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Biden Says, Sinwar's Death an Opportunity to Seek a Path to Peace; Harris, Trump Campaign in Battleground Michigan With 18 Days to Election; Elon Musk Peddles 2020 Election Conspiracies in Town Hall for Trump. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Profane smears, degrading insults, the jabs from former President Trump taking a dark turn at a Catholic charity dinner in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I must say I was shocked when I heard that Kamala was skipping the Al Smith Dinner. I really hoped that she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy.

Barack Hussein Obama, or as you Rush Limbaugh used to say Barack Hussein Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama.

I used to think the Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods. But then I met Tim Walz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Plus Fox News Host Bret Baier coming clean about using the wrong sound bite from Donald Trump during his interview with Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I did make a mistake and I want to say that I did make a mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And later, the fight now heating up to save a Texas death row inmate after his accusation was stopped. with just minutes to spare. I'll speak with Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project.

Good morning on this Friday. I'm Erica Hill in New York in for Jim Acosta. Thanks for joining me in the CNN Newsroom. This morning, gripping new details and videos in the death of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar. Israeli sources say this was actually just a routine military operation in Southern Gaza at a chance encounter that led to Sinwar being killed. Three militants shot at Israeli forces, and when one of them retreated into a building Israel's military sent in this drone.

The video here, pretty remarkable, it actually captures Sinwar's final moments, wounded sitting amid the rubble alone in a chair. He appears to be holding a piece of wood, throws it at the drone. This video from the IDF capturing, of course, the final moments of what was a year- long manhunt. As you can see here, Israeli tanks firing into that building. DNA testing would later confirm the man you just saw sitting in that chair was in fact Sinwar.

Now his death has massive implications across the Middle East and certainly when it comes to Israel's war in Gaza. This morning, President Biden meeting with German leaders in Berlin is calling once again for a ceasefire.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The death of the leader of Hamas represents a moment of justice. He had the blood of Americans and 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Matthew Chance is in Tel Aviv. Kayla Tausche is traveling with the president and joins us from Berlin.

Kayla, first to you. In terms of this President's call, now a new call for more diplomacy, how is that being received this morning?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly a welcome development, especially from the allies that President Biden is meeting with here in Berlin today. All of the U.S.'s allies across Europe have been working feverishly for the last several weeks to not only reach a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon but also for several months to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation has been worsening for the better part of a year.

And certainly there is a belief among allies that the U.S., because of its billions of dollars in aid and support that the Biden administration has provided to Israel, that it has the most powerful bully pulpit to potentially nudge Prime Minister Netanyahu now closer to a deal. And U.S. officials are more optimistic that the fact that Netanyahu and Biden appeared to be in agreement in yesterday's phone call, as well as in their public statements, that there's now cautious optimism that perhaps such a diplomatic off ramp is still within reach. But for the Biden administration overall, the jigsaw puzzle here has a lot of potential pieces. Of course, reaching a hostage deal to free those hostages still being held in Gaza is top of mind. But then there are also broader efforts at normalization, and then, of course, diffusing tensions with Iran, where officials say retaliation by Israel is still likely and expected, Erica.

HILL: Absolutely. Matthew, bring you in here. Are there any signs from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he will, in fact, pursue a ceasefire and ideally a hostage deal at this point, given the developments?

[10:05:02]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems to be the direction that he's hinting towards. I mean, he's issued a statement within the past 24 hours saying -- you know, calling on Hamas fighters to surrender, to hand over any hostages that they may be holding, Israeli hostages, there were more than 100 of them, of course, still in the Gaza Strip, and an exchange. He said he'll let them live.

And so that's the sort of olive branch that the Israeli prime minister is holding out at a time that I think he says could be a window of opportunity for a change in the negotiations, a change in the wall, possibly the beginning of the end, in his words, of the conflict in Gaza. That's been reflected as we've been reporting by Israeli allies, the United States and others as well.

