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CNN International: Hamas Confirms Yahya Sinwar's Death; Biden Meets With U.S. Allies In Berlin On Middle East, Ukraine; Biden Wraps Up Visit To Berlin, Set To Return To U.S.. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 18, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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OMAR JIMENEZ, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.
Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, with the head of Hamas now dead, we're live in Tel Aviv with a look at where the war in Gaza goes from here. Plus, President Biden overseas with U.S. allies, focusing on another war, the war in Ukraine. We will take you live to Berlin for the latest. And with just 18 days until the U.S. elections, we're going to take a look at how the political divide is causing anxiety among some voters during the election cycle.
All right, everyone. We're going start in the Middle East. Enemy eliminated, more than one year of intense manhunts ended with the death of Israel's most wanted man. Hamas now confirming that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, is dead. Israel says Hamas' top chief was killed in a chance encounter following a routine ground patrol by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
And this is newly released video from the Israeli Defense Forces, showing the moment the building where Sinwar war was located was fired on. We want to take you to that same building where Sinwar was tracked by an Israeli drone after a tank fired on the building. The IDF released the footage of what they say were the final moments before his death. You can see him sitting in that chair there, covered in dust, Sinwar later on then throws to what appears to be a stick at the drone. That happens later on in the video. Sinwar was considered the mastermind of the October 7th terror attacks, and his death is sparking a possible pivotal moment for the war in Gaza, opening up what some see as a major opportunity for progress.
U.S. President Joe Biden has this message for Israel.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The death of the leader of Hamas represents a moment of justice. He had the blood of Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands. I told the Prime Minister of Israel yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas. And I look forward to discussing Iran. (END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, Hamas says they won't free the remaining hostages until Israel ends the war, fully withdraws from Gaza, and releases Palestinian prisoners.
I want to go now to Tel Aviv, where our Jeremy Diamond is standing by with the latest for us. So, Jeremy, obviously a big moment here. But, are there signs that this could actually change things on the -- in the grand scheme of things?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is certainly some hope that it could change things in the grand scheme of things, some optimism that we are hearing from U.S. officials who view this moment as somewhat of a golden opportunity for Israel to wind down its war in Gaza and secure some kind of a deal that would free the hostages, 97 of whom were taken on, on October 7th, who still remain in the Gaza Strip.
But, there are also a lot of questions about whether or not this opportunity will actually be seized by both sides. And we heard last night from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made very clear that this does not mark the end of the war in Gaza, but he did describe it as the beginning of the day after Hamas effectively signaling that there is a possibility here for Sinwar's death to be a major inflection point that could lead to the end of the war, that could lead to the end of Hamas' rule in Gaza, and ultimately, that could lead to the freeing of the hostages. But, for now, all of that is quite theoretical.
We do know, though, that top Israeli officials involved in the negotiations over ceasefire and hostage negotiations, they have been convening. The Israeli Prime Minister today had a security consultation to discuss a slew of issues looming in the region, including Iran as well. But, added to the agenda today was very much this issue of the hostages and what comes next following Sinwar's death.
We do know, of course, that the Israeli government believes it has effectively broken down Hamas' military structure in Gaza already, but there are still thousands of Hamas fighters in Gaza who continue to act against the Israeli military as a guerrilla force. And whether or not they -- whether they lay down their arms, it doesn't seem quite likely at this point. And so, the question is, how much further does the Israeli government, does the Israeli Prime Minister want to take this war? At what point does he decide that he has achieved the kind of picture of victory that he needs to bring this conflict to an end and to actually strike some kind of a deal?
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JIMENEZ: And I know you mentioned some of it there, but with Sinwar taken out, and obviously, we had seen previously the political side of things, Ismail Haniyeh taken out as well, I mean, who ultimately is now making the decisions for Gaza, even from a military standpoint, but even if there were to be renewed negotiations for any sort of ceasefire?
DIAMOND: Well, that's one of the major questions, and it's why half of this equation, of course, does rely on the Israeli government, on what Netanyahu decides following the killing of Yahya Sinwar. But, another part of it is going to depend on who actually succeeds Sinwar, and whether there is actually somebody on the other side who is willing to make a deal. We know, of course, that Sinwar's brother, Mohammed Sinwar, has been closely involved in directing Hamas' military activities in Gaza. He is not necessarily viewed as someone who could kind of take on the political helm of Hamas, but of course, he is in Gaza.
And the other slew of potential contenders to replace Sinwar as the ultimate head of Hamas are largely outside of the Gaza Strip. You have Khaled Meshaal, for example, Mousa Abu Marzouk, the Deputy Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau. And then there is another figure who is very important to keep in mind here, and that is Khalil Al-Hayya, who has been deeply involved in the ceasefire and hostage negotiations. He is based in Qatar. He has had extensive engagements with the mediators over these negotiations. He is certainly someone who the United States believes could be someone they could deal with in terms of actually striking a ceasefire and hostage deal. But, again, he is outside of Gaza. And so, it's going to be interesting to see how Hamas kind of reorganizes itself, where they choose to put the power in terms of leadership.
