Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Israel Launches Air Strikes Towards Gaza, Aid Stops; Broad Daylight Priceless Jewelry Heist At The Louvre; U.S. Government Shutdown Continues On Its Third Week; Tensions Build Over Missile Demands; A Mix Of Hope And Fear In U.S. Furniture Capital As Tariffs Arrive. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 19, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Misty's foundation recently expanded classes to include people over 50, demonstrating that ballet is truly for everyone.

MISTY COPELAND, BALLET DANCER: Eventually, I want to have this program in community sites all over the United States and maybe beyond, you know, we say we want to take over the world one (inaudible) at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Oh, to learn more, got to cnn.com/heroes. And from Louis Armstrong to Trombone Shorty, music is the heartbeat of New Orleans. Discover the music that has influenced generation in an all-new episode of "New Orleans: Soul of a City." That's tonight at 10:00 right h ere on CNN. And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." Hi, everyone, I'm Jessica Dean here in New York and we do begin with breaking news tonight. The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding after its first major test. Israel launching a wave of strikes on Gaza after the IDF says they were fired upon by Hamas killing two of their soldiers. According to Gaza hospitals, at least 44 people were killed today by Israeli strikes. CNN cannot independently verify that number.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel has withdrawn from part of the territory, but tensions do remain high. Both Hamas and Israel are blaming each other for violating the agreement. Today, as the fighting escalated, Israel halted that desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. A senior Israeli official telling CNN those deliveries will resume tomorrow.

Under the deal, Israel agreed to allow 600 trucks daily to enter Gaza, but that has been complicated by the slowed return of deceased hostages by Hamas. Let's bring in CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein. Betsy, you have been traveling with the president there in Palm Beach, Florida. This is certainly a key priority for the Trump administration. We are going to see Vice President Vance and others traveling to the region this week. How are they responding to all of this tonight?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SEBNIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Jessica, there was so much hope at the White House when President Trump unveiled this peace deal between Israel and Hamas last week, but also the recognition that there was a lot of work ahead toward a second phase of that peace deal and that any peace was going to be very fragile. And we saw that play out in developments this weekend as two Israeli soldiers were killed and Israel subsequently launched airstrikes. The White House watching all of that extremely closely.

But for now, both sides recommitted to a ceasefire with an eye toward next steps. A U.S. official telling me that they are focused on implementation and working very vigorously to do so with their partners in the region. Now, as you mentioned, we have learned that Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to travel to Israel in the coming days, according to sources familiar with his plans. And two of the key architects of this peace deal, Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are also expected to travel with Vance.

All of them are set to have conversations about this next phase of a peace deal. And this is going to require some of the thornier issues to be discussed, like Hamas disarmament, as well as the future of Gaza. Who governs the war-torn enclave? President Trump reiterating his own interest in redeveloping Gaza in an interview taped earlier this week that aired this morning. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: In the past you've said Gaza could be beautiful, it could be developed --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yeah.

BARTIROMO: -- and you said you wanted to develop it. Do you have plans for that?

TRUMP: Well, not me developing -- not me as an individual.

BARTIROMO: The U.S.?

TRUMP: I liked it as like freedom place, you call it freedom place. And we would get all of the people that live there into decent homes throughout the region. Look at Gaza, I mean, there's nothing standing, the whole thing is -- it's a rubble. So it's not too hard to top that. And we'd build houses and would be paid for by the wealth of the, you know, the wealthiest countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now the president also told Fox News that there will be what he described as a board of peace involved in those redevelopment plans and that he has been asked to be the chairman of that board. But as the events of the last 24 hours demonstrate, there is a lot of work to do before they get there, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Betsy Klein for us live in Florida. Thank you for the latest reporting on that. And we are joined now by global affairs journalist Elise Labott. She is the host and author of "Cosmopolitics" on Substack. Elise, great to see you. Thanks for being here. We just had Betsy --

ELISE LABOTT, GLOBAL AFFAIRS JOURNALIST: Thanks, again, Jessica.

DEAN: Yeah, great to see you. We just had Betsy lay out what we've seen over the last 24 hours and kind of how the Trump administration has been thinking about this.

[17:04:55]

As someone who's covered this for a long time, what are your thoughts as we now enter this new week with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and the Vice President heading to the region and the ceasefire appearing to hold even though we have seen some threats to it?

