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Public Face and Ceasefire Negotiator for Hamas Ismail Haniyeh Killed While Visiting Iran; Israel Has Not Taken Responsibility for Death of Hamas's Leader Ismail Haniyeh; Kamala Harris Campaign Announces Deadline for Her to Pick Her Vice Presidential Running Mate. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Johnson, I have to say, that sounds really cool, almost as cool as getting to talk to you this morning. Thank you so much for being with us, really appreciate your time, sir.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, CEO AND COMMISSIONER, GRAND SLAM TRACK: Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

BERMAN: A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Killed in Iran, the assassination of Hamas's political leader and key figure in ceasefire talks with Israel. Now pushing tension and uncertainty in the region to a whole new, very dangerous level.

And mark your calendars. You will know by Tuesday who Kamala Harris is picking as her running mate. The details on the rollout coming up.

The Federal Reserve begins its important two-day meeting today. The big question, is there a rate cut finally on the horizon?

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara Sidner is in Chicago today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, the top political leader of Hamas killed inside Iran. Ismail Haniyeh was the public face of Hamas, a key player in peace negotiations over Gaza. This could have huge significance for stability in the region, huge. Both Hamas and Iran have promised harsh retaliation. Israel has not commented directly, but moments ago, the defense minister said the nation is, quote, prepared for all possibilities.

We want to get right to Jeremy Diamond. He is in Haifa in northern Israel. Jeremy, give us a sense of what happened and the reverberations?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I'm joining you from a region that is very much on edge, unclear exactly what will follow. But it is clear that this assassination overnight of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's political leader, is going to reverberate throughout this region, having enormous implications for the stability of this region. Iranian state media reporting that it was an airborne guided projectile that killed Hamas's political leader while he was staying in the Iranian capital. This happened around 2:00 a.m. local time, according to reports. And apparently his bodyguard was also killed.

But Haniyeh, of course, was Hamas's political leader. He was viewed as having a role in directing Hamas's attacks and its activities over the course of the last several months. And Israeli political leaders have made clear for months now that they would strike at any Hamas leader that they viewed as responsible for October 7th, and now doing so in extraordinary fashion, showing that they were capable of striking Haniyeh even within Iran.

Now, we should note that Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied their activity, their involvement in this assassination, which is pretty much standard protocol for them. This will also have implications for those ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Because Haniyeh was one of the key interlocutors with Hamas -- with the mediators in these ongoing negotiations, his departure will certainly reverberate on those talks as well.

But now, of course, we are waiting to see, how Iran will respond, if Iran will respond, or if their response will come instead from Hamas or from Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy in the region. As we have seen over the course of the last 24 hours, not only was Haniyeh assassinated in Tehran, but a senior Hezbollah commander was also killed in Beirut in an Israeli strike that the Israeli military has indeed acknowledged. And both of those strikes are certainly putting this region even more on edge than it already was, and as we are waiting here in northern Israel to see what, if any, response there will be. John?

BERMAN: Jeremy Diamond in northern Israel, in Haifa, stand by for us.

I want to bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt now. Alex, what has the U.S. response been?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I think throughout the course of the day, we're going to hear a lot of concern about what may come. What we're hearing so far is just a reaction from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who says that they were not aware of anything ahead of time, that there was no U.S. involvement.

There are always major questions around assassinations like this as to whether Israel, if they are indeed involved, gave some kind of heads- up to the United States. Sometimes they do, like before yesterday's attack in Lebanon that Jeremy was just referencing. Here, if this was indeed Israel behind this assassination in Tehran, it does not appear that U.S. got a heads-up according to the U.S. secretary of state. Here's a little bit of what he said earlier today as he's been traveling in Asia, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We learned over many years never really speculate about that because we simply don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:06]

MARQUARDT: So he didn't want to speculate about what happened.

John, this was arguably more provocative than what Israel did back in April when they killed a number of IRGC members in Damascus. Back then, they didn't give the U.S. a heads-up either. And the reaction then from Iran, you'll remember on April 13th, was this massive barrage of drones and missiles fired at Israel that the U.S. helped defend against along with other countries. This strike against Haniyeh was arguably more provocative. It was in Tehran. It was following the inauguration of the new president. This was a special guest for the Iranians. The Iranians are going to be furious about this. They can respond in a number of ways, not just themselves, but proxies all across the region.

