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Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Killed In Gaza; President Biden To Receive Award From German President; Trump Attends Al Smith Dinner, Harris Sends Video; Cold Snap in East Warms, Dangerous Wildfires In West. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:27]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, October 18th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Eliminated. Israel says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. Where the war goes from here?

Plus, happening now, President Biden overseas with U.S. allies. What will he say about the war? And hopes for a hostage deal?

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Democrats really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening. They would have just said Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Comedic relief, Donald Trump headlines the Al Smith charity dinner, both laughs and groans from the crowd. The best and worst moments of the night

(MUSIC)

HUNT: Five a.m. here on the East Coast. So live look at Capitol Hill on this Friday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. A historic moment and Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, the leader of

Hamas, the masterminds of the October 7 terror attacks is dead. Israel's military announcing yesterday that Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza on Wednesday. According to Israeli sources, the hunt for Sinwar came to an end when Israeli forces came under fire during a routine military operation in southern Gaza, the IDF returned fire and one of the militants fled into a nearby building.

What you see now is drone video was edited and released by the IDF. They say that it shows Sinwar hiding after that firefight, Israeli troops later fired on this building, again, killing the man and the chair.

At this point is really forces didn't know the identity of the man that they'd killed but upon closer inspection, they noticed he looked very familiar. So, we're now going to show you a photo that allegedly shows Sinwar's body after he was killed. We do want to warn you this image is graphic and it may be disturbing for some viewers.

So in this image taken from social media, you see here the body of a man resembling Sinwar, buried in rubble surrounded by Israeli troops. CNN cannot independently confirm the photo's authenticity, but our analysis found that no signs that the image had been manipulated.

Israeli police say that Sinwar's body was positively identified using DNA testing.

Late yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the news, speaking directly to Palestinians in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): This is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and this is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny.

I call on everyone who holds our hostages, whoever lays down its weapons and return our hostages, we will allow him to go out and live in the same way I say whoever harms our hostages, blood on his head. We will reckon with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss is CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, good morning. Wonderful to have you.

Let's --I want to talk about this operation to start before we dig into kind of what is next in the context of this war, because its the details are rather stunning, right? This is -- this is someone that they have been searching for, for years. There were questions about whether or not he was alive or dead. There was thinking he was hiding in these tunnels. They had found his DNA nearby where those hostages were executed a little while ago. And instead, he is found by a routine patrol out in the open air.

There's drone footage of him. He starts at one point throwing objects at the drone how do you think that this happened at what stood out to you in this and the fact that he did this in response to the drone, can you help us understand kind of his behavior in this moment?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, this is really interesting case, even good morning. This is one of those moments where coincidences play a large role. So, one of the things that did happen was that the Israelis had a lot of intelligence that gave them any indication that somebody was in this building. But what they didn't have was the detail of who that person was.

And when you look at Yahya Sinwar, you see that he's throwing the match and an object. I think it was like a piece of wood or something like that at the drone is like this last gasp of trying to do conduct a resistance movement at that moment.

[05:05:04]

And what he's looking at here is trying to actually found a way. I don't think he feels that he can escape anymore. I think he's discovered that the inevitability of his fate at this moment, but he has been able to evade the Israelis for over a year at this point, and for him, this must be psychologically must be one of those critical moment that's where he's looking at I get is this really the end? Is this really the place where I've come to at this particular point?

But when you see this building, normal building, not a tunnel, he clearly was using this apparently as a jumping off point to go. They say up north in Gaza so going from Khan Younis to the northern part this would have been basically the place where he would have would have left would have been likely the bus station to leave from, except he was going to do this probably on foot.

HUNT: Just -- I mean, it's just stunning to watch all of it. So this is what that Patrick Kingsley in "The New York Times" wrote yesterday of Sinwar. He was considered the driving force between have behind Hamas's refusal to surrender, even as Israel's airstrikes and ground invasion devastated the territory, displaced most of its population. His survival well made it impossible for Israel to declare victory, living proof that Hamas, though decimated, remain undefeated.

Now, after Sinwar's killing, a route towards some kind of truce in Gaza seems slightly more navigable since it gives both Israel and Hamas a pretext to soften their stance according to Israeli and Palestinian analysts, but major obstacles remain. And any solution in Gaza will only have a limited impact on the broader conflict between Israel and Hamas is regional allies including Hezbollah.

So do you anticipate that there will be a softening that there will be an opening or not?

LEIGHTON: I'm a bit skeptical or fortunately, Kasie, because they were looking at yahoo speech for example, it was pretty clear that he is rightly claiming victory in the killing of Sinwar, but he did warn the Israeli people that there's still more to come. There is still more than half to be done in order to finish the job, so to speak, with Hamas and that's actually a critical point because Hamas is still in existence. There were still fighters for Hamas, though they are at the present time it appears that they are leaderless.

That very fact is going to create a certainly a problem before Hamas, but it also creates a vacuum on the Palestinian side, on the Gazan side, because not only could Hamas grow a new generation of leaders, but there's also the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. There are other groups in Gaza that could potentially fill some kind of avoid here in terms of governance for the area and in terms of the movements, so to speak, against Israel.

