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November Jobs Report; Hunter Biden Accused of Tax Evasion; Trump Preps for Court; Michigan School Shooter Sentencing; Misty Marris is Interviewed about the Michigan School Shooter Sentencing. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 08, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:00:38]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have breaking news. A big jobs report just in, beating expectations. A strong economy. Details shortly.

New criminal charges filed against Hunter Biden. How big of a mistake was it for him to let that plea deal fall apart?

FREDRIKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, today is sentencing day for the teen responsible for the deadliest school shooting in Michigan history. The parents of one of the victims calling for the harshest punishment possible.

BERMAN: Will the president of the University of Pennsylvania survive the day? After her controversial answers about genocide, major donors calling for her to resign.

I'm John Berman, with Fredricka Whitfield. Sara and Kate are off today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

And the breaking news, an early holiday gift on the economy. In fact, in a way, it's the gift that keeps on giving. The jobs report just in a few minutes ago, beating expectations, 199,000 new jobs added, and the unemployment rate dropped. It is low.

CNN's Rahel Solomon is with us now.

And, Rahel, like I said, this is the gift that keeps on giving. The story of 2023 is an economy that just stayed strong.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, it's the story of 2023. It's the story of 2022. Because, as you pointed out, this is the 35th month of job growth. So, this is the gift that's been giving for almost three years now.

So, let's go through the numbers, 199,000 jobs, as you pointed out, in the month of November. To put that in perspective, the expectation had been closer to 180,000. Now, when you look at the prior two months, so October, that actually remained at 150,000. That was not changed. September, however, was revised lower by about 35,000.

And if you look at the chart on your screen, you can see, look, this is a strong report, but you can clearly see a slowing there, a cooling there, but it is gradual in the way that I think a lot of people would like to see.

Now, part of the boost this month, John, was that strikes came to an end, right? You think about the auto workers joining the payrolls again. You think about some of the actors joining the payroll. So that was a sort of boost for November.

If you look at the industries and really get under the hood here, health care, government, manufacturing all adding between 28,000 jobs to 77,000 jobs for the month of November. We did, however, see some declines in retail trade.

Now, unemployment. This is the part of the report that folks were watching very closely. In fact, Citibank put out in a research note, this is the most important aspect of the report. And it actually ticked down to 3.7 percent.

We have been in this tight range for almost a year and a half of about 3.4 to 3.9 percent for unemployment for, again, about 18 months. So, we're still stuck in this tight range. The question now is, it's a gradual softening but still strong. So, what does the Fed do with this? We're going to learn a lot more about that when they meet for their last meeting of the year next Tuesday and Wednesday. Best believe, John, they will be asked about how they're interpreting this report. But as you said, at least for now, it is the gift that keeps on giving.

BERMAN: Inflation cooling, unemployment not rising, that is the sweet spot that so many economists had been looking for the last few years. And as we sit here at the end of 2023, it seems to be at least being achieved.

SOLOMON: It is the soft landing. It is the soft landing that everyone sort of had hoped for. And it looks like the cause that we may actually -- that the Fed may actually get this right are growing, but we'll only know sort of as the months go on. But as you pointed out, inflation is cooling. The labor market is cooling slowly, and yet consumer spending, at least from what we can see, still hanging tight.

BERMAN: And the idea, just one last point that you made there, we've been in this band of 3.4 to 3. percent% unemployment. That's really low. For an economy to be stuck at a rate less than 4 percent, that's a very low place for unemployment to be.

SOLOMON: It's a great point. And the one thing that you've heard a lot from Jay Powell over the last, you know, year, year and a half is that we need more workers. You want to see more workers come off the sidelines. So, that's part of the reason here, right? And so it's very low. We are starting to get some help on the labor force participation side. But this is - this is a sweet spot.

[09:05:00] This is the goldilocks that so many people had been hoping for.

BERMAN: All right, Rahel Solomon, great to have you. Thank you so much.