And of course, John, that doesn't only implicate Israel. It could also have severe consequences for the U.S., of course, which has a military presence all across the region. So now we are seeing threats from the Iranians, the IRGC promising what they're calling a harsh and a painful response. So Jeremy, as he noted, that region very much on edge, Washington as well, John.

BERMAN: And again, one thing is remarkable here, Alex, we have all kinds of footage of Haniyeh, because he has been the public face of Hamas for years, which is something that a lot of people have noted is odd given that he is connected to this group the United States deems a terrorist organization traveling at will throughout the region. Nevertheless, he's been a key player in the peace negotiations. What does the U.S. see now as the status of those negotiations?

MARQUARDT: He has been the public face. He's been traveling relatively openly. He has been the guy at the table for Hamas during the ceasefire negotiations, which up until today looked like they were going relatively well. We'd been hearing from U.S. officials that they were as close as they have been in months to a possible deal. Over the weekend, we saw a new round of meetings in Rome that was attended by the CIA Director Bill Burns as well as the head of Mossad, David Barnea, and the Qatari prime minister.

These talks, if they aren't scuttled altogether, are certainly on ice. Haniyeh was the guy doing the negotiating. Of course, Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, he's the ultimate decision-maker. But it was Haniyeh who was transmitting those decisions, who was doing the negotiating with their direct counterparts, the Egyptians and the Qataris.

We have an angry reaction this morning from the Qatari prime minister also at that table who says, how can mediation succeeds when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? So this certainly puts a halt to these conversations for now. There is, of course, the possibility that there is so much concern here in Washington that there could be an immense amount of pressure put on Israel to actually agree to this ceasefire. But that remains to be seen. Certainly, this is not helping those ceasefire negotiations to say the least, John.

BERMAN: All right, Alex Marquardt for us in Washington. Alex, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Kamala Harris almost ready to reveal her first major decision as a presidential candidate, her pick for running mate.

She also has a new message and approach to trying to get Donald Trump to the debate stage, telling him to, quote, say it to my face.

And disgraced singer and convicted sex trafficker R. Kelly is trying to take his case to the Supreme Court. His lawyers could be leaning on the same argument that freed Bill Cosby.

And also, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us to answer your questions about the summer surge of COVID.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:13:18]

BERMAN: All right, this morning till Tuesday, voices carry. OK, not till Tuesday, but by Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris will pick her running mate. How do we know? Because the Harris campaign has set up the barnstorming tour with Harris and her running mate that starts Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is said to be no the short, short, short list. This is what he had to say about it all this morning.

(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. I'm going to be traveling across the country tirelessly. Next week, my plans right now to be in Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Priscilla Alvarez at the White House for us this morning. So what do we know about how this will play out, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, the vice president is certainly in the thick of choosing her running mate because, again, as you mentioned, that announcement is expected in the coming days. What does that look like behind the scenes? Well, it's reviewing a lot of notebooks with information about each of the V.P. contenders, preliminary conversations, and also the vice president asking her advisers who would be the best governing partner if she were to win in November.

There you have a photo, or photos of the folks on the short list that includes, for example, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Now no formal interviews have been conducted yet, but they are expected this week. And we expect the announcement to be revealed or the running mate to be revealed by Tuesday. There will be a rally then in Philadelphia followed by a blitz of travel to battleground states that includes Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

[08:15:00]

Importantly all of these states, minus North Carolina were states that President Biden narrowly won in 2020 and states that the campaign wants to keep in play with a blitz like this. And of course, the campaign is taking into consideration who would best strengthen the vice president's electoral chances in the election by -- in their process for choosing a running mate.

Now, of course, something that's not on her calendar yet, but that the vice president was needling former President Donald Trump on yesterday is that September presidential debate. Take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He won't debate, but he and his running mate, it is interesting, theyhave a lot to say about me. And by the way don't you find some of their stuff to just be plain weird? I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because as the saying goes, if you've got something say, say it to my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So there you have it. The vice president indicating that she very much intends to show up to that presidential debate that have been previously scheduled in September, but before then, she'll have this battleground state blitz with her to be announced running mate.

BERMAN: A lot going on, Priscilla Alvarez. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now to talk about a lot of it that's going on is the Democratic Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul.

