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Bill And Hillary Clinton Said To Privately Urge Donors To Fund Biden; Biden Allegedly Seething At Pelosi Amid Calls To Drop Out; Trump, JD Vance Hold First Rally Since Nomination; Interview With Representative Greg Landsman (D-OH) About President Biden; Iran Condemns Israeli Airstrikes On Yemeni's Port City Of Hodeidah; Trump Once Again Tries To Distance Himself From Project 2025; Cybersecurity Firm CrowdStrike At Center Of Massive Tech Outage. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 20, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:36]

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

And we begin tonight with President Biden defiant as ever and facing new calls from Democratic leaders, donors, even former national security officials to suspend his campaign. Tonight, the president is recovering from COVID-19 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. His doctor says tonight in a new letter that Biden's symptoms are steadily improving.

What's not improving right now is the Democratic Party's confidence in Biden to beat Donald Trump in November. The list has now grown to 35 Democratic lawmakers publicly calling on Biden to drop out of the race.

Let's go straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who's with the president in Delaware.

And Priscilla, you have new details tonight about Democratic efforts to keep the donations flowing to the Biden campaign. What can you tell us?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And high- profile Democrats at that. Former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have privately urged donors to continue to provide funds to the Biden campaign as long as President Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee with one source describing it as, quote, "deferential to the process."

In other words, as long as the president is the candidate and presumptive nominee, donors should continue to back the president. This is an area where the campaign has recently faced some headwinds as big-dollar donors have held back their checks. He has of the questions that have been swirling around the president's candidacy and his viability as the Democratic candidate. Now I should note that Vice President Kamala Harris did have a fundraiser today in Massachusetts where they raked in over $2 million.

That was bit of a bright spot in this moment as donors, too, have been calling privately for the president to step aside. But the campaign has maintained over the course of the last 24 hours and on the airwaves and in statements that the president is staying in the race. They remain defiant on that front, despite acknowledging that there has been some erosion of support and that it has been difficult few weeks.

But their argument, too, is that in many ways voters' views are already hardened, even if it is about the president being older, they still think that voters view the president as the best candidate to go up against former president Donald Trump.

Now for the president himself, he has been in isolation here at his residence in Delaware, where sources say he has been deliberating and he has been among some of his closest advisers. Now, of course, some officials have told CNN that this entire situation has become wholly untenable as there has been Democratic lawmaker after Democratic lawmaker calling for the president to drop out of the race.

But some of his most loyal aides say that the president is dug in. So there has been sort of quickly the developing story here as Democratic lawmakers continue to put out their letters. I also obtained a letter from former national security officials and foreign policy experts that while commending the president on his foreign policy chops, also made the point that they just can't risk former president Donald Trump winning a second term.

So they too are calling for the president to step aside in hopes of perhaps a stronger Democratic candidate. So all of this piling on in a moment where the president can't be out front the way that lawmakers and allies have hoped that he would be. Instead having to stay in isolation as he recovers from COVID-19 -- Jessica.

DEAN: And you mentioned that he's recovering, still recovering from COVID-19. Do we know how he's feeling?

ALVAREZ: Yes. We've been hearing from the White House doctor and today he put out another letter where he said the president's symptoms are improving. He continues to take Paxlovid. He took his sixth dose today. But he is still testing positive for COVID, so we are anticipating getting updates from the White House as this continues but all signs as of now from the White House doctor pointing toward the president getting better each day.

The White House also telling us that the president was receiving briefings virtually over the course of the day today on a range of matters from the economy to homeland security to what is unfolding abroad. So certainly the president, according to the White House, still keeping up with his duties but still also testing positive for COVID.

DEAN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez for us in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Thanks for that reporting.

[19:05:02]

Happening now, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi is in North Carolina, headlining what's being called a unity dinner for Democrats. And it comes as Biden is said to be seething at her as some of Pelosi's closest allies in Congress are urging him to drop out of the race for the White House.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in Raleigh where that event is about to get underway.

