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Hunter Biden To Plead Guilty To Two Tax Offenses, Strikes Deal On Felony Gun Charge; Durham To Meet With House Intel Behind Closed Doors; Source: U.S. Coast Guard To Give Update On Missing Sub. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired June 20, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our breaking news this hour. President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, will plead guilty to two federal tax crimes and he has struck a deal with federal prosecutors on a felony gun charge. All of this coming out just this morning and the reaction has been swift.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, to say the least. Joining us now our chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju. Abby Phillip with us as well. Manu, we're going to first you because you just tracked down how Speaker Kevin McCarthy. What did he tell you?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he said that this is going to "enhance the investigation into Hunter Biden." Clearly, not satisfied with this plea deal. He claims that people who have similar situations would have gotten much stiffer jail time and it appears that he did -- Hunter Biden may not serve any over these offenses.

Of course, there's a number of factors that you consider in sentencing decisions. But nevertheless, the speaker is not happy about this. I did try to ask him about the fact that this was a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney that was held over into the Biden administration and questioned about the role of the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, and why the -- whether or not that made any difference and how he viewed this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Hunter Biden plea deal and your reaction to it.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): My first reaction is it continues to show the two-tier system in America. If you are the president's leading political opponent, DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal.

Now, this does nothing to our investigation. And it actually should enhance our investigations because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now saying that because of pending investigation, they should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, that last point is critical because that shows you where the House Republicans are going to focus on the House Oversight Committee. The chairman of that, James Comer, issued a statement saying that it will not stop his investigation. What McCarthy indicating there is that he expects a U.S. Attorney from Delaware and the U.S. Justice Department to provide the committee in the House with the relevant information they are seeking.

The question that they're going to have is why they didn't pursue other charges and other questions related to Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings and the like. Something that Republicans are pushing on, perhaps there wasn't evidence to bring the charges there but nevertheless, Republicans are still planning to press ahead. And clearly, you heard from the speaker there saying it should "enhance how they plan to probe this in the months ahead."

BOLDUAN: Yes. Abby, let me bring you in on this because we can hear and see very clearly, that as Manu is reporting out, Republicans will continue to push ahead with their investigations on Capitol Hill. But it does raise a question just your perspective on do you see that this remains the issue of Hunter Biden and the long-going investigations, the ongoing -- the longtime investigations if it really was as potent or activating of a political issue as Republicans clearly think it is?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, I certainly think it raises some questions about whether it will be in the future because now, you know, the Biden White House and campaign will be able to point to the absence of federal charges on the allegations that are being made by House Republicans to say that the Justice Department didn't charge those things. At least not as far as we know it at this moment, they didn't charge those things. And if there was enough evidence, perhaps they would have. I do think that this probably brings this whole saga right back to where it was probably always going to end up being which is in the political realm.

[11:35:04]

These Capitol Hill investigations, they don't have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. They don't have to have enough evidence that would lead to an actual conviction by a jury of Hunter Biden's peers. They can simply ask questions. They can raise topics. They can put out information that is embarrassing to both President Biden and to Hunter Biden.

And I think that that will be what they intend to do over the next several months. But for folks watching at home, it should be very clear at this point that there are a lot of allegations being thrown around on Capitol Hill, and really no concrete evidence to actually support them. And until there is evidence to support them, that's all they are, are allegations and many Republicans on Capitol Hill and around the country believe them. But that doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything concrete there that would have either led the DOJ to bring charges or that we can sit here and say, as a matter of fact, occurred and say something about whether or not President Biden did anything wrong, or Hunter Biden did anything wrong as it relates to those business deals.

BERMAN: Abby, you say this is now squarely in the political realm. It's in the political realm, but also the familial realm or the parental realm now.

PHILLIP: Yes.

BERMAN: Because President Joe Biden or Joe Robinette Biden, father of Hunter Biden, now has a son who has admitted to a crime or will admit to a crime. A crime that Joe Biden, by the way, has said he didn't think that Hunter Biden did anything wrong. How is it that you think that President Biden, the politician, and President Biden, the father will handle this in the coming hours? Because we will hear from him I imagine later today, and also in the coming days.

