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Israeli Military Accuses Hamas Of Multiple Attacks In Gaza; Israeli Military Carries Out Air Strikes In Gaza; Eleven Hurt After Car Plows Into Child's Birthday Party In Maryland; Almost 7 Million People Turn Out For "No Kings" Protests; Louvre Museum In Paris Closed For The Day Following Robbery; Severe Storms Threaten Midwest, South; No Pay For Air Traffic Controllers Sparks Safety Concerns. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 19, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:45]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It's a brand-new week. Thanks for starting it with me. It is Sunday, October 19th. I'm Victor Blackwell, and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING.

We're following breaking news first out of the Middle East. We're hearing of possible strikes in Gaza. We have details on that just moments away.

Also, millions of people out on the streets in thousands of these "No Kings" rallies across the country and some overseas. What protesters told us about why they showed up.

Also, thousands of air traffic controllers still on the job, not being paid. They say the job, and we all know this, is stressful enough without having to worry about feeding their families. A leader from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is here.

And Instagram is rolling out new safety features for teenagers. One of them, a feature that lets parents stop their kids from talking to A.I. chatbots. So, we'll explain that coming up.

We're starting, though, with this breaking news in the Middle East. We're hearing of strikes in Gaza. This is the first major test of this U.S. brokered ceasefire. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us now from Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what do you know?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, we can now confirm that the Israeli military has conducted airstrikes in southern Gaza after accusing Hamas of attacking Israeli forces in that same area. This all happened near the city of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

According to an Israeli military official, and the second Israeli source familiar with the matter, Hamas directed RPG fire rocket propelled grenade fire and sniper fire towards Israeli troops in southern Gaza. These troops were positioned behind the yellow line, which is that line to which Israeli forces have withdrawn and are now positioned inside of the Gaza Strip. And according to this Israeli source familiar with the matter, there are casualties among these Israeli troops. We cannot yet officially confirm the nature of those casualties, but this would be the first incident of Israeli military casualties since the start of this ceasefire nine days ago.

This Israeli military official is calling this a, quote, "bold violation of the ceasefire." And it is what prompted, they say, these Israeli strikes in Rafah, on the other side of this yellow line. We don't yet have any information about casualties as a result of those Israeli strikes, but this certainly would represent the first major test of this ceasefire agreement since it came into effect nine days ago.

We have not yet gotten a comment from Hamas on these accusations that they opened fire on Israeli troops. But earlier today, a senior Hamas official, Izzat Al Risheq, said shortly after all of this happened on Telegram, that the -- that Hamas remains committed to the ceasefire agreement and accused Israel of, quote, "fabricating false pretexts to justify its crimes."

I should note that the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli defense minister are set to convene a security consultation today to discuss what the Israelis are considering to be a severe violation of the ceasefire. There is no indication as of yet, though, that Israel considers that this ceasefire agreement is null and void and is going back to war.

However, there are already calls from far-right members of this Israeli government. The usual suspects, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, they are calling for Israel to return to an all-out state of war in response to this alleged violation. The Israeli national security minister saying that he urges the prime minister -- prime minister to, quote, "order the IDF to resume fighting in the strip in full force," saying that Hamas must be destroyed completely.

So, once again, Victor, a major test for this ceasefire agreement and we will have to monitor very closely in the coming hours how the situation develops on the ground.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jeremy Diamond, for us there in Tel Aviv, as you get more, bring it back to us and we'll put you on. Jeremy, thanks so much.

More breaking news now in Maryland this time. Eleven people, including an infant, were hurt after a car crashed into a tent during a child's birthday party.

[06:05:02]

This happened in Bladensburg, Maryland, a suburb of D.C. Of the 11 victims, seven are children, two to nine are their ages. A child and an infant are now in critical condition. Police in Prince George's County says the driver ran off after the crash and is still out there somewhere. Nearly 7 million people turned out Saturday to attend more than 2,700 "No Kings" protests coast to coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON ATHANENGLERT, "NO KINGS" PROTESTER: Everything that's been going on, it's -- it's un-American. You know what I mean? It's just straight up anti-American. And anybody who doesn't see that or recognize that is just not paying close enough attention.

