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WH Official: Harris Had 2 Private Conversations On Prisoner Swap At Munich Conference In February; VP Harris Remembers Late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee In Houston; Source: Hamas Leader Killed By Bomb Planted Months Ago; Simone Biles Wins All-Around Gold At Paris Olympics. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 01, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:19]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We are following breaking news. And new details now about what was going on behind the scenes to make todays historic prisoner exchange with Russia happen.

We're learning that President Biden was working the phones on the deal, even just an hour before he dropped out of the 2024 race.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes. And the White House has been putting forward details showing that Vice President Kamala Harris was also a key player, holding private conversations on the prisoner swap back in February with top officials.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now live from Houston, where the vice president is soon to speak.

Arlette, first, talk to us about her role in helping to broker this deal.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, Vice President Kamala Harris today is celebrating the release of these three Americans and the permanent U.S. residents.

But we're also learning a bit more about the diplomatic role that the vice president had to play herself in this months-long process to secure the deal.

Now, the vice president posted on social media a bit earlier today celebrating this release.

Saying, quote, "Today, we celebrate the release of Paul, Evan, Alsu, Vladimir and others who we're unjustly held in Russia. It gives me great comfort to know that their horrible deal is over and that they will soon be reunited with their families."

She added, "POTUS and I will not stop working until every American who was wrongly -- wrongfully detained or held hostage is brought home."

We are also learning that earlier today, while the vice president was here in Houston, Texas, she actually spoke by phone with Yulia Navalnaya. That is the widow of Alexei Navalny, who died while in Russian custody earlier this year.

Now several staff who had worked closely with Navalny we're part of this release deal with Russia.

[14:35:03]

And earlier today, national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had revealed that he was, in fact, part of an earlier iteration of a swap that the U.S. had tried to be work -- was trying to work on before his death in Russian custody.

Now, we are also learning that, behind the scenes, the vice president did have a role to play on the diplomatic front. White House officials are citing two key meetings that she had at the Munich security conference back in February.

One of those meetings was with the German prime minister, Olaf Scholz, who the -- Harris had been the working closely, having this bilateral meeting. And then she actually asked staff to step out of the room. And it was a one-on-one meeting with staff from each side.

And in that meeting, she made clear how the U.S. felt that the Russian assassin, Krasikov, would be key to any deal going forward.

White House officials say that she really emphasized the need for Scholz to try to facilitate the transaction to secure -- ensure his release as part of any future prisoner swap.

We are also learning that the vice president had a meeting with the prime minister of Slovenia, where she outlined that there were two Russian nationals that the U.S. believed were high priorities for the Russian in any potential deal. And so she talked about the potential release of those individuals as well.

It all comes, as you heard, vice -- President Biden a bit earlier today stressing the importance of allies and partnerships. That is something the vice president likely will lean on herself in the coming days as we potentially could hear more from her perspective about this deal.

Now, the White House has also said that vice president will be on hand when those Americans arrive here on U.S. soil. President Biden and the vice president planning to meet the two of them together at a time when both are celebrating the return of these Americans back to their families here in the U.S.

KEILAR: And, Arlette, Harris is about to deliver the eulogy for the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer earlier this month.

It's a big opportunity for Harris to step into a new role as consoler- in-chief.

SAENZ: Yes, it'll be very interesting to watch how she embraces this moment. The vice president and the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee were actually close personal friends.

They were both numbers of the same Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. So this will give the vice president an opportunity to celebrate her life and legacy. But it also could be a moment for her to step into that role as consoler-in-chief.

I will also note that there are several other notables who are here at this homegoing service for Jackson Lee.

That includes former President Bill Clinton and former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Both of the Clintons spoke about her legacy in their remarks here at the service.

But they also linked Jackson Lee's legacy to Vice President Kamala Harris. Both making a nod to their belief that she will be able to carry the torch of her legacy, carry the torch of a younger generation if she is elected this November.

