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Gaza Ceasefire Still in Place After Two Israeli Airstrikes; Trump Sets New Tariffs for Colombia, Cuts U.S Aid; Government Shutdown Enters Fourth Week; Jewelry Heist in Broad Daylight at the Louvre Museum; Bolivia Elects New President; China's Central Committee Holds Meeting On Five-Year Plan; Hindu Festival Of Lights Begins Today; Senate To Return Monday With No Path Forward On Funding. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 20, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Just ahead, the U.S. delegation is reportedly preparing to visit Israel as the Gaza ceasefire survives a major test amid attacks between Hamas and Israel.

Trump and Colombia's president trade insults as the U.S. military targets another boat carrying suspected drug traffickers.

And Paris's world famous Louvre museum was closed to visitors after thieves stole priceless jewelry from the museum in a daring heist.

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza appears to be holding after surviving its first major test. Israel and Hamas are now renewing their pledge to the agreement after accusing each other of violating it. U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the new round of deadly attacks on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We want to make sure that it's -- got to be very peaceful with Hamas and as you know, they've been quite rambunctious, that they've been doing some shooting and we think maybe the leadership isn't involved in that, you know, some rebels within, but either way, it's going to be -- it's going to be handled properly. It's going to be handled toughly but properly.

UNKNOWN: Is the ceasefire still in place?

TRUMP: Yeah. Yes, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Israel says Hamas carried out an attack in southern Gaza, killing two Israeli soldiers. Israel then launched a wave of airstrikes that Gaza hospitals say killed at least 44 people. Aid deliveries were also blocked but an Israeli official says they will resume today. CNN's Betsy Klein is following the latest developments.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, there was so much hope when President Trump unveiled the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, but also the implicit recognition that any peace deal in the Middle East would be a fragile one and that there was still a long road ahead. The White House very closely monitoring this weekend as two Israeli soldiers were killed and Israel subsequently launching airstrikes, but both sides for now have recommitted to that ceasefire and are looking ahead to next steps.

A U.S. official tells me that they are focused on implementation of phase one of this deal and they are working vigorously with partners in the region. But in a sign of that, Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to lead a delegation to Israel in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the matter. Traveling with him are special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, as well as the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the two of them the key architects of phase one of this peace deal.

And now they turn to phase two where some of those thornier issues have to be resolved like Hamas disarmament, as well as the question of governance of Gaza. Who is going to be in charge of the war torn enclave going forward? Vice President J.D. Vance reacting to some of the events this weekend on Sunday evening. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, look, it's going to be complicated. I mean, the best case scenario, meaning if this thing absolutely produces that sustainable long-term peace that the president and I hope that it will, there are going to be fits and starts. There are going to be, you know, Hamas is going to fire on Israel. Israel is going to have to respond, of course.

There are going to be moments where you have people within Gaza where you're not quite sure what they're actually doing. So, we think that it has the best chance for a sustainable peace. But even if it does that, it's going to have hills and valleys and we're going to have to monitor the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: President Trump is also reiterating his interest in redeveloping Gaza. He says that there is going to be what he described as a board of peace and that he has been asked to chair that board. But the events of this weekend clearly demonstrate that there is much work to do before that can begin. Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.

KINKADE: Aaron David Miller joins us now. He is a former State Department Middle East negotiator and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Great to have you on the program.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Glad to be here.

KINKADE: So we're just a little over a week into this ceasefire and it's already marred by violence on both sides.

[02:04:58]

Following the deaths of those two Israeli soldiers, the IDF launched a series of strikes inside Gaza. How do you read this moment? Are we on the verge of a return to a full-scale fighting or is the current ceasefire still salvageable?

MILLER: No, I think it's definitely salvageable. I mean, I'm not surprised. You have two parties who have pledged to one another's mutual destruction. There's zero trust and confidence. You don't have direct negotiations between Israel and Hamas even through cutouts. The reality is one day, if this is going to work, obviously Israel and Hamas are going to be pushed -- have to be pushed to make it work. But that's really going to depend on the key mediator.