We are going to hear from acting Labor Secretary Julie Su in a little bit.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, John, this morning we're standing by to see President Biden for the first time since his son Hunter Biden was accused of a four-year tax evasion scheme that alleges he spent millions of dollars on things like drugs, escorts and exotic cars, instead of paying his taxes. Hunter Biden's new federal indictment dropping overnight as the president soon leaves the White House to campaign.

And in the nine-count indictment, Justice Department prosecutors say Hunter, quote, "willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds." The indictment then listing his alleged expenses, including nearly $700,000 for payments to various women, $188,000 for adult entertainment, $71,000 on rehab. Ultimately a grand total of $4.9 million. The charges could mean 17 years in prison if convicted.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz leads us off now.

So, Katelyn, ever since this stunning collapse of Hunter Biden's plea deal over the summer, this legal peril for him has been looming. So walk us through these new charges.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the legal peril has escalated significantly. That plea deal was about misdemeanors and now Hunter Biden faces nine charges, including three felonies.

This isn't just about not paying the IRS $1.4 million that the federal government said he owed them in the years 2016 through 2019. It's also the federal government, the Justice Department, the special counsel office of David Weiss saying that Hunter Biden lied to the IRS. That he was not forthcoming about the money that he had. They're saying that he had $7 million that was incoming to him and it wasn't going to where it should have been, his taxes. Here's a quote from the prosecutors in the 56-page indictment yesterday. "Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature. In short, everything but his taxes."

One of the areas, Fred, that this indictment particularly goes into detail is about 2018. That's where these felony counts, these three felony counts, are all around. And it is about personal expenses that he was making that were not for personal - or -- where he was saying that they were for business expenses, rather than personal expenses, and that is a really rich text of this indictment. It's $1,500 that he Venmoed to an exotic dancer saying it was for artwork. That exotic dancer, the prosecutors note, was not providing Hunter Biden artwork. $11,000 for two nights with an escort. $40,000 for a luxury hotel. A Lamborghini rental. And then $27,000 that Hunter Biden put on a business credit line to pay for online porn. The prosecutors note that was a fifth of all of the business expenditures on that account. That's a personal expense, they say, and not a business expense. And that is the main thrust of what the felony charge is, that he was lying about these personal expenses.

Now, his team is saying that they are going to be fighting these charges, that they shouldn't have been brought because he previously had that plea deal, and we did get a quote from Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell. If Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought."

He does have that gun case ongoing still in Delaware. There isn't anything in this indictment that ties him to his father. It is something very clearly that his attorneys are going to keep trying to say that he's a political victim and not a tax cheat.

WHITFIELD: All right, Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. Keep us posted on the ongoing developments here.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, Hunter Biden now faces felony tax charges. He had a plea deal in place for misdemeanor tax charges. If you're attorneys for Hunter Biden, how much are you just kicking yourself that this plea deal fell apart?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I -- if I'm Hunter Biden's attorney, I am wishing I could go back in time and solidify that deal and make it go through. It was such a better deal for Hunter Biden. Let's remember, though, Hunter Biden's team wanted the deal then. It turned out they didn't have a full agreement with DOJ as to all the terms. But the deal that Hunter Biden was minutes away from pleading to would have been two misdemeanors and a probation sentence, that's it. Now he's looking at nine charges, three of them felonies, several of which carry likely jail time, maximum sentences of five and three years for those felonies. So, it's gotten way worse for Hunter Biden. And to think back how close they were to having this thing wrapped up a few months ago, now it's completely turned.

[09:10:00]

BERMAN: And to be clear, these new charges aren't just, you didn't pay taxes.

HONIG: Right.

BERMAN: It's that you tried, basically, not to pay taxes.

HONIG: Exactly. What differentiates a misdemeanor from a felony in the tax world is that intentionality, that evasion. If you owe taxes to the federal government and you just refuse or fail to pay, that's a misdemeanor generally speaking. But if you start moving money around, trying to trick people, trick the IRS, now you're into fraud, now you're into felony. And as Katelyn just laid out, that's the allegation here.

