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Misty Copeland To Retire From American Ballet Theatre; J.D. Vance Downplays Concerns About Fragile Gaza Cease Fire; Looking At The Cases Of Gaza Medics Detained By Israel; No Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin Summit Planned Anytime Soon; Virginia Giuffre Shares New Details About Jeffrey Epstein's Inner Circle; Hope To Work And Study In U.S. Dwindle Amid Visa Changes. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 22, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Israel identifies the bodies of two more hostages as a U.S. delegation seeks to bolster the fragile cease fire with Hamas.

Kyiv under attack with deadly results, just as Donald Trump says, a meeting with Vladimir Putin is off.

An explosive memoir from Virginia Giuffre, putting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates in the spotlight.

Plus, we are just hours away from Misty Copeland's final bow, a ballerina who broke barriers and made history.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. A U.S. delegation is in Israel trying to shore up the cease fire deal in Gaza following Sunday's deadly violence. Hamas has handed over the remains of another two hostages. The Israeli military has identified them as Arie Zalmanowicz and Tamir Adar.

They were both from Kibbutz near Oz in southern Israel, 85-year-old Zalmanowicz was the oldest hostage taken, according to the missing families forum.

Meantime, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met several recently freed hostages in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is also in Israel, but he's downplaying concerns about the fragility of the Gaza cease fire.

Well, Vice President Vance's presence in the region is meant at least in part to ensure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to the ceasefire. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details from Tel Aviv.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Vice President J.D. Vance's visit to Israel, in many ways, has been an exercise in shoring up the cease fire by simply projecting confidence in it and optimism in its durability going forward.

The vice president arrived in Israel just two days after the cease fire faced its biggest test yet, after two Israeli soldiers were killed in what Israel said was a Hamas attack, Israel then unleashed a wave of airstrikes across Gaza that killed at least 45 people.

And so, then enter into the picture the Vice President of the United States, the second highest ranking U.S. official coming here to say that the United States is committed to this cease fire, and doesn't want to see violations by one side or the other break down the cease fire altogether.

The vice president stressing that he is optimistic about the future of this cease fire, but made no illusions about the fact that it's going to require a lot of work and a lot of time in order for this cease fire to actually endure.

And one of those ways in which he said that was to say that it's going to require constant effort by the United States to mediate disputes between the parties, and that's part of why the vice president spoke to the media at this new U.S. military coordination center, about a dozen miles away from the Gaza border, really huge facility where we saw U.S. military personnel and Israeli military personnel, as well as those from other countries, you know, milling about in this center where they're doing everything from coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, monitoring the cease fire, and again, mediating some of those disputes that may arise.

And the vice president made clear that he believes it's going to take a long time for the next phases of this peace deal to be implemented. He did not offer a timeline for Hamas' disarmament or when this international stabilization force will actually come into being.

The vice president also tried to kind of set expectations about the release of the remains of deceased Israeli hostages. As the vice president is in Israel on Tuesday, we are seeing that Hamas has handed over the remains of two additional deceased hostages. These would be the 14th and 15th of 28 deceased hostage remains that have been returned to Israel so far.

But the vice president made clear that getting all of the rest of those remains of deceased hostages back to Israel is going to take some time. Some of these bodies, he said, are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble, and others he made very clear, nobody knows the location of. And so, it seemed like he was trying to convey this message of patience to a very frustrated Israeli public, and also to an Israeli government that could be resistant to moving forward with the rest of the ceasefire until the rest of these remains of hostages return. [02:05:06]

But no question that the vice president's visit underscoring the U.S.'s commitment to all of this and also making clear just how much work lies ahead in order for the ceasefire to actually result in the kind of during -- enduring end of the war in Gaza altogether.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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CHURCH: The cease fire between Israel and Hamas is bringing to light the heroic efforts of Gaza's doctors and medical staff and the challenges they've faced during two years of war. Some of them have been detained by Israel and remain in custody.

CNN's Nada Bashir looks at the plight of one of those doctors and the calls for his release.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Gaza's leading pediatrician, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. From the outbreak of the war in Gaza, his lifesaving work providing emergency medical care had been widely documented and shared with the world.

This footage was filmed in November 2024. Dr. Abu Safiya had been on an almost-daily basis recounting the harrowing realities inside Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, where he was director as the facility became the focus of an Israeli military siege on northern Gaza.

Just weeks later, he would be detained by Israeli troops. At the time, Israel claimed that he was suspected of being a, quote, "Hamas terrorist operative" and the hospital was used by Hamas as a command center. But no evidence has since been provided linking him to the militant group. Now his legal team says his detention has been extended by another six months.