It's not the Qataris, they'll have a role. Not the Turks, they'll have a role. Not the Egyptians, they'll have a role. It's President Trump and his team. Henry Kissinger spent 30 days negotiating the Israeli- Syrian Disengagement Agreement in 1974. Baker had nine trips, nine months to plan the Madrid Peace Conference. Unless President Trump is prepared to intercede personally, but also to deploy his emissaries in a way that literally keeps them in the region.

This process will not happen quickly, but planning for it needs to be done quickly if it has a chance to succeed. And the key here is an international stabilization force. It's going to be a heavy lift, but it's got to happen. Trump empowering Kushner and Witkoff, working with the Egyptians, the Turks and the Qataris, maybe a U.N. Security Council resolution. There's got to be some demonstration of American will and skill.

KINKADE: So you're saying that U.S. delegation has to not only head back to the region but stay in the region for a period of time to see this through?

MILLER: I mean, otherwise, I don't see how this works. It's not a weekend thing. It's 24/7. And the mountains that need to be climbed here, not just the stabilization force, decommissioning, demilitarization of Gaza, keeping the delivery points open. The administration interceded today to restrain Israel. And by tomorrow, Monday, soon, I suspect Rafah Crossing may be open and the Israelis will have resumed humanitarian or facilitated humanitarian aid deliveries.

This came as a consequence of American pressure. And that's what's going to have to take primetime in the primary role here. Otherwise, if it drifts and they aren't on this all over this, it's not going to succeed.

KINKADE: You mentioned the U.S. envoy, Steve Witkoff and also Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. They spoke with "60 Minutes" and said it was crucial that Hamas understand that Israel will not relaunch the war once all the living hostages were returned. I just want to play some sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SON-IN-LAW: Hamas's worst nightmare in the deal would be that Israel withdrew to the agreed-upon line. Hamas released all the hostages and then once that occurred Israel just resumed the war and went back to going after them.

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: The president said, we will stand behind this deal. We will not allow the terms of this deal for any party to be violated.

KUSHNER: And both sides will be treated fairly.

WITKOFF: And both sides will be treated fairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Aaron, you've been in the room with both Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. How central is the hostage issue to the dynamics at the negotiating table?

MILLER: It's critically important because the return of the hostages in many respects diffuses the justification, the need for the massive and relentless military pressure that the Israelis applied over the last two years. I take a flyer here (ph). I think we've probably seen the end of that kind of military operations, the artillery strikes, the deployment of thousands of Israeli forces, the massive airstrikes.

But as yesterday suggests, there still may be military conflict. But the argument that the Israelis need to continue to deploy in Gaza and conduct these operations in densely populated areas, I think has now been defused because the live hostages, the 20, have been released. And Hamas, I think, was brought to understand that the hostages were no longer an asset. In fact, they were a liability. Now that they're returned, you watch what happens in the streets of Gaza.

Hamas's margin for reasserting its control in the open, demonstrating its power, both through co-optation and through intimidation and executions, to re-assert its control has gained.

[02:10:01]

So I think Hamas has no stake in resuming this war and I think the current Israeli government is going to be highly constrained by the United States to prevent returning from what you and I witnessed over the last couple of years.

KINKADE: Aaron David Miller, always great to get your analysis. Thanks so much for your time.

MILLER: Thank you, Lynda.

KINKADE: A clash on social media with Colombia's president has Mr. Trump saying he'll announce new tariffs on the Latin American country in the hours ahead. Tensions have been growing as the U.S. 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 innocent Colombian nationals in one of those strikes.

