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Biden Warns Of Threats To Democracy In D-Day 80th Anniversary Speech; Day 4 Of Hunter Biden Federal Gun Trial Begins; Georgia Appeals Court Halts Trump Election Subversion Case Indefinitely. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Can watch this stuff live, crazy, crazy, crazy pants that we can.

[09:00:04]

Kristin, thank you so much. We're going to continue watching this.

And the same time, we have more breaking news coming in and our CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at live pictures from the Normandy, France.

President Biden and the first lady laying a wreath at the U.S. cemetery over looking the beaches at Normandy somewhat 9,000 Americans, 9,000 laid to rest there.

BOLDUAN: Nine thousand three hundred eight-seven.

BERMAN: A very poignant morning. The commemoration, the memorization of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy, D-Day.

President Biden gave a speech filled with memories of the past, but very much looking toward the future, speaking about the need to fight against aggression around the world, very specific references to Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, saying that dark forces never fade.

Let's listen a little bit about the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The struggle between a dictatorship and freedom is unending. Here in Europe we see one stark example. Ukraine has been invaded by tyrant, bent on domination.

The United States and NATO and a coalition of more than 50 countries standing strong with Ukraine. We will not walk away, because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and will not end there. Ukraine's neighbors will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened.

And make no mistake, the autocrats of the world are watching closely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, that was the president just moments ago in an address to veterans, some veterans of D-Day, have to be 100, 101, 102 years old gathered behind him.

CNN's Kayla Tausche, our senior White House correspondent, is in Normandy this morning.

This was a moment the White House have been looking forward to and is really the kickoff of several days, Kayla.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And it was and, John, it was a speech really into parts. The first part was to remember the lessons of the past, the bravery of those who served on D-Day. Those heroes, President Biden said, had an audacious mission and he said they understood the assignment.

Here's what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: They knew and beyond any doubt there are things that are worth fighting and dying for. Freedom is worth it. Democracy is worth it. America's worth it. The world is worth it. Then, now and always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: And President Biden then issuing a challenge to generations of the future to carry the torch forward that these brave men carried on shore here in Normandy. He acknowledged that their time on Earth is coming to an end, with the average age hovering around 100 for the veterans who are here today.

And the implicit suggestion, guys, is that in order to do that, this generation would need to support a leaders and support causes that would keep the alliances that have been created in the wake of World War II, this new world order as ironclad as they have become in recent years, the NATO alliance, he spent a considerable amount of time talking about and talking about how that alliances come together in the face of tyranny and aggression in Ukraine and saying that the alliance would not back down, it would not waver in funding Ukraine.

Of course, at the actions have told a different story. There has been a significant delay in the delivery of aid to Ukraine, which the Biden administration has acknowledged has put Ukraine in a weakened position on the battlefield, which has created a need for it to ramp up its strategy, which now includes being able to strike over the border and hit Russian or positions inside of Russia.

So, certainly, there's a lot to digest here and a lot both for the loftier messaging that the White House had been crafting for recent weeks, but also really tangible messaging for both allies and adversaries around the world of what President Biden stands for and what the world leaders standing shoulder to shoulder with him stand for as well -- John.

BERMAN: Kayla Tausche again in Normandy, where the president moments ago laying a wreath along with the first lady Jill Biden -- Kayla, thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now for more on this on this day is retired Army General David Petraeus -- of course, a former CIA director and former commander of U.S. Central Command.

[19:05:03]

General, thank you so much for being here.

I want to lean on your experience and also, you're also a student of history. You're the -- we've talked about, your recent book that was have alleged conflict and how you studied military conflicts from '45 to basically -- 1945 to Ukraine, as we're talking now.

How do you reflect on the parallels that we heard from Joe Biden in his speech and just on marking 80 years since D-Day?

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, first of all, there's a long tradition of presidents observing just what President Biden did today. I recall President Ronald Reagan's phenomenal speech of the 40th anniversary, the Boys at Pointe Du Hoc, where he explained how the rangers had climbed the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc had begun the process of liberating Europe, taking out these big guns he extolled rightly there virtues, their courage, their sacrifice, their initiative and so forth. But then transitioned as President Biden did to reaffirming the importance of alliance, the importance of values, of freedom, of democracy, of our very way of life.

I actually jumped into Normandy in the 50th anniversary. That was when President Clinton was the commander in chief. He gave us similarly stirring speech at Utah Beach, which is the other one from Omaha Beach, which is the one then linked up with the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division with which I was assigned at the time in the 82nd, which I served in multiple other times.

Flying across the English Channel was extraordinary. The truth is that most of our paratroopers and most of us in general are there to have a good time we had been billeted the nights before at English airbases that had actually from which the paratroopers of D-Day had flown.

