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Texas Republicans Approve New Congressional Maps; U.N.-Backed Group Declares Famine In Parts of Gaza; Afghans Left Behind After U.S. Withdrawal Speak Out; Trump Calls For Getting Rid of Mail-In Ballots For Elections; Trump Administration May Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Uganda; Remembering Judge Frank Caprio's Compassion; "American Prince: JFK, Jr." Final Episode Tonight. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 23, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:46]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Los Angeles.

New developments tonight in the battle over redistricting. Texas is on the verge of giving Republicans five additional congressional seats ahead of next year's midterms. Republicans passed that legislation that redraw the state's congressional maps in favor of the GOP. They passed that in the overnight hours last night, and now it heads to Governor Greg Abbott's desk for his signature.

CNN correspondent Arlette Saenz is in Austin, Texas, with the latest on this -- Arlette.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Texas Senate gave its final stamp of approval on a redistricting bill that could reshape the landscape for the 2026 midterm elections. The bill passed the state's Senate in the early morning hours of Saturday, and now will head to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his signature. He's expected to sign it early next week.

But really, this represents a major victory for President Trump and the Republican Party as they are trying to pick up an additional five U.S. House seats here in Texas. And Republicans have been very blunt about why they are pushing these redistricting plans.

Take a listen to State Senator Phil King, a Republican, on the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL KING (R), TEXAS STATE SENATE: I'm convinced that if Texas does not take this action, that there is an extreme risk that that Republican majority will be lost. And if it does, the next two years after the midterms, they will be nothing but inquisitions and impeachments and humiliation for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAENZ: Texas Democrats, who had fled the state to try to block this bill for two weeks, had no other legislative options left to prevent this from being passed. Now, Democrats are turning their attention to the courts, hoping that the court system will step in to block these maps from going into effect. But already this map, even before it was passed and signed into law, it's already impacting the 2026 midterms here in Texas.

There's Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who represents a district right here in Austin. He announced that he would not seek reelection if the courts do not block these maps. That -- part of that is because a congressman from a district just south of here, Greg Casar, said that he would now run in Doggett's district after his own district is essentially eliminated to become a more GOP-leaning district.

So there's a lot of big questions going forward for Democrats about how they are going to handle this, whether they will continue to seek reelection in their districts or perhaps decide to retire. But at this moment, this really represents a major victory for President Donald Trump, who has also vowed to push other states to consider their own redistricting options as well.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Arlette, thank you.

And let's bring in CNN senior political analyst and opinion columnist for Bloomberg, Ron Brownstein.

Ron, good to see you on this Saturday evening and afternoon. Earlier this week, we saw Democrats here in California passing their own redistricting plan. And they're going to try to take this to the voters and get them to sign on for this.

Now that both parties are kind of taking this approach of redrawing in the middle of what normally is a ten-year span, is there any reining this in? Is this just the new normal?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's a clear cause and effect here, right? I mean, it was President Trump who precipitated this cycle by really demanding that Texas Republicans undertake a mid-decade redistricting, which they've done before in Texas but has rarely been done elsewhere. I mean, this is really supposed to be a decennial, once a decade process, and I don't think we have seen the last of it, Jessica.

I mean, the president, you know, is pressuring Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Republican states. Democrats probably can't keep up with all of those states. There may be further seats that they can squeeze out here and there. Illinois and Maryland may be more for 2028. But this is a really ominous moment I think. And if you listen to that language of the Texas senator that Arlette was quoting, you know, he basically said that because Democrats are -- a Democratic majority is such a threat to the country, to President Trump, that essentially any means necessary are justified to prevent it.

[19:05:04]

And that is what students of democratic backsliding and authoritarianism have labeled constitutional hardball. And it is a marker of nations that are -- whose democratic principles are eroding.

DEAN: You also recently wrote about California's governor, Gavin Newsom, and his specific approach to fighting back against President Trump. Explain to people how you described him, how you categorized him, and if you think that that's going to be the way forward.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I think it is very significant what he is doing, whether he is the ultimate beneficiary of it or not, because he is directly challenging the assumption in a lot of the Democratic Party that the only way to effectively push back on Trump is to also move to the left.

