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Gaza Officials: At Least 21 Killed In Strikes On Khan Younis Camp; Trump To Rally Today In Battleground Pennsylvania; Sex Therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer Dead At 96; Alec Baldwin's Rust Manslaughter Case Dismissed; Biden To Hold Calls Today With Groups Of Congressional Dems; Houston Area Residents Struggle Without Power And Water As Excruciating Heat Continues. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired July 13, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I got to do -- I got to do some.

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ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN BREAKING NEWS".

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[12:00:45]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitefield, and we begin with this "BREAKING NEWS".

Israel conducting devastating airstrikes in a humanitarian zone near Khan Younis in Gaza. Palestinian officials say, at least 71 people were killed the moment when one of the strikes hit was caught on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Israel says it targeted Hamas military chief and an alleged mastermind of the October 7th attacks.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem. Jeremy Israel, says it received intelligence in recent days about this opportunity to hit this Hamas leader. But now you've got this high civilian death toll as well. What are we learning about the accuracy of the intelligence and of the target, and was the target taken out?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, that last question, Fred is indeed the critical one, and it is one to which we do not yet have an answer. The Israeli military at this hour, is still assessing whether or not the target of this strike was, in fact, killed.

The target, the Israeli military says was Mohammed Deif, Hamas' top military commander, the number two, Hamas official in Gaza, right behind Hamas' leader, Yahya Sinwar. The Israeli military believes that he was in this wooded area within the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, what's been designated as a "safer" area by the Israeli military. Very near to there, though, there were clearly the tents of displaced Palestinians, some of whom appear to have been killed and injured in this strike as well.

What I'm learning from an Israeli official, in terms of the intelligence that led to this strike, it began filtering in through the Israeli security establishment over the course of the last few days. But it was only within the last 24 hours that a clear window of opportunity to take out Mohammed Deif, actually began to crystallize.

Overnight, I'm told that the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Israeli military's Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi, as well as top officials with the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, held multiple discussions to assess the viability of this strike.

One of the key considerations for them was assessing whether or not any hostages were in the area. And once they were able to assess that there were no hostages in the area, and also that they believed that they could limit civilian casualties in the strike, then, they decided to move forward with this one of the key questions, of course, will be how and if this strike impacts those ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations. I can tell you that the view of the Israeli defense minister, according to one Israeli official, is that more military pressure, including of the kind that would take out Hamas' top military commander, can only help to increase Israel's leverage at the negotiating table. That is certainly not a view held by everyone in Israeli society or Israeli politics, but it is one strongly held by the Israeli defense minister as well as the prime minister.

But again, beyond the targeting of Mohammed Deif here, we do know that 71 people were killed, nearly 300 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. No clear sense of the breakdown of how many of those are civilians versus how many of those are Hamas militants.

The Israeli military says that in addition to Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade, was also on site, as well as several other Hamas militants, although they declined to provide an exact number to us. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And then, Jeremy, what more do we know about the people who were concentrated in that area? Was this indeed a camp -- an encampment, a safe zone?

DIAMOND: Well, so, this area certainly is part of this expanded humanitarian zone called Al-Mawasi that the Israeli military has designated. It is in the western part of the Khan Younis governorate. And all around there, you have thousands of displaced Palestinians living in that area.

It does appear that this strike took place as few as 10 to 20 meters away from the tents of displaced Palestinians, according to Satellite imagery and our efforts to kind of geolocate exactly where this happened.

[12:05:04]

But there is no question that the power of this blast, which if you look at the size of the crater at this location, the plume of smoke, you can imagine that the blast radius would have been quite significant. And you can see in some of these images that we're showing right now that the destruction did indeed extend to an area where displaced Palestinians were living in tents very near to the target of this attack.

And so, it's not clear how many of the 71 people who were killed were civilians, were those displaced Palestinians living in that area, but certainly, some of them were. And certainly, some of the nearly 300 people who were injured were also civilians living in that area.

