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Hamas' Political Chief Killed in Tehran; Doug Jones is Interviewed about the Presidential Race; Trump Claims Harris Dislikes Jews; Jonathan Conricus is Interviewed about the Assassination of Hamas' Policial Chief; Shannon Miller is Interviewed about Team USA Gymnastics. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Israel only saying that they don't comment on foreign media reports. Now that is, I think, a sort of code that we've heard in the past when an event occurs or an act like this occurs that potentially has the hand of Israel behind it, their way of not denying involvement, but also not confirming it.

We're in that curious position here but it hasn't, of course, stopped the Iranian - the president of the Iranian government. The Iranian supreme leader pointing the finger directly at Israel, essentially saying that a guest in their house had been killed and Israel should await harsh punishment for doing this.

Quite what form that will take is key. And I think in order to enable Iran to fashion that response, they're going to carefully construct the details of exactly how this happened.

We know very little about this apparent explosion, strike depending on what report you read that seems to have hit a special veterans guest house in northern Tehran where Ismail Haniyeh was staying. Now, it isn't clear quite the extent of the damage to the building. There are some reports saying it was limited, which would suggest an exceptionally targeted strike. And indeed the only other casualty is one of Haniyeh's bodyguards that's currently talked about. The phrase being used is, an airborne guided projectile, which, frankly, could be anything. It does seem to point away, though, from necessarily immediately accusing Israel of using a jet and an airstrike in all of this.

So, the gravity in which Iran portrays its sovereignties haven't been violated here. That will be key in what they say they're going to do in response. And so we're waiting, I think, for more details from Iran and also potentially some greater clarity from Israel and - and the extent of its involvement here.

Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nick Paton Walsh for us. Thank you so much for that reporting. Still ahead on CNN this morning, the killing of Ismail Haniyeh is

furthering concerns of an all-out war in the Middle East. Former Alabama Senator Doug Jones also joins us to discuss the presidential candidates newest attack ads, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:50]

DEAN: Turning back now to the race for the White House. And if you're watching us this morning from a key battleground state, be prepared to see a very healthy dose of political ads over the next couple of months because the 2024 ad wars are underway.

The Harris and Trump campaigns releasing dueling ads yesterday as each candidate refines their narrative and lines of attack. Trump slamming Harris over immigration, portraying her as a failed borders czar. Harris going on the offensive with her own border ad and another that highlights her work as a prosecutor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden made Kamala Harris border czar to fix immigration. First, she ignored it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any plans to visit the border?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At some point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then she just lied.

HARRIS: The border is secure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris failed, weak, dangerously liberal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris supports increasing the number of border patrol agents.

Donald Trump blocked a bill to increase the number of border patrol agents.

Theres two choices in this election, the one who will fix our broken immigration system, and the one who's trying to stop her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one thing Kamala Harris has always been, fearless. As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is former Democratic senator from Alabama, Doug Jones.

Senator, great to have you here this morning.

DOUG JONES (D), FORMER ALABAMA SENATOR: Thanks. Great to be with you. DEAN: Let's talk about some of those ads. First, I think it is important to note, just for clarity, that she was not officially border czar.

JONES: Right.

DEAN: She did have a job, trying to spur economic development in some of those countries.

JONES: Right.

DEAN: But - but just taking a look at what we just played. We see the Trump campaign clearly trying to define her and tie her to all of the issues at the border.

JONES: Right.

DEAN: And you have the Harris campaign really trying to go on offense. How do you think that's going to play out with our viewers in battleground states who are going to see those a lot?

JONES: You know, frankly, I think ultimately it is not going to be the defining issue of this campaign.

DEAN: You don't?

JONES: No, absolutely not. I mean, look, there are too many other issues, the economy, and I think character and integrity. I mean look at the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. I mean J.D. Vance is essentially wanting to start another three-fifths compromise for childless couples from the - from the Constitution where you only count, you know, votes with people - a childless couple are counted less than votes with people that - with children. So, I think there's going to be some issues.

Now, make no mistake, it's an issue that the border is an issue. There's no question. What Kamala Harris did and what her role was, was not as a borders czar. What she was trying to do was to try to spur economic development so there wasn't that mass influx of people trying to get a better life and escape the poverty and the gangs in Central America.

And so I think, as we go forward, and I think once that border bill that - that Donald Trump did defeat almost single-handedly, and J.D. Vance voted against too by the way, I think it's going to even out a little bit. I don't think it's going to be as big an issue. It is certainly a concern for the American people that needs to be addressed.

[06:40:01]

I think both sides are going to try to play it. But I - ultimately, I think there's going to be a lot of other issues in this campaign.

