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Laura Coates Live

Iranian Media: Hamas Political Leader Killed In Iran; Hamas Official: Assassination Of Political Leader Was "A Cowardly Act"; Hamas Blames Israel For Killing Of Political Leader. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

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LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news here on CNN, a major development in the Middle East, Hamas says the political leader of the organization the U.S. calls a terror group, has been killed in Tehran. So far, the Israeli military is only saying they do not respond to reports in the foreign media. The White House says it is aware of the reports and is monitoring it. This comes as Israel and Hamas were locked intense negotiations to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas. Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks, live in Abu Dhabi. Paula, what more do you know?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, this is a very significant development. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas killed in Tehran, this according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It's been confirmed as well by a Hamas statement saying that he was killed in a residence in the Iranian capital as he was in town for the inauguration of the new Iranian leader.

Now, we know that -- that inauguration of Iran's new president was on Tuesday. We don't have an exact timing of when this killing took place. But it was the early hours of Wednesday when the news emerged. Now it is a significant development. We have heard, as you say, that Israel is saying it does not comment on foreign news media reports. Not an unexpected response from the IDF. It is one we have heard before when there have been these reports of high profile killings in other countries of Hamas or even of Hezbollah leaders.

But everyone in the region does believe that Israel is behind this. Israel has made it very clear from October 7th, after that Hamas attack in Israel, that all of Hamas' leadership was considered a target, that it would be going after the political and the military leadership of Hamas. Now we know with Ismail Haniyeh that his residence in Gaza City was -- was attacked by an Israeli air strike just one month after those October 7th attacks.

We also know that several months ago, a number of his children were killed in Gaza as well, so his family has also been considered a -- a target. Now, Ismail Haniyeh himself has been out of Gaza for some years now. He has been living largely in Doha, Qatar. He has been free to travel around the region. We know he has been to Tehran a number of times. He has been to Turkey. And so the fact that this has happened in the heart of Iran is very significant. The fact that -- that the assassination was able to take place, that the intelligence was able to be gathered in Tehran itself, is certainly something that is going to -- to send a chill through the Hamas organization.

Now it is not the first time that the leadership has been targeted. We know that -- that the military number two in -- in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, Israel believes they killed him just recently. Also back in January, Saleh al-Arouri, who was really considered a -- a deputy political leader of Hamas, was also assassinated in Beirut. So this is not the first time that this has happened, but certainly the fact that it is the political leader of Hamas is a significant target.

He has been very vocal. He has been very visible over recent months, not least when it comes to negotiations for a potential hostage deal to release Israeli hostages from Gaza and a ceasefire deal which those discussions were ongoing. One can only imagine that -- that this could well stall those at least in the short term. Laura?

COATES: Paula Hancocks, please stand by. We have CNN political analyst and foreign policy analyst, Barak Ravid on the phone. Barak, what are your sources telling me this is very consequential?

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BARAK RAVID, CNN FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Yes, it is very consequential. And just, you know, just to understand how this assassination happened according to the Iranian media, there, you know, new details that are being published some sort of aircraft fired a missile into Haniyeh's bedroom through the window and killed him.

You really need to have very good intelligence and very good operational capabilities to, you know, conduct such an operation. This is when you add that to the assassination of Hezbollah's top military leader in Beirut and to an airstrike conducted by the U.S. military in Iraq against pro-Iranian militias, this is a very bad day for the pro- Iranian access in the region.

And usually when Iran gets hit like that, there is a retaliation. Sometimes it's immediate. Sometimes it takes time. And I think that the Iranians are now starting to work on how are they going to respond, both directly and through their progress in the region, for that wave or for that series of hits that they just got in the last 24 hours.

And another interesting point, the White House top Middle East official, Brett McGurk is now in the region. He had talks yesterday in Saudi Arabia, headed the delegation of all the top Middle East officials in the Biden administration. They were in Saudi Arabia to talk about the situation in Yemen and the Houthis. He's going to Egypt later today, and he's there while the whole region is getting more and more and more tense.

And I think it will be very interesting to see whether McGurk changes his plans and goes to Israel and to other countries in the region, from Egypt, maybe to Doha in Qatar, maybe to other places, but his visit in the region is in a very interesting timing. Barak is -- is his presence in the region, does it make his safety more precarious at this juncture?