I mean, the problem, Erica, is that the other side of this equation, Hamas, are not playing ball. I mean, there's been a statement from them in the past couple of hours acknowledging for the first time that Yahya Sinwar has indeed been killed by Israeli forces, but it's a very defiant kind of statement saying that there will be an eventual victory for Hamas. Another statement from senior Hamas political leaders saying that the hostages from Israel will never be released until Israel has stopped its aggression against Gaza and against the people of Gaza.

And so these aren't the kind of words which indicate that the Hamas group is on the verge of some kind of capitulation to the Israelis. And, of course, that's part of the problem. You know, Sinwar is dead. That's the truth. That's the new truth of the matter. What we don't know is what kind of leadership, how hard line it's going to be, that will take over the group now.

HILL: Yes, definitely the question this morning, one of several. Matthew Chance, Kayla Tausche, thank you.

Also joining me, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, his son, Sigi, is an Israeli American who was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held in Gaza. Jonathan, it's good to have you here this morning.

As all of this is sinking in, I know that you two were somewhat hopeful on the heels of this news yesterday. The fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu said it could be a window of opportunity, how much faith are you putting in that this morning?

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE: Yes, thank you for having me. Look, it's not really a question of faith. I think, you know, really all sides, including Israel need to act and not just make statements. You know, it was somewhat encouraging, but it shouldn't be a case for Israel or for the intermediaries about what might be possible now. They absolutely have to seize the moment.

The world today is different than the world yesterday at this time. The head of the serpent, so to speak, has been cut off. Israel, as its army says, has achieved that war aim of decapitating, degrading Hamas as a military organization, as a governing organization. And so there really are, at least from the Israeli side, no more good excuses for our government to not do everything it must be it through negotiations or other means, barring just pure military action, to get them home.

But, again, we've heard a lot of lip service from our prime minister and his ministers about getting hostages home. Now is the time with all the urgency in the world to actually do it.

HILL: What have you heard from both? I know you have, as I understand it, I would say more regular contact with officials in the U.S., at the State Department and also within the administration, perhaps a more regular contact than with Israeli officials. But what are you hearing from both this morning?

DEKEL-CHEN: Well, we've heard nothing really from his -- at least have heard nothing, I can't speak for other families, from the Israeli government. So, I can't really say much about that. As far as the U.S. government is concerned, we've already had over the course of the last 24 hours a couple of discussions with State Department people. And we'll be having a discussion later on today with senior officials in the White House.

Look, I think, as your reporters said a few moments ago, it's pretty chaotic right now on the Palestinian side. It's unclear what the chain of command is going to look like. We heard that statement from Sinwar's deputy, but it's unclear with what authority he speaks and really what in terms of the mid-level Hamas commanders, and that's really all that's left of the Hamas military infrastructure, what they're going to decide to do at this moment now that, you know, all of their leadership, his senior leadership has been incapacitated.

So, it is a moment both, we hope, of real opportunity to change the paradigm and enormous fear for hostage families, because we cannot know what the captors of our loved ones are going to do right now.

[10:10:09]

Fear for hostage families because we cannot know what the captors of our loved ones are going to do right now. They could take revenge. They could panic. There are many different options. So, there is actually more urgency now in this moment of chaos to get hostages home, to push whatever needs to be pushed forward in order to get them home, again, barring a purely military solution, you know, military rescue, because that's just as unfeasible today as it was yesterday. HILL: The hostage families, I know a number of you speak on a regular basis. What has the conversation been over the last 24 hours-ish about where things stand and your growing concerns, as you point out for your loved ones, like your son, Sigi, who are still being held.

DEKEL-CHEN: Well, I think there's just a real dichotomy. You know, look, Israel, I suppose, as a country, you know, is -- I don't know if rejoicing is the right word, but certainly feels a degree of satisfaction at having neutralized this personification of evil, Yahya Sinwr. It's a good thing for Israel. It's a good thing for the Palestinians and possibly for the world.

