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Israel, Hamas Renew Ceasefire Pledge after Deadly Attacks; U.S. Carries Out Seventh Strike on Alleged Drug Vessels; China's Central Committee to Hold Meeting on 5-Year Plan; Thieves Steal Priceless Jewelry from Louvre; 'Green' Fireworks Touted as Possible Alternative for India's Diwali. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 20, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and this is CNN NEWSROOM and here's what's ahead.

[00:00:42]

Gaza ceasefire surviving a major test after a series of strikes and gun battles. More on an upcoming U.S. delegation visit that will try to keep the peace there.

A new rise in tensions in Latin America. Trump and Colombia's presidents, they are trading blows on social media as the U.S. military targets another boat carrying suspected drug traffickers.

An expert shares his thoughts on the ongoing strikes.

Plus, in and out in just seven minutes. Thieves steal priceless jewels from one of the most iconic museums in the world in a daring daytime heist. What happened?

ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We want to begin with the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, as it appears to be holding after surviving its first major test.

Israel and Hamas, they are now renewing their pledge to the agreement. And this after accusing each other of violating it.

Israel says that Hamas carried out an attack on Sunday, killing two Israeli soldiers, and this marks the first time Israeli troops have been killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect just a couple of weeks ago.

Israel then launched a wave of airstrikes and temporarily halted aid deliveries. Gaza hospitals say that the strikes killed at least 44 people across the enclave.

Sources telling CNN that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to lead a U.S. delegation to Israel in the coming days. Along with him will be special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Jared Kushner, who is a key architect of the deal. All of them expected to travel to the region, reportedly.

They're expected to focus on getting to the next phase of this ceasefire, which includes more complicated issues like how to disarm Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Before we actually can ensure that Hamas is properly disarmed, that's going to require, as we know, some of these Gulf Arab states to get forces in there to actually apply some -- some law and order and some security keeping on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on how the deadly attacks unfolded in Gaza.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli military conducted a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday after two Israeli soldiers were killed in what Israel says was a Hamas attack.

DIAMOND (voice-over): And all of this represents a major test, the most significant test for the ceasefire to date, just nine days after it went into effect.

These are the most intense Israeli airstrikes that we've seen since the ceasefire went into place. One large underground tunnel route was struck in Gaza, as well as an additional 15 plus targets in just the Southern part of the Gaza Strip alone, according to an Israeli military official.

But we do know that there were strikes in Southern, central and Northern Gaza, and they took place after the Israeli prime minister convened security officials for a consultation and after the Israeli defense minister vowed that Hamas would pay a, quote, "heavy price" for this attack.

DIAMOND: Now, this Hamas attack on Sunday apparently took place in the Southern part of the Gaza Strip, with rocket-propelled grenade fire and sniper fire being directed at these troops, killing two Israeli soldiers and severely wounding one other, according to the Israeli military.

Now Hamas, for its part, says that it is committed to this ceasefire. The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, claimed to have no knowledge of any incidents in the Rafah area in Southern Gaza, where this all took place.

They say that their communication has been cut off with their fighters in that area. It's also important to note that we have seen other instances of fire

in Gaza since this ceasefire went into effect, with Israeli troops opening fire at Palestinians who either approached or crossed this invisible yellow line in Gaza, where Israeli troops withdrew to once the ceasefire went into effect.

On Friday, for example, at least nine people were killed, including four children, when a family was in a vehicle traveling to Northern Gaza and apparently crossed that yellow line. The death toll there, according to Gaza's civil defense.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We should also note that the Israeli prime minister on Sunday also ordered a halt to humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. But it appears that he made a rapid about-face there, with an Israeli official now telling us that aid deliveries will resume once these strikes end in Gaza.

[00:05:12]

DIAMOND: But all of this represents a major test for this ceasefire. It has not yet fully collapsed, but certainly, there are questions about its fate going forward, particularly as far-right members of Israel's government call for an all-out return to war.

But for now, again, the ceasefire has not collapsed. But a very, very serious series of events that we'll be following very closely.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And we want to continue our coverage of this with global affairs journalist Elise Labott, who says that there is never going to be a phase two of the ceasefire deal if the fighting doesn't stop.

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ELISE LABOTT, EDWARD R. MURROW PRESS FELLOW, COUNCIL IN FOREIGN RELATIONS: both Israel and Hamas are looking for any chance to, you know, 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 -- and 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 are -- aren't going to, you know, look to stick to the deal. They're going to look to continue to best the other one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: U.S. and Colombian presidents, Donald Trump now plans to impose tariffs on the Latin American country over allegations of drug trafficking.

Tensions in the region, they have been growing as the U.S. c carries out military strikes in the Caribbean on vessels that it claims are smuggling drugs.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro recently accused the U.S. of murdering an innocent Colombian national in one of those strikes.