Dianne, tell us more about this event and who's going and what it's going to be about.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jessica, this is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Democrats in this crucial battleground state. The Biden campaign, of course, has already invested heavily in North Carolina in both staffing and financially. This, though, is about those down-ballot races. It has long been dubbed the unity dinner. And of course, tonight's event comes as the top of the ticket is anything but.

The former speaker headlining the event is expected to talk about trying to bring the party together to beat Republicans up and down the ballot. But it's going to be whether or not she says something about the top of the ticket, the uncertainty there that many people are looking for. Again, clear focus on down-ballot. That's what they're here raising money for and they have big names and deep pockets in the room.

But they also want to talk about those races that could be impacted by that uncertainty at the top, like the governor's race, the most closely watched in the entire nation between the Democratic attorney general, Josh Stein, who is speaking tonight and the Trump aligned lieutenant governor Mark Robinson, the Republican.

Look, they believe, the Biden campaign has told us for months now, that they think that they can flip North Carolina blue. North Carolina was the slimmest victory for Donald Trump in 2020, winning by just over a point back then. And so they think they have those numbers, but that uncertainty, those rumors that are swirling around and with the former speaker here tonight, many of them are going to be waiting to see if she is going to say anything else beyond that wave-making interview last week where she said, quote, "It's up to the president to decide if he's going to run. We are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short."

Now, she is scheduled to speak to close out the event just after 8:30 tonight, but I have already seen her out here taking pictures with donors and candidates, and elected officials speaking with many of them. There was a very loud and raucous sort of pep rally ahead of this in a private room with some of their VIPs and their top donors.

And one more thing, Jessica, also speaking tonight, North Carolina's Democratic and term limited Governor Roy Cooper. His name in recent days, of course, being thrown around by prominent Democrats and pundits as a possible running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris if President Biden were to step aside and she were to become the Democratic nominee.

DEAN: Very interesting dynamics at play in North Carolina.

Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much for that reporting.

Former president Donald Trump is still speaking nearly two hours after taking the stage in Michigan. This is his first rally since the assassination attempt last week. Joining him on the campaign trail tonight also is his new running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Grand Rapids.

Kristen, what so far has been the biggest takeaway. This is -- you said it, this was going to be a long one and it certainly has been.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, it really has been. Now he has gone to some messaging around Michigan. He's talked about bringing back jobs for autoworkers, getting rid of the electric vehicle mandate, things that he has said time and time again. But he has also gone very much off script. He has told stories about almost every line in his speech.

One interesting thing to note is that he said a number of world leaders we already had known that President Zelenskyy had called in, but he said a number of world leaders including President Xi of China had reached out to him after the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, that assassination attempt, so that was an interesting note here.

In addition to that, he started out talking about bringing the party together, talking about uniting the party, but then also has gone pretty much off script. He has gone really after President Joe Biden calling him a loser, at one point calling him pathetic, and going through that various messaging and attack Democrats.

Now, another interesting note has been that he went after Project 2025. That of course being the umbrella project, the transition project put into place or at least spearheaded by Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that Biden's team has really gone after Trump over because of some of its controversial and far-right policies. He has been trying to distance himself from it. At one point saying, he didn't know anyone who was involved in it.

Obviously, that is not true. Some of the people involved on it are people who had worked in a previous administration and are likely to work in a second administration. People he's still very close to. But here's what he said about Project 25.

[19:10:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25, and I don't even know. I mean, some of them I know who they are, but they're very, very conservative, just like you have this sort of the opposite of the radical left, OK? You have the radical left then you have the radical right. And they come up with this -- I don't know what the hell it is. It's Project 25. He's involved in Project -- and then they read some

of the things and they are extremely. I mean, they're seriously extreme. But I don't know anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, it's very clear that they believe naming Donald Trump and his team and Project 25 is a liability for the former president. And so does the Biden team which attacked him over that. Another thing to mention here is that as you noted, this is the first time he appeared at a campaign event with J.D Vance. Vance introduced him, they hugged on stage, they shook hands, actually, I'm just going to turn around, I was curious if J.D. Vance is going to come back out, but he has not done that.

It's been interesting to watch them together but still we don't really have an idea of what their ticket looks like. It was very brief interaction that they had so hopefully in the coming days, we'll get a better sense of what it is like with Vance and Trump at the top of the ticket.