Newsom is doing something very different. He has clearly moved himself to the front of the line among Democratic officials, who have found ways to consistently and forcefully resist what Trump is doing. I mean, he is the only governor who has acted at this point of a blue state. California has also sued the administration over 35 times. He has given speeches about Trump's, you know, moves that are consolidating power.

So he has certainly established himself as a leader in pushing back on Trump. But at the same time, he is moderating his position on a lot of issues that have hurt Democrats in recent elections. Some of the transgender issues, issues relating to homelessness, environmental reviews of new construction, even freezing the ability of undocumented migrants to get into the state's Medicaid program.

I think if you add both of these things together, it produces what I call confrontational centrism. And I do think that whether Newsom is ultimately the one who benefits from that or not, it's going to be a very attractive formula for Democrats because the confrontation allows you to get through the primary without checking a lot of the litmus test boxes that might hurt you in a general election.

One last point. You know, whether or not he is the ultimate beneficiary, he has clearly caught the attention of Democratic voters nationwide. There are a number of polls of Democrats, early polls about '28, and he has far outpaced, you know, some of the other governors who might be running. So Democrats, I think, are taking a look.

DEAN: Yes. You have to think his name I.D. certainly is quite high compared to other governors as well.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

DEAN: Lastly, before we let you go, I do want to also touch on President Trump deploying National Guard troops and federal agents into Washington, D.C. He says this is to crack down on crime. He also says that Chicago and New York could be next. Do you -- how do you think Americans are going to respond as this continues?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, you know, I've been writing about this for years. I mean, you know, Trump is not a person who often admits publicly to regrets. I mean, it's kind of a my way presidency. But he said frequently after leaving office in 2020 that one of his regrets, only regrets about his first term was that he did not send the National Guard into more blue cities over the objections of Democratic governors and mayors.

And in that 24 campaign, he explicitly said repeatedly that he wanted to deploy federal military force into blue city from multiple purposes -- participating in mass deportation, fighting crime, clearing the homeless. He is now moving down that checklist and even that first deployment in L.A. I think it was pretty clear that the goal went beyond, you know, defending federal buildings or even participating in ICE raids.

It was to numb Americans to the sight of heavily armored troops in the streets of Democratic run cities. That's an image that is foreign to American history, except that the worst moments of civil disorder and is much more common in authoritarian countries. And I think there is no question that he is going to look for legal pretext to do this in more places, whether it's Chicago or New York or beyond. And, you know, it is a fundamental challenge to the way we have understood the use of the military.

The argument he was making, Jessica, in court over the California deployment essentially argued that the Posse Comitatus Act essentially had no limits on what they could do. So I think we are going to be seeing more of this. And I don't think, outside of Newsom and a few others, Democrats have really been loud enough in calling attention to what a radical break this is from the way the military has operated throughout all of our history.

DEAN: Yes, it will be interesting to see how that might unfold.

Ron Brownstein, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Still to come, North Korea firing test missiles just days before President Trump is set to meet with South Korea's leader. Plus, a new report confirming families and children are starving, struggling to get any food inside Gaza. How Israel was responding as the world is watching.

And while conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine dominate headlines, CNN went back to Afghanistan.

[19:10:01]

The message one woman says she risked her life to share with us about living under Taliban control.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: This just in to CNN. Days before President Trump is set to meet at the White House with South Korea's new president, North Korea says it has just launched two new air defense missiles. These are images released by North Korean state media. The practice firings were overseen by Kim Jong-un at an undisclosed location, and it comes as North Korea is accusing its southern neighbor of fomenting tensions at the border.

[19:15:09]

Israeli air strikes and shelling on Gaza City are continuing tonight. This video, obtained by CNN, shows black smoke rising from the ruins. Attacks have been escalating ahead of a planned Israeli operation to take over the city, and CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. Palestinian state media reports three children were killed in strikes earlier today. Medical officials and international aid organizations were told this week to prepare for mass evacuation.