WHITFIELD: And then, Jeremy, you may not know the answer to this, because it really provides security and Intel revealing details to you, but how might they go about determining whether they did take out the Hamas leader in terms of, you know, forensic investigation, and how long might that take?

DIAMOND: Well, there is no question the Israeli military has vast intelligence capabilities that they are using at this moment to try and determine that. You know, whether that be human intelligence, signals intelligence, intercepting calls in the aftermath of this, to try and assess what Hamas's internal reaction is to this strike, all of those tools, I'm sure will be employed right now.

I've been speaking to a number of Israeli officials over the course of the last few hours, and for now, none of them were able to confirm with any certainty that Mohammed Deif was indeed taken out in this strike.

And we should note that Deif has been targeted for assassination by the Israeli military in the past. In 2014 there was a strike targeting him that killed his wife, as well as two of his children in an Israeli air strike. He, however, managed to escape that strike.

And so, we will see so far, though, I should note, Hamas has denied that this strike actually took out any of its leaders. It did not name Deif, specifically, but it said that its leaders were not targeted in this strike, arguing that this Israeli claim is simply cover for what they have described as yet another massacre. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond, keep us posted from Jerusalem. Thank you so much.

All right. Back here in the U.S., President Biden is taking a break from the campaign trail today and is instead working behind the scenes to shore up support among key members of his own party who are unsure if he should continue his reelection bid. Biden is spending the day at his Delaware home where he plans to hold calls in the next few hours with groups of moderate and progressive members of Congress.

And those calls come after a group of two dozen former Democratic lawmakers published an open letter calling for Biden to release his convention delegates, and for the Democratic National Committee to hold an open convention in Chicago next month.

In a rally in Michigan last night, Biden was defiant, vowing to stay in the race.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Folks, you probably noticed there is a lot -- a lot of speculation lately. What's Joe Biden going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? Here is my answer. I am running, and we're going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us right now.

Priscilla, I mean, what can you tell us about Biden's strategy to convince Democratic lawmakers that he should remain in the race?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, publicly, the president is saying defiant, and he is doing so too in those private phone calls, but he is having to work the phones all the same in this outreach campaign to key groups of lawmakers.

Now this is something that we saw over the course of the week, as we heard directly from Democratic lawmakers, who were still concerned about the viability of President Biden as their democratic candidate and nominee this election year.

That amounted to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries meeting with President Biden on Thursday, where he was able to share some of those caucus concerns, and according to sources, do so bluntly.

Now, of course, that meeting came after the president held his solo news conference. That was just under an hour. He fielded about 19 questions from reporters, and that was a moment that a lot of people were watching to see how he handled taking those questions and how he responded, and by most accounts, it was stronger than his debate performance. but it clearly hasn't calmed nerves.

One example of that is just yesterday, in a phone call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, lawmaker Mike Levin directly appealed to the president to step aside.

Now, in response to that, the president said, "It's important, I got to get out and show people." He went on to say, "I'm still in good charge."

[12:10:01]

And so, that is what the president was doing in Michigan, and what he's expected to do over the next few days is to hit the campaign trail, to try to have candid, unscripted moments, and to show people that he is up to the task of not only being the nominee, but also serving a second term.

Now, on Friday, the Biden communications director, Michael Tyler, also acknowledged to reporters that it was quote or acknowledged "anxiety" from Capitol Hill.

So, clearly, the campaign and the president are well aware of the concerns that are held within their party. But their point is that they have to move on and get behind the president to beat former President Donald Trump. So, still a lot of questions, and these calls today will clearly also be important to try to get everyone behind the president.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much. We'll leave it there for now.

As President Biden fights for his political survival, his challenger, former President Donald Trump, is set to hold a rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania today, and it comes just ahead of the Republican National Convention that kicks off on Monday in Milwaukee.

