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Biden Goes After Trump While Campaigning In Michigan; Biden Holds Calls Today With Groups Of Congressional Democrats; Trump To Rally Today In Battleground Pennsylvania; Top Hamas Military Official Targeted In Gaza Airstrikes; Poll: 72 Percent Of Israelis Want Netanyahu To Resign; Biden Says Delegates Can Vote Their Conscience; How An Open Democratic Convention Would Work; Involuntary Manslaughter Case Against Alec Baldwin Thrown Out; Sex Therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer Dead At 96. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 13, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

WHITFIELD: BET Wednesday night for his first interview with that network. He'll start the week sitting down with NBC News and Lester Holt doing an interview.

All right, tomorrow, Catherine, Princess of Wales, is set to make an appearance at the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final in London. Kensington Palace made the announcement this morning. The 42-year-old princess significantly scaling back her royal duties after announcing her cancer diagnosis at the end of March. Well, she made her first public appearance last month while attending King Charles' birthday celebration. So all eyes on Wimbledon for the men's final and for her.

All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And President Biden is moving full steam ahead with his campaign for reelection despite lingering doubts among members of his own party about his age and his fitness for office. While campaigning in the swing state of Michigan, a defiant Biden went after Donald Trump calling him, quote, "a loser" and a convicted criminal. Biden also made it clear he's staying in the race and he says he's the only one who can beat Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So much of the narrative, my campaign has fallen apart, they say. I'm the nominee of the Democratic Party, the only Democrat or Republican who has beaten Donald Trump ever. And I'm m going to beat him again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now.

And Priscilla, is Biden now pivoting or at least trying to pivot from that debate performance to attacking the former president?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what you heard there, Jessica, from the president is the core of his argument that he is best suited to beat former president Donald Trump this election year and so he has been on the attack. Of course, he has been refining those attacks over the last several months as well as introducing new criticisms of the former president including, for example, that he is a convicted criminal, given what happened in the foreign president's criminal cases.

But the president is also having to do two things at once. Go after his Republican rival, while also easing the anxiety among those within his own party and on that front, he has been engaged in an outreach campaign over the course of the week with his allies, including donors, Democratic lawmakers who all still harbor some concern about whether he is the best candidate to go up against Trump and whether he can serve a second term.

So the president, when he's hitting the campaign trail now, the stakes are much higher. It's not just about what he says. I've been to multiple of his rallies where he does sort of gave a forceful defense of his record while going after his Republican rival. But it's also being judged in his performance and whether he does enough of this to engage with voters and along the way alleviate those concerns among his supporters.

Now the question remains to be seen, but the president will also be going to Texas and Nevada next week where he's going to do more of the same and serve as counter-programming for the Republican National Convention, which will also be underway. So ultimately, while the president is trying to make the case about him being the best candidate to go against Donald Trump for his record, to be judged on the last three years, not the last 90 minutes, an argument we've heard repeatedly from him and the campaign, he's also behind the scenes having to work the phones to keep the Democratic Party in line.

So it is certainly a challenging time for his campaign and one that he hopes he can make more of an inroads in over the next few days on the campaign trail.

DEAN: All right, we shall see. Priscilla Alvarez for us in Washington, D.C. Thanks so much for that reporting.

And despite the president's defiant tone in Michigan, there are a still a number of congressional Democrats who have doubts about his candidacy and have said so out allowed. And in an attempt to calm those fears Biden today is holding virtual calls with both the new Democrat coalition and the progressive caucus. Currently there are 19 congressional Democrats calling for Biden to step aside, including two members who are speaking with the president today.

CNN's Annie Grayer is joining us now.

And Annie, I know one of those conversations is happening right now. What else can you tell us about these meetings? ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, these are

critical for the president as he tries to speak directly to House Democrats and assuage concerns that he can no longer do the job because as we've seen since Biden's disastrous debate performance, there has been a steady trickle of sitting lawmakers, both in the House and also the Senate -- you just put up that graphic, it's up to 19 lawmakers saying that Biden should step aside and that there should be a new nominee.

So these calls today are Biden's attempts to speak directly to those concerns. The call with the progressive group is underway and after that Biden is going to speak with a more moderate group of Democrats, many of whom are running in competitive House races, who have raised serious concerns about Biden's ability to remain atop the ticket.