Gaza City is the largest city in northern Gaza, packed with locals and refugees. And for Palestinians living there, the situation is becoming increasingly desperate, with limited aid, access to fresh drinking water and medical supplies. A U.N. backed group has now confirmed famine in some parts, including Gaza City.

Here's CNN's Nada Bashir with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, following months of warnings from the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations, the hunger crisis gripping Gaza has deepened to a distressing new low. A U.N. backed initiative confirming that parts of Gaza are now officially experiencing famine, with the rest of the enclave facing emergency levels of hunger and famine expected to spread further across the strip over the coming months.

Now, the U.N. backed report has warned that malnutrition is projected to threaten the lives of more than 130,000 children under the age of five through June of next year, doubling their estimate from this past May. In a statement, the U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, described the famine in Gaza following Israel's near total blockade on the enclave as a, quote, "man-made disaster, moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself," adding that Israel as the occupying power has unequivocal obligations under international law to ensure access to food and medical supplies for the population of Gaza.

The U.N.'s Humanitarian Affairs chief, Tom Fletcher, meanwhile, had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FLETCHER, U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: Please read the IPC report cover to cover. Read it in sorrow and in anger. Not as words and numbers, but as names and lives. Be in no doubt that this is irrefutable testimony. It is a famine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, Israeli authorities have rejected the U.N. backed report as one sided, claiming the report relies on data provided by Hamas, adding that the initiative failed to take into consideration recent upticks in the amount of food, water and medical supplies that have been allowed into Gaza during the reporting period.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, said Saturday that the United Nations should declare itself, quote, "corrupt and incompetent." However, over the course of nearly two years of war, Israel has restricted and at times even blocked humanitarian supplies and food aid from entering the strip. Humanitarian organizations on the ground have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the desperate shortage of food available in Gaza, and rising cases of acute malnutrition.

And many will have, of course, seen the harrowing images of emaciated civilians, including children, as well as the desperate scenes of families scrambling to receive what little food is available at aid distribution sites, with some even being killed in the process.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Nada, thank you.

Years after the U.S. left Afghanistan, some Afghans who helped the U.S. Military or worked for American organizations are now stuck living in constant fear under the Taliban. This year, President Trump canceled the refugee program created to give them a pathway to move to the U.S.

CNN's Isobel Yeung went to Afghanistan and spoke with some of those impacted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of thousands of Afghans worked with the U.S. government during their 20-year war here as translators, drivers, civil society workers and doctors.

Following America's chaotic withdrawal under the Biden administration in 2021, the U.S. set up a refugee program that would provide a path for Afghans to move to the U.S., a lightning rod for many Republicans.

STEPHEN MILLER, CURRENT WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: The United States of America never, ever, made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of Afghanistan that, if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country, that we would take them to ours.

YEUNG: When Trump returned to power this year, he canceled refugee programs, dismantled the office dedicated to helping Afghans relocate and barred them from entering the U.S. altogether. We've been speaking to a lot of those individuals across the country

but, sadly, because of security concerns, most of them we're having to speak to on the phone.

(Voice-over): On paper, the U.S. says they are still processing cases for people who worked with the U.S. Military directly.

[19:20:03]

But many, like this man, are stuck in Afghanistan, living in fear. We've disguised his voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that the Taliban is searching for me. I am hiding. I can't go outside freely. If they find me, I'm confident that they will imprison me. They will torture me. They will kill me.

Donald Trump became U.S. president. He signed executive order and all our cases stopped. We stood with U.S. forces side by side for a long time. But now they banned us. Why? Where is the justice?

YEUNG: So we've been in touch with one woman who has agreed to meet with us. She says that it's very risky, that she risks running into the Taliban. She risks traveling by herself. And she's very scared. But she says it's worth it because she really needs to share her story.

(Voice-over): As a doctor, this woman worked for American charities. With recent USAID cuts, she lost her job. She now feels that her relationship with U.S. organizations has put her and her family's life in danger.

You're clearly terrified. You came here, you were shaking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. During the way, I saw many Taliban. And I am very afraid from them.