And the main way they allege Hunter Biden did this is he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal travel, personal expenses and said, these are all business expenses, so I get to deduct them. And the indictment makes quite clear he was not doing any such business.

BERMAN: Well, you were euphemistic, personal travel, personal expenses. They lay out in great detail the things which they -

HONIG: Yes.

BERMAN: They lay out the salacious detail in the case.

HONIG: Yes. Yes.

BERMAN: So, anything in here adjacent to President Joe Biden? Anything in here that has to do with influence peddling or anything else or charges outside the world of taxes?

HONIG: The short answer is no. First of all, there is no explicit mention of Joe Biden, there is no explicit mention of any money going really anywhere outside of Hunter Biden's own individual orbit.

The other thing that's really important to keep in mind, the indictment makes clear that Hunter Biden received $7 million in income over this four-year period, primarily from companies in Ukraine and China. The indictment makes quite clear Hunter Biden did not earn that money in any normal sense. He wasn't doing a job the way normal people do a job. But also the indictment does not charge that those payments were bribes or that they are part of a foreign lobbying and influence effort. If they had been, DOJ absolutely could have charged that.

And so, when you see Representative Comer now trying to sort of -- it's a little bit of an awkward fit, but he's trying to pigeonhole this indictment into the impeachment inquiry, it's just apples and oranges. It just doesn't match up.

BERMAN: All right, under the radar in the last 24 hours, a huge potential development in the federal case against Donald Trump for trying to overturn the election. His lawyers have indicated they are going to appeal a ruling from Judge Tanya Chutkan. She basically said, Donald Trump's not immune from these charges because he was president, which is something that he asserted.

HONIG: Right.

BERMAN: The Trump team made clear they're going to appeal that as high as they need to. What does all of that mean?

HONIG: Yes, so two different really important things happening in that criminal case. Donald Trump's team argued that because he was in office and they argue what he did relating to the lead up to January 6th was related to the office of the president, he's criminally immune. Now, we don't know the answer to that. We've actually never had to resolve an issue like that. The district judge, Judge Chutkan, rejected that. Now Trump's taking it up to the court of appeals, very likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court eventually.

At the same time, Trump's team is arguing, while our appeals are pending, everything in the trial court has to stop, has to be put on pause. Meaning, no motions, no discovery, no conferences. DOJ is going to take the opposite position. They're going to say, go ahead, Donald Trump's team, have your appeal. While that's happening, we're going to continue prepping as if trial is going to happen because DOJ wants that trial date to hold in March and Donald Trump's team surely wants that trial date to fall back past March and probably past the election.

BERMAN: The first thing to watch for is a -- the possibility of a delay.

HONIG: Yes, absolutely, there could be delay. And bigger picture here, if Trump prevails on this motion, and, again, we are in unprecedented territory here, it will end that federal DOJ case. I don't think it's more likely than not that he prevails, I wouldn't put it over 50 percent. But it's also not completely meritless. I think he has what we call a puncher's chance. He's got a shot.

BERMAN: And the Supreme Court has never weighed in on anything quite like this.

HONIG: Right.

BERMAN: Elie Honig, great to have you. Thank you very much.

HONIG: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, this morning we're less than six weeks away from the Iowa caucuses. And while Donald Trump's rivals court voters in key primary states, the former president is due in a courtroom. Trump is preparing to testify Monday in his own defense in his civil business fraud trial. And while he's doing that, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis are all campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire today.

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from Washington with more on this.

