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Judge Orders Steve Bannon to Report to Jail; Interview With Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; Hunter Biden Trial Continues; At Least 40 Killed in Israeli Strike on School; World Leaders Commemorate 80th Anniversary of D-Day. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:33]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Beau Biden's widow and Hunter's ex- girlfriend is on the stand today in his federal trial on gun charges, describing how she found the gun and drugs in Hunter Biden's car. We will take you live outside the courthouse.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And as 17 nations, including the U.S., urge Israel and Hamas to come to a cease-fire deal, an IDF airstrike hits a U.N.-run school in Gaza that Israel says was a Hamas compound, and it killed dozens of people.

And, today, amid global conflict and uncertainty, we remember D-Day, the turning point in the Second World War, when Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, 80 years ago.

We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Today, a crucial witness for the prosecution in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial takes the stand.

Hallie Biden, the widow of Beau Biden, who dated Hunter after Beau's death, has been testifying about finding and disposing of the gun that's at the center of this case. She's also described how Hunter introduced her to crack cocaine and how she was embarrassed and ashamed about that chapter of her life.

But, on cross-examination, Hallie Biden also told the jury she didn't -- she did not witness Hunter doing drugs around the time that he bought that weapon.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is outside the federal courthouse in Delaware for us.

Evan, court just took a break for lunch. What more have we learned from Hallie Biden's testimony?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we saw jurors, some jurors who rarely take notes taking very, very -- a lot of notes during Hallie Biden's testimony. I mean, she is the prosecution's star witness. And, as you pointed

out, she is the only witness so far and possibly in this entire trial who will be able to say that she believed Hunter Biden was using drugs in the month of October of 2018. He bought the firearm on October 12 of 2018.

That's when prosecutors say that he knew he was struggling with drug addiction and knew that he didn't have a -- didn't qualify to be able to buy that. And that's the reason why he's on trial here today. She found the firearm on October 23.

And what she testified is that she believed that he was using drugs around the 22nd or the 23rd. Under cross-examination, as you pointed out, she did say that she didn't actually witness it, but she believed, based on his -- on his -- on his behavior, that he was using drugs.

Now, the importance of this is this. The defense is trying to drive home the point that the prosecution has him using drugs in September and in November. But during this key period, before he bought the firearm, they don't have any proof that he actually was using drugs.

And what they're trying to do is to drive a little bit of distance and perhaps a little bit of his frame of mind from that period to have the jury doubt whether he knew he was breaking the law when he bought this firearm. She was very embarrassed, she said, about her drug use.

And you could see that this is a very emotional part of this -- of this trial, emotional part of this testimony. Hunter Biden was looking straight ahead, looking at her periods during her -- during her testimony, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Evan, before we heard from her, we heard from this gun store employee who sold Hunter Biden the gun. What did jurors hear from him?

PEREZ: Well, the importance of this gun store employee is, he was there when Hunter Biden was filling out the form, the ATF form 4473, where he attested that he was not an addict, was not somebody who was addicted to drugs.

And what the -- what we had today was the defense trying to shake him a little bit off his story. And he didn't really budge very much. What the defense has been trying to do is to try to get to some of the discrepancies in that handling of that ATF form.

We know -- we know that there is a second version of that form that exists that the judge ruled could not be shown in court. The jury does not know about it. And so he was trying to see if he could get that gun store employee to at least open the way for him to talk about it. The gun store employee did not really budge.

[13:05:00]

And we will see whether this is something that Hunter Biden's team will be able to use in a possible appeal should he be convicted -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Evan Perez live from outside the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware.

Evan, thank you so much.

Let's discuss these developments with former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Renato, thanks so much for being with us this afternoon.

Let's start in chronological order. This gun store owner, the defense tried to focus on two things during the cross-examination. One of them was how quickly he wanted this sale processed. And then the second was some of the details in the actual form, the questionnaire that Hunter Biden signed.

What's the significance of those aspects of the cross-examination?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: So the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden knowingly and willfully made a false statement on that form.

And, essentially, what the defense is trying to do is essentially suggest he was hurried through that, this was not a considered decision his part, he was just reacting, checking a box, because, as you alluded to earlier, Boris, his testimony is essentially -- or his story, it's going to be his defense, is that he was on a rehab program, was coming out of a rehab program.

So, he thought of himself as sober in that period of time, so that this was not considered and really try to give the jury some of the context so they understand this was not a very well-thought-out decision on his part and therefore not willful.

SANCHEZ: So, Hallie Biden's testimony about her own use of crack was a stunning moment.

The prosecution obviously wants to highlight her saying that she found remnants of crack alongside the gun in Hunter's car. The defense actually wants to sort of muddy the waters. They want to highlight her own drug use to sort of argue that some of the cocaine remnants that were discovered by investigators may not have been Hunter's.

Who do you think has the strongest argument there?