YEUNG: What is it like as a woman living in Afghanistan right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The situation is very bad for the Afghan woman. And we don't -- I don't have any job. Going to the bazaar, not going to the shopping, we can't. Everything. Just we are in the home and we are afraid from every second of the life we are spending is very dangerous.

YEUNG (voice-over): Her communication with the State Department has stopped. The last e-mail she got was in January, just days before Trump returned to the White House.

How did you feel when you saw the news that Trump was canceling these programs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the night we are crying. It was very difficult to accept like this.

YEUNG: You felt like this was your lifeline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. It broke our heart.

YEUNG: President Trump has said that he needs to protect the borders, that he needs this America First policy to ensure that it's not dangerous, that no one dangerous enters the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I am not agree with this. They broke his promise to Afghan women and Afghan girls.

YEUNG: What does it feel like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're feeling bad because we trusted it. And we working with them for 20 years. And they promised us, too. We must be moved from here to America.

YEUNG: What is your message to President Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please, please, please start the cases again and also please support the Afghan girls or women because now it was very difficult for us. It was very dangerous. And now I'm not feeling safe in here.

YEUNG (voice-over): The U.S. State Department told us they're unable to comment on individual cases or internal operations of refugee processing, and that the president is, quote, "committed to helping those who helped us," but that their "first priority is always the safety and security of the American people."

Isobel Yeung, CNN, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Isobel, thank you.

Still to come tonight, the world's most active volcano is back at it with its 31st eruption in less than a year. We're going to tell you how much lava is spewing out this time and how long this might last.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:04]

DEAN: SpaceX says it's planning to launch its Starship mega rocket on an hour long test flight tomorrow. It's the most powerful rocket system ever built, but it has quite a spotty past. Since its debut in January, it's exploded twice over islands east of Florida, creating debris that hit roads in Turks and Caicos. It spun out of control on a test flight in May, and in June, the Starship vehicle exploded on the ground before launching. SpaceX has said it learned from those failures in preparations for Sunday's test flight.

A Hawaiian volcano just shot an arc of lava 100 feet into the air Friday. The Kilauea Volcano is one of the most active in the world. This was its 31st display of molten rock since December. It's on Hawaii Island, about 200 miles south of Honolulu, which is on Oahu Island. Visits to the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park have jumped as people try to see the activity in person, though from a safe distance.

You can also catch it very safely on the popular live stream run by the U.S. Geological Society on YouTube.

This week, President Trump was again repeating false claims about elections on social media, while also saying he's leading a movement to end the use of mail-in ballots and voting machines. And I spoke earlier with CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten and asked about the GOP turnout among voters who do cast a ballot by mail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: It shaked out quite well for him. Honestly, I don't know what Donald Trump is doing because take a look at the numbers that we have here for you. The bottom line is that Donald Trump won in 2024 because of his improvement with mail-in voters. What are we talking about? He improved his margin by, get this, nine points.

He actually did worse, Jessica. He did worse with in-person voting. Get this. He lost ground by five points among them. The bottom line is Trump actually loses -- loses in 2024 without the improvement with mail-in voters. That is the case. That is the bottom line. Without the bump from mail-in voters, he loses. And so you see this right here, the mail-in vote going up by nine points.

I don't know what Donald Trump is doing because the bottom line is the Republican efforts for 2024 worked out quite well and worked out to Donald Trump's advantage, and he was able to win.

[19:30:12]

DEAN: Yes, and so to that point, I think you're just getting at this. Would trump have done better or worse with higher turnout in 2024?

ENTEN: Yes, would he have done higher or worse in 2024? This I think, gives the game away. Look at this. If in fact there was universal voting, right. If, let's say all eligible citizens came out to vote in 2024, get this, Donald Trump's margin actually would have gone up by one to three points.

I went back through the record books, Jessica Dean, and I spoke with one of my dear pollster friends. We could not think or find another example in which a Republican candidate for President would have in fact done better with universal voting.

Donald Trump was the first that I could find on record. So what Donald Trump should be trying to do is actually get as many people to turn out and vote. Not try and limit it, because all of a sudden, the Trump and now Republican coalition relies a lot more on younger voters, voters of color and voters with lower education levels. And of course, they are less likely to turn out than, say, older voters, voters of higher education levels and white voters as well, and so, universal voting actually helps Donald Trump.

