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Sinwar's Death Possible Watershed Moment in Gaza; Harris and Trump in Tight Presidential Race; Billionaire Donors Backs Trump and Harris; Israel: Sinwar, Hamas Leader Behind Oct. 7, Killed In Gaza; Key Allies To Discuss Next Steps In Support For Ukraine; Weak Consumption And Property Crisis Slow China's Growth; Questions Remain In Death Of One Direction's Liam Payne. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired October 18, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." We're going to look at what the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could mean for the war in Gaza.
Plus, what we know about the Israeli raid that killed the man believed to be the architect of the October 7th terror attack.
U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are set to rally in the same county in the coming hours. We'll look at the significance of the dueling campaign stocks.
And tributes pour in for beloved singer Liam Payne. That details on what more we're learning about the investigation into the 31-year- old's death.
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is being called a possible watershed moment for the war in Gaza. Many hope that whoever succeeds him will be willing to restart meaningful ceasefire negotiations, but it's too soon to know if that's wishful thinking or how Hamas will respond. Sinwar's killing likely dealt a major military and psychological blow to the militant group, but their ally, Iran's mission to the U.N., said the circumstances of his death will only strengthen the spirit of resistance.
Now, we just want to warn you, we're about to show graphic video of what are believed to be Sinwar's remains. Sources say Israeli forces discovered his body in southern Gaza after a battle with several militants. Israel says Sinwar's identity was quickly confirmed through dental records and DNA testing, but CNN can't confirm that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON (through translation): This man planned, initiated, gave orders, carried out, and I suppose if we had left him alive, he would have continued to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Sinwar is the latest of a series of Hamas leaders killed this year, inside and outside of Gaza. But his death after a year-long pursuit marks something of a crowning achievement for the much- maligned Israeli military campaign. Sinwar had long been Israel's most wanted man in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: With the past year, Sinwar tried to escape justice. He failed. We said we would find him and bring him to justice. And we did it. It was Yahya Sinwar who decided to wage war with Israel while hiding behind civilians in Gaza. Since the beginning of this war, that Sinwar started on October 7th, we've said our war is with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza. And we mean it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from Tel Aviv. And again, we want to warn you that his report contains graphic video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar launched the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel's history, triggering a devastating war in Gaza. Now, just over a year later, Israel says he is dead, killed by its soldiers in Gaza.
NETANYAHU (through translation): I stand before you today to inform you that Yahya Sinwar has been eliminated. Today evil has suffered a heavy blow. But the task before us is not yet complete.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Unlike the assassination of Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, or the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli intelligence didn't drive Sinwar's death. The October 7th mastermind was found and killed by chance. Two Israeli sources telling CNN that Sinwar's killing came after Israeli ground troops encountered three Palestinian militants during routine operations in Gaza on Wednesday. A tank fired at the house, killing the men.
Amid the rubble, troops soon realized that one of the bodies resembled Israel's number-one enemy. DNA testing later confirming it was Sinwar. In Israel, celebrations breaking out over the news.
UNKNOWN: I think it's a really, really big win. I think this is a great opportunity to bring the hostages home.
DIAMOND (voice-over): And in Gaza, mixed reactions to his death, but concern that it will not end the war.
UNKNOWN (through translation): His killing will not stop the war, because he was not the one who wanted the war to continue. Israel is the one that wants war and does not want to return the displaced people or meet the demands of the resistance and Qatar.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Sinwar evaded the Israeli military for more than a year, moving from place to place inside Hamas' vast network of tunnels, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, never once emerging publicly since the October 7 attacks.
[02:04:58]
Sinwar became Hamas' leader in Gaza in 2017 after spending 22 years in an Israeli prison. He was released in a prisoner swap deal in 2011, alongside more than a thousand other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. But his enduring legacy came last year, when thousands of Palestinian militants stormed into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages at a music festival in people's homes and as they fled into bomb shelters.
Now, with Sinwar dead, questions about the fate of the remaining hostages and whether the war in Gaza will finally end. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDETAPE)
BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the killing of Sinwar but told him it's time to move on. Biden said he's sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel soon to lead renewed hostage and ceasefire talks. The president spoke to reporters in Berlin Thursday after his phone call with Netanyahu from Air Force One.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now's the time to move on, move on, move towards a ceasefire in Gaza, make sure we move in the direction that we're gonna be in a position to make things better for the whole world. It's time for this war to end, and bring the hostages home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to turn now to CNN's Ivan Watson. Ivan, what more are we learning about the killing? And then let's look ahead, what effect his death might have on the war and the region at large.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, the killing of Sinwar seems to be confirmed. The Israeli government's saying that they did DNA tests, that they tested his dental records, of course, because he'd been a prisoner for a long time in Israeli prison, since they had a lot of data about Yahya Sinwar, even though he was Israel's most wanted man at large for more than a year.