So we will watch this very closely to see how the vice president eulogizes her close personal friend, Sheila Jackson Lee, and what kind of message she could have for voters as well.

KEILAR: All right, Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for that report, live for us from Houston.

And still ahead, we'll have much more on what is a historic prisoner exchange. Four journalists and dissidents, three of them, American, one a green card holder, freed from Russian prisons. They are now on their way home, along with the release of many Russian dissidents after years of being held in Russia.

[14:38:38]

How we got here, next.

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[14:43:14]

SANCHEZ: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is on high alert after Iran and its proxy groups vowed to retaliate following the killings of three of their top military leaders.

KEILAR: Yes. Today, we're learning new details about one of those killings. The Hamas political leader assassinated in Iran yesterday, was killed by a bomb that was planted months ago in a guest house, a source tells CNN.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live with this breaking story.

Jeremy, what are you learning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, yesterday, Iranian state media as well as Hamas were reporting that Haniyeh was likely killed from some kind of a rocket attack. But I have now spoken with a source who was briefed on the matter, who

tells me that Haniyeh was actually assassinated using a bomb that was covertly planted in the guest house in which he was staying.

And it was planted about two months ago before this assassination actually took place.

And that's just a tremendous operation when you just think about the layers of security that had to be breached in order to make this happen. Quite a remarkable situation.

And obviously, a tremendous security failure for the Iranian -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was responsible for running this guest house.

So I'm told that this bomb was actually planted there about two months ago, and it was only detonated once Haniyeh was confirmed to be in the room, in his room inside that guest house, killing him as well as a bodyguard when that bomb was set off.

Now Israeli officials have yet to confirm or deny their role in this. But Hamas and Iran have obviously accused Israel of being behind this attack.

[14:45:00]

And I'm told that, yesterday, Israeli officials was briefed U.S. officials on this operation only after it had actually happened. It does not appear that the United States had any forewarning, foreknowledge of this operation before it happened.

But obviously, this is putting this entire region on edge in the wake of this assassination. We are hearing calls for revenge, calls for retaliation from Iranian officials, as well as from Hamas.

And Hezbollah, as well, for the killing of its senior military commander, something that happened within a few hours of Ismail Haniyeh's assassination.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy, while Israel isn't commenting on the death of that Hamas political leader in Iran, it did confirm the killing of a difference Hamas military chief in Gaza. Bring us up to speed on that.

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. The Israeli military conducted an airstrike nearly three weeks ago that they say was targeting Mohammed Deif, who is the top military commander for Hamas. He leads Hamas' Qassam Brigades, the organization's military wing.

At the time, of -- over the course of the last three weeks, effectively, Israeli said that they had indications that he was successfully targeted, but they didn't know for sure.

And I'm told that, today, when they came out with this announcement that they had confirmed that he was killed in this strike, they did so after learning just hours earlier through new intelligence that he had, indeed, been killed as a result of that strike. Hamas, for its part, has neither confirmed nor denied this claim from

the Israeli government, which is interesting in and of itself.

But obviously, this speaks to the number of strikes that Israel has taken over the course of just the last few weeks, taking out Hamas' top military commander in Gaza, taking out the senior-most Hezbollah commander in a strike.

And now also, apparently, in a covert operation, assassinating Hamas' political leader. It speaks to what these -- the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described yesterday as a series of crushing blows delivered against Israels enemies.

But it is also those crushing blows that have put this region on edge. And that are putting Israel in the crosshairs of those Iranian proxies, as well as perhaps of Iran itself -- Boris?

KEILAR: All right. Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Haifa, thank you for that report.

Still ahead, we'll have much more on this historic prisoner exchange that we have been following today. That is next. Stay with CNN.

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[14:51:50]

KEILAR: The GOAT. Some breaking news. Simone Biles has won gold again. She's the all-around Olympic champion. Biles has won this title before at the 2016 games in Rio, but she dropped out of the Tokyo games after getting the twisties, of course.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the twisties, obviously, long gone.