President Trump accused Mr. Petro of doing nothing to stop drug production in Colombia adding that he would be cancelling all U.S. payments and subsidies to the country. He rejected the idea that denying aid to Colombia could impact its ability to combat drug trafficking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: President Petro called Mr. Trump, quote, "rude and ignorant towards Colombia." While the president's trade jabs, the U.S. Defense Department confirmed yet another military strike on Friday on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean. This is the seventh known strike. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims the boat was loaded with narcotics and that it had ties to a Colombian guerrilla group designated as a terror organization by the Trump administration. Hegseth called these drug cartels the Al-Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere.

The strikes are sparking criticism from lawmakers, even some Republicans, as the White House uses classified legal opinion to justify this lethal action. Republican Senator Rand Paul says the U.S. is executing people without due process. Earlier, CNN spoke with military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton about how the current military action in the Caribbean compares to past U.S. involvement in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: 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 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 in a lot of discrete 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. We don't see that alignment with the national strategies in this particular case. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The U.S. Senate is back in session this week as the country enters day 20 of the federal government shutdown. But there's no indication that Democratic or Republican lawmakers will come to an agreement anytime soon. CNN's Camila DeChalus tells us what they're saying.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week and it is very clear that there is still no clear path forward for lawmakers take to potentially reopen the government. Now lawmakers still remain deeply divided over how to fund the government and both parties are really blaming each other for the continued stalemate.

Now, the Republican side, the House Speaker Mike Johnson, has really been pointing the finger saying that it's the excessive Democratic spending priorities that they have when it comes to healthcare and funding for public broadcasting and it's some of the reasons that he's claiming that the negotiations have stalled. But Democrats are really pushing back on this argument saying that it's really Republicans who are the ones trying to make massive sweeping cuts to health care and social programs. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): They want to reinstate free healthcare paid for by taxpayers to illegal aliens. That's $200 billion as part of it. They want to give money back to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They want to take a half a billion dollars from rural hospitals and they want to engage in all sorts of spending on foreign projects around the globe. That is actually on paper. That's their kind of proposal. We can't do that.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We're talking about the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes and community- based health centers are closing all across America because of what Republicans have done with their one big ugly bill and now they refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now both sides are really framing this as a fight over health care spending, not just about reopening the government, but also about what the country should prioritize moving forward.

[02:14:59]

And as the government shutdown continues, there's really this building pressure we're seeing not just from federal workers who are going without a paycheck, but also from constituents who are calling their lawmakers and really voicing their concerns about how much longer this is going to go on. Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

KINKADE: Well, jewel thieves raided a gallery at the Louvre on Sunday. Still ahead, the latest on that investigation and the treasures they stole.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. French police are searching for eight pieces of priceless jewelry following a daring daytime heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Early evidence suggests that the thieves used an extendable ladder and an angle grinder to break into the upper-story balcony before stealing French crown jewels from the Apollo Gallery. The heist was carried out in just seven minutes as the museum was opening to the public on Sunday.

The Louvre was later evacuated and remained closed to preserve the crime scene. Authorities say they are looking for three to four suspects who fled the scene on motorbikes. CNN's Melissa Bell reports on what the thieves stole and the evidence they left behind.

[02:20:05]

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR 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, 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 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. 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? What they're expecting to do with the jewels now? Jewels that will be very difficult to sell in the open market. The French president has said that the jewels will be found and that the pro-pro traders will be brought to justice. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

KINKADE: Well for more, I want to welcome Scott Selby from Los Angeles. He is the co-author of the book titled "Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History." Great to have you with us.

SCOTT SELBY, CO-AUTHOR, FLAWLESS: INSIDE THE LARGEST DIAMOND HEIST IN HISTORY: Thank you so much.

KINKADE: So Scott, you've spent years studying elite jewelry heists. In this case, the entire operation took less than seven minutes. The thieves escaping on motorbikes in broad daylight. What does that kind of speed and precision tell you about the level of planning involved here?

SELBY: They did a lot of planning there. There will be a lot on CCTV of them coming and them taking a look around and them casing the joint.

KINKADE: And of course this crew used a basket lift to access the museum through a window, taking advantage of maintenance work. From what you've seen, does that suggest potentially an inside job or more likely a calculated strike by a professional team that spotted an opening and moved in?