Israeli officials have been celebrating this as a victory. And as we've just heard, you've had the Biden administration, President Biden himself, praising the Israeli military. Very little tears shed for Yahya Sinwar, as well as by the president of the European Commission, who has said that this is effectively the death of somebody who's been responsible for a lot of suffering. Take a listen.
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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: He was basically the mastermind behind the 7th of October with the killings, the massacres, the rapes and the kidnapping. So his death is certainly significantly weakening Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, the question is what comes next? And you've already heard the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, you've heard President Biden and his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, saying, okay, now it's time to redouble our efforts towards getting a ceasefire ending more than a year of unprecedented violence and killing in the Middle East, in Gaza.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said basically no, the war will continue. So we're seeing more signs of that potential tension there. And then if you look towards Iran, which of course is an ideological ally of Hamas, look at a statement that came from Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations, where they're basically calling Sinwar a martyr, saying that he died standing on the battlefield, quote, "in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy."
And they're arguing that he will be an inspiration to future generations fighting against Israel. So you have a whole wide array of reactions there. And within Gaza we've heard some Palestinians lamenting his death, saying he too is a martyr, others saying they're happy he's dead now because they didn't get a vote about the October 7 terror attacks into Israel, and they have been suffering from the unprecedented deaths of more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza, as well as widespread hunger and disease in the Israeli onslaught that has followed the October 7 attacks.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, Ivan, you played that clip from Ursula von der Leyen saying that this will significantly weaken Hamas. So as for Hamas itself, do we know who might succeed Sinwar?
WATSON: Well, certainly not Ismail Haniyeh, who was the political leader of Hamas until his assassination in the Iranian capital, Tehran. So now you do have a leadership vacuum. Israel has had success in decades past at killing leaders of Hamas, and yet the movement has continued to exist. Much of Gaza is now in ruins, and its civilian population traumatized.
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And attention has now turned, understandably, to the families of more than 100 Israelis and others who've been taken hostage by Hamas back a little bit more than a year ago. They're saying now more than ever is a time to negotiate for their release. Take a listen to the mother of one of those hostages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EINAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translation): We have settled the score with the arch-murderer Sinwar, but now, more than ever, the lives of my son Matan and the other hostages are in tangible danger. Today, especially, when the country briefly breathes in relief, it is important to remember and to remind that the people want the hostages home and that their return is one of the war's goals. There will be no true closure. There will be no absolute victory if we don't save lives and bring them all back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And here's the big problem, Kim. Even if the Israeli government wanted to resume negotiations, and we've seen no sign of that at all from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who do you negotiate with when the Israeli military has killed now the leader of Hamas and we don't know who's going to lead the organization moving forward?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, great point. Ivan Watson, thanks so much. All right, for more on this I want to bring in Gideon Levy who's a columnist with "Haaretz" newspaper and he's with us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, to start, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, evil has suffered a heavy blow. Does that reflect how most Israelis are feeling today?
GIDEON LEVY, JOURNALIST, HAARETZ: Yes, absolutely, and it's quite understandable because Sinwar was the face of evil, the face of the 7th of October with all its atrocities and crimes. But killing Sinwar does not kill the problem and even does not kill Hamas. It's just -- it's weakening Hamas, but we still face the same problems also the morning after.
You see, Kim, the closet of Israel is full with bodies of commanders and leaders and politicians, Palestinians and Arabs that Israel had assassinated throughout the years. All those assassinations were always defined as huge victories, and by the end of the day you face the same core issues and same problems which were never being solved, and Israel seems not to have any intention to really solve once and for all.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, good point. One of the immediate problems that Israel still has to solve, of course, is the hostages. And there seems to be sort of two schools of thought here, that the elimination of Sinwar might create an opening for a deal for the hostages or that his death could further endanger them. What do you believe?