[16:05:11]

And Democrats just have been calling on Biden to speak directly to them for two -- over two weeks since that debate performance. And it's taken until now for that to finally happen. So the question is, will his direct message to lawmakers today make -- move the needle in any way.

Biden started his outreach to the hill formally yesterday. And in one of those calls with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressman Mike Levin of California spoke up on this call, I'm told from sources, and said to the president directly that it was his belief it was time for Biden to step aside.

Now, I'm told from sources that Biden responded directly to Levin. I'm going to read you a portion of what Biden's response was. He said, quote, "It's a legitimate concern for people, but that's why I think it's important. I got to get out and show people everything from how well I move to how much I know and that I'm still in good charge."

So that's really significant. We don't know how many times a sitting lawmaker has said to the president directly it's their belief it's time for Biden to step aside. We know it happened in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus call yesterday. We're going to see what happens in these calls today -- Jess.

DEAN: Yes. It's been so much of his message is let me get out there, let me make the case.

Annie Grayer, great reporting. Thanks so much for that.

And today former president Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail as he prepares for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. It's now less than 48 hours away. There he will officially become the party's presidential nominee for the third time in eight years. He's also expected to announce his running mate. It's a highly anticipated decision that's been overshadowed by all the debate fallouts surrounding the Biden campaign.

So let's get straight to CNN's Alayna Treene, who is traveling with the Trump campaign in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump is set to address the crowd there in about an hour.

Alayna, how is the Trump campaign feeling about this week ahead? This is big for them.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's massive for them, Jessica. And I'll also note that this rally today is only Donald Trump's second really public events since that debate performance at the end of last month. They really, for the past two weeks now, have been uncharacteristically quiet. Donald Trump himself really choosing to keep Joe Biden and the story and the criticism surrounding him and whether Democrats themselves believed that he is fit to serve for another four years in the center, and keep that to be the story.

And so as we look ahead to next week, Donald Trump's team is very much gearing up for them to change the narrative and put the attention back on Donald Trump. And you mentioned the long anticipated decision of him announcing who his vice presidential nominee is. There's a lot of questions about when that will come. When I talk to Donald Trump's most senior advisers, they say, look, we really see Monday evening, that is when Donald Trump will be nominated for the vice presidential -- presidential nomination.

That is really the deadline that they view when they have to announce. And so Donald Trump actually addressed this yesterday during a radio interview. I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have some really, really candidates and, you know, 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: So as you could hear Donald Trump say there, that is exactly what his advisers tell me, that he is going to be making this decision really by using his instinct, that it's going to be a gut decision. So we're staying tune until when exactly that will come.

Now, just to give you a little preview of what to expect next week, I want to talk you through some of the speakers that were just announced today that are going to be I'm hearing on stage next week. That includes several members of Donald Trump's family, including his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Junior, as well as Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law and the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, she's Donald Trump Junior's girlfriend, as well as an adviser to the Trump campaign.

One person who as of now is not speaking, but I am told will be appearing with Donald Trump is the former first lady Melania Trump. That is very notable, Jessica, because really she has been very absent from the campaign trail ever since Donald Trump actually launched his third presidential bid. We've only seen her publicly twice. And so it's a really big deal that she's going to be appearing next week. However, as now we're told no plans for her to be speaking -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Alayna Treene for us there in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thank you so much, Alayna.

And let's turn now to our panel to discuss further. Columnist, author and podcaster Matt Lewis and Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona.

[16:10:06]

It is great to see both of you. I want to get back to Trump in just a second, but, Maria, let's rewind to the beginning of our show and start first with these calls that the president is holding with two key groups of congressional Democrats.

What does he need to communicate with them? What more can he do to calm these concerned Democrats who continue to voice their concern?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think he needs to continue to do exactly what he's doing, reaching out to them, making sure he knows everything he has done from the day of that disastrous debate. He understands how badly he did that night. He knows that there are concerns, but he's also going to communicate that this election is still about a choice, a choice on the issues.

The issues debate has not changed and for as much as we have all obsessed about how Joe Biden did that night of the debate, Donald Trump had a horrible debate as well. And what you're seeing, Jessica, is what so many grassroots voters that are supporting President Biden are saying to him, in the rope lines, in the rallies that he has had since then, he has been fiery, he has been rigorous. He's been vigorous, he's been energetic.

