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Israel Confirms Hamas Leader Killed in Gaza; Soon: Harris Campaigns in Crucial Swing State Wisconsin; Today: Trump to Speak at Annual Charity Dinner in New York; CNN Search for Trump "Swiss-Made" Watch Origin Leads to a Shopping Center in Northern Wyoming. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired October 17, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:41]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking New.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do start with our major breaking news in the Israel-Hamas war. Just moments ago, President Biden praising the news that the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, is now dead. Sinwar, of course, was the mastermind of the October 7th terror attack in Israel. And the President said that today was a good day for Israel, the United States and for the world.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We are awaiting a pentagon briefing to begin as we learn more details. We do want to share an image with you now and a warning. This is a graphic photo that has widely been circulating online, reportedly showing the body of Sinwar surrounded by rubble and Israeli soldiers and you see that a wound on his head has been blurred out.

CNN does not have specifics on the origin of this image, but we've investigated and found no obvious signs of manipulation. CNN has also not been able to confirm if the photo actually shows Sinwar, but it clearly bears a resemblance to the former Hamas leader. A spokesman for the Israeli defense force told us that in the last hour or rather told us in the last hour that teams found Sinwar in Rafah in southern Gaza. Let's listen to more from that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. DORON SPIELMAN, IDF INTL SPOKESMAN: There were weeks that we did not know if Sinwar was dead or alive. He knew that the more people around him, the more chances the IDF would discover where he was. We turned that against him by trying to root him out, literally, like an underground rat, I'm sorry to say, that he's hiding under the ground, that he's burrowing under the ground, that he's scurrying from place to place. And eventually, while he's scurrying, you catch him. And that was the goal, and in fact, that is what we're working.

Now that he is out of the way and there's a shake up in the Hamas command structure, our hope is that Hamas will aim now for a new direction and realize - also from a moral point of view - to return these people home, but also for their own benefit that this is time to allow Israeli hostages to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's take you now live to Jerusalem with CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, give us the details on how this went down and how the IDF was able to locate and identify conclusively that they had taken down Sinwar.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, Israeli soldiers apparently killed Yahya Sinwar yesterday in the Gaza Strip, and it was only after the rubble was examined that soldiers found a body that they quickly recognized as appearing to be that of Yahya Sinwar. But it took hours more of looking at his dental records, and DNA analysis, multiple rounds of DNA analysis, I'm told, before the Israeli military came out with the statement saying that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, the mastermind behind the October 7th attacks was indeed the man who had been killed.

And this is - make no mistake - an earth shattering moment and one that will have far-reaching implications inside of Gaza and, of course, across this region. The Israeli Prime Minister moments ago, speaking and calling this an important landmark in the war, but making clear that the war is not over yet. He did say that he believes that this is the beginning of the day after Hamas and he urged the residents of Gaza to finally, quote, "break free from Hamas is tyranny in Gaza."

We have seen, of course, mixed reaction in Gaza. Some, of course, who loved Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, mourning him, others celebrating his death and noting that they hope that it leads to an end of the war. And that is indeed now the question, whether or not this will actually facilitate an end to the war, and whether or not it could result in the release of the remaining 97 hostages who were taken on October 7th.

KEILAR: Yes, that's really the question, Jeremy, what does it mean for them? Because there are families of those hostages who are so concerned that hostage holders are going to react to Sinwar's death, that their loved ones could be in jeopardy. What might this mean for the hostages still in Hamas' possession, including some Americans?

[15:05:00]

DIAMOND: Well, I've spoken to Israeli officials and other people familiar with the matter, and there's really a mixed impression of exactly how this will impact those - the hopes for ceasefire and hostage negotiations to resume. On the one hand, some are saying this presents a golden opportunity to resume those negotiations for Israel from a position of strength, to see the release of the hostages. But there are others who say that this could result in chaos within the ranks of Hamas and could also potentially lead to Hamas captors killing some of the hostages who remain in Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister referring to that fear in his remarks calling on those who are holding Israeli hostages in Gaza to lay down their weapons and release the hostages, promising in return that they will be able to come out alive. But he also said that those who would harm hostages that, quote, "blood is on his head. We will reckon with him."

