'News to me': CNN host stunned by 'huge development' revealed about Trump agenda

CNN's Alayna Treene revealed a "huge development" in president Donald Trump's ongoing trade war against China.

The U.S. president will speak directly with Chinese president Xi Jinping about the escalating tariffs they're imposing on one another – and, in fact, they might already have spoken, the White House correspondent revealed Thursday morning in a live report.

"There's some breaking news here now on the tariff and trade front," Treene said outside the White House. "We are learning now that president Donald Trump held, it's unclear if he's actually currently on the phone or already wrapped up a phone call with China's president Xi Jinping."

"That's according to a source familiar with the matter, and they told our colleague Kevin Liptak that, look, I mean, this is a huge development in this ongoing you know, discussion between the U.S. and China over really how to settle the escalating trade war between the two countries," Treene continued, "and this has been something, really, that Trump administration officials, but also the president himself, specifically, have been wanting to happen for not just weeks but months now to get president Xi on the phone and speak directly with Donald Trump, because really, they believed that unlocking the kind of stalemate that has arisen between these two countries over trade matters and the president's tariffs needed to happen... so we're still waiting to see exactly what is coming from this."

"This is very much breaking news here, so we're waiting to get updates and official confirmation from the White House," she added. "But we are learning, according to the source familiar, as well as we're seeing Chinese state media now beginning to report this as well, that it does appear that the president and Chinese president have been on the phone and are speaking."

"CNN News Central" host John Berman was surprised by the news and said the markets would likely be watching closely for updates on the conversation.

"Yeah, I have to say this is news to me," Berman said. "You speaking these words were the first I'd heard of it, and it's a big deal. It's a very big deal, and I know the markets, which open in 28 minutes, will want to get a readout of this conversation. Was it positive? Did it move the ball on any of the sort of the thorny issues between these two countries as we wait to get more information from that?"

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