And quite frankly, the issue with the Israeli conduct of this war is not creating a mechanism the way in which, the Israelis have conducted their operations has created a real problem for this phase, where they really should be able to have that off ramp where they should be able to say okay, at this moment in time, were going to do something different. We're going to stop the fighting.

But that's -- I don't think were going to see that right now when we are hearing, of course, from hostage families who are now pleading with Netanyahu as a, hey, now this isn't off that off-ramp as you as you mentioned, but still a very difficult situation, of course.

Colonel, thanks so much for starting us off this morning. I really appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, President Biden, right now in Germany, these are live pictures from Berlin of the president meeting with officials there. He's talking to us allies and were going to hear from him just a short time from now.

Plus, are black voters in swing states leaning Republican? Polls indicate Kamala Harris doesn't have the same level of support from that voting bloc that Joe Biden did in 2020. We'll discuss.

And full of jokes, Donald Trump taking jabs at Harris and himself, kind of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a if you self- deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes: nope, I got nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[05:13:35]

HUNT: All right. Happening right now, Germany's president speaking before and planning to present President Joe Biden with an award. This is the second and final day of Biden's trip to meet with key allies in Europe.

Let's get to our CNN senior White House correspondent, Kayla Tausche, who we find in Berlin, traveling with the president.

Kayla, good morning. Of course, this trip to Europe punctuated by the killing of Hamas leader in Gaza. How has that impacted the agenda? And what do we heard from the president on that so far?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been an agenda that's been in the works for several weeks as this visit was being planned. And then of course, there is the new and more urgent unofficial agenda. And that is going to be shaped by the event and of the last few days.

Remember U.S. and European allies have been pressing a ceasefire in Gaza for the better part of the last year. And in Lebanon, at least since the United Nations general assembly last something now those discussions are taking on new urgency with all for European countries meeting today in Berlin in agreement that a diplomatic off-ramp is more possible than it had been before.

President Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from air force one on his way here to Germany. And upon arriving late last night, said this on the tarmac of that conversation, he said: I told him that we were pleased with his actions and further that, now is the time to move on. It's time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. That's what we're ready to do.

And U.S. officials have been cautiously optimistic that perhaps Netanyahu shares that view pointing to some similar language coming out of the Israeli government in the wake of Sinwar's death.

[05:15:09]

But sources also note that retaliation against Iran is still expected, perhaps as soon as the next few days. And that is seen as distinct and separate for anything that could happen as it relates to Gaza. And then, of course, Kasie, there is the war that's been on Europe's doorstep for the last three years, and that is also expected to be an urgent topic of discussion for these leaders today, with political will in question in many capitals around the world.

And now the outgoing NATO chief, having said that, he believes that if weaponry had been surge to Ukraine before 2020 to then perhaps Ukraine would have won the war sooner. Of course, there's a real question based on the challenges that now face Ukraine on the battlefield what, if anything, allies are willing to do to change the trajectory of the war? I'm told they're not specific deliverables expected today, but it's an important discussion that will continue -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Kayla Tausche, up for us in Berlin.

Kayla, thanks very much for that report. We really appreciate you being there.

All right. Coming up next here, poking funded politics. The presidential candidates trading jabs at the annual Al Smith charity dinner, although one of them didn't actually attend in person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Haters going to hate, hate, hate Shake it off.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Shake it off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shake it off.

HARRIS: Shake it off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Kamala Harris breaking tradition instead offering this video appearance with some help from a famous friend. You may recognize my Molly Shannon there.

Plus, an October surprise. Can we be surprised by anything anymore? There is low going to be a new batch of evidence and Donald Trumps election subversion case set to be released today.

Ahead, why the judge rejected did Trump's request to delay that release until after Election Day.

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[05:21:05]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.

A potential bombshell potential, an appendix of the special counsel's evidence against Donald Trump in his federal election interference case is set to be released today. Trump's lawyers had asked Judge Tanya Chutkan not to allow special counsel Jack Smith to unseal the additional evidence until after November 5, say would amount to election interference. Chutkan ruled this, quote, if the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute or appear to be election interference. Something to keep an eye on throughout the day today.

But let's talk about last night, the Al Smith Catholic charity dinner is a chance for presidential candidates to trade in rallies and barbs for jokes, and trying to take themselves quite so seriously.

Last night, Donald Trump appeared at the regular dinner, Vice President Kamala Harris did not, opting instead to campaign in battleground Wisconsin, the vice president did, however, send in a video taking some jabs at her opponent with some help from a very famous Catholic school girl, Molly Shannon's character Mary Katherine Gallagher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Is there anything that you think that maybe I shouldn't bring up tonight?

MOLLY SHANNON, ACTRESS: Well, don't lie. Thou shall not bear false witness to thy neighbor.

HARRIS: Indeed, especially their neighbors election results.