But, in the meantime, there is a very real risk of chaos in the ranks of Hamas putting the lives of the hostages at risk. It is something that Israeli officials have raised with me as a concern that they have for the lives of the hostages. What will the captors of these hostages do in the absence of a clear kind of leadership, a clear direction for where this is all headed, and could they potentially also be inclined to take revenge actions by killing the hostages in the wake of Sinwar's death? These are some real-time questions that Israeli officials are posing themselves right now. I do think it will certainly take some days, if not weeks, before we actually get a sense of what the leadership of Hamas actually looks like, and the likelihood that some kind of a deal could be struck.
JIMENEZ: A lot of possibilities in this moment. Jeremy Diamond really appreciate it.
I want to now bring in the former Consul General of Israel in New York, Alon Pinkas. Thank you for being here. I want to start with where we left off with Jeremy, sort of this opportunity of sorts, because President Biden, Vice President Harris, Defense Secretary for the United States Lloyd Austin, have all been among those in the Biden administration who have said, this is an opportunity for progress. What do you believe that progress actually and maybe realistically looks like?
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL, NEW YORK: Pretty dim, I have to say, Omar. The President, the Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, whom I understand is being dispatched here early next week, they're all going to encounter the same issue and the same problem and the same obstacle to a ceasefire and hostage deal, and that is Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. He does not want a deal. And everyone is trying, in the last 24 hours or so, to make this an opportunity, to define this as an inflection point. Jeremy Diamond did. Even I did earlier or yesterday on another show on this channel.
But, the truth of the matter is that Mr. Netanyahu never had political goals, which is why, assuming he has achieved them, is wrong. He never had coherent, attainable political goals for Gaza, Omar. Now, furthermore, in his mind, this is not a war against Hamas in Gaza, but this is now a war on three fronts, conceivably even for, in Gaza, in south Lebanon, bilaterally and directly with Iran. And the fourth possible front would be in the West Bank. So, assuming that we will pursue a ceasefire and a hostage deal in Gaza, separate from all other theaters, I think is a wrong assumption.
JIMENEZ: And a lot of those groups have fought in solidarity, I should say, with a lot of what Hamas has fought for as well. I want to play something really quickly from the head of the IDF in response to the killing. Take a listen.
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HERZI HALEVI, IDF CHIEF OF STAFF (Interpreted): We said we would get to him, and indeed we got to him. The world is now a better place without him. Israel will continue to pursue and eliminate anyone who threatens the civilians of the State of Israel. We will not stop until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7th massacre and bring all the hostages home.
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JIMENEZ: So, obviously, Sinwar, as Israel says, masterminded October 7th.
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But also, I think it's no question, Israel has been very successful in taking out the leaders of its opposition, even with Hezbollah, and then, of course, Hamas on both the political and military side of things. But, my question is, do you assess that same level of success when it comes to the aspect of getting the hostages home?
PINKAS: No. Absolutely not. I mean --
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
PINKAS: -- in terms of getting the hostages, it is nothing but an abject failure or a conscious decision not to cut a deal, not to pursue that option. I'll tell you more than that, Omar. Yahya Sinwar should have been killed 10 times, if that were possible, but should have been killed, could and should have been killed after a ceasefire and a hostage deal, not instead, and not before. Now we're stuck with a situation in which he has been killed for good reasons and justifiable reasons, as were Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and his -- and Sinwar's deputy Mohammed Deif in southern Gaza, as for that matter was Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, but that's a different opera altogether. But, all three of these were assassinated by Israel, again, justifiably, and they deserve their faith.
Notwithstanding, there are still anywhere between 75 and 100 hostages in Gaza. We assume -- we have to assume that all of them are alive, although we are realists and assume -- and have to also assume that maybe just half are alive. We don't know who, we don't know where, and now we're stuck with Hamas that has been splintering and will continue to splinter into little terrorist gangs roaming around Gaza, each owning, quote, unquote, "a number of hostages". That makes it very difficult to reach a deal.
JIMENEZ: And I want to -- I wonder your thoughts on the release of some of the final images of Sinwar seen by drone after a tank had fired on the building --
PINKAS: Yeah.
JIMENEZ: -- sitting in a chair, wrapped up, holding a piece of wood in his hands, and the Foreign Minister of Iran is now calling that image a source of inspiration, and that Sinwar did not fear death, but sought martyrdom in Gaza. Do you think it was a mistake to release that video? Do you see it that dynamic being a major factor in what happens next year?
