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World Reacts to Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar's Death; Biden Set to Begin High-Level Talks with Allies in Berlin; Harris, Trump Trade Blows. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Today, evil has suffered a heavy blow. But the task before us is not yet complete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Assassinating Sinwar will not end the war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the coming hours, four key allies will sit down to discuss the next steps in their support for Ukraine.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If you really want to not just say that Ukraine will be in NATO and that it is very important for the security of the European continent, then it should coincide with actions.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When you listen to Donald Trump talk, it becomes increasingly clearer, I think. He has no idea what he's talking about.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This guy is calling us weird, but this was weird that the Democrat candidate is not here with us tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Friday, October the 18th, 9 a.m. here in London and 11 a.m. in Gaza and Israel, where emotions are running high over the unexpected killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. There were sweets passed around and celebratory honking at the checkpoint in southern Israel. American and Israeli leaders have said the world is a better place without Sinwar, who was considered the mastermind of the October 7th terror attacks. His death is being called a possible watershed moment for the war in Gaza, but the Israeli prime minister has made clear there's still work to be done on the battlefield. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Today, evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete. To the dear families of the hostages, I say, this is an important moment in the war. We will continue with all our strength until the return home of all of your loved ones, who are our loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Sinwar's killing likely dealt a major military and psychological blow to Hamas, but their ally, Iran's mission to the U.N., said the circumstances of his death will only strengthen the spirit of resistance. A warning, we're about to show you 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 confirmed through dental records and DNA testing. However, CNN can't confirm that.

With me is Nada to look at what this means for the region. And no immediate impact, as it were, you know, militarily, because the war continues.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the Israeli prime minister yesterday was very clear in his statement that this war will continue to go on, that there are still objectives that the Israeli government and the Israeli military wants to achieve. But there had been and continues to be some hope that this could potentially be a juncture in what has been over a year of relentless war, that potentially this could offer an off-ramp to the Israeli government.

Of course, from the outset of the war, the Israeli government has been clear they want to target Hamas. They want to eradicate Hamas in its entirety. But clearly, they've also been going after Hamas' top leaders.

And chief among them has been Yahya Sinwar, who over the last year, according to the Israeli government, had believed to be hiding in tunnels under Gaza. Clearly, that wasn't the case. We've seen now drone footage from the Israeli military, which appears to show Yahya Sinwar actively fighting, essentially armed with weapons as he was killed.

Whether this is then taken by the Israeli government as an opportunity to paint this as the victory that they were looking for, whether this is sufficient for the Israeli government to say that, OK, this is enough, we are now going to move forward with a negotiated political resolution, remains to be seen.

That certainly wasn't the tone from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. But of course, there has been pressure from the U.S. government for Netanyahu to move forward in that direction. We heard from Biden yesterday expressing his wish to see the Israeli government move on, essentially, was his words. He wants to see a negotiated resolution to this. This, he says, is the opportunity for that.

But again, the Israeli government remains focused on, of course, trying to rescue all remaining hostages. And what we've been hearing from more right-wing elements of Netanyahu's government is that not only do they want to see Hamas' top leaders removed, which, of course, we have seen, and we've seen the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon assassinated as well, but they want to see Hamas completely eradicated.

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Whether that is even possible, given Hamas' ideology, the prevalence of it as an idea in Gaza is unclear.

FOSTER: And we're just getting a note here that a meeting that was scheduled amongst Israeli leaders about Iran and Lebanon, delayed from last night, will take place today. And it's Iran and Lebanon that's on the agenda more than Gaza.

BASHIR: And, of course, you know, what's happening in the region continues to be a big focus for Israel. We are still waiting to see how and if, when Israel will target Iran in retaliation for Iran's missile attack on Israel in October. First, we know, of course, that the cabinet has, according to Israeli officials, come to an agreement on how they wish to respond or retaliate to that.

But we haven't seen that response just yet. We've been hearing from the Biden administration calling for restraint. They've urged the Israeli government not to target nuclear oil facilities in Iran.

We're still seeing the Israeli military deepening its ground incursion in southern Lebanon. The region still very much feels as though it is on a knife's edge. How this, the killing of Yahya Sinwar, impacts that remains to be seen.

Whether the Israeli government takes this as an opportunity to put a pause in regional fighting and move forward with negotiations, or whether they see this as a victory that could perhaps lead them to --

FOSTER: Motivate them.

BASHIR: Exactly. Double down on their efforts, not only in Gaza, but also in Lebanon and Iran as well. And, of course, we've seen them have some limited success in Lebanon.

Of course, the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, hugely symbolic. But underlying all of this is, of course, the civilian toll that we have to remember as well. There is a real need for a ceasefire to be struck.

That is what world leaders are calling for, particularly in Gaza. More than 42,000 people killed and, of course, hostages still being held captive.

FOSTER: Captured.

BASHIR: Exactly.

FOSTER: Nada, thank you.

Reaction to the death of the Hamas leader is still coming in from world leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron calls Sinwar's death a turning point.