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, when you really think about it -- look, the charges that he pled guilty to involve not paying taxes, which he didn't do by certain deadlines. He paid those taxes later. But really, when you look at the Hunter Biden story, this is an individual who was addicted to drugs, who was engaged in all kinds of behavior that would be embarrassing to a lot of people, whether they are a politician or not. And that's been a part of Joe Biden's political life since the last presidential election when he ran.

I mean, those -- that part of the story is not actually new. And what you've seen Biden doing is basically saying, look, my son has made mistakes, but he is my son. And when you put that in the context of Joe Biden's life, I mean, this is a president who lost his wife, lost a child, then lost another child, Hunter Biden's brother to cancer, Joe Biden has made it very clear that all of this swirling around Hunter Biden doesn't change the way that he feels about his son and he's willing to take the political hits that come from that.

And I think the question now will be for the American public after two presidential cycles, will this still matter? Will this way on how they view President Biden? And I think we don't really know the answer to that question. At least the last time around, it appears that they didn't because Biden did win that last election in spite of all the allegations around Hunter Biden.

BOLDUAN: Manu, we've been hearing from top Republicans on Capitol Hill. I'm just seeing a statement coming in from Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons reacting to this saying that "he's encouraged that Hunter is taking responsibility for his actions." What are -- what else if anything, are you hearing from Democrats on this?

RAJU: Yes. Actually, not a whole lot. I mean, Chris Coons' statement was one of the first.

Of course, he is a Delaware senator. He's -- knows the Biden's for a long time. He occupies a seat that Joe Biden had in Congress. Knows the Hunter Biden's (INAUDIBLE). Sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But other than that, silence so far from top Democrats, including Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries yet to weigh in on this topic. Chuck Schumer and Jeffries also taking a similar approach to the Trump case -- in the Trump indictment and the Trump case. They have weighed in but only saying that they let the process play out and not try to cast judgment one way or the other.

So, expect that as well from Democrats trying to say that look, let's let the process play itself out. Let's have faith in the system here. But that -- but those comments have been far and few -- few and far between at the moment here, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It's great to see you, guys. Thank you, Manu, for working your sources getting up there on Capitol Hill. And, Abby, thank you so much for jumping on.

BERMAN: We do have one bit of information here coming in from CNN's Marshall Cohen. The Justice Department is saying that the Hunter Biden probe is ongoing.

BOLDUAN: Which is important --

BERMAN: Because the lawyer for Hunter Biden, Christopher Clark, said in his statement this morning, it was his understanding that the probe was resolved. Now, unclear at this point exactly what that means. Is it ongoing because the plea deal hasn't been entered yet and haven't gone into court and the judge hasn't actually resolved it yet?

We don't know. But right now, the language from the federal prosecutor and charges investigation is that the investigation is ongoing. Though Hunter Biden's team says it is resolved.

[11:40:03]

BOLDUAN: Yes. I was just -- I'm looking through because the statement released from the -- from the Justice Department on this it's a little bit lengthy. But that's the key part about it -- part of it that is ongoing. So, it continues. We will -- and we'll continue to follow as you can see more breaking news coming in, more details -- you know, kind of more nuanced in and around all of this plea deal that we're learning much more about as we speak.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

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BOLDUAN: All right, welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Also happening on Capitol Hill today. Special Counsel John Durham will be meeting with members of the House Intelligence Committee. This is a closed- door meeting. And it comes weeks after Durham released his report concluding that the FBI did not have enough evidence to open their investigation into the alleged ties and connections between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

[11:45:12] Let's get over to CNN's Zach Cohen. He's on the Hill. He has much more -- he's in Washington and has much more on this for us. Zach, what is expected to happen in this closed-door hearing today?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, it's really important to remember that John Durham was appointed back when Trump was still in office four years ago. And only last month did he put out his report. And it was really critical of the FBI. And it raised some of the same issues that we've seen raised in an inspector general report previously.

But today is the first time that Democrats and Republicans are going to sit in the same room as Durham and have a chance to sort of hash out some of the issues that were raised in the report and ask questions of the former special counsel about his investigation. Now, Democrats and Republicans have voiced different priorities when it comes to what they want to talk to Durham about today.

Republicans, you know, who viewed their -- his report, really, as a referendum and as a very damning you know reflection on the FBI and the Justice Department. They want to get some of that and get more emphasis on that point from Durham himself today. Where Democrats, they say, the report is really just a rehash of problems that the FBI said today and pointed out again, that they've already addressed.