All eyes are on Trump as we await his pick for vice president. The most likely candidates right now, senators Marco Rubio, and J.D. Vance, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

CNN's Alayna Treene joins me now in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump's rally will be taking place, Alayna. When is the former president expected to announce his V.P. pick?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, there is a few options, Fred, and we still don't exactly know when he is going to do this. There are questions whether it could come tonight when he addresses the crowd here in Butler, Pennsylvania.

But also, when I talk to Donald Trump's senior advisers, they say that they really see the deadline for announcing as Monday evening. That is when Donald Trump will formally be nominated at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

And even Trump himself has said that he's still mulling this decision over. It's the same answer I get when I pester his senior advisers about when should we expect this to come.

Take a listen to what he told conservative radio host yesterday, addressing this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I have some really, really good candidates and, you know, I maybe leaning one way and that changes sometimes. You know, all of a sudden you see something that you like or you don't like, and you lean a little bit differently.

It's like a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice. Ultimately, it's more of an instinct. You know, you develop an instinct, but I like to know all the facts before the instinct kicks in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, that moment when he said, it's like a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice, he is really saying the quiet part out loud. That is how he views this. You have all of these top candidates and contenders to become his running mate vying for this position, and we're actually going to see many of them speak next week.

Now, as for this rally today, I do find it interesting. We are in Butler, Pennsylvania. However, it is on the border of Ohio that is where Senator J.D. Vance is from, one of the top people that you mentioned that Donald Trump is considering for his vice-presidential nominee.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

TREENE: Some other key things that actually point to Vance being one of the top contenders, as you have Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump's son will be speaking on Wednesday, just before the vice-presidential nominee is supposed to address the crowd in Milwaukee. Donald Trump Jr. has hard -- been lobbying very hard for Donald Trump to pick Vance. You also have Tucker Carlson, we just recently learned.

Another person who has been pushing for Vance, he is going to be speaking on Thursday before Donald Trump gives remarks. So, just reading the tea leaves there a bit on who Donald Trump is considering and how this competition, almost of sorts, is coming down. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right, the drum beat leading up to the big reveal. All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much in Butler, Pennsylvania.

All right. And some "BREAKING NEWS" in to CNN, Doctor Ruth Westheimer has died at the age of 96. The iconic and cheerful sex therapist helped educate millions about sexual desires and practices in her distinctive German accent. Dr Ruth's publicist tells CNN that she passed away late Friday with her two children right beside her.

CNN Stephanie Elam takes a look back at her rapid rise to fame.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In 1980, sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer, gave a lecture to New York broadcasters that changed her life forever.

A local radio station manager at the talk heard her plea for quality sex education programming. She offered her a chance to do just that.

DR RUTH WESTHEIMER, FORMER GERMAN-AMERICAN SEX THERAPIST: I said to the broadcasters, you have a responsibility to get a program like this on the air. I believe one week, I was on the air.

ELAM (voice over): And so, Dr. Ruth Westheimer became Dr. Ruth, giving advice on her radio call in program sexually speaking. It was an immediate success that led to high-profile appearances on national talk shows like "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show".

[12:15:03]

WESTHEIMER: If we could bring about talking about sexual activity the way we talk about diet, the way we talk about food --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

WESTHEIMER: -- without it having this kind of connotation that there is something not quite right about it --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

WESTHEIMER: Then, we would be a step further.

Hello. You are on the air.

ELAM (voice over): Before long, she launched her own T.V. shows: "Good Sex with Dr Ruth", and "Ask Dr. Ruth"".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never had a sexual encounter.

WESTHEIMER: Hold it a moment, how old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 21, I'm a college senior.

WESTHEIMER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I --

WESTHEIMER: It's not the end of the world.

ELAM (voice over): Westheimer had created a safe space for Americans to open up about sex, but her sunny personality masked a childhood marked by hardship.

She was born Karola Ruth Siegel in Germany in 1928. At the age of 10, her parents sent her to Switzerland to escape the Holocaust. She never saw them again.

WESTHEIMER: I knew I have to make a dent with my life in order to prove to myself that there is a reason why I'm around.