He has focused on going after Donald Trump. He has focused on going after the existential threat that he represents, especially to so many of those communities of voters that are represented by the grassroots, not necessarily by the Democratic elite, who are coming out against Joe Biden. So my hope is, is that all of those Democratic lawmakers and the donors who are still concerned, that they voice their concerns to him privately because I got to tell you at this point, Jessica, the more that those Democrats come out publicly with their concerns about Joe Biden after he has unequivocally said that he is the nominee and he is the nominee because he has the votes, he has the delegates, those lawmakers and those Democrats, when they do that publicly now, they are helping one person and that person's name is Donald Trump.

DEAN: And Maria, you mentioned the donors. We've seen big names like George Clooney calling for the president to step aside. "The New York Times" is reporting that some donors are withholding a total of roughly $90 million in pledged donations from a super PAC that's supporting the Biden campaign. And then there's the president of the United Auto Workers who's kind of in a different, in a different bucket, let's say, of Biden supporters.

He said this yesterday at an event in Maryland, and Matt, when we get to the other side, I want to know what you think. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN FAIN, UNITED AUTO WORKERS PRESIDENT: You know, in this election we can't put our hands in -- our heads in the sand and hide from reality. We tried that in 2016 and it didn't work. People just wanted to buckle down and hope for the best knowing that we weren't meeting the moment, and we see it happening again, though, very few people are willing to speak up about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Matt, what does it say to you that the head of the United Auto Workers union is saying that?

MATT LEWIS, COLUMNIST, AUTHOR AND PODCASTER: Look, I think Joe Biden is in trouble. He was losing before that debate. And remember, a tie goes to the Republican. I mean, Joe Biden can't -- he could lose the election by winning the popular vote. So he was losing before the debate. The debate was catastrophic, not just in the national polls, but in this state polls and so I think the best thing that Joe Biden could do if he wants to beat Donald Trump, is to drop out.

And I don't think there's any way that Biden can convince donors by -- he can't work harder, he can't call them up and persuade them because it's not like he had a bad night. He just doesn't have it anymore. So I think Maria was on to something, though. The one thing Joe Biden can say is I am not leaving. I don't care what you say. I am not leaving. And if you attack me then you are going to elect Donald Trump.

And so I don't think there's any way that Joe Biden can convince us that he's perfect or great, or even fit at this point to be president. What I do think he can do is get Democrats to stop the bedwetting by telling them, look, I don't care what you say. Read my lips. I'm not going anywhere.

DEAN: And what do you think, Maria, from the UAW? Is that significant?

CARDONA: Well -- sure, it's significant. And like I said, it's not like Democrats are like the Trump party where there is an autocratic head of the party who excommunicates every single person who speaks publicly against them. No. This is a discussion that has been happening since the debate, and it has been very rigorous. And the president has been listening and he should continue to listen.

[16:15:00]

But it has been over two weeks now, Jessica, and Matt is right. The president is not going anywhere and it's not -- let me be very clear here. It's not an ego thing, Jessica. The president went through the Democratic nomination process, 14 million votes he garnered all across the country. He has delegates that are supporting him. And so to these people that are saying that he should step aside to

the lawmakers, to the donors, let me just be very clear as to what they are saying to see if this is what they are saying, are they saying that the Democratic nomination process no longer matters? Are they saying that as soon as the Democratic nominee or their nominee is in a little bit of trouble then let's run for the hills and forget about the millions of voters who voted for that nominee? Do Democratic nomination processes not matter anymore?

And let's be very clear about the polls. The polls have not changed since the debate. There was an NPR-Marist poll that just came out that had Joe Biden at 50 percent, Donald Trump at 48 percent. This is an unchanged race. And while Matt says that an unchanged race or a tied race normally goes to the Republicans, maybe, and so Democrats still have a lot more work to do, but let's remember what the polls said in 2022, Jessica.

They said there was a massive red wave. And I was one of the few who were warning people that there was not a red wave coming, that grassroots voters were going to come out and have their voices heard, women who are still incredibly concerned about growing up or having their children and their daughters specially grow up in a country that had less rights than they do. They are coming out in droves.

Black voters are going to come out in droves. Latino voters are going to come out in droves. There are so many people who are so concerned about what Donald Trump represents. Project 2025, which would change the face of the country. So I think President Biden is well poised to go into this and to beat Donald Trump. But it will depend on whether Democrats have the backbone to stop the circular firing squad, focus on who the real threat is, and support our nominee who went through a valid process and is now the one that is going to represent us going into November.

