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More Suspects Arrested in Louvre Heist; Trump Orders Nuclear Weapons Testing; Virginia Teacher Takes Stand in Shooting Lawsuit. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 30, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Breaking news: The former Virginia teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student is set to take the stand. She says the former assistant principal ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun hours before the shooting.

I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is on assignment. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we start this hour with that breaking news. Testimony is under way in Virginia in that civil trial involving a former elementary schoolteacher who was shot in her classroom by a 6-year-old. The $40 million lawsuit is against a former school assistant principal who Abby Zwerner says failed to act after several people voiced concerns the student had brought a gun to school back in 2023.

Yesterday's, Zwerner's lawyers introduced body camera footage from first responders. We're going to show you some of that, but we do want to also warn you that some viewers may find it disturbing.

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BROWN: Joining us now is CNN correspondent Jean Casarez and CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Jean, first of all, when do we expect the teacher to take the stand?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Any minute. They have been on the morning break. This is going to be a pivotal moment because we are at the end of the plaintiff's case. This is a civil case for money damages. This is the way to make her whole.

But she will be taking the stand. And she will -- for the first time under oath, we will hear what she went through, what she saw, what she heard, what she felt. And we have never heard this before from her. We all know that, about two years ago, it was January in Newport News, Virginia, elementary school, first-grade teacher. And all of a sudden the students started telling their teachers, and there were multiple teachers that were told that they saw this first grader had a gun. And so teachers went to the assistant principal, who is the defendant in this room. Her name is Ebony Parker.

She is the defendant. She was in charge of any crisis that would happen at the school. That's what she was trained for. That's Ebony right there, the defendant, and so teachers would come saying, our students are saying this child has a gun. She didn't do anything.

Finally, someone said, can I search his backpack? No. Can I search his person? No. And that's because of privacy rights for that child. Well, minutes later, that child took a gun out of his pocket, aimed it at Abby, who is going to be taking the stand, and fired that shot that went through her hand into her chest.

The bullet remains in her chest. But we just heard from a psychiatrist that had talked with Abby, made an assessment of her. Here are some of the things we might hear from Abby when she takes the stand, that she remembers getting shot. She believed she was dying, but she was still alive.

She realized that too, but she was very concerned that this shooter, and she saw him that was trying to kill her, and he was going to try to finish the job. Those are some of the things that went through her mind as she was laying there right after that shot, and she did fight for her life.

And the bullet came very close to her aorta. Her hand had to be totally reconstructed. We saw it yesterday. It's very puffy, a very, very difficult range of movement. Her gunshot wound to the hand, as her surgeon said, was like a war victim out of Afghanistan.

BROWN: Wow.

I want to bring in our scene and legal analyst Joey Jackson.

What is the significance of this, the teacher taking the stand?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Pam, good to be with you and Jean.

It means everything. This is the person who was on the other side of what occurred, and we heard testimony, as she noted, of her psychiatrist indicating she has post-traumatic stress disorder and everything that it's done to her, her sister taking the stand, her twin sister, I might add, and saying how it altered and affected her life.

And so it's going to be very compelling. She is historically a sympathetic defendant. And when I say that, when you look at every defendant that testifies -- well, excuse me, this is a civil case, we know, and so she's the victim in the case. But when you hear a person testify, I mean, and it's about their particular case, you're looking for a number of things. I think the sincerity will be there. I think the pain will be there. I

think the hurt will be there. And just very briefly, Pam, looking at the legal pillars here, there are four, and I will explain very briefly, duty, breach, causation, damages.

What does that mean? Duty, number one, when you're at a school, the school has a duty to protect your safety, to protect your health, your welfare, your well-being as it does its students. Breaching of that duty. Certainly, you would breach the duty when you're on notice that there's a person who has a violent history, 6 years old, yes, but a violent history.

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You know that you have been given the indication they may have a gun in the backpack. You don't take steps to do anything. Do you not reach the duty of the safety? And does that not causation, third point, the cause, is that not the cause, your neglect, your negligence, of damages?