RAVID: Again, I -- I -- I don't -- I think, you know, I'm -- I'm pretty sure that, you know, he's taking all the needed security measures, but I think it's just, you know, it'll be very, very interesting to see how the region is going to react to this series of events that are very, very dramatic. And I don't think, when I think about this, this is one of the most dramatic days in the war since October 7th.

And it's dramatic because it's not only in Gaza, it's in Beirut, it's in Tehran. And what we were seeing right now is how the whole region right now is engulfed in this crisis.

COATES: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is joining me as well. Nic, what does this mean for the entire organization of Hamas? I mean, this is one man. He is a very important one among the organization. There are other leaders, though.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There are. I mean, one -- one thinks immediately of Yahya Sinwar, who's the sort of the most important described by the Israeli officials as a dead man walking with days after the October 7th attacks by Hamas, the main leader of Hamas, who is believed to be hiding out in tunnels in Gaza. It's significant in a way, that Israel has the ability to reach into Tehran to take out a Hamas political leader there, one who lives in exile and is an -- an important, a vital interlocutor so far in -- in the talks on the hostages, and also be able to reach into -- reach into Beirut, the New Year or around the New Year to take out Hamas' top figure there. Reach into Beirut just yesterday to take out, perhaps the number two in the Hezbollah command structure, after -- after their supreme leader.

So it's -- it's significant that Yahya Sinwar is still able to hide out. And so far as we know, as far as we know, avoid Israel's strikes inside of Gaza. I think that's one thing. But I think when we think about the consequences and the symbolism of taking out Ismail Haniyeh in -- inside of Tehran, we have to look at the reason that he was there.

I mean, he's been to Tehran before. Iran is widely seen as -- as -- as bankrolling, supporting ideologically behind Hamas, helping them prepare for the -- for the brutal October 7th attacks. But the reason that he was in Tehran now was to be there for the inauguration of Iran's new president, following the death of their president a -- a, you know, few months ago in a helicopter crash. There were elections, and it was understood that of the candidates running, it was the sort of most moderate candidate that was put forward or allowed to run by the Supreme Council in Iran who won the elections.

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And Ismail Haniyeh was there visiting him, watching his inauguration. So this, you know, when you understand that Iran struck back directly at Israel for what it described as a targeted strike on its diplomatic compound inside of Damascus earlier this -- earlier this year, this when Israel took out, assassinated the one of the top interlocutors between Tehran, one of the senior, most senior Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders, helping to run the war in the region for Iran.

When they -- when they caught -- when Tehran called that an attack on the diplomatic compound, this is a -- this is a strike, not just in Tehran, not just at a senior figure of Hamas, but at a time when he was there, when Iran was enjoying the inauguration of -- of a new president. This is will be seen by them, most likely, as an absolute diplomatic slap in the face, not just the assassination of Haniyeh, but when it was done and where it was done, the timing and the -- and the symbolism of it is really going to strike -- strike hard in Tehran, I would anticipate.

And for this reason, trying to calculate their response at this time, one can imagine that it -- that -- that it will be strong, and it will be with -- and it would -- it will be with passion, where and how, as Barak Ravid was saying, we just don't know.

COATES: I want to bring everyone up to speed. And what we've been learning tonight in this breaking news story, the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran. Here is what we know. This was a 62-year-old man who had joined Hamas in the late 1980s. He also grew in power as the Hamas organization, became more powerful, he was increasing in his ranks. He had been a part of the secret collective leadership at one point in time.

He became chief of the group in 2017. It was actually named a special -- specially designated global terrorist by the United States soon thereafter. He has been a part since the 80s, even engaging in peace talks with then former President Jimmy Carter. He was in Iran -- in Tehran, attending the inauguration of the brand new president there. He's also known to be one of the chief interlocutors between Qatar and Egypt in terms of hostage negotiations.

Members of his family had been killed back in April as well. We're learning now that he has been killed in Iran, the White House has been made aware, but they have not made an official comment from about what has happened.

And this just in, a Hamas official has released a statement saying that the killing of their political leader, quote, will not pass in vain, unquote. The statement goes on to say that the assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh was a cowardly act. I want to bring back in Bobby Ghosh. Bobby, what is your reaction to that statement tonight, calling this an act of cowardice and that will not remain in vain?