SELBY: Very much the latter. There's no inside information needed. This wasn't like Oceans 11 where you need to be able to break into a safe. It took a great deal of courage, which I think means that they had criminal experience beforehand to stay that calm and do something like this in daylight. But the scale involved was negligible.

KINKADE: And these jewels weren't just highly valuable, they're a well-documented piece of French cultural history, some belonging to the Emperor Napoleon and his wife. You can't exactly sell them on the open market without raising alarms. So what's going to happen to these jewels?

SELBY: I mean, that's a key question because for the people of France, the real important thing is to get these back intact, right? It's much more important than punishing the four people who came out there and did that. It's really tough because as you said, they're worth, you know, what, billions? They'd never be for sale, but there's no way to sell them on as is.

So the most likely scenario in these kinds of situations is they quickly try to break them down into their component parts, which destroys the heritage. It also destroys what makes them unique and special because they could be turning the very big diamond into a very small series of -- a relatively small series of three diamonds. Even if you plucked them out, it's not like robbing Kim Kardashian of a necklace. The cuts were entirely different that back then the polishes.

So they would go through and they can melt down the gold. It's happened before to a stone stolen from France, the French blue. It's really sad, potentially.

KINKADE: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world and earlier this year the President did write to the Cultural Minister of France about a number of serious issues from staffing and overcrowding. From your legal perspective, what do you make of the security failure here?

SELBY: I mean, it's overwhelming. Of course, there's -- you know, the French people can't see the government for this incredible loss, but it's rough. Normally for these sorts of museums that get robbed, like the Paris Natural History Museum was robbed recently, I feel bad for them because they maybe are third, fourth tier in their city, but they have something that thieves could want to melt down. But this is Louvre, as you said, the most visited in the world, and

they should have security much, much better than this. People shouldn't be able to just drive up with a vehicle and, you know, climb into a window.

KINKADE: Yeah. And this of course, it's not the first time that we've seen a major theft at the Louvre, although it's a long time since the last one.

[02:25:02]

The Mona Lisa of course famously stolen back in 1911 by an Italian handyman, recovered two years later. But that theft ironically helped launch the painting to global fame and icon status. In this case, what's the investigation going to be like? Do you think Interpol and private recovery firms will get involved? And from your research, what actually works when it comes to retrieving stolen cultural artifacts?

SELBY: The most important thing right now is speed, is just all resources being available. And of course, because it's such a big story and so important to France, that is happening. My understanding is they've already recovered one yellow vest. They also have the vehicle, of course, that was used to climb up there. They're going to do everything they can. They're going to get into the underworld to see what kind of connections these people have.

Sometimes criminals brag, sometimes things go wrong, sometimes people leave behind a fingerprint. The issue is not so much just finding the people, which, yeah, at this level I'd expect then to do. It's getting to the goods in time.

KINKADE: Yeah, exactly. Let's hope they can track those (inaudible) down. Scott Selby, great to have you on the program. Thank you.

SELBY: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still come, Donald Trump on trade tensions. What the U.S. President told reporters about his tariffs on China and his hopes for a deal. We'll hear from him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:29:56]

KINKADE: Bolivia has a new president. Centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz has defeated conservative rival Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga in an election dominated by economic trouble in the country.

Paz received nearly 55 percent of the vote. In September, he unveiled plans for a $1.5 billion economic cooperation deal with the U.S. to acquire adequate fuel supplies. The 58-year-old senator from the Christian Democratic Party will assume office on November 8th, and he is pledging to open the country for further investment and to govern for all the people of Bolivia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RODRIGO PAZ, BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT: And today, from this victory, we extend our hand to govern with all men and women who love the homeland. This is not an ideological issue because Bolivians know ideology doesn't feed us. What feeds us is the right to work, strong institutions, the rule of law, respect for private property, and having certainty about our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: U.S. President Donald Trump says he's not looking to hurt China with high tariffs amid ongoing trade tensions, but is calling for a fair deal. He spoke just hours ago aboard Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not looking to hurt China. But they have to give us things, too, to buy soybeans. One of the things I want is China is going to buy soybeans. I want China to stop with the fentanyl. We're very, you know, normal things. I don't want them to play the rare earth game with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, in an interview with Fox News, President Trump said China forced him to raise tariffs earlier this month after Beijing tightened its rules for exports of rare earth minerals. The U.S. president says he will be meeting with China's Xi Jinping in just two weeks in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