Let's get it together, people.

DEAN: And Matt, I want to ask you about this new op-ed from Senator Bernie Sanders in "The New York Times." He's fully supporting the president. He wrote today, quote, "Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate. But he will be the candidate and should be the candidate, and with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump, but beat him badly. It is time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nitpicking."

It has been interesting to see these very progressive members of the party, former rivals like Bernie Sanders, but also Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comes to mind, who offer this full throated support for Biden. It's something we have not seen from congressional Democratic leadership at this point. Why? What do you think is going on there?

LEWIS: It is stunning. And some of the people who think of him as genocide Joe are saying don't go, Joe. Genocide Joe for president. I'm not saying Bernie and AOC said that, but you get my drift. It is really remarkable, right, that a lot of the people that you would think would be standing with Joe Biden right now, kind of somebody establishment moderate Democrats are ready to abandon him. And then you've got the progressive caucus that is rallying around him.

I can only speculate on a couple of reasons why. So one argument would be that it's the moderates who actually are in danger of losing down- ballot in, you know, in November. So they have a vested interest in having a better, stronger candidate at the top of the ticket. So it's self-preservation more than anything. The other argument is maybe these progressives are pretty tough. You know, they're used to being kind of eccentric outcasts and not necessarily going with the mainstream. And so at this moment, when suddenly Joe Biden is a pariah, they say, hey, this is our cause. We're going to stand firm, but you're right. Strange bedfellows certainly.

DEAN: All right. Matt Lewis and Maria Cardona, we're going to leave it there but I appreciate you both coming on. We appreciate your time.

CARDONA: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Coming up, we are getting new details tonight on an Israeli strike targeting the Hamas military chief and alleged mastermind of the October 7th attacks. What this could mean for possible ceasefire negotiations and hostage deal. We're going to be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:24:07]

DEAN: Details are still emerging about today's massive Israeli strikes on humanitarian zone in the Khan Younis region of Gaza. Palestinian officials now saying at least 90 people were killed and 300 were injured. The moment when one of those strikes were hit was caught on video.

Israel says it targeted the military chief of Hamas who's alleged to be one of the masterminds behind the October 7th attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they aren't certain yet whether their target was killed.

Let's talk more about this with CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid.

Barak, always good to see you. First, just give us some context around this strike today, what it means on its own, but also what it could mean more broadly for any potential ceasefire and hostage agreement.

[16:25:01]

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So first, we still don't know whether Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas' military wing and actually one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, whether he was killed or not. This is still I think something we need to see. But if he is indeed dead, this is a major blow for Hamas on the one hand and one of the biggest military achievements for Israel since October 7th, because Mohammed Deif was, you know, the commander of the Hamas military wing not only by title but he was actively in command. And I think this is something the Israelis learned only after they

went into Gaza, after October 7th, because for years Deif survived several assassination attempts and the Israelis thought that he was just a figurehead, that he didn't really command the Hamas forces. Only after the Israelis came into Gaza and got more intel, including videos they saw that he's actually in active command. So if he is indeed dead, this is a major change in the situation of the war.

DEAN: And so what does it mean in terms of the ongoing negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal?

RAVID: It's still unclear. I think that in the short term it will definitely -- could have influence, although Hamas leaders spoke earlier today like, for example, Hamas' deputy political leader Khalil al-Hayya spoke with Al-Jazeera and he was asked whether they're going to suspend the talks, and he didn't that they're going to suspend the talks. He said we are not going to let Netanyahu drag us to where he wants us to be.

So at least for now Hamas is not saying that they're going to suspend the talks, but at least three Israeli officials I spoke to said that even if the talks are suspended for a few days after, you know, the initial shock from this assassination, they believe that this will increase the pressure on Hamas and as a result will help getting to the hostage and ceasefire deal.

DEAN: And we know Israel did not inform the U.S. about this strike beforehand. We do know that at least one U.S. made munition was used in this strike. Walk us through the strategy behind not informing the U.S. Why did they not want to let that information out?

RAVID: You know, Netanyahu was asked about it in the press conference just an hour ago and his answer to me was, you know, pretty astounding. He said that Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance because it was afraid that it's going to leak, that somebody on the American side and Biden administration will leak this information and then it will scuttle the operation and will allow Deif and other Hamas commanders who were with them to go back on the ground and then they wouldn't be killed.

