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CNN This Morning

Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Killed In Gaza, Israel Says; Harris Courts Black Male Voters As Some Drift To Trump; Guardians Shock Yankees In Playoff Instant Classic. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:33:30]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:33 a.m. on the East Coast. That means it's 11:33 a.m. in Germany. This is a live look at -- in Berlin. President Biden just finished speaking there after he accepted Germany's Order of Merit. It's the equivalent of the American Presidential Medal of Freedom. We're going to monitor the president's remarks throughout the morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Sure to dominate some conversations there with the president the latest news from Israel and Gaza with the leader of Hamas Yahya Sinwar now confirmed dead. U.S. officials have renewed hope for a ceasefire and hostage deal. President Biden is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is the time to move on -- move on and move toward a ceasefire in Gaza. I'm sure we'll be moving in the direction and we're going to be in a position to make things better for the whole world. It is time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. We're going to work out what is the day after now. What -- how do we secure Gaza and move on.

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HUNT: All right, joining us now from Jerusalem, former editor-in- chief of The Jerusalem Post, Avi Mayer. Avi, good morning to you. It's wonderful to have you on the show as always.

I want to know the view from you on the ground in terms of what kind of opening this presents or doesn't for Israel to change how they are conducting the war in Gaza. There's obviously two fronts. We obviously -- there's also Lebanon, Hezbollah, Iran, and all of that.

[05:35:05]

But do you think that this changes things enough to allow the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to take a step back from Gaza to perhaps declare victory and figure out a new way forward?

AVI MAYER, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE JERUSALEM POST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, Kasie, good morning.

You know, I think the president was exactly right when in his statement yesterday he likened this moment to the killing of Osama bin Laden and how Americans felt at that moment. That sense of this mastermind -- this terrorist mastermind having brought -- been brought to justice I think is what many Israelis are feeling today.

But unfortunately, I think we don't have that same sense of closure that many Americans did with the killing of bin Laden because, of course, the war is indeed ongoing. We still have 101 hostages who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. And, of course, we learned just yesterday that five young Israelis have been killed in the war in the north.

And so I think there's a great of eagerness here in Israel to bring this war to a conclusion. There have been increased calls -- I would say even a wave of calls over the past 12 hours or so from Israelis calling on their own leadership to do whatever they can to seize the opportunity and bring those hostages home.

We heard the prime minister himself, Netanyahu, say last night that anyone who produces evidence -- information about the whereabouts of hostages will be given safe passage out of Gaza -- essentially incentivizing people in Gaza to hand over hostages or at least information about them. But it does seem as though this is an inflection point and we hope we can be seized.

HUNT: How do you think this proceeds in terms of, honestly, the shear logistics? Obviously, Israel -- if you're going to negotiate a hostage release deal you've got to be talking to someone inside Hamas. I know our Katie Bo Lillis here was -- is reporting that U.S. officials are scrambling to kind of figure out who that might be and how that might play out.

What do you know about the next steps in that regard?

MAYER: Well, it seems likely that the next leader of Hamas will be one of the current leaders of Hamas currently living in Doha, Qatar -- quite possibly Khaled Meshaal who, himself, served two terms as leader of Hamas in the past. In that case, those individuals are extremely susceptible to pressure from the Qatari government.

So there have been many who have said that now is the time to apply pressure on the Qataris to in turn apply pressure on those leaders of Hamas who are there to bring the war to an end. To release those hostages, tell their people to lay down their arms and call this war over. I think there's a great deal of momentum right now and we hope that they will do that for the future not only of Israel but, of course, the Palestinians as well.

HUNT: All right, Avi Mayer for us this morning. Sir, I always appreciate your perspective. Thank you so much for joining us.

MAYER: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, as Donald Trump tries to make inroads with Black voters, we're going to hear from some of them about how they feel about Kamala Harris and the 2024 presidential race.