But at the same time, there is -- you know, we simply don't know right now who we're dealing with, if negotiations can be pushed forward, who exactly can Israel and the intermediaries interact with. You know, the political leadership in Qatar has been delegitimized for months now by Sinwar before his death. Did they speak for the Hamas? Do the lower level officials in Gaza speak for Hamas?

So, there's a great deal of concern right now and our demand really from the Israeli government and from the intermediaries is seize this moment. This is not a moment for chest-beating having eliminated truly the devil incarnate, and it's not a moment for deep analysis. It's a moment to proactively take steps to get as many hostages home as possible, as quickly as possible.

HILL: And we hope that is ultimately what happens for your family. I know your son has three little girls waiting for him as well.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, I appreciate you joining us, as always. Thank you.

DEKEL-CHEN: Thank you for having me.

HILL: Coming up here, gaslighting the American people, Vice President Kamala Harris says that is exactly what Donald Trump is doing with his spin on the events of January 6th. So, is that approach working?

And Elon Musk peddling debunked election conspiracies in his bid to help Donald Trump. We're going to fact-check those claims, next.

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HILL: This morning, a bit of a campaign double feature in the state of Michigan today, Vice President Harris and former President Trump barnstorming the battleground state for several events. Harris trying to fortify that blue wall and the crucial swing state votes that could decide this election. She is set to meet with union workers where she is set to emphasize her plan to protect American jobs.

Donald Trump, for his part, returning to Detroit for the first time since linking the city to a -- likening the city to a developing nation while he was speaking at the Detroit Economic Club last week. Also on the former president's agenda, a roundtable with Michigan voters and a rally in Detroit.

In Elon Musk's first solo town hall supporting former President Trump, the SpaceX mogul peddled some debunked 2020 election conspiracies. Here's some of what he had to say at Thursday's event in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO, X OWNER, SPACEX FOUNDER: When you have mail in ballots and no, no sort of proof of citizenship, it becomes almost impossible to prove cheating is the issue. There are some very strange things that happen that that are statistically, incredibly unlikely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Marshall Cohen joining us now. So, Marshall, Musk is promoting conspiracy theories that we know to be false, that have been corrected a number of times. But this seems like a good morning to do it again. Walk us through the facts here, if you would.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Erica, good morning to you. Almost every day, Elon Musk peddles these conspiracy theories and this election disinformation on his social media platform. But now, with this first solo town hall in support of Donald Trump, he was doing it in-person, face-to-face with voters in a critical battleground state.

You just heard some of his comments. I want to actually play some more. We can get the full context here, but do not believe everything you're about to hear. A lot of it is inaccurate. We'll play the clip and then we'll fact-check everything after.

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MUSK: You know, there's always this sort of question of like, say, the Dominion voting machines. It is weird that the -- you know, I think they're used in Philadelphia and in Maricopa County but not in a lot of other places. Doesn't that seem like a heck of a coincidence?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: All right, so a couple things here. Number one, he mentioned Dominion machines were in Maricopa and Philadelphia. He's half right. Dominion was in Maricopa, which is Phoenix in Arizona, but Dominion was not in Philly, period, so just completely wrong about that.

Number two, he said there were statistical anomalies in both of those states. What a strange coincidence that there were statistical problems with the results.

[10:20:04]

There weren't, Erica. You know this, I know this, Democratic and Republican officials in both of those cities have repeatedly said the results were accurate. The machines accurately counted the votes. They have done audits and double checks and everything, and, frankly, it's just not accurate. Also, in the beginning of the segment, you played that clip about him claiming that it's almost impossible to find cheating because of mail- in voting. Mail-in voting are paper ballots. They are traceable, trackable, they are auditable. It is one of the most secure ways to cast a ballot. So, the experts that I've spoken to have all said over and over and over that that's just garbage. It's not true. Erica?

HILL: Not true, but yet it keeps getting repeated which is why it's important to keep repeating the facts. Marshall, I appreciate it. Thank you.

