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Hamas Political Chief Killed, Raising Fears of All Out War in Mideast; Harris Calls Out Trump, Again Challenges Him to Debate; Boar's Head Expands Meat Recall Linked to Listeria Outbreak. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Major breaking news overnight. The political leader of Hamas killed inside Iran, fears that this puts the region on the brink.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic veep stakes with a date certain it appears. Kamala Harris expected to reveal her running mate within days with a running mate rally set for next Tuesday as she dares Donald Trump to, in her words, say it to my face.

Also, a huge recall to tell you about, Boar's Head is now recalling another 7 million pounds of deli meats over a listeria outbreak that has already killed two people.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sarah Sidner is in Chicago for us this morning. This is CNN News Central.

Breaking overnight, on the brink, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, killed inside Iran where he was visiting. We are getting new reaction this morning from both Hamas and Iran vowing harsh retaliation against Israel, whom they blame. The questions this morning, what form will retaliation take, what will Israel do next, what does this mean for peace negotiations over Gaza? Haniyeh was a central player in these talks.

Let's get right to Jeremy Diamond in Haifa in northern Israel with the latest. Jeremy, what are you hearing this morning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: John, this is a tremendously significant event with potentially enormous regional implications. Ismail Haniyeh was targeted in an assassination in the Iranian capital over the course of the last 24 hours. We don't know exactly when this happened, but Iranian state media saying that he was targeted with a, quote, airborne-guided projectile, Hamas, in a statement, saying that he was targeted in an airstrike.

Haniyeh was in Iran for the Iranian president's inauguration. It appears that his bodyguard was also killed in this assassination. Israeli officials not confirming that they were behind this, but certainly not denying it either, which is effectively the modus operandi for these types of events. Ismail Haniyeh has been a key figure in Hamas since 2017 when he took the helm of the organization. And over the course of the last 10 months of this war in Gaza, he has played a central role, not only as a figurehead for Hamas abroad, but also more recently as one of the key interlocutors with the mediators in these ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations.

And so now there's no question that this will put on ice those negotiations, which appear to have been getting some momentum behind them over the course of these last several weeks. But now there's no question that at least in the short-term, those negotiations will go nowhere fast. And then, of course, there is the question of the broader regional implications. This was already a region that was incredibly, incredibly tense in the days leading up to this assassination.

The Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, saying that you killed our dear guests in your house -- in our house, and now you have paved the way for your harsh punishment. So, a region certainly on edge, we will all be watching to see whether or not this tilts into all out war. John?

DIAMOND: Yes. On edge might be an understatement, cannot overstate the significance of this event. Jeremy Diamond, thank you for being there. Keep us posted. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. With exactly that in mind, CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is working his sources from London for us and he joins us now. Nick, how real are the fears of this igniting into a broader, bigger conflict?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it was pretty horrific how likely that seemed just after the strike in Southern Beirut late yesterday evening, which had many concern. You might see escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. Now, we have this new chapter, this new step of directly targeting a key Hamas figure inside of Iran itself.

[07:05:00]

Now, there's no shortage of fiery rhetoric this morning, certainly. And you heard that from the Iranian supreme leader, very much playing to an internal audience to, to whom he wants to project strength. But certainly I think also too to a region that will be looking to see what Iran can actually do in the days and hours ahead.

Remember, they may be reluctant to potentially launch a full scale conflict between Hezbollah and Israel because of damage that would do to both sides, but particularly to Iran's key proxy, Hezbollah, one of the few cards that they have effective as it is to potentially play in the region.

And at the same time too, remember back in April, Iran fired 300 drones and missiles directly from Iranian territory at Israel after some of their Revolutionary Guard commanders were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria and virtually none of those projectiles, those missiles or drones, got through to Israel. So, they'll know that they are coming to some degree at this with weakness. They'll know they have to project strength.