So, Alayna, you know, Trump is bouncing between cases. Meantime, his competitors are campaigning for votes.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Fred. I actually think what you're seeing play out with this New York civil fraud trial where he attended yesterday, he was going to be on the stand on Monday, it offers us a really good preview of what we can expect from Donald Trump next year. We know that in the midst of the height of election season he's going to be facing a series of trials. And as Elie just pointed out, you know, there's still questions of if some of them will be delayed. But it's more likely than not that Donald Trump is going to continue to have to spend a lot of time in the courtroom. And you're kind of seeing that play out now.

Now, I do want to just talk about Monday and him giving this testimony. One thing that's been clear is that he doesn't necessarily have to be in court. He attended court yesterday.

[09:15:02]

He didn't need to show up. But he wanted to be there. And, on Monday, he is testifying, even though one of his attorneys had pointed out, and she said this yesterday, that it was the advice of them not for him to take the stand. And that, you know, it's not smart to advise a client who is under a current gag order to be taking the stand, but Donald Trump wanted to do so.

And, you know, there's questions of, he's been advised of that in the past and ultimately didn't testify, but he's deciding to now. And I think what we're kind of seeing play out, and what I think you can expect on Monday, is the merging of his political strategy and his legal strategy. We know that his campaign has really started to mesh the two and try to play it up because they're seeing the benefits of, you know, talking about his legal troubles, talking about all of this and trying to paint it, as he has done time and time again, as a witch hunt.

And I do think you're going to see some of that political rhetoric when Trump is on the stand on Monday. He did testify last month, and then at that point he was being grilled by prosecutors. This time he'll be answering questions from his own defense attorneys. And so he'll be able to frame his own narrative and really have the final word because he will be the last witness that the defense calls when he takes the stand Monday.

WHITFIELD: Right. And he's finding a way to cash in on his court appearances -

TREENE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Or at least his cases by getting people to make their donations and contributions. And so far it seems to be working in his favor.

TREENE: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the teenager who opened fire at a Michigan high school and killed several students is in court for his sentencing. And the families of the victims are making statements shortly. These pictures from just moments ago.

Police have charged a woman with attempted arson at Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home. Civilian bystanders tackled her to the ground.

And the Israeli military says it has detained dozens and dozens of Hamas fighters. New reporting coming up.

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BERMAN: All right, happening now, the sentencing hearing for the teenage murderer who pled guilty to killing four classmates at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021. He could get life in prison without parole. At this moment, families of the victims and survivors are telling the judge how the shooting affected them. These are some of the victim impact statements.

Listen.

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NICOLE BEAUSOLEIL, MOTHER OF MADISYN BALDWIN: To the waste that took my daughter's life, that name will never come out of my mouth. That life will cease to exist to me, and just like trash it will be forgotten. So, while the attention that he has been seeking for this horrendous crime, you will get no reaction from me. But, again, this is the life he chose. If he really wanted to make a different outcome, he would continue to -- he wouldn't continue to make the excuses he does now.

The suffering will come when he least expects it. The regret will consume you as you sit alone with the only voice -- only voices in your head. Guilt would eat away at your soul. This might not happen tomorrow, next year or ten years, but it will happen. As you get older, you will realize the path you've chosen, and it will haunt you. Just like the idol that you admire so much, both of you forgotten in the system.

And when these emotions flood into your body like you're bleeding out, no one will be there to save you. No one will forgive you. Your hand will not - will no longer be held as you claim insanity. Your outburst for attention will go unnoticed. No one will love you and no one will come.

As I don't wish death upon you, that would be too easy. I hope the thoughts consume you and they replay over and over in your head. The thoughts won't stop. I'm sure you heard that paraphrased before. I hope the screams keep you up at night and they cause real hallucinations. You won't be able to write it on paper for the attention that you so badly seek. Those four walls become your home, suffocating in guilt.

It will come, I promise you. I'm happy you decided not to be a coward that day and take your own life. I'd much rather you stick around to see what the life you have chosen for. What suffering really feels like and that your significance is not above anyone else. I truly feel sorry for you that you thought this would be a better life choice.

