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CNN This Morning
Senior Hamas Official Confirms Death of Yahya Sinwar; Trump Speaks at Al Smith Dinner, Harris Sends Video. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 18, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, October 19. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
[05:59:16]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is the beginning of the day after Hamas.
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HUNT: The suspected mastermind of October 7th, killed. How a routine operation led to the Hamas leader's death.
Plus, this.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: These days, it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Democrats, and Republicans, and independents are supporting our campaign.
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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 billionaires. Elon Musk and Mark Cuban hit the campaign trail, stumping for their chosen candidates. All right, 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. It's noon in Germany, where we find President Biden. He's on a trip to Berlin. We do expect to hear from him this hour. We will bring that to you live as we cover all this breaking news out of the Middle East.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us on this Friday morning. This just in. Senior Hamas leaders have confirmed the death of their -- their leader and the mastermind of the October 7th terror attacks, Yahya Sinwar, is dead.
Israel's military announcing yesterday that Sinwar was killed in Gaza on Wednesday. According to Israeli sources, the hunt for Sinwar came to an end when Israeli forces came under for 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, edited and released by the IDF.
They say it shows Sinwar hiding after that firefight, hiding sitting in that chair. Israeli troops later fired on this building again, and they killed the man in the chair.
At this point, Israeli forces didn't know the identity of the man that they had killed. But upon closer inspection, they noticed that he looked very familiar.
So, we're now going to show you a photo allegedly showing Sinwar's body after he was killed. We want to warn you: this image is graphic and may be disturbing for some viewers. So, we're giving you a second, if you don't want to see it on your screen.
But we are going to put it up now. In this image taken from social media, you see here the body of a man resembling Sinwar, buried in rubble and surrounded by Israeli troops.
CNN can't independently confirm the photo's authenticity, but our analysis found no signs that the image had been manipulated.
Israeli police say that Sinwar's body was positively identified using DNA testing.
With Hamas, now at a major disadvantage, President Biden calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is the time to move on. Move towards a ceasefire in Gaza, make sure we're moving in the direction that we are going to be in the 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 -- what is the day after now. How do we secure Gaza and move on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Our panel's here: CNN political and national security analyst, White House national security correspondent for "The New York Times," David Sanger; CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny; Republican strategist, partner at On Message, Brad Todd; and CNN political commentator Karen Finney. Welcome to all of you.
David Sanger, I want to start with you on this operation, because the details of it are, quite frankly, just stunning. And I'm interested to know what your insights are, your reporting is around. I mean, this was a routine operation.
That drone footage just kind of showing him sitting in the chair. At one point, he throws an object, perhaps a stick, at this Israeli drone as he sits there in this chair.
I mean, this is a man who, you know, the world wondered, was he alive? Was he dead? They were hunting him in tunnels underneath Gaza. It just feels stunning to -- that they -- they -- they stumbled upon him above ground and that these are the scenes of his final moments.
What -- do you see when you look at this? What have you heard? What do you understand about how this came to be?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Kasie, good morning. It's a remarkable turn of events, because as you suggest, hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, were spent in the broader intelligence, finding the Hamas leadership and specifically looking for him.
And in the end, they came upon him by accident in a firefight above ground. It sort of defied everything with the Israelis and the Americans -- who were helping Israel with special forces units and tracking technology and so forth -- believed would be the case for the end of Sinwar.
And to some degree, the fact that this took everybody by surprise, especially took the Israelis by surprise, may tell you why you are hearing such dissonance right now between what the president and the vice president are saying and what you're hearing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Those were very coordinated statements by President Biden and Vice President Harris, who were saying -- you know, using the key words of day-after, time to move on, end the war.
And then, of course, when you heard Prime Minister Netanyahu, he was saying this war is not over. And that's why the surprise here has brought us to such a hinge point, because no one knows which way Netanyahu is going to turn now.
Will he heed the advice from the U.S. for the first time, or will he say we've been successful? We've gotten the head of Hezbollah. We've gotten ahead of Hamas. Let's move on to Tehran.
HUNT: David, what would Netanyahu's rationale be for continuing -- I mean, this does seem like an opportunity for him to declare victory, essentially, over Hamas.
What are the factors that are going to affect how he proceeds? How much influence, for example, might it be, depending on who ends up leading Hamas? I mean, what are the variables here in your view?