So, what is typically a mostly light hearted charity roast turning a little bit dark when it was Donald Trump's turn at the mic. His profanity-laced comments and insults attacking his Democratic opponents described as below the belt, cringey and awkward. Here's a quick look.

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TRUMP: I must say I was shocked when I heard that Kamala was skipping the Al Smith Dinner. I'd really hoped that she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy.

Barack Hussein Obama, or as Rush Limbaugh used to say, Barack Hussein Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama.

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, it's sad. He's a person that has nothing going, no intelligence whatsoever. But enough about Kamala Harris.

But Chuck Schumer is here looking very glum considering how woke your party has become. If Kamala loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president.

Kamala did an interview on Fox News yesterday. It went so poorly for her that the Democrats have been forced to install another 100 drop boxes throughout the city.

The only piece of advice I would have for her in the event that she wins would be --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Oh, we lost part of that tape there. There were a lot of moments.

Let's discuss now with CNN Senior Political Commentator, former Trump Campaign Advisr David Urban, also with us, Democratic Strategist and former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns Chuck Rocha. Nice to see both of you this morning.

So, David, Trump was sort of, you know, on brand Trump last night. Parts of it, though, did feel a little bit darker. We also learned this morning that he said some folks at Fox helped him write some of those jokes. Not all of them landed in the room either. It felt a little desperate at times.

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, Erica, I disagree. By the way, props to Chuck for that hat. I love the hat. Chuck. I'm going to wear one next time.

But, listen, any comedian trying to do comedy, you know, Trump said, look, it's tough up here doing this. It's hard. You had Jim Gaffigan up there taking some pokes at Donald Trump, which you don't show, which were pretty tough. And, you know, that's the nature of the beast. It's kind of a roast. If you watch a roast, if you watch any of these -- if you watch the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix, it makes this look tame. And so --

HILL: We should point out, slightly different audiences, the Tom Brady roast, and raising money for Catholic charities.

URBAN: I get it. But the nature of this, this Al Smith Dinner has always been, you know, very pointed, sharp barbs politically. If you watch the last couple, it's been like that. Listen, the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which I've attended on numerous occasions, and I'm sure you have, has been brutal to Donald Trump. I mean, brutal. It makes this look -- remember, Michelle Wolf, the hostess, when she was skewering Sarah Huckabee Sanders up and beating her with a cudgel. I don't remember anybody like saying, oh, it was terrible. She shouldn't have said those things.

Donald Trump landed a lot of good lines, a lot of funny stuff. And, you know, it was glaringly noticeable that Kamala Harris was not there. For the first time in 40-plus years, the Democratic nominee did not show up. And I thought that was just bad form on her part. Listen, if you're going to be president of the United States, you got to be tough. You got to take some punches now and if you're going to be present, you need to be able to sit there and do it. Trump showed that he could do it last night. Gaffigan up there kind of punching him and doing it and laughed. And it was a missed opportunity for Kamala Harris.

HILL: Chuck, would you agree? I mean, Harris did send in -- Harris sent in a video with a little help from Molly Shannon at SNL. According to reports in the room, the video may have fell a little flat. Was this a missed opportunity for the vice president?

[10:25:00]

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, this ain't Donald Trump over here on this side. You're not going to soften me up by talking about how pretty my hat is. But let me tell you about what happened last night. She has proven that she is tough because she walked right into Fox News this week and did a sit-down that looked like a three- round battle that I thought was really good on her behalf.

Now, last night at the Al Smith Dinner, there's a reason why Donald Trump went to that. And it wasn't just to see some of his friends go back to New York and be able to do Fox and Friends, like he did this morning, he has an opportunity to fix a problem that he has. It ain't about public policy. If you care about one of the major public policies, you've already run to your corner.

But the difference with the persuadable voters now is his likability. So, I'm sure his professional team told him to go there, lighten it up, tell some jokes because the dinner itself would not get to those voters, but all the clips after that dinner of him being more lighthearted and trying to land those jokes that he was saying, even though there was reports last night that he was fighting back and didn't want to do those, he wanted to do a campaign speech, but I give him credit, he tried the jokes. They just didn't land because he needs to come off as more likable with these persuadable voters who don't really want to be with Kamala Harris, but they don't think he's likable. That's the little bit of folks from the strategists that are left in the middle right now.