ELAM (voice over): After the war, the 17-year-old orphan immigrated to what was then Palestine and joined a group of Jewish freedom fighters who trained her to be a sniper.

WESTHEIMER: I have never killed anybody, everybody in those years, in the early year of Israel was in some kind of a military group.

ELAM (voice over): Westheimer studied psychology in Paris and then moved to New York, where she earned her master's in sociology and doctorate of education.

During her studies, Westheimer worked at the family planning organization Planned Parenthood, where she first experienced frank discussions about sex.

After some initial discomfort, she discovered she had a gift for talking about sex in a straightforward, nonjudgmental way.

WESTHEIMER: I am.

ELAM (voice over): It served her well for many decades and in many mediums. Westheimer continued to put her skills to use well into her golden years, she was 95 when New York's governor appointed her the state's first honorary loneliness ambassador, a role aimed at combating the ills of social isolation.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer a tireless advocate for frank talk about human nature and sexual literacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Dr Ruth, as many called her. Dr Ruth Westheimer was 96 years old.

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[12:21:48]

WHITFIELD: All right. More now on our top story. Israel conducting devastating airstrikes in a humanitarian zone in Khan Younis in Gaza. Palestinian officials say, at least, 71 people were killed. Israel says it targeted Hamas' military chief, who is one of the alleged masterminds of the October 7th attacks. Hamas is denying those claims and is calling this attack a massacre.

Joining me right now is Mark Esper. He is the former secretary of defense under President Trump, and a CNN Global Affairs analyst. Secretary Esper, good to see you. And also, you serve on the board as a strategic advisor for a handful of aerospace and defense-related companies.

All right. As it relates to this, is it concerning to you that Israel says, well, this was the target. This military chief, they still are unclear as to whether they actually were able to successfully get their target. MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Fredricka, first of all.

Look, I think it will be unclear for a while. We know that they are digging through the rubble now. They being the Palestinians on the ground and others to find out what happened. But it seems that Israel had pretty good intelligence about his whereabouts. And as you know, based on the previous reporting you had at the top of the hour, he is the number two top official in Gaza right now.

He is considered one of the masterminds of the October 7tth attacks against Israel, second only to Yahya Sinwar, who is also somewhere around or underneath Gaza.

So, I think they thought this was one of the most high valuable targets that they have. They had good intelligence. Seems like they made an assessment with regard to collateral damage and whatnot. Maybe it was off, we'll find out. But they decided, obviously, to make the strike.

WHITFIELD: So, then you heard Jeremy Diamond's reporting at the top where, yes, he said, The IDF believes it had the intelligence to bring them to that location to target this military chief. However, Hamas is saying that military chief wasn't even in that area. So, who do you believe? And how long can Israel afford it to take before they have some sort of forensic evidence that they indeed took out their target?

ESPER: Yes. Well, I don't believe anything Hamas says, right? It's -- for them. It's all about a propaganda campaign. That goes in any which way, whether it's denying that their leaders were killed or exaggerating the number of Palestinian casualties.

So, I don't believe what they say. That said, I think, it will take some time. It may not just be from going through the rubble. It may be that they pick up intelligence, intercepts, based on Hamas communicating among themselves about who was killed, and we talked about Mohammed Deif being the Hamas military commander, but there was also a second military commander there, a senior leader on the ground, and other Hamas militants that were in this so-called compound within a compound run by Hamas.

So, I think more details will come out here in the next 24 hours, but this is part of the campaign by the Israelis to so-called, they would say defeat, I would say dismantle Hamas. That includes everything from making sure that they have no combat capability among the 24 so original Hamas battalions, making sure they go underground to get rid of the tunnels, closing off the Egyptian border to the south.

[12:25:03]

And then, top of the list here is taking out Hamas commanders. And again, this was number two -- guy number two.

So, this is -- explains why they would go after him if they had pretty good intelligence to do so. WHITFIELD: OK. But you do believe it's problematic to have a civilian death toll here, whether it's one, 10, or 70. That number, and you look at the video, I mean, that seems to be evident, but still unclear, whether the IDF can, with certainty, say they successfully took out their target.