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BRIAN MCMUTUARY, WISCONSIN VOTER: Gas, food prices -- you know, rent. It's hard.

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HUNT: Where she stands with these voters just 18 days from the election.

Plus, one of the most dramatic baseball comebacks ever. How the Guardians were able to pull out a win over the Yankees.

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[05:42:30]

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GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Donald Trump is talking about bringing back stop-and-frisk policies and things like that, those are harassment that went onto the Black community, specifically Black males, and put a disproportionate number of them into incarceration and set back an entire generation. We are not going back to those policies. We are not going back.

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HUNT: Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz continuing to make the Harris campaign's pitch to Black men while in swing state North Carolina yesterday as polls indicate that Harris is failing to achieve the same level of support from this group of voters that President Biden did in 2020. And for Donald Trump it signals an opportunity in some of the most critical battleground states.

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The cost of living -- you know, gas, food prices -- you know, rent. It's hard. You try to keep up and try to stay away from the credit cards. The biggest difference is if they have any experience.

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HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss, Gerren Gaynor, White House correspondent and managing political editor of TheGrio; Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum; and Michael Franklin, founder of Words Normalize Behavior. Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here.

So part of why we invited you to kind of give people a little bit of a sense is that represent three different generations of Black men. We've got a millennial, Gen X I believe, and Gen Z. And part of why this matters so much is because we are seeing differences in how generations of Black men are responding to our politics today and how they're feeling about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

And so, as our Gen Zer, can you -- can you help us understand what you think is going on with your peers? Because this is something that's different than we've -- than we've seen from generations of Black men past in terms of how much they're interested in supporting Donald Trump.

MICHAEL FRANKLIN, FOUNDER, WORDS NORMALIZE BEHAVIOR: Absolutely. And I think with my generation it starts with the fact that we have gone through a series of unprecedented events. And, like, for me being in college and graduating in the midst of the pandemic, it shows that we're going through historic moments every other day it feels like.

And so for us, we've seen institutions fail us time and time again. And so we want to motivate ourselves to not only see things that matter when they're incorporated and implemented but we want to see real change. And that starts with having our voices heard not only at the ballot box but making sure that we're able to wield political power after that, too.

[05:45:00]

HUNT: Alphonso, how do you see these generational differences playing out? And what do you say to -- you're a supporter of Kamala Harris?

ALPHONSO DAVID, PRESIDENT AND CEO, GLOBAL BLACK ECONOMIC FORUM: I'm a supporter of Kamala Harris.

HUNT: And so what do you say to people who are Trump curious?

DAVID: Well, I would say this is ultimately a race about freedom, and I'm not being hyperbolic when we think about economic freedom, right?

Kamala Harris recognizes the significant disparity that Black people face in this country in almost every single sector and is looking to address it.

Donald Trump denies that disparity exists, and he pays lip service to that disparity. And when we think about our history and we think about where Black people have come from in this country, Donald Trump has consistently denied our history and is looking to take us backwards.

So as I look at the generational divide if you will --

HUNT: Um-hum.

DAVID: -- I think ultimately, what we will see is that the majority of Black people will support Kamala Harris.

HUNT: Right. The numbers clearly show that.

But why do you think that particularly, young Black men -- more of them find Donald Trump appealing than found him appealing in the election cycle before this one or the election cycle before that? What's going on with that?

DAVID: I don't know that I necessarily accept that premise. The reason why is because we have to look closely at the data. I have never received a phone call from anyone asking me about my opinion in this election, and I know many young people that haven't received a phone call either.

So when we look at the datasets, I think we have to look to how many young millennials are actually being surveyed about their opinions. And when we look at --

HUNT: Well, millennials -- we're not the youngest ones at the table anymore. This guy is, over here.

DAVID: I know. And how many Gen Zers are being actually surveyed about their opinions? And I don't think a lot of them are.

HUNT: So, Gerren, weigh in on this. How do you understand the landscape?