So, your honor, I have chosen forgiveness. We live in a world where forgiveness is not deserved but needed. Forgiveness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That is the mother of Madisyn Baldwin, who was killed at the age of 17 two years ago. You can hear the emotion in her voice there.

CNN's Jean Casarez is in Pontiac, Michigan, for us this morning.

This is going to be an emotional day, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, John, you know, as the hearings of this prosecution have gone on and I have been at them, the victims' family members, they're in court, they're silent, they don't say anything. The focus is completely on the defendant, Ethan Crumbley.

But today is the day that we will hear from the families, those victim impact statements. We're expecting dozens of them.

[09:25:01]

And according to the Michigan Victims Crime Act, they are allowed to speak for as long as they want to in court. The state encourages that. And Madisyn Baldwin's mother is number one.

You know, it's so ironic because today is the formal sentencing of Ethan Crumbley. And that in and of itself is a very important aspect to this - this entire prosecution. But today is the day for the victims' families.

Now, if we talk about Ethan for just a minute, this is precedent- setting today because he was 15 years old when he committed the mass murder at Oxford High School. He pleaded guilty to all 24 charges. And under the precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court course of 2012, Miller versus Alabama, a juvenile shall not be sentenced to life without the possibility of any parole unless he is incorrigible. And this then has gone to the state so that they have to have a hearing to determine - because a minor's mind, according to the U.S. Supreme Court and experts around the country, is not fully developed. And so this is a different situation than an adult being sentenced to the harshest life penalty possible.

And so the Miller hearing this last summer, days of testimony. And Judge Kwame Rowe finally determined that he can be sentenced to the possibility of life without any possibility of parole at all. And that will be the finite end to this once the victim impact statements have concluded today.

John.

BERMAN: All right. Jean, as you said, you've been there for so much of this. Thank you for being there today. Keep us posted.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm joined now by defense and trial attorney Misty Maris. Misty, great to see you.

I mean powerful impact statement there from the mother of Madisyn. And there is more to come. So in totality, how is the judge going to tender a decision? What are the things that he is considering before making a decision about life with or without parole?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Fred, as we predicted, this is such an emotional day in court because we're hearing for the first time from the victims' families. The judge, right now, his job is to weigh what's called aggravating and mitigating factors. Of course, aggravating factors are going to come from the prosecution. Mitigating factors, that will come from the defense. The victim impact statements, another factor that he will weigh. The impact on the victims, the impact on the community because, remember, here there was a terrorism charge. That means the pool of people who can speak today is open to anyone who was in that school. So, all of that the judge will take into consideration. But a primary factor, Fred, can this person be rehabilitated? That's going to be something the judge will be laser focused on.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, you point to that terrorism charge. I mean this is very unique. He is the first in a -- of a U.S. school shooter charged with terrorism. Four students killed at Oxford High School, as we saw their pictures. He has pleaded guilty. How do you see this potentially influencing the judge, as well as those impact statements, and hearing from the community of the impact that it has made as a result of what happened two years ago.

MARRIS: Yes, this is going to be opening the door to many more people who will have the opportunity to speak.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MARRIS: So, this particular statute, really wide ranging. As Jean said, no limitations on time. No limitations on the individuals that can come forward. So, this is a really large pool. Hundreds, if not thousands, could be impacted and could speak today in court. So, we're not only hearing from those families who lost a loved one, we're hearing the terror and the horror from people who were in the school that day. So, certainly to be a human, you're a judge, you've got a job, but you're also a human being. That's going to be something that's going to sway you in the course of the decision-making.

WHITFIELD: Yes. They'll forever be living with those feelings. And just as you heard from the mother, it's her thought that he, too, will forever be living with the feelings of the results of what happened.

MARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Misty Marris. Appreciate that.

Of course we're going to continue to monitor the impact statements that are taking place there and we'll dip in as we learn more.

John. BERMAN: All right, new calls for the University of Pennsylvania president to resign after controversial answers about genocide. Will her job survive the day?

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