Governor Hochul, it's good to see you.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming on. So, we know that Kamala Harris is soon going to be announcing her running mate. Do you have a favorite on that shortlist? Said another way, is there - is there a running mate that you think would most hope Harris win and most help Democrats down ballot?

HOCHUL: Here is the beautiful part of all this, there is such a wealth of opportunity here. We have great talent on the Democratic bench. I know a lot of the - I know all the Democratic governors. We're close friends. We communicate all the time. And so, I love all of them. Senator Mark Kelly, I understand, is in the mix too. And, you know, what an American patriot he is as well.

So, whoever she picks, I'm telling you, the Republican ticket is going to be shaking in their boots because we have the talent but also smart, articulate people who are not weird. There's a big difference here. They're - we have normal people. Wouldn't that be a nice contrast to the -

BOLDUAN: Let's get to the -

(CROSSTALK)

HOCHUL: -- (inaudible).

BOLDUAN: -- let's get to the weird one second. But one thing that is noteworthy that cannot be missed, and when we put up the screen of the shortlist, if you will, all of them - most of them - all of them are white men. Most of them are Democratic governors.

You are a very prominent, very well-known and respected Democratic governor yourself. Does it bother you that they're all white men?

HOCHUL: No. No - I - not at all. Not at all because I don't want to look at gender here. I really don't think it's fair because we have a lot of talented women governors, I text them all the time. The men are very talented. So, that's the - that's the beauty of what we have here, is that we have a lot of talent. So, I'm not going to take offense that she doesn't pick a woman or person, you know, from some particular state at all.

Whoever she picks, it's going to be a dynamic duo. No doubt about it. And the energy that you see already out there for Vice President Harris, that will be amplified when you have a new voice out there, you know, showing a positive vision for the future, but also taking the hits that they need to take on the other side. I mean, the can't get away with the crazy talk that they're talking - you know, saying right now. And another partner for her on the campaign trail is going to be powerful. So - so, it's going to be fun to see who she picks.

I want to use the word fun again. When you see Kamala Harris on the trail, she looks so genuinely happy. There's this ebullience about her. There's this - you know, people talk about the energy. Energy is powerful. But there's a joyfulness and that has been missing in our American politics for a long time.

You look at Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they kind of take you down, right? I mean, they don't bring joy and happiness to the process. And she seems so confident. She's out there just telling stories. She's being herself. And people, as they get to know here day after day after day, she's going to be winning more and more people over to her side and ensuring that she's victorious in November.

So, this is an amazing process.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about getting weird right now because you - "Politico" noted in a headline and I - and I - and I watched it yesterday, you were at an event. And you jumped on the -- as "Politico" puts it, you jumped on like - on the weird trend and we just - and I just heard you say it.

Again, Thomas Friedman of "The New York Times," he said this about this trend amongst Democratic officials, especially. "I cannot think of a more sillier, more playground, more foolish, more counterproductive political taunt for Democrats to seize on than calling Trump and his supporters weird."

Why do you think this is effective? Do you think this round of name- calling has reached its expiration date?

HOCHUL: I didn't call his supporters weird. I think it's pretty clear that the two candidates are very weird by our standards. And so, everybody can have their opinion. But there is no shortage of words that are coming out of their mouths attacking Democrats.

[08:20:08]

It's a more playful way of saying things. We don't have to say they're dark and they're dangerous and they're scary and head into that space. They're just weird. I mean, that's just a statement of fact.

I mean, we have never seen anything on their likes in American history, especially J.D. Vance. I mean, who talks about childless cat ladies? I mean, is there any other way to describe that other than weird? So, that's - I'm just calling out the way I see it. And I think my friend, Tim Walz of Minnesota started it. And Tim and I are good friends in Congress together. And I - it's good enough for Tim, I said, you know what, he's right about that. They're weird.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you about something else I saw. Elise Stefanik, a prominent Republican Congresswoman from New York, she said something at the convention, at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee when we were there, that caught my ear. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R), NEW YORK: We believe that President Donald J. Trump will be the first Republican in a generation who will win New York State.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I see - I see your reaction right there. That's was days before Joe Biden dropped out. You say the chances of that are -

HOCHUL: Zero, zero and zero. Donald Trump will not win New York State. Kamala Harris and her running mate will win New York State. And something else is going to happen in New York State, we're going to take back the House of Representatives.