This is, you know, in my mind, you know, pretty strong accusation from Netanyahu. And I think it might even show you the suspicion between Israel and the U.S. these days.

DEAN: Yes. What does that say to you about the current relationship between Israel and the U.S. right now?

RAVID: Exactly. I mean, this is not some -- you know, it's a major operation and it was a very important airstrike for the Israeli military, for the Israeli leadership, but still Mohammed Deif is not a controversial target when it comes to U.S. and Israel. President Biden and a lot of other U.S. officials said that they're actively helping Israel to go after Hamas leaders like Mohammed Deif. And some U.S. officials even said that Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza, are both -- you know, two of them are people that, you know, there needs to be justice for them, meaning that they need to be killed.

So it is very interesting that Netanyahu said that Israel did not inform the U.S. because it thought the U.S. might leak it.

DEAN: Yes. And before I let you go, I do want to ask you about the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, because for the last several months he's really been on edge in terms of can he hold on, can he hold on this government together, will he get pushed out? Will he not? Where do things stand now and does a strike like this give him more capital to keep moving forward as the prime minister?

RAVID: You know, I don't -- again, we'll have to see in the polls in the next few days whether he gets a boost, but yesterday, on Friday, Channel 12, Israel's biggest TV network, published a public opinion poll that showed that 72 percent of the Israelis want Netanyahu to resign either immediately or once the war is over. This is, you know, an amazing number, 72 percent of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. So I think this tells you something where Netanyahu is with Israeli public opinion, with the vote.

[16:30:06]

But he still has a 64 member of Knesset majority in parliament. And when that's the situation, he needs to get at least, in the next two weeks, before the Knesset session is over, he needs to get through those two weeks.

In the last few days of the session, he will be in Washington, speaking to Congress. And once he's -- once the Knesset session is over, it goes into recess, then he's prime minister for at least another six months.

DEAN: All right. Barak Ravid, always great to have you on. We appreciate your analysis. Thanks so much.

RAVID: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, President Biden says he has no intention of ending his bid for a second term. But could the delegates at the Democratic convention in August have a say in that? We're going to take a closer look at that process.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:16]

DEAN: President Biden says he has no intention of ending his bid for a second term even though a growing number inside his own party are calling for him to step aside.

At his press conference on Thursday, Biden was asked about a potential challenge at the convention if delegates have second thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're free to do whatever they want. But I get overwhelming support. Tomorrow, if all of a sudden, I show up at the convention, everybody says we want somebody else, that's the Democratic process. It's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It is a bit complicated though.

CNN Zach Wolf has been reporting on the different scenarios in which Democrats could potentially replace Biden and what the fallout might look like.

And, Zach, I just want to underscore, again, that Biden has said over and over again, he's not getting out. He plans to forge ahead.

However, walk us through Biden's -- the present hypothetical here in which his delegates decide they actually want to vote for someone else. How would that work?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR DATA WRITER: Well, it is really confusing because, as you recall, we had this series of primaries, and in almost every state, he won every primary in every state. So he should have these delegates.

There are more than 3,900 delegates, 3,949 pledged delegates that were awarded as a part of this primary process. And he won nearly all of them, 30,904.

So where it gets complicated is, there's nothing that legally requires them to actually vote for him at the convention. He's right about that.

But if they were to vote for somebody else, if the delegates from California, say, where to vote for Kamala Harris, if she's not a recognized candidate, their votes wouldn't be counted for her at the convention. They would be considered present.

So it would have to then go to a second round of ballots if he didn't get to the majority on that first round of voting.

So he is he is correct that they can vote for whoever they want. The technical language in the Democratic bylaws, which if you really want a headache, try to read bylaws. It's called the Call for Convention. It is the most confusing document.

But the technical language for them is that they should, in good conscience, support the winner of the primary in their state. But what does "in good conscience" mean? It's never been tested.

Does it mean they don't think he can win and so they can no longer in good conscience support him? Does it mean that they don't think he's fit for the job?

So that's a completely untested bit of language. But it's not, I think everybody agrees, legally binding on them.

If somebody were to rise up and try to challenge him, they would have to get support before they did that. They would have to get signatures from hundreds of delegates in order just to have their name thrown it.

So he's -- he's right that delegates could vote for somebody else. But from there, it just gets extremely complicated, the procedure of what happens bins is completely unknown.

DEAN: Yes, it's not easy.