SANGER: Couple of variables. The first is the internal politics of this. He's under great pressure from his right wing. He wants to stay in power. He's on a roll.
The second is I think he believes that he ignored President Biden's advice, and following his own instincts worked. I mean, he was able to kill Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, three weeks ago. They got lucky and tripped across and killed the head of Hamas, Sinwar, yesterday.
And so, he, well -- he may well be thinking, you know, follow your own instincts, use the moment to defeat Israel's adversaries.
What the president is saying to them is, essentially, take the win. Convert the military victory into a longer lasting political victory.
Otherwise, the military victory is just a passing tactical thing. And that's going to be the -- the fight of the next couple of weeks.
It's why Secretary of State Blinken is being sent to Israel and why he's been talking to Middle East leaders to all put pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to use this as a turning point, if an unexpected one.
HUNT: So, of course, in terms of the politics here in the U.S., David mentioned the coordinated statements of the president, of the vice president, who's of course, also the Democratic nominee to be the next president.
Brad Todd, I actually have a question for you, because we have yet to hear from Donald Trump on this particular question. Why is that? When he was posting things on Truth Social overnight, it's not as though there hasn't been an opportunity for him to do so.
But clearly, this man was the mastermind of an attack that killed so many Israelis on October 7. It's a bit mystifying we haven't heard yet from the Republican nominee.
BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, he's been pretty clear that Hamas had to be eliminated.
And I think also, you're probably going to hear from him today to remind people that Kamala Harris suggested last month that Israel should stay out of Rafah. Sinwar was killed in Rafah. If Israel doesn't go to Rafah, Sinwar's still alive, still directing terrorist attacks all over the Middle East.
So, I think today, you'll hear him make that contrast with the fact that she was wrong once again, on a major national security issue.
HUNT: Jeff Zeleny, the sort of looming prospect of an expanded conflict in the Middle East has been hanging over this presidential campaign here.
I mean, there have been a lot of jokes about October surprises, and could we be surprised by anything anymore? But that is one, you know, when -- when Israel is considering thee Israeli -- former Israeli officials out saying this is the moment for Israel to hit Iran's nuclear sites. We're still waiting for their retaliation against the most recent attacks from Iran.
How -- what have you been hearing from the campaigns in the course of your reporting about how each is thinking about this conflict and how it may -- I mean, we are 18 days out from a presidential election.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And voting is underway. So, this is a part of the campaign. It has been a part of the campaign.
Both Harris and the former president are going to Michigan today. Front and center, Donald Trump is going to be having us the meeting with some Arab American leaders.
So, look, this has been the White House back when President Biden was the candidate. Advisers were long hoping that by fall, this issue would have been resolved, at least for the moment domestically. That has not happened.
So, it's hard for me to imagine, despite the gravity of yesterday's news, which was, you know, remarkably significant. It's hard for me to imagine it having much effect on this election. Obviously, the vice president is very eager for this to be over. It's not going to be over.
So, we'll see what Donald Trump says today in Michigan. But I think it's still very fraught for the Harris campaign and for Democrats.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, a couple of things. I mean, to what Todd said, we don't actually know where Sinwar --
TODD: Brad.
FINNEY: Brad. I'm so sorry.
HUNT: Brad Todd.
FINNEY: We don't actually know where Sinwar -- I don't think you can blame her for having -- being incorrect, because we don't know where he's been all this time. And they stumbled on him. They didn't know where he was. They happened to find them.
They may have still been able to find --
TODD: It's a good thing they were in Rafah.
FINNEY: They may have been able to find them somewhere else. You never know. But more importantly, I do -- here's what I do think matters. when people are thinking about these global conflicts. And the more we are seeing, like we saw last night, unhinged Donald
Trump going off on random tangents, profanity-laced rants. He seems less stable.
And even in 2016, one of the things we found in the polling consistently, even though people said they were going to vote for him, and they liked him, they were nervous about him having his hand on the nuclear codes.
And so, I do think what these conflicts remind people is, do you want a stable leader, or do you want somebody who's coming out and going along him, who's not going to have the same kind of guardrails around him, frankly, to keep him in check.
We know how he said he wants to use our military. They've said that, you know, his own military, his own advisers have said he is a national security danger. So, I think that also comes into play here.
TODD: This weekend's NBC poll showed only three issues where Kamala Harris doesn't lead. She leads on more issues than Trump does on how more people trust her on, but she doesn't lead on inflation, the border, and handling the war with Israel.