So a very uncertain picture at this time, and it's also not clear who might take over from Yahya Sinwar, his brother has been rumored as a potential successor. But it's not clear at this stage, because it's not just Sinwar who has now been killed by the Israeli military. Mohammed Deif, the head of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing; Ismail Haniyeh, the former political leader of Hamas, a long list, of course, of senior Hamas members who have been killed. And so a lot of questions about the future of Hamas, the Israeli government believing that this will spend the - spell the end of Hamas' rule in Gaza, but not yet clear whether it will actually facilitate an end to the war and the release of the hostages.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for the reporting from Tel Aviv.

Let's take you live now to Berlin, because CNN is Kayla Tausche is there and that's where President Biden is headed for meetings with European leaders. We understand that at some point during his trip over to Europe Kayla, President Biden made clear that he would be soon speaking with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Give us the details on that,

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect that to happen in short order, President Biden is expected to land here in Berlin within the hour, after being briefed throughout the duration of the flight on these fast moving developments, as Israel identified through the DNA and dental remains of Yahya Sinwar, that it was in fact him we heard just a few moments ago from Biden's National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, with his reaction to the news of Sinwar death. And he said that it was a welcome development, and that it was an opening that the United States hoped that it could seize as a way to bring about a ceasefire, bring the hostages home, and get to a day after, which is how the U.S. has been describing a post-Hamas world in Gaza with a new governing coalition there. Of course, that has been elusive for the last several months.

And the U.S. has gone to great lengths today to note that Sinwar personally has been an obstacle to such a deal, both in the short-term and over the long-term. And the question now is how Prime Minister Netanyahu responds, whether he sees this as a potential off ramp to the intensifying conflict in the region or whether he sees this just as one major development among many.

Of course, we've been expecting Israel to retaliate against Iran in the coming weeks for its barrage of ballistic missiles that it launched just a few weeks ago. So how Israel responds here and what message President Biden and those allies delivered to Netanyahu will be critical for the next phase of this. Sullivan said that he would not preview what the President planned to say.

SANCHEZ: Kayla Tausche live for us from Berlin, thank you so much for the latest there.

U.S. officials say it is still unclear just how Sinwar's death could affect the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Ruby Chen, the father of us, Israeli hostage, Itay Chen, was killed on October 7th, but whose body has not been returned, tell CNN, quote, "We are very concerned terrorists in the field will do something irrational to the hostages they are holding. Time is of essence."

Let's discuss with Gil Dickmann, three of his relatives were taken hostage by Hamas. His aunt, Kinneret Gat and cousin, Carmel Gat, were later murdered. His other family member, Yarden Roman, was ultimately released.

Gil, thank you so much for being with us.

Right off the bat, I just want to get your reaction to the news that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has been killed.

GIL DICKMANN, RELATIVES TAKEN HOSTAGE; AUNT & COUSIN MURDERED: Well, this is a great achievement for the IDF, and it might be the start of just like you said, a brand new day for the people of Gaza and for the people of Israel, but it is not enough for us. Our happiness and we're going to feel complete only once the hostages that are still there are back here with us.

There are still 101 hostages. Most of them are still alive. We had the opportunity to save my cousin, Carmel, who was murdered in captivity 11 months after she was captured.

[15:10:06]

We just learned today that she was probably held with Yahya Sinwar in the last few - I don't know if it was days or weeks or whatever - they were together and we learned that they missed the chance to get her out, and she was murdered in captivity. We can't miss any more opportunities. And this is a massive opportunity to get the hostages out, and we will not feel like this victory is complete until the hostages are here. That's what we celebrate here in Israel, the return of hostages, not the death of our enemies, but the life of our Israelis.

SANCHEZ: Gil, did - what you heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu this afternoon make you more hopeful that you are closer to hostages coming home.

DICKMANN: I can tell you. I've heard so many things from him before, and he's promised to get the hostages back, and my cousin was brought back in a coffin. She was brought back dead. What we look for is not promises but actions. The IDF has delivered on its promise and eliminated Yahya Sinwar.

This is now time for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the leaders of the whole world to deliver on the promise and to end this war and bring the hostages back. This is the solution that we're looking at. We, as Israelis, have not been fighting to eliminate Yahya Sinwar. That was not the goal of this war. The goal of this war was to get the hostages out.