President Trump posted on social media that he would be canceling all U.S. payments and subsidies to the country. He rejected suggestions that denying aid to Colombia could impact its ability to combat drug trafficking.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They are a drug manufacturing machine, Colombia, and we're not going to be part of it. So, we're going to drop all money that we're giving to them. They -- it has nothing to do with them stopping drug production.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: While the presidents trade jabs, the U.S. Defense Department now confirming yet another military strike on Friday on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean. This is now the seventh known similar strike.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims that the boat was loaded with narcotics and that it had ties to a Colombian guerrilla group that was designated a terror organization by the Trump administration.

Hegseth called these drug cartels, quote, "the al Qaeda of the Western hemisphere."

The strikes, they have sparked criticism from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, as the White House uses a classified legal opinion to try to justify its lethal actions.

Republican Senator Rand Paul has been criticizing the strike, saying that the U.S. is, quote, "summarily executing people."

Joining us now to discuss all of this is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, joining us at this hour.

Colonel, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much. COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You bet, Polo. Good

to be with you.

SANDOVAL: You know, you have no shortage of experience working on counter-drug missions involving Colombia's Medellin cartel. So, based on your previous experience, how do some of these past U.S.-involved missions targeting foreign drug traffickers stand apart from what we've been witnessing play out in the Caribbean now since -- since early September?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Polo, there are a lot of differences.

I mean, in some ways there -- the similarities are that there are drugs, but other than that, what you're dealing with is a very different approach.

In the current approach that the Trump administration is using, what you're seeing is a really large force, about 4,500 sailors and Marines, being deployed around and near Venezuela, especially along the coastal areas.

That really contrasts completely with the way in which we approached the Medellin cartel back in the early '90s. And that basically was very discreet deployments of U.S. forces that were there to aid and train the Colombian forces, including the army, as well as the national police.

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And those forces were quite successful, eventually, in getting not only Pablo Escobar, who was the head of the Medellin cartel, but also in decimating the cartel itself.

So, in that particular case, it was a success. But of course, when you look at what has happened since then, drugs have continued to flow into the United States. And there's clearly a need to perform some kind of interdiction mission against those drugs.

SANDOVAL: As you point out, those missions were discreet. Not really a whole lot of discretion with this, where they will publicize after unclassifying some of these images and then sharing them around the world.

And here we are now, what: seven weeks, seven strikes later now. The Trump administration yet to offer any sort of evidence to substantiate why they continue to target these boats, simply saying that they are suspected of drug trafficking.

In your opinion, Colonel, how unusual is it to know so little with the stakes so high, even after nearly two months?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think it is -- it is really unusual, Polo. One of the aspects of this that makes it so different is that, when you go into an area where there is little known about the -- the drug cartels and the people that are running them, what you want to do is you want to collect the intelligence first before you strike those particular targets.

When we were working the Medellin cartel, it was very clear that we needed to know a lot about them. So, the intelligence preparation for those missions that eventually took down Pablo Escobar was incredibly intense.

It was -- used a lot of discreet resources that the United States has. But it also used a lot of Colombian resources. And it was one of the aspects of that that led not only to greater cooperation between the two countries, but it also let us really execute those missions in a very concerted fashion that was aligned with national strategies.

And we don't see that alignment with the national strategies in this particular case.

SANDOVAL: And, you know, we got to the questions that are mounting about these strikes, Colonel. I'm curious if we can now tackle what we're seeing militarily, especially off the coast of Venezuela.

What do you see as -- as a potential objective in the U.S. deployment of some 4,500 forces off the Venezuelan coast? What could be the White House's objective and the Pentagon's objective in doing that?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Polo, one of the things that you look at when you see the number of forces that are arrayed against a particular target is what is the mission? What is the possible mission for this?

So, when you look at 4,500 soldiers, sailors, Marines that are out there, they are basically designed as a force to show a presence there.

But the thing that you see here is that it's much greater force, a much greater force than is necessary against one or two boats that are -- that are actually on the surface waters around the Venezuelan coast.

In addition to this, the 4,500, though, is kind of that middle number that is part of a deployment that -- that the U.S. has put out there. But what it isn't sufficient for is an invasion of Venezuela.

So that is a -- you know, you're kind of in this area where I think you're looking at a possible presence that is designed to perhaps intimidate the Venezuelan government, but it is not sufficient by itself to actually effect regime change in that country.

SANDOVAL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, joining us at this hour. Always grateful to have your -- your extremely valuable expertise and your insight. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Polo. Appreciate it.

