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President Biden Speaking Directly To Democratic Members Of Congress To Shore Up Support For His Presidential Candidacy; Donald Trump To Announce His Vice Presidential Candidate; Republican National Convention Set To Take Place In Milwaukee, Wisconsin; At Least 71 People Reported Dead After Israeli Airstrike In Khan Younis Targeting Alleged Mastermind Of October 7th Attacks; More than 100 Million People Across U.S. Under Heat Alerts While Many Suffer Power Outages Due To Hurricane Beryl; AT&T Reveals Tens Of Millions Of Its Customers Had Their Call And Text Data Stolen In Cyber Breach; Judge Dismisses Criminal Case against Actor Alec Baldwin For Accidental Shooting Death On Movie Set; Large Wedding Celebration Taking Place In Mumbai, India, Includes Celebrities From Across Globe. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 13, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:08]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, we begin this hour with President Biden's latest push to save his reelection bid. Today, he's taking a short break from the campaign trail as he scrambles behind the scenes to shore up support from members of his own party who are unsure if the race should continue for him. Over the next few hours, Biden expects to hold calls with groups of moderate and progressive members of Congress in an effort to convince them he can win in November. So far 20 Democratic lawmakers have called for Biden to step aside, but at a rally in Michigan last night, Biden was defiant, vowing to stay in the race. On Monday, he returns to the campaign trail and well sit down for another high-stakes television news interview.

For more on this, let's bring in Priscilla Alvarez. Priscilla, walk us through the president's strategy to convince his fellow Democrats that he should stay in the race.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, this is a strategy that breaks down in two ways. One, privately, it's the president working the phones to get the Democratic Party in line and behind him going into November. The second part of that, though, is publicly making sure that the focus is on his Republican rival, Donald Trump, and the difference between his red record and that of, again, his Republican rival.

Now, the way this looks behind the scenes is, again, the president reaching out to key groups of lawmakers. This is part of an outreach campaign that has been the case over the course of the week. The president is speaking to multiple allies to try to reassure them and calm their nerves about his candidacy, and that includes two more calls today.

Now, again, to sort of look back at the week briefly, all of these concerns culminated in a meeting between President Biden and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies on Thursday. That was an opportunity for the House minority leader to convey the concerns of his caucus, do so bluntly. But according to sources, he did not provide his endorsement of the president.

Now, that just goes to show how much more work needs to be done by the president to try to listen to the concerns of the caucus while also reassure them. And the solo news conference he did on Thursday was part of that in showing that he still had the vigor to take on about 19 questions. It was a press conference that lasted just under an hour, and by most accounts, much stronger than his debate performance.

But even the next day, so yesterday, the president spoke with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and in that call, Representative Mike Levin directly asked the president to step aside. So again, just another example of what is playing out here even as the campaign tries to reassure it's allies. The president, of course, hitting the campaign trail next week to Texas and Nevada to make sure he can shore up voters and supporters along the way.

WHITFIELD: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

As President Biden fights for his political survival, rather, his challenger, former president Donald Trump, is set to hold a rally in battleground Pennsylvania today. It comes just ahead of the Republican National Convention that kicks off 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 joining me now from Butler, Pennsylvania, where now a sea of Trump supporters are behind you. What's taking place there?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, as you can see, Fred, a lot of people behind me. They're still coming in actually. And the speech that Donald Trump is going to deliver here in Butler will not begin until 5:00 p.m. But look, all of us are waiting in anticipation to see if tonight will be the night that Donald Trump officially announces who is going to serve as his running mate.

[14:05:02]

But I'll tell you, Fred, from my conversations with Donald Trump's senior campaign advisers, they say they still are not sure exactly when the announcement is going to come. They view Monday afternoon, that is when Donald Trump will officially be nominated as the Republican Party's presidential nominee, they view that as the deadline for when he must announce. So really it could be any time between now and then when we should learn more about who he's going to select.