PINKAS: Well, I didn't like the pictures, and I didn't like the pictures not because it would turn this vile terrorist into a martyr. I'm not afraid of that. I did not like the pictures or the images because it is war porn. Excuse the expression. And I just don't like seeing these images. Yes, I understand that on a very visceral level, people feel sort of closure, sort of satisfaction, sort of justice served, sort of revenge exacted. Fine. I understand that. Again, on a human level, the pictures themselves, I could do very well without.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Yeah. Alon Pinkas, I got to leave it there, but I really appreciate your time and perspective. Thanks for being here.
PINKAS: Thank you, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Of course. All right. We're keeping an eye on, any moment now, Air Force One will be wheels up, and President Joe Biden is set to return to the United States following a high-stakes visit to Berlin. Now, earlier, President Biden met with the so-called European Quad, which includes leaders from Germany, France and the United Kingdom. It comes, of course, on the heels of news of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but the focus of their meeting also centered around Ukraine.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen has the latest from Berlin for us. So, Fred, much of today's agenda has been on the war in Ukraine, which is obviously ongoing. What more can you tell us about that?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It certainly has, Omar. And I think one of the main reasons why these four leaders wanted to come together today is to reassess and strengthen their leadership as far as Ukraine is concerned. One of the things that we heard, for instance, from President Joe Biden, after he received the Order of Merit from the German government, and a very emotional moment for him, is he said that Germany had really stepped up when it came to supporting Ukraine and really made a big difference as far as that's concerned.
And if you look at Germany today, it certainly is very different than at the beginning of Russia's full-on invasion of Ukraine. Well, you remember, the German government at that time offered to send 5,000 helmets, and that was it at the beginning. Now, the Germans are sending main battle tanks and other heavy equipment to the Ukrainians, and a lot of that had to do with the relationship between President Biden and Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany.
If you look back at some of the times that the Germans have really given that heavy weaponry, a lot of that only happened after the U.S. did the same thing. The U.S. gave HIMARS multiple rocket launching systems to the Ukrainians. The Germans gave their version of that, called the MARS, and it was only after the Germans had convinced President Biden to give some of those M1A1 main battle tanks to the Ukrainians that the Germans then opened the door for the delivery of Leopard Two main battle tanks to the Ukrainians as well.
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So, a lot of the Western support really centers around these four nations, if you will, the Germans, the Americans, and then, of course, also the Brits and the French as well, when you're talking about missiles, for instance. So, all of that makes these nations very important.
And I think right now, as President Biden is in the final months of his term, and it's really uncertain how all of this is going to move forward, once again, they wanted to show their resolve and strengthen their resolve as well. One of the things, of course, that they haven't decided to do yet is give Ukraine the permission to use some of the weapons that they have already given to the Ukrainians that could then strike at Russia longer distance, to use those to strike deep into Russia. That hasn't happened yet, and that's certainly something where the Ukrainians are saying they really need those capabilities if they want to stop some of the Russian advances that we've seen over the past couple of months, but also if they want to try and turn the tide of that war, Omar.
JIMENEZ: And Fred, as you're speaking, we're seeing what appears to be President Biden making his way to Air Force One right now. Obviously, this is a trip of utmost importance, one for the reasons that you mentioned, of course, centering on the war in Ukraine and strength among NATO allies. But also, Fred, no doubt the developments in the Middle East was also at the top of the agenda today as well. What did you hear on that front?
PLEITGEN: Yeah, absolutely, race to the top of the agenda. And certainly, as we see President Biden about to depart Berlin, at the military part of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, I think you're absolutely right to ascertain that this was a very important visit for the U.S. President because of what happened in the Middle East, of course, on a personal level as well, to receive that Order of Merit. But, of course, he was in the air, in Air Force One when he got word of the killing of Yahya Sinwar, which I think the President hopes, and he has certainly said that he hopes, could change the dynamic in the Middle East, could change the dynamic in Gaza as well, because, of course, there is calls in the United States, there is calls internationally to try and get some sort of ceasefire going.
And I thought it was quite interesting. But, of course, the first -- well, one of the first phone calls the U.S. President made was to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to congratulate him on the killing of Yahya Sinwar, but then also to say that he hopes that this could be a step forward to an improvement of the situation, possibly even a ceasefire, because we know that that war is obviously taking a massive toll on the civilian population in Gaza, but at the same time, is also a big problem for the Biden administration as well, as so far, they really haven't come to terms with trying to support Israel, on the one hand, but then also trying to set the conditions for the civilian population of Gaza to be protected from the worst things that that war brings with it, of course, the violence, but then also, of course, the lack of supply for so many people who are on the ground there, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. And Fred, obviously, that's a dynamic that we've seen play out on the political campaign trail here in the United States as well, as we approach Election Day here.
But, one interesting thing is we're watching President Biden appears to be greeting some supporters, and we know reporters are in the area as well there, as he prepares to depart Germany. He was supposed to come out here last week, and then we had the hurricane here in the United States. He delayed that trip, rescheduled it to this point, and it became, in some ways, a crucial rescheduling or delay, because in that time, Yahya Sinwar was killed, and it, of course, changed or at least has the potential to change a lot of the dynamics that we're seeing in this war. There is Secretary of State Antony Blinken from the United States.