GERREN KEITH GAYNOR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND MANAGING POLITICAL EDITOR, THEGRIO: You know, I'm a millennial. I came up in the age of the Obama year.

HUNT: Um-hum.

GAYNOR: When he -- when he was elected, I was a sophomore at Morehouse College.

HUNT: OK.

GAYNOR: And there is polling that showing that there are young Black men, according to a NAACP survey, who are thinking about voting for Donald Trump.

When I speak to Democratic insiders and people who are organizers on the ground talking to Black men at barbershops, what they find is that a lot of this is due to misinformation and disinformation. And I've covered the vice president for -- since the beginning of her tenure --

HUNT: Um-hum.

GAYNOR: -- and I can tell you she has been engaging with Black men.

You know, we've been having this conversation about why Black men seem to be apprehensive to vote for Kamala Harris, and a lot of this is down to what they're seeing on the internet. Millennials tend to get their news on social media.

HUNT: Um-hum. And Gen Z probably even more.

GAYNOR: TikTok -- and even more Gen Z.

HUNT: Yeah. GAYNOR: YouTube. And on those platforms we are seeing more and more mis and disinformation, which is why our job as journalists is so important because we have to tell the full story of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and their records so the Black men and Black voters can make informed decisions on November 5.

HUNT: What's your perception of how the Trump campaign and Trump himself shows up in those feeds? I mean, when you're on your phone -- when you and your friends are on your phones do you see something different in the way that comes through than if you were to say watch cable news during the day and those perceptions? I mean, are they having some success there as Gerren explains?

FRANKLIN: And so I think with the Trump campaign's approach young Black men and Gen Z voters it's not something that resonates with us but, rather, it's the decision between voting for Kamala Harris or staying home. And for a lot of us we have freedom on the line, like Alphonso mentioned, on the ballot this year --

HUNT: Um-hum.

FRANKLIN: -- and we care about being that generation that's going to have to start our families in the future but also taking care of our families as I believe the vice president called it the "sandwich generation." And, like, that's an answer to something that's at the top of mind for a lot of us because we know we're preparing for a future that's going to be important.

But for Donald Trump, he is not pushing any type of alternative there. He's not showing anything that's going to be meaningful towards us being able to build that future to take care of the people we care about.

HUNT: I want to -- I want to play for you what President Barack Obama had to say to a group of Black men. He was campaigning earlier this month and talking a little bit about why he thought perhaps Black men were interested in voting for Trump. Trump also responded to it. But let's watch that back-and-forth.

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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Part of it makes me think -- and I'm speaking to men directly -- part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he spoke down to Black men. I thought it was terrible the way he spoke to them.

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[05:50:00]

HUNT: Alphonso, how did you take in what Obama said there? Did you think he was right? DAVID: Look, I think -- I understand the sentiment, but I disagree with it. I understand that we have to make sure that we're not taking any votes for granted. And I think President Obama is speaking to those who may not actually be listening to the news. Those who may not necessarily be spoken to.

I don't actually agree, obviously, with Donald Trump's assessment but I do believe that it's important that we recognize the importance of misinformation and disinformation and how that is informing how people think about this election.

So I don't think he was pandering. I think he was actually hoping to speak to folks emotionally about this election. Yes, we have policy issues that we may disagree about, but we also have to recognize that when someone goes into the ballot box they're voting emotionally.

So when we think about this election from an emotional perspective, I personally have to think about how Donald Trump has characterized the Black community. He -- remember, he was in office for four years. Remember what happened in COVID? Remember that Black people died. Remember that Black people lost their jobs. Remember unemployment was very high.

And so we have to go back to our history and recognize what happened four years ago -- or when he was in office for four years and remind people of that environment and what we might inherit again if he's re- elected.

HUNT: All right, Michael, Alphonso, Gerren. Thank you all very much for joining us this morning. I know it's very early, but I really appreciate it. I think it's a really important conversation. So thank you very much for coming in.