LABOTT: Well, as Betsy just said, Jessica, the piece is very fragile and it was always going to be, I mean, this was always -- you know, President Trump deserves a lot of credit for getting that first phase through the hostages release, the pullback of Israeli troops and the release of some Palestinian prisoners and some aid and an end to the fighting. But there was never going to be a phase two if you can't stop that fighting for now.

And both Israel and Hamas are looking for any chance. to go back to the fighting. Neither one of them, let's be honest, really wanted that deal. It was really the kind of jawboning of President Trump that got that done. And so until you're able to keep the two sides back, get that international peace force in, get more of that aid delivered, and really start to talk about the governance in Gaza, there really isn't going to be a phase two.

And I think The fact that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are going out there, these were the people that negotiated those fine details of the peace deal, means that there's a lot of, you know, logistics of the implementation to be involved, and the fact that Vice President Vance is going.

Listen, if it's not going to have that high level engagement by the U.S. administration, or we're talking of the president himself, or his vice president, it's really going to be hard because left to their own devices, the Israelis and Hamas aren't going to, you know, look to stick to the deal. They're going to look to continue to best the other one. Hamas has said that it's not ready to disarm. It might be interested in a longer term ceasefire, but it just said in an interview with Reuters that it's not ready to disarm.

You see what they're doing to the Palestinians on the ground. And some of the fighting that they are continuing to do, they're going after to militias that are being backed by the Israelis. These militias are coming from Israeli-backed, Israeli-held areas going into Gaza to fight Hamas, and then they're going back. So I'm not certainly not suggesting that the Israeli soldiers deserved it. But I'm saying that you can see how Hamas is continuing to not just fight Israel, but any Palestinians that they think are in cahoots with Israel.

DEAN: And look, you mentioned Witkoff and Kushner and the vice president all traveling to the region. There is something about deals like this that the timing is of the essence. And then the longer things are allowed to play out, the less likely it is you can kind of push everyone and get those pressure points to get to those final details on what would be a phase two. Where do you -- what do you think, success is going to look like for them this week when they go there? What do they need to come back with?

LABOTT: Well, there are also delegations going to Egypt to talk about the logistics of all of it. You know, Egypt is one of the countries that is going to get those troops in there. It's Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and Azerbaijan. It's really important to get those troops in right away to talk about stabilization. The only problem is those countries don't want to go in when the Israelis are still fighting in the area.

So if the U.S. can really get the parties to just kind of stand down, you can get those troops committed and, you now, get that aid delivered a little bit more of normalcy in Gaza. I think that's going to be really important. And then there's the issue that Betsy raised and we've been talking about, who's going to run Gaza. I don't see, Jessica, any real efforts to try and put the -- you know, figure out who's going to run Gaza, reach out to various people across the Palestinian diaspora, people in the West Bank and other areas in the region to really find out who's going to be leading that government.

Because we know it's not going to be Hamas. The Israelis are not happy with the Palestinian Authority. So even if the Palestinian Authority is going to be involved, you really need to get some more Palestinians. I don't see that discussion taking place and I think it really needs to be taking place. We really need to get more, you know, administration, more services, more everything into Gaza. So there's a little bit more normalcy and Hamas isn't taking advantage of the chaos right now.

DEAN: And so to that end, these aid deliveries and getting really trying to flood that zone with aid again, so Hamas can't manipulate any of that, but also most importantly, so it gets to people who desperately, desperately need all of that aid that has been lacking in that area. Israel says the Rafah Crossing, is that critical link between Egypt and Gaza will remain closed. What does that mean as an access point for this aid? And how do you see that piece of it affecting all the other pieces?

[17:10:04]

LABOTT: Well, there are a couple of things going on here. You know, the Rafah Crossing is, you know, the main crossing for aid. And it's also, you know, a security challenge for the Israelis and the Egyptians and such. And so there's one thing about the security, but using it as a punishment really kind of belies what Israel is trying to make the argument that now that the Israelis are pulling out, Hamas still poses a threat not just to Israel and the region, but to the Palestinian people.