MARIOTTI: Well, look, this is -- obviously, there's an uphill battle for the defense on this point generally.

But I think what the defense is trying to do here is partly to call into question her testimony. I mean, the fact that she was on drugs also could potentially impact her perception of events at that time. But the defense, as we discussed, and I think you discussed a moment ago with Evan, is really focused on trying to say, look, maybe he was using drugs a month prior, maybe he was using drugs a month afterwards, but this was his state of mind during that month. So I think it does -- it's an effective point. But, really, the jury's

not going to be swayed, unless they just feel bad for Hunter and think that the prosecution is wrongheaded in some fashion.

SANCHEZ: The prosecution is expected to wrap up their case today. Do you think that they have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter is guilty?

MARIOTTI: I think they have a strong case.

I mean, I think there's a lot of questions here about why this case was brought and so on. This is a very unusual case. I do think there's very, very substantial appellate issues. The statute's been called into question, the constitutionality of it and so on. There's an argument that there was already a deal.

But I think, in terms of the jury verdict, the defense has an uphill battle here, and they're really hoping to get a hung jury.

SANCHEZ: Renato Mariotti, appreciate your perspective on the case. Thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The White House is continuing to push for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

An American official says the United States and 16 other countries whose citizens were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 are set to release a joint statement today to try to get a hostage release and cease-fire deal over the line.

The president outlined a proposal last week. He characterized it as an Israeli proposal. But Hamas now says the plan that it received differs from what Biden presented and it falls short of their demands.

In the meantime, the crisis in Gaza continues to deepen. The U.N. is now warning half of Gaza's population is expected to face death and starvation by mid-July.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following the latest developments live for us from Jerusalem.

And, Jeremy, there's also been an airstrike in Gaza that killed more than 40. What are the latest details on that?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brianna.

It's been a very deadly week in Central Gaza, as the Israeli military has clearly been stepping up its airstrikes in that area. Late last night -- overnight, actually, I should say, in the early hours of this morning, an Israeli airstrike hit a U.N. school, an UNRWA school that was effectively converted into a makeshift shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians.

The Israeli military says that it was targeting 20 to 30 militants who they say were on site, sheltering there and planning attacks against Israeli troops. An Israeli military spokesman, Colonel Peter Lerner, saying that he was not aware of any civilian casualties.

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But the reality of images that we have seen of the bodies coming out of that strike and the records from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in that area indicate that a majority of the 40 people who were killed in this strike were indeed women and children, nine women and 14 children, with the youngest being just 4 years old.

This is obviously not the first time that we have seen the Israeli military strikes in this area causing civilian casualties. Just a couple of weeks ago, actually, the Israeli military used the same types of munitions that it used in this strike, the GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb. Fragments were found at the scene of this strike.

Those are the same munitions that they used in that deadly strike in Rafah on another camp for displaced Palestinians that killed 45 people, the United Nations Relief Agency in Gaza, the main agency in Gaza, saying that this area was sheltering 6,000 people and saying that targeting U.N. premises or using them for military purposes is simply unacceptable and cannot become the new norm.

KEILAR: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Jerusalem, thank you for the very latest there.

Today, the world commemorates the historic invasion by U.S. and Allied troops that helped end the worst war in human history. This is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. And, on June 6, 1944, tens of thousands of troops from countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, made an amphibious landing on five stretches of the French coastline at Normandy.

Operation Overlord, as it was called, was a coordinated effort across air, land and sea that the Department of Defense called the successful beginning of the end of Hitler's tyrannical regime.

President Biden was there at Normandy today.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not far off from the time when the last living voices of those who fought and bled on D-Day will no longer be with us.

So we have a special obligation. We cannot allow what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. We must remember it, must honor it and live it, and we must remember the fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us from what we have to do today.

Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Among those back in France to mark the day, U.S. Army Air Force Corporal Harold Terens. On this day 80 years ago, Terens was working as a radio operator mechanic based in Northern England.

He communicated with 60 P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes flying over France. And, nearly two weeks later, Terens traveled to Normandy to help transport newly captured Germans and freed American POWs to England.

He reflected on this day 80 years ago. And he had a message for world leaders as tensions are rising around the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAROLD TERENS, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: My company, we lost 30 fighter planes that day. And, eventually, before Normandy was over, we lost every plane. All 60 planes and pilots were destroyed, shot down or crashed. It was a very sad time of all of our lives. They were all my friends.

The presidents and prime ministers of the world that sit down and iron out their difficulties and their differences, and remember that the pen is mightier than the sword.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And joining us now is former Defense Secretary under President Obama Leon Panetta.

Interesting words, I think, to hear on this day.

I just wonder, on this day, what a day to remember, especially as we are seeing the last surviving D-Day veterans and it's such a critical moment in the world.

How are you reflecting, Secretary, on this day?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, I think it's important for all of us to pause to remember what happened 80 years ago, because the United States were a leadership, working with our allies, came together in a massive landing at Normandy.

