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Soon, Jury Selection Begins in Hunter Biden's Federal Gun Trial; Biden Admin to Unveil Sweeping Executive Action on Immigration; Trump Says, I Really Enjoy Life Despite Conviction, Indictments. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If Donald Trump has not yet prosecuted anyone or gone after his, oh, okay --

[07:00:03]

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You mean like when President Biden threatened retribution against the border guards who got caught up in that horse hoax?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Okay, wait.

JENNINGS: No, I'm asking because I agree with you. I don't think presidents and presidential candidates should do that, but let's not pretend like there hasn't been some hint of, I will use my power --

WILLIAMS: Do you think they're calling for the, calling for sanctions or prosecution against someone who is engaged in wrongdoing?

HUNT: Can I have a wide shot please, because this is what we're doing.

WILLIAMS: All right, sorry.

HUNT: Because, I mean, Scott, the stakes are just much higher. The stage is much higher. We are in very new territory, as outlined. Thank you guys very much for being with us. Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by for the beginning of jury selection in the case against Hunter Biden, the first child of a sitting president to face criminal trial. So, what are the chances of a new plea deal in the next several hours?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump says he's okay with going to jail if that's what it comes to after his criminal conviction, and just as quickly warns if that happens, it would be a breaking point for his supporters.

And a state of emergency in place in Atlanta after multiple water main breaks crippled parts of the city, thousands of people without water. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sarah Sidner is out today. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: This morning, the president's son goes on trial, that is, if there is no last second plea agreement, which we will get to in a moment. Very shortly, within walking distance of his father's campaign office, Hunter Biden will be the first child of a sitting president to face such criminal proceedings. The 54-year-old is charged with illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while abusing or being addicted to drugs. Prosecutors say he bought the gun in October of 2018. Biden had the gun for about 11 days.

Overnight, the judge overseeing the trial dealt a blow to his defense blocking one witness and a key piece of evidence that lawyers had hoped to use all just hours before jury selection is supposed to begin.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is standing by live outside the court this morning. Marshall, walk us through what we're going to see.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: John, good morning. Biden will make history when he walks into the federal courthouse right behind me in Wilmington, Delaware, he will become the first son of the sitting president of this country to go on trial. It's never happened before.

He is facing three felony charges that were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating him since 2018, two counts of lying on federal gun forms and one count of unlawful possession of a gun. John, it's against federal law for a drug user or drug addicts to buy a gun, and that's what the prosecutors say Hunter Biden did here.

He's been very open about his lifelong struggles with addiction, but the prosecutors are going to try to convict him by demonstrating that he was using drugs when he bought that gun at a Wilmington gun shop. If he's convicted of all these charges, he could face prison time up to 25 years. But, of course, his father does have the power of the pardon. But that's not where we're at today. Today is just the start of this process. Jury selection is happening, starting at 8:30, John. There are 250 Delaware residents that have been summoned to this courthouse. They will be questioned about their political activities. They will be asked if they can be fair and impartial. And eventually, they need a jury of 12 to hear this case.

BERMAN: Marshall, what were the rulings that went against Hunter Biden's defense team overnight? And even at this late hour, with just 90 minutes to go before jury selection, is a plea deal still possible?

COHEN: Well, that a plea deal could happen at any time in any criminal case, just to be clear on that. And the judge last night issued some rulings to deal with some of the simmering issues that were not settled before things kicked off. She did deal a blow to the president's son and his chances of beating this case. She decided to exclude a key witness that they wanted to call an expert on addiction that could have poked some holes in the prosecutor's theories about his state of mind, and she also won't let Hunter Biden's team introduce a key piece of evidence that they thought could tarnish the credibility of some of those employees at the gun store that sold him the revolver.

So, it got a little bit tougher for the president's son last night, and the proceedings kick off here at 8:30. It's coming up.

BERMAN: All right. Marshall Cohen, great to have you there. And it is notable, President Biden did spend the night in Delaware, Kate, obviously, to be at least near his son as this all begins.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. So, we're going to watch a lot of this play out this morning. We're going to keep a very close eye on this.