This is not a good moment for her when Israel succeeding in defeating its enemies, and she was wrong. She said, I'd studied the maps. Israel shouldn't go into Rafah.
Going to Rafah was the right thing.
HUNT: We're going to -- we're going to play later in the show what appears to be the real -- the closing message from the Harris campaign, which I think speaks to some of what Karen was talking about there. And we're going to dig further also into all the points Brad was making, as well.
And David Sanger, I just want to thank you very much for being with us this morning. No -- no person better to start us off on a day like today than you. So, thank you very much.
All right.
SANGER: Thank you.
HUNT: Coming up next here, the gender gap that has come to define this stubbornly tight presidential race. Ahead, which way could women tip the scales in this election?
Plus, fans around the world mourning the death of former One Direction member, Liam Payne. We're going to dig into the new details surrounding his death.
And presidential candidates going after each other, not on policy, but for laughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOLLY SHANNON, FORMER "SNL" CAST MEMBER: Don't say anything negative about Catholics.
HARRIS: I would never do that no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.
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[06:16:47]
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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.
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HUNT: Donald Trump, poking fun at himself at the traditional Al Smith dinner last night in New York. The fundraising event for Catholic charities is usually attended by both presidential candidates.
Kamala Harris skipped out to campaign in Wisconsin. She sent this video message with some help from a friend.
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HARRIS: Is there anything that you think that maybe I shouldn't bring up tonight?
SHANNON: Well, don't lie. Thou shalt not bear false witness to thy neighbor.
HUNT: Indeed, especially their neighbor's election results.
SHANNON: Just so you know, there will be a fact checker there tonight.
HARRIS: Oh, that's great. Who?
SHANNON: Jesus. And maybe don't say anything negative about Catholics.
HARRIS: I would never do that no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Actress Molly Shannon reprising her role as Mary Katherine Gallagher from "SNL."
Trump used his time to take swipes at Harris; her running mate, Governor Tim Walz; and other Democrats; and also, his own legal trouble.
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TRUMP: These days, it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.
Unfortunately, Governor Walz isn't here himself, but don't worry. He'll say that he was. He's going to say --
The only piece of advice I would have for her, in the event that she wins, would be not to let her husband, Doug, anywhere near the nannies. Just keep them away.
That's a nasty one.
Although I hear that Kamala and her husband carve out some really beautiful alone time at the end of the day for an intimate dinner, just Doug, her, and the teleprompter that she uses quite well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: OK. There you have it.
Jeff Zeleny, you saw Chuck Schumer down there in the corner. His face, a set of memes all by itself.
This is normally -- I mean, I know you've covered these in the past. I -- you know, I've been in the room for them in the past before. It used to be -- in some ways, it kind of crystallizes the way our politics have completely changed in the last decade.
ZELENY: Sure. I mean, there's a lot of handwringing in this time zone. Oh, Vice President Harris was not there. It's the end of comity. I think comity ended a long time ago.
HUNT: "Comity" spelled "I-T-Y." Comity, not comedy.
ZELENY: Exactly, right. No one cares -- no one no one cares about the Al Smith Dinner except people in the East Coast in the New York media circles. I'm Catholic. The Catholic charities obviously do very good work.
It makes zero political difference if Vice President Harris is there or not. Probably wiser for her to be in Green Bay where she was.
That said, who didn't love seeing Mary Katherine Gallagher. I thought that was very good, certainly for people over a certain age. We all remember her on "SNL." I'm not sure this is a young voter thing, necessarily. But it was very funny.
FINNEY: Now they can look it up. Now they're learning about it.
ZELENY: Jesus -- Jesus as the fact checker.
But I thought seeing Donald Trump in that moment, he was also showing a bit of humor. Maybe went on a bit too long, but this is something that is so him.
[06:20:04]
He talked about how he went there with his father. He loves that room. He loves the New York sort of -- the adulation, around him. So, this was more important to Donald Trump than it was to the presidential campaign or Vice President Harris.
TODD: You know, I don't enjoy all Donald Trump's speeches, but this one was really funny. And I would encourage even who's burned out on this presidential race to watch it.
Because he did make fun of himself. He made fun of CNN. You know --
FINNEY: I don't know that it was funny.