FRANKLIN: Thank you.

DAVID: Thank you.

HUNT: All right, time now for sports. Christmas came a few months early in Cleveland. The Guardians pulled off one of the most dramatic comebacks in baseball history putting them right back in the series with the New York Yankees.

Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.

I mean, this was the game of the year. The Guardians -- they were down to their final out. A loss meant they were going to be down 3-0 to the Yankees and the series would be all but over. But they were rescued by Big Christmas.

We pick this game up in the eighth inning. It was Yankees down 3-1. Aaron Judge at the plate crushes this one off Cleveland's star closer Emmanual Clase for a two-run home run to tie it.

The very next batter was Giancarlo Stanton, and then he blasts this one to center for back-to-back home runs to take the lead. The Yankees' dugout just going crazy at this point.

New York then had a 5-3 lead with two outs in the ninth. The Guardians send up rookie Jhonkensy Noel to pinch hit and here's how it sounded on the Cleveland's Spanish broadcast.

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ANNOUNCERS (Speaking foreign language): (Cheering). Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad.

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SCHOLES: Big Christmas one of the best nicknames ever. He tied the game -- the first rookie ever to hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of a postseason game.

And the drama though was not done. Bottom of the tenth, David Fry was at the plate with two outs.

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DAVID FRY, DESIGNATED HITTER, CLEVELAND GUARDIANS: Amazing. I mean, all glory to God. I had a really bad first at-bat and a strikeout (INAUDIBLE). But I still got us a ticket, man, just to take the at- bat. And I still don't know what happened, but it ended up we won. And everybody thinks we can't do it. We think we can. Jhonkensy hit a huge homer early. I still don't know who Jhonkensy hit a homer off that guy. He's such a cool guy. I mean, what a win. That (INAUDIBLE) is so good. That was fun.

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SCHOLES: That was fun. That walk-off home run there from David Fry.

All right. The Dodgers, meanwhile, dominating the Mets again. Shohei Ohtani leading off the game for L.A. with a solo home run. And then it was Mookie Betts just having a fantastic game. He went four for six with a double home run and four RBIs.

The Mets -- they left 12 men on base.

The Dodgers would win this one 10-2. They've not outscored the Mets 30-9 in the series.

L.A. -- they can advance to their first World Series since 2020 with a win today in game five. That's at 5:00 Eastern. Then you've got the Yankees and the Guardians at 8:00. You can watch that one on our sister network TBS and stream it on Max.

But Kasie, I imagine those Cleveland fans just exhausted from what they just went through yesterday, but they're back in the series now and we'll see what today has in store.

HUNT: Feliz Navidad.

Andy, thank you. Have a wonderful weekend. SCHOLES: You, too.

HUNT: All right, coming up in our next hour on CNN THIS MORNING, the silent majority. Former Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock is going to join us to talk about the group she thinks is going to be key for Kamala Harris.

Plus, President Biden will speak after the death of one Israel's most wanted men. What's next for Israel without Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar?

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have a great opportunity to stop the axis of evil and create a different future. A future of peace and a future of prosperity in the entire region.

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[05:55:00]

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HUNT: It's Friday, October 18. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

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NETANYAHU (through translator): This is the beginning of the day after Hamas.

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HUNT: The suspected mastermind of October 7 killed. How a routine operation led to the Hamas leader's death.

Plus this.

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TRUMP: It's really a pleasure (to be) anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.

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HUNT: Crude, cringe, and a touch of comedy. Donald Trump's punchlines at a high-profile charity dinner.

And later --

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Democrats, and Republicans, and Independents are supporting our campaign. In fact --

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: Republicans for Harris. Former GOP Congresswoman Barbara Comstock joins us to talk about what she calls the silent majority that she thinks will help the vice president to victory.

And battle of the billionaires. Elon Musk and Mark Cuban hit the campaign trail stumping for their chosen candidates.