AVIS HENRY, CHICAGO TEACHER: I'm out here for a number of reasons, but primarily I'm here for my students who are absolutely at risk in our neighborhoods and in our schools. I have students who are absolutely terrified to come to school. I have parents who are terrified to drop their children off at school. And so, that's very heartbreaking to me. I'm a 30-year veteran teacher, and I've never seen anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, we're showing you some of the protests in the big cities across the country, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta. But there were protests in small towns in red and blue states alike.

There were also -- let me get this one. The Trump administration, some GOP officials, they dubbed the anti-Trump protest as the work of the violent left-wing radicals. But organizers say they are committed to nonviolence and even trained tens of thousands of people in safety and de-escalation.

Protests did stay peaceful, for the most part. Once day turned into night, though, in Portland, some protesters clashed with police outside the ICE building, which has been the epicenter of ongoing protests. Federal officers deployed tear gas at crowds. And CNN affiliate KATU reports that officers detained at least three people.

CNN's Whitney Wild has more from protests in downtown Chicago.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: There are thousands of people who have taken to the streets in Chicago. This is Wacker. This is one of the really iconic streets here in Chicago. This is right along the river. It is one of the most recognizable spots in the city.

We are right outside Trump Tower. And when you hear this crowd walk by Trump Tower, you hear people chanting, shame. You hear chants of boos. You see people giving those letters, the middle finger.

This is as a group -- the people here believe that this is the strongest rebuke they can give the Trump administration. This is the loudest message they can send to him is getting together in an enormous mass. We are talking about, again, tens of thousands of people here in the streets of Chicago to send the same message.

They are saying, in a word, no. Other people I spoke with who said that they came out today, who said that their message to the Trump administration is obey the law, obey the constitution.

Other people out here are telling me about their personal experiences and what it feels like to live in this city right now and live just outside the city. As you see, these ICE actions, one woman whose parents are from Mexico, told me that her neighborhood feels different. It feels quiet.

She said that people are afraid. She's out here today because they can't be out here because they're afraid to be out here. Here's more from what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATIMA PEREZ, PROTESTER: Yes. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of, you know, ICE agents hitting the blocks where I'm from or where I do come from. And, you know, I -- like I said, I come from immigrant parents. I have immigrant family members. And just seeing the fear in their face every day, having to go to work and then hopefully coming back, it's just very scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: What is really striking when you come out here are a few things. I mean, the first is just the wide range of different types of people who are here. We've seen famous actors. We've seen people from all age groups, all races, all different parts of the city, far outside the city, places like Nashville, Tennessee, here today to make their voices heard.

The other thing you notice when you're out here is the signs. If you can see behind me, I mean, look at here. See, super callous fragile racist sexist nazi POTUS. That's the type of homemade sign you're seeing out here.

These are the ways that people are sending their messages again to the Trump administration outside Trump Tower, high above their heads here in the city of Chicago. And then finally, among all of the anger here, one message is very clear, based on everyone I spoke to today. And they say that at times like this, they are feeling hopeless.

But it is rallies like this, it is a camaraderie they feel in the crowd from people they don't even know who care about their experiences, that make them feel like in these very challenging times, that there is hope. So, that is what it feels like here on the streets of Chicago. Again, tens of thousands of people here at that "No Kings" rally.

[06:10:02]

Back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Whitney Wild for us there. Thank you so much. Now, immigration was the main concern for a lot of the protesters. As you heard from Whitney, some in Los Angeles were marching for other reasons. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones spoke with some of them. JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This demonstration in downtown Los Angeles feels very much like a celebration. If everybody else's celebration was hands (ph) off (ph). But it is very much about Donald Trump.

We're seeing so many people doing exactly this. Figures of Donald Trump in various outfits, holding a Bible or perhaps being arrested and chained. But a lot of folks here are saying also that immigration is their number one concern.

Of course, Los Angeles, a city that is almost 50 percent Latino or Hispanic. It is a city that has seen also so many immigration enforcement actions over the past few months. And people are very much angry about that.

I spoke to some folks who say that they feel like their community is being targeted by this. I spoke to a Mexican man that explained why he was here today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For myself, I am -- I'm feeling like they are attacking us, my rights, Mexican, and that's why I'm here. This is my people.