And I think what we have to look for, Kate, is the exact details of how this extraordinary hit against Haniyeh inside of Tehran happened. 2:00 in the morning, this a guided projected missile, we're hearing, a projectile, sorry, whether that was some sort of hit squad on the ground or an airstrike, we simply don't know. But the details Iran releases, and it's entirely down to them what information we hear, frankly, will end up being how they justify their response, how grave they feel the violation of their sovereignty has indeed been, but an exceptionally tense moment we're at here, but you do have to remember how limited Iran's options are here.

BOLDUAN: That's a great point. And so, Nick, where is the United States in all of this?

WALSH: Yes. I mean, huh? Did they know about this beforehand? Potentially, that's a question people are going to ask. Did Israel decide to make a seismic move like this, taking out a key negotiator in talks that the U.S. has invested vast amounts of political capital? CIA Director Bill Burns flying back and forth trying to get some headway in all of this.

Did the visit to Washington of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, leave him thinking that he could? May just go and walk his own path? Israel has always said that someone like Haniyeh would be on their hit list, but the timing of this after the strike in Southern Beirut, extraordinary inflammatory.

And so the question really is here, did the U.S. know about this, let it happen, not know about this, and wake up to be shocked? And why are they still talking so focused on a ceasefire now? And that, for the short-term, as Jeremy was saying, is a highly unlikely prospect and what traction does the U.S. now still have over Israel in these exceptionally dangerous weeks ahead?

BOLDUAN: You are posing the critical questions in the minutes, hours, and days ahead of where this is all really going to head and shake out. It's great to see you Nick. Thank you so much for jumping on for us. Nick's going to continue working his sources on where this is all headed for us.

Also ahead for us, Kamala Harris is planning a swing state blitz with her V.P. for next week, even before actually announcing who that running mate is, new details on the narrowing field and her new deadline.

Plus, a suspect is on the run this morning after fatally shooting a man who was walking to prayers at a Philadelphia mosque. Police are calling it an execution-style killing.

And they seem to have the River Seine clean enough to allow the triathletes to start diving in. Olympic highlights are ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: We now know with certainty, maybe as certain as anyone can be these days, when we will know who Vice President Kamala Harris has picked as her V.P. The campaign says she's going to announce her running mate by Tuesday. It has to be done by Tuesday, so they say, since the campaign has announced the new Democratic ticket will kick off a tour of battleground states starting in Philadelphia next week.

One thing not yet confirmed on Harris' campaign schedule, a presidential debate, that being because Donald Trump so far is refusing to commit to one against her, which has Kamala Harris issuing this challenge at a high energy rally in Atlanta last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, if you've got something to say, say it to my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House. Priscilla, bring us up to speed. Where are they so we know, as much as we can know in the V.P. vetting process?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the vice president is certainly in the thick of choosing her running mate, because as you mentioned, the announcement is expected in the coming days.

What that looks like behind the scenes is the vice president sifting through notebooks of information of each of the contenders, having informal conversations, preliminary conversations, and also asking her advisers who would be the best governing partner if she were to win or not to victory in November.

Now, some of the names that are on that list are Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, and Tim Waltz. And this morning we heard directly from Mark Kelly in an interview on MSNBC. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): I'm not going to get into any of that. I am going to be focused on making sure that Kamala is the next president. I'm going to work as hard as I can. My wife, Gabby Giffords, she's already working really hard on this. She has been.

[07:15:00]

She was in Pennsylvania most of last week. She was in Michigan. She's going to be in other battleground states. I'm going to be traveling across the country tirelessly. Next week, my plans right now are to be in Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ALVAREZ: So, you heard it there as Mark Kelly saying the next week he plans to be in Arizona. Unclear whether he will be the one who is chosen to be the vice president's running mate, but the vice president also plans to be in Arizona. She plans to reveal who will be her running mate on Tuesday in Philadelphia before kicking off a blitz across battleground states. That includes Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada.

Importantly, all of these states, except for North Carolina, were states that President Biden narrowly won in 2020. So, the campaign is trying to keep all of them in play and try to notch victories in each of them for the vice president. So, that will be her plan for next week.