LEVY: But first of all, both make sense, obviously. And above all, there is the question, which you mentioned more than once in your program this morning, with whom are you going to negotiate exactly? But by the end of the day, we always knew that the hostages can be released only through a deal, and Israel postponed the deal and postponed the claiming that only by military force they will be released. And until this very moment, there was no hostages released by military force and therefore we have to face a negotiation.
I'm not sure that this beaten Hamas with all its causalities will be very flexible about having a deal. Why would they? I mean, they have so little to lose now. They lost almost everything. And who knows how many of the hostages are still alive? And maybe after last night, maybe less of them is alive. Who knows?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. It's a horrible thought to contemplate, but you're right. It could be possible. Many are saying that Sinwar was the obstacle to peace. Netanyahu has said that this is the beginning of the day after Hamas, but we've reported on the fact that some Palestinians have vowed his death won't stop the war. Do you think that there's a danger that a desire for revenge could inspire them to dig in further?
LEVY: (Inaudible) was smiling when you say (inaudible) Hamas or Sinwar was the obstacle of peace. The main obstacle for peace is the occupation, the siege, the apartheid. Those are the real obstacles, and not one person or the other. The core issues are that Israel is not ready even to face. Those are the real obstacles.
But, look, maybe it will create more motivation now, but Hamas right now is a bleeding organization. I don't know if it will be able to recover or not. Militarily it's bleeding.
[02:14:58]
But the question is not if Hamas will recover or not. The question is, who do you think will replace Hamas, the Zionist organization of Florida (ph)? Who is going to -- the settlers? Who is going to replace the leadership of a people who lives in a siege in Gaza and other brutal occupation in the West Bank? It doesn't matter who will stand the head of such people. The problem is if there is any partner to solve their problems, and right now there is none.
BRUNHUBER: No easy answers for any of these intractable problems, as you say. Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.
LEVY: Thank you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: So as the U.S. presidential election draws near, Donald Trump has been repeating some very dark rhetoric about the enemy within. Someone who knows the former president weighs in on those warnings. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are still locked in a tight race with only 18 days left until the presidential election here in the U.S. Both candidates are expected to make a stop in the same county in Michigan later today. CNN's Harry Enten explains the significance of winning Oakland County.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATE REPORTER: Look at this. Look how many votes. There are 434,000 that Joe Biden got, 325,000 Donald Trump got. Joe Biden did very well there, won it by 14 points, considerably better than Hillary Clinton did four years prior, which he only won it by eight. So the bottom line is Kamala Harris, Oakland County, very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And Harris made several stops Thursday in Wisconsin, a critical blue wall state. She condemned Trump for calling January 6th the, quote, "day of love," saying 140 law enforcement officers were injured and some were even killed. Here she is.
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KAMALA HARRIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump was at a Univision town hall where a voter asked him about January 6th. Okay. So now, we hear -- no, January 6th was a tragic day. It was a day of terrible violence. And what did Donald Trump say last night about January 6th? He called it a, quote, "a day of love." The American people are exhausted with his gaslighting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Harris also slammed Trump's comments on women's health care, saying her rival, quote, "has no idea what he's talking about." CNN's Eva McKend is there in Wisconsin with more.
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: At her Green Bay rally, Vice President Harris centering the issue of reproductive rights, arguing that the former president has created the conditions in this country that have led to women dying from sepsis.
[02:19:58]
She also chided the former president for characterizing himself as the father of IVF, saying that he instead has put women's lives in danger and argued more broadly that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Take a listen.
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HARRIS: He is the one who by that way is responsible for it being at risk in the first place. And what is sadly -- what is sadly interesting, I think, is that when you listen to Donald Trump talk, it becomes increasingly clear, I think, he has no idea what he's talking about.
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MCKEND: The vice president maintaining that she is the underdog in this contest, leaning on Wisconsinites to make a plan to vote. Early voting begins in this state next week, and same-day voter registration is an option as well. Wisconsin voters who haven't registered to vote can still show up on Election Day and participate in the process. Eva McKend, CNN, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump attended the Al Smith Charity Dinner for Catholics in New York on Thursday night and he slammed Harris for skipping the event and sending a video message instead. Trump called her absence disrespectful, saying it's a tradition for both presidential nominees to show up. There he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They call me weird. They call J.D. weird. We're very solid people. This guy is calling us weird, but this was weird that the Democrat candidate is not here with us tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The former president gave a speech full of jokes taking jabs at prominent Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who was seated next to the podium and Trump also made fun of his legal troubles.