ESPER: Yes. Absolutely, Fredricka. Every civilian, innocent life is precious, and in this case, obviously, 70-71 is a very high number. You know, you mourn for the losses. But this is the nature of this conflict in Gaza. Because you have Hamas intentionally hiding within civilian facilities, hospitals, schools. You have them hiding within the population, the fact that they would have an operational compound set up in the so-called safe zone for civilians just kind of tells you what this war is about.

Now look, I've argued that Israel needs to be more precise in these operations, do more to limit civilian casualties, get more and more humanitarian aid in, but at the same time, they can't -- they can't not go after Hamas. They have to rid Gaza of Hamas, or else they're going to continue to face over and over and over again October 7th- like attacks, because Hamas has promised it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Secretary Mark Esper, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much for being with us today.

ESPER: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nearly three years after the tragic shooting of a cinematographer on a movie set, a New Mexico judge makes a shocking decision to throw out the charges against actor, Alec Baldwin. We're live in New Mexico.

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[12:31:14]

WHITFIELD: A stunning and emotional moment in court yesterday, as the judge and Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial made a shocking move fit for television drama, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissing the case and effectively shutting the door on the case being filed again.

Let's get right to it with CNNs Josh Campbell, who has been following this trial from Santa Fe, New Mexico also joining us trial attorney Misty Maris.

Josh, you first tell us more about how this all happened?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a stunning revelation that happened on Friday. This came after Baldwin's attorney had filed a motion to dismiss the case essentially accusing the state investigators of misconduct. So quite a moment there.

I will point out though that we are now getting the first public comments from actor Alec Baldwin. Since that stunning decision and an Instagram post. There's a picture of the actor in court. He says there are too many people who have supported me to thank just now to all of you. You'll never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family. And of course, his family was in court throughout this trial, getting very emotional throughout the testimony.

But yesterday I have to tell you, you know being in that courtroom in a moment that no one really saw the judge abruptly moved into ruling on this motion to dismiss effectively ending this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Alec Baldwin in tears after the involuntary manslaughter case against the actor was thrown out.

JUDAGE MARY MARLOWE SOMMER, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO: Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): After the ruling, Baldwin turned to his wife Valeria. The two locking in an emotional embrace. The shocking dismissal came at the end of a bizarre series of events in court that saw testimony halted and the jury sent home early in the day.

SOMMER: Trials are fluid. It's not something we predicted.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Then both sides sparred over ammunition that was turned into the sheriff's office, but wasn't included in the case inventory are tested by the prosecution.

LUKE NIKAS, ALEC BALDWIN'S ATTORNEY: Now this is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us.

KARI MORRISSEY, PROSECUTOR: Your Honor, there have been absolutely no violations of our obligations as prosecutors.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer herself handling the ammunition as she questioned the crime scene technician on whether they were similar to those found on the "Rust" set.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're securing the scene.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Where Baldwin fired a gun that contained a live round killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Prosecutors claimed they already determined the ammunition had no value to the case.

SOMMER: Do you want to call yourself --

MORRISEEY: Sure.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): In a moment that turn heads prosecutor Kari Morrissey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

MORRISSEY: I do.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Call herself to the witness stand to defend her actions.

MORRISSEY: I did not intend to mislead the court. My understanding of what was dropped off at the sheriff's department is on his computer screen. And it looks absolutely nothing like the lab grounds from the set of "Rust."

CAMPBELL (voice-over): But additional ammunition was also turned in at the defense question to crime scene technician on whether they could be a match.

MORRISSEY: Again, I wouldn't use the word match without further analysis.

ALEX SPIRO, BALDWIN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And and the reason that we don't have further analysis is you all didn't send this to the FBI for further analysis, didn't you?

MORRISEEY: We did not.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): It was enough for the judge to throw the case out as she made a ruling Baldwin's family including his actor brother Steven and their sister huddled in tears behind the defense table.