TODD: Made fun of his own jokes that fell flat. This is a place where -- it's a very hard speech. I've helped prep people to speak at this dinner, and it's a really hard thing for politicians to do. Because they're not used to making front of themselves or being funny for more than one or two lines. And you have to tell joke after joke after joke.
I thought it -- I thought it actually is going to be probably his best moment of the campaign.
FINNEY: I actually agree with Jeff, because here's part of the way our politics have changed. And the dynamics.
That is a stuffy room full of insiders. This is the quintessential backroom kind of old New York; old, stodgy, mostly white men, as you saw in the image.
HUNT: Who had to wear white tie.
FINNEY: Who had to wear white-tie. And she's not the of them. That's not who she is. That's not where she comes from. You know, she is somebody -- would be the first president who has served at the local, state, and federal level. She's -- you know, women and usually women who come, we aren't in those back rooms. And we aren't in those spaces.
So, for her to be out with the people, that was a smarter campaign choice for multiple reasons. There was not anything for her to gain by going to that dinner. There was a lot more for her to gain, in a 100- day campaign in particular, to be on the road.
TODD: I'm not sure she'd be funny either. And you have to be funny to do it. And it's hard. It's hard for most people.
ZELENY: I don't know. I thought her video with Mary Katherine Gallagher was pretty funny. I don't know whose idea that was It probably wasn't hers. But I thought the video was funny.
I'm not sure how it went in the room, but they played that video before the former president spoke. That was the context.
HUNT: Yes. All right.
Both U.S. and Israeli officials are praising the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israel. Ahead, what this means for the war in Gaza. We're live in Tel Aviv.
And we also expect to hear from President Biden live this morning. We're watching for that.
Plus, with just 18 days left, polling showing a wide gender divide between the two presidential candidates. We'll dig into it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Working folks in -- in heavily red areas that are getting together with other women at coffee shops without their husbands knowing, for example, and starting to have those conversations.
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[06:26:46]
HUNT: All right. New this morning, a senior Hamas official acknowledging the group's leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in Gaza.
That official calling his death, quote, "painful and distressing," end quote.
Many Israelis, however, are celebrating, with hope that his death could be the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope it's going to bring peace as soon as possible and quiet; end of the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, for Israel, it's -- it's a big step. Maybe one -- the first step to end this -- to end this war.
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HUNT: All right, joining us now with the latest from Tel Aviv, CNN chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance.
Matthew, it's great to see you this morning.
What are you hearing there about how the death of Sinwar may change the game going forward?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question. I mean, first of all, there is some jubilation and some celebration amongst Israelis that this figure who led Hamas, who was seen as the -- one of the main architects of the October the seventh killings inside Israel, has been killed.
Many Israelis have been voicing the opinion that justice has been -- has been served. But while it's a tactical victory for the Israelis, and no one is
questioning that; and there's political benefit for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, it doesn't necessarily mean that the hostages are going to be released and that the war in Gaza and in the wider Middle East is going to suddenly come to an end.
But there's a possibility that it could move towards that, but it is not a certainty. It's more like a hope at this point. And so, we'll see how things develop over the coming hours and in the coming days, with the death of Yahya Sinwar, which has now been acknowledged by senior Hamas leadership figures for the first time since Wednesday when he was killed.
We'll see how that affects the outcomes inside -- inside Gaza. In the meantime, there is a high-level meeting that is, we think, underway right now between the Israeli prime minister and other senior security officials inside Israel to discuss Gaza, to discuss Iran, and to discuss Lebanon, where there's also Israeli military activity taking place.
And to particularly focus on what impacts the killing of Sinwar may have on the timing, for instance, on a strike against Iran. Whether now may be the time to look at a hiatus, look at a pause in military activity, to perhaps give space for some kind of hostage deal to be done.
That's certainly something the hostage families want in this country. There are still about 100 people, Israelis, held inside Gaza, dead or alive. It's not quite clear what their condition is.
And the families of those individuals are pushing -- are doubling their efforts to push the Netanyahu government to try and get a deal now, at this stage, to get those people out -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Matthew Chance for us this morning in Tel Aviv. Matthew, thank you so much for that report.
Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, the election just over two weeks away, Vice President Harris, trying to attract Republican voters. I'm going to talk with former GOP Congresswoman Barbara Comstock about who she thinks is going to help Harris win.
And new evidence in Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case could be released today after the judge denied his request.