DEAN: All right. Kristen Holmes for us in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thank you so much.

Joining us now is Democratic congressman from Ohio, Greg Landsman.

Congressman, thanks so much for making time on a Saturday night. We appreciate it. Yesterday you called on the president to withdraw his candidacy and yet today as it stands Biden is still adamant publicly he is staying in this race. Do you think there's anything to change his mind here?

REP. GREG LANDSMAN (D-OH): No, I'm not sure what they're working through, although I do have faith that President Biden who's always done what's right by the country, he knows the stakes here in terms of our democracy, in terms of freedom, and what tens of millions women and girls are dealing with now that reproductive freedom has been taken away from them. He understands the stakes as it relates to the economy and what most working people are dealing with.

So I think he'll make the right decision. It's hard and it's for those of us who are watching this, you know, it's sad. But the country needs somebody new. The vast majority of people in my district, and it's a 50-50 district, an equal number of Democrats, independents, and Republicans. They mostly want someone new and the Republicans have nominated Trump, and some folks like him, but majority of folks don't and they want somebody different. And Democrats have a chance to nominate somebody new and hopefully that's what we do.

DEAN: Why did you decide yesterday was the day to do this?

LANDSMAN: I spent several weeks talking my colleagues, but most importantly my constituents. I mean, again, my district is Southwest Ohio, it's a perfect district as I like to say because it's an equal number of Democrats, independents and Republicans, and so everyone has a perspective. But across the board with some exception, across the board people want change and it's gotten to the point where it was pretty what folks at least back here want.

And that's somebody new at the top of the ticket because they don't want to see another Trump presidency and worse, they don't want Trump and Vance and folks in the far, far right to be in charge of each branch of the federal government. And that's what will happen if we don't make a change. And so I think the president knows that and that's what he'll do.

DEAN: And I'm curious if you spoke with any House Democratic leadership or leaders. I'm thinking about also former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Did you talk with her before you decided to go public with this?

LANDSMAN: Yes. I've been very straightforward with everybody about my position. What I was hearing in the district that's what they wanted. They wanted to understand what was happening in districts like ours here in Southwest Ohio because those of us who represent swing districts and swing states for the Senate and Mr. Schumer, they know that those of us who represent those districts and states know our communities the best.

They know that we know our constituents the best and so hearing from us is hearing from them, and they've been very receptive. And I think they've acted on that and they know that the vast majority of folks and you see that in the polling, 70 percent of Democrats want to see someone new and the majority of voters they weren't happy with this choice, Trump or Biden, and we have an opportunity to give them someone new, someone who can unite the country and protect our democracy, restore freedoms, fix the economy and bring back a normalcy that people are really craving for in politics.

[19:15:15]

DEAN: So you told -- that's essentially what you told Pelosi when you spoke to her?

LANDSMAN: Yes. I mean, she and I have had a long relationship. I started working for her when I got out of college, so I've gotten, you know, a front row seat into how she works and I've certainly communicated my feelings not just to her, but also her team. But it's also the leader, Mr. Jeffries and others. I don't, you know, try to hold anything back from my colleagues and I think it's really important for at least everyone to have the facts.

DEAN: And we have some new reporting, CNN does, about the Clintons, the former president and the former secretary of state, they've been privately encouraging donors in recent weeks to continue financially supporting Biden's campaign. Some donors, of course, have threatened to withhold money if he's still at the top of the ticket. What do you make of that?

LANDSMAN: I don't know. I mean, that's what I suspect, though, folks will be doing until Biden makes a decision. It's the best thing they can do is to say, hey, let's keep investing in whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump doesn't have a second term and doesn't take over the entirety of the federal government. So I do appreciate it and understand it, and there are a lot of folks in my district who were worried about what a change would look like.

And that's an uncertainty that is very real, but I -- what happens if Biden decides to release the delegates is that, you know, we get someone new and those delegates get released. And if it is the vice president, someone who can excite young people, the entire Democratic base, and I think appeal to those folks who are in the middle and can prosecute this case against Donald Trump, she's a former prosecutor, so she'll do well, I think she will win.