Baldwin left court without speaking to reporters.

MORRISSEY: The importance of the evidence was misconstrued.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The prosecutor addressing questions about the certain letdown for the family of the victim, Halyna Hutchins, whose relatives followed the case from their home in war torn Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you let the Hutchins' family down?

MORRISSEY: No, we didn't. We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna into her family and we're proud of the work that we did. Again, we disagree with the court's decision, but we have to respect it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: It was so important to remember in this case there was a victim who was killed Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer

[12:35:05]

Now acclaimed attorney Gloria Allred is a representative of the Hutchins family. She has been in court throughout this trial. She just spoke to us a moment ago and mentioned that there are still civil lawsuits underway against Alec Baldwin. She told us that the family this isn't over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING HUTCHINS' FAMILY: They'll fight to the end, we'll fight to the end. And we're going to fight to the end for Halyna Hutchins. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And finally, it's important to note as far as the criminal case goes here, and our friend Misty Marris can attest to this, the critical ruling here from the judge is that this came what's called with prejudice, which means that prosecutors cannot bring these charges back against Alec Baldwin, Fred this case is over.

WHITFIELD: Wow. OK, even though as you just had Gloria Allred saying they're going to still pursue something at least they won't be able to in this criminal path though. Misty Marris with us now. So this is a big error. Right? This is a withholding evidence whether intentional or not kind of error. How often does something like this happen?

MISTY MARRIS, TRIAL ATTORNEY: This was actually very shocking and almost mind boggling from the perspective of this case where the central issue for both Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's trial and Alec Baldwin's trial was how live ammunition actually got onto that set.

So what the judge actually determined is that withholding of this evidence was actually intentional and deliberate. Fred, that means there's serious prosecutorial misconduct in this case, because evidence that should have been turned over wasn't.

And to answer your question, it does not happen that often. It is rare, it's because it's the prosecutors obligation, both ethically and their duty as an officer of the court to turn over any and all relevant evidence not to make unilateral decisions, like we saw here in this case about whether or not something matters to the trial, those are evidentiary issues for the judge to decide. So this was truly a stunning turn of events.

WHITFIELD: So given that, then does that now open the door for Baldwin to in some way go after the prosecutor's office for some sort of accountability? Because you just underscored that, you know, it's your belief that is intentional, or in some way?

I don't know, get some sort of payback, so to speak. I mean, a lot of time and money, reputation on the line, all that has been spent. If you're Alec Baldwin.

MARRIS: Yes, you're absolutely right, Fred. So, the judge's determination spoke volumes. And that's because the judge use those words that I just use intentional, deliberate. She said there was scorching prejudice, it was at least bad faith, or if not bad faith right up there on the line of bad faith so that's what throws out this case, which is the most serious consequence that can happen in a criminal court to actually toss the case say it can't be brought again with prejudice.

But to your question, there are certainly avenues that could be pursued for prosecution that was not fueled by justice, but was fueled by vengeance or something of the like, will he pursue that? I doubt it. However, what will likely happen is there will be an inquiry and ethical inquiry will be required to make a determination of why and how this happened, and to investigate the prosecution's process in this case, and potentially impact the prosecutor. These were special prosecutors keep in mind themselves as to what occurred here, which could have ethical consequences.

WHITFIELD: Josh, how about for Hannah Gutierrez? I mean, she was going to be called to testify, then stuff went sideways on that one, but then she has been, you know, sentenced, she has been serving some time. This is a case that involves her to. What are her attorneys saying about what their potential avenues might be next?

CAMPBELL: Yes, and as missing just a signal there. I mean, this goes far beyond Alec Baldwin himself. There was another defendant who was sentenced, as you mentioned, the armorer who was on the set. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Her attorney already says that they are -- they were in the process of appealing her case. But in light of this new evidence that prosecutors and investigators may have withheld critical evidence, ammunition that may have matched live rounds on that said, that is something that they are certainly looking into. They think that that bolsters their case.