And Fred, I'm curious, I know you've been traveling all across the region, including to Iran as well, but I'm curious if, in preparation for last week's meeting, if the dynamics, whether on the German side, UK side or otherwise, changed at all when they were going to now meet the President, given this latest news? Did you get a sense of that? I'm not sure how much you spoke to officials last week as well.
PLEITGEN: Yeah. I think that they've changed a great deal, and they certainly have changed a lot since yesterday with the killing of Yahya Sinwar. And if you look back, you're absolutely right that this meeting is in a completely different context this week than it would have been if the U.S. President would have traveled here last week, when he was supposed to, because at that point in time, you'll recall that he wasn't just going to go to Berlin, but he was also going to go to Ramstein, to their chair, the Ramstein contact group, to obviously get more aid for Ukraine going. The U.S. President, of course, at that point in time, still hasn't made any sort of decision on the use of those longer-distance weapons.
But, it would have been an important show of force, because also, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, was there on the ground in Ramstein as well, and just to show the world and how that picture of the two together, obviously, would have been something that would have been extremely important for the Ukrainians, also for the Europeans, to show that the United States still backs Ukraine trying to win that war, and still backs the aid for Ukraine. Of course, a lot of them are quite concerned about what the future could bring with the U.S. election up in the air at the moment.
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But, right now, the dynamic has changed to a certain extent.
One of the things that we saw, which I thought was quite interesting, is with the spokesman of the National Security Council, John Kirby. He came out and he said that the agenda of the meeting really hasn't changed, that Ukraine was still very much the centerpiece, also of that European Quad meeting. But, of course, the killing of Yaya Sinwar definitely changed the equation to a certain extent, and that right now, the whole framework internationally has changed to a certain degree, and a lot of things that yesterday may have been set in stone are not the same way anymore.
Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, of course, is in Brussels today, for instance, and he also said that he believes that this could be an opportunity to move things forward on the ground in Gaza, to possibly try and get some sort of ceasefire going, that the dynamic there may change with the killing of Yahya Sinwar, and maybe there could be a ceasefire in the cards in the not too distant future.
So, the Germans, the UK, the French and the U.S. are all confronted with a completely different situation in the Middle East, where possibly things could be possible that were not so before that they believed were not so before. And all of that, obviously, makes for a completely different thing, and definitely also something that, for instance, Olaf Scholz and President Biden spoke about as well in their bilateral meeting.
If you look at the readout, it was very short that came out after that meeting, and there was no real press conference either. They did say that the Middle East, aside from Ukraine, was one of the two main topics that the two men did talk about, and they will have spoken about what they believe the future could look like, because so many things have changed in the context of the Middle East over the past couple of weeks, with the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, with, of course, the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel, and still that impending possible Israeli answer to that, and what that's going to look like, the deployment of U.S. THAAD missiles to Israel, that will also make a difference on the ground as well.
And these are all things now, with the killing of Yahya Sinwar, that, of course, extremely important in the wider context of how everybody, including the Israelis, including the U.S., and of course, including the European nations, move forward in dealing with that situation in the Middle East, and trying to deal with the core issue that's bringing a lot of that instability in the Middle East, which is, of course, that conflict that's ongoing in Gaza, Omar. JIMENEZ: Fred, I really appreciate you for all of that perspective. But, of course, as you mentioned, the big centerpiece of this was keeping attention on the war in Ukraine that maybe, to the outside eye, has not had as many significant developments as, let's just say, Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas, but at the same time, very significant for those on the ground, and I know you were recently looking at some of the drone warfare that Ukraine has employed in that war there as well. Fred, really appreciate the time and perspective.
All right. We're going to shift things a little bit here to the United States, where there are just 18 days left in a race for the White House that's been unlike any other. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are ramping up attacks on each other as they campaign in the same battleground state today. Plus, fans mourn the death of Liam Payne.
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We're going to have new details around the former One Direction singer's last moments, as the investigation into his death continues. The latest, ahead.
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JIMENEZ: Devastated family, friends and fans continue to pay tribute to former One Direction star Liam Payne. Payne died Wednesday after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31-years-old. Questions remain, though, about Payne's tragic fall. Local investigators say it appears he was alone when he fell. Officials say Payne may not have been fully conscious when he died because of the position in which they found his body, and they say a series of substances were seized from his hotel room.
Anna Stewart joins us from London now. So, what is the latest that we know on the investigation into his death?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, currently, the focus of the investigation from the prosecutors are looking at the nature of the fall, as you said, was this a jump, or was this some sort of accidental fall, and they do point to the position of the body and suggest that perhaps Liam Payne was semi-conscious or unconscious at the time, and also, trying to figure out what happened in the hours before this tragic accident or tragic moment. Six witnesses have now testified to police. So, that will feed into the prosecutor's report. And of course, there will be a toxicology report and substances that were seized in the hotel room.