We have to get them out, and then we can end this war. And I really hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu sees this as an opportunity to get them home and not to continue fighting for eternity, because this will not bring us peace. This will not bring an end to this vicious cycle of violence. The only way to put an end to this is to bring the hostages home and end this war.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, Gil, what you think about how this might complicate the process of getting to a ceasefire, because there's speculation that this might lead to a power struggle within Hamas. There isn't really clarity on who would succeed Sinwar, and it's unclear who Israel would be negotiating with to secure the release of those hostages. I wonder what you think.

DICKMANN: Well, this is one of the reasons why we are - as the families of the hostages and other families of hostages still held in Gaza - this is why we're worried, because we don't know what will happen from now on. But the other way to see it is to understand that if Netanyahu was right, and the only obstacle to a deal was Yahya Sinwar who insisted not to sign a deal, well, the only obstacle has now been eliminated. And there are no more excuses to get the deal done, to seal it and to get the hostages back.

I don't know exactly who we will be negotiating with, because we don't know what Hamas will look like on the day after. And this is something that the IDF and the Israeli government will have to figure out. But the most important thing is that we focus on the most important thing, and that's the hostages.

And if we continue to fight and we continue to find new solutions through military activity in Gaza, we will not find the solutions for the hostages. We know that continuing this war on and on and on will only put the lives of the hostages at risk. That's exactly what happened to my cousin. We now understand it that she was held very close to Yahya Sinwar and the fights to try and get him and eliminate him, cost her, her life and the lives of many other hostages. 27 hostages - Israeli hostages - were murdered in captivity. The only way to get hostages out is through a deal, and I really hope that Israel will find the way once the obstacle is now out of the way, to sign a deal and get the hostages back home.

SANCHEZ: Gil Dickmann, we very much appreciate you sharing part of your evening with us. Thanks for the time, and we look forward to having you on again soon.

DICKMANN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We're back in just a few minutes.

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[15:18:48]

KEILAR: We are keeping a close eye on the campaign trail. This hour, we'll see former President Bill Clinton alongside Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz. They're in the key state of North Carolina, where early voting has just begun.

SANCHEZ: Harris, meantime, is crisscrossing battleground Wisconsin, and soon she's set to speak to voters in La Crosse before heading over to Green Bay. Tonight, former President Trump will be in New York City, where he's set to speak at an annual fundraiser that the Vice President has decided to skip. Let's begin our coverage there with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, what can we expect to hear from Trump this evening?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, I mean, this is a campaign tradition, speaking at this dinner. It's the Al Smith dinner. It's a Catholic charities' event. And Donald Trump, it's probably one of the only campaign traditions that he's actually going to follow through on. Now we expect him to say some of what we have heard before, in terms of saying that people who are Catholic should have their head examined if they vote for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. This has just been a line of attack that he has said among different racial and religious lines.

But the other thing to point out here is that Donald Trump, during these remarks, has about 20 minutes, and whether or not he can stay on topic, is something that we're going to be watching very carefully.

[15:20:01]

This is a white tie dinner. This is not a crowd of people who are his base who want to hear his anti-immigration rhetoric. So how he actually threads the needle and whether or not he comes off as Donald Trump that we've seen on the campaign trail recently, increasingly dark with this rhetoric about immigration and the economy, will obviously wait and see.

I do want to bring up something that he said yesterday, because I think that this is yet another thing that people in this crowd that are going to be listening to him tonight are not going to want to hear about, this was about January 6. He said this during that Telemundo - or Univision, excuse me, town hall in which he was asked by a participant about January 6, who said that they had some concerns. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There were no guns down there. We didn't have guns. The others had guns, but we didn't have guns. And when I say we, these are people that walk down - this was a tiny percentage of the overall which nobody sees, and nobody shows. But that was a day of love. From the standpoint of the millions, it's like hundreds of thousands. It could have been the largest group I've ever spoken before. They asked me to speak. I went and I spoke, and I used the term peacefully and patriotically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Obviously, that voter there did not seem that impressed with that answer. He was trying to get at Donald Trump's rhetoric here. So whether or not he goes into these various lines, talking about January 6, talking about immigration, we'll wait and see. Again, he's only supposed to speak for about 20 minutes, which would be a record for Donald Trump this campaign cycle as last several speeches have lasted anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours.