And you know, finally, it's important to point out that this whole prosecution of Alec Baldwin has been riddled with issues from the very beginning. I mean, all of us remember, I was right here in Santa Fe early last year when the charges were first brought. They were later dismissed. Authority said that, quote, new facts came to light. There was a special prosecutor on the case who email surfaced about her saying that essentially she's a legislator here in New Mexico that this case could be politically advantageous to her and then obviously we get to the what happened yesterday where the judge just really laying into prosecutors.

[12:40:00]

You know, I'll mention also why we're in court yesterday, one of the special prosecutors abruptly resigned. And so you really saw the prosecution's case begin to unravel throughout the day yesterday leading to that stunning dismissal.

WHITFIELD: Wow, potentially recusing that person or, you know, from that ethical inquiry that you talk about Misty that might be happening or somehow remove themselves from that. All right, Misty Marris, Josh Campbell. Thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. We'll be right back.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Today, President Biden is at his Delaware home working the phones and talking to key Democratic members of the House as he fights to keep his struggling reelection bid alive. So far at least 20 Democratic lawmakers, elected lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside following his shaky CNN debate performance and it comes as a group of two dozen former Democratic elected lawmakers published an open letter calling for Biden to release his convention delegates and for the Democratic National Committee to hold an open convention in Chicago next month.

[12:45:09]

At a rally in Michigan last night, a defiant Biden vow to stay in the race.

I'm joined now by Margaret Talev, a senior contributor for Axios. Margaret, good to see you. OK, so let's see an open debate on the Democratic National Convention floor. Would that bring some semblance of unity? Or would that only make matters worse?

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS: You're asking a key question. It's one reason why so many Democrats are divided about the right way to go forward. Democrats I've talked to over the course of well, every day since the debate have been of two minds one mind is, yes, let's -- let the convention decide. The other is no, absolutely not. If President Biden were to decide, in the end is not to stand for reelection, it would need to be vice president Kamala Harris at the top of that ticket, and the only choice would be who's her running mate?

We're seeing two things. One is that President Biden showing absolutely no signs that he any decision like that is imminent, as you said a fiery performance in Detroit and a very full schedule next week. But the other, you know, is that I think that notion of a contested primary really has given way, among Democrats. I've talked to two more discussions around the idea that there could not be that sort of cast, but you're seeing President -- former President Donald Trump and his campaign team sort of prepare a dual track ahead of the Republican convention next week.

One is to be attacking President Biden. The other is to ramp up attacks on Vice President Harris. So certainly looks like that's how they are splitting their calculation.

WHITFIELD: They are planning for the plan A or the plan B. So let's talk again about Biden. I mean, he was in Michigan yesterday, Nevada and Texas are next within the next few days. He's working the phones from Delaware today. Do you believe he will succeed in defying this growing list of elected and now former elected Democrats to step aside?

TALEV: I think I'm too smart to predict what's going to happen. But I will tell you this. A lot of Democrats said look at the minute NATO's over you're going to see this, this rush -- this flow of people demanding he stepped down. And what you've seen is not quite that. It is much more of a split scenario where some Democrats are continuing to come forward in elected office and say, Mr., you know, Mr. President, we love you and value you please pass the torch and others, like you saw with John Fetterman. You're seeing it with Senator Bernie Sanders are saying absolutely not. Joe Biden is our candidate. And it's time to stop doing this and rally around him.

You mentioned Texas, President Biden is going to be there on Monday. This is not because Texas is in play for him but because he will be at the LBJ Presidential Library commemorating what is the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. And Texas congressional delegation and the Democrat congressional delegation are split right now. You have some like Lloyd Doggett, when the earliest ones to come out and say he doesn't believe President Biden should run for reelection. And you have other Texas congressional Democrats standing by President Biden.

After that Texas trip, you do see stops in Nevada. You'll also see him addressing the NAACP and Latino audiences next week. So he is certainly yesterday in Detroit in many of his stops next week, going to be courting African American voters, Latino voters, base voters, in addition to making that case to elected officials, so sort of courting the Senators and House members by seeing how the public responds to him, but he's still has an uphill battle to address all of these concerns.