This death is really resonating with people all over the world. Liam Payne wasn't just famous. He was someone who people really watched grow up from a very young age. He first went on X Factor when he was just 14-years-old, and people very much felt that they rode the success of One Direction, the band, and saw them, of course, through many years as they were all teenagers becoming adult men. The tributes are incredible, one, from the band, One Direction, the former band says, "We are completely devastated by the news of Liam's passing. 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. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. We love you, Liam."
Now, Liam Payne had been very vocal about his issues around substance abuse, about his mental health. This was something people were aware of, and that's also feeding into the story, could more have been done for Liam and sort of the other young pop stars, I suppose, in recent years and currently? Can more be done to protect them as they rise to fame? Liam once famously said that, as One Direction became more famous, in an interview, he said that, actually, to secure the band members, they just kind of kept them in their rooms and hotels. And he, for one, would just have a party for one, and that continued for some years.
So, questions being raised as to whether more could be done at this stage, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Well, so many people following these details closely. Anna Stewart, really appreciate it.
Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, we're covering a lot of news here, including what the death of Hamas leader Yaya Sinwar could mean for the war in Gaza. We're going to have live reports from London and the Pentagon. Stay with us.
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JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.
The future of the Israel-Hamas war is in question, and the fate of the remaining hostages uncertain, following the death of Hamas leader Yaya Sinwar. Now, the group has confirmed Sinwar is dead, killed, apparently by Israel in Gaza on Wednesday, and this new video shows what the Israel Defense Forces says is the moment IDF troops fired on the building where Sinwar was hiding. Now, the killing of Sinwar, who was the chief architect of the brutal October 7th attacks, was a big step toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated goal of wiping out Hamas' leadership, but it doesn't necessarily mean an end to the war.
We've got team coverage of this story. Oren Liebermann is standing by at the Pentagon. But first, I want to go to Salma Abdelaziz in London. So, Salma, what signs are there that Sinwar's death could actually change things on the ground in Gaza?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, let's begin with the statements, Omar, just to give our viewers an understanding. We're seeing these comments coming out of the White House, of D.C., essentially expressing hope, expressing optimism, that the killing of Yahya Sinwar could be the breakthrough in peace talks. You're hearing U.S. officials describing Yahya Sinwar as that obstacle, essentially, that needed to be removed for a path towards peace to be paved.
But, when you look at the facts on the ground, it is very difficult to see that as nothing -- anything more than rhetoric, Omar, especially at a time when the White House is trying to put pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to the negotiating table. Yahya Sinwar's death will, of course, deal a major blow to Hamas. But, there is already talk of succession, and it's likely that whoever will replace him will continue the policies that he believed in, a very hard line approach to negotiations as well.
You can't -- you see any overnight shift here in terms of ideology when you speak about the names that are in line for succession, potentially, Mohammed Sinwar, his brother, the second negotiator, second in command in Hamas, again, somebody who is a close follower of Sinwar, Khaled Meshaal, all of these figures who would carry on that same ideology. And then you have to look at this, of course, from Prime Minister Netanyahu's side, who has also been seen as an obstacle in these negotiations. So, how this unlocks this loggerhead? Very difficult to imagine at this time with the killing of Yahya Sinwar.
JIMENEZ: And of course, there are so many countries and dynamics and militaries and militias at play here.
Oren, U.S. President Biden says maybe Sinwar's death can present an opportunity for what he called a day after in Gaza. I mean, is there renewed hope from a U.S. military side, from U.S. administration side? Is there a renewed hope for not just an end to the war, but a release of the hostages as well?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: A renewed hope, certainly, yes, but just because that door is open does not mean that the U.S. believes and that the administration believes that everybody is ready to simply jump through it, and we get to a day after plan and there is peace in the region. Nobody is that naive about how the last year has gone to believe that this is simply within reach now and it's going to come to fruition here in the next days.
There is certainly an optimism that true progress can be made, and perhaps it can be made quickly, but nobody expects that that's certainly going to happen. There is still hard work to be done here. Part of that depends, as Salma pointed out, on Hamas. There has to be a succession here. Israel, Qatar, Egypt, have to know with whom they are negotiating. Hamas may have to create a process to get to a succession plan to name another leader, and then you still need to negotiate here. So far, Hamas' position is effectively the same as it was, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more willing to consider that, now that he has taken out the number one person on his target list, i.e., Yahya Sinwar? Well, that depends on Netanyahu's own politics in the Israeli government. So, there are complex political negotiations that still need to happen here. There is a window here, and there are certainly some in the administration who see a door open where there wasn't one simply a few weeks ago, as negotiations had effectively ended and there was no movement there.