DEAN: How do you think voters internalize these sorts of ads? Because we watch them. We talk about them. Obviously, if you're watching TV, they're in your home. How much of a difference do they actually mean?

JONES: You know, I think they make some difference. But, you know, look, in America today we are so polarized. There is a camp that is going to vote for Donald Trump and Republican Party regardless. There's a camp that's going to vote for Kamala Harris. And it doesn't really matter. There's a lot of Democrats that don't like that border bill that was killed, but they're going to vote for Kamala Harris. They're not going to stay home and let Donald Trump win.

It's the middle voters, the double haters that people have talked about now for so long, because - that didn't like Trump or Biden I think are going to kind of drift now toward Kamala Harris and whoever she picks as her running mate. So, I think the ads make a difference, but they also just kind of reinforce a lot of what people already believe. And it's the issues that I think are the intangibles that really are going to make the difference in this election.

DEAN: Yes, it's been interesting to see the polling on double-haters go down since she's entered the race.

JONES: Absolutely.

DEAN: OK, former Senator Doug Jones, stay right here.

Let's turn to this now. Former President Trump sharpening his language against Jewish Democrats and claiming Vice President Kamala Harris does not like Jews, despite the fact that she's married to one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you are Jewish, regardless of Israel, if you're Jewish, if you vote for a Democrat, you're a fool. An absolute fool.

Number one, she doesn't like Israel. Number two, she doesn't like Jewish people. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it, and nobody wants to say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: In that same interview, Trump appears to agree with a conservative radio host who makes disparaging remarks about Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tell me that this - this Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, Mr. President, is Jewish. He's Jewish like Bernie Sanders is Jewish. Are you kidding me? He's a crappy Jew."

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a horrible Jew.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: OK, our panel is back.

Matt, they're calling people - to call someone a horrible Jew, or a horrible Catholic, fill in the blank. It's pretty offensive.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, TIM SCOTT FOR AMERICA: Yes, my advice is, don't overthink kind of the messaging on this race, right?

DEAN: Yes.

GORMAN: Like this - this - go back to what you were going to run - the campaign you were going to run on June 26th, the day before that fateful CNN debate, right? The economy, crime, immigration, right? I think - and also mix in some of the policies that we see kind of Kamala running from since she ran for president in 2019-2020. When you get into some of these other issues, it complicates it. It owns news cycles in ways that you don't want to, right? It takes time away from talking about immigration. So, over complicating it, overthinking it and not sticking to some of the core issues I think is a little bit of danger out.

DEAN: (INAUDIBLE).

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm just - I'm just laughing because how many times we had to hear someone explain something that Donald Trump has said that is utterly offensive, terrible and say, he should just stick to the issues. He should stay on message. He should talk about the things that Republicans really want him to talk about. And, unfortunately, that's not the man that's at the top of the ticket. And this is an incredibly offensive thing that he said. There - there's a big trope, especially for Jews in this country, where there's like the loyal Jew and the disloyal Jew. The, you know, the person who is actually loyal to this country and someone who is a bad Jew. And I don't think Donald Trump really should be talking about that. I think it is offensive to many people of faith in this its country.

DEAN: Yes. And, Alex, it's not - it's not the first time he's gone after Jewish Democrats in particular, criticizing them for their choice - if that's their choice to vote for the Democratic ticket.

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "AXIOS": Yes. I mean, and what's so ironic about this, I remember every Trump official and ally was telling me two weeks ago that he is a changed man after this assassination attempt. That we were finally going to see the long- promised Trump pivot to a general election candidate. He was going to be more disciplined. And that the shooting really had changed. And, you know, he felt blessed by God.

And now we're all the way back here, you know, just two weeks later, and he's saying these things that he was saying right before that attempt (ph).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can we never talk about the Trump pivot again? Can we - can we make a pact right now to never talk about the Trump pivot again?

JONES: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

THOMPSON: I promise. Yes.

JONES: One hundred percent. One hundred percent.

DEAN: And so I want to read what the Harris campaign reacted with. This was their statement. "Donald Trump thinks he can score points with Jewish voters by denigrating them. He is wrong. The disgusting comments are below the dignity of anyone, let alone someone who would lead our country."

Senator, it's just, again, like the fact that we're even talking about this -

JONES: It's stunning.

DEAN: Yes.

JONES: I mean, it's just stunning. And a matter - the one thing I disagree with you a little bit on, I don't think even before that - the debate the Trump campaign was going to talk about the issues. This is just typical. He had to pivot - if he pivoted at all, it was a pivot to Kamala Harris and other attacks and not Joe Biden anymore.

This is - this is Donald Trump's kind of campaign. This is all he's going to talk about. And if you disagree with him, he is going to belittle you, he was going to call you names.