BASH: This behind me is Israel's controversial Ofer military prison, where Dr. Safiya is currently being detained. NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel says the renowned medic has not been brought before a judge nor interrogated nor even informed of the legal grounds of his detention.

A lawyer for the NGO has also reported that Abu Safiya has been subjected to abuse and starvation and has had medical care withheld, despite a preexisting heart condition.

BASHIR (voice-over): The Israel prison service declined to comment, specifically on Abu Safiya's detention but provided a statement, saying, "All inmates are held according to legal procedures and their rights, including access to medical care and adequate living conditions, are upheld."

Those closest to him, however, have been left with little reassurance over his treatment or his possible release. My innocent father is facing great suffering and humiliation, Dr. Abu Safiya's son, Elias, says. He's not guilty. He's not a criminal to deserve these forms of torture and deprivation inside the prison. My father was simply a doctor, who was committed to providing medical and humanitarian care to children, patients and the wounded. He is not guilty of anything to justify his detention or to be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

With the recent ceasefire deal, there had been hopes that Dr. Abu Safiya, along with other Palestinian health care workers, would be released and returned to Gaza.

Among those who had been desperately waiting for positive news is Aya (ph). She says her father, Dr. Marwan al-Hams (ph) and her sister, nurse Tasnime al-Hams (ph), were both abducted earlier this year. Their whereabouts or possible detention by Israeli forces remains unclear.

Where is the protection of doctors rights during war? Aya (ph) says. Is it their crime that they are humanitarians treating the wounded and the sick? What did they do?

CNN has reached out to the Israel prison service for comment on those cases.

The detention of health care workers from Gaza, like Dr. Abu Safiya, is viewed by many humanitarian organizations as part of the systematic targeting of Gaza's health care infrastructure by the Israeli military.

The Israeli military has rejected claims that it detains medics on the basis of their profession. In a previous statement, it said such allegations ignore the activity of terrorist organizations in Gaza.

The U.N. World Health Organization and several NGOs, however, have widely documented assaults on medical staff and facilities in Gaza since the war began. The charity Medical Aid for Palestinians says an average of two health care workers a day have been killed since the start of the war.

Meanwhile, NGO Health Care Workers Watch Palestine says at least 115 health care workers from Gaza are still believed to be held in Israeli detention facilities, including at least 15 senior specialist doctors.

Israeli nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights Israel has also reported accounts of torture and starvation while in detention.

[02:10:04]

While Israeli authorities have offered little clarity over the fate of Gaza's detained medics, calls for their release are growing louder both at home and internationally. And as the fragile ceasefire continues to hold, the need for unhindered access to medical care for so many remains desperate.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in the occupied West Bank. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: North Korea has launched its first ballistic missile test in five months. Days before U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders are set to meet in South Korea.

Military officials in Seoul say they detected several short range ballistic missiles fired from an area south of Pyongyang. The projectiles reportedly flew about 350 kilometers, or 220 miles.

Japan's new prime minister told reporters that Tokyo was closely communicating with Washington and Seoul, including by sharing real time missile warning data.

Russia has launched an air attack on Kyiv, killing two people and damaging residential areas. The city's mayor says explosions jolted the Ukrainian capital early Wednesday morning, and have continued since then, Russia has been ramping up its airstrikes on Kyiv and Ukraine's northern regions in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Russian drones struck the city of Sumy, where emergency officials say nine people were injured. Moscow is once again targeting power facilities to wipe out heat and water for Ukrainians as they head into winter.

Ukraine's president says Russia has become less interested in diplomacy now that the U.S. has refused to provide Ukraine with long range Tomahawk missiles. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's ability to strike deep in Russian territory might be the key to forcing Vladimir Putin to consider a peace deal.

President Trump had said he would meet with Russia's president within a few weeks. CNN's Kylie Atwood explains why that is not going to happen.

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KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration appears to be reversing course when it comes to the possibility of a near term meeting between President Trump and President Putin after Trump said last week that he expected that they would meet after they had a phone call within the next two weeks.

An administration official telling CNN that there are no plans for an immediate meeting between the two leaders. We're also told by administration sources that there are no plans this week for the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to meet as President Trump said they would be meeting to effectively set the stage for that leader level meeting to take place that was expected this week, that is no longer scheduled this week. We'll watch and see where this goes.

But of course, this comes after President Trump met with President Zelenskyy at the White House late last week. The Ukrainians not walking away with any new definitive commitments from the Trump administration. Europeans said that their readout was that that meeting did not go particularly well.

And in Washington on Wednesday, President Trump is expected to have a meeting with the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. This comes as Europeans continue to push the United States to put more pressure on Russia to try and end the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.