But as we flew across the channel, it was as if the weight of history descended on our shoulders because we realized that the magnitude of what it was these paratroopers did in jumping in during the period of darkness before the amphibious landings, and all that was riding on them and how perilous it really was if you look back now and say, oh, that was inevitable, it was not inevitable. This is an incredible undertaking.

General Eisenhower described it rightly. He said to the men and women who are going to take part in it, you are about to embark upon the great crusade 13 nations, thousands and thousands of vessels at various types, 200,000 troops or so and again, enormously risky, complex, challenging. And they pulled it off.

They could have been thrown back into the English channel. They were not partly because of German hesitation and so forth. But again, the importance of what they did then, and how it reminds us as President Biden observed that there are certain things worth fighting and dying for.

But again, he's not the first president to observe this, but it feels as if were at a particularly perilous time in the world particularly in the European continent, where, of course, Vladimir Putin has carried out the first invasion, brutal and unprovoked invasion of a neighboring country in the European mainland since World War II.

BOLDUAN: General, perilous is a perfect word to describe it. And looking at kind of the politics domestically, you can also look at it cynically and wonder the idea of shared sacrifice, the idea of collective purpose that we can see, that we see a know is what we looked at, what we saw, and what history saw on D-Day and beyond, the meaning of freedom and what its worth, is that different from 1944 to today?

PETRAEUS: Well, this scale of the undertaking then was very, very significant, and fascism literally was threatening the entire world, not just in Europe but also of course, in Asia.

So again, the magnitude of the overall undertaking of World War II, just so far greater than what we have now, but the themes, the ideas, the all of that is very really, I think resonates very much today. We should not forget, despite the House of Representatives six months of arguing about the assistance for Ukraine ultimately, that passed by a substantial bipartisan majority in the House, and also in the Senate.

And I think by and large, most Americans recognize the importance of helping a country that shares our values, ideals, and principles against the country that clearly does not, against a kleptocracy led by a brutal dictator and recognizing as President Biden said, that it wouldn't stop in Ukraine. Other countries would then be on the X, Moldova would be next without question.

[09:10:05]

And perhaps a NATO member like Lithuania who President Putin has mentioned dozens of times in various speeches and clearly as fixated on as well.

So, we really have to enable Ukraine to stop Russia, where it is. And, of course, there's $61 billion of assistance is raise substantial and is going to be very helpful. But Ukraine is in a perilous moment still.

The U.S. pipeline is still being refilled. Rounds are starting to get to the guns, to the air defense systems, additional weapons system is on the way, et cetera. But that six month period has really cost Ukraine and you can see the evidence of that by the damage that Russia has been able to do, particularly the electrical generation system, which is going to mean a very, very tough winter for Ukraine ahead. And also the gains that Russia has made tactically on the front lines, really all along the front lines in Ukraine, hopefully they can now stabilize those frontlines replenish, the various rounds and weapons systems and munitions, continue to make progress against the Russians and the Black Sea.

And over time, sometime next year, perhaps take operations that can change the dynamic at least and make the prospect for some kind of cessation of hostilities, if not regained much more of the territory than they've been able to do so far. The shift in position from President Biden that Ukraine can now use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia with limitations and the limitations he reiterated and stressed this morning in a new interview with ABC News, yesterday, they're just yesterday, reports that Ukraine is now starting to do that, limiting the targets to being to protect and be around Kharkiv is that enough to shift the balance? Do you think tactically? They should be able to do more?

PETRAEUS: I do. It will shift the balance to be sure. It will be very helpful to Ukraine, just as has been the long-delayed army tactical missile system provision and the Ukrainians are putting that to very good use, especially against targets in Crimea. They're making Crimea over time, increasingly unlivable for the Russian military, having already sunk some 40 percent or so of the Russian Black Sea fleet, which is very difficult to replace because they can't get warships through the Bosporus at a time aboard, due to the Montreux Convention which Turkey enforces.

And that's very significant achievement because it opens up the Western Black Sea for Ukraine to export grain, hugely important for their fiscal situation and for countries like Egypt whose food security depends on it. But no, I'd like to see these limits lifted as well. It's -- I have considerable admiration for the way the administration led the Western world, NATO, and others in the wake of the invasion, kept it all together, avoided Putin driving a wedge between Europe and in North America, between East and West Europe, and so forth.

But these delays on certain decisions I think have really been somewhat unconscionable. The delay on the M1 tanks which delayed the Leopard decision by Germany, the delay on a ATACMS, a delay on Western aircraft. Inevitably, we always say yes. And I wish we were just get to yes, a lot sooner than has been the case recently.

BOLDUAN: And continue as we speak to more live pictures of veterans of D-Day and celebrating them and their service today.

Thank you so much for coming on today, General, it's always good to see, especially today. Thank you.

PETRAEUS: It's great to comment on the greatest generation. Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in Gaza, this reportedly killed dozens of people. Israel says there were Hamas operatives inside. CNN has learned the munitions used were made by the United States.