And others do, too. And that's all we want not for the Democratic Party, but because we care so deeply about our democracy. We are deeply concerned about freedom, reproductive freedom, and other freedoms. And we want a different economy, not one that's built for billionaires, but built for folks, like the ones I represent here in Southwest Ohio.

DEAN: Do you think Vice President Kamala Harris is the best option if Biden were to step aside?

LANDSMAN: I think she is. She's been in the middle of all of this and helping to rebuild the country as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and, you know, she supports the bipartisan border fix as does the president. And the only person standing in the way of us getting a bipartisan border fix done is Donald Trump, and she makes one of the most compelling cases on the reproductive freedom, and the need to restore it than anyone in the country. So I think she'll win and she'll help candidates up and down the ballot.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Greg Landsman, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

LANDSMAN: Thank you.

DEAN: Israeli fighter jets targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen one day after a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv they took responsibility for. The latest, that's next. Plus thousands of travelers are stuck at airports around the world. The fallout from this global IT outage.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:37]

DEAN: We are following breaking news. Iran tonight condemning Israeli strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The Iranian foreign minister warning of escalating tensions in the region. The Houthi-run Ministry of Health saying at least 80 people were injured. Israel saying it struck several Houthi military targets in the port city of Hodeidah. The strike in retaliation for a deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv.

Here's CNN's Jeremy Diamond with the latest.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, for months now Houthi militants have carried out attacks against Israel and on those shipping lanes in the Red Sea. But this is the first time that Israel has actually carried out strikes against Houthi targets on Yemeni soil. And I'm told that the reason for that is because of that Houthi drone attack yesterday. That drone attack carried out against Central Tel Aviv, actually resulting in Israeli casualties.

One Israeli man in his 50s was killed in that attack and that changed the calculus for the Israeli government, which for months now has really let the United States and the United Kingdom take the lead in striking Houthi targets in Yemen. But they felt that because of those civilian casualties, they needed to act. Striking the area of the Al- Hodeidah Port.

Here's the Israeli military spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The Houthis' attacks are acts of aggression. A violation of international law and a threat to the international peace and security.

[19:25:06]

Today, Israel stepped up its actions in self-defense against these attacks. The Israeli Air Force conducted precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen. The military target was the Al- Hodeidah Port used by the Houthis as a main supply route for the transfer of Iranian weapons from Iran to Yemen, like the UAV itself, that was used in that attack on Friday morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: The Israeli prime minister also saying that this is about sending a message, making clear that there is no area that Israel cannot and will not reach when it is attacked. I am told by an Israeli Defense official that this was a 100 percent Israeli strike, not carried out in conjunction with the United States or the United Kingdom. However, the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant did get on the phone with his American counterpart, the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, informing him of Israel's intentions to strike ahead of time -- Jessica.

DEAN: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

Former president Donald Trump just wrapping up his first rally since accepting the Republican nomination for president, and his first rally since that attempt on his life. Our Daniel Dale joins us next with a fact-check.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:49]

DEAN: Tonight, Donald Trump and his campaign are riding high exactly one week after the assassination attempt on the former president. While speaking to supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump once again tried to distance himself from Project 2025, that's the conservative blueprint that calls for a complete overhaul of the federal government, a national abortion ban, and gives more power to the president, among other things.

CNN's Daniel Dale joins us now from some fact checking of tonight's speech. It was a long one, Daniel.

It's not the first time we've heard him trying to distance himself from Project 2025. We'll play a clip of what he said tonight about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER US PRESIDENT: Like some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25 and I don't even know, I mean, some of them, I know who they are, but they're very, very conservative, just like you have this sort of the opposite of the radical left, okay.

You have the radical left and you have the radical right and they come up with this project -- I don't know what the hell it is. It's Project 25. And then they read some of the things that they are extreme, they're seriously extreme.

But I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Daniel, this is where you come in. What's the truth here?

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: Well, this is not the kind of claim where I can give you a firm true or false verdict. I can't definitively factcheck what Donald Trump knows in his head, but I think there is some critical context here.