JONES: Your people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My people, yes.

JONES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we are passing for bad times now. So -- and we're just working here. We don't do anything wrong, not all, some people, but most people we are working only. That's why I'm sitting here. And then they can see we are not agreeing with what they are doing to my people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that's just one of the folks that we spoke to. Many other people said that immigration is their main concern, but there are also some other issues being represented here. We're seeing some Palestinian flags. We're seeing folks with signs saying vote yes on Prop 50. The proposition in California that would add -- likely add five Democratic seats in Congress to counter the move in Texas.

It is wide ranging, of course, but the one combined message a very clear message of no kings. It is very much targeted at Donald Trump. But organizers here say that they hope that everybody that is coming to these demonstrations across the country is staying peaceful. And so far, that is exactly what they have been very successful at doing.

Although, we have seen some folks with gas masks and helmets. They're saying they really hope that they don't have to use this in any altercations with police.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.

BLACKWELL: All right. Julia, thank you. And President Trump responded to those protests with an A.I. video. We'll show it to you next hour in the morning roundup.

Headlines now, a frightening scene aboard an Air China flight which forced the plane to make an emergency landing. Look at this. Chinese state media says a lithium battery spontaneously exploded, sparked this fire yesterday in the overhead bin. They say the battery came from a passenger's overhead -- their carry-on luggage.

The flight crew put that fire out. No one was injured. That's the good news. The flight, which was headed to South Korea, was diverted to Shanghai airport.

Paris' Louvre Museum is closed today after a robbery early this morning. The culture minister says the robbery happened when the museum opened. No one was injured there. No other details released, but police are investigating.

The Louvre is the world's most visited museum. It houses works such as, as you saw there, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

The San Jose Sharks have apologized after an offensive message appeared on their scoreboard on Hispanic heritage night. The message last night read, quote, S.J. Sharks fans love ICE. Get them boys.

Boos could be heard in the background of the video shared with CNN. The NHL team later apologized on their post on X. The Sharks said the offensive message was submitted externally and was accidentally displayed.

Severe storms continue to slam parts of the Midwest and the south today, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and the threat of tornadoes. CNN's Allison Chinchar is here. Which area should be on alert?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, it's going to still be a continuation of portions of the southeast, but then also now the northeast and the mid-Atlantic we're going to add in.

I want to emphasize, today is not expected to be as strong or severe as we had yesterday, but that doesn't mean we're not going to have the threat for the storms. Because the system as a whole is continuing to slide off to the east. Again, here you can take a look at some of the storm reports we've had.

You've got three total tornado reports, just roughly two dozen wind reports, and also some hail reports as well. Now, here's a look at where the threat is right now. You can see from the radar -- again, you've got a lot of these showers and thunderstorms still existing across portions of the southeast. Some thunder and lightning as well.

Off to the north, however, we've got its mostly just light to medium rain at this hour, but that's what's going to slide into portions of the northeast.

[06:15:04]

We also have a lot of wind advisories in effect. Now, a lot of these go at least until about lunchtime. The exception to that is going to be these ones in the Carolinas. Those don't begin until lunchtime and will continue through the evening hours, where we're looking at about winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour.

Here's where the best chance is for the severe thunderstorms today. Again, you can see that lingering portion right there along the Gulf Coast, but also this other area for the mid-Atlantic and into the northeast. This includes New York, Washington, D.C., areas of North Carolina as well. So, you've got a lot of folks there that have the potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms.

Here's that line again as it continues to slide off to the east. But the bulk of the moisture really becomes centrally focused across the mid-Atlantic and the northeast by later on this afternoon, and especially through the evening hours and even into very early Monday morning, that's where you're going to see that line of storms.

Now, here's the other thing, too. We can play a very easy game of where is the cold front. Again, because you can see that clear delineation here of the temperature extremes, much warmer out to the east, and then a lot of that colder air starting to infiltrate back in from behind it. And that's going to bring us the first of two surges. As you can see here, another surge of cold air is expected to come as we head into later this week.

BLACKWELL: Can't wait.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right.