Now, Donald Trump did address this briefly during a radio interview yesterday. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I have some really, really good candidates. And I'm maybe leaning one way, and that changes sometimes. 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 develop an instinct, but I like to know all the facts before the instinct kicks in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, I will tell you, I think Donald Trump was pretty candid in that interview. Everything he was saying about going with his instinct, going with his gut, the fact that he is still mulling this decision over, that is everything that has closest advisers have been telling me for the past several days, that really his decision and his thinking on who he wants to choose could change day by day depending on whom he sees out their that's defending him on television as well as who was in his ear lobbying different candidates.

Now, I do want to just give you some insight into how the convention lineup is giving us a little bit of a moment to read some of the tea leaves on who he may be leaning toward. We know that Donald Trump Junior and Tucker Carlson are both slated to speak at the convention, and both of those men had been pushing for J.D. Vance. Now, I can also tell you we've seen Donald Trump kind of tease that out. A lot of people were wondering if he would select Marco Rubio on Tuesday when he was in Miami.

All to say that Donald Trump and his team consistently say it's still unclear. All of these men are in the running. And so we're waiting now to see when this announcement will be and exactly who he's going to choose. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Alayna Treene in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thanks so much.

All right, with me now to talk more about the 2024 presidential race is Julie Roginsky. She is a Democratic strategist and the co-founder of Lift Our Voices. I'm also joined by Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania. Great to see both of you.

All right, Julie, let's talk Biden campaign first. So far 20 Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside, but he remains determined to stay in the race. Do you think this behind-the- scenes reach out to Democratic lawmakers that Biden is doing today, he's on the phone talking to a lot of them, is this going to be enough to help get a larger number of folks rallying behind him?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: No. I think the thing that would do much more to get them to rally behind him is a repetition of what happened yesterday and the last few days where he's out on the trail and he's taking the fight to Donald Trump. He's drawing a stark contrast between himself and a future Trump administration. That's what everybody wants to see, from regular voters to senators and congresspeople on the Hill. Ultimately, that's the concern. Does the president have the stamina to be able to do this between now and November? And the more he's out there doing it, as opposed to showing it, telling it, right. This is, we have to do it. You have to just go out there and do it.

So these calls that he's making, if that's what he has to do for his politics, that's fine. But I think the more effective thing would just be to continue taking the fight directly to Donald Trump as he did yesterday in Michigan.

WHITFIELD: So he was in Michigan yesterday. He will be on his way to Texas and Nevada over the next few days, too. I guess this is, you know, I guess this is campaign saying this is kind of a pitstop to work the phones to try and get some of the elected leaders on board. So I wonder, Charlie, what kind of damage has been done from Dems defecting?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, damage has been a pretty significant. In fact Biden's recent appearances have been good enough not to have more Democrats demand that he exit the race immediately. But on the other hand, it hasn't done anything really to quell the skeptics of Joe Biden. So I think Biden is trying to run out the clock. I think the Democrats, frankly, would be very wise to replace Joe Biden for a variety of reasons, because he's a big risk right now.

I think it's clear Republicans want Joe Biden to remain in this race. They think he is a wounded duck and they'd rather -- they'd rather fight him that maybe someone new like Kamala Harris or whoever else they might select, because you have to remember, too, that Donald Trump is not in a great position to capitalize on the Democrats' misfortune because somewhere around 45 percent of the public is going to vote for a cadaver and blue fluid rather than for Donald Trump. So he just can't -- he's got a very low ceiling.

[14:10:00]

So by that standard, Trump has benefiting by this, but not by the extent that he should. But there will still be growing pressure for Biden to get out. But Biden seems like he's trying to run the clock out.

WHITFIELD: Dang, Charlie, that's kind of rough. That's pretty blunt and tough, a cadaver. All right, so Julie, I mean, Democrats who are supporting Biden, they want the dialogue to change. They want this to be about policy. What happens after November, not necessarily performance on the debate stage? How are they going to try and redirect now against the arguments that have been made and kind of solidified about age? How do they now redirect the arguments on policy? What would come next?

ROGINSKY: Well, I think, again, you have to keep drawing by contrast, because on policy the majority of American people are not with Donald Trump. They're not with Project 2025. They're not with a national ban on abortion. They're not on the eradication of democracy. They're not on pulling our troops out of NATO. They're not on giving Ukraine away to the Russians or giving Taiwan away to the Chinese in exchange for more patents for Ivanka Trump. God knows, everything that that Trump stands is not what the majority of the American people stand for. But you need somebody out there to be able to do that.