And I think when you're hearing some people that do want him to step aside or in conversations when you talk to donors, they're just, well, he can just move aside and there'll be a new candidate. But it doesn't seem like it's that -- that simple.

That there -- you can't just wave your hand and snap your fingers and it happens.

What if, though, he decided to step aside on his own? That is a little different, but how would that work?

WOLF: It is a little different. At that point, the delegates would be released. That "in good conscience" clause goes away.

You could imagine Kamala Harris or whoever wanted to -- wanted to step in the ring would again have to get those signatures from people at the convention, be recognized by the chair of the DNC, Jamie Harrison, to sort of be considered as a candidate.

And then there's another universe of people that we would have to consider. And these are the -- if you remember, 2008, the superdelegates. They call them automatic delegates right now.

But if you're old enough to remember, Barak Obama-Hillary Clinton race, if the word superdelegate might be a trigger for you.

DEAN: Yes.

WOLF: But these are -- these are party bigwigs. And they would sort of come back into -- they would -- they would get votes. So the number would change. You'd go from needing 1,900, essentially, votes to more than 2,000.

So everything kind of gets messed up again.

DEAN: Well, I think we all owe you some Advil for going through that whole thing and really trying to distill it down into what it all means.

We really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

WOLF: Thank you.

[16:39:48]

Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, a tearful Alec Baldwin embracing his loved ones after a judge throws out his movie set shooting trial. What comes next after the stunning dismissal and the accusations that caused it in the first place? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: In a surprising turn of events, Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter case related to the 2021 shooting on the set of the movie "Rust" was dismissed yesterday. The judge ruling evidence was not properly turned over to the defense.

Just three days of that trial, the judge dismissing the case with prejudice. That means it cannot be brought again.

CNN's Josh Campbell is following the developments for us from Santa Fe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

JUDGE MARY MARLOWE 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.

[16:45:01]

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.

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

KARI MORRISSEY, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Your honor, there have been 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're securing the scene.

CAMPBELL: 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.

SOMMER: Do you want to call yourself as a witness?

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

SOMMER: 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.

ALEX SPIRO, ALEC BALDWIN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And the reason that we don't have further analysis is you all didn't send this 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 REPORTER: Did you let the Hutchins family down?

MORRISSEY: No, we didn't. We did everything 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.

CAMPBELL (on camera): And just, guys, as you mentioned, this case cannot be re-brought. And that's because of the way that the judge ruled here.

But interestingly, despite the fact that Alec Baldwin won't be facing criminal charges, he's not completely free of all legal liability. I spoke a short time ago with Gloria. Allred, who is a representative

for the family of Halyna Hutchins. She said, regardless of what happened on Friday in court, the family's civil lawsuit against the actor will continue -- Jessica?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Right. Josh Campbell, for us in Santa Fe, New Mexico, thanks so much for that reporting.

So ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, today, remembering the life of iconic sex therapist, Dr. Ruth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:51]

DEAN: Media personality and sex therapist, Ruth Westheimer, known as "Dr. Ruth," died peacefully in her home in New York City yesterday, her publicist told CNN today.

CNN's Stephanie Elam reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 top heard her plea for quality sex education programming. She offered her a chance to do just that.

DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER, SEX THERAPIST: I say to the broadcast, you have responsibility to get a program like this on air. And in one week, I was on the air.

ELAM: And so Dr. Ruth Westheimer became "Dr. Ruth," giving advice on her radio call-in program, "Sexually Speaking."

It wasn't an immediate success that led to high-profile appearances on national talk shows like "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show."

WESTHEIMER: If we could bring about talking about sexual activity, the way we talk about diet, the way we talk about food, without it having this kind of connotation that there's something not quite right about it, then we would be a step further.

Hello, you are on the air.

ELAM: Before long, she launched her own TV shows, "Good Sex with Dr. Ruth," and "Aske Dr. Ruth."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never had a sexual encounter.

WESTHEIMER: Oh. 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: 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 Corolla 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: 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've never killed anybody. Everybody in those years in the early year of Israel was in some kind of a military group.

ELAM: Westheimer studied psychology in Paris, and then moved to New York, where she earned her masters 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, non-judgmental way.

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: 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)

[16:55:08]

DEAN: Dr. Ruth Westheimer was 96-years-old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:59:59]

DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And both presidential campaigns hitting the ground and Pennsylvania today in an effort to win over crucial swing state voters there.