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Hunter Biden Expected on The Hill; Supreme Court Takes up Case on Abortion Drug; Hunter Biden Speaks before entering Capitol Hill; Hunter Biden Offers to Testify at Public Hearing. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 13, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That Hunter Biden makes a statement at that microphone shortly. Not clear whether that is a statement he will make before going in to testify to this House committee or a statement he will make to say he is not going in to testify to that House committee.

The committee has called Hunter Biden -- this is part of the impeachment probe -- not into Hunter Biden, again, although you would be forgiven for thinking so, an impeachment inquiry into President Biden that so far has struggled to find any benefit whatsoever that President Biden received from Hunter Biden's questionable business dealings. The committee has called Hunter Biden to testify. And, again, we are expecting to see Hunter Biden on Capitol Hill shortly.

Lauren Fox is on The Hill.

Lauren, what are you seeing right now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are waiting for Hunter Biden to appear for this statement with his lawyers outside, but we do not know if he will appear for that deposition. Obviously, House Republican chairman had scheduled this deposition behind closed doors. They were prepared with questions. They were prepared this morning just in case Hunter Biden showed up.

But it is important to point out that this all comes as the House Republicans are expected to vote later today to open an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. That is an inquiry that has been going on since the former speaker, Kevin McCarthy, announced it in the fall. But this is a step to formalize it. So, there's a lot of things happening on Capitol Hill today for House Republicans when it comes to this impeachment push.

You heard yesterday from Mike Johnson as he pointed out that a vote today on the impeachment inquiry does not necessarily mean Republicans would move forward with impeaching President Biden. He said they had to collect more evidence, get more information. But, obviously, John, this is all building as pressure continues from House conservatives to move forward.

BERMAN: So, Hunter Biden expected on Capitol Hill shortly where we think he will appear with his lawyers outside the Capitol building. We were looking at that microphone right there.

Again, Hunter Biden been called to testify behind closed doors. He and his lawyers have offered to testify in public only. That is where the impasse is.

We're going to have much more ahead because, as I said, events unfolding before our very eyes. So, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:52] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have breaking news for you now.

First, the breaking news from Capitol Hill. That podium is where we are expected to see President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, come up to the podium and make a statement. Now, you'll remember he is in Washington, in part because the GOP has put together an investigation, they are looking at an impeachment inquiry into his father, and they wanted him to do a deposition behind closed doors today. We do not know if he is going to do the deposition, but we do expect him and his attorney to come to the podium to make a statement. We will bring that to you as soon as we get it.

Now, to some other breaking news, this at the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court has now decided to take up another case involving abortion. This one involves the widely used perhaps most popular abortion drug out there known as Mifepristone.

CNN's Paula Reid is joining us right now.

This is a big deal. The Supreme Court has decided to take up the case in the first place. What can you tell us, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, this is significant, and this is something that could be decided possibly by July, which would put this decision right in the middle of the presidential election cycle. And here the Supreme Court said it will consider whether to restrict access to the widely used abortion drug Mifepristone, even in states where abortion is still allowed.

Now, the case concerns the drug Mifepristone which, when used with another drug, is one of the most widely used abortion methods in the United States. But, again, the really key thing here is that this puts the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, once again, right in the middle of the abortion issue when just last year, of course, they overturned Roe v. Wade. And this would potentially put this issue, and whatever they decide here, right in the middle of the election cycle.

So, this is going to likely be one of the biggest cases that they take up this term. And, again, Mifepristone is available right now, but this decision could change that.

SIDNER: Paula, can I ask you about the fact that this is something that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has had authority to regulate in the past. Would this decision by the Supreme Court sort of take that away? REID: That's right. So, the approval goes back to 2000. I mean we're

talking about, you know, close to a quarter of a century for this drug having been approved. And that's actually one of the ways that they've tried to attack this is undermine the actual approval to restrict access to this drug. But we'll see what the Supreme Court decides, how they approach this, after they, of course, hear arguments and make their decision.

SIDNER: Well, it's a very, very big case, as we are looking at this, and you are seeing sort of the back and forth over the abortion debate happening state by state by state. We saw what just happened in Texas at the Supreme Court there where a woman had to leave Texas to go and get an abortion because her life, according to her doctor, and her child's life were -- they were not going to be able to survive potentially.

So let me ask you -- oh, we're going to - we're going to take a second. All right, Paula, thank you so much.

[09:40:02]

We are moving on. We will be back with you. I know you will have more information as the Supreme Court goes through the plans.

Hunter Biden, right now on Capitol Hill, taking the stand. And that's his attorney, Abbe Lowell.

ABBE LOWELL, HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY: We appreciate you all being here.

HUNTER BIDEN, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S SON: Good morning.