Look, I'm sitting here actually in Charlie Dent's former Congressional district, which Congressman, you know full well is the swingiest. I'm in North Hampton, Pennsylvania, the swingiest county, the swingiest state in the nation. And it's places like this that are going to make the difference between a win or a loss for Donald Trump or for Joe Biden.

And so I would strongly recommend that the president come to Pennsylvania, come to Michigan, come to Georgia and take it straight and directly to the American people. Enough with trying to get Congresspeople on the phone to calm down. Nobody is going to calm down because Congressman Dent is absolutely right. These people are worried. Susan Wild, the congresswoman from the district that I'm here right now is in a tough race. She always is. she's clearly worried about making sure that Donald Trump does not do so well in Pennsylvania that it swamps people like her, or the Senator Pat Toomey, or the senator who is running for reelection here in Pennsylvania.

So what you need ultimately is to make sure that Donald Trump is not able to make the case for Joe Biden, which is what's been happening right now while the president has been behind closed doors at the White House. The president needs to take the fight directly to the American people. Good start yesterday, cannot stop, not for one day. He needs to continue doing this over and over and over again.

WHITFIELD: All right, Charlie, the Republican National Convention kicking off on Monday. Perhaps the most highly anticipated moment will be the big reveal, who is going to be Trump's running mate. Do you see him potentially making that announcement today while he is stumping in Butler, Pennsylvania, or does that kind of crescendo the Republican National Convention?

DENT: I suspect Donald Trump would not make an announcement today. I think he'd rather let Joe Biden stew a little bit further in his own muck, because obviously the Democrats are in disarray, and why change the subject? So I think Trump will wait as long as he can. Frankly, I suspect Republicans wish their convention were not this week so Democrats could still fight publicly about their nominee.

But if anything is going to happen this week in Milwaukee, I suspect they're going to try to present, if it's possible, a softer side to Donald Trump and maybe have a little bit less of the showman the noise it's maker, the angry guy, just because of the Democrat dysfunction right now. And I think most of the public right now sees both of these candidates, one is too old, and one is too dangerous. That was the case before the debate. That case has been simply validated and amplified since the debate. So Trump right now in Milwaukee, I think they're going to keep this thing as low key as possible. They'll make that announcement of the vice president whenever they're going to make it. But I think later is probably smarter.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, you touched on a very interesting framework for that convention. "The Washington Post" writes about that today in that there is this effort to script for a much softer, gentler side of Donald Trump, and no one in any way, shape, or form associated with January 6th, for example, will in any way be on the list of those who've been invited to speak or even attend. So it is an interesting read.

Charlie Dent, great to hear from you, and Julie Roginsky as well. Thank you so much.

All right, tomorrow night on a special edition of "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT", former Democratic presidential candidate, Representative Dean Phillips, joining Erin to give his take on Biden's choice to stay in the race. That's live tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

All alright, coming up, at least 71 people reported dead after an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis. Israel says the target was an alleged mastermind of the October 7th attacks.

[14:15:00]

We're live in Jerusalem next.

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WHITFIELD: We're continuing to follow breaking news out of Gaza, where Israel conducted devastating airstrikes in a humanitarian zone in 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.

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WHITFIELD: Israel says it targeted Hamas military chief, who was one of the alleged masterminds of the October 7th attacks. Hamas is claiming that that's not true.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem. Jeremy, Prime Minister Netanyahu is speaking now. What is he saying?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli prime minister talking about this operation that he says he approved late last night.

[14:20:00]

And he is saying, however, that there is still no confirmation of whether or not Mohammed Deif, Hamas's military commander, the number two Hamas official in Gaza, whether or not Mohammed Deif was in fact killed. the Israeli military told us earlier today that they launched this airstrike in this humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi because they said that Mohammed Deif as well as another senior Hamas commander, the head of the Khan Younis brigade and several other Hamas militants, they said were in a Hamas compound in a wooded area very near to the tents of displaced Palestinians in this humanitarian zone.