CHINCHAR: So excited.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thank you. Air traffic controllers crucial in getting you safely from takeoff to touchdown. But as you know, during the government shutdown, they are not being paid. What's next for the air traffic controllers while Washington stalls.

Plus, we'll take you to Hollywood, where celebrities are speaking up about Israel and Hamas. And Instagram is limiting access to A.I. chatbots. Why parents will soon have the power to pull the plug on their teenagers conversations with virtual characters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:31]

BLACKWELL: It is day 19 of the government shutdown. And roughly 42 million people in this country rely on food assistance programs like SNAP to keep themselves and their families fed. The Agriculture Department says the food stamp program will run out of money by the end of the month, and the Trump administration has shown no inclination to find money for it.

The White House did find money to pay U.S. troops. I want you to listen here to the framing from president -- Vice President J.D. Vance as he celebrated the Marine Corps' 250th anniversary. This was in California yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, of course, marines, I bring greetings today from our commander in chief, Donald J. Trump. And he wanted me to tell each and every single one of you that he's proud of you, that he loves you, and that despite the Schumer shutdown, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Of course, that's blaming coming from both sides. Democrats are holding firm on their demand to renew health care subsidies for more than 20 million Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): All the feedback I'm getting is, thank God you're standing up for families against this savage attack on Americans' health care.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): They are saying right now they won't negotiate. But that position is unsustainable. It's untenable in democracy for one side to say our way or the highway.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): We don't see a world where we allow all these people to go over a cliff with regards to the cost of their health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: A shutdown is also putting a strain on the people who make sure we get to our destination safely. Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since October 1st, and they won't see their checks until the shutdown ends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK DANIELS, PRES. NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: And this introduces a new risk to aviation. Air traffic controllers are supposed to mitigate risk. Air traffic controllers ensure that risk is out of the system so that those who fly and those who we serve, that they are safe. And this brings a risk where their focus is now on when I get off my shift today, do I have to go and drive Uber tonight?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. I'm joined now by Dan McCabe. He's the southern regional vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Dan, welcome back in. DAN MCCABE, SOUTHERN REGIONAL VP, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, we heard there from the vice president. The president announced that funds would be reallocated to pay the military. Let me put up what the DHS secretary says.

By Wednesday, border patrol officers, ICE officers, secret service, TSA officers will be paid. Secretary Noem says it will cover for days lost their overtime next pay period. That's Homeland Security or the Department of Transportation. What are the conversations about making sure that your essential workers, that you represent, are paid?

MCCABE: It would be nice to have that.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCABE: So far, nothing. We've heard nothing. And that is disappointing, obviously. I mean, listen, nobody wants the military to go unpaid. Nobody thinks that federal law enforcement should be unpaid. But there are other people that are doing essential work on behalf of the United States as well.

BLACKWELL; And so, the job is stressful enough. I mean, it was stressful. September 30th.

MCCABE: Right.

BLACKWELL: What is it like now?

MCCABE: It's like getting punched in the gut at this point. So, you know, we train controllers to take all of your outside stress, leave it at the door, come inside. If you're looking for stress, there's stress to be found at work. Financial stress is probably some of the worst stress that a person can deal with, right?

[06:25:01]

And we have a really young workforce now. They may not be as set up. Everyone has their own story. And listen, people have things that happen.

But as people begin worrying, how do I defer a mortgage, how am I going to pay the light bill, right, your electric co-op is not shut down, just us, that stress is going to work its way into the control room and it creates anxiety. It creates fatigue. And we don't need that in the system.

BLACKWELL: Are you seeing an increase of sick calls?

MCCABE: No. I think what we're seeing right now is we're hyper focused on air traffic control. I mean, it's no secret. And we talked about this, you know, for the last decade, 10,800 controllers across the system right now that needs over 14,000.

I think what we're seeing is what we see every single day. It's just highlighted in the news. Listen, we don't want people to come to work if they're sick.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCABE: We don't want people to work if they're too tired to do the job. And nothing has changed with that.

BLACKWELL: Yes. There's been a shortage of air traffic controllers for far longer than this shutdown --

MCCABE: Correct.