This is her sixth Olympic gold overall, the second of the Paris games. Biles held off Brazil's Rebecca Andrade in the all-around. American Suni Lee, the gold medalist from Tokyo, holds onto the bronze.

Biles is the oldest Olympic women's gymnastics champ since 1950. She's only, what, 27-years-old, which makes me feel ancient.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: She's, I think, five years older than the second-place person on that list.

She still has the beam, floor and vault event finals, vault event finals. So she may be adding a few more medals to her already illustrious collection.

KEILAR: Yes. I think you could put some money on that.

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KEILAR: That's amazing, right?

SANCHEZ: It's fantastic. Yes, it's great.

KEILAR: It is great news.

And we're following, of course, some breaking news of this historic prisoner exchange and learning more about what was going on behind the scenes to make this deal possible.

Among the detainees released, "Wall Street Journal" reporter, Evan Gershkovich, and also former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Jennifer Hansler has had extensive reporting on these arrests (sic). She's actually been following Paul Whelan's case closely for years and has had extensive conversations with him. She joins us now, live.

Jennifer, walk us through how we got here today.

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Boris and Brianna, I want to take you back a little bit on the timeline.

So December 2022, the U.S. brought home Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap that did not include Paul Whelan. And we're told, from that point on, they we're working feverishly to try to come up with another solution to get Paul home.

Evan Gershkovich was then arrested in 2023 at the end of March. And this added even more urgency to the U.S. efforts to get them home.

And we are told by national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, that these were painstaking negotiations over months and months and months. They involved quiet diplomacy among a number of allies scouring the globe to look for people to include in this swap.

And perhaps the most important element, trying to convince Germany to include this convicted Russian assassin, named Vadim Krasikov, who was the key demand from Moscow.

Moscow has made very clear for years that they wanted Krasikov back and that they would not release Americans until the Germans did so.

So Jake said that this was a lot of efforts to have these conversations with German officials to get them on board with this deal.

He actually met with Evan's parents in the White House back in February, right around the time that Russian dissident, Alexey Navalny, passed away.

And this helped them get to this point where they were really determined to get this deal in place that we saw today.

KEILAR: Jennifer, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but you have been sort of the person -- you have been. You've been the person talking consistently to Paul Whelan over the years.

Every time we have an update, you are the person giving us the update. You are the person who has been on the phone with him. You talked to his family.

[14:55:01]

I want you to tell us how his family is feeling. I also want you to just reflect on what it means and sort of what's on your mind as you're thinking, after all this time, that he is finally released.

HANSLER: Well, it's rare, Brianna, that you actually get to report on good news and today is one of the days that we are actually getting to report on good news, which is incredible.

I've spoken to Paul a dozen times over the course of his detention, and a lot of those times were around bad news happening, being left behind in prisoner swaps, feeling that the U.S. wasn't taking his case seriously.

But in our recent conversations, he has shown a lot more optimism about the efforts that were underway. He felt like the U.S. was taking his case seriously.

And we saw that, of course, happily reflected in the fact that he and Evan Gershkovich and also Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza were freed today.

In terms of the family, I haven't heard much from them yet. I can't imagine how overwhelming today is for them. David Whelan, who is Paul's brother, put out a statement saying, "Now is the time for Paul to tell his own story."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Whelan was there next to President Biden earlier today at the White House as they we're announcing this news that the Americans were coming home in this massive deal.

She has been a tireless advocate for her brother. So I have to imagine today is absolutely overwhelming for her.

SANCHEZ: Yes, absolutely. A welcome reprieve for what has been mostly dark news around the world. This is something very positive.

Jennifer Hansler, thanks so much for the reporting.

So Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak at any moment from Texas. You're looking at a remembrance ceremony for former Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Kamala Harris is set to give -- to deliver the eulogy there. We'll bring it to you live as it happens.

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