HILL: Hey, David, in terms of that interview that Harris did with Bret Baier on Fox, I was struck by the fact that he is now apologizing for the clip that he played in the interview with Harris earlier this week. She called him out on it. Now, this is what he's saying. Just take a listen.

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BAIER: I did make a mistake, and I want to say that I did make a mistake. When I called for a sound bite, I was expecting a piece of the enemy from within from Maria Bartiromo's interview to be tied to the piece from your town hall, Harris, where you asked the former president about the enemy from within. It just had the piece about the town hall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: David, curious, why do you think he was making the correction at that point coming on Thursday, the day after?

URBAN: Because Bret Baier is a good journalist and he's recognizing the fact that he made a mistake and wanted to clear it up for people, didn't want to seem like he was trying to hide the ball. Bret's a very fair guy.

Listen, to Chuck's point, I thought -- I give the current vice president a lot of credit for going in there. I don't think she answered the questions. I don't think she helped herself, but I do give her credit for sitting down. And, listen, she's accomplished what she wants to do. She now gets to go to these events and say, like, I went into the lion's den as it's some sort of badge of honor. Donald Trump does it every day, takes reporters' questions, been on CNN tons of times, not necessarily the most friendly environment. So, good on her for doing it once. She should be doing over and over and over and over again.

And, listen, I'll just take issue with one of the things Chuck said about why Trump was there. Look, Trump loves the Catholic faith, loved Catholics in America. He's been attending the dinner for a very, very long time. You noted he made some comments about his sister attending the dinner, his sister being a big support of the archdiocese. He has a personal relationship with Cardinal Dolan.

And there's a big distinction here between the two campaigns. The Trump campaign is doing very well amongst catholic voters. You just had the Harris campaign with an incredible faux pas and Trump made kind of light of it at the dinner last night about Governor Gretchen Whitmer giving fake communion and a TikTok video, and which really struck Catholic voters is wrong, and he made a joke about that.

So, you know, Trump is actively courting Catholics where Kamala Harris is kind of actively ignoring Catholics by her -- most illustrated by her not showing up at this dinner.

HILL: Chuck, you look like you want to jump in.

ROCHA: I did. I didn't know how this microphone worked back and forth, and I didn't want to step on David. But I wanted to say a few things there. There's one thing that's going on here, for sure. And David's right about her going into the lines in. But we all know that Donald Trump skipped a 60 Minutes debate, and we can debate on who's doing what interviews. We're 18 days before the election. We're in get out the vote mode.

I know you were talking about the vice president and Barack Obama getting out on the road, Michelle Obama, who is the queen of all Democrats, getting out on the road. That's what it's about right now. Most folks have picked their side. It's about getting those folks out. Kamala Harris is not going to lose because somebody moves from Kamala Harris to Donald Trump. If we lose, we lose because those folks decided to stay home. So, it's about get out the vote.

I was on the phone just this morning with Local 19 in Philadelphia where they're having block walks this weekend. That's going on around the country where folks are mobilizing to get their people out. That's what this comes down to in the final days as the strategist here trying to figure out where are those last votes that we've got to get out.

HILL: We will see where you find it. We're going to have to leave it there, because we're out of time.

URBAN: One quick point I just want to tell you. She's doing so poorly in Pennsylvania that Bob Casey this morning -- I urge everybody to go to Bob Casey's website and check it out. Bob Casey has an ad where he's tying himself to Donald Trump. He's saying, I support Donald Trump's positions, I support this. How badly must it be going for Kamala Harris if Bob Casey's running an ad in Pennsylvania saying, I'm for Donald Trump, cats and dogs sleeping together?

[10:30:06]

Chuck, it's terrible.

ROCHA: We're going to.