BLACKWELL: -- obviously. I had a Congressman James Clyburn on my show yesterday, and I asked him about the duration of the shutdown. I asked, could this go in, you know, to Thanksgiving, to Christmas? And he says, although he doesn't think it will, theoretically it could. Or the same from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We heard the same thing from Senator Kennedy of Louisiana.

What does the travel season look like if this stretches into November and December?

MCCABE: I don't even know. So, we're looking October 28th would be our first zero paycheck. I mean, that's when things -- that's when tough conversations are happening at home. That's when, do I continue to go to work, or do I do something that puts food on the table today?

And like I said, everyone has their own situation. They have their own life story. Some people may be able to stretch, some maybe paycheck to paycheck.

BLACKWELL: And at that point when you say, do this or something else, you're not talking about sickouts. You're talking about people thinking about getting a different job.

MCCABE: Correct.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCABE: Correct. Or doing another job when they get off work from doing this job or before they go into work to do this job. I mean, these are -- this is not sustainable.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MCCABE: You know, the controllers do amazing work every single day. I mean, here we are at 6:26 in the morning. There's a full complement of controllers all across the country doing the work right now. They're there on Christmas day. They're there on Thanksgiving day, and they deserve the dignity and respect of being compensated for their work.

BLACKWELL: Let me read some reporting on how the last major shutdown ended. This is 2018, 2019, the longest one in American history. Headline from our team, the government shutdown ended after only 10 air traffic controllers stayed home.

And here's part of the right. The absence of those few workers, six in northern Virginia, four in Florida, numbers not previously reported, temporarily shut down travel at New York's La Guardia airport caused delays at other major hubs, including New Jersey, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Their actions, along with the staffing issues already brewing at the Transportation Security Administration, helped tip the scales in Washington, driving President Donald Trump to agree to a three-week cease fire.

Now, I'm not talking about coordinated sickouts because NATCA doesn't endorse that and it would in some ways be illegal. But you must be aware of the possibility that it is your workers that could end this and quickly.

MCCABE: So, we don't start them. We don't end them. But we are stuck in the middle of them.

And my ask would be that our elected leadership in D.C. puts an end to this. And like I said, the system is short. The system is so fragile.

You know, in some places these controllers are working 10 hours a day, six days a week, four days off a month. Sometimes it only takes one or two. Someone may have a child. Someone may have a sick parent. Someone themselves may be sick. Someone may be two hours late to work because they get stuck in an accident.

And as people fall off the schedule, this is what happens. This happened September 30th and before, and it will happen long after the shutdown is gone. Until we improve the staffing of this system.

BLACKWELL: All right. Dan McCabe, thank you.

MCCABE: Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: A.I. chatbots on Instagram are getting a time-out. Why Meta's new safety tools could change how teens talk to tech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:29]

BLACKWELL: Instagram is rolling out new safety tools for teens who use AI chatbots. Starting next year, parents can turn off their teens' one-on-one AI chats or block specific characters. They'll also get summaries of those conversations.

Now, the platform will also restrict chats about self-harm, eating disorders, and sexual topics. Most of Instagram's AI characters are user-created, appear alongside regular messages. Each has its own identity and can chat by text or voice. The new features are meant to address concerns about how AI could impact teens' mental health.

Joining me now is Dr. Molly O'Shea, a pediatrician and developer of the Early Childhood Development and Screen Time Toolkit.

Dr. O'Shea, thank you for being with me. Did I get that right? And fill in what I didn't offer here. Because for some people who's not engaging with these AI chatbots, it could be hard to understand, and you need that first to understand the rest of the conversation. Explain what an AI chatbot is.

MOLLY O'SHEA, PEDIATRICIAN: Yes, I think you've really done a nice job, Victor, of laying the groundwork.

AI chatbots are artificial intelligence friends in some ways, at least in the teenagers' minds. And that's kind of where the problem gets created. They're not actually doing any novel thinking because AI isn't actually machine learning. It's not taking new information and kind of integrating it and coming up with new ideas.

[06:35:06]

But the AI chatbots get into conversations really with these teenagers. And the longer those conversations go, and the more the AI chatbot gets to know how that person is thinking, it's true of a teenager, or you or me, for that matter. The more likely that AI chatbot is to want to please you, it's like your personal cheerleader, you know, and that can be great. Like if you're preparing to ask somebody to homecoming, your AI chatbot is your best friend.