BOLDUAN: This is - this is important - (CROSSTALK)

HOCHUL: So, this is -

BOLDUAN: -- and this is something I know you're working on because I wanted to talk to you about this. Because this - it - when you look at the races and you look at what has happened in New York in terms of congressional races since the midterm. In 2022, Democrats lost four New York House seats, leading Republicans to seize that small majority in the House, splitting the Congress.

It's not a battleground state, as we've just - as we have just noted when you talk about a presidential. But is New York the battleground in the fight over the balance of power and who that - whoever the next president is going to be - is going to have to be working with?

HOCHUL: No, the presidential question is not in jeopardy -

BOLDUAN: I'm saying just the balance of power in Congress.

HOCHUL: Oh, yes. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Because New York there are a lot of races in question. You - 2022 was tough for Democrats in terms of House races. How critical is New York in terms of what's going to happen in the House?

HOCHUL: Very critical. New York and California. California has a few battleground races. We want to pick up at all again seats that have been won by Joe Biden before held by a Republican now. Those are what we consider the more likely pickups.

BOLDUAN: Okay.

HOCHUL: Now, I don't want to take anything for granted or leave it to chance. A year ago I started raising money into the State Democratic Party. Building the organization, opening up campaign headquarters, we now have 35 campaign offices in small rural communities because the battleground for the House of Representatives goes from Long Island up to the rural parts of the Hudson Valley and there's one district over in Syracuse where I went to school and I know that area like the back of my hand. So, I know what's at play here.

So, I've invested enormous amounts of my time and energy. We'll have over 100 people hired from the state party (ph) in addition to what DCCC does any others. We had 24,000 door knocks this weekend alone in those seats. That never happens. There's never been a governor in New York State that took so seriously the title of leader of the state party.

BOLDUAN: Do - will you project getting some - getting pickups or re- pickups this time?

HOCHUL: Yes. Yes. Yes.

BOLDUAN: How many? HOCHUL: Well, I want all six. I want all six. I think three minimum. And that's be - that'll be enough. But I feel very confident. We have strong candidates. I mean, last time around, I mean, somehow the - I won't get over the DCCC vetting process, but we had George Santos get elected. Now we have a Democrat in that seat. So, that was a pickup already this year. When Tom Suozzi was elected in the special election -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HOCHUL: -- that we helped him with. So, we're already have one in the win column.

BOLDUAN: You've got a lot of work ahead of you. Governor, thank you for coming in. I really appreciate you coming on.

HOCHUL: Thank you very much. Good to see you again.

BOLDUAN: Thank you very much.

All right, coming up for us, the Federal Reserve kicks off its critical two-day policy meeting today. Are they ready to say rate cut, yet? We will find out and Gen-X icon, Lisa Loeb needs your help, apparently to track down one of her beloved guitars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:40]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a key meeting for the Federal Reserve with everyone. I mean, everyone looking for signs of a possible rate cuts. CNN's Matt Egan, looking more closely than any of us. What are you watching for?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, when we look back at this two- year inflation fight, today could prove to be a pivotal moment, not because the Fed is going to cut interest rates today. There's almost no way that, that's happening. There's only a three percent chance priced into the market for an interest rate cut today.

But look at this a hundred percent chance. Its fully --

BERMAN: So, you're saying there's a chance.

EGAN: I'm saying there is a chance, a hundred percent chance of an interest rate cut at the next meeting in September, which by the way, is the final time the Fed meets before the election.

And listen, at 2:00 PM today, everyone on Wall Street are going to be hunting for clues that the Fed is building the case, is setting the stage for what would be the first rate cut since COVID. So, were going to be combing through the Fed statement, even seemingly trivial changes in the Fed statement can move markets by hundreds of billions of dollars. And then the Fed Chair Jerome Powell, will be taking questions at 2:30 Eastern and he could also drop some hints about what the feds are going to do next. BERMAN I like how you build expectations here. The most important day in the last two years, well done on that. All right, so obviously, all economists are watching. But what does this mean for all of us consumers?

EGAN: Yes, it would be a really big deal because it would mean borrowers would finally get a break. So, if you're in the market for a mortgage, it would mean rates would go down a bit or if you already own and you want to get a home equity loan, it would be cheaper to do that. If you're in the market to get a car and you need to finance it, student debt, if you're trying to pay off credit card debt right now and you've got record high rates, this would help.

[08:30:19]