[06:45:04]

And that is just - I really believe, and maybe I'm wrong, guys, but I really believed that's going to have more of an effect on the American people who are ready for a change and ready to get that kind of crap over with and really get to governing and having democracy and having people try to come together. He - incredibly divisive language that is, I believe, going to backfire on his campaign.

DEAN: And, Matt, just quickly before we go, obviously, there's a lot of eyes on Harris' VP pick. We now know that whoever it is will be going on a tour with her next week, starting in Philadelphia. What do you make of all of these tea leaves that we're reading?

GORMAN: Yes. The first thing I think of that, I think it's kind of funny they're - it is a little bit of imitation going on. We saw a lot of Republicans doing a lot of media, Sunday shows and the like, doing a little bit of tour while they were going through the VP process. We're seeing that now duplicated on the Democratic side. You see Mayor Pete doing Sunday shows. Mark Kelly is on other networks as well. Where they really weren't doing a lot of media before. That's number one.

But number two is, they're doing this tour of the swing states, they're doing a lot more events together. I looked at things to be very interesting. It tells me also, they're going to - Kamala Harris is putting a lot of emphasis on chemistry and relationship when - when she picks a possible vice president.

DEAN: OK, so we will see who it will be.

Thanks to our panel. Always good to see all of you. Thanks so much.

JONES: Good to see you.

DEAN: Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, breaking news out of Iran, as Hamas' political leader is assassinated. We're going to talk to a former spokesperson for the Israeli military.

Plus, what Tuesday's Arizona primary results could mean for the November election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:38]

DEAN: New this morning, top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran. The assassination threatening to further destabilize that region. Hamas placing the blame on Israel. The IDF has yet to respond. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a security assessment in Tel Aviv later today.

Joining us now, former IDF spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus.

Thanks so much for being here with us this morning. We really appreciate it.

I think there is widespread concern that this latest situation and this - this assassination could further propel this conflict into all- out war in that region. What do you think?

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS, FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Well, I think that it's a - if it indeed is an Israeli assassination, which is what it looks like, I think it's a tremendous achievement to do so in the heart of Tehran and to send a very strong message to the Iranian puppeteers who behind the scenes have been actually controlling and monitoring and managing this entire situation that Israel has been facing since October 7.

It is definitely tense. I agree with you that now Israel will be bracing for both Hezbollah attacks, Hamas attacks, and possibly an Iranian attack against it because in a matter of about ten or 11 hours Israel was able to assassinate both a very senior Hezbollah militant commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut, and the political leader and one of the key figures of - or key architects of the October 7 massacre, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. And as such, I think it's fair to assume that there will be some kind of Iranian or Hezbollah or Hamas response.

DEAN: And Haniyeh was very involved in these ceasefire and hostage negotiations to try to get a deal. Now that he's been assassinated, the thought is that - that is very much stalled, that it means that there's a very low chance for any deal. What do you say to that? CONRICUS: First of all, I don't think that it's right to describe him as someone who has been trying to reach a deal. He's been part of negotiations because he's the head of the political wing. I'm not sure that he has been trying to reach a deal. I think that he's been stalling, like what the rest of Hamas has been doing. And we can see this in one of two ways. The one way that you said, that this might hurt negotiations. There's logic behind that. On the other hand, this might also send a clear message to Yahya Sinwar, the remaining Hamas senior terrorists in Gaza, that the clock is ticking and that any day that they do not do a deal and they don't release the hostages, his fate might be the same as Ismail Haniyeh, which means that this might also actually motivate them to actually agree to the terms and to go ahead and releases Israeli hostages.

We can see it in any of the both ways. I understand that a lot of people around the world will want to focus on this not being conducive of releasing the hostages. But I think that if we look at the general situation that Hamas finds itself in after ten months of war, they're not in a very good position when it comes to their military capabilities. A lot of pressure. They're not defeated yet, but Israel has made good progress in that sense.

DEAN: All right, Jonathan Conricus, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much.

CONRICUS: Thank you.

DEAN: All right.

And I believe we want to bring in CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who is standing by.

Nick, are you with us?

WALSH: Yes, absolutely.

DEAN: All right. Tell us what Israel is saying at this hour about these reports simply because they haven't said that they are responsible for this just yet, although Jonathan Conricus, former IDF spokesperson, said it certainly appears that they are.

WALSH: Yes, look, I mean this is not uncommon for a situation like this for Israel to say they don't comment on foreign media reports. And that's pretty much all we've got out of them at the moment. And that has normally been as a result of some sort of operation that Israel has carried out but doesn't want its fingerprints on or has been able to perhaps at this stage hide its direct involvement.

