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Deal on Gun Charge and Guilty Plea to Tax Offenses, Hunter Biden Anticipated to Avoid Going to Jail; Race to Find Missing Submersible in Atlantic; Trump Offers New Defense for Holding Classified Documents; First Hearing in the Trump Docs Case Scheduled for Mid-August; Russia's War on Ukraine; Russia Bombarded Kyiv with Barrage of Iranian Drones. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 20, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND SIRIUSXM HOST, "THE LAURA COATES SHOW": But of all of that huge wide net that was cast, it windles down -- dwindles down to just the issue of tax. Taxes are very important, obviously. We know nothing is certain beside death in taxes. I will not be dismissive of a violation of the law, but on the grand scheme of things, what was expected versus what actually has come to fruition are very different things.

One other point, that gun-related charge, often times we know there is a category of people who are not supposed to lawfully own a gun. People who have -- had a felony conviction for one, those who are using the drugs for another example. These are oftentimes included in any plea deal to try to use a diversionary program, essentially says what, if you keep on the up and up, if you stay clean, then you will not have this felony charge attached to your record as well. This actually is quite common in the grand scheme of things. What's so uncommon is that it's now a former vice president and current president's child.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Laura Coates, it's great to see you. Thanks for jumping on, Laura. I really appreciate it.

Dana and David, thank you guys as well. We're going to continue to follow this breaking news. We've got much more to come on this plea agreement reached by Hunter Biden, agreeing to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. We're going to have much more on that.

But also, ahead for us, a deep-sea vessel that has vanished more than 12,000 feet below the surface, it's now the center of this massive search and rescue mission underway and happening as we're speak again today. We're live on the latest in the search, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

BOLDUAN: So right now, rescuers are really racing to find the missing dive vessel that is somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. A race against time, very clearly, as the oxygen supply on board dwindles. Officials say that the sub, which is about the size of a minivan, it went missing about an hour and 45 minutes into its descent, after it had launched on Sunday.

It was on course to see the remains of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, all part of the eight-day journey conducted and led by OceanGate expeditions. Several agencies are involved in the search, that includes the U.S. Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Air Force. The search covers a remote, vast area of 900 miles east of Cape Cod.

Now, one of the most challenging parts of this search operation is the depth, of course. The world record for scuba diving is only to a depth of about 1,000 feet. Once you hit 3,200 feet, light is no longer visible. 2,000 feet further, at 5,200 feet, most animals can't survive. Now, sperm whales can dive deeper than any other mammal, they can only get down to 10,000 feet. 12,000 feet is about the average depth of the ocean floor, the Titanic is still below that. The wreckage settled at 12,450 feet which is 2.4 miles below the surface. You can truly get a sense of just how challenging this is.

Now, CNN's Jason Carroll is back with me following this search operation from Boston. You were talking about this with me last time, the depth is the problem, the clock is what is against them. What is the search operation look like then today, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, good question. And just a short while ago, we got an update from the U.S. Coast Guard here in Boston who is helping, in terms of heading up this operation. They say that the Canadian aircraft P-3 Aurora arrived on the scene out there. Again, we're talking about 900 miles due east of where we are right now. That particular aircraft is going to be able to conduct sonar searches.

The ships, the Polar Prince and the RV (ph) Deep Energy, they say are continuing their searched on the surface. The search area now that they've conducted so far, if you can imagine this, Kate, they now say is 10,000 square miles. A massive area, a remote area.

At this point, again, the concern is about the amount of oxygen that is left for the people who are onboard. We're told at this point it could be anywhere from about 54 to 80 hours of oxygen left. A massive search effort underway, as you said, the U.S. Coast Guard involved, the U.S. Navy involved as well. Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Armed Forces also lending a hand. Earlier this morning on "CNN This Morning", the head of the U.S. Coast Guard here in Boston talked about what they're doing in terms of searching and how it's now -- not just on the surface, but has now moved below the surface as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN MAUGER, OVERSEEING SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION: A lot of the search to date has been primarily focused on the surface of the water. And our aircraft flew patterns in combination with the Canadian Aircraft and New York International Guard aircraft flew patterns, that roughly about the size of the state of Connecticut. But today, we now have underwater search capability on scene. And so, we're going to be using that to see if we can locate the submersible in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And according to OceanGate, Kate, there is an early warning system that's on board that's supposed to alert the pilot when something goes wrong so the pilot can then take action.