But this is a group of people who are there to celebrate, to have - be at this fundraiser, so we'll see how he handles this versus what we have seen in the past. One thing I'll tell you talking to people who Donald Trump has been talking to privately, that rhetoric doesn't just extend to the campaign trail. He has been angry behind the scenes, frustrated at various points about this campaign, particularly since Kamala Harris went to the top of the ticket. We'll see if that's on display later tonight.

KEILAR: All right. Twenty minutes, we'll see if he can do it.

Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for the report.

Former President Trump hocking expensive items. Well, that's nothing new.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hello, everyone. It's your favorite president, Donald J Trump, here to introduce something really special. I think you're going to love it. My new Trump watches. We're doing quite a number with watches, and the quality, to me, is very important. The Trump victory ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. Maybe you've seen this ad where, yes, the current GOP candidate for president is selling a pricey gold watch emblazoned with his name and diamonds.

SANCHEZ: A website boasts of the brand's exquisite Swiss-made power and precision. One model has a six figure price tag, as you can see there on the left, the black and gold - I don't even know how to pronounce that - tourbillon?

KEILAR: Tourbillon.

SANCHEZ: Tourbillon, yes.

KEILAR: Tourbillon, yes.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure. But CNN try to find the makers of Trump's new watches. The company is nowhere near Switzerland as CNN's Steve Contorno found.

Steve, is there a Switzerland, Wyoming, though?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: No, we went and knocked on the door of the address that it is supposedly housed at and we didn't find any watches. We did find a daycare at that building. But let me back up and explain how we ended up in Wyoming, which is obviously very, very far away from Switzerland.

Donald Trump, 40 days before the election, announced this new line of watches, and this is a product that is born out of a licensing agreement with a company called "The Best Watches on Earth LLC." Now this company decided to register in Wyoming. And Wyoming is a state that a lot of companies go to register, because you don't have to divulge a lot of details about your business.

In fact, you can hide who you are behind a third party registered agent. And in fact, there are dozens of companies we found registered to the same address as Trump's watchmaker, including a company called 45 footwear LLC that is selling those gold Trump sneakers that he also put up for sale earlier this year.

Now, because of this arrangement, even by knocking on the door of this building, we are not able to get details about who is exactly behind this business that is doing - this partner that is doing business with the former and perhaps future President of the United States. And we asked this campaign who exactly is behind this arrangement with the former president, and they did not share any details with us.

However, we did find one interesting piece of information. There is another company at this business registered at the same address called "the best honey on Earth," which is obviously a very similar name to Trump's watchmaker.

[15:25:00]

So we reached out to this company and asked some questions, and they sent us back this statement: "We received direction from our leadership in the U.S. not to engage with any news agencies, especially CNN, until November 5th."

And obviously, November 5th is Election Day. And I will point out we never even asked about Donald Trump when they sent us this statement. However, we did follow up and ask them, well, are you doing business with the former president, and they did not respond to that question.

And look, at the end of the day, this is about transparency. Donald Trump could be in the White House again, and we don't know exactly who are these people who are entering into business deals with him just months before the election. And what could potentially be a quite lucrative business, these watches are some of these series, one of the lines is being sold for $100,000 and there are 147 of them. So that obviously will be a big payday if those watches are all sold.

SANCHEZ: Yes, there's a lot here.

KEILAR: Wow. Wowsy.

SANCHEZ: Vladimir Dimitriyev (ph) giving us that statement, perhaps a hint of where that company might actually be based. Also, there was a daycare?

CONTORNO: And I should mention Boris about that honey company, which I left out the best detail, they sell male enhancement honey, which is exactly what it sounds like, it is a ...

KEILAR: Stop it, Steve.

CONTORNO: ... a product that helps men perform in the bedroom. And the FDA actually flagged several of the products that this company sells on its website because they were sneaking Viagra or the drug behind Viagra into the ingredients.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

KEILAR: I was not prepared for that.

SANCHEZ: Steve, yes, that's a curveball. Just send the details to my email, I'll forward it to the - my friend who loves that kind of honey.

KEILAR: His friend.

SANCHEZ: Yes, my ...

KEILAR: His friend.

SANCHEZ: ... my good friend.

KEILAR: Oh, Steve.

SANCHEZ: Steve Contorno, thank you so much.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.