And then he would want to smoke up as soon as he woke up, the intimate testimony of an ex-girlfriend and the Hunter Biden trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:47]

BOLDUAN: Any moment now, testimony is set to resume in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial today. Today, a third woman who used to be in a relationship with Hunter Biden will likely take the stand.

Now, Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden's brother, Beau, and also an ex-girlfriend of Hunter Biden, just arrived in court. She is expected to testify. It comes after an embarrassing day of testimony from Hunter Biden's ex-wife, and a different ex-girlfriend, both of them testifying about his past drug use among other things.

CNN's Paula Reid is outside the courthouse for us this morning with much -- with much more on this.

What is expected to happen today, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, moments ago, prosecutors confirmed that they will wrap their case today. They have six more witnesses they're going to call. And the star witness, of course, that everybody is waiting for is Hallie Biden. She is the former wife of Hunter's late brother Beau, and was romantically involved with Hunter for a time. She was also the one who tossed the gun at the center of this case into a dumpster.

Now, she was expected to go yesterday after Hunter's ex-wife and ex- girlfriend. And the fact that they didn't call her yesterday suggests they will probably end their case with her testimony, again, believing that she is their strongest witness.

[09:20:01]

But any moment now, testimony will resume by the man who sold Hunter this gun and his testimony is significant because he was the one who saw Hunter fill out the form that accounts for two of the three charges that he is facing because he checked no, when asked if he was currently using or addicted to illegal drugs.

Now, defense attorneys tried to shift some of the blame for this gun purchase to the salesman in yesterday on cross-examination, hunter's lawyer Abbe Lowell, you got the salesman to admit that he's a so- called, whale hunter, that he is someone who tries to upsell customers who walk into the store. And that is also significant because it contradicts the grand jury testimony that this witness gave, sort to undercuts his credibility. He is going to be back on the stand this morning facing more questions

from Abbe Lowell.

But even if the prosecution wraps their case today, Kate, we still expect this trial will go into early next week because the defense has to put on their case the jury has to receive instructions, and then of course, of time to deliberate.

BOLDUAN: All right. We've just been told that a court has now resumed, right where Paula Reid is and were going to have more details on headlines coming out as it begins.

Great to see you, Paula. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. The dust settling this morning after the announcement from the Georgia court of appeals that they have paused the election subversion case against Donald Trump and others until they essentially decide if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the prosecutions.

CNN's Zach Cohen joins us now with the latest on that.

Good morning to you, Zach.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah. John, good morning.

This means barring some sort of last-minute miracle, unforeseen miracle, there's no way Donald Trump is going to stand trial in Georgia before the 2024 election and raised the question of whether he will ultimately stand trial in Georgia at all.

And look, this is because the Georgia court of appeals making very clear to the prosecution of Donald Trump in Georgia cannot continue until the Georgia court of appeals ways in and decides on this issue of whether or not Fani Willis should be disqualified. You mentioned too that the deadline for that decision is March 2025, that come to well, after November's election.

And look, if Donald Trump is elected president, that effectively means the chances of a trial ever happening go down to zero.

But look, this is not unusual or this is unusual because the appeals court typically when it takes up an issue stays proceedings in the trial court. It means that work in the trial court cannot continue while the appeals court weighs an issue. But in this case, Judge Scott McAfee, the trial court judge, did right in his order that work would continue his courtroom, even if the appeals court took up the disqualification issue, the appeals court weighing in though yesterday saying, no, we're going to push pause on all work in this case as it relates to Donald Trump and some of his co-defendants, until we sort this matter out.

And look, that means that we're going to spend the next several months instead of preparing for a trial, we're going to be re-litigating this issue of whether or not Fani Willis engaged in an improper romantic relationship with her top prosecutor and whether she -- benefited financially from that relationship in a way that represents a conflict of interests. That's something the appeals courts going to have to determine looking at all the evidence that was presented during those hearings, several months ago. Remember, we've watched those play out live Judge McAfee deciding no, she can stay on the case if Nathan Wade left. The appeals court now, can overturn that decision if it decides to.

BOLDUAN: Zach Cohen, great to see you. Thank you so much.

And joining us right now, CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Elie Honig.

Let's start with Georgia. Well, there's a lot going on here, obviously. There hadn't been a lot of developments since Judge McAfee ruled, and then we have this.

Does this surprise you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: No, it doesn't surprise me because we knew the case was going to be appealed. We knew that the court of appeals had agreed to take the case. They did not have to do this.

What was surprising was yesterday's announcement when the court of appeals said, okay, trial court, while were taking this case over the next several months everything stops down there and as Zach pointed out this is an important point, when the trial judge issued his ruling, he said, okay, defendants, Donald Trump and others, you can try to take this up to the appeals court, but while that's all happening, were going to carry on here with our normal pretrial business.