[10:40:00]

And then, of course, there's also some sort of system in place that's supposed to help the vessel rise to the surface when something goes wrong. But again, at this point, we simply don't know what went wrong. Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is exactly right. And the poor families, we have to remember, that are just waiting. And it's the wait -- Jason, thank you so much. And it's the wait, John, that is so hard for all of this.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: And it's the scale. And you've been on one of these missions flying over vast areas of ocean.

BOLDUAN: With the New Zealand Air Force based -- we were based out of Perth and I joined them for the search of MH-370. And it's remarkable to be up there and to see what looking for a needle in a haystack from way above. It's amazing.

BERMAN: Really difficult.

All right. Of the five people on board, four have now been identified. Hamish Harding is a British billionaire business and adventurer. He has descended to the deepest point on Earth, the Marian Trench. Traveled on board the Blue Origin Rocket, and he circumnavigated the Earth in 2019. His friend told CNN his experience could be an asset in an emergency situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANNICKE MIKKELSEN, FRIEND OF HAMISH HARDING: He will be calm and collected. He will work through the emergency procedures together with the crew. He'll -- he is also an experienced submersible pilot from going down to the Mariana Trench with Victor Vescovo. So, he will be a valuable asset to the crew and helping motivate the crew as well if morale is low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Paul-Henri Nargeolet is a French expert diver and Titanic researcher who has visited the wreck site more than 35 times. He's also the director of underwater research at a company that owns rights to the Titanic wreck. Shahzada Dawood and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, are also on board. Both are from Pakistan but live in the United Kingdowm. Shahzada Dawood is a trustee of the SETI Institute, a research organization in California. He's also the vice chair of one of the largest companies in Pakistan, the Engro Corporation. We're still waiting to learn the identity of the pilot of the vessel.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: CNN's own Gabe Cohen has also been inside this very submersible when it was about to launch, about five years ago. He joins us now. This is above the surface now, obviously, it's below the surface, if you will, Gabe. You were a reporter in Seattle when you were able to get inside within this very submersible that is now missing. What does it feel like to be inside even above this surface?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Kate, I did several stories on OceanGate during my time in Seattle. In 2018, I did the story about Titan, the submersible that's now missing. We went to OceanGate, we talked to the crew, and we actually sat inside the vessel.

And you ask, you know, what it felt like. I was really struck during that time with how -- one, how simple the technology seemed. It's this tiny vessel, it is very cramped, it can fit five people, which we understand is the number of people currently lost as part of this expedition. It's operated by a gaming controller, actually driven with what looks like PlayStation controller. And yet the company, OceanGate, told me that they were extremely confident that they could safely make this remarkable journey to the Titanic. That they could dive 13,000 feet and handle 150 million pounds of pressure at the ocean floor.

And the company's CEO, Stockton Rush, he told me that the pressure vessel and its carbon fiber structure of Titan, that sub, that it could handle the pressure, no problem, that they had not cut corners or cost when it came to safety. And frankly, in all my interview, everyone of the OceanGate crew members, team members that we spoke with talked about safety and how confident they were in that technology.

Now, having said that, Kate, we understand that Titan has had some communication issues in the past, that the vessel was lost for more than two hours during an expedition last year because they couldn't receive messages from their support crew on the surface. You know, they use -- they rely on text messages when they're underwater. There's no GPS down there. So, again, we don't know what exactly went wrong, but we do know that they got their final contact -- made their final contact less than two hours into this expedition.

BOLDUAN: And there are still so many questions surrounding all of this -- surrounding what happened, what went wrong, and where things stand now. Including, I've heard some folks raise this question if the vessel was capable of sending out a distress signal in the event of, you know, ever losing communications, like we obviously see here -- have seen here. What more are you learning about that?

CARROLL: Well, that is a major question we're trying to get to the bottom of. The coast guard and OceanGate, neither of them have said whether or not there is any, sort of, emergency beacon or tool in place on board Titan that could alert first responders or the folks on the surface of the ocean, their support crew, as to where they are. We have been asking, we are trying to get those answers, Kate. But at this point, it's not clear what tools are in place.

[10:45:00]

BOLDUAN: Yes. Still remarkable, this, as the search now continues. Gabe, it's good to have you. Good to have your perspective as always. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: A judge has set an initial trial date in the criminal classified documents case against Former President Trump as he might be digging himself a new legal hole with public comments on all of this.