We will hear about her damages. We will hear about the shots. We will hear about her lung. We will hear about her rehabilitation. We will hear about what she went through. And so she is going to be an extraordinarily sympathetic victim in this case.

And I think her testimony will carry a lot of sway and a lot of weight with regard to what exactly happened here that should not have.

BROWN: And, Jean, what has the defense been arguing? Because, as you laid out, there were multiple warnings that this child could have a gun made to the assistant principal, this former assistant principal.

CASAREZ: Well, legally, they're saying that there is no legal duty for the assistant principal to do anything. But, factually based, they're saying that she was involved with standardized testing that day and that was her focus, that they believe that the teachers, who were the first line of defense, that they should have done something on their own, they should have taken action.

But there was an expert yesterday in education for over 30 years qualified as an expert with that testimony and said that in this particular situation that the teachers have the duty to tell the assistant principal who was trained for crisis management at that elementary school, that was their duty, but the duty to act remained with the vice principal, the duty to act and she did not.

But the defense is that the teachers should have stepped in, that they should have done it, students were telling them and they could have prevented this.

BROWN: Jean Casarez, Joey Jackson, thank you so much. We're going to continue to monitor this as we await for the teacher to take the stand.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is instructing the Pentagon to start testing nuclear weapons on a -- quote -- "an equal basis" with Russia and China. It's not clear whether Trump is referring to a nuclear weapons test or a test of a nuclear-capable weapons system, but this is a potential massive shift in U.S. nuclear policy.

The last time one of the world's three major military powers conducted a nuclear weapons test was in the 1990s. President Trump telling reporters this overnight aboard Air Force One.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It had to do with others. They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don't do testing. And we've halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also.

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BROWN: And then this morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the president's message.

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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: It's all hands on deck for nuclear power. The Chinese are building nuclear plants. They're starting them up every month, and we are behind. But under President Trump's leadership, we're going to catch up.

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BROWN: Well, CNN has reached out to the White House and the Defense Department to learn more about this, because there are a lot of questions.

So to answer some of them, hopefully, we're going to bring in our CNN's senior national security reporter, Zachary Cohen.

First of all, let's talk about the timing of this. President Trump said this right before his meeting with President Xi Jinping of China. What do you make of that?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, it's really provocative comments from the president and, for context, making them right before he leaves for this meeting with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, to talk about trade.

And they really seem to run counter to what his foreign policy more broadly seems to have been in the last several months, especially, which has been focused on lowering tensions with countries like China and Russia in pursuit of these trade deals.

But, look, the lack of clarity here is really raising a lot of questions. And the first point is whether or not Donald Trump was referring to testing of live warheads, nuclear warheads, or whether he was talking about testing delivery systems like nuclear-capable nuclear-powered missiles, things that can be used to deliver a nuclear warhead. So that's something that we have posed to the White House and the

Defense Department. We have not gotten any clarity yet on that point, but, again, Donald Trump's seeming to suggest that other countries are testing nuclear weapons, and that's why he feels the U.S. needs to resume testing their own.

He notes that the U.S. has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1992. But he does seem to omit the fact that China and Russia in particular have also abided by a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons themselves. Now, Russia has been touting successful tests of nuclear-powered cruise missiles that can carry a nuclear weapon.

So perhaps maybe that was prompting the president's remarks here that otherwise seemed to have come out of left field.

BROWN: Those cruise missiles aren't nuclear weapons. And to actually test a nuclear weapon, it takes time to get everything geared up, right?

COHEN: Absolutely. Experts say from 24 months to 36 months, so years, to have a facility ready to test an actual nuclear warhead. That's something that the U.S. has done in the past in an underground facility in Nevada.

But, again, it would take a significant amount of time to prepare that facility to conduct a live warhead test, which runs counter to President Trump's order that the Pentagon needs to start testing immediately, because it wouldn't seem to line up with that timeline.