Our excellent colleague, Steve Contorno did a deep dive into connections between Trump's administration and Project 2025 and Steve found that at least 140 people who had worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025, including half of the people listed as authors, editors, and contributors to its big 900- page manifesto document.

And Steve wrote that including six former Trump Cabinet secretaries, four people he nominated as ambassadors, one of them is former ICE Chief Tom Homan, who Trump keeps saying as recently as this week, he plans to give another prominent role in a next Trump administration.

And that's not all, Steve also found that dozens of additional former Trump officials hold positions with other outside conservative groups that are advising Project 2025.

So, the total connections he found is at least 240 people, formerly in Trump's administration involved or connected in some way to this think tank effort. DEAN: Now, the former president also making some false claims about the crime rate. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our crime rate is going up while crime statistics, all over the world they're plunging. We have become a dumping ground for the world, which is laughing at us. They can't believe how stupid we are, how stupid, stupid, stupid we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, we've heard those lines from him before. What does the data actually say?

DALE: The data shows that crime in this country is going down and quite significantly, it is not going up. Both property crime and violent crime are declining, and particularly, violent crime.

In 2023, there was a six percent decline in violent crime, which is big and in the first quarter of 2024, it is 15 percent. Even bigger drops in murders in both 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. And both of those figures, murder and violent crime generally are now below where they were in 2020, the last year of Trump's own administration.

Now I will caution, these are preliminary figures. The exact final figures might change, but it is entirely clear from this data, from other data, and to experts that crime is indeed going down, not up.

DEAN: And Daniel, Trump made this peculiar claim about winning an award in Michigan. We've heard this before, but here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, years ago, they gave me in Michigan "The Man of the Year," that was long before I was a politician, I was a business guy, did well, I like the state, but I don't know.

I heard, "Man of the Year" in Michigan and I said that cool, that's good, I'm going to make that trip. I didn't know why they were giving it to me, nothing, but they were giving it to me for, I guess, the fact that I employed a lot of people. I did real well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, what is this about?

DALE: This is the third consecutive presidential election in which Donald Trump has claimed to have been named the "Man of The Year" in Michigan and it would be kind of confusing why they would give a famous New Yorker the "Man of the Year" award in Michigan.

[19:35:10]

The answer is that, they whoever they are, did not do that. There is no sign that this award actually exists, let alone that Donald Trump actually got it.

I looked at length, a bunch of other reporters looked at length. We've asked a series of three consecutive Trump campaigns, no evidence provided whatsoever. It just did not happen.

A former Republican congressman said, his theory is that when Trump spoke at dinner he organized in Michigan before Trump was a politician, he gave Trump a bunch of thank you gifts and Trump seems to have misinterpreted those as some sort of "Man of the Year" award, which he emphasized, David Trott, that he did not actually give to Trump.

Now, after Trump had been telling these lies for a long time, a group of Michigan Republicans did invent a "Man of the Decade" award to give to him, but that's clearly not what he's talking about here.

DEAN: All right, Daniel Dale, always great to have you on to keep it all straight. Thank you very much.

DALE: Thank you.

DEAN: Tens of thousands of flights delayed. More than 2,000 canceled globally today. How much longer will the repercussions of this global IT outage last?

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:50]

DEAN: Tonight, more than 30,000 flights delayed and two-and-a-half thousand canceled globally, after what some have called the biggest, IT fail ever.

A software update from a cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike, taking down millions of computers running Microsoft Windows. The outage is knocking software systems all over the world. It is disrupting banks, healthcare providers, even some 911 call centers.

CNN's Isabel Rosales, is at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, speaking with stranded passengers -- Isabel.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, day one of this outage was total chaos across multiple carriers. But today what we are seeing is really a concentration of that mess with one carrier, and that's Delta.

Take a look right up here at the departures, sign after sign after sign here, cancellations and delays. So, this is a huge headache for Delta customers. And that tracks because this is Atlanta Hartsfield- Jackson. This is Delta's headquarters. This is their largest hub, the most amount of flights from Delta right here.

Take a look at this line right over here. These are people who have had some sort of an issue with their flights. They are waiting to talk to a customer service agent and over here, to the left, yet another line.