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So, there is work here. There is a window that they're hoping they can move forward through, and that's the focus now. But, nobody knows definitely how this goes or how this process plays out in the immediate future, Omar.
JIMENEZ: We will see. Oren Liebermann, Salma Abdelaziz, really appreciate you both.
All right. Some breaking news we want to share with you. Special Counsel Jack Smith is releasing a trove of documents in his 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump. Now, the documents are, as they often are, heavily redacted. They're expected to include the grand jury transcripts and notes from FBI interviews. On Thursday, the judge in the case rejected a bid by the former President to put the unsealing of the documents on hold until after the election. As a reminder, Trump is charged with four crimes, including conspiracy and obstruction.
I want to bring in CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez here. So, what are we seeing in these documents? What's the significance of this release?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an important document because it is basically the evidence, the underpinning of this case that Jack Smith, the Special Counsel, has built against Donald Trump. And of course, all of this hangs on the election. If Donald Trump wins the election, this case probably will die, right? But, if he loses, we will see him go on trial, most likely sometime next year, and this is one of the cases that has that potential. And so, what these documents that were released by the court, by Judge Tanya Chutkan this morning, these are -- a lot of them, as you pointed out, are redacted. We're seeing a lot of blank pages that simply say "sealed", Omar.
But, we also have a lot of documents that are -- that show a little bit about what Jack Smith has gathered as part of this investigation, and part of it, one of them, for instance, is the January 6 tweet that Donald Trump sent, @Mike Pence, which the argument from the prosecutors is that that helped sort of propel the crowd on the day of that attack against the U.S. Capitol. The tweet read that Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done. There is also documents from John Eastman, a lawyer for Trump, who outlined essentially the entire playbook for what they thought or what they said was Mike Pence's ability to block the election results.
Now, addressing a question or an issue that the former President has raised, his lawyers have said that it was unfair to release these documents 18 days from the election, that this is essentially election interference. Judge Chutkan, in denying their request to keep these documents under wrap, addressed that, and I'll read you just a part of what she says. She says, "If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it and withholding, but withholding could itself constitute or appear to be election interference." She is saying, we have to put this out simply because the public has a right to know.
Now, we will be going through these documents, about 2,000 pages, but we'll see what else turns up in this trove of information that has now been released by the court. Omar.
JIMENEZ: Yeah, we will see. Evan Perez, really appreciate it.
All right. It's a longstanding tradition. A New York Catholic fundraiser where for one night presidential candidates put aside the partisan bickering and pot shots, well, Donald Trump didn't really have much of that. We're going to tell you what he said about Kamala Harris for being a no-show at the event.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a few self- deprecating jokes this evening. So, here it goes. Nope. I've got nothing.
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JIMENEZ: That was Donald Trump taking something of a jab at himself at the Al Smith Catholic charity dinner in New York, which is traditionally a stop for presidential candidates in an election year. He also ripped Vice President Kamala Harris for not attending the event, calling her decision to campaign in Wisconsin instead "deeply disrespectful". Harris did, however, send a video, taking jabs at her opponent, with some help from a famous Catholic schoolgirl, Molly Shannon, Saturday Night Live character, Mary Katherine Gallagher.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is there anything that you think that maybe I shouldn't bring up tonight?
MOLLY SHANNON, PLAYING HER FAMOUS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE RECURRING CHARACTER MARY KATHERINE GALLAGHER: Don't lie. Thou shall not bear a false witness to thy neighbor.
HARRIS: Indeed, especially thy neighbor's election results.
SHANNON: Just so you know, there will be a fact-checker there tonight. HARRIS: Oh, that's great. Who?
SHANNON: Jesus, and maybe don't say anything negative about Catholics.
HARRIS: I would never do that, no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.
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JIMENEZ: Both candidates will be in battleground Michigan on Friday, where, to her reference, Donald Trump did criticize Detroit while visiting Detroit. But, both of them will be even visiting the same county within hours of each other. And earlier, Donald Trump made an appearance on Fox News and was asked whether former Republican rival Nikki Haley could still play a role in his campaign.
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BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS HOST: There is a segment of the Republican Party that likes Nikki Haley, and they are reluctant to jump into your column. She wants to help. She said, if he calls me, I'm there. You guys used to be tied. In the last 18 days, will you call her and say, come out with me?
TRUMP: Yeah. I'll do what I have to do.
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JIMENEZ: CNN's is Isaac Dovere is tracking the Harris campaign, and our Steve Contorno is following the Trump camp.