If you see what's going on in Gaza right now, those executions that you showed on your air that are just horrific, the Palestinians, even if they're not having assault by the Israelis anymore, now they're being terrorized once again by Hamas. So Israel is not only punishing Hamas, like Hamas doesn't care if the aid doesn't go through, really. They don't care about the Palestinian people.

It's the Palestinian people that are going to suffer. And if Israel's going to, you know, now that this ceasefire has been agreed to and the hope is that Israel will be more normalized into the region, you would think that Israel would not want to continue to punish the Palestinians further, really isolate that Hamas leadership. And why you say flood the zone is so important. Yes, Hamas is taking a lot of that aid and diverting it for itself. They all came out of those tunnels where they've been hiding, well-fed, well-rested, and now they're, you know, on the ground.

If you -- what you say, aid officials call flood the zone, it means that there's so much aid that Hamas doesn't need to take all of it for itself. There's plenty for everybody. So my feeling is if Israel doesn't want to continue to punish the actual Palestinian civilians that they say are being held hostage by Hamas too, then you would not really make aid as a weapon.

DEAN: All right, Elise Labott, good to see you. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

LABOTT: You bet.

DEAN: New developments on those boat strikes in the Caribbean. The U.S. military made its seventh strike on a boat that American intelligence officials believe was involved in illegal drug trafficking. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted the vessel was affiliated with a Colombian terrorist organization and, in his words, had substantial amounts of narcotics on board. He said the three men on the ship were all killed.

Still ahead here tonight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returning home after a meeting with President Trump that White House officials described as tense, frank and sometimes uncomfortable. Why the Ukrainian leader thinks Russian President Putin is afraid of what Trump might do and why he's confident he's going to get those Tomahawk missiles.

Plus, thieves rolled out -- rolled the world's most famous museum. We are live from Paris with new details into the seven-minute robbery right in the middle of the day at the Louvre. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

DEAN: Today, priceless jewels were stolen from the Louvre in an audacious seven-minute daytime heist. Police say the thieves entered the museum from outside using a truck lift to break into an upstairs window. They then stole rare historical jewelry and crowns before getting away on motorcycles. Visitors had to be evacuated as the museum was open at the time of the robbery. And the world's most visited museum then closed for the day. All really just a wild story. CNN senior Paris correspondent Melissa Bell is joining us now. Melissa, I think people have a lot of questions about this one, but I think we start first with the fact that this happened in broad daylight with people inside the museum.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right Jessica, the Louvre opened its doors as it does every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. By 9:30 this is the most brazen of heists was underway. So it was already packed with tourists, people visiting what is a vast museum. The room that we're talking about, the Apollo room, is just on the other side of the museum, where I'm standing now, by the Seine River.

What the robbers did is they parked that truck with its mechanical ladder in front of the museum, made their way up, broken the window whilst there were people inside. We understand there was some kind of altercation with the guards. We understand also from the early elements of the investigation Jessica that the display windows behind which these jewels were kept were broken alarms went off and there was a fair amount of pandemonium. This is what one tour guide who happened to be inside this very room when it happened had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN EL MANDARI, EYEWITNESS & TOUR GUIDE AT THE LOUVRE: I'm just like trying to figure out what happening when I saw the museum staff going to that noise and then they do -- they did like a turn around like real quick and they start running and saying get out, get out, get out, get out. Evacuate, evacuate, and nobody knew what happened, like we were -- we heard the sounds and we didn't have no clue that it was a robbery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: In all, the robbers were inside that room, Jessica, for seven minutes. That's how long the heist lasted. They then made their way back out the window and fled on high-powered motorcycles or scooters, dropping one of the pieces of jewelry as they went. Even now, though, the jewels remain at large, as do the robbers themselves.

[17:19:56]

DEAN: And tell us, Melissa, more about these jewels and their significance.

BELL: So this Apollo room in the Louvre Museum is where France houses its crown jewels. So the jewelry of the kings and queens of France uh from the Ancien Regime before the Revolution. What we understand is that nine pieces of jewelry in all were taken. One, which was the crown of Princess Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III. They found just at the foot of where that truck had been in front of the museum. They must have dropped it as they left. The other eight pieces of jewelry involve things like earrings,

tiaras, a bunch of them belonging to French queens, but a number of the pieces belonging to that Empress Eugenie that I mentioned, a couple of pairs of earrings, a tiara, a brooch. All of them priceless, not just because on the open market these pieces of jewelry would be immediately identifiable as what they are, France's crown jewels, but also as we've heard from the cultural minister, the interior minister speaking today about the heist, these are items of invaluable cultural and heritage value even beyond what they would fetch in terms of the stones that were inside them on the market.