[07:05:01]

Also for us, President Biden is looking to make a major move on a major concern of many Americans and also major weakness for his presidential campaign bid right now, border security. The president expected to roll out new executive action this week that will -- seriously, their attempt is to crack down on anyone's ability to request asylum at the border.

The timing of the announcement is also interesting here as well. Mexico just wrapped up an historic presidential election. The projected winner, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will be the first female president to lead that nation.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House for us are let what more you learning about what President Biden's going to be rolling out here?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, sources have told us that President Biden could announce this new border executive action as soon as tomorrow. In fact, some sources have told us the White House has started reaching out to mayors from cities along the southern border to potentially join Biden as he makes this announcement.

Now, the president has been weighing potential executive action relating to the border since those bipartisan border talks failed a bit earlier this year. And in recent weeks, administration officials have been working on an executive action that would dramatically limit the way that asylum seekers would seek asylum at the U.S. southern border.

Now, this policy could be reminiscent of a controversial measure former President Donald Trump used while he was in office, using a preexisting authority to try to clamp down on border crossings. White House officials have yet to confirm that the president will make this announcement this week. A White House spokesperson simply saying, quote, as we have said before, the administration continues to explore a series of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.

But it all comes as the president and his team are trying to confront a politically vexing issue for the president ahead of November's election, and, importantly, before that first debate with Trump here on CNN, a bit later this month. Americans have increasingly shown concern about immigration issues at a time when the former president has really tried to seized on the border as a key issue in his campaign.

Now, the White House and the president have also taken a more aggressive approach when it comes to dealing with the U.S. southern border, especially after Republicans tanked those bipartisan border talks at the urging of former President Donald Trump. Biden has really said that they will try to hold Republicans accountable for the fact that they did not get on board with this bipartisan plan.

Now, it is worth noting that arrest at the U.S. southern border have been down this year in part due to Mexico's stepping up their own enforcement along the U.S. southern border. But administration officials are also well aware that there could be a surge in border crossing as the summer months continue.

Now, as you noted, sources had previously told us that the White House had been waiting to roll out this executive action until Mexico's presidential election yesterday. That ended with the election of President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum. Of course, she would be a key partner to any White House when it comes to trying to address these border issues. We will see whether President Biden has any plans to call her a bit later in today. But we're still waiting to hear what exactly the details of President Biden's border plan will be at a time when he's trying to tackle this issue head on heading into November's election.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And as quickly as he rolls that out, how quickly the response will be from Democrats and Republicans alike, we will see it. It's great to see you, Arlette. Thank you so much.

Still ahead for us, Donald Trump is now warning of a quote, breaking point for America if he is sent to jail.

Plus, a pause in the trash balloon wars, why North Korea says it will stop sending hundreds of balloons carrying garbage over the border to South Korea, headlines sometimes you think you'd never be reading.

And Simone Biles proving she really is absolutely amazing with her ninth all-around title at the U.S. championship. What it means now for her path to the Olympics.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: So this morning, just after becoming a convicted felon, Donald Trump is using his supporters on cable television to spread a message that some see as suggesting violence, along with a certain joie de vivre.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really enjoy life. It's crazy. I shouldn't enjoy life. I get indicted, I get impeached, I get -- somebody said, how do you live? (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was the joie de vivre part, not the violence part. With us now, CNN's Stephen Collinson. Stephen, what's the latest this morning?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: John, some Democrats are warning that yet again Donald Trump is inciting violence in some of his most expansive comments since his conviction came down last week. And as we enter this very volatile period, as you pointed out, heading into the CNN debate at the end of the month, and his sentencing and the Republican National Convention next month. Listen to what Trump had to say when he was asked about the issue of his potential sentencing on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge could decide to say, hey, house arrest or even jail.

TRUMP: It could.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you face what that could mean?

TRUMP: I'm okay with it. I saw one of my lawyers the other day on television saying, oh no, you don't want to do that to the -- I said, don't, you don't beg for anything. You just, the way it is.