Isaac, I want to start with you, because obviously Michigan central in this next phase of campaigning. How important, though, is Michigan to Harris right now? I mean, how difficult will it be, I guess I should say, for her to take the state?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Remember, in 2016, Michigan was decided by 10,704 votes. That's it. In 2020, it was a bigger margin for Biden. Trump won in 16. And it does seem like the state is going into crunch time here again, with the polls tightening there and a feeling that it is a dogfight through the end. Early voting is beginning. That's part of why we're seeing the candidates spending time there today, but they will be back there a lot over the course of the next 18 days until the election. And it's not just what they're going to be doing in person. It's the way that they are appealing to voters otherwise, like this video that Barack Obama recorded for Kamala Harris that went out from the campaign yesterday. Let's take a look.
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BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: -- on one side, somebody who really just cares about himself. Everything is about him, 02:00 a.m. tweets and tirades, and Kamala is somebody who comes from modest beginnings, who had to fight for what she had, and that's the kind of person that I'd want to vote for, because I know push comes to shove. She is going to be fighting for me, and that's the kind of President that we need.
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DOVERE: And we're going to see Barack Obama himself in Michigan next week, and we will also see things like Lizzo, the musical star, appearing with Kamala Harris in Michigan. So, it's a big push across every constituent group that they can go for. She is in the Detroit suburbs later tonight. She is with union workers in the afternoon. Before that, it's going after Arab American voters who are upset about the Gaza war. It's going after black voters in Detroit. It's everything, any way that they could find to get those little bits of voters that they need, they think, to get over the top.
JIMENEZ: And this close to the election, I want to bring in Steve Contorno now as well. I mean, that seems to be sort of the priority from the Trump campaign as well in many of the battleground states. But now, let's put that particular focus on Michigan. I mean, how important does the Trump campaign to view Michigan, and how is that being reflected in their strategies here?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: It's critical to them. They know that the blue wall, those states that Trump won in 2016 but Vice President Biden -- or President Biden won in 2020 are going to be the focal point for the rest of this election.
[11:45:00]
And so, you are seeing Donald Trump returning to Michigan for events today. Interestingly, it's his first time back in Detroit since he trashed the city of Detroit last week. It's also a state that you had that clip of him talking about whether or not he bring Nikki Haley out, a reminder that Nikki Haley won about 27 percent of the votes in the GOP primary in Michigan, and this was at a point where the contest seemed all but decided. So, quite a bit of the Republican Party there came out of there in support for Harris, and that is -- or excuse me, Haley, and that is partly because the Republicans in that state have a little bit more of a moderate streak, or at least many of them do, and they do not like the personal attacks and the demeanor of the former President. It's a big reason why they lost.
But yet, we are continuing to see those kinds of attacks from the former President. Take a listen to what he had to say last night at this Al Harris dinner -- Al Smith dinner.
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TRUMP: Right now, we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have mental faculties of a child, is a person that has nothing going, no intelligence whatsoever. But, enough about Kamala Harris.
SHANNON: Don't say anything negative about Catholics.
HARRIS: I would never do that, no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.
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CONTORNO: Now, Trump, I'm hearing from Republicans in the state that there are a lot of concerns about his ground game there. They have taken a very different approach in states like Michigan, where they are trying to turn out people who don't normally vote. I've heard from a number of people who feel like that strategy could potentially backfire, especially in such a tight election.
There are a lot of concerns that they are not doing enough to reach out to voters in places like the Grand Rapids area, where Vice President Harris will be today. That is a part of the state where Nikki Haley got about 30 percent of the vote. It swung from Trump to Biden in the last election, and there are concerns that this part of the state where the politics are more moderate, where there are a lot more suburban voters, where poor people with affluence are moving to, that Trump isn't doing enough to turn those counties back towards Republicans, and is instead focusing too much on people who are very unlikely to vote, at least by historical standards, Omar.
JIMENEZ: And we know, in Michigan, I mean, during the primary process, that was a place that Nikki Haley got a significant number of the votes. So, plenty of voters still on the edge there, really for both parties.
Steve Contorno, Isaac Dovere, thank you both.
All right. If you haven't heard, the political divide in the U.S. has tensions and anxiety running high among voters, no matter which candidate they support. I don't have to tell you that. You probably already know. But, the question is, is election stress really bad for your health, and what's the best way to cope with it?
Joining us now to provide some tips is Dr. Trisha Pasricha, now -- the "Ask A Doctor" Columnist for The Washington Post, and a physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. All right. So, I know every presidential feels like there is a lot at stake. This one feels like it stands out, though. I mean, what do you see typically among your patients every election cycle? What are you seeing now?
DR. TRISHA PASRICHA, M.D., ASK A DOCTOR COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST, & PHYSICIAN, BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER: That's absolutely right. Anxiety tends to spike in the weeks to months leading up to the election cycle, but this cycle has been particularly bad. I think it's for a few reasons. One, I think we haven't really recovered from the general anxiety levels that really ramped up from the pandemic, right? So, there was a poll earlier this year, 43 percent of Americans experienced general anxiety. That's up from 37 percent last year, 32 percent the year before that. So, I don't think we've really recovered from that baseline we started with. I think younger people, teenagers, parents, they're still the hardest hit.