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CHURCH: Still to come, new claims in the posthumous memoir of one of the most prominent victims of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring. We will tell you what's in Virginia Giuffre's book, that is next.

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CHURCH: New claims in a posthumous memoir by accuser Virginia Giuffre is reigniting controversy around the Jeffrey Epstein case. The book contains harrowing details of the abuse she allegedly suffered with Giuffre at one point, writing, "I believe that I might die a sex slave." CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has details.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: It's been about six months since Virginia Giuffre died of suicide, but her fight for justice and accountability perhaps reached its pinnacle with the release of her memoir, Nobody's Girl.

And while a lot of the accusations in it against Jeffrey Epstein, against his inner circle, are not new, it is the details in the book, the harrowing blow by blow account that sends shivers down your spine.

She talks about her first meeting, her first interaction with Prince Andrew, and she says she picked a pink top -- a pink crop top and sparkly jeans because she felt like a teenager. She wanted to dress like a pop star. And she talks about their first conversation, and says that Prince Andrew was asked to guess her age. And that he accurately guessed it as 17. And it is those moments in the book that are sure to horrify readers.

Prince Andrew, just about a week ago, relinquished his royal titles. Now he has long denied any wrongdoing, but he did settle a civil suit with Virginia Giuffre in 2022 reportedly for millions of dollars, and him relinquishing his title, him stepping away from public duty is an attempt to protect Buckingham Palace, but the release of this book is only sure to draw more heat and more pressure on that palace behind me.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: CNN also spoke with Jess Michaels, another Epstein survivor and advocate for victims of sexual assault. She described the potential impact of Virginia Giuffre's memoir.

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JESS MICHAELS, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I think what's going to happen with this book is it's going to be sex trafficking 101 for the wealthy. How to get away with it. I think it's going to be a book that I hope parents read and learn from that I hope law enforcement, attorneys, justice systems, justices, criminology classes actually use this book as a way to try to understand the victim's perspective.

Something that I say all the time in my advocacy is that people keep asking survivors, you know, to report, to say names, and my question to you is, who's making it safe for us to do that? Nope, no one.

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CHURCH: Still ahead, President Trump is not done seeking retribution. Coming up, the tremendous payout he says he could be getting, and who would be stuck footing the bill. We'll take a look.

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CHURCH: President Donald Trump says he could be seeking $230 million from the U.S. Justice Department. He claims that some would be compensation and damages for past investigations into his actions.

According to the New York Times, he submitted complaints each of the past two years before he was reelected, and his own former defense attorneys now hold Justice Department jobs and could be involved in approving any such payments.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not looking for money. I'd give it to charity or something. I would give it to charity, any money. But look, what they did, they rigged the election.

Now, with the country, it's interesting, because I'm the one that makes a decision, right? And you know that decision would have to go across my desk, and it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself.

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CHURCH: And of course, it is taxpayers who would be footing the bill.

Walmart is America's largest private sector employer, and now says it's pausing job offers to foreign candidates who need an H-1B visa to work in the United States. The Trump administration has started enforcing a $100,000 fee on that

visa designed for highly skilled positions.

CNN's Ivan Watson looks at how these changes are affecting foreigners who had planned to work in the United States.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, everyone.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They run America's biggest tech companies, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, all four Indian nationals who started out on student visas and then H- 1B work visas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I've always said, you know, as an immigrant to this country, it's given me everything that I have.

WATSON (voice-over): For decades, the H-1B has been the golden ticket, turning students into CEOs and dreams into careers. So prized that in India, some temples are dedicated to praying for visa approval. But the Trump administration is cracking down.

HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: Train Americans, stop bringing in people to take our jobs. That's the policy here. $100,000 a year for H-1B visas and all of the big companies are on board.

WATSON (voice-over): H-1B work visas will now cost employers $100,000 apiece. Until recently, nearly 70 percent of those visas went to Indian nationals.

WATSON: We're not going to reveal your identity.

WATSON (voice-over): Many Indians in the U.S. now facing crushing debt with little chance of finding work in the U.S.

WATSON: How much are we talking about in terms of U.S. dollars?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, there's more than $90,000 for me, and I took a pretty hefty loan. So, for somebody like me who doesn't really have generational wealth back home, it was a big and heavy investment. It almost feels like you're not wanted here.

WATSON (voice-over): Online, hostility is rising, with some people calling foreign workers job thieves and outsiders. The message go back home.