And there were -- there were those who were willing to fight and die for our country and to secure our freedoms. And as we live in a dangerous world today, I think it's very important to remember the importance of United States' world leadership, but also the importance of our alliances and the need to work together to make sure we protect democracy 80 years after Normandy.

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KEILAR: I think that's such a key part of what today means.

This was really the beginning of America as a superpower. This was the beginning of a world order that Americans have so benefited from for the last eight decades. It seems like a lot of people have forgotten that.

How do you drive that message home and get them to recognize where this comes from, this sort of -- as much as some people will complain about how things are, there are a lot of wonderful things out there for Americans.

How do you get them to recognize that?

PANETTA: I think it's important for our leaders to continue to remind the American people about the sacrifices that were made. I know that we have a tendency to forget what happened in the past and to only think about the present.

But the reality is that there is an important legacy here. The legacy stretches from Franklin Roosevelt to Joe Biden. Almost every president has committed this country to trying to protect our freedoms.

I mean, I think it's important to remember that Ronald Reagan spoke at the 40th anniversary of D-Day. And, at that time, he talked about learning the lessons of war, not forgetting the lessons of war, understanding that we can't be isolationists, that we have to work with our allies.

And he ended that speech by saying: "Your hopes are our hopes and your destiny is our destiny."

That's a Republican president. I think we have to remind ourselves that it is important not to forget what happened at Normandy, because we need that strength, we need that courage today as we confront the adversaries of the present.

KEILAR: And speaking of that, we saw Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He was there today. He got a lot of attention, for good reason. Many people see parallels in the Ukraine war to the conflict that was fought in World War II.

How do you see that parallel?

PANETTA: Oh, I don't think there's any question.

I mean, I, frankly -- I was a young boy in World War II. I think I was about 6 years old when Normandy happened. But I never thought that I would see in my lifetime another tyrant trying to invade a sovereign democracy, for no other reason but that he does not believe the people of that country have the right to decide how to govern themselves.

So Putin's invasion of Ukraine is very much a wakeup call that democracy is still under threat in this world, under threat from tyrants like Putin and others, and under threat if we are not willing to come together to pull together a strong alliance of the United States and other countries to defend democracy.

That's the main message today, is that we cannot allow tyrants to succeed. We cannot allow democracy to be lost because we failed to stand up, work together, fight together, and make sure that democracy would be protected.

KEILAR: Secretary Panetta, it is great to have you on this momentous day. Thank you so much for taking time to be with us. PANETTA: Good to be with you.

KEILAR: And ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is heading to prison. CNN was inside the sentencing hearing moments ago when Bannon learned his fate. We're going to take you there live.

And it's not what you want to hear when you are traveling hundreds of miles above Earth: You have got a leak.

We're following Boeing's Starliner that could dock at the International Space Station this hour.

Plus, the former neighbor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito tells her side of the story surrounding that inverted flag that was on Alito's property, the spat that led to the hoisting of that upside- down flag.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Just a few minutes ago, a federal judge ordered former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to report to prison by July 1 to serve his four- month prison sentence.

Bannon was hoping to stay out of prison as he appealed his conviction for contempt of Congress.

CNN's Sara Murray is following the story from the courthouse.

Sara, tell us how this all went down.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seemed like a big surprise to Steve Bannon and his attorneys that federal Judge Carl Nichols said that Steve Bannon will have to begin serving his sentence. He has to self-surrender by July 1.

Remember, it was July of 2022 that Steve Bannon was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress by a jury. The judge that year sentenced him to four months behind bars, but said he could stay free pending an appeal of his conviction. Well, they discussed that appeal in the hearing today.

And the judge said, look, the appeals court wholeheartedly disagreed with the legal arguments that Bannon and his team were making. He said he was not going to put off this sentence any longer, and he said it's time for Steve Bannon to report to prison.

And there was a heated moment at the end of this hearing where Steve Bannon's attorney was sort of trying to urge the judge to reconsider. The judge was not very pleased with how that exchange was going, how he was being talked to.

[13:25:06]

Unsurprisingly, Bannon still gave off a defiant air as he left the courthouse today. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: This is about one thing. This is about shutting down the MAGA movement, shutting down grassroots conservatives, shutting down President Trump.

Not only are we winning. We are going to prevail. And every number and every poll shows that. There's nothing that can shut me up and nothing that will shut me up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, Bannon is not totally out of options.

He could seek emergency relief from the appeals court, from the U.S. Supreme Court, but, obviously, a very tight time frame for another court to intervene before that July 1 surrender date, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, unclear what grounds the Supreme Court would grant him that.

Sara Murray, live outside the courthouse, thank you so much.

So, we're just moments away from Boeing's Starliner docking with the International Space Station.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're tracking this closely, and we will be right back.

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