[06:55:07]

And it might suggest that we're talking less about something overt, like an Israeli jets launching an airstrike. It might tend towards this being a more covert operation by Israeli agents on the ground. I'm speculating here entirely, but it would follow a pattern, this kind of Israeli statement of that. And we've also just heard from a familiar figure, Javad Zarif, the

former Iranian foreign minister, that he, in his words, he thinks that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is pushing the region to the brink of catastrophe. So, no shortage of fiery rhetoric this morning.

But, Jessica, the ultimate question really here is what is it within Iran's capabilities to do as a response? Do they want to launch a full-scale war using Hezbollah, their proxy in Lebanon to the north of Israel. Possibly unlikely for normally damaging to that proxy to Lebanon, to Israel as well. Would it be something they choose to do over this?

Yes, they've suffered an acute embarrassment that a key guests like Haniyeh being killed in the security bubble of Tehran. But as they begin to let the details eke out of exactly how this happened, that will also potentially give them off ramps for the extent of the response that they choose to take against Israel.

Israel won't have done this, if indeed they were behind it, without already pre-calculating what that kind of response might necessarily be. But they'll also have the knowledge that perhaps they believe Hezbollah don't want a full-scale conflict. It's quite possible Israel doesn't really in its heart of hearts either.

And at the same time, Israel has seen in April Iran directly launched 300 drones and missiles against Israel and find most of them intercepted by better Israeli and western technology on route. And so a lot of questions as to what Iran has within its capability to do as a response. And we'll hear, I think, more details about how this happened, will give us more of a clue about what's likely from Tehran in the hours ahead, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

We also - I also, before I let you go though, I do - I do want to ask you about - I was just asking Jonathan Conricus about these hostage negotiations and the ceasefire deal. He was making the case that - that maybe this puts pressure on Hamas to come to a deal. But there's also this thought that without - with him out of the picture, that these - this deal becomes even harder to get.

WALSH: Yes, look, I mean it's - it's odd to hear people talking about a ceasefire deal hour after the key Hamas negotiator in that was killed, it seems, by Israel. Yes, maybe in the long run, certainly in the moderate future, the medium future, there will be continued talks, possibly between Hamas and Israel because they simply can't avoid the fact that at some point negotiation will be how the horrific conflict in Gaza winds itself to an end.

But right now, today, it does seem slightly atonal to hear Secretary of State Antony Blinken talk about the ceasefire being their main objective. You know, half of the negotiating team there, the negotiating group there has been killed by the Israelis. And that will certainly undermine a lot of where they got to so far, not particularly successful in the most recent history, these talks, but a huge disruption to kill one of the negotiators.

DEAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much.

The redemption tour is complete. Simone Biles and Team USA gymnastics clenching gold in the women's team finals yesterday. And their win, the culmination of what the team called their redemption tour after they finished second in the 2020 Tokyo games due to a last-minute withdrawal by Biles. Biles officially becoming the most decorated American Olympic gymnast with eight metals.

Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller is joining us now.

Shannon, good morning. Thanks so much for being with us.

Walk us through what goes through a moment like that, when you win gold, when you set a record like Simone Biles and her teammates did last night.

SHANNON MILLER, SEVEN-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: You know, I think it's almost surreal. And I know that the team is so excited right now. But it'll be ten years from now when it truly sinks in the history that was made last night. And we saw a lot of history. We saw Brazil get a medal. We saw Italy get their first medal or - you know, first medal in a very long time. And it was just an incredible competition.

But I love these girls. They have each gone individually through some really tough things in the last four, eight years on this long road. So, to capture the gold last night and put on a really awesome show of difficulty and skill, it was awesome.

DEAN: And you were part of the magnificent seven, of course, that took home gold in the 1996 Olympics. I loved watching that, by the way. That was so great. What's your reaction to this team name. This is their redemption tour. And that's kind of how they're going to go down now when we're talking about it, like you said, ten years from now.

[07:00:00]

MILLER: You know, I think, as an athlete, you are always failing, right? You're always - you're falling off the beam, you are missing the mark. That's part of the process, right? Failure is part of the journey, and you learn that early on. So, I feel like your career is almost always about redemption, and I can do this in every event. You mistake (ph) and then, OK, I've got to redeem myself on the next event.

So, it really just goes along with the theme of sports. And honestly, the theme of life for all of us, or just, you know, when we make a mistake, we're trying to get back up and keep going. And I love what this team did. And by Simone getting that eighth medal, I mean she's just inspiring so many young in people, but also all of us to go after our goals and to just build big goals.

DEAN: Yes. Oh, thank you, Shannon Miller. Great to talk with you. We appreciate it.

MILLER: Thank you.

DEAN: And thank you for joining us. I'm Jessica Dean. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.