BOBBY GHOSH, SENIOR EDITOR AT BLOOMBERG: Well -- well, the -- the statement itself is only to be expected. I think you will hear stronger language in the hours and days ahead. But more important than the statement is what action Iran will take, what kind of retaliation it will seek. We have to remind ourselves that in April, when Israel struck against Iranian targets in -- in Syria, Iran sort of crossed a Rubicon by firing something like 300 missiles and drones in the direction of Israel. Now that was a -- a showpiece that was staged in a way. There was plenty of advance warning Iran was -- Israel was able to use its own defenses to basically take out all those -- most of those projectiles in the air before they were able to do any damage. But as I say, Iran cross a Rubicon that day by firing directly at Israel. Now that -- that that has been sort of crossed, the next reaction from Iran, the pressure on Iran now will be to do something even more spectacular and perhaps less predictable.

And -- and that's the thing to watch out for. But Israel would have known this. The Israeli military will be preparing itself for some kind of re -- retaliation, both in from the direction of -- of Lebanon to -- to its immediate north, but also from Iran directly. This will also mean that the United States military assets in the region will have to be on very, very high alert all across the Middle East, because there will also be the fears of a retaliation against the United States. So tensions will be in a -- in a region that's already very tense. Tense -- tensions will be at a unprecedented levels for the next few days.

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COATES: A political leader in Hamas has been killed this evening. We're also learning that this is one of the three Hamas leaders that had an arrest warrant issued against him by the ICC. We're going to take a quick break. There's more on this breaking story in just a moment.

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COATES: Breaking news here on CNN, a major development in the Middle East. Hamas says, the political leader of the organization, the U.S. calls a terror group, has been killed in Tehran. So far, the Israeli military is not saying that -- it's only saying they do not respond to reports in the foreign media. The White House says it is aware of the reports and is monitoring the situation. This comes as -- as Israel and Hamas were locked intense negotiations to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas. Let's get right to Ben Wedeman, who is in Beirut, the IDF just had a retaliatory strike where you are, what are you hearing, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this news is just spreading around, and it's fairly early in the morning here in Beirut, so haven't seen specific reaction yet. But this certainly isn't going to help calm things in the region. I'm -- I'm -- I'm sure that many people are probably -- are probably going to come to the conclusion that Israel has decided that there's no hope in negotiations to release the hostages in Gaza, and so it's going after the negotiator. Ismail Haniyeh, who was the political leader of Hamas, not the military leader of Hamas, was heavily engaged in these negotiations, obviously not directly with the Americans or the Israelis, but through the Qataris and the Egyptians and others.

He was the man passing away who was sort of stating Hamas' position. So it seems that Israel simply given up on those negotiations and his going ahead and eliminating the leaders of Hamas when the opportunity arises. And I think as -- as -- as other people who you've been speaking to this morning or this evening where you are have -- have made it clear that this really underscores that Israel has the ability and the intelligence to target its enemies wherever they might be. For instance, yesterday evening, at just before 8:00 p.m. local time here in Beirut, the Israelis have the intelligence to locate and kill Fuad Shukr, who's the -- one of the senior military commanders of Hezbollah, despite the fact that Hezbollah tries to maintain fairly tight security.

And for the Israelis to be able to strike the political head of Hamas in the Iranian capital. And of course, we heard Barak Ravid saying earlier that it was as a result of a missile fired through window. Obviously, we're going to have to get that confirmed. But that would indicate a level of intelligence that perhaps we -- we haven't seen yet before. And as I said, it just sends a message that Israel has given up on the negotiations for ceasefire in Gaza, for the peaceful release of the hostages who are still alive in Gaza and is simply going forward with the assassinating the people it was in directly negotiating with.

COATES: I want to bring in CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Layton on this. Colonel, this is very significant news this evening. This region has been under major stress, obviously, since at least October 7th. What will this do to the political and military dynamic, given some of the statements that this might be a showing of a giving up on peaceful negotiations?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Laura, that could very well be the case, at least in the near term, because when you go ahead and as Ben was talking about just now eliminating the lead negotiator for Hamas in these negotiations that they've been conducting in Qatar and in Egypt as well as in -- in Rome, that really puts a stop to any of those diplomatic efforts.