But if you're trying to work through something that's really difficult, and you're thinking isn't quite right. You don't want a cheerleader, you want your best friend, who's going to say to you, you know what, Victor, you are way off base. And the AI chatbot just isn't going to do that.

BLACKWELL: And so, is this protection strong enough?

O'SHEA: You know, that's the -- that's the -- that's a million dollar question. We've heard in the news, and we've seen in in real life, not just the, you know, outcomes that have been tragic, but we know of near tragic outcomes, too.

And right now, or I should say, in January, as you pointed out, parents will have the option of turning off the chatbot entirely. So that in Meta, at least, this is not the only place in which chatbot opportunities exist. But within Meta, at least, people under 18 won't have the option of having these kind of long term conversation experiences.

So if they turn it off completely, they won't have access to it without their parent turning it back on. But if they allow it to be there, the parent will get kind of a digital download periodically of what the content, not the specific conversations, but sort of the themes of those conversations.

I don't know if that's enough, to be honest with you, I think we'll have to see what it's like in practice.

BLACKWELL: And we should repeat, I've said it, you've said it, that parents have to be proactive about this, it will not be automatic --

O'SHEA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- for these accounts for minors, you have to go in and shut it off. One more thing, Meta's also announced that teen accounts will follow PG-13 ratings, what will that look like?

O'SHEA: Yes, so PG-13 ratings are going to be implemented by Meta. And the way it's going to work is until you're 18, it used to be that teenagers could flip them off at 16. But now until 18, teenagers will automatically be restricted from seeing content that is, quote, inappropriate, AI is being used in order to determine what content is or isn't appropriate.

So by definition, it'll be inaccurate and complete and -- and have mistakes in there. And kids who are trying to, you know, make up an age that isn't quite right, which is, you know, teenagers forever. AI is also going to be used to kind of scrub their -- their feet --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

O'SHEA: -- and pull out and kind of correct their age if they appear to be trying to fake it.

BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Molly O'Shea, some changes coming to social media. Thank you so much.

Some universities are pushing back against the Trump administration, why six universities have rejected the White House's offer for expanded access to federal funding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

[06:43:26]

BLACKWELL: There's growing tension between the Trump administration and some of the nation's top universities.

The White House is asking schools to sign on to a new agreement that would tie federal funding to changes in admissions and tuition policies. Several institutions, universities, say those conditions threaten academic freedom.

CNN's Betsy Klein reports on the backlash and the latest rounds of negotiations.

Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER (on-camera): Good morning, Victor.

Well, earlier this month, the Trump administration invited nine major universities to sign on to a series of demands in return for expanded access to federal funding. And in a document obtained by CNN called the, quote, Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, Trump officials called for those schools to implement policies to remove factors like sex and ethnicity from admissions consideration, to foster what they described as a vibrant marketplace of ideas with no single dominant ideology, and also to freeze tuition costs for five years, that among other demands. And a majority of those original nine schools have now declined to sign on, really underscoring the very challenging tightrope that higher education leaders are facing in what's become a much broader battle with the White House over academic freedom, federal funding, and campus oversight. But on Friday afternoon, four schools had already rejected the offer, and Trump officials convened eight more universities to discuss the compact. That included three new schools that weren't part of that original list of nine, Kansas University, Washington University in St. Louis, as well as Arizona State University. And White House spokesperson Liz Houston described that meeting as, quote, productive.

[06:45:10]

But then on Friday afternoon after that meeting, the University of Virginia announced they were declining to sign on. And then on Saturday, Dartmouth College became the sixth and latest school to reject the compact. The school's president saying in a statement, quote, I do not believe that a compact with any administration is the right approach to achieve academic excellence, as it would compromise our academic freedom, our ability to govern ourselves, and the principle that federal research funds should be awarded to the best, most promising ideas.

Now, the White House says that the university leaders in that Friday meeting have been invited to share additional ideas. The White House saying that the ball is now in their court if they want to sign on, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Betsy Klein, thank you.

New York City is just a few weeks away now from choosing its new mayor. Candidates faced off in their first debate last week. They sparred over everything from Israel and Hamas to how to handle President Trump.