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TRUMP: It's a true pleasure to be with you this evening, amazing pleasure, and these days it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, Trump has used some very dark rhetoric during recent media interviews. One subject he brings up is what he calls radical left lunatics. The former president says they're the enemy within and suggests using the U.S. military to handle them. Here are some recent examples.
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TRUMP: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary by the military, because they can't let that happen. It is the enemy from within, and they're very dangerous. They're Marxists and Communists and Fascists, and they're sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And CNN political analyst and "New York Times" senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman has followed the Trump campaign closely and knows him well. Here's what she told CNN earlier about Trump's focus on retribution.
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MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLI TICAL ANALYST: It's what he wants to talk about and because he was told earlier in the election cycle that he shouldn't talk about retribution because it was problematic with some voters. For whatever reason, his language, and I think we can point to a couple of reasons, but his language has gotten much darker, it has gotten much more apocalyptic, and he has gotten far less concerned about what threatening people might mean.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump likes to portray himself as the biggest supporter of the working class, but as the race for the White House enters the final stretch, a handful of conservative billionaires are going all in for the Republican nominee. Ryan Todd has details on the serious cash infusion Trump is getting from his wealthiest allies.
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RYAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And the world's richest person has taken over, along with two other billionaires in boosting Donald Trump's White House bid with a lot of cash. Elon Musk, the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX, has given nearly $75 million. All told, according to FEC filings, three billionaires alone have given a total of about $220 million just in the last three months to boost Trump's campaign. The $75 million from Musk, $95 million from conservative donor Miriam Adelson, heiress to a casino fortune, and $49 million from shipping supply magnate Richard Uihlein.
ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's Trump's billionaire calorie at the very end here.
TODD (voice-over): All that money goes not directly to the Trump campaign, but through super PACs, political action committees that support the former president.
HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: The vast majority of this money will go into -- for a broadcast and digital advertising. This will go to sort of 15 to 30-second ads that by the end of this season, we're all going to be sick of.
TODD (voice-over): But it won't all go to ads.
THOMPSON: Elon Musk's group, interestingly, is spending a lot of money on a canvassing operation.
TODD (voice-over): Musk has spent millions hiring door-to-door canvassers on Trump's behalf. And Musk just announced he's holding a series of talks free of charge throughout the battleground state of Pennsylvania over the next few days.
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Why are these billionaires supporting Trump?
FREDREKA SCHOUTEN, CNN POLITICS NATIONAL POLITICAL WRITER: Some of it is just ideology. If you look at somebody like Dr. Adelson, I mean, she's a big supporter of Israel and has backed Donald Trump during his first time in office and was very supportive of his move to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
TODD (voice-over): For his part, Musk has moved much further to the right over the past couple of years, campaigning for free speech and against government regulations, and cozying up to Trump.
ELON MUSK, OWNER OF X, CEO OF TESLA, SPACE-X: President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America.
TODD (voice-over): But all this generosity from Musk, Adelson and Uihlein is relative.
THOMPSON: What they're really trying to do is make up what is a huge cash gap between Kamala Harris who raised a billion dollars in just a few months and Donald Trump.
TODD (voice-over): Among the donors who've given tens of millions to Harris's super PAC recently, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn. But one analyst says candidates don't need giant war chests to win.
NICHOLS: When you look at the last few presidential cycles, it's not necessarily true that whoever had the most money won.
TODD (on camera): As valuable as this cash infusion could be to help purchase ads for Trump, analyst Hans Nichols says Trump and Harris can benefit even more from another kind of media coverage, so-called earned media. Positive news coverage from major news outlets that cost the candidates nothing. Nichols says that kind of coverage is usually more effective than ads that voters tend to get sick of. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, dozens of prominent business leaders are throwing their support behind Kamala Harris, saying she's the stronger candidate for the American economy. In a three-page letter, 88 business leaders, including Mark Cuban, James Murdoch and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, said they believe a Harris presidency would better nurture the private sector. Cuban has been a visible surrogate for the Harris campaign since she took the reins from Joe Biden. The Shark Tank host spoke with CNN about his support for the Democratic nominee.