SANDOVAL: Well, up next here on CNN NEWSROOM, China's five-year plan. Leader Xi Jinping, looking to push forward his strategy to strengthen the world's second largest economy. And this as a powerful committee meets. The very details on that coming up in a live report.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that he's not looking to hurt China with high tariffs amid ongoing trade tensions, but he's just calling for a fair deal, he says. He spoke just hours ago aboard Air Force One. Here's some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm not looking to hurt China, but they have to give us things, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you want to get --

TRUMP: Buy soybeans. One of the things I want is China is going to buy soybeans. I want China to stop with the fentanyl. Very, you know, normal things. I don't want them to play the rare earth game with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And in an interview with FOX News, President Trump said that China, quote, "forced him" to raise tariff rates earlier this month after Beijing tightened its rules for exports of rare earth minerals. So, you just heard the president touch on that.

The U.S. President says that he'll be meeting with China's President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Ahead of that, the Chinese leader is conveying a key closed-door meeting of the elite Central Committee, which is set to discuss China's five-year plan over the next four days.

Let's bring in CNN's Ivan Watson, who's been following developments live from Hong Kong.

Ivan, it's good to see you. What can you tell us about the so-called five-year plan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is how China sets a blueprint, the government, for how the country is going to be governed in these five-year increments.

And what you're going to be having for the next four days is a series of closed-door meetings of the Central Committee. It's around 300 members. We're not going to know very much at all. We're not going to know anything about what's going on behind those closed doors.

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But it's presumed that the members will be discussing and hashing out a plan for -- for the blueprint of the world's second largest economy; how it will be governed and directed; its strategy over the course of the next five years.

And that will be important, because that will involve kind of economic strategies. But there's probably also some political components, as well.

And it's really important or interesting to note the dramatic shakeup we've seen in the leadership of the armed forces in just the last couple of days, with state media announcing that two of the country's highest ranking generals, actually the second highest ranking general, General He Weidong, and another general, as well as seven other top officers from the armed forces, were all removed and accused of corruption.

It's a purge, and all the more striking, because the most senior of these generals has a long history with China's leader, Xi Jinping; basically came up with him.

And yet, Xi Jinping demonstrating his absolute control over the security forces, going into this key series of meetings for -- for planning the direction of China for the next five years -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: And then there's, of course, the question, back to the trade war, of how or if it will affect the world's second largest economy. The third quarter GDP data now released, showing perhaps a slight -- a slight slowing down of the economy.

Is there a theory there that the trade war possibly could be entirely to blame?

WATSON: Certainly, Chinese officials are attributing part of the slowdown over the last two months, where you've got 4.8 percent GDP growth, to these complicated, as they put it, external and severe; the complicated and severe external environment.

After all, you have a potential for another 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods. That threat coming from President Trump in just the last couple of weeks. And that could go into effect as soon as the beginning of next month.

But there are also other challenges inside China that it's wrestling with: high youth unemployment; deflation; overproduction, where critics are arguing that China is dumping cheap goods on the rest of the world's markets, even as it's made real advances in things like electric vehicles and producing batteries and solar panels, pushing it kind of to the front in these areas.

So, these are -- these are important questions. And how the U.S.-China relationship will be handled is also very important. And you have the U.S. treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has said that he's going to meet with his Chinese counterpart in Malaysia later this week. We still have the possibility of a meeting between President Trump and Xi later on, potentially in potentially in Korea. That hasn't been settled been settled just yet.

So, a lot is riding on what could happen between the two governments in the next couple of weeks. But here's an interesting point to close on, Polo. And that is, China

is planning how it's going to govern itself and direct its national strategy economically, politically, with the armed forces over the next five years.

In the meantime, its chief rival, the U.S., its government is shut down with no potential end in sight with that gridlock and crisis there.

SANDOVAL: A reminder that there are so many moving parts. Ivan Watson, thank you so much for putting it all together for us. Appreciate you.

Well, what a story on the way here. Thieves raided the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday. Still ahead, the latest on the investigation. And also hear what the thieves may have already done with the priceless French crown jewels by now.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is holding, and that's despite a new round of deadly attacks in Gaza on Saturday.

Israel says two of its soldiers were killed by Hamas, prompting a wave of Israeli airstrikes.

At least two people are dead after a cargo plane slid off a runway and into the sea at the Hong Kong International Airport. Look at the footage.

Officials say that the victims were airport ground staff whose vehicle plunged into the water, along with the plane. Authorities are investigating why the 747 veered off course.

And centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz won Bolivia's presidential runoff on Sunday. It's an election that was dominated by economic trouble in the country.

Paz defeated conservative rival Jorge Tuto Quiroga with nearly 55 percent of the vote.

The 58-year-old senator from the Christian Democratic Party assumes office on November 8.

French police are currently searching for eight pieces of priceless jewelry following a daring daytime heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

[00:30:02]

Early evidence so far suggesting that the thieves used an extendable ladder and an angle grinder to break into an upper story balcony of the museum. That's before they stole the French crown jewels from the Apollo Gallery. You can see it was a pretty short stretch.

The heist was carried out in just seven minutes. And get this: this was as the museum was already open to the public. There were people inside.