He should be trying to get souls to the polls, because the bottom line is he does better the higher the turnout goes. As we saw with the mail-in voting, obviously in 2024. And what we see right here in terms of all citizens voting, all the post-election analysis that I looked at actually showed that Donald Trump would have done better the more voters turn out.

DEAN: And okay, so back to mail-in voting. You found that before Trump, the GOP really benefited from that in a big way. What did you find?

ENTEN: Yes okay, so, you know, I was born and raised bred on the 2000 election. And I can remember that back in 2000, there was a real effort from the Republican Party to, in fact, get out absentee mail-in voting. Jeb Bush even said it, he said, vote from the comfort of your home. Of course, Jeb Bush being the governor of Florida at the time, the brother of the Republican candidate, George W. Bush. And get this, George W. Bush only won in Florida and therefore the election because of mail-in voting. He won that vote by about 125,000. Al Gore actually won in person voting by a little bit less than that. And of course, it was the closest election in American history. He won it by about 124,000 voters.

So, the bottom line is there's nothing inherent about the idea that mail-in votes are going to lean Democratic. You can, in fact, make them lean more Republican. George Bush benefited tremendously. He changed this election, changed the direction of this country because there was such an effort from Republicans to get mail-in voters. Had they not actually gotten that, Al Gore would have been the president. We would have been dealing with a much better history.

I honestly think that Donald Trump could learn a lesson from that. And the bottom line, again, being, he should try and get more and more voters to turn out, because more so than any point in history, higher turnout benefits Republicans like Donald Trump.

DEAN: Yes, that seems to be the big takeaway here. Okay, lastly, I'm told you have a surprise and when this happens, I truly never know what's coming our way.

ENTEN: Okay, you don't know what's coming your way. But what I will say is, is I have it here. Nothing on the slide. And I actually even have a playbill for you with your cover on it.

DEAN: What?

ENTEN: You can see it right here. You can see it and we have it here a little bit bigger. But happy birthday Jessica, I believe I'm a day late, but still, I think this is a pretty gosh darn awesome gift. Your own playbill cover with your show on the on the program.

DEAN: That's like -- that's frameable, Harry, that is an amazing gift. I don't -- I know, you did a story on "Playbill," but I know you have your ways. You've got New York City wired. So, only you could make that happen.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. My childhood friend, Mr. Alexander Franklin Bursh, of course, is high up in the echelon at "Playbill." His father actually runs the whole gosh darn thing. So, I have my connections, and therefore I was able to hook up my dear friend Jessica Dean with a nice little souvenir for her birthday.

DEAN: That is amazing. I will treasure that.

All right, Harry, thank you to you. Thank you to them. That's very special. Wow! With friends like these, you know.

ENTEN: Happy birthday.

DEAN: Thanks. All right, Harry Enten always good to see you. I really appreciate that.

So nice. Thanks, Harry, thanks again. A great birthday present. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:58]

DEAN: We're learning tonight the Trump administration may try to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a prison in Uganda in a matter of days. The Maryland father, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador five months ago, was just released from criminal custody and reunited with his family last night.

And as he hugged his family, Homeland Security sent a note to his attorney saying they may be deporting him to Africa in just days.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following this for us and Rafael, you picked this story up. Explain what happens next.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's going to be complicated, but it's going to probably in the next week or so. We're going to find out whether he gets deported or not. And one of the attorneys for the Salvadoran national, Jessica, is blasting the Trump administration's intention to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, calling it retaliation.

The reaction came after CNN learned that the Department of Homeland Security may try to deport the Maryland father of three to Uganda, a landlocked country in East Africa, nearly 8,300 miles away from El Salvador, his native country in Central America, of course.

This is according to an e-mail sent by a DHS official to his lawyers on Friday, only minutes after Abrego Garcia was released from a county jail in Tennessee. The message reads in part: "Let this e-mail serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now. Absent weekends."