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MARK CUBAN, ENTREPRENEUR, HOST OF "SHARK TANK": I love what she's doing for small business and obviously I think this election is critically important. And if we want businesses to succeed, particularly entrepreneurs in small business, Kamala Harris is the only choice. The one thing about Kamala, she's open minded, she's very clear in saying she wants to take feedback from anybody. I'm not a Democrat, I'm an independent. And she says she's going to have a Republican in her cabinet. So when she talks about how she's evolved on the issues, that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing. That means she's listening, as opposed to her opponent who listens to no one about anything.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is defending the Biden administration's decision not to repeal the Trump-imposed tariffs on China. She says China hasn't addressed unfair competition issues, so it's right the tariffs remain. But she adds the U.S. can't afford to extend Trump-era tax cuts without raising revenue. According to Yellen, if the cuts are extended, it would add an extra $5 trillion to the U.S. deficit over the next 10 years. She says that's unaffordable and fiscally irresponsible.
All right, we'll have more on our top story after a quick break. Israel has achieved a key military goal of its war in Gaza with the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. We'll have a look at his legacy next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Our top story this hour, Israel says it has killed Yahya Sinwar, the man it holds responsible for the October 7 Hamas terror attack. The Israeli military says it happened on Wednesday when troops detected suspicious movement in Rafah buildings.
So a tank fired at the building. It wasn't until later when a drone scanned the area that soldiers recognized Sinwar's face in the rubble. Israel says he was trying to escape north when he was killed.
Sources tell CNN, Israel confirm Sinwar's death with DNA testing and dental records. Hamas hasn't yet commented. Sinwar's death is renewing hope in the region for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Meanwhile, Israel's pending retaliation against Iran for its attack earlier this month could come within days.
CNN's Nic Robertson looks back at Sinwar's rise to power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Feared, unfettered at home in Gaza, universally reviled by Israelis, Yahya Sinwar became the Jewish state's enemy number one, for his leading role in Hamas's brutal October 7 slaughter of almost 1,200 people in Israel triggering Israel's killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The IDF dubbed him a dead man walking but university educated Sinwar persistently outsmarted his enemies.
EHUD YAARI, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: When I was talking to him, he always insisted that we speak Hebrew and not Arabic.
ROBERTSON: Journalist Ehud Yaari interviewed Sinwar four times during the terror leader's 22 years in Israeli jail.
Yaari saw Sinwar's rise to prison leader, the learnt no secrets.
YAARI: He's charismatic. He's shrewd. He's very cunning. ROBERTSON: Palestinian Esmat Mansour spent years in jail with the man
who would become Hamas's Gaza leader.
ESMAT MANSOUR, FORMER PALESTINIAN PRISONER: He constantly follows the security changes and developments in the Israeli security structure.
ROBERTSON: Sinwar's entry to Hamas was through internal security, convicted of playing a role in the killing of two Israelis and four suspect Palestinian informants who are cars, see what I can go here.
MANSOUR: He's also a cruel person, not violent, but he's capable of cruelty, but within careful political calendar parents who fled their home in what is now Israel in 1948, following the Jewish state's creation his cause was to reverse his peoples expulsion from their land.
By the time of his release in 2011, Sinwar had spent 22 years in jail.
His freedom was a seminal moment, traded with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners for just one IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit, snatched five years earlier. It was an object lesson for Sinwar but he had emerged to a change reality, Gaza now cut off from the world by Israel's blockade rising to become Hamas's overall leader in Gaza. He worked to reverse those setbacks.
YAHYA SINWAR, HAMAS LEADER: Harming Al-Aqsa or Jerusalem means a religious war, and we will not hold back. We as Palestinians as well as Arabs and Muslims, are fully prepared and will not hesitate to defend our rights.
ROBERTSON: It was an uneven fight. Israel always, with the upper hand. He counted on Iran to help.
SINWAR: Iran has supported us with finance, arms, and expertise.
ROBERTSON: Yet, he indicated is stance on Israel could be softening. In 2018 in telling an Italian journalist, he saw quote, an opportunity for change and quote, a new war is in no one's interests.
He stepped up diplomacy with Egypt and Qatar as interlocutors to Israel, making sure his cause had a broad Arab alliance.
[02:35:09]
SINWAR: I say to the leaders and Arab and Islamic countries, there has to be a strategic change in your path. It is ending normalization, closing the embassies, and supporting the resistance.
ROBERTSON: During fighting in 2021, the IDF bombed his house. A week later, at a rare press conference, he goaded the IDF to take a second shot saying he would walk home.
He didn't hide, and neither did his fighters ahead of their October 7 attack, their training in plain sight, like Sinwar's comments, misread by the IDF.
Opening the door to a war that has become his legacy.