But before that, the Chinese leader has convened a closed door meeting of the elite central committee, which will discuss China's five-year plan over the next four days.

CNN's Ivan Watson is following developments and joins us live from Hong Kong.

Great to see you, Ivan.

So, five years in just four days. Certainly a lot to discuss. Just walk us through it.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, we're not going to know very much about what's going on right now because you have more than 300 members of China's Central Committee. They're meeting behind closed doors. There are no cameras in the room to share the information or press releases, but the plan is for them to eventually unveil China's 15th five-year plan, a plan for directing this country, the world's second largest economy, over the next five years.

And as they begin this meeting, we've just gotten the latest statistics. GDP growth rate for July through September of 4.8 percent, which would be an envy for many other economies around the world, but is actually the slowest growth rate that China has seen this year with the government aiming to get 5 percent growth rate for the entire year. Now, officials are blaming a number of factors, including the, quote,

complex and severe external environment. In other words, Lynda, the trade war with the U.S., with President Trump threatening to impose 100 percent additional tariffs on Chinese goods, starting in November.

So, the talks over the next several weeks, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who says he's going to meet with his Chinese counterpart in Malaysia this week, the possibility of a face-to-face meeting between President Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. Those could have -- there's a lot riding on what may happen if these meetings do, in fact take place, and what comes out of them.

And on top of this, there is a political aspect to the meeting and putting together a five year plan and look at what happened on Friday, announced by Chinese state media that the government was purging nine top commanders from the Chinese armed forces. And they include General He Weidong. He's the second most senior general in the entire armed forces, as well as Miao Hua both, who had a long history of working alongside the current leader, Xi Jinping.

All of these nine commanders accused of corruption, the likely face criminal charges. And China watchers are saying that that is evidence of the really the remarkable control that Xi Jinping right now enjoys over the political bureaucracy, over the armed forces, in the security bureaucracy in China right now, and could perhaps be signaling something if he is, in fact, to meet face to face with President Trump in the weeks to come.

And look at the contrast in these two very different political systems, these two governments, these two rival countries where you have China planning the next five years of its governance, its economic and political strategies. And then you have the U.S., which is in political crisis right now.

[02:35:04]

Its government shutdown with no end to that crisis currently in sight -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Yeah. Quite the contrast indeed. And no doubt we will be following it closely. If Xi Jinping and Donald Trump do indeed meet in two weeks time, as will all the soybean farmers here in the U.S. who haven't been able to send any soybeans to China since, since this trade war began.

Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

WATSON: Thanks, Lynda.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. Hindus around the world are preparing to celebrate Diwali, the

Festival of Light begins on Monday. But in a world more conscious of the environment, there's one Diwali tradition that is undergoing some changes.

CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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: 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.

[02:40:04]

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 pollution baseline, you know, of being one of the worst polluted cities of the world. And each year we see 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.

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.

Polo Sandoval, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is up next, and for everyone else, we'll be back with much more news in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:27]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

As the U.S. federal government shutdown enters its fourth week, more federal employees are about to be out of work. On Monday, the agency overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile will furlough about 1,400 people. That's the vast majority of its workplace.