[19:40:26]

We reached out to one of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attorneys for reaction to the notice. In a statement, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said the following: "The government's decision to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes it painfully clear that they're using the immigration system to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights. There is a perfectly reasonable option available, Costa Rica, he said, where his family can visit him easily, but instead they are attempting to send him halfway across the world to a country with documented human rights abuses and where he does not even speak the language. This is not justice. It is retaliation."

On Friday afternoon, we witnessed the moment when Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked out of the Putnam County Jail in Cookeville, Tennessee, surrounded by five men. He later posed for pictures with his wife and three children, two of them holding flowers, before making his first public statement in his native Spanish. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA, RELEASED FROM CUSTODY (through translator): Today has been a very special day because, thank God I've seen my family again after more than 160 days. And I'd like to thank everyone who has been supporting me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And reacting to Abrego Garcia's release on X, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted what she called activist liberal judges who have, in her words, obstructed law enforcement from removing what she described as the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States.

"By ordering this monster loose on America's streets," she said, "This judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. We will not stop fighting until this Salvadoran man faces justice and is out of our country."

Abrego Garcia has been scheduled to appear for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement interview on Monday -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo, thanks so much.

Still ahead, he was known as the nicest judge in the world with viral videos that made him an internet star.

We remember retired Judge Frank Caprio. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:09]

DEAN: Caring and compassionate, words that aren't used to describe public officials a lot these days. But tonight the country is remembering retired Municipal Judge Frank Caprio. He worked in Providence, Rhode Island, and for decades he proved justice can go hand in hand with kindness and understanding.

CNN's Danny Freeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK CAPRIO, FORMER CHIEF JUDGE OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT OF PROVIDENCE: Is your mother guilty or not guilty?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Not.

CAPRIO: Not. Take your hat back.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's hard not to like Judge Frank Caprio.

CAPRIO: We're talking about your father, right. Now, you're going to say guilty or not guilty. What do you say?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Guilty.

CAPRIO: Guilty -- an honest boy.

FREEMAN (voice over): But the more people watched, they couldn't help but love the man known as the Nicest Judge in the World.

CAPRIO: You are charged with a school zone violation. You were taking your son to the doctor's office?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I take him for blood work every two weeks because he's got cancer.

CAPRIO: You are a good man. You are a good man and you're still taking care of your family. I wish the best for your son and I wish you good health and your case is dismissed.

FREEMAN (voice over): A municipal court judge Caprio served on the bench for nearly four decades.

CAPRIO: I think 9:59 is close enough to 10:00. That is dismissed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

FREEMAN (voice over): Eventually, social media found his show "Caught in Providence" and everyone met the empathetic grandfather and great grandfather, his Rhode Island community knew for years.

CAPRIO: Unfortunately, I've had a setback and I'm back in the hospital.

FREEMAN (voice over): After a lengthy battle with cancer, Caprio passed away this week. His family said in a statement, "In his honor may we each strive to bring a little more compassion into the world, just as he did every day."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I give you a hug?

CAPRIO: Come on up here.

FREEMAN (voice over): Judge Caprio leaves a legacy of kindness in a world where that often seems rare.

CAPRIO: Do you actually feel better now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to say never have I met a judge like you and I've been in many courtrooms.

CAPRIO: I'm not going to comment on that except to say this, I don't do anything different than what I was taught to do by my parents, and that is treat everyone with dignity and respect and have some compassion for people.

FREEMAN (voice over): Judge Frank Caprio was 88 years old.

Danny Freeman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:54:21]

DEAN: Tennis superstar, Roger Federer, has made history. According to "Forbes," he is the seventh ever billionaire athlete. Despite retiring from the sport in 2022, Federer is believed to have a net worth of $1.1 billion. He has a minority stake in a Swiss shoe and apparel brand "On." Federer was Tennis' highest paid player for 16 straight years, despite earning less prize money than some of his rivals. He collected around a billion dollars in off court endeavors during his playing career.

The CNN Original Series: "American Prince: JFK, Jr." explores the story and the legacy of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and tonight it is the final episode, and it's a look at the unrelenting media and paparazzi coverage around his marriage, the internal conflicts that threatened his political magazine, and the tragedy that stunned the world one gloomy July evening.