And I agree with Ben that this could potentially be a -- really a -- a -- a way to stop every single aspect of these negotiations in the -- in the, at least in the short term, because what that does is it puts Hamas in a specific box right here. And now that they're or less leaderless on the political side, at least, it also puts a -- a lot of pressure on the military wing of Hamas.

So what we can see is some kind of effort to consolidate power within Hamas. That is going to, of course, be a very difficult thing for them to do, because they're really forced now under a lot of -- of stress to deal with the Israelis, both in a military and a political way, with decimated leadership. And, you know, in terms of the future, Laura, what we could see here is the potential for greater attacks on Israel, some of them coming from Iran, from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, because now Iranian sovereignty has been violated with the killing of Haniyeh in -- in Tehran.

[00:25:36] So this this could really result in a major escalation of this conflict, not only between Hamas and Israel, but also between Iran and Israel.

COATES: Indeed, this happened in Iran and the capital city while he was attending the inauguration of the new president in Iran. What kind of retaliation if any, do you expect from Iran, given, as some are describing, this a -- a slap in the face, knowing that people like Haniyeh had oftentimes been out and about in public and had a certain level of comfort in safe travels in places like Iran.

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's going to be, I think, a major effort by the Iranians that will need -- they will need to show a need to show a force -- the need to show a need to show a force. And what that means is it could be a missile attack like we saw a few months ago against Israel that could very well try to -- they could very well try to tax the air defense systems that the Israelis have, on the one hand.

On the other hand, what they could do is they could also mount some kind of terrorist attacks against Israeli installations, not only around the region around the Middle East, but potentially globally. So those are the kinds of things that could happen. And the third dimension that they could use from Iran would be cyberattacks against Israel and any country that they feel is associated with Israel, and that, of course, would mean the United States.

COATES: We're going to take a quick break on this very important and quick paced news story that is breaking this evening. Here more on this breaking story in just a moment on CNN.

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COATES: Back with breaking news here on CNN, Hamas says the political leader of the organization the U.S. calls a terror group, has been killed in Tehran. Let's get to Jeremy Diamond and Haifa, Israel. Jeremy, what do you know?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is not a ton of information coming from the Israeli military or the Israeli government at this stage. So far, the only response we've gotten is that they do not respond to reports in the foreign media. And this is the very type of targeted assassination attempt, or targeted assassination abroad that the Israeli military, the Israeli government, the Mossad, Israel's Intelligence Service, typically would not comment on.

But we are learning, of course, from other sources, that this was Israel that was behind this assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran which is an extraordinary feat at that, in terms of Israel's ability to gather the intelligence and then be able to take out Ismail Haniyeh in Iranian -- on Iranian soil, is really something quite remarkable that speaks to the reach of Israel's intelligence service and is going to raise major questions in Iran about the security of other leaders in Iran, whether Iranian leaders or the leaders of other Iranian proxies.

Now Hamas, for its part, has said that confirmed Haniyeh's death and said it is either victory or martyrdom. But this is going to raise a million questions at this moment, a very tense moment in the Middle East. As we know, last night, Israel carried out a separate strike that killed a senior Hezbollah commander. We know that these ceasefire negotiations are still ongoing.

We are at a moment of incredible tension where a wider regional war could potentially break out as a result of these various escalations that we're seeing, it should come as no surprise, however, that Israel has tried to take out Ismail Haniyeh, and in this case, apparently done so successfully. Israeli leaders have vowed since October 7th that they would target and take out any Hamas leader since the beginning of this war, and they would reach them wherever they could.

And now the latest target of -- of an Israeli operation, apparently, was Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader. And this is also, of course, going to raise questions about leadership within Hamas. We know, of course, that there has been Yahya Sinwar, who is Hamas' leader inside of Gaza, directing many of Hamas' military operations there, but also having a critical hand in those ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Ismail Haniyeh also had a major hand in those ongoing ceasefire negotiations, particularly given the fact that he was abroad, and -- and Hamas' political leader. And so now this is going to raise questions about who comes out on top with more influence in Hamas, and particularly more influence over these ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

COATES: Jeremy Diamond, stay with us, please. I want to get to Jonathan Conricus, former IDF spokesperson. Jonathan, Hamas blames Israel for this. Israel is not commenting. Walk us through how the IDF might be processing all this right now.