So an extraordinarily brazen robbery and very difficult to see what they had hoped to achieve. We've heard tonight from the French president saying these robbers will be found. These pieces of jewelry Will be retrieved. But as you mentioned a moment ago, there are really as a result of this form of questions then so far, we have answers for,

DEAN: Yeah, no doubt about it. And then for the museum itself, obviously the most visited museum in the world. What will it mean for to be shut down even if this goes on more than a day?

BELL: It is. It is always packed with tourists as it was this Sunday morning. And for much of the day, even as we were kept outside of it, you could see people gathering who would have come to Paris just to visit. It is, of course, vast. They haven't said yet whether they're going to keep it closed or just the part where the jewels were stolen from. But clearly, this is one of the most visited sites in Paris, the most visited museum in the world.

And today, as that truck was parked on the other side, along the Seine River, on a busy Sunday morning in front of everyone, this happened in broad daylight in front of vast crowds of tourists and Parisians alike. We don't have any word as I say of whether the museum will stay closed or not or what parts of it will be open to the public. But clearly over the next few days, a lot of questions about where these people are, where the jewelry is and how on earth this could have been allowed to happen, Jessica.

DEAN: Certainly. All right, Melissa Bell, fascinating story. Thank you so much. We really appreciate the reporting. Back here at home the shutdown showdown is now headed into another week with Democrats and Republicans ramping up the blame game. And the big question remains, okay, what happens now? Especially with the paychecks of millions of Americans hanging in the balance. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

DEAN: We are 19 days into the government shutdown and there is no clear path forward on a budget deal. Both Democrats and Republicans still blame each other for this continuing stalemate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I refuse to allow us to come back and engage in anything until the government's reopened when the Democrats do the right thing for the people. They're playing politics and we have to use every ounce of leverage we have to make sure they do the right thing.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We need to reopen the government, stand by our hardworking federal civil servant, but we also of course have to decisively address the health care crisis that Republicans have visited upon the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Harry Enten joins us now to talk about what makes this shutdown different from the one that took place during President Trump's first term. Harry, what'd you find?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Sunday to you. You know, as I look at my fake watch on my wrist here, it turns out we're 19 days into this government shutdown and there is no end in sight to it whatsoever. Of course, this is the second shutdown for Donald Trump during one of his presidencies. He had one back during his first term. And as it turns out for Donald Trump, shutdowns are indeed different the second time around. What are we talking about? How the shutdown differs for Donald Trump?

We're going to start off with his net approval rating, his popularity. And you can see it here. All right, shutdown and Trump's net approval, 19 days into a shutdown. You go back to 2018/2019. Look at this. Donald Trump's net approval rating was already falling at this point, already falling. It was down three points and would fall considerably more until we reached the crescendo of that particular shutdown.

This time around, it's a completely different world. Again, another sitcom that I absolutely adore. You know, I like dropping in those sitcom references. Loved in the late '80s/early '90s. Look at this. Donald Trump's net approval rating actually up slightly, actually up a point. So we -- first time around for Donald Trump, we saw his popularity was falling. This time around, his popularity of anything is slightly up. It's up a little bit.

Now, what the heck is going on here? Why was Donald Trump's net approval rating falling during the first shutdown that he had during his presidency back in 2018/2019, his first presidency, and now is up slightly? It's all about the blame game. I don't know about you, Jessica, but it was a game I loved playing when I was younger. And when it comes to the blame game and Donald Trump and shutdowns, we're in a, as I said, a different world.

Blamed Trump for the shutdown, a great deal, 2018/2019, look at this. The clear majority, 61 percent of Americans, more than three in five, blamed Trump a great deal for that first government shutdown, the government shutdown during his first term. You come over to this side of the screen, look at this. Only 48 percent of Americans blamed Trump a great deal for this particular shutdown. So we went from more than three in five to now less than a majority, a

drop of 13 points. Now, of course, polls are one thing, right? And popularity is one thing. But Donald Trump wants to be not just an influential president, but a tremendously consequential president as well.