And the Trump administrations agriculture secretary warns that the food stamp program will run out of money in about two weeks. That would leave about 42 million people at risk of losing vital food assistance. Republicans, including the House majority leader, blame the Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: They've been dealt this situation, dealt this hand by Chuck Schumer, and they have to make the most of it. They have to triage federal spending because Schumer and the Democrats turned off the revenue streams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The Democrats say Republicans are stonewalling and refusing to negotiate a deal to extend enhanced health care subsidies for millions of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Republicans have repeatedly voted against extending those tax credits because they care more about George Santos and freeing him than they do about providing health care to everyday Americans. That's the unfortunate reality that we confront.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He's also the coauthor of campaign of chaos. Trump, Biden, Harris, and the 2024 American election.

Great to have you with us. And what a good looking book there.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you so much. Appreciate it, Lynda.

KINKADE: So, Larry, the Republicans and Donald Trump are still taking more blame for this government shutdown, but not by a wide margin. Why do you think the public is in assigning clearer blame, given the dysfunction?

SABATO: Basically, because both parties have managed to secure their base, their party base now, and you have almost all Democrats blaming Trump and the Republicans in Congress and almost all Republicans blaming the Democratic leadership in Congress. And as long as you maintain your party base, you're within hailing distance of the other party in terms of blame or credit.

I don't see that changing simply because it's obvious to most people that neither side thinks it's losing. And because they're not losing, they're not going to give anything to the opposition.

KINKADE: So, we're now just days away from this becoming the second longest shutdown in U.S. history. Most people in D.C. seem to think this will break the record for the longest. Are we really stuck until there is some crisis level disruption, like mass flight cancellations or worse?

SABATO: I think you put your finger on one of the scenarios that would very probably end the shutdown, and that would be air traffic controllers calling in en masse, at least at some airports, and saying they were sick or TSA agents also not showing up for work. Because remember those two groups in high pressure jobs are not being paid. They haven't been paid since the very beginning of October.

So, this is a very difficult time for tens of thousands of government workers. And that's going to show up. And when it starts inconveniencing the public or when benefits cut off and some of the food service benefits will be cut off in just a few days, then congressmen are going to start hearing from constituents who maybe are even in their same party.

KINKADE: Yeah, and you've said before, Larry, that bipartisan negotiations in Washington seems harder than the Middle East peace process. Is that because of structural gridlock, or is this truly a Trump effect, where even rank and file Republicans are unwilling to move an inch?

SABATO: It's mainly Trump. And of course, Trump has heightened the party political polarization that we've had for years. It's really extreme now.

Republicans will not break with Trump about anything, even the things they tell you privately they dislike that Trump is doing. And Democrats feel outclassed, really, in almost every way, politically and governmentally. They have to stick together even if they're unhappy with their leadership, which they are.

And remember, Democrats got a real jolt of energy on Saturday with the 7 million people across America in 2,500, 2,600 localities showing up for the no kings day march. And I think that makes it even less likely that Democrats will offer any kind of compromise soon.

KINKADE: Yeah, it certainly seemed to energize the party, didn't it?

[02:50:02]

That mass demonstration. But is passion enough to move votes, or are we looking at another round of both sides, digging in for the long haul?

SABATO: Well, I think they'll dig in for a while. I think they'll dig in as I again, I say, the key is whether average citizens and average party members start throwing in the towel and saying enough is enough. Lock yourselves in a room, order some pizza. Don't let yourselves out until you make up some kind of compromise that works. That will happen at some point, but it's difficult to say when.

KINKADE: Yeah. Larry Sabato, as always, great to have you on the program. Thanks so much.

SABATO: Thank you, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, disgraced former U.S. Representative George Santos is dismissing his critics and says he's focused on his future following his release from prison. U.S. President Trump commuted Santos' sentence on Friday night. He had been serving a seven-year prison term for fraud, charges that got him ousted from Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SANTOS, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: But I will say that it's -- this isn't about that. I don't want to rehash and go into these things. I -- life is too short. I have been granted a second chance.