LT. COL. JONATHAN CONRICUS (RET.), FORMER IDF SPOKESPERSON: Well, I think that, good night to you, a very good night, I would say, the first good night in quite a long time for the free world and for Israel. And I think that what the IDF is doing now is assessing the situation, preparing itself for a response from Iran, Hezbollah, an attempted response from Hamas. While I don't know really how much military capabilities Hamas has left in order to respond. But probably there will be some kind of Iranian-Hezbollah joint effort here.

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And I think that the IDF is ready for that. And I think that the IDF is quiet, just as Jeremy said before, in order to assess the situation and see how this is unfolding, and to listen to Hamas and Iranian messaging.

COATES: We've heard from some people tonight that suggest that this might be an indication that Israel has given up on negotiating, or at least a peaceful release of hostages, and that the targeting of those like Haniyeh, who is a chief interlocutor of negotiations, might signal a change of events. What do you make of those suggestions? CONRICUS: Well, I can see the logic behind it but I don't think that is the case. I would rather assume that an opportunity availed itself for Israel to take out one of the most important leaders of that U.S. designated terror organization, Hamas, and to do it in Iran. If that indeed is the case, then that's an added bonus of adding insults to injury to the Iranians when it comes to doing it on home soil, I think that the last meeting that Ismail Haniyeh did was with the Supreme Leader in Tehran, at least according to the Supreme Leader, his Twitter account, there's a photo of Ismail Haniyeh sitting with him.

And he also participated in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, alongside other Iranian affiliated terrorists. So I think that what we're seeing here is an important message. I understand that this may complicate the situation, probably in the immediate term when it comes to getting Israeli hostages out. And I for one, pray and hope that Israel will be able to get all of our hostages out, as many of them as possible, alive.

But, you know, Israeli leaders said, both military and elected officials, they said this, I think nine or 10 months ago, all of the leaders of Hamas are dead men walking, and it's only a matter of time before they will face the consequences of their murderous attacks against Israelis on October 7th and since.

COATES: Standby, I want to come back to you on these points. I want to bring back in Colonel Cedric Leighton as well. How do you expect Hamas to react to this?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's a great question, Laura. I think Hamas is going to be in a situation where, as Jonathan was alluding to, you're going to have to do make some kind of a response if you're Hamas. However, your military capabilities are definitely going to be limited at this point. Hamas is basically a top down organization that requires a, you know, certain person to be in charge of things. And that's going to, I think, be a bit more difficult for them to exercise the command and control that they normally exercise in a situation where they're trying to go after Israeli assets.

They may try to launch rockets, if they still have the capability to do that from Gaza. They may try to do some other things in a more localized fashion, but they're also going to be under a lot of pressure to basically reach some kind of an agreement, and that pressure is basically military and political pressure that is going to, I think, complicate some of the efforts that Hamas has. They will try to work together with Hezbollah and Iran to perhaps do some kind of a joint effort against Israel, but that is going to be something that is going to challenge their capabilities.

So if they do anything, it might be something more in the shadows, as opposed to a more spectacular attack. But we can't rule out the possibility of the spectacular effort or spectacular type of attack on -- on Israeli soil at this point.

COATES: Colonel Leighton, let's talk about the intelligence that must have been gathered in order to perform and carry out this assassination. What do you make of the fact that's happened in Iran, in the capital city during the attendance of the inauguration of the new president, and it appears to be in a residence as well.

LEIGHTON: Yes, they really knew what they were doing when it came to this -- this kind of attack, Laura. So what the Israelis did was they gathered some very detailed intelligence on the activities of Haniyeh and his -- his entourage, because his bodyguard was also killed in this -- in this attack, according to reports. So, what they knew was the movements. They knew the location. They knew what kinds of things he would be doing, and they knew the timing of everything. So they had an idea to schedule.

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They used that information to basically go after him. And if, you know, we have a bit of an idea of what happened where he was in essence assassinated in his residence there that shows a very detailed, basically hit job that was done with great precision. They basically knew exactly which way the doorknobs turned. And they also, I'm sure, had a very good layout of the place that Haniyeh was staying at. So they had those plans, they knew those kinds of things, and they also apparently were able to get away at least so far.