[17:30:01]

And it's difficult to be consequential when the Congress, of course, is in gridlock, right? Yes, you can pass laws during a government shutdown, but Democrats and Republicans are not cooperating at all. And really, the House isn't even in session at this particular point.

But, of course, Donald Trump is not actually limited by that because he is going about building his legacy in a completely different way. We're talking about executive orders here. Take a look here. All right, Trump executive orders at this point. You know, you go back to 2017, Jessica, Donald Trump had signed just 49 executive orders. Come to this side of the screen. Wow! Now this, up like a rocket. We're talking about 210 versus 49. We're talking about a jump of more than 150. More than 150 more executive orders this time around signed by Donald Trump than last time around.

You know I love going through the spreadsheets, the history books, what have you. We're talking about Donald Trump signing more executive orders in 2025 than any president signed in any year since FDR. And keep in mind, of course, Jessica, there are still more than two months to 2025.

So, look, while the government shutdown continues, the blame game for Donald Trump significantly less than last time around, his net approval rating not dropping like it did last time around, and Donald Trump continues to sign the executive orders to build his legacy. Jessica, back to you.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Harry Enten. Good to see you. Let's bring in the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. He's also the co-author of "Campaign of Chaos: Trump, Biden, Harris, and the 2024 Election." Larry, it's good to see you. Harry hit on a couple of things there. I want to start first with the politics of this shutdown, and I want to hear what you thought about those numbers he just went through when it comes to the politics of this shutdown.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: You know, I've been looking at every new survey that has come out during this shutdown, and what has impressed me is that nobody has a big edge. Democrats are getting less blame on the whole than Republicans in Congress and Trump, but there isn't a giant gap.

And when you look at the numbers beneath the overall figures, you find that as usual, Republicans are overwhelmingly backing the Republican Congress and President Trump and Democrats are overwhelmingly saying it is Trump's fault and it's the Republican leaders' fault.

However, Democrats are in a weak position, not just because they don't control anything, but because their leadership has lost their base. Maybe they're regaining some by this tough position on the government shutdown this time around, but Democratic leaders are really unpopular. That's the major difference to me between the first shutdown in Trump's first term and this one, which gives every sign of going on at least as long as the 35 days of the first one.

DEAN: Yeah. I mean, there is absolutely no end in sight at this moment in time. The other half of what Harry was talking about, which I think is interesting, is Trump's use of executive orders. And I think a real signature of President Trump and his second term has been how much they've used executive power absolutely to the limits, and in some cases, the courts have said beyond the limits of what is allowed legally. How does that factor into legacy and also to just how we're seeing Trump govern?

SABATO: Well, history and historians have tended to reward presidents that have expanded presidential power and used it to the hilt. Now, if that were true for Trump, you know, he would be up there with FDR, at least among Republicans. I don't know that that's going to be the case because Trump really has no limits in his own mind of what presidential power is. And he uses it with abandon. And in some cases, it really raises serious questions about whether he's weakening the fundamental basis of this republican. That will cut against him, too. So, you know, it's a -- it's a mixed picture, but you have to have justification for what you do.

And Trump's overall popularity level, which is still in the low 40s, the polling average, is not robust enough to support him doing almost anything with the powers that he's got and the powers he's expanding.

DEAN: Yeah, and it's like you were just saying with the shutdown. I mean, he's very, very, very historically popular with Republicans. But when you go more broadly, you see -- you see those approval numbers in the 40s.

And we saw, Larry, yesterday millions of people taking to the streets in these protests against the president and his policies, a lot of these executive orders and actions that he and his administration have been taking. Again, just going back to the politics of this, what do you think these crowds and what we saw yesterday means into turning anything into something tangible, either for Democrats or Republicans? What do you think that means?

[17:35:01]

SABATO: Well, there's no substitute for elections. You know, it's great to rally. It raises the energy level. It keeps morale up. And, by the way, the numbers have been increasing steadily in these "no kings" rallies, even compared to Trump's first term.

It kind of reminds me in a way of the anti-Vietnam war movement that I lived through in the late 60s and early 70s. Every -- every year seemed to bring bigger and bigger rallies, a half a million in Washington and two million across the country. Those were big numbers in those days. Well, this is seven million, at least among certain counters. I can't verify the exact number, but those numbers matter. And the fact that they're building on one another, it's not going to change Trump's mind, it isn't going to have the slightest effect on the Republican Congress.