There are still a lot of concerns the Democratic Party resistance from donors, there's one Super PAC, The New York Times is reporting a major pro Biden Super Pac, putting as much as $90 million on hold as this process moves forward.

WHITFIELD: Significant. All right. Margaret Talev. Good to see you. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

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[12:53:30]

WHITFIELD: The heatwave that baked the West is now moving East. More than 100 million people are suffering under heat alerts across the country. And as Texas swelters in the summer heatwave, it has been six brutal days for more than 700,000 people who are right now living with no power. And the actual temperature right now is 84 degrees with a heat index of 101.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov is in Houston forests. So we see pictures of people who are able to you know pick up water in some places, there might be some cooling stations in others. But what are people enduring right now with these kinds of high temperatures with no air conditioning and no lights on in some cases in their homes.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's unimaginably difficult Fred especially in these high temperatures but there is both good news and bad news when it comes to the weather and that is the rain. We are expecting some serious thunderstorms later today which could flood more streets there could be gusty winds, that could also help them much needed efforts to restore power. However, the rain could also bring cooler temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Much needed help for desperate Houston area residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water. Yes.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Facing a fifth day of sweltering heat, more severe weather and temperatures soaring this weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's like 100 degrees is like a desert. You know what I mean? And we don't -- we can't afford to lose power.

KAFANOV (voice-over): The heat advisories compounding problems for a city already pushed to the brink.

[12:55:02]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we still don't have electric.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Almost a million people here are still without power. Cars began lining up at 3:00 a.m. at his donation center. Some families helping and others hoping to get supplies donated by the Houston Rockets and relief agencies.

GRETCHEN SHEIRR, BUSINESS OPERATIONS/HOUSTON ROCKETS: Most of the people that are having the most amount of trouble are folks that were struggling before this storm.

KAFANOV (voice-over): No electricity and no gas also means no lights, no air conditioning and no power for medical devices. The frustration is rising here along with the temperatures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hurts. We don't know what we're going through.

KAFANOV (voice-over): This desperate mother is struggling to provide for her children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I want help. That's what I need it.

KAFANOV: It's hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very hard.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Houston's primary utility company CenterPoint Energy is now facing intense scrutiny.

MAYOR JOHN WHITMIRE (D) HOUSTON, TEXAS: We're holding CenterPoint accountable we have nine fire stations close had to relocate because when the power went out they didn't have generators, great cities should not operate like that. It's neglect. It's severe neglect, and we're going to fix it as we go forward.

KAFANOV (voice-over): CNN's Houston affiliate KHOU spoke with utility Thursday.

DARIN CARROLL, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, CENTERPOINT: We know you're out of power, and we are going to get to you.

KAFANOV (voice-over): Texas state leaders are also promising to get to the bottom of the outages.

LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK (R) TEXAS: The governor said there'll be an investigation, and I'm sure we will find that there are things they could have done better. KAFANOV (voice-over): Anger is mounting towards both the power company and government leaders.

FELIX CISNEROS, HOUSTON RESIDENT: What are we doing with our money? I just don't understand and they get really frustrated.

KAFANOV: Do you feel like the city and CenterPoint Energy did enough to prepare for the storm?

CISNEROS: No, they did not. No they did not. Because it's going to happen again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: Now there is some relief in sight. CenterPoint says it expects to get power back to about 85 percent of its customers by the end of the day tomorrow. But of course Fred for those still in the dark, that's cold comfort.

WHITFIELD: Oh yes. That's miserable stuff. All right. Lucy Kafanov. Thank you so much. And of course, I invite everyone to join me in the three o'clock Eastern hour when I talk live to Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, about all that people are enduring and what's on the horizon.

All right, black voters helped President Biden win Georgia in 2020. Coming up with some in the Peach State are telling CNN about the President now.

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