The Louvre was later evacuated and remained closed to preserve the crime scene. Authorities say that they're currently looking for three or four suspects who fled the scene on motorcycles.

CNN's Melissa Bell tells us what the thieves stole, and also more on the evidence trail that they left behind.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was the most brazen of heists here at the Louvre Museum at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The museum just behind me --

BELL (voice-over): -- the most visited in the world, was open. There were people inside when robbers managed to make their way in through a window, having used a truck that they'd parked outside just on the other side of the museum, with a mechanical ladder.

They broke through that window. What we've heard from several eyewitnesses inside is that you could hear that window and the banging on it as it was opened. Seven minutes in all, they were inside.

We understand there was an altercation with security guards. The alarms of the display windows that they managed to open were set off.

And still, what we understand is they managed to make off with nine pieces of jewelry. One, the crown of the Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, found very quickly afterwards.

They made off on motorcycles with eight other pieces of jewelry. What French authorities are saying is that these are priceless: inestimably valuable pieces of jewelry, in cultural and heritage terms.

BELL: For now, the manhunt continues. Also, the questions that need to be answered by this investigation: how in broad daylight, they were able to get to the crown jewels of France; why they went in; how -- what they're expecting to do with the jewels. Now, jewels, they will be very difficult to sell on the open market.

The French president has said that the jewels will be found and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: What a case. And to better understand it, and for more context behind the robbery, CNN spoke to Christopher Marinello. He's a founder of Art Recovery International, an organization that specializes in recovering stolen loot and art.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRISTOPHER MARINELLO, FOUNDER, ART RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL: Most likely, this is part of a Eastern European gang that has been -- one of the gangs that have been operating throughout Europe for the last several years.

There have been numerous museum thefts lately of gold items in the Netherlands, in the -- in Wales, in Paris, previously, a few months ago in Egypt, in Cairo.

So, thieves are going after precious metals. And the problem we have with -- in recovering these pieces is they're just breaking them up; that they're no longer stealing a Picasso that we can find hidden under a bed somewhere. They are just looking to cash out as quickly as possible.

We need to break up these gangs and find another approach or we're going to lose things that we're never going to see again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Still ahead, a green twist on a time-honored tradition. We'll explain why people in India are hoping for a cleaner and greener Diwali.

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SANDOVAL: Hindus around the world, they are preparing -- preparing to celebrate Diwali. It's a festival of lights that got underway today, Monday.

But in a world more conscious of the environment, I want to tell you about how one Diwali tradition is undergoing some changes.

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SANDOVAL (voice-over): Diwali, the festival of lights, is an iconic Indian holiday, celebrated by the lighting of lamps, big family dinners and, in some places, setting off firecrackers or crackers, as they're called in India.

Vendors in New Delhi, they are stocked up with all types of illuminations to mark the occasion, which symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness.

But some residents are worried that India's persistent pollution will once again put a damper on the festivities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think we should not burn crackers, but rather spend a healthy and wealthy Diwali. The less the pollution, the better it is for us. SANDOVAL (voice-over): The air quality index in the country's capital

has been hovering at levels considered poor or very poor ahead of the holiday, and each year, the smog gets worse around this time because of crop burning and colder temperatures, which trap pollutants in the air.

There are bans on traditional firecrackers in New Delhi to try to reduce pollution levels. But recently, the Indian top court permitted the use of so-called green crackers for a limited time during Diwali. Some residents say it brings some of the joy back to the festival.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's a good order. Every year children celebrate Diwali with a lot of restrictions. This year they can just celebrate, and that's why children are very happy.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Manufacturers say the green crackers emit 20 to 30 percent less pollutants, but that's still a concern for environmentalists, who say the crackers may be cleaner and quieter, but they still give off some harmful emissions.

VIMLENDU KUMAR JHA, ENVIRONMENTALIST: Delhi already has a pollution baseline, you know, of being one of the worst polluted cities of the world. And each year we see in -- in -- on the eve of Diwali or the night of Diwali, the air quality index reaches almost 20 to 30 times worse than the permissible limits.

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SANDOVAL (voice-over): Delhi's environment minister says preparations are underway to conduct cloud seeding after the holiday to clean up the air.

The lights of Diwali are once again shining, but not without casting a spotlight on one of India's lingering health and environmental problems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: For the first time in over 30 years, the Grand Sumo Tournament stepped out of Japan and stomped straight into the hearts of Londoners.

Japan's top wrestlers, they drew crowds, as they were sightseeing around town. They were posing for photos with fans. Those images quickly going viral.

The tournament took place inside the historic Royal Albert Hall, where all five nights were sold out.

The grand champion, Hoshoryu. He ultimately claimed a victory with a perfect record.

And with that, we want to thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'll join you again in about 15 minutes with much more news. For now, it's WORLD SPORT.

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