So, two very competing sorts of priority lists for Republicans and Democrats. And of course, this closed-door meeting coming one day before Durham will testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Jim Jordan. Obviously, a little bit different situation, but that's out in the open.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and that's exactly what I was going to ask you -- follow up with an ask you is you've got behind closed doors today, and then you'll have a public hearing tomorrow, well -- I mean, there are a lot of dynamics at play for that. What do you expect -- what are you hearing about that?

COHEN: Yes, Kate. Obviously, this is not all happening in a vacuum right, and --

BOLDUAN: Right.

COHEN: -- you know, comes after Trump's indictment. It comes as Trump's allies -- Republican allies on the Hill are vocally defending him and really leaning into this idea of the weaponization of the Justice Department by Democrats, by Joe Biden. So, you know, I think we can read a little bit into that and see what the tone from Republicans will be tomorrow when they have you know a public opportunity to question Durham.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Zac, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: Police in South Korea are questioning a man who allegedly tried to open a plane door during a flight from the Philippines to South Korea. The airline says the 19-year-old South Korean man ran toward the door after staffers moved his seat toward the front of the plane when he complained about chest pressure. The crew subdued demand before he could open the door. Attendants tied him up for the rest of the flight. No other passengers were harmed.

This morning, online influencer Andrew Tate has been indicted on charges of human trafficking, rape, and also setting up a criminal gang that is according to Romanian prosecutors. Tate, along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects will remain under house arrest pending a criminal investigation for abuses committed allegedly against seven women. All four have denied the allegation.

Pakistani officials say more than 300 Pakistani nationals died after a migrant boat sank off the coast of Greece. They have not said where the information came from, and Greek officials have not confirmed that number. The Greek coast guard says the death toll so far stands at 81 deaths. The United Nations Migration Agency estimated about 750 men, women, and children are packed on the boat when it capsized in the Mediterranean. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. We have learned that the coast guard is going to be giving an update in just a couple of hours in the latest of the search efforts for the missing deep-sea vessel. The new details that we're learning about those onboard, the efforts to find them as their oxygen supply, and time is really running out. We'll be right back.

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[11:53:14]

BOLDUAN: All right, welcome back, everybody. We've also learned -- we've just learned some new details about the submersible and the urgent rescue mission underway to try to find it in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean. We just learned that Stockton Rush, the CEO, and founder of OceanGate, which was leading this, was one of the people aboard the deep sea vessel when it went missing. That's according to a source with knowledge of the mission.

Now, in a little over -- a little over an hour, there are more than an hour we're expecting an update from the U.S. coast guard. An update on the search for the vessel and the five people on board, of course. CNN will bring that to you live at 1:00 p.m. Eastern when we are expecting that to happen.

Time here is really everything in this moment. The submersible lost contact with his surface crew Sunday, an hour -- about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive. It was going down to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, which is located nearly 2.4 miles down the bottom of the North Atlantic.

A rescue mission and it is almost 13,000 feet below the surface seems nearly impossible and it really does. The biggest concern is that the vessel is running out of oxygen. Officials say they only had enough to last about three to four days.

They went missing and lost communication on Sunday. And official overseeing the operation told CNN they're working to expand their search now.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN MAUGER, OVERSEEING SEARCH & RESCUE OPERATION: A lot of the search today has been primarily focused on the surface of the water. And our aircraft flew patterns in combination with Canadian aircraft and New York Air National 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 -- in the water.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[11:55:04]

BERMAN: So, onboard along with Stockton Rush is Hamish Harding, a British billionaire, and adventurer. He has descended to the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench. He has also traveled aboard the Blue Origin rocket and circumnavigated the earth in 2019.

A friend told CNN Hamish is "larger than life, and explore to the core of his soul." Paul-Henri Nargeolet is a French expert diver, also a Titanic researcher who has visited the wreck site more than 35 times. He is the director of underwater research at a company that owns the rights to the Titanic wreck.

And Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood are also on board. Both are from Pakistan. They live in the United Kingdom. Shahzada Dawood is a trustee of the SETI Institute, a research organization in California. All five on board and at this point still missing.

BOLDUAN: We'll bring you that live update from the coast guard when that does begin at one o'clock. Thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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