I'm here today to answer at a public hearing any legitimate questions Chairman Comer and the House Oversight Committee may have for me. I'm here today to make sure that the House committee's illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence and lies. And I'm here today to acknowledge that I have made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded. For that, I am responsible. For that, I am accountable. And for that, I am making amends.

But I'm also here today to correct how the MAGA right has portrayed me for their political purposes. I am first and foremost a son, a father, a brother and a husband from a loving and supportive family. I'm proud to have earned degrees from Georgetown University and Yale Law School. I'm proud of my legal career and business career. I'm proud of my time serving on a dozen different boards of directors. And I am proud of my efforts to forge global business relationships.

For six years MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends. They have ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they have belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father who has devoted his entire public life to service.

For six years I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, "where's Hunter?" Well, here's my answer. I am here.

Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist.

During my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me. They literally saved my life. They helped me in ways that I will never be able to repay. And, of course, they would never expect me to. And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It's shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.

James Comer, Jim Jordan, Jason Smith and their colleagues have distorted the facts by cherry-picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts I sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners, and misstating personal information that was stolen from me. There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing. They have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life, so much so that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people.

No matter how many times it is debunked, they continue to insist that my father's support of Ukraine against Russia is the result of a nonexistent bribe. They displayed naked photos of me during an oversight hearing. And they have taken the light of my dad's love -- the light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness.

[09:45:02]

They have no shame.

These same committee chairmen have engaged in unprecedented political interference in what would have already been a five-year investigation of me, yet here I am, Mr. Chairman, taking up your offer when you said we can bring these people in for depositions or committee hearings, whichever they choose. Well, I've chosen. I am here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee's legitimate questions.

Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of? I'm here. I'm ready.

QUESTION: Hunter, are you ready to go across the street?

QUESTION: Mr. Biden, other witnesses have given depositions -

QUESTION: Why not testify now, sir? Why not testify now?

QUESTION: Why did you (INAUDIBLE) if your father was not in -

BERMAN: All right, Hunter Biden saying, where is Hunter? I am here, he says, willing to answer questions in a public hearing.

SIDNER: Right.

BERMAN: The thing is, the House is not offering a public hearing. They are only offering for him to testify behind closed doors.

We saw our Evan Perez pop up there as soon as Hunter Biden walked away.

Evan, what did you hear?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, look, I mean, Hunter Biden is here, obviously, on the Capitol grounds and he could just walk right across the street there to where the House Republicans say they want to depose him behind closed doors. What he's saying he's doing - he's only willing to do is to do a public hearing, which he says is something that the Republicans were once open to, but are no longer offering.

Of course, this means that the Republicans who are sitting there at 9:30, they were expecting him to show up there for this closed-door deposition, what this means is that they will move forward. We expect them to move forward with their threat to hold him in contempt of Congress. That's a process, obviously, that's going to be drawn out. And, in the end, really this is -- this was all part of a show. Hunter Biden kept them guessing whether he was going to show up, whether he was going to show up over on the House side. He's over here on the Senate side in an area, by the way, that's colloquially - locally known here as the Senate swamp. That - this is where he chose to come to provide that statement.

You heard him really for the first time in his own words answer many of the questions that have been sort of thrown around by Republicans, by conservative media about his financial activities overseas, his work with the Ukrainian company, his work with Chinese businesses, all of which, of course, Republicans say is -- there is some proof, they believe, that there is some kind of corruption that's tied to the president of the United States. That's why, of course, we expect later today that they're going to formalize -- they're going to formalize their impeachment inquiry, again, part of this ongoing investigation. So, in the end, they are not going to get Hunter Biden if they insist on getting him behind closed doors.

One other thing, John, it's become obviously a lot more complicated in the -- since the time that the Republicans subpoenaed Hunter Biden to appear. He was indicted last week, nine counts, including three felonies, failing to file taxes, filing false returns and tax evasion. Those are the problems - some -- those are the things that he just referred to during his time he was struggling with addiction. But what you heard there for the first time in his own words, really the most fulsome explanation from Hunter Biden about his - his problems, his financial problems, his addiction problems and everything really that has now turned into a political problem for the president of the United States, his father.

John.

BERMAN: You're absolutely right, Evan, he has spoken now more expansively than we have heard him yet on these allegations. He said, I was irresponsible in my finances but the idea that that's ground for an impeachment inquiry into my father is absurd.

All right, Evan, we'll let you get some reporting done right there. Keep us posted.

SIDNER: All right, he also said, there is no evidence that my father in any way was involved in my business. It did not happen. And he called out several members of Congress, including James Comer, Jim Jordan and Jason Smith.