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And, again, a live nuclear test of a warhead would be overseen by the Department of Energy, not the Pentagon. The Pentagon would oversee the testing of a delivery system. So, again, that discrepancy is raising a lot of questions and, regardless, raising concerns about a potential international arms race of sorts.

We heard Russia responding to the president's comments, saying it would act accordingly if the U.S. breaks this moratorium that's been in place since 1996 on the testing of nuclear weapons.

BROWN: All right, Zachary Cohen, thank you so much for your excellent reporting, helping us better understand what this means.

Still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM: It has been 13 years since American journalist Austin Tice disappeared while reporting in Syria. And his family still believes he's alive. Later this hour, CNN goes inside Syria in an exclusive report in search of the person who may have been the last to see Tice alive.

Also coming up: five more suspects arrested in connection to that jewelry heist at the Louvre. I will be joined by an art recovery expert with a look at the hunt still under way for those missing treasures.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:53]

BROWN: Well, we are waiting right now for the teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student to take the stand in her civil lawsuit against the school's assistant principal. This trial is in a short recess that has been extended as attorneys from both sides speak to the judge overseeing this case. So we, of course, will bring you her testimony live once it gets under way.

Meantime, we're following another big story because, new this morning, police in Paris have arrested five more people in connection with the stunning heist on France's crown jewels from the Louvre Museum. Prosecutors believe one of the suspects was part of that four-man gang that actually carried out the brazen daylight robbery.

Joining us now is Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and the founder of Art Recovery International, an organization specialized in finding and recovering stolen and looted works of art.

Hi, Christopher.

First off, what is your reaction to the latest arrests? As far as we knew, they were looking for two more and now they have arrested five.

CHRISTOPHER MARINELLO, ART RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL: Well, it's very encouraging that the police are continuing to investigate this matter furiously. They understand that there's a race against time to recover the jewels before they have a chance to be broken up by the thieves or the thieves' associates.

BROWN: The Paris prosecutor says it doesn't appear at this point to be an inside job. Does that surprise you?

MARINELLO: Well, most museum thefts do tend to have some sort of inside connection. But if you look at what took place here with the daylight robbery, the tools that they brought, there really was no need for an insider, if you ask me.

BROWN: Well, and, look, the jewels are still outstanding, right? There's been no sign that the stolen jewels worth more than $100 million had been found. What are the odds of any of these pieces being recovered intact?

MARINELLO: Well, that's the $100 million question. The -- it's very encouraging that we're seeing that many mistakes were made. We initially thought that this was the heist of the century perfectly planned. But now we're seeing that these criminals made a lot of mistakes.

They left their DNA. They left their tools. They got caught at the airport. They're giving up their -- the names of their associates. So it is possible that they did not have a way in place to unload these stolen jewels in advance. So that is a bit encouraging.

But the fact that there is a larger gang...

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MARINELLO: Yes, ma'am.

BROWN: You have hope they could be recovered, or at least some of them?

MARINELLO: Oh, absolutely. I do have hope. But we are up against time constraints. They could have broken them up in the first 24 hours.

BROWN: All right, Christopher Marinello, thanks so much.

MARINELLO: My pleasure.

BROWN: Up next here in THE SITUATION ROOM: a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean from Hurricane Melissa. We're going to show you some of the hardest-hit areas in Jamaica.

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[11:23:23]

BROWN: We continue to wait for the teacher who was shot by her 6- year-old student to testify in her civil lawsuit against the school's assistant principal.

This trial is in a recess and has been extended as attorneys from both sides speak to the judge overseeing the case.

And our Jean Casarez has been following this every step of the way.

Jean, what is the very latest?

CASAREZ: We are still waiting for Abby to take the stand, this living victim. Obviously, this has to be traumatic.

And it does take some time because the plaintiffs are going to be very concerned. They don't want their witness dirtied up, to have any character evidence that the defense may want to bring out that would be not critical to this case, not relevant to this case, but something that would be unfair to her. And so that can be one issue.

Other issues can be the emotional aspect of her taking the stand. It appears as though that they're getting very close at this point. Everyone is standing. That means the jury is entering.