But I tell you what it will do. It will build the momentum for Democrats in this 2025 election coming up in a couple of weeks, but especially for the 2026 midterm elections for the House of Representatives, a third of the Senate, and a sizable majority of governors and state legislatures. That's where it will make a difference for Democrats.

DEAN: And so, how do Democrats then, if they're watching all of this, and obviously we saw a number of elected officials taking part in these protests yesterday that are Democrats, but how do they take this and to your point really maximize that in their favor for those midterms?

SABATO: Well, they have to nominate candidates that can tap into the public protests that exist and the concerns that people who didn't turn up at the rallies have about the authoritarian nature of some of Trump's decisions and the fact that no one is checking him. Certainly, the Republican Congress isn't checking him. And the Supreme Court, which some call the MAGA Court, is not checking him either. So, either the voters create a check in the midterm elections next November or Trump will continue to do these things through the end of his term.

DEAN: Yeah. All right, Larry Sabato, good to see you. Have a great Sunday. Thanks so much.

SABATO: Same to you, Jessica.

DEAN: Thank you. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking out about President Trump's decision not to give his country Tomahawk missiles, at least for now. Here are his thoughts following this week's meeting at the White House after the break. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is opening up about his talks with President Trump, especially when it came to that key issue of Tomahawk missiles. Earlier this week, Trump said he will not give the Ukrainian leader the long-range missiles that he would like, at least at this moment. Here's Zelenskyy speaking out about the fallout from that meeting with NBC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It's very sensitive for Russians. They're afraid that the United States can deliver Ukraine -- I think that Putin is afraid that United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he really is afraid that we will use. And he knows what military goals, we know where they are, where the military goals of Russia, and he is afraid that we can use it. And that's why -- that's where we are.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Are you disappointed that President Trump's answer wasn't yes on Tomahawks?

ZELENSKYY: Of course, I want. And, of course, we want. And, of course, we understand how we -- how we can use it. And to my mind, it can pressure on Russia and push Putin to negotiations from my side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, these missiles have been a major point of contention in this conflict. CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton shows us why. Colonel?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL: So, Jessica, these are some of the big things that we have to really look at when it comes to the Tomahawk missile, the BGM-109 as it's known in Navy parlance.

It's a cruise missile. It travels up to 550 miles per hour, 880 kilometers per hour. And it was first used during Desert Storm. It carries about a thousand-pound explosive, and those are conventional explosives. It can also theoretically be fitted with a nuclear warhead, but that's really not going to happen in a case like this. Its primary mission is to go after tanks. That's why it's called an anti-armor weapon. But it also goes after anti-personnel effects and also hits other targets.

So, one of the key things about this missile is that it is a missile that is very versatile. It has the capability of really going almost anywhere. But it is usually launched from either a submarine or a ship. Sometimes, it can be launched in other areas. But it really basically needs to have a 20-foot long vessel. The Ukrainians don't have that.

But one of the key things to note about it is it does have a big range. So, the range right here is what you see right here. It's 1,553 miles. That means that it can capture not only Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it can also capture cities like Yekaterinburg and the Ural Mountains all the way to Omsk in Siberia.

So, this is a key thing and this is why the Russians are really scared of this missile, because this missile has the capability to take all these areas which include a lot of the industrial areas of Russia because Russia is now in a war footing. It is capable of actually producing a lot of material in this area where they've actually switched the factories over to war production. And when they do that, that also, of course, makes them targets.

[17:45:02]

Now, when it comes to Ukraine itself, Ukraine itself is, of course, in a shorter range from the 1,553 miles that we saw earlier. But what we have here is the capability of the Ukrainians then to use other weapons in these areas. So, you've got the Donbas region right here, you've got the areas that Ukraine took over back from the Russians in the run up to this time after 2022, and what you see here is the capability of the Ukrainians to go after these Russian areas, Russian occupied areas if they have other weapons that are now freed to do those kinds of things. So, all these targets are really open for them and those targets are going to be made easier for the Ukrainians if they get the Tomahawk missile. Back to you, Jess.