So how could things play out on Election Day? Harry Enten runs the numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You see Democrat Zohran Mamdani crushing the field. Back in September, he was ahead by 15 points over independent Andrew Cuomo, 45 percent to 30 percent. Cuomo was hoping to shrink the gap, shrink the gap between September and Election Day. But the margin by which Mamdani is leading has become wider.

Take a look here. Now you see Mamdani right near the 50 percent mark at 49 percent of my average of polls compared to Andrew Cuomo at 31 percent. That is an 18-point advantage. And then, of course, you have Curtis Sliwa, the Republican, way, way back. He was at 17 percent back in September.

Now it's just 15 percent. So Mamdani is winning in a divided field.

Now maybe Sliwa gets out of the race and maybe that helps out Cuomo. I'm not even sure that would be enough. But if Sliwa stays in the race and you get that split competition versus Mamdani, the frontrunner, here is why I think this race is pretty much gosh darn over in a New York minute.

Take a look historically speaking, while Mamdani right now leads by 18 points. And when I dig into the spreadsheets, I look back at every single New York City mayoral race dating back since 1900 and '89, that's 36 years ago. The largest polling error in the final 21 days of that campaign, it was 11 points back in 2005. I remember that campaign. Mike Bloomberg won re-election, although by a smaller margin than the poll suggested at the time.

You see that 11-point error. Well, you don't have to be a mathematical genius to know that 18 points is significantly bigger than 11 points. So, you need basically double the largest error in New York City mayoral polls over the last 36 years in order for Mamdani to actually lose if the polls stay where they are right now.

And as I pointed out on slide number one, if anything, Mamdani's lead is becoming bigger, wider. Very bad news for Andrew Cuomo, who, of course, had been hoping to close the gap.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Harry.

Misty Copeland shattered glass ceilings and danced into history. And this week, she ends her time with the American Ballet Theater. But her mission to uplift young dancers, that continues.

A look at this CNN Heroes, next.

And don't forget to watch "CNN'S ORIGINAL SERIES, NEW ORLEANS, SOUL OF A CITY." Watch tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

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[06:52:59]

BLACKWELL: Misty Copeland has captivated audiences, broken barriers in ballet. On Wednesdays, she'll take her final bow with the American Ballet Theater, but her work continues.

Through her foundation, Copeland is opening doors for young dancers who might not otherwise have access to ballet.

Anderson Cooper shares how she's expanding the art form's reach and impact.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MISTY COPELAND, PRINICPAL DANCER, AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: With ballet, the reason I got into it was because of the joy that it brought me, this beautiful escape. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Ballet star Misty Copeland broke barriers as the first black female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. Now she's working to make the art form more accessible for the next generation.

COPELAND: I started the Misty Copeland Foundation in 2021. Really with the idea of bringing dance to under-resourced, underserved communities.

I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't been introduced to this incredible art form at a Boys and Girls Club. I just felt like we have to keep this going and give other children the same opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Up --

COOPER (voice-over): Be Bold is a free after-school ballet program offered at community centers in the Bronx and Harlem, serving more than 500 children of color ages five to 12.

COPELAND: It's really with the idea of introducing them to moving their bodies, the vocabulary of basic ballet technique and live music.

What's different about this from just your traditional ballet class was that this framework was made with black and brown children in mind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The majority of other kids don't get to do this stuff like I do. I've learned how to respect myself and others and I've learned to just be yourself.

COPELAND: It's not about creating professional dancers. That would be fantastic, but this is about creating future leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go up.

There's so many incredible skills that you learn by being a part of dance, but ballet in particular. It's dedication. It's discipline. It's community. It's empathy.

[06:55:11]

COOPER (voice-over): Misty's foundation recently expanded classes to include people over 50, demonstrating that ballet is truly for everyone.

COPELAND: Eventually, I want to have this program in community sites all over the United States and maybe beyond. You know, we say we want to take over the world one PA at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: To learn more about Misty Copeland and her work, go to cnn.com/heroes.

All right, we're following breaking news that fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is facing its first major test. Israel has accused Hamas of attacking its forces. Details on that

next.

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