But for hours now, they have been unable to confirm whether or not Mohammed Deif was in fact killed in this strike. And now were hearing that directly from the Israeli prime minister. This attack has killed at least 90 people now, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, wounded some 300 others. And it is unclear exactly how many of those are civilians versus how many of those are combatants. But it is clear that there certainly are civilian casualties among the dead and the injured. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And Jeremy, a CNN analysis shows that U.S. made munitions were used in that strike. What can you tell us about that?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. We were able to analyze footage from the scene showing at least one U.S. made munition that was used in this strike. It was the tailfin of what's known as a JDAM, joint direct attack munition, which is a Boeing manufactured GPS kit that can be attached to very low large bombs in order to give them GPS guidance to their target. This is typically used with bombs over 500 pounds. It is also used for those 2,000-pound bombs that we know the United States has supplied to Israel in the past and which creates very, very large craters. And indeed in this instance, we can see that the crater at the scene, the plume of smoke is indicative of a munition, a very heavy munition that was indeed used in this strike. Not the first time, of course, that Israel has used us provided munitions, and also not the first time, we should note, that Israel has tried to carry out a targeted strike to kill Mohammed Deif. He escaped assassination attempts in the past, in 2002, as well as in 2014. And as of now, it is not clear whether or not he has survived this latest one. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Thanks so much.

All right, coming up more than a half-million people in Houston are still without power following hurricane Beryl. And for many it could be days before the lights and air-conditioning come back on as temperatures and tempers rise.

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[14:27:12]

WHITFIELD: More than 100 million people across the U.S. are sweltering under heat alerts, and right now in Texas, the aftermath of Beryl has more than 500,000 people without lights or air conditioning, facing another 90 degree day with very little relief. Finding clean water is also becoming an issue, and Houston's mayor, he actually gave out cases of water this week to weary residents.

Joining me right now, CNN's Lucy Kafanov on the ground there in Houston, and CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa here in the CNN Weather Center. So Lucy, you first. How miserable is it for people there in south Texas? LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is hot, it is muggy, and there is

mounting frustration both at CenterPoint, the utility responsible for restoring the power, as well as government leaders as Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, describes itself as the energy capital of the world, it continues to be crippled by these blackouts.

Now progress is being made. CenterPoint is promising that about 85 percent of their customers should get power back by the end of the day tomorrow, but that still leaves hundreds of thousands to make do while they wait for that help to calm. And that means, of course, no A.C., no refrigeration, no way to power medical devices. We already saw one woman lost her life when her oxygen machine ran out of battery. We know that emergency rooms and the city are overwhelmed. In some places there are cots lining the hallways. It's a very dire situation.

Then, of course, as often happens with natural disasters, it is those who are already living paycheck to paycheck, those who are already struggling who are the most impacted. Now we've seen a lot of volunteer efforts to get food and water to people. There's been pop-up relief centers and drives set up all across the city both today and yesterday. But as the certainty continues, both frustrations and temperatures continue to rise. Take a listen to what some of the residents told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see I don't have electric. What are they doing with our money? I just don't understand, and I get really frustrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: Now the one piece of good news is that FEMA has expanded emergency grants to certain counties, so some people will be able to get relief aid, and progress is being made. But the big question, Fred, is whether the efforts to restore power are going to get halted because we are expecting more thunderstorms today.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

KAFANOV: That could be a little risky.

WHITFIELD: All right, and, well, well find out if thunderstorms could offer any kind of relief in terms of the heat and humidity there, but it's south Texas, so something tells me now. All right, Lucy Kafanov, thank you so much.

Elisa, all right, what about this heat wave? I mean, it's made its way west. Now folks in south Texas, I mean, they're feeling the heat, and with the humidity that they always feel. It's horrible. But now you're talking about no power. What are they dealing with?

[14:30:06] ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Heat index, the values there are around 100, which isn't, when you don't have air conditioning, when you don't have refrigeration, that is unbearable. We have these heat alerts that are back to the west and they continue to spread east as this heat dome is on that move. The warnings are mostly in effect in California, parts of Nevada, Phoenix, and then Salt Lake City. You could see new advisories were issued today for parts of the northern plains where we're going to get that high pressure to continue to move east as we go through the next couple of days.