The president of the European Commission says Sinwar's death significantly weakens Hamas. And U.S. leaders were surprised by news of the killing. But they're not making any predictions about the war.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him we were very pleased with his actions and further that now is the time to move on.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Iran's mission to the U.N. posted its reaction on social media, calling Sinwar a martyr who will become a model for children and a source of inspiration. It said Sinwar's death will strengthen the spirit of resistance.

A group that represents families of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas says it welcomes the news of Sinwar's death. And the mother of one hostage who's still in Gaza had a message for the Israeli prime minister.

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EINAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translator): Netanyahu, don't bury the hostages. Go now with the mediators and to the public and present a new Israeli initiative. Time is running out for my Matan and the other hostages in the tunnels.

You've got a victory photo, now bring a deal. If Netanyahu will not use this momentum and present a new Israeli initiative now, even at the price of ending the war, it means that he has decided to abandon my Matan and the rest of the hostages with the aim of prolonging the war and securing his rule. We will not give up until they all return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The families of the hostages are all pleading for action to get their loved ones released as soon as possible, of course.

And Amit Segal is an Israeli journalist and the chief political analyst for Israel's Channel 12. He joins me now from Jerusalem. Thank you so much for your time today.

I just want to pick up on what Nada was saying there about how Netanyahu and his government might react to this because obviously there's a huge amount of will from all of Israel's allies for a peace deal. But the other question is whether he uses the motivation from this latest killing to push ahead with finishing off Hamas and continuing that wider war with those Iran-backed groups.

AMIT SEGAL, ISRAELI JOURNALIST: So first of all, we have to say that the world is better today and even Gaza is better today. Sinwar was an architect of death. And the fact that he was killed by a private in the Israeli army, almost by coincidence, is something which is quite symbolic.

What we see now is that Israel does have a strategy against its enemies and we're watching it unfold before our eyes. And it's going from one dictator to the other, eliminating the threat. It began with Hamas, then it moved to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and next might be Iran.

So after Sinwar's removal from this scene, I think it's quite a symbolic moment. But more than that, it gives a chance to move forward in directions that might not have been possible before.

FOSTER: A meeting of senior ministers today.

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What's top of the agenda there, do you think? What happened in Gaza or what's currently happening in Lebanon and plans for Iran?

SEGAL: I think what we understood following October 7th last year was that it's basically the same war. We are fighting against the arms of the octopus sitting in Tehran. Hamas was acting half independently, but you saw it invoked a war against Hezbollah.

Hezbollah started rocketing Israel almost a year ago, and then the Houthis from Yemen, and then Iran. So perhaps the solution should be not isolated, not merely to Gaza. We have a war between the axis of resistance, as they call themselves, Iran and its allies, and Israel and the moderate Arab-Muslim state.

So I guess the killing of Sinwar signals two things. One is that the only place on earth in which the Muslim Brotherhood controlled a ground, a state, an alleged state like Gaza, no longer exists. It's quite important for both Saudi Arabia, the end rates, and of course for Israel.

And the second thing is that it opens the door for a wider agreement, a wider agreement between Israel and its partners, and the United States and Europe, how to fight those enemies that actually threaten the lives of many, many Israelis, Westerns, and the Arabs alike.

FOSTER: I know that in Israel there's a lot of sympathy for that view, but taking all of those areas as one, there is an exception, surely, with Gaza, because Palestinians, civilians away from Hamas, are trapped there. They can't go anywhere, which is why people are pushing for some sort of ceasefire, particularly hard there. They can move out of the danger zone in Lebanon and potentially in Iran as well, and you could argue that in Yemen as well. But, you know, Gaza is an exceptional case because it's surrounded and no one can get out. So they need extra support, at least in terms of aid or some way of getting to safety.

SEGAL: So perhaps it wasn't a good idea to initiate a war against Israel and kill and massacre and rape more than 1,200 Israelis. I think that could have been something else, and I think the solution might be combining the moderate Muslim Arab states, but now Israel has to win the war. And in order to win the war and bring back the hostages, it has to attack Hamas in Gaza, which is, by the way, was elected democratically by the Palestinians and enjoys the popular support of the Gazans. 70 percent of Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, in Judea and Samaria, actually support the October 7th massacre.

It's not a dictatorship or a murderous dictatorship that just emerged and took over the country. No, they actually won the popular vote in Gaza, and they enjoy, even today, the support of Gazans. Now, if we take a look at what happens in Gaza, I think the solution is by actually enabling something else to emerge.

So Israel does provide humanitarian supply, by the way. I think it's the only incidence in the last 50 years in which one side gives its enemy huge humanitarian aid. It's not the case in Ukraine, it wasn't the case in World War II, it wasn't the case in the Falkland War, etc., and once Hamas is eliminated and the killing of Sinwar is a crucial step on the way to actually have a different leadership, a different government in Gaza.

FOSTER: Amit Segal in Jerusalem with your particular point of view. Thank you very much indeed for joining us today.

The Hamas leader's death is expected to take center stage in President Biden's meetings in Germany, which are set to get underway any moment now.

Mr. Biden is about to meet Germany's President and Chancellor and receive one of Germany's top honors. Later, they'll be joined by the French and British leaders for talks that were supposed to focus on Ukraine and the Middle East, but two Western officials tell CNN the discussions are now expected to zero in on Sinwar's death and how it could affect the outcome of the war in Gaza.