Here's a preview.

[19:55:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR., AMERICAN ATTORNEY, MAGAZINE PUBLISHER, AND JOURNALIST: Well, I mean, listen, it's made an otherwise humdrum race into something that is truly exciting and has engaged New Yorkers of all stripes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But John didn't want to be in the Senate. He was going to run for governor of New York.

KENNEDY JR.: I'm not being coy here, but if it changes into something else and a number of years, great, and if it doesn't, then I have no complaints.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was now ready to serve the public in a meaningful job. You know, he looked at his father's career and had heard enough about how his father was frustrated being a House member and a Senator because of the tedium of legislative hearings.

If he had a choice, he'd much rather be in an executive role than on legislative role. So, what John I think realized from "George" was what a good leader he was -- a leader of men and women that he could inspire, he could set agendas, he could set priorities and then let others execute on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now, CNN Presidential historian Tim Naftali.

Tim, it's great to have you here. There's so many heartbreaking things about the fact when you lose anyone at such a young age, but toward the end of his short life, JFK, Jr., it became clear he was interested in transitioning into politics, not just through the magazine, "George," but potentially, as we just saw there, running for office himself. What might that have looked like?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: What might have been is a very difficult question, but there's no doubt that John F. Kennedy, Jr. would have been an instant frontrunner in any campaign that he joined. And if he had decided to run for governor of New York, he would have been challenging Republican George Pataki, who ultimately won three consecutive terms and perhaps wouldn't have won three consecutive terms.

But an even bigger question, I think is that, the issue of the post Bill Clinton generation of national leaders in the Democratic Party. If JFK, Jr. had not taken that sad and tragic fateful plane trip, he would have been in the mix. And he, keep in mind, were he alive today would only be a few months older than Barack Obama.

Barack Obama in 2008 won what we could call the Kennedy Primary. The Kennedy family really came out for Barack Obama and his campaign against Hillary Clinton. Well, if JFK, Jr. was around, would JFK, Jr. himself be seeking national office at that point? We'll never know, but he would have been a player. There is no question. There is something about the Kennedy magic that all Americans find interesting. That doesn't mean all Americans would have voted for him, but they would have focused on him.

His father was the first celebrity president. Americans believe that celebrities can be good leaders. JFK, Jr. would have been instantly taken as a potential national leader. Whether it would have happened or not, we'll never know.

DEAN: Yes, we will never know, sadly. And you mentioned celebrity -- first celebrity president. There was also toward the end of his life, especially with his wife, Carolyn. This relentless paparazzi attention and media attention. We don't really -- I can't think of a comparable political journalism figure right now that would attract that type of attention. It was quite unique, and it was a lot.

NAFTALI: Well, it was a mixture of beauty and history, and mystery. The only person at the time who experienced the same kind of hounding by the paparazzi was Princess Diana. And we know what happened in her case.

Indeed, there's an element of -- the paparazzi were not responsible for JFK, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's tragic death. But one of the reasons that JFK, Jr. loved flying was that it gave him peace and alone time. Those were the moments when he was away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi.

So, he wanted to make a difference. He understood the legacy of his family. He was proud of it, but there was a dark side to all of it. And the dark side of it was this relentless focus on him and his personal life from the paparazzi.

There isn't anyone who's suffering -- there is no one that that is that is enduring that kind of scrutiny today and that's a good thing.

DEAN: Yes, and we just have a little bit about 30 seconds left here, but just the lasting legacy, what do you think he leaves behind?

NAFTALI: Well. John F. Kennedy, Jr. leaves behind what might have been. His tragedy fit, unfortunately, into the story of a series of tragedies that befell his family. What he represents is tragedy. We'll never know what he could have contributed by his cousins and those that have followed him in the family have tried to do their best to walk to the RFK-JFK legacy.

DEAN: All right, Tim Naftali, great to see you. Thank you and be sure to tune in to the final episode of "American Prince: JFK, Jr." It airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you again tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern.

"Real Time with Bill Maher" is up next. Have a good one.

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