Las Vegas has been sweltering in unprecedented heat right now at day seven and counting of temperatures above 115 degrees, which is on precedented, breaking all-time records for how hot it is and for how long it is lasting. They have three days above 118, also unprecedented. You could see the heat, again, lingering to the east, temperatures above 110 in Las Vegas, approaching 112 in Phoenix, temperatures in the middle 90s and even some upper 90s in parts of Sacramento.

That high pressure continuing to move east, so were going to find that he building a pardon the central plains, the Midwest, and eventually the east coast as we go into the week. You can see that heat risk really popping as we go into Tuesday, extreme risk of heat sickness for places like Atlanta, Charlotte, New York. Places up in D.C., getting up to 100 degrees again, and D.C. doesn't really hit 100, and --

WHITFIELD: Wow. And that's the real temperature, 100 degrees?

RAFFA: Yes, that is the real temperature.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's rough. All right, thank you so much, Elisa. We'll check back with you.

All right, coming up in the next hour, I'll speak to the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, on efforts to restore power and what the state is doing to prevent something like this from happening again.

Also still to come, AT&T in damage control after a major data breach impacting nearly all wireless customers. The potential threat to individuals, businesses, and national security, next.

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[14:36:05]

WHITFIELD: Nearly all AT&T cell phone customers had their calls and text messages stolen through a massive data breach. And the telecommunications company delayed the announcement for months. CNN cybersecurity reporter Sean Lyngaas explains why.

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SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: AT&T revealed Friday that tens of millions of its customers had their call and text data stolen in a hack carried out in April. In a rare move, the U.S. Justice Department asked AT&T to delay in notifying regulators of the heck because of the potential national security or public safety risks associated with the data.

AT&T said the compromised data includes the telephone numbers of nearly all of its cellular customers and the customers of wireless providers that used its network between May 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022. It's the type of call data that could be highly valuable to foreign spies looking to track government officials or criminals looking to conduct large-scale fraud. One person allegedly involved in the hack is in custody according to AT&T.

Sean Lyngaas, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now to discuss is John Scott- Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which focuses on communications technology and security. Great to see you, John.

JOHN SCOTT-RAILTON, SENIOR RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO'S CITIZEN LAB: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So if you could, describe what kind of sensitive information was stolen from AT&T cell phone customers.

SCOTT-RAILTON: I think Americans have kind of gone numb to the breach conversation at this moment, And usually it's well, is it my Social Security number, is it my password? This data is a bit different. What we're talking about here is a kind of an NSA level, who is calling who, who is texting who, for this huge period of time. That kind of information tells stories about relationships, commercial relationships, and potential national security information. There are a lot of government customers of AT&T as well.

WHITFIELD: OK, so what about the national security end of it? That's why the FBI is taking this really seriously. What kind of information might be gleaned from stealing this kind of data?

SCOTT-RAILTON: So if you know which telephone numbers are calling which telephone numbers, and you know that on a global scale, hundreds of millions of calls and pieces of information about those calls, you can figure out who talks to who, who trusts who, in the White House, in Congress, in the military, in all the other federal agencies that pay hundreds of millions of dollars to AT&T for their services. It's a staggering breach and potential national security risk.

WHITFIELD: So are these hackers mostly looking for information like that and it just so happens that all of the other regular users get caught up in it?

SCOTT-RAILTON: Well, we don't know what this particular group was looking for. And frankly, we don't really know why AT&T was sitting on this big volume of data. Were they required to do so? Was this data they were using for marketing? There are a lot of questions about this that we haven't yet learned. That said, nothing here looks good.

WHITFIELD: OK, right. So the data breach happened in 2022 right, and AT&T apparently learned about it in April, but then we, the consumers, are just now finding out about it. There is a real giant disconnect there. What has happened in in-between those spans of time?