Israel's response resulted in the unparalleled killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, and the destruction of Gaza. Internationally, it raised a previously unseen potent pro-Palestinian lobby. If that was Sinwar's strategy, it was succeeding, but at great cost.
Ultimately, he will be judged in Gaza, does anger that the destruction Hamas triggered fade faster than the hatred that Israel for doing it?
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Earlier, the president of the Palestinian National Initiative spoke to CNN about Sinwar's death and why some in Gaza will still see the Hamas leader as a hero. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: The real aggressor here and the real responsible side for all the suffering of the Palestinians now in Gaza is the Israeli aggression, which doesn't stop and actually continues. On the other hand, it is very important to remember that the story here did not start on the 7 of October. If you look at the life of Sinwar himself, you can find a lot of things.
First of all, he was a refugee. He was a descendant of a refugee family that were displaced the 1948. Then he was occupied by the Israeli army in the longest modern occupation, the longest occupation in modern history of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And he was subjected to oppression and then he was imprisoned for 22 years for participating resistance.
This is his story and it's in a way a story of the people.
So, the 7th of October was not the beginning, was not the cause. It was the result, the outcome of ethnic cleansing of long occupation of oppression and of course we don't want violence to continue. But I want to tell you that Sinwar himself was convinced with nonviolence. I personally debated that with him, for five years, Hamas stuck to nonviolent resistance.
What was the result? Israeli more aggression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Barghouti, he also weighed in on whether Sinwar's killing would bring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu closer to a ceasefire. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO LCIP)
BARGHOUTI: He said this war is not over. And he wants to continue. He used to claim that he's going after Sinwar and now he's saying that even after the killing of Sinwar, he will continue the war.
The problem here is Netanyahu and his fascist government, which refuses to stop this terrible aggression on Gaza. And Netanyahu wants not only to continue that attack on Gaza, he's actually expanding the war to Lebanon, expanding it to Iraq. He wants to engage in a war with Iran, and he wants to drag the United States to be in war with Iran.
That's the reality of Netanyahu and he is, though, as long as he is in government, I do not see we can see an end to this -- to this terrible war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, of course, Sinwar and claimed to be the mastermind behind the October 7 attack against Israel and Hamas is still holding more than 100 hostages in Gaza.
Palestinian emergency services say at least 28 people were killed on Thursday when an Israeli airstrike hit a school, the house to shelter in northern Gaza. The few remaining staff at one of the last operating hospitals in Gaza are treating more than 150 people wounded at the Abu Hussein school in the Jabalia refugee camp. Israel says the strike targeted the command and control center used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Meanwhile, a new report by experts from 16 U.N. agencies and NGOs predict 350,000 people in Gaza will face catastrophic levels of hunger this winter. The group say more, must be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIE RENARD, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME COUNTY DIRECTOR: Any improvements in food security, we see our result of the amount of humanitarian aid and commercial flows entering Gaza. With local food system destroyed and farms damage, people are completely dependent on supplies coming through the border.
[02:40:06]
For real progress, this flow of aid must be steady and reliable nearly 2 million people in Gaza still face the risk of famine. And that risk could persist unless all border crossing remain open. And aid continues to reach those in need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration is threatening to withdraw military aid from Israel, unless at least 350 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are permitted to enter the area every day.
On a slow, slowing economy, many of China's delivery drivers are working harder but earning less. Ahead, why their frustrations are sometimes boiling over.
Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Germany for major talks on aid for Ukraine, for just hours away. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, four key allies will sit down to discuss the next steps in their support for Ukraine.
That'll happen in Berlin where U.S. President Joe Biden arrived on Thursday. He's set to begin his meetings with German leaders in about 90 minutes from now.
And later, he is scheduled to hold talks with the leaders of the so- called European Quad, which also includes Britain and France. Among other things, they'll discuss what Ukraine calls its victory plan unveiled by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Some allies are at odds over how to respond to his plan, which calls for an invitation for Kyiv to join NATO.
So, as allies debate there response, Zelenskyy is pitching his plan to the European Union and NATO. He was in Brussels on Wednesday where he spoke at the summit of E.U. leaders in a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
The final day of their meeting is getting underway this hour, the alliance has promised to allow Ukraine to join, but the timeline is unclear and that's partly because of concerns that Ukraine's full membership could pit NATO directly against Moscow. But Zelenskyy said its time to walk the walk.