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[10:50:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, a federal judge has set an initial trial date for mid-August for the criminal case against Donald Trump related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. A trial that when it does happen, might have some new material to process, because Trump sat down for an interview that aired last night that included a number of new and very admissible statements about why he kept the secret documents.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now. A lot going on here with the trial date and also these new statements, which I imagine, prosecutors are pouring over this morning, Katelyn.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I'm sure, John. So, Donald Trump, last night on Fox News, sat down to do this interview and he was asked, explicitly, about what happened. The allegations that the Justice Department has made. What did he do once he received that subpoena to turn over all documents marked as classified in his possession back to the federal grand -- Justice Department as part of a grand jury investigation. Here is what Trump said to "Fox News" Bret Baier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. FORMER PRESIDEN: I've got a lot of things in there. I will go through those boxes. I have to go through those boxes. I take out personal things. As far as the levels, at all, everything was declassified, because I had the right to declassify.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS, "SPECIAL REPORT WITH BREAT BAIER" HOST: You know, why not just hand them over then?

TRUMP: Because I had boxes, I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don't want to hand that over to NAR (ph) yet. And I was very busy, as you've, sort of, seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, there's Trump saying he had the boxes. Now, that's a television interview, of course, not in a criminal trial. But there is always the possibility that the Justice Department prosecutors would want to use statements like that whenever they are explaining this case to the jury and trying to prove that Donald Trump knowingly and willfully kept boxes of documents, classified records, national security records long after the federal government started seeking them back and the Justice Department started demanding he return them.

Now, of course, you did mention that trial date. The judge did put on the schedule for mid-August, so that is the date we have now. However, John, that date is very unlikely to hold. She did write in the possibility that both sides could ask for delays based on how complex the case is, as well as the fact that it relates to classified records. So, that trial date, it might not hold at that particular date. But already, this case, it's 0off to quite a start.

BERMAN: Indeed, it is. All right. Katelyn Polantz, we know you will keep us posted on any developments it seemed to becoming pretty quickly.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us, Ukraine's capital coming under fresh attack from a barrage of Russian drones. And the new information also coming in on the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. We'll be right back.

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[10:55:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, Ukrainian officials say Russia launched an intense drone attack on Kyiv. Ukraine says, it was able to intercept most of the drones. Russia also hit a critical infrastructure facility in the Lviv region, in the far western part of the country, while Russian shelling also damaged buildings in Zaporizhzhia.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen, he's live in Kyiv with the very latest. Fred, what are you learning about Russia's newest attack on Kyiv. What are you picking up?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kate. Yes, well certainly it was another sleepless night for the folks who live here in Kyiv as there were alarms going off, air raid sirens going off for several hours during the night. And it was indeed a large-scale drone attack by those Shahed drones, as the Ukrainians call them, those are Iranian-manufactured drones that the Russians are using and they attack in swarms.

And the Ukrainians are saying that is exactly what happened once again tonight. There were several waves of these drone attacks, that they tried to come from several directions. And the numbers are pretty staggering. The Ukrainians are saying that they detected 35 of these Shahed drones, mostly coming towards the capital area of Kyiv, and they were able to take down 32 of them. So, certainly a pretty good rate of destruction there for the Ukrainian air defenses.

But at the same time, it goes to show that at the -- while the fighting is picking up, especially on the southeastern front here in this country, you still have these aerial attacks. It's certainly are a big problem, not just for the capital city, for the population centers, but also for critical infrastructure as well. That's one of the things that the Ukrainians are saying was hit in Lviv.

And then you look at the Zaporizhzhia that you were mentioning, that's also really important because Zaporizhzhia was hit by several Russian missiles, but that's very close to that front line where a lot of that fighting is currently going on. The Ukrainians are saying that on every part of the front line, which is very long, they are the ones that currently have the initiative. They say that they're moving forward in many sectors of that front line. They're making gains that are very tough to come by, but the Russians, importantly, are not moving forward.

The Russians, right now, they say, are on the defensive. Nevertheless, what we're hearing and seeing and, yes, we're on the front lines just a couple days ago, it's very difficult for the Ukrainians, but they do say that they are in good spirits, and they believe that they can make the counteroffensive work. While at the same time, you know, the issues here in the capital city, especially, with these drone and missile attacks, they just continue. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Great to have you there as always, Fred. Thank you so much.

BERMAN: All right. The breaking news this morning, a plea deal in the federal investigation into the president's son, Hunter Biden. He will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. He also struck a deal with federal prosecutors regarding a felony gun charge, this is all according to a filing by the Justice Department.

[11:00:00]