Those are people waiting here. They've been canceled. They're trying to get their luggage bag. So, a nightmare scenario for so many travelers.

I want to also introduce you to some passengers right over here. This is Richard and this is Johnny. Tell me where were you guys supposed to be today?

RICHARD, TRAVELER: Portola Valley, California, for my mom's wedding.

ROSALES: You're missing the wedding?

RICHARD: Yes.

ROSALES: And you're trying to get back home to Tampa, Pasco County to be precise. How has that experience been like for you guys to get some answers from Delta and get back home?

JOHNNY, TRAVELER: It's been nearly impossible. We've been waiting online for about 24-hours to talk to someone he's still waiting. Last night, he was 2,001 in line and then two hours later he was about 2,300 in line. And this morning he is still -- we're still about a good two hours away to hear from anybody.

So, were waiting to see if we can either get a plane home to Tampa and if not, a rental car, but that also is looking nearly impossible right now.

ROSALES: Tell me more about that, about the alternatives of getting back home, if you can't fly.

JOHNNY: Well, yes, the alternative would be a rental car. We want a one-way, but of course, only companies will only give certain amount of those one-ways out.

So, when we got there, there was only one left. They had gouged that price up to about $586.00 and then there's other options, buses, trains. The train was about a thousand dollars per person, Amtrak, so it's just -- it's nearly impossible. So, we're just waiting here. We are at the mercy of the travel gods right now and just praying that something is going to open up for us.

ROSALES: And one quick word, how would you describe this entire experience?

RICHARD: Therapeutic.

ROSALES: You guys are in high spirits. Keep that up and I hope you get back home soon.

JOHNNY: Thanks.

RICHARD: Thank you so much. ROSALES: Thank you. Back to you.

DEAN: Hey, Isabel Rosales, we're hoping they get back home soon too, thank you.

So, what is CrowdStrike? The cybersecurity company responsible for shutting down millions of computers running Microsoft Windows. Well, here is CNN's Tom Foreman to explain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I am being completely screwed over. This is bull crap.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As airports and trains, hospitals and emergency services, media, retailers, delivery companies, and even the US Space Program grappled with the global cyber outage, a stunning admission.

A single glitch in a software update from the cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike triggered the whole mess.

GEORGE KURTZ, CEO, CROWDSTRIKE: We identified this very quickly and remediated the issue and as systems come back online as they're rebooted, they are coming up and they're working.

FOREMAN: This is how it happened. CrowdStrike is a multi-billion- dollar cybersecurity firm, which helps many Fortune 500 companies protect their Microsoft operating systems from hackers and viruses.

That requires constant updates and normally when one is deployed --

MIKE DRISCOL, FORMER FBI AGENT: It will be tested extensively and they will work widely with the providers like Microsoft and other organizations that run these platforms to make sure it is compatible with these networks.

FOREMAN: But this update was faulty, causing affected computers around the planet to shut down.

[19:45:09]

Dave DeWalt, is a top expert in the field. He was up all night helping get them back online.

DAVE DEWALT, CEO, NIGHTDRAGON: In this case CrowdStrike was doing everything in its power to stop threats from occurring by doing the updates. But at the same time the quality control broke down and we ended up with what we had happen.

FOREMAN: Government services far and wide were affected by the outage including in the US, Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, Social Security, and even some state 911 systems.

At the White House, the fact they could all be affected by one mistake is raising caution flags. PETE BUTTIGIEG, US TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: This digitization in technology has brought massive benefits, but every technology has its downsides.

FOREMAN: As it is in New York, one of the famous billboards of Times Square was blanked by the problem. In Paris, final preparation for the Olympics were rattled and all over.

DEWALT: The banking industry and everything else, a couple more hours, maybe the rest of the day and we will -- will be returned.

FOREMAN: Disputes about how long it will take to get back to normal.

VICTORIA BAINES, PROFESSOR, GRESHAM COLLEGE: There are estimates that this is going to take some days, perhaps even weeks to fully recover from the impact.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on camera): Analysts call it a testament to CrowdStrike that so many governments and corporations rely on the company, but they say could also be a warning, that maybe there should be some other options if one mistake can cause so many problems -- Jessica.