So that also shows that there is a weakness within Iranian security that allows for these kinds of things to happen. It's a big embarrassment to the Iranians, and it also will basically force them to upgrade their security. It will also politically force them to take a tougher stance against Israel at this particular juncture, and that is basically casting a shadow over the new Iranian President as he assumes his -- his position.

COATES: On that point, what does it say about that weakness, that Iran was unable to actually protect someone in this circumstance? I want to bring in CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who joined me again. This is very striking. This news highly consequential. Everyone has leaned in to see what this could mean to only the hostage negotiations but stability in the region and possible retaliatory strikes. Tell us what this means for the politics and the posturing in this region. Nic?

ROBERTSON: Sure. And -- and I think when we try to, and just pick up on what Cedric Leighton was -- was speaking about there, the intelligence failures there, that there will be an opportunity to sort of cross reference potential mistakes and errors and miscalculations from Beirut, from the targeting of the Hezbollah commander in Beirut, and from the targeting of Ismail Haniyeh, successful targeting of him in Tehran.

You know, it's particularly striking that, you know, the little store across the street from where the Hezbollah commander in Beirut was -- was -- was killed. There was CCTV footage of -- of the building being hit, not uncommon. But of course, in an intelligence capacity, if you're Hezbollah right now, and you're also looking in Tehran about how Israel could have had any idea when -- when is Ismail Haniyeh was going inside that building. You know, this is typically in the past. These types of assassinations have -- have had the help of people on the ground that puts them in -- in a vulnerable place, in jeopardy. All -- all sorts of things become difficult. But if you start talking about electronic eavesdropping and tapping into, you know, what seemed to be very normal domestic CCTV camera operations to protect premises, except et cetera, you know these sorts of things we're all familiar within our homes now, this is an avenue that will un -- undoubtedly be explored.

But I think to your broader point here, what does this do politically in the region right now, this is going to be an extreme test of the new president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian. This is, you know, a man who's quite literally just taken up his job, who has quite literally just seen one of the -- one of his principal regional interlocutors who came to congratulate him and witness him taking on that new role, being -- being assassinated and killed.

He is seen as a moderate. That's a relative term. And of course, he's constrained by other forces in Iran, like the IRGC, the Supreme Leader, all of these individuals and bodies will have an impact on the decisions that he makes, but will he now be seen as somebody who acts with moderation, or will he find himself taking -- taking a very, very tough line?

And I think as well, if you look at the implications of -- of Ismail Haniyeh's assassination, he was seen as a more moderate within Hamas, that moderate voice is off the table. Does it make a difference? He will be replaced? Will he be replaced by somebody more hardline? We don't know. But Hamas has always said that, you know, these figures can be killed. It doesn't matter. And he will absolutely get adulation as a martyr for the cause. That's how Hamas will play it up in short term.

When we talk about opportunity as well, I think we can't overlook Prime Minister Netanyahu's position, an opportunity to have a high profile assassination in Tehran like that. These opportunities aren't just intelligence opportunities, but they're sort of political diplomatic opportunities. And that arose in part because of what he -- because of his -- Prime Minister Netanyahu's successful in his own terms, speech to Congress in the United States, the trip to United States in his terms was a successful one.

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And -- and it came as well at a time when there was the killing of -- of the Druze children in Israel from a Hezbollah strike. The -- the retaliatory window that that opened up has led to these two high profile killings, that also is part of the opportunity and picture. So the -- the assessment from that is Netanyahu right now feels quite strong, feels quite emboldened. So he is showing himself as strong as emboldened. Is the new Iranian President going to come out as -- as a more moderate and temper his reaction, or will he take a more extreme reaction and for Hamas, they will name someone else, describe Haniyeh as a martyr and continue in the same vain.

COATES: This is quickly developing. Nic, thank you so much. Please stay with us. We're not even really a week since the address from Netanyahu to Congress and meeting with President Biden and former President Trump as well, that just took place on what July 25th. We're going to take a quick break right now. More on this breaking story in just a moment.

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COATES: We will take you to the Philippines. Secretary Lloyd Austin is speaking. Let's listen in.