I want to get to Paula Reid right now just to get a sense of what you made of what he said on this podium, being very, very clear, and talking about his own irresponsibility, but saying it has nothing to do with his dad.

REID: This was pretty remarkable. We've been reporting for months now that Hunter Biden and his legal team, Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, they've been taking a much more forward-leaning approach when it comes to his detractors and Republican investigations.

[09:50:07]

They've been more litigious. They've pushed back. And a statement like this is really all part of this strategy. I mean this is a rare public statement from Hunter Biden and he was quite vulnerable. Not only talking about his own issues with addiction, talking about the impact that these Republican investigations have had on his family, and also specifically talking about the role his parents have had in helping him recover from addiction. And then he went after Republicans who have subpoenaed him to appear today, insisting that it be a closed- door deposition, when he has said he's willing to answer questions, he just wants to do it publicly. He said, quote, "there is no fairness, there is no decency." He called them out for lying about him and then said they take, quote, "the light of his dad's love and turn it into darkness."

And he (INAUDIBLE) called them out. He said, look, I'm here. I'm willing to answer questions. I'm willing to talk about this. But, of course, Republicans are insisting that if he sits down to answer questions that it must be for a closed-door deposition.

But this statement -- look, this was certainly, as Evan noted, this was a little bit of theater. You have the Capitol in the background. He's calling them out saying I'm here. He is likely, according to Republicans, going to be held in contempt for doing this. They're not going to give him points for showing up. But legally, and in the court of public opinion, it does matter that he showed up today. He said, look, I'm literally, physically on The Hill. I'm willing to answer questions, I just want to do it publicly. And he wrapped that offer in this larger narrative about the impact that these Republican investigations have had on him and his family. It was, you know, it was an interesting move. Right now it's up to Republicans to see how they respond.

SIDNER: Remarkable, as you put it. Thank you so much, Paula Reid. Stay with us.

We do have more reporting coming up.

BERMAN: Yes, let's go right to Capitol Hill inside now and talk to our Lauren Fox there.

So, Hunter Biden has made an offer, Lauren, I'll testify, if it's in public. Any sign the Republicans will budge yet?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are waiting to see how Republican chairmen respond to that ask by Hunter Biden and his team there. I think it's important to point out that this was the line that Hunter Biden's lawyers had been making for some time, right, that they were willing to come before Congress in a public setting, that what they did not want to do was go behind closed doors, have a deposition and then their concern, they said, was that parts of that, selectively, could be leaked.

So, one of the questions now becomes, what do Republicans do? I also want to point out, though, that in the larger context of this moment, and I think Paula really pointed this out, you have a son of the sitting president of the United States who House Republicans are going to vote today to move forward with a formal impeachment inquiry into. You have him coming forward and talking about his troubles. You have him talking about his dad's love for him, talking about how all his dad has done at this point is supported him, that there is no link to his dad benefiting financially from any of his business dealings, that no matter how long Republicans are going to investigate they will not find that evidence.

It's also important to point out that this has been sort of a sensitive political issue for Democrats, as well, because some Democrats in past reporting that me and our colleague Annie Grier (ph) have done have worried that the White House, that the president wasn't being forthcoming enough about getting out there in front of Hunter Biden's legal issues, talking about them more publicly, trying to separate the president from them. And I think that this is really an interesting moment for Democrats as well because this sort of provides them a road map for talking a little bit more about the fact that Hunter Biden clearly is getting out front of some of what he has said he's done in the past and yet also arguing his dad was not involved. So, I think that that is going to be an interesting political moment for Democrats in the larger context of what House Republicans have planned today on Capitol Hill.

BERMAN: All right, Lauren Fox, keep us posted. Again, there is a lot to watch in the next few minutes. How will Republicans respond to this offer from Hunter Biden to testify publicly? Will they hold him in contempt? It's worth noting that some of these committee chairs, Jim Jordan, have not responded to subpoenas themselves in the past. SIDNER: That's right.

BERMAN: So, again, there is a lot at play here. We're going to have much more, obviously. New developments coming in by the second.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:58:34]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

All right, the breaking news, we just heard from Hunter Biden, the president's son, who spoke on Capitol Hill. He offered to testify in public before House Republicans who issued a subpoena for him. This is part of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. We are waiting to hear for a response from House Republicans. They have insisted the testimony be behind closed doors.

Hunter Biden also said, in what really were the most expansive comments he has made about this inquiry, he has said while he was irresponsible in his financial dealings. It's absurd to suggest it's grounds for an impeachment inquiry into his father. He said his father had nothing to do with the finances of his business.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER BIDEN, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S SON: I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, "where's Hunter?" Well, here's my answer. I am here.

Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist.

[10:00:00]

During my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me. They literally saved