Now, that's all paused. Now, there's no way this case gets tried before the end of 2024. It may not get tried ever if Donald Trump and the other defendants win on this appeal.

BOLDUAN: All right. So put Georgia aside for a long time.

I want to ask about the Hunter Biden trial because it's going on right now. They're hearing testimony again. I think a lot of people coming into this specific case and there's another case dealing with taxes that can take place in the fall.

Sort of shrug their shoulders and said, okay, Hunter Biden talked about being addicted to drugs in his book. There's no mystery there. He definitely filled out on this forum that he wasn't abusing or addicted to drugs. What's this about? This is cut and dried.

But all of a sudden now that there's testimony here, it seems like people are looking to sing, you know what, there's the possibility that he gets through this.

HONIG: It's an interesting case of when the prosecutions case seems simple and straightforward at first, but the defense does a good job of pointing out potential holes, potential loopholes.

[09:25:01]

First of all, important to people understand what the charges here because ordinarily as a prosecutor, you can't just pour in evidence that the person's an addict just to make them look bad or make them look immoral or something like that. The crime that is charged here really is two parts. Had a gun while an addict and then related to that lie on the form to get a gun by saying he's not an addict.

The defense seems to be making the argument that the prosecution cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that at the moment he applied for that gun --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: The literal -- the literal moment basically.

HONIG: And that's the question for the jury, right? How close does it have to be for the moment? Doesn't have to be -- was he high as he filled out that form in October 2018, was he high throughout the 11 days or so he possessed the gun? We don't actually know the answer to that. There's a lot of wiggle room.

BOLDUAN: How do you define addict? Like, I mean --

HONIG: Well, that's another great point. That's why -- look, I've said publicly, I've never even heard of this law. I was a prosecutor for 14 years. It exists. It gets charged sometimes, but it was seen as a law that we just didn't use. We didn't -- I didn't even know about it because who's to define what is a, quote-unquote, addict? It's sort of based on outdated notions of addiction I think.

BERMAN: So combine this, combine the defense trying to find this incredibly narrowly, like the moment the pen hits the paper. With the fact you're in Delaware.

HONIG: Exactly. I think, look, what is happening here is what we sometimes called jury nullification. You're not allowed as a defense lawyer to stand in front of a jury and say, folks, this case is bogus, you should throw it out. But you can certainly suggest that to a jury in a jury has the power to do that.

And I think what the Hunter Biden's team is trying to do here is give the defense a hook, give the jury a reason to say, we don't like this case. We're going to hang and were going to go not guilty.

BOLDUAN: Is that what is behind the cross-examination of the guy who sold the gun and having him admit that he likes to upsell people? It doesn't seem related to was he high, wasn't he high? Is that what this gets through?

HONIG: Yeah. I think it's in one sense, it's standard impeachment of a witness where you say, well, what you said in the grand jury is in since that with what you stay here. But you -- look, if you're the defense or you want the jury to be ticked off at the prosecution, you want the jury to be disbelieving of the prosecutions case. And if you can expose a whole and testimony, even if it doesn't go to the core of the crime, that can still in to your benefit as a defendant.

BERMAN: You're talking about what we might see today, talk about a fraught witness for lack of a better word, the widow of Beau Biden, who had a relationship with Hunter Biden, which is obviously something that's very complicated for the Biden family. And when you look to the witnesses before the case and you saw this, you're like, oh, this is tough for Hunter Biden. She's going to testify that he was using drugs during the relationship but again, how can the defense use this witness?

HONIG: Let me -- let me give you what my advice would be when I was -- when I was a supervisor of the prosecutor's office. Guys, we have to prove that he was an addict, but let's not overdo it. Let's not get it to the point where the jury is backlashing against us, to the point where the jury thinks were just piling on sort of salacious personal information.

He said it in his book, we have a couple of witnesses who can say, we have exes, but we don't -- do we need to call out every single ex-wife and ex-girlfriend and air all the family's dirty laundry? Because that could really sort of rebound against you.

And I think -- I don't know what the defense will do with her. I'm not sure that leaving cross her at all. I think they may just leave it as is, maybe they'll try to focus on the variant narrow timeframe, you know, the moment he signed the forms.

But I would be very careful as a prosecutor, there is such thing as over-proving your case, believe it or not. Not a problem I had a lot. It was a good problem to have.

BERMAN: Like a job interviews. You know, I work too much, care too much --

HONIG: Yeah, exactly, what's your biggest weakness?

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: What's your biggest weakness, John?

BERMAN: Care too much, work too hard.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, I'm just too smart. It's just a problem.

HONIG: Good tip to the kids out there.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Elie. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Extreme heat across the country, threatening millions of Americans. We've got new reports that temperatures attorney lethal.

And it's going to have to happen to them. New threats by Donald Trump to prosecute his political opponents if he is reelected. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)