Of course, part of the process in choosing a running mate is who is going to give her the best and the strongest electoral strength, and that is part of the conversation that is happening that they are all working against the clock to make.

BOLDUAN: Also at the very same time, Priscilla, at the White House, President Biden is making moves to announce a new national security memorandum on drug trafficking and fentanyl. What's going on with this?

ALVAREZ: Yes, this is a memorandum intended to curb the flow of fentanyl. This has been a concern for the Biden administration and the White House. Now, what this memorandum does is essentially direct the agencies to better share information that includes, for example, increasing intelligence collection on traffickers. What the president will also be doing is calling on Congress to take legislative action to close loopholes and also to regulate fentanyl-related substances as schedule 1 drugs.

Now, the president is expected to receive a briefing on this later this afternoon. But of course, fentanyl is an issue that the administration has been trying to tackle, particularly on the U.S.- Mexico border, also an issue that has been used by Republicans to attack this administration. So, today, the White House, placing some focus on this by issuing this memorandum and also calling on Congress to act. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Priscilla Thank you so much, great to see you. And thank you for your reporting is always.

Still ahead for us, Boar's Head recalling over 7 million pounds of its meat products after a growing listeria outbreak. What you need to know this morning.

And more on the breaking news that is coming in and still developing, top Hamas leader assassinated inside Iran. We're getting new details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, a huge meat recall. Boar's Head has expanded a recall to 7 million additional pounds of products linked to a deadly listeria outbreak and it is pausing its ready-to- eat operations at its Virginia facility.

CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell is with us now. 7 million pounds, that's a lot.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it sure is, John. I mean, this is from a 200,000-pound recall previously announced from Boar's Head, which was linked to its liverwurst product. This was made at a facility in Jarrett, Virginia. And now the company is expanding this recall to include more than 7 million pounds of other kinds of meat products made at that same facility. These include products including ham, baloney, bacon, frankfurters, and sausage products. These have sell by dates between July 29th and October 17th. They're also pausing their ready to eat operations at that facility.

Now, this comes amid this outbreak of listeria, which can be a very dangerous bacteria in this current outbreak. There have been 34 illnesses across 13 states, including 33 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. So, this is a bacteria that can be particularly dangerous in to people who are pregnant, people over the age of 65, and those with compromised immune systems.

The CDC and USDA say that anybody, particularly in those groups who feel sort of flu-like symptoms within two months of eating these products, should seek medical care and let their providers know that they consumed these products and tell them about this recall.

Listeria can cause listeriosis. That's the third leading cause of death from food-borne illness in the U.S. So, in addition to sort of gastrointestinal symptoms, if it moves beyond that, it can cause a fever, muscle aches, fatigue, sometimes a stiff neck, confusion and seizures.

The recommendations for folks here is obviously check your fridge. The full list of products is available at the USDA's website. If you find any of these products, discard them or return them to the retailer. Thoroughly clean your refrigerator and be on the lookout for any of these symptoms.

They also note sort of more broadly that people in these more vulnerable groups should not eat any deli meat unless it's been heated until it's steaming or reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. But I think maybe in this situation, it's sort of a when in doubt, throw it out. John?

BERMAN: When in doubt, throw it out. Yes, it's great advice. I was going to say, check your refrigerator because listeria can be so serious.

Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

We're getting new reaction just into the major breaking news overnight, the top political leader of Hamas killed inside Iran. This could have huge repercussions.

Then backlash, infighting, and a resignation after Donald Trump was invited to a high-profile conference of black journalists.

[07:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The breaking news overnight, the top political leader of Hamas and a, quote/unquote, key decision maker in hostage talks with Israel has been killed in an apparent strike inside Iran. He has been one of the most visible leaders of Hamas since its terror attack on Israel. And now Iran is vowing to retaliate, saying in a message to Israel, quote, you have paved the way for your harsh punishment. Israel not commenting and has not claimed responsibility for the strike.

[07:30:00]

Let's get over to CNN's Ben Wedeman. He's in Beirut, Lebanon. And, Ben, this all adds up to being very critical where you are.