I don't know that the public would stand it, you know. I don't, I'm not sure the public would stand for it with a --

[07:15:03]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) tried house arrest for --

TRUMP: I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there's a breaking point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINSON: John, the first thing to say about this is there's no guarantee at all that the former president, would get a custodial sentence. If on this case in New York, many legal experts believe that since he's a first time criminal offender, that wouldn't be the case and also in terms of some of the charges that he's facing. But what he clearly is trying to do is to build the political pressure. The Trump campaign believes that it has benefited politically from this rallying around of Republicans, a massive fundraising spurt since the verdict came down.

I think what you also have to note is that these comments do take on a darker tone than some of Trump's previous commentary on issues like this just because of what we saw that happened after the January 6th mob attack on Congress by some of his supporters. So, he knows what he's doing and it's pretty clear that the message he's trying to get across, whether it will be successful, I think that's another question.

BERMAN: Carefully chosen words. That's what it certainly sounded like. Stephen Collinson, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

All right, breaking news, Atlanta schools just shut down after water main breaks leave huge portions of that city without water.

And 25 people injured in a mass shooting that left one person dead. What police are saying this morning about a suspect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, history being made in Mexico. Claudia Sheinbaum is projected to win the country's presidential election, making her Mexico's first ever female president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, PROJECTED WINNER OF MEXICO'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Our duty is and always will be to look after each Mexican without distinctions. Although many Mexican women and Mexican men don't agree fully with our project, we will walk in peace and harmony to build a fairer and more prosperous Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So she is making history, but the election itself is as well. Sunday's election saw huge turnout, the largest turnout in Mexico's history. The lead up to the vote, however, was plagued by political violence that we've unfortunately covered far too much.

CNN's Gustavo Valdes has much more from Mexico City.

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexico will have its first female president. Claudia Sheinbaum, got at least 58 percent of the vote, according to the National Institute of Election that early Monday reported their results.

The results, the margin of victory is somewhat surprising because even though polls prior to the election showed that she was the favorite to win on Sunday, the margin is even larger than what Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador got six years ago. So, that shows the power the Morena Party has gained in this past six years.

Most of the voters we talked to during the election day, and even prior to that, they told us that they recognize the significance of having a woman, but that was not the main issue that drove him to the polls. They told us what they really want to see is how she is going to govern. They hope that she can step away from under the shadow of Lopez Obrador, who has been a friend and mentor. He was the one who named her a secretary of the environment in the year 2000, when he was the mayor of Mexico City. And then six years ago, when he won the presidency, she was elected mayor of Mexico City, and they have been close allies ever since.

She has pledged to continue the policies of President Lopez Obrador, but that is yet to be seen how she's going to implement, especially the relationship with the United States and neighbor and main partner of Mexico. So, this is something that voters are going to be watching closely once she takes over in October.

But also their main concern is security. So, they are going to want to see some changes after we had such a violent electoral process. So, this is the background of the woman who will lead Mexico for the next six years.

Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Mexico City.

BOLDUAN: Gustavo, thank you so much for that.

Coming up for us, another historic trial, for the first time, a sitting president's son will face criminal trial. That begins today. It's about to get underway just as Hunter Biden's defense team suffered a setback last night.

And trash balloons from the north, pop music from the south, the latest in the strange fight between North and South Korea now that even disrupted flights this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has announced she has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is getting treatment. She said she may be absent from Congress at times but will be present for critical votes. The 74-year-old said she is confident her doctors have developed the best possible plan for her treatment. We are wishing her the best.

This morning, South Korea says it will consider suspending a 2018 military agreement with North Korea after the North sends hundreds of trash-filled balloons over the border. Pyongyang now says it will stop doing that in that it was just responding to South Korea's practice of sending over balloons with anti-North Korean leaflets.

The Washington Commanders have released kicker Brandon McManus. This comes just days after two flight attendants filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault. They allege McManus sexually assaulted them on a flight last year when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He denies those allegations. Kate?

We have some breaking news this morning. Just announced summer school and summer programs in Atlanta, Georgia, are closed today, all because of a water crisis that began on Friday, multiple water pipes bursting starting Friday morning, leaving thousands of people without water and under boil water advisories all weekend.

[07:30:04]

City officials say progress is being made with repairs, but the crisis.