SUDHANSHU KAUSHIK, FOUNDER, NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN STUDENTS: It's a climate of fear and uncertainty, and it goes against what we've been conditioned to for the past 20, 30 years that you work hard, you study, you get the grades, you get admission. You know, you get the scholarships, or you pay the tuition, then there will be a reward, you know, and you will be able to prosper, and you'll be able to contribute to the American growth story.

WATSON (voice-over): U.S. Government statistics show a sharp drop in foreigners with student visas coming to the U.S. in 2025 versus 2024 with the arrivals of students from India plunging around 45 percent.

In India, the H-1B ripple effects are already visible. The dream of studying abroad reflected in entire neighborhoods of Indian cities. Tutors and students describe a recent shift away from studying in the U.S.

HEMANKSH SWARA, GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT: The reasoning now due to the Trump H-1B visa, I have decided to drop U.S. from my plans. I'm looking into European countries, maybe even India.

WATSON (voice-over): And this appears to be the White House's message, international students should no longer dream of starting their careers in the U.S.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Taking a final bow, American ballet theater dancer Misty Copeland is now preparing for her farewell performance with the company.

Just ahead, a look at her legacy, both on and off the stage.

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CHURCH: She has been described as a once-in-a-generation artist. Misty Copeland, who made history as the first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, is just hours away from her final performance with the company. The trailblazing ballerina broke barriers on stage, and now she's making dance more accessible for children of color through her non-profit foundation.

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She'll be celebrated in the hours ahead at a star-studded gala where she'll take her final bow. Susan Jaffe is the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre. She joins us now. Appreciate you talking with us.

SUSAN JAFFE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on.

CHURCH: Absolutely. So the first African-American principal ballerina at American Ballet Theater, Misty Copeland, is just hours away from her final performance at the Lincoln Center after recently announcing her retirement. How significant is this moment?

JAFFE: Oh, it is -- it is truly a monumental moment. Misty has been with the company since 2001 and had danced all the principal roles. I mean, she is -- had a breakthrough performance of Odette/Odile with the company as first African-American woman who not only became a principal dancer at ABT, but also danced the famous role of Odette/Odile.

And, so she really broke through so many barriers and became a role model for so many young people to follow. And so, having her in the company not only increased our visibility with many, many different people who would have never come to the ballet, but also helped us to expand our reach in helping children. And this was all due to Misty and her initiative and her passions about bringing access to children of all communities.

CHURCH: And you have previously called Misty Copeland a once-in-a- generation talent. What did you mean by that, and how would you describe her legacy at the American Ballet Theatre?

JAFFE: She grew up with the most beautiful teacher, and she talks about her, Cindy Bradley, but she also had the most beautiful facility and a classicist from the beginning. Just when she joined, she was 13. So she started classes when she was 13, but then (inaudible) was seen as a classical ballerina. And so, she -- when she joined that ABT, she was immediately seen then as a classical ballerina as well.

But she also broke out into all kinds of different choreographers like Kyle Abraham, and many choreographers at ABT. She danced all the classics, all the dramatic works, and all -- many of the contemporary works. So, there's very few people that are really as versatile as Misty. And then also, because of her, her wide range of interests, she has expanded the ballet world in so many ways.

CHURCH: Yeah. And I wanted to talk about that, Misty's significance beyond the stage and how she has impacted the lives of young dancers, you mentioned that, particularly those of color.

JAFFE: Absolutely. I mean, when children look to Misty, when she was dancing, all the time, they said, I can do that because she did that and she opened the door for me. And I can see myself in a company like American Ballet Theatre, dancing the role of Odette/Odile, dancing the role of Juliet. And so, she really gave everybody, the younger generations, permission to not only do what she did, but she wants them to exceed what she did. So, it was -- that was monumental for many generations after her.

CHURCH: And Misty's farewell performers will also be streamed live for free. What can viewers expect to see?

JAFFE: So, this will be live streamed into one theatre, Alice Tully Hall. But they're going to see her dance Romeo and Juliet, the Balcony -- pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet with Calvin Royal III. And then, she will dance a new work by Kyle Abraham with several of her ABT colleagues. And then, the last thing that she will dance will be the Sinatra songs or the Sinatra Suite by Twyla Tharp.

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And interspersed in between those works, there will be guest speakers like Oprah Winfrey and also ABT dancers will be dancing in honor of Misty. And also, the Studio Company will be dancing in honor of Misty because Misty also went through the Studio Company before she joined the main company. So, everybody is really dancing for Misty and speaking about Misty, and there will be a lot of love.

CHURCH: Sounds wonderful. Susan Jaffe, thank you so much for talking with us and good luck with this performance. Appreciate it.

JAFFE: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: And we'll all be watching. Thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom."

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