I have made a very, very concise decision to apply that for good and use that to make amends with my community, with my friends, with my family and those who I have left a sour taste in their mouth and hopefully one day get my critics to at least appreciate that I've turned around and have done better with my life. This isn't about -- you know, glitter, stars and glam or going back to Congress.

So, it's really not. This is a very personal journey and road for me ahead. That is not going to be easy. It is -- I am still a felon. I still wear the scorn of my poor choices and my poor decisions. And I have to fight that myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Some Republicans from New York, where Santos had served, are not happy with the president's decision. Santos says his former colleagues are entitled to their opinion. He also says he does not see himself returning to politics in the next decade.

Well, two weeks after 23-year-old Philadelphia woman went missing, human remains belonging to an unidentified female have been found in a shallow grave. The remains were located in a heavily wooded area behind an abandoned school, after officials say they received an anonymous tip. Police say the remains are now with the medical examiner's office.

CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Philadelphia authorities say they want to give the medical examiners office time to conduct their investigation and determine if the human remains found this weekend are those of the woman they have been looking for over the last two weeks.

Twenty-three-year-old Kada Scott was last seen at her workplace on the night of October 4th. The Philadelphia police department is leading the investigation into her disappearance with the assistance of the FBI's violent crime task force.

Twenty-one-year-old Keyon King was arrested Tuesday night, prosecutors say. Investigators believe he was the last person to be in contact with Scott before she went missing. He has been charged with her kidnaping and also faces a charge of recklessly endangering another person in criminal use of a communication facility, meaning his phone in the disappearance of Scott.

Prosecutors say he had previously been arrested this year for allegedly kidnapping another woman. Philadelphia police say they started searching again for the body of Scott Saturday morning after receiving a very specific tip from an anonymous source, leading them to a wooded area behind an abandoned school in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, where they found a shallow grave.

JOHN STANFORD, FIRST DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: After being able to remove some of the debris back, they're able to locate the body of a human being. All indications at this point is that it's a female. We are not going to confirm at this point that it is Ms. Kada Scott, because that has to be done by the medical examiner's office.

ROMO: First Deputy Commissioner Stanford added that he's still asking the public for more information on this case. In a statement published Saturday, Philadelphia Mayor Sherrill Parker expressed her condolences to the family, adding that the city of Philadelphia is here to support them in any way that we can and will continue to stay by their side.

Prosecutors in the case say they learned King, the suspect had previously been accused of kidnapping a woman in front of her house earlier this year, assaulting her and eventually letting her out of the car, which led to charges of strangulation and kidnapping that were later withdrawn because a witness failed to appear in court. Prosecutors say they've refiled those charges, and King is expected to face preliminary hearings in both kidnapping cases in the coming months.

Before her disappearance, Scott was in contact with King, who met with her shortly after she left her workplace, according to police, citing video and digital evidence gathered by investigators.

[02:55:06]

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: At least three people are recovering from injuries after a shooting at Oklahoma State University. Police say it happened early Sunday when a group of people showed up at a residence hall after attending an off-campus party. The three victims were all taken to hospital. We're told at least one of them is a student of the school. Police are still investigating but say there is no longer a threat to the campus.

Tributes are pouring in for Limp Bizkit bass player Sam Rivers, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 48. In a heartfelt post on Instagram, his bandmates wrote today we lost our brother, our bandmate, our heartbeat. Sam Rivers wasn't just a bass player, he was pure magic. The band did not give any further details about his death.

Rivers had opened up about struggling with alcoholism years ago, which led him to receive a liver transplant in 2017. Limp Bizkit is scheduled to go on tour in Latin America next month.

Well, for the first time in over 30 years, the grand sumo tournament stepped out of Japan and straight into the hearts of Londoners. Japan's top wrestlers drew crowds as they went sightseeing through the city, posing for photos with new fans that quickly went viral. The tournament took place inside the historic Royal Albert Hall, where all five nights were sold out. Grand champion Hoshoryu ultimately claimed victory with a perfect five bout record.

Well, that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back in just a moment with much more news.

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