackey Freyer has exclusive access to the two pandas getting ready for their journey to America.

The countdown is on for the return of giant pandas to zoo Atlanta, with a fluffy pair of the iconic bears soon getting ready to roll. They're this way. We were invited to get a real-life look at Poochwang and Ping Ping, both six years old and U.S. bound as part of a new 10-year conservation agreement. Panda fans will soon learn that Ping Ping loves to follow his keepers around. That's not your typical panda protocol, and that he's also a very dedicated bamboo eater. While Fuswong, which means double happiness, is playful but nervous.

She likes apples and resting her chin on her paw. So you've known her since she was a baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in 2020, very cute and very lovely and very smart. Yeah, smart. It's all part of a revival in Panda diplomacy here. that for the U.S. started in 1972 after President Nixon's landmark visit to China. Now with President Trump on his own high-stakes trip, pandas on the move are seen as an unofficial measure of U.S.-China relations.

With pairs of the treasured bears already in Washington and San Diego, Zoo Atlanta is renovating their panda enclosures to better help them adapt. The journey begins here in the panda's hometown of Chengdu at this research base where both of them were born and raised, Soon, Fuswong and Ping Ping will be moved to another panda base in the lush mountains further south, where handlers will get them ready for the nearly 8,000-mile flight, their departure date, a closely guarded secret. A send-off is always bittersweet for fans here in China, where pandas enjoy rock star status. What are you going to tell your friends about the pandas?

I want to tell them about what they look like and what they're doing. Fushuang and Ping Ping have never met, but we'll soon head out into the world together, creating pandemonium along the way. Janice Mackeyfrae, NBC News, Chengdu, China. And we can't wait to meet them. We thank Janice for that story. That's nightly news for this Thursday. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching tonight and always. We're here for you. Good night.