Here he.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): All the time they believe that NATO was drawing the alliance and the war even the invitation of Ukraine to NATO was like such red lines. In my opinion, legally, no, and it is unfair. If you really want and not just say that Ukraine will be in NATO, and that is very important for the security of the European continent, then it should coincide with actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now here in the U.S., former President Donald Trump is blaming Zelenskyy for not preventing the war in the first place, the two met in New York last month when Trump said he had a good relationship with the Ukrainian leader.
But in a podcast interview on Thursday, Trump said Zelenskyy could have stopped the war before it even began.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Zelenskyy is one of the greatest salesmen I've ever seen. Every time he comes in, we give him $100 billion. Who else has got that kind of money in history has never been and that doesn't mean I don't want to help them because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:45:03]
BRUNHUBER: You know, of course, the war began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and a blunt violation of international law, according to independent groups, the U.S. has approved $175 billion in aid to Ukraine since then and so far, more than $50 billion of that money has been spent.
We're getting new economic numbers from China and they're showing that weak consumption and are problematic property marketers slowing growth. Now, various sectors are being hit, including China's huge takeout and food delivery industry.
Marc Stewart joining does now live from Beijing with the details.
So, Marc, the problem facing delivery drivers seems to be a symptom of a larger problem. So take us through what's behind this and how Chinas trying to correct it.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Kim, the economy is still very slow growing only 4.6 percent growth in the third quarter of this year, you alluded to the housing crisis. There's also high unemployment.
People really don't have an incentive to spend money and as someone who lives in China and when who works in China, I can tell you that it's very obvious in everyday life. Its obvious in what people are buying at the stores, even an industry that is very popular, such as food delivery, is seeing some hard times and especially for those who delivered the food on the streets of Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART (voice-over): Food delivery drivers in China packing up hot meals and hot temperance. This driver breaks down after getting a negative customer review. Another driver snaps as police stop him for running a red light.
Both episodes could mean a cut in their pay linked to on-time delivery and customer satisfaction. It's a job that keeps drivers on their feet and on the street as they battle the bustle, including here in Beijing.
Safety isn't the only struggle.
What about customers? Are they ever rude to you?
YONG, FOOD DELIVERY DRIVER (through translator): There are all kinds of customers. It's difficult to avoid. STEWART: We followed 35-year-old Yong as he navigated the lunchtime rush.
Is this a good way to make a living?
YONG (through translator): I think it's fine, but not as easy as before. More people are doing the same job.
STEWART: This is big business. Last year, there were about 12 million delivery drivers on the road. It's a number that's been growing.
Last year, industry giant Meituan saw its revenue climb 26 percent year on year to more than $10 billion. Yet paychecks are shrinking from more than $1,000 U.S. a month in 2018 to less than $950 a month in 2023. Experts say this could be due in part to the economic slump in China as consumers place cheaper orders and combine their purchases.
Twenty-year-old driver Lu tells us he makes about $30 to $40 a day.
LU SIHANG, FOOD DELIVERY DRIVER (through translator): I work from 10:00 a.m. onward to past 8:00 p.m., about 30 deliveries.
STEWART: For some drivers, that's still better than the alternatives. It's flexible and beats sweating hours on a farm or a factory floor.
But as China keeps growing its appetite of swiping for service, appears to be eating away at more delivery drivers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART (on camera): The impact on the food industry is very widespread. In fact, it was just a few months ago, we were reporting that McDonald's was offering meal deals very similar to the ones you would see in the United States to try to bring people back into the door.
Even consumer electronics such as Apple is having to adjust its prices as its competing scene with Chinese brands during these very uncertain economic times. Meantime, today, the markets here in China in particular are doing quite well. We have seen a bit of a rally today with the Shanghai composite and the Shenzhen composite also seeing some gains today.
Traders did anticipate that there would perhaps be some slow economic data. So that may be one of the reasons why were seeing stronger market than perhaps many of us would think.
Looking ahead to the future though Beijing has unveiled some stimulus plans, things such as adjusting lending and interest rates. But unlike other parts of the world, such as the United States, for example, its not as if Chinese consumers are getting cash in hand, but there are a lot of pleas though, for the Chinese government to do something more especially as it hopes to reach an growth target that year of 5 percent. Finally, Kim, I should stress the Chinese economy is growing. It's
just growing very slowly and not at a pace and not at the gains -- the scale of gains that we have seen in the past.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting to see whether that changes in the coming months, Marc Stewart in Beijing, thanks so much.