In my clinic, I see people's anxiety manifest in different ways. People are increasingly saying they're having trouble sleeping, right? They're having trouble concentrating at work. People's fearful bowel syndrome is flaring. That happens every election cycle. So, it's affecting a lot of people, and it's happening in a lot of different ways.
JIMENEZ: So, when someone comes to you with any form of those anxiety symptoms, I mean, what do you recommend? What should people be doing here?
PASRICHA: It all depends on the person. But, really the first thing I tell people is to take a break from the news, and especially from social media. So, social media can really become this quagmire of negativity that fuels people's anxiety. And so, a study I often tell my patients about is when researchers were looking at the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, they found that people who spent hours doom scrolling, reading about what happened, they actually had higher levels of acute stress and people who were physically present at the bombing itself. It goes to show how real some of the effects of doom scrolling can have on us.
I tell people, give yourself a break, right? It's important to stay informed, certainly important to vote, but it's not important to get every single hot take that you get over the course of a day by just continuing to read social media.
[11:50:00]
I tell people to give yourself a break. Another trick that I like that I think works really well for a lot of my patients, is to schedule worry time, right? So, that might sound a little bit neurotic. But, I think saying, I'm going to set aside five minutes, 10 minutes, to just think about what is bothering me most about this later in the day, actually kind of gives you permission to just focus on what you have to do at hand, right?
When you have to take your kids to school, you've got to get that presentation done for work, you can really stay in the moment and know that, yeah, I'm going to think about this thing a little bit later. And then, when you have that time, you can say, OK, how is -- what am I most worried about? How is this really affecting me? And I think you can have a more productive conversation with yourself and how to frame it, rather than when your election anxiety is just this constant background noise that's bothering you throughout your whole day.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. I wonder, how does that picture change when you're dealing with adults versus teenagers and children who might not be able to devote, old, age-wise, but they're still caught up in all of this?
PASRICHA: Yeah. And I think you hit on a big issue, which is, I really do think that our teenagers are some of the hardest hit when it comes to anxiety. I also think there is -- they're often, especially younger kids, they're often the ones who feel the most disenfranchised, right? They can't vote. They don't have the agency that you and I have, which is, at least we say we can't change everything about this outcome, but we have this small thing that we can do that does make a difference.
I think the same thing is having these conversations with teenagers and kids modeling that behavior about how you manage your anxiety. Your anxiety as an adult and as a parent really gets picked up on by your kids, and certainly, there is another great study that shows that if you, as a parent, spend a lot of time on social media and riling yourself up, your kids sort of mirror that behavior too. So, I think as much as you can, modeling that behavior really does help when you have kids and teenagers in your house.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. That mirroring behavior is very, very real. All right. Only because I have to ask you about it, but I believe you have a book coming out called "You've Been Pooping All Wrong". So, look, we've been talking about anxiety and stress relief. One would argue that's also a form of stress relief. How have we been pooping all wrong?
PASRICHA: I am so glad you asked me about that. I do have a book coming out. So, I'm a neuro-gastroenterologist, meaning I study the gut brain connection. We have been pooping all wrong, right? We think a lot about how, in some form, how our brain affects our gut. Our anxiety, we know there is a big connection. We were anxious. Think about the next -- last time you had to go singing at karaoke. Maybe you had to have a bowel movement. Why did that happen?
But, this book really talks about how that brain gut connection is two ways, right? The gut really influences our brain, and things that are happening in our gut and in our microbiome, these things have a big effect on our anxiety and depression. So, that's really part of what the book explores, is how we can make pooping a breeze, which I think in this country is something we really don't like talking about with our friends and family, right?
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Well, only it won't be my number two book option that I pick up. I'll make it my number one in this case. Dr. Trisha Pasricha, really appreciate it.
PASRICHA: Thanks for having me, Omar.
JIMENEZ: Thanks for being here. We appreciate your time.
We'll be right back.
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JIMENEZ: And before we go, one more thing. No date, no problem, at least for Andrew Garfield. Movie star Andrew Garfield, he seemed set to walk the red carpet in London by himself on Thursday, while his co- star Florence Pugh was away filming.
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But, as you see, instead of going solo, Garfield brought Pugh along in spirit or in cardboard. Pretty, pretty realistic, if actually -- if you're just scanning by. It is a life-sized cardboard cutout of Pugh. They've been busy promoting their romantic drama "We Live in Time", which opens in theaters worldwide through the rest of the year. But, I can say that's probably the first time I've seen a star bring his co- star in cardboard as well. I don't know if it has the same effect, but at least you can get some pictures and maybe that that look was coordinated as well. I've also heard it's a tearjerker of a movie. So, if you're going bring, the tissues. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Omar Jimenez in New
York. Stick with CNN. One World is up next.
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