And I think after that we're going to see her take that oath, the oath that she will tell the truth to this jury and talk to the jury through her testimony of what she experienced.

BROWN: Joey Jackson, as we wait for her to take the stand, which really seems to be about to happen any moment now, what are you expecting?

JACKSON: I'm expecting something that's very emotional, Pam. She has been through it and then some. And I think she will speak to the issues of that day. I think she will speak to her fear, her fright. She will tell the jury who she is, what she's about, her love of teaching, how her life has been immeasurably altered, the injuries she suffered, how she came back from that, the nature of her interactions with this child.

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BROWN: Let's listen in.

ABIGAIL ZWERNER, PLAINTIFF: Thank you, Your Honor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Abby, can you tell the jury your name, please?

ZWERNER: My name is Abigail Zwerner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Abby, how are you feeling right now?

ZWERNER: I think nervous is a big one, nervous, anxious, a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Abby, the jury's already heard a little bit about yourself from your mother and your sister. So just tell the jury, how long were you a teacher?

ZWERNER: About 2.5 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And where did you teach at during that 2.5-year period?

ZWERNER: Richneck Elementary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell the jury what grades you taught.

ZWERNER: I came into fourth grade my first year of teaching. That was when we had the virtual hybrid year. And then the following two years I taught first grade all at Richneck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how did you enjoy teaching?

ZWERNER: I liked it. I do remember it was stressful a lot of times being a new teacher, a lot of new experiences, a lot of ups and downs, I remember, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now, Abby, I'm just going to ask you a few questions about January 6, 2023, OK?

ZWERNER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, tell the jury, when on that day did you first hear about J.T. might have a gun?

ZWERNER: It was before recess.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And do you remember who told you that?

ZWERNER: Amy Kovac.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when Amy Kovac told you that, why did you not go to Dr. Parker?

ZWERNER: I knew that she was going to tell Dr. Parker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Amy tell you she was going to tell Dr. Parker?

ZWERNER: Yes, she told me that she was going to tell Dr. Parker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did Amy tell you that two girls had advised her of the fact that J.T. might have a firearm?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know who the two girls were?

ZWERNER: I did not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, she didn't even tell you which kids in the class had told her that?

ZWERNER: She did not tell me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And no other kids told you?

ZWERNER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. So, you heard it from Amy, and Amy said she was going to tell Dr. Parker at that time?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you told to keep an eye on J.T. by Amy?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And is that why you were texting and communicating with Amy during recess?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And is that why you texted Amy about what you observed J.T. doing before recess?

ZWERNER: Yes, because I knew that once Amy had informed me of the information that the students had told her, I knew that Amy was going to then relay the information to Dr. Parker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, again, no one else had told you anything about a gun besides Amy?

ZWERNER: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Your Honor, I would like to publish and pull back up what's already been submitted as Plaintiff's Exhibit 3, if that's OK with Your Honor.

JUDGE MATTHEW HOFFMAN, 7TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT OF VIRGINIA: Which is that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is the picture yesterday of Abby (OFF-MIKE) the shirt.

Oh, 90-C? Is that 90-C? I'm being corrected that it's Plaintiff's Exhibit 90-C, Judge.

HOFFMAN: OK. Any objection to that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No objection, Your Honor?

HOFFMAN: It's already been admitted, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's already been admitted, Your Honor.

HOFFMAN: All right, got it. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Abby, do you recognize that photo that's on the screen in front of you?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what year is that from? Do you know?

ZWERNER: I have slightly orange hair. It looks like it's washed out. So, it would have been the 2022-2023 school year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're in your first-grade classroom, room 11?

ZWERNER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if we can zoom in on the orange sheets that are behind your head, do you see those?

ZWERNER: Yes, I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell the jury, what is that?

ZWERNER: That would be our handbook, our school's handbook, our -- I believe it was titled the "Crisis Management Plan." I may be wrong on the title of it, but it was the tier one, tier two, tier three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So that's the school -- that's a handbook that you would reference?