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Now, it's a number of key -- key initiatives. Yesterday, you heard us talk about the $500 million FMF opportunity here that we're going to provide to the -- to the Philippines. We're excited about that that's going to help them modernize their -- their military a bit further. Today, we saw some of our industrial base companies out here working together to -- to create additional capability. And that's also very, very exciting.

So again, we've come a long way in three and a half years, and in our relationship with the Philippines, I think it's -- it's -- it's been fascinating to be a part of this, and we look to do a lot more going forward. And with that, I'll take your questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great. Liz (ph), can you start us of?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary Austin, thank you so much for doing this and being here today. Can you confirm if Israel is behind the strike that killed the senior Hamas leader in Tehran, and did you get any warning that this was going to happen?

AUSTIN: I -- I don't have anything for you on that. And we'll we -- we certainly have heard the reporting, but, you know, I don't have any -- any -- any additional information to provide, so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eli (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have begun again. Do you see that connected to the rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel? What was -- is there sort of troops if thing escalate further?

AUSTIN: Do I see the attack, the recent attacks, connected to? Well, I think -- I think it's all connected. But I think, quite frankly, I don't -- I don't see a return to where we were several -- several months ago, not yet, and certainly, we'll -- we'll keep our eye on this. The safety and protection of our troops is -- it's really, really important to me. That's why, you know, you saw us take some measures to protect ourselves here. Most recently, as we took out some UAVs, which are about to be launched, we have the right to do that, and we will continue to do that in order to protect our troops.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patrick (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks. Yesterday in Manila, you were asked about Israel and operation in the Middle East, you said we would like to see things result in it. COATES: We've been hearing from Secretary Lloyd Austin before the press and the gaggle responding to the news of the assassination of Haniyeh, a political leader in Hamas. He said that he has no additional information aside from what's already been reported, and that he was asked about whether there was a connection between the recent attacks and the security of the U.S. military. He said, it's all connected, but there was no return to where we have been in the past -- the past, he believes.

Let's now bring in Dan Raviv, former CBS News foreign correspondent and Rich Goldberg, former National Security Council official. This is an extraordinary evening of breaking news. Rich, what is your reaction right now to the news of this assassination, and the Secretary Lloyd Austin did not have information about whether they had advanced notice or any additional information as to who is behind it.

RICH GOLDBERG, SENIOR ADVISER, FDD: Well, first of all, obviously, for the victims of October 7th, for the families of those victims, for the families of American victims of October 7th, and for so many crimes that Hamas has committed over many years, this is a big deal. It's a big night for the 241 families who lost loved ones in the Marine barracks bombing back in 1983, this is a big night. And so I think we should reflect on the fact that two very bad men in the world behind two designated foreign terrorist organizations are not on the earth, and that's a good thing.

The -- the number one thing to think about now is, from Iran's perspective, the access that they have created, which starts in Tehran but goes through Beirut and then goes around the Middle East, Iraq and Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen has been penetrated by the Israeli Air Force tonight in a -- in a way that Tehran can't deal with, can't respond to, their air defenses cannot respond, cannot defend against the Israeli Air Force.

There are two main capitals to this, Iran led access in the Middle East, Tehran and Beirut, and tonight, we saw the Israeli Air Force, with impunity, go into both with precision intelligence and take out the highest levels of both Hezbollah and Hamas. Remember three months ago, in the retaliation for the Iranian missile attack against Israel, we saw Israel launch what we believe to be a missile from a standoff weapon system, perhaps the F-35 against a radar very close to an Iranian nuclear site.

[00:55:09]

If you can take out a nuclear sites radar from far away with an aircraft, you can take out a house, you can take out a person. You can take out a lot of things, whether it's in Iran or in Lebanon and Syria, Iraq, Yemen or obviously the West Bank or Gaza. So I think the message tonight is a strong one to the Iranian regime, the head of this octopus of terror with all its tentacles that have been waging war for nine plus months, and now it's Iran as we've seen in the news at this hour, in an emergency national security meeting deciding how they're going to respond.

COATES: A breaking news story for the ages. Thank you, everyone. More of CNN's live breaking news coverage of the killing of the Hamas leader in Iran in just a moment.

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