CNN's Kayla Tausche is monitoring developments. She joins us now from Berlin. She is currently going to come in to us, but we're going to come back to her in just a moment when the connection is there.

But as allies meet in Berlin, Ukraine's President is pitching his victory plan to the European Union and NATO.

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He was in Brussels on Thursday where he spoke at a summit of EU leaders and a meeting of NATO defense ministers. The final day of their meeting got underway earlier this morning. The alliance has promised to allow Ukraine to join, but the timeline is unclear. That's partly because of concerns that Ukraine's full membership could pit NATO directly against Moscow.

Can we speak to Kayla now? I think we can. Otherwise, we will move on. Hi, Kayla. Just take us through the debate and how Sinwar will play into this, because, of course, there's going to be a lot of talk about protecting civilians in Gaza in particular.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that has been a focus of the Biden administration even up to this point just a few days ago, Max. The Biden administration sent a letter to Israel and said that if the humanitarian situation in Gaza does not improve, then there would potentially be new conditions placed on aid that the U.S. provides to Israel.

And remember that many of the European allies in discussions with the U.S. at the UN General Assembly just a few weeks ago had all been pushing for a ceasefire, a temporary three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And so allies have been working behind the scenes for many weeks, many months at this point to try to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. And officials tell me that now with Sinwar's death, this is appearing to be a watershed moment in this conflict.

Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and when he relayed his conversation to reporters upon arriving in Berlin last night, he said that now is the time to move on, now is the time for the war to end, in Biden's words.

So that will certainly be front and center in the meetings that President Biden has here in Berlin today. We expect him to arrive at the palace and then the Chancellery for official meetings with the President and the Chancellor of Germany to discuss the alliance between the U.S. and Germany, of course, with the election looming in the United States and things like aid for Ukraine now uncertain -- Max.

FOSTER: Also got this huge wish list, hasn't he, from Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I don't think any diplomats realistically think he's going to get the full list, but what can President Biden offer to the Ukrainian president?

TAUSCHE: Well, certainly, Zelenskyy's victory plan has now been shared privately with all allies and now publicly to his own parliament, although Zelenskyy says that there are three bullet points on that victory plan that will still remain secret, that are just going to remain behind closed doors.

All allies have continued to usher in drawdowns of aid to Ukraine, Germany just with a new $1.5 billion tranche last week, and the U.S. when Zelenskyy visited Washington back in September with a multibillion-dollar drawdown of its own.

But certainly allies are divided on what happens next. They agree that Ukraine faces real challenges on the battlefield as this war continues in a protracted manner and faces yet another difficult winter where Zelenskyy is warning of potential nuclear war. But they remain divided on how to move beyond that, how to tackle that. We know that the U.K. prime minister has suggested that U.K.-made

long-range missiles should be allowed to be used deeper inside of Russia. It is unclear whether President Biden has come around to that idea, although some amount of time has passed since they've discussed that, so we will see whether any progress is made, but we don't expect any specific deliverables at least happening from today's meeting -- Max.

FOSTER: Kayla Tausche in Berlin following those meetings for us. Thank you so much.

Now, still to come, election officials in North Carolina saw a terrific turnout for the first day of early voting, even though people are still recovering from Hurricane Helene.

Plus, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are fighting to convince any undecided voters with only 18 days left in the race. We'll have the latest from the campaign trail for you.

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FOSTER: We are now only 18 days away from the presidential election in the U.S. and North Carolina saw long lines at the polls on Thursday as early voting got underway. That's despite devastation in parts of the state wrought by Hurricane Helene. Election officials say more than 200,000 people cast their ballots as of Thursday afternoon, touting terrific turnout statewide.

It comes after the pivotal swing state of Georgia saw record numbers when early in-person voting began this week.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are locked in a tight race with only 18 days left, as I say, until the election in the U.S. Both candidates are expected to make a stop in the same county in Michigan later today.

Former President Donald Trump attended the Al Smith charity dinner for Catholics in New York on Thursday night. He slammed Kamala 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.

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TRUMP: 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)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, in a new podcast, Trump continued his attacks on what he calls the radical left. Earlier this week, he described them as the enemy within on Fox News, and suggested using the military to handle them. Here's what he told the PBD podcast that aired on Thursday.

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TRUMP: There is a sort of a deep state. And a lot of that's people that have been there.

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And then there's some bad guys, there's some bad people. Then there's a radical left, which I think are more dangerous in many ways than the other countries. I really do. You know, guys like shifty Adam Schiff and other people. They're bad people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris made multiple campaign stops on Thursday in Wisconsin, a critical blue wall state. She slammed Trump's comments on women's health care issues, saying her rival, quote, has no idea of what he's talking about.

CNN's Eve McKend is there in Wisconsin with more.

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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. 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.

HARRIS: He is the one who, by the 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.

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still ahead, Israel achieves a key military goal of its war in Gaza with the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. A look at his legacy and what's next for Hamas when we return after the break.

And what effect will Sinwar's death have on the escalating crisis across the Middle East?

We'll talk about it ahead on CNN.