DEAN: All right. Thank you to Colonel Leighton for laying that out for us. We appreciate it. Still ahead, an emergency landing after a fire breaks out on board. What officials say was inside a passenger's carry-on luggage that led to that fire. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Here are some of the other top stories we are following this evening. Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, according to Qatar's foreign ministry. The announcement coming after more than a week of deadly clashes which continued despite an earlier truce. Afghanistan's Taliban leadership has accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes in the country's capital of Kabul and retaliated as part of the agreement. Both countries agreed to stop fighting and to work toward lasting peace and stability in talks mediated by Qatar and Turkey.

At least three people were shot at Oklahoma State University early this morning. Police say that shooting happened after a group of people showed up at a residence hall after attending a large private party off campus. Three people were taken to the hospital. And according to university police, one of the victims was known to be a student at the school. Authorities are still looking into what caused the shooting, but they did say that there is no ongoing threat to anyone there at campus.

An Air China flight was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday after a lithium battery inside a passenger's carry-on luggage suddenly ignited. The flight crew was able to put out the flames. No one was injured. Air China arranged for another plane to continue its journey. This happened just months after China's Civil Aviation Administration introduced stricter regulations about the types of power banks that can be carried on board planes.

President Trump says his massive tariffs on foreign goods should help revive America's manufacturing. But many business owners in North Carolina, the capital of America's furniture industry, worry that those tariffs might actually do more harm than good. CNN's Dianne Gallagher explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX SHUFORD, CEO, ROCK HOUSE FARM (voice-over): Here, third generation sawdust in our veins, North Carolina furniture manufacturer.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dubbed the furniture capital of the world. Years after outsourcing sent more than half the jobs overseas, North Carolina still produces more furniture than any other state. Custom-made couches, chairs and tables helped Rock House Farm Furniture in Hickory survive.

SHUFORD: We're seven different brands and 1,700 people.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Though he'll likely benefit, Alex Shuford is worried President Trump's plan to bring the industry back could backfire.

SHUFORD: There's certainly segments of the industry here today that some form of tariffs can help protect. But we got to be really careful that the effort to save us doesn't do more damage than good.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): In effect as of Tuesday are 10% tariffs on softwood lumber and timber and 25% tariffs on kitchen cabinets, vanities, and upholstered wooden furniture. Those are set to increase on January 1st. On their own, these new tariffs could be positive, says Dixon Mitchell, the CEO of Fairfield in Lenoir.

DIXON MITCHELL, CEO, FAIRFIELD CHAIR COMPANY: That specific tariff on upholstery, imported upholstery, probably helps us. I think my concern, I think many in our industry, our concerned is, is this a short-term policy or is this going to be sustained over a period of time, long-term policy?

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Manufacturing creates stability and the Trump administration's trade policy has been anything but.

MITCHELL: Extremely difficult to plan for. You know, it's 170%, then down to 30%, types of things like that.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Shuford says that 80% of RHF sales are from North Carolina-made furniture. But it still imports certain materials and uses some foreign labor. He's already absorbing steel and country- specific tariffs.

SHUFORD: In an industry where profit margins are typically 4 or 5%, we've been eating half of the global tariff rate for now five or six months. And we simply don't have the margins to do that. So, eventually, that's why this gets passed along to the customer.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Retailers feel it first.

MITCHELL (voice-over): Furniture demand is -- I mean, for the home, it's a discretionary purchase.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But even if Trump's tariffs do instantly increase demand, there's another obstacle.

SHUFORD: Probably 50 to 75 job openings at my company right now for upholsterers and seamstresses and finished technicians and woodworkers. MITCHELL: It takes three years to become an above average upholsterer.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): If the president would take a slower approach, industry experts say tariffs combined with investments and training could eventually realistically revitalize the furniture capital of the world.

[17:54:59]

SHUFORD: My fear is we don't want the medicine that's intended to help us to end up causing so much harm that in the end, it ends up killing us.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Hickory, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Dianne, thank you. And a quick programming note for you tonight. Discover the breads that bond the city of Marseille on a new episode of the CNN Original Series, "Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread." It airs tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

And still ahead here tonight, the ceasefire agreement in Gaza facing its first major test after Israel accuses Hamas of violating that deal. What American officials are now doing to help secure the fragile agreement. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)