SHANNON: Just, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump called Harris disrespectful for her decision not to attend. The former president used his spotlight mostly to poke fun at Democrats. Save a few jokes for himself. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a few self- deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes -- nope. I've got nothing. I've got nothing.

These days, it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena from my appearance.

Unfortunately, Governor Walz in here itself, but don't worry, hill say, that he was he's going to say he's the only piece of advice I would have for her and the event that she wins would be not to let her husband, Doug anywhere near the nannies. Just keep them away. That's nasty one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: A nasty one indeed.

Joining us now, Julia Manchester, national political reporter for "The Hill".

Julia, good morning.

JULIA MANCHESTER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Good morning to you.

HUNT: Good to see you. This event, obviously, is a storied one Harris opting not to go at Trump. There entirely in the spirit of the thing where he says, well, I cant make any self-deprecating jokes about myself. It says a lot about kind of where we are in the state of this campaign. I mean, you did see some of the typical bipartisan attendance. I mean, that's Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader down in the corner of the screen reacting to Trump throughout speech at Letitia James, the attorney general, who has gone after Donald Trump was also in attendance.

What do you make of how Trump handled last night?

MANCHESTER: Look, I don't think we've seen a normal hour Al Smith dinner since going back to 2012 when we saw Barack Obama and Mitt Romney attend, they show hands. There's that camaraderie, that bipartisan despite the fact that there is such a competitive atmosphere due to the election.

But look, it's emblematic of where we are. We are seeing this campaign and get increasingly nasty now the Harris campaign saying that she skipped this because she wanted to focus on battleground Wisconsin and we do know that polls show her losing ground in some of these states.

[05:25:03]

So it's important she's there.

But for former President Trump to go and not really make any self- deprecating remarks, make some arguably nasty jokes about his opponent -- I don't know. I mean, I don't know if it necessarily moves the needle, but if you look at a number of his favorability ratings, it's actually lower than Vice President Harris.

So I think maybe you're being self-deprecating duty positive, been funny, could help him in the long run.

HUNT: Yeah. There were -- there were more -- there's more profanity at this dinner then I think I expected right Catholic charity dinner that some of that coming from Trump himself.

So looking ahead here, I mean, this is the final sprint to the finish line for both of these candidates. And we are seeing Harris really turn toward in her in the final weeks criticizing Donald Trump and trying to remind Americans of what it was like when he was president the first time and tried to tell them that the second term may be a risk.

What do you make of this shift in strategy away from introducing herself, right, joy and vibes to, hey, let's be real about this. Let's remember what this was like.

MANCHESTER: Well, she's trying to remind voters of what she thinks. She recognizes that the stakes are and she's going everywhere to do it. So we've seen this media blitz where she's been going on a number of different podcast friendlier for media environments, but also even going on Fox News, sitting down for a very tough interview, you see her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz doing the same thing.

So this is the final stretch he's trying to go everywhere to make this argument, but it comes like I said, she's starting to lose a little bit of brown and some of these key battleground states. And there seems to be this narrative emerging that she is running behind where Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton were in 2016, that Donald Trump is gaining grounds. So she is very much trying to close that gap.

HUNT: All right. Julia Manchester for us this morning, Julia, always great to have you.

MANCHESTER: Thank you.

HUNT: Happy Friday.

All right. Time now for whether, we've got a cold front in the east set to warm up a little bit by the weekend, but dangerous fires out west could cause some major problems in California.

Lets get to our meteorologist Allison Chinchar with more.

Allison, good morning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning. Yes. This is impacting several regions of Florida. You've got some of these red flag warnings across portions of northern Florida, central Florida, and even southern Florida -- California's excuse me. So, you've got all three regions here of California that are dealing with some area where we've got those very strong winds, gusty about 20 to 30 miles per hour. Some of the may even get as high as 40 miles per hour in the next 24 hours.

And you've also got that very dry air. Most of these are going to peak at about 20 percent humidity. Some of them even getting down into single digits as we go through the afternoon soon hours today and a lot of that focus really is on southern California. Now you'll notice it is just on the northern suburbs of Los Angeles. You've got Malibu, Paradise Springs, those areas are included in this critical fire weather threat some of those stronger wind gusts are expected. That's the concern out in the west.

The thing for the eastern half of the country's, its been so-called the last few days, but were finally going to start to see things on the upswing here as we head into the weekend, 44 right now in Cincinnati, 40 in Nashville, just below 50 degrees in Atlanta. But again, those temperatures are going to start to rebound.

So, still on the chilly side today and tomorrow in Atlanta. But finally back up above normal once we get to Sunday, same thing for Chicago, St. Louis in Washington, D.C. Once we get into the weekend, well finally start to see those temperatures getting back where they should be.

HUNT: All right. Allison Chinchar for us this morning -- Allison, thank you very much.

All right. Still coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, the Harris campaign struggling to shore up the same level of support among Black voters as President Biden did in 2020 with less than three weeks to go until election day, is it too late?

Plus, Israel confirming the leader of Hamas is dead? Could the ceasefire deal now be possibility?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Hamas is decimated and its leadership is eliminated this moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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