SCOTT-RAILTON: Well, in the words of The Counting Crows, with privacy for us Americans, we usually don't know that they had that data until it's gone. We don't know what kind of investigation was happening in the Department of Justice yet. There are a lot of very interesting questions there. But this points, I think, to something bigger, which is telcos are really wracked by breach after breach. If it's not T- Mobile, it's AT&T in the spring. If it's not AT7T in the spring, we're learning about it now.

[14:40:00]

To me, this tells a bigger story, which is big companies sitting on huge amounts of data are not really respecting it. What we're learning about this case seems to suggest that the data may have been protected less well than any Americans bank account with 50 bucks in it. To me, that's crazy.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that does sound pretty crazy when you put it like that. All right, John Scott-Railton, thanks so much.

SCOTT-RAILTON: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, Alec Baldwin speaks out following his stunning case dismissal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE MARY MARLOW SOMMER, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO: Motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: His new statement next.

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

[14:45:05]

Earlier today, Gloria Allred, who represents the victim's family, spoke about what's ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, HITCHINS FAMILY REPRESENTATIVE: This case will proceed, and it will continue, and we will get a jury in this case, unless he decides to do the right thing before then and resolve it in a meaningful way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Josh Campbell joins us now from outside the courthouse in New Mexico. Josh, we're getting the first public statement from Alec Baldwin now since that dramatic day in court.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He just took to Instagram. We'll show you that post, writing to his followers, "There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now. To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family." Of course, that's coming after that dramatic day in court that you mentioned yesterday, which essentially started out in the morning, there was an indication that the prosecution's case was just beginning to unravel. This came after Alec Baldwin's attorneys had accused him of wrongdoing and asked the judge to throw out the case. At one point one of the special prosecutors on the case abruptly resigned. Then of course later in the day, we learned that the entire case collapsed.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CAMPBELL: Alec Baldwin in tears after the involuntary manslaughter case against the actor was thrown out.

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

CAMPBELL: After the ruling, Baldwin turned to his wife Hilaria, 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: Then both sides sparred over ammunition that was turned into the sheriff's office but wasn't included in the case inventory or tested by the prosecution.

ALEX SPIRO, BALDWIN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us.

KARI MORRISSEY, PROSECUTOR: Your honor, there has been an absolutely no violations of our obligations as prosecutors.

CAMPBELL: 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 where Baldwin fired a gun that contained a live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Prosecutors claim they already determined the ammunition had no value to the case.

In a moment that turned heads, Prosecutor Kari Morrissey --

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

MORRISSEY: I do.

CAMPBELL: -- called 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 this computer screen, and it looks absolutely nothing like the lag rounds from the set of "Rust."

CAMPBELL: But additional ammunition was also turned in, and the defense questioned the crime scene technician on whether they could be a match.

MARISSA POPPELL, CRIME SCENE TECHNICIAN: Again, I wouldn't use the word "match" without further analysis.

SPIRO: And the reason that we don't have further analysis is you all didn't send us to the FBI for further analysis, did you?

POPPELL: We did not.

CAMPBELL: It was enough for the judge to throw the case out. As she made a ruling, Baldwin's family, including his actor brother Stephen 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: 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: Ho, we didn't. We did every you think humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to 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 VIDEO TAPE)

CAMPBELL (on camera): And Fred, despite the news yesterday, as you mentioned, attorney Allred, Gloria Allred, who represents Halayna Hutchins' family, they say that they will proceed with a civil lawsuit against Alec Baldwin. But of course, as it relates to any criminal penalties against the actor, that is now off the table. The way the judge ruled here, she dismissed the case with what's called with prejudice, which means that prosecutors could not bring back the case even if they wanted to. Actor Baldwin, Alec Baldwin, rather, is now a free man. He will not be facing any criminal punishment here.

WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Campbell in New Mexico, thank you so much.

All right, another case that we're following, the federal corruption trial against Senator Bob Menendez and his co-defendants. Deliberations began after jurors heard 37 witnesses over nine weeks of testimony prosecutors accuse the New Jersey Democrat of trying to use his power to advance foreign interests, interfere in criminal prosecutions, and secure investment from Qatari officials, among other things. The senator denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of targeting him.

CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino is joining me with more on this. So Gloria, bring us up to speed.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, Fred, the jury went into deliberations on Friday afternoon.

[14:50:01]

They deliberated for about three hours after nine weeks of testimony and hearing from 37 witnesses. They are expected back on Monday morning. And Menendez is facing several charges, including a dozen conspiracy and bribery counts for his alleged involvement in an elaborate scheme with two codefendants, two businessmen from New Jersey. Now, prosecutors are alleging that the powerful New Jersey Democrat used his power and his influence and his political position to advance Egyptian military interests, that he interfered in criminal prosecutions, and he helped secured Qatari investments, all of this in exchange age for thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and even a Mercedes Benz. Most of that was seized during an FBI raid into the senator's home in 2022. So there's a lot for this jury to consider.

Fred, one thing that's interesting in this case is that though wife of the senator, Nadine Menendez. She was charged in this scheme as well. She was supposed to be tried along with him, but her trial was delayed because she is undergoing cancer treatment. That has allowed the defense up until this point to argue that it was actually Nadine who was orchestrating some of these schemes behind the senator's back. That was something that was central in the closing arguments of the prosecution. They argued that there was no way that the senator was basically completely unaware that this was happening behind his back.

So Monday morning, 9:00 a.m., the jury great expected to be deliberating once again, and everyone watching to see if there will be a guilty verdict. It will be a significant outcome, obviously, for the senator, but also for the political implications it could bring.

WHITFIELD: Sure. All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

All right, coming up, it's being called India's wedding of the year. And the star-studded festivities, well, they keep going. A look inside next.

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WHITFIELD: All right, it's been described as India's wedding of the year, and the lavish festivities keep going on. Actors, actresses, and even Kim Kardashian arriving today for the reception for the son of India's richest man. CNN's Will Ripley has a look at how months of celebrations culminated into this star-studded moment.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When the youngest son of Asia's richest man marries the daughter of a pharma tycoon, an event seen as India's wedding of the year in Mumbai, of course, there's a red carpet. And this one is packed with some of the world's biggest stars.

Anant Ambani marrying his longtime girlfriend, Radhika Merchant.

ADITYA MOTWANE, WEDDING PLANNER: The big fat Indian wedding, it's just because of the scale of the people that are attending our celebrations.

RIPLEY: The Ambani wedding, a three-day spectacle of extreme opulence, and Indian tradition, says this Mumbai wedding planner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Indian weddings are grand scale. The Ambani wedding would be like interstellar scale.

MOTWANE: It is the biggest wedding celebration ever happened on this planet. That is 100 percent.

RIPLEY: The lavish celebration of love and luxury began back in March. This weekend's wedding finale kicks off at the Ambani-owned more than 40,000 capacity Jio World Convention Center before moving to the family's private skyscraper Antilia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of the most beautiful, iconic landmarks of our country. It's where the family resides. It is abusable home for them. It's a home that that they've always hosted people from all across the world, whether it's been presidents, prime ministers, celebrities.

RIPLEY: The guest list, a who's who of A-listers, rich, powerful, and of course, famous. The global glitterati descending on Mumbai, celebrating the union of two 29-year-olds who happen to be mind- blowingly wealthy, and not afraid to show it. The couple reportedly paid millions, hiring Justin Bieber and Rihanna for their pre-wedding party. People around town have mixed feelings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you have wealth, but yes, we get it. You have wealth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's fabulous. It's helping the economy. It's helping everyone. So I think if they have the money, they should spend it.

RIPLEY: The massive price tag a drop in the bucket for Ambanis. With a fortune of well over $100 billion from the family business, Reliance Industries, the energy, retail, and media giant.

This weekend's highly conspicuous consumption in stark contrast with widespread poverty across India. Critics call the Ambanis a glaring example of the growing wealth gap in the world's most populous country. The family trying to fend off critics by throwing charity events, like this month's mass wedding for 50 underprivileged couples near Mumbai.

Will Ripley, CNN.

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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with President Biden's latest push to save his reelection bid. Today, he's taking a short break from the campaign trail as he scrambles behind the scenes to shore up support --