DEAN: Tom Foreman, thank you.

When it comes to legal issues, former President Trump might be on a roll, especially after the classified documents case against him was dismissed this week. We'll talk about that next, when NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:32]

DEAN: Former President Trump scored a legal victory this week after a judge that owes her job to Trump threw out one of the cases against him, that's the classified documents case in Florida.

Trump praised Judge Aileen Cannon this week for her decision to dismiss that case.

Joining us now CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson and he's also a criminal defense attorney.

Joey, good to see you on a Saturday night.

You know, just a month ago, Trump was facing -- he had just been convicted. He was facing sentencing. He was facing dozens of felony counts. He was considered to be in very deep legal trouble.

Then we had the immunity decision. Now we have Judge Aileen Cannon's decision. What happens now? It seems like things are really breaking his way legally.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, they really are, Jessica. Good to be with you.

And here is the reality, breaking his way legally to the extent that as long as we have a six to three majority conservative Supreme Court that may continue to be the case.

I mean, if you briefly, and that's really the overview and it's unfortunate in as much as the law should be about just that, the law. There shouldn't be a political dynamic, but we are in different times and it appears as though the decisions, and again, is not -- that there's not legal authority supporting what the Supreme Court did, but I don't think that anyone could have imagined and no legal analyst really spoke about or envision the extent to which in that immunity decision they would protect the president.

And so, when you look at all the four cases that are against the president, I think all of them are in jeopardy, including the New York case, by the way, in which he's been convicted and in which of course he's pending sentence. But of course, the attorneys are asking for that case to be thrown out and that may end up in the Supreme Court after it winds its way through the court system.

I don't think the New York judge will throw out that case.

DEAN: It is so interesting, and you make a good point because this Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity just looms over all of this so largely and it is so important and is kind of the through line through all of this. And it really underscores the importance of Trump being able to name those three Supreme Court Justice and ensure that conservative bench or majority on the Supreme Court.

JACKSON: You know, Jessica, of course, we know that elections have consequences and the people who win those elections as Trump did in 2016 have the ability to appoint people who have values consistent with their points of view.

And so, when you appoint three justices to the Supreme Court who share that point of view, what are you going to have? You're going to have an ideology that certainly favors you as it relates to even the overturning of Roe v. Wade, of course, dealing with abortion, and then of course, coming down to your own personal protection concerning immunity. Wow.

The fact that you had a Supreme Court, not only indicate that you have presidential immunity, but even say that there's certain evidence that can't be considered including the president's state of mind. You can't consider state of mind in prosecuting a defendant in a case and then you exclude evidence with regard to high-level officials who the president has spoken to.

And so yes, this is of course Trump's decisions in terms of who he appoints coming to -- nor to his benefit including of course, who we are talking about, that is Aileen Cannon, who's presiding over the classified documents case wholesalely dismissing the case on grounds that this should not have been -- it should have not been in the special counsel who have moved forward because they have no authority to do so, according to her. DEAN: And just -- we have about a minute left, but what does this mean for Special Counsel Jack Smith's case as he has the one in Florida that's now been dismissed, but then the one also in Washington, DC?

JACKSON: Yes, so, to be clear, there will be an appeal. I think it will go to the 11th Circuit and I think that it's in jeopardy.

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That is Aileen Cannon's decision because it flies in the face of well- established precedent. I mean, special counsels have been pointed since Watergate in '74, you had our Iran Contra special counsel in '86, most recently with Mueller and the Russia interference investigation that was upheld by the way, by the DC Circuit, that's the appellate court, saying it was perfectly proper and permissible.

But let us not forget, we have the concurring opinion by Judge Clarence Thomas in the immunity case, which essentially said that, hey, by the way, you can't have a special counsel.

DEAN: Right.

JACKSON: This should have been confirmed by the Senate, and I think that emboldened her to do that. So, the final analysis, Jessica, there will be appeals, but by the way, it could be a case that sticks and Trump may have no accountability for anything at the end of the day.

DEAN: All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

And thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern.

NEWSROOM continues now with Sara Sidner.

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