[02:50:02]
Investigators in Buenos Aires were releasing more details about what happened to Liam Payne. We'll tell you what we know about the One Direction's star death. And will hear the 911 call made by worried staff members.
Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Emotions are still raw for family, friends, and fans after the sudden death of Liam Payne and still not clear exactly what happened before the singer and the former member of the wildly successful boy band One Direction died in Argentina.
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: New details are coming in as authorities investigate Liam Payne's sudden death after the former One Direction member fell to his death at a hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. A preliminary autopsy report reveals that Payne died from multiple injuries, including external and internal hemorrhages after falling from what authorities in Argentina said was the third floor balcony in his hotel room.
When police announced Payne's death, they said they were directed to the hotel after a 911 call where they were informed about an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
CNN's affiliate in Argentina has obtained that 911 call. Take a listen.
HOTEL RECEPTIONIST (through translator): Well, we have a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol, and well, even when he's aware, he breaks things up. He's tearing the whole room apart. And, well, we need someone to be sent, please.
911 OPERATOR (through translator): That is under the influence of alcohol and drugs, yes?
HOTEL RECEPTIONIST (through translator): Yes, that's right. And we need someone to be sent to us urgently because, well, I don't know if the guest's life is at risk. He's in a room that has a balcony and well, we're a little afraid that he'll do something that puts him ...
WAGMEISTER: Photos that were provided to the media by authorities show a smashed television in Payne's hotel room and what appears to be drug paraphernalia, which CNN will not be showing to our viewers.
The exact circumstances surrounding Payne's death are still unclear. But on Wednesday, Buenos Aires police told the Associated Press that Payne had jumped from the balcony of his room.
When I contacted a spokesperson with the Buenos Aires police, he declined to clarify those details, instead referring me to the prosecutor's office in Argentina. The prosecutor's office said that Payne's fall could have been accidental due to the position in which the body was found and from the injuries of the fall. Prosecutors say he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.
Payne's tragic death has sent shockwaves through the world as millions of fans mourn. To a younger generation, One Direction was like the Beatles.
For many young fans, this is the first celebrity death that they have ever experienced, like other generations who were gutted over the sudden deaths of stars like Heath Ledger or Kurt Cobain. That is what a big deal Liam Payne was. His family said in a statement that they are heartbroken.
The members of One Direction released a statement saying, quote: We are completely devastated. In time and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say, but for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother who we love dearly.
[02:55:00]
Memorials have been planned by fans, including one at Hyde Park in London this Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
A tragic ending to a life lost too soon and certainly one that will spark a conversation about mental health, substance abuse and the pressures faced by so many young stars in the spotlight.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Heat stress is bleaching coral from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to the Indian Oceans in unprecedented levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Reuters that 77 percent of the worlds coral reef areas are being affected coral bleaching happens when corals expel the colorful algae living in their tissues near record ocean temperatures across the world are harming the reefs, the bleached corals aren't yet dead, but ocean temperatures need to cool off for him the hope of recovery.
The October supermoon put on quite a show in the sky on Thursday.
Have a look at this. Now this is a time-lapse video of the so-called hunter's moon over New York. You can see pretty impressive there it's the biggest, brightest supermoon of the year named for early hunters who gathered food for the long winter ahead. Now views of the lunar spectacle worldwide have been breathtaking. Now this is what people in New Delhi saw when they looked up supermoon
isn't actually supersized. It just looks that way because the moon is closer to earth than normal. Thanks to its orbit. And then that makes it appear bigger and brighter like this view from Hong Kong, the moon is now beginning to wane, but the show will still be worth watching tonight.
New York's comic con is back in full swing and hundreds of thousands of people dressed as their favorite characters are expected to attend. You try and pick out to see who those characters are there, kicked off on Thursday in what some called the largest hop event on the U.S. East Coast, just hosting games, panels, exhibits, and, of course, the cosplayers themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY LANDSMAN, PRINCESS LEIA/AURORA MASHUP: New York Comic Con is the best event of the year, the thing I look forward to all year long, everyone one here all likes the same things and everybody's fun.
BARBIE CHULA, PREDATOR: It took me four hours to do this. I woke up a 5:00 a.m. in the morning and I chose products because it is my favorite characters. And so when I was a kid, I just love it. I love him. So, I'm him today. Female version.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And the event runs through December.
Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber and I'll be back with more of all of our top stories here on CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Please do stay with us.
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