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Day 4 Of Hunter Biden's Gun Trial Underway; Trump Steps Onto Campaign Trail For First Time Since Conviction; Biden, World Leaders Mark 80 Years Since Allied Landings In France; Sen. Tim Scott Starts $14M Outreach To Bring Black, Latino Voters To GOP. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And back on the trail, former President Trump holds a rally today in Arizona, his first time campaigning as a convicted felon in a state that both he and President Biden see as key to winning the White House.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, at the site where allied nations worked together to tilt the balance of World War II, President Biden conferring with allies about securing peace amid two major current international conflicts.

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

KEILAR: Right now, the jury in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial continues to hear testimony from a key witness. Prosecutors just called the police officer who responded to a report that Hunter Biden's gun had been thrown away in a grocery store dumpster in 2018. Before that, Hallie Biden, who was Beau Biden's widow, who then dated Hunter Biden after Beau's death, testified for hours describing how she found and got rid of the gun. She also went into detail about her own drug use while she was dating Hunter Biden. CNN's Paula Reid is outside of the federal courthouse in Delaware.

Paula, catch us up. What's the latest here?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's been quite a day here in Wilmington. Hallie Biden just got off the witness stand and she has been, by far, the most significant witness for the prosecution because she was able to share her observations about Hunter Biden's state in October 2018. And the reason that is significant is because, of course, that is the month when he purchased the firearm at the heart of this case. And prosecutors allege that he lied on the form when he purchased it, when he said that he was not using or addicted to illegal drugs.

And his other romantic partners, his ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend who testified yesterday, neither one of them were ever able to testify to his condition in October 2018 because they didn't see him. Hallie Biden testified that she believed that he was still using in late October, around October 22nd, 23rd, when she saw him. But on cross-examination, defense attorneys also got her to concede

that she never saw him using drugs. But she did testify that she found drugs and drug paraphernalia, along with the gun at the center of this case, in the trunk of his car on October 23rd. Of course, then she took that gun and threw it in a dumpster. Subsequently, something upon hindsight, she says, was not a good idea.

But her testimony has given a little for each side. But so far, she seems to be a strong witness for the prosecution. I was in court earlier, and I can tell you, the jury, they were very attentive. They understood that this was not only his one-time sister-in-law, the widow of his deceased brother, Beau. This is a former romantic partner of Hunter Biden. She testified that Hunter introduced her to crack cocaine, which she used for a period of time. It was a very compelling story that she had to share with the jury. They understood her significance for this case. And let me tell you, they were very attentive, hanging on every word that she said while I was in here.

Now, prosecutors were expected to wrap up their case today, but Hallie Biden took a long time to get through that testimony. So it's unclear if they're going to be able to get through their other five witnesses today.

KEILAR: All right. We're looking to see if they're able to get through that.

Paula Reid live for us from Wilmington, thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss now with Anthony Michael Kreis. He's an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University.

Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

First, I want to get your thoughts on Hallie Biden's testimony, difficult at times. She sort of reveals this vulnerable part of herself talking about her own drug use. But then she gets into details about finding drugs and the weapon in Hunter Biden's car. How do you think the jury interpreted all of that?

ANTHONY MICHAEL KREIS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, it certainly seems like it's a very emotional testimony, and that certainly will resonate with jurors who are people who understand, you know, the kind of emotional issues that people deal with as, you know, Hallie Biden was dealing with and Hunter Biden was as well. It seems as if this testimony is somewhat mixed in the sense that there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Hallie Biden thought that Hunter Biden was using drugs at the time that he purchased the firearm in question. But at the same time, she never saw anything, you know, in terms of him using it personally.

So I'm not surprised that the jurors are paying a lot of attention and that this testimony is really important. In fact, in many ways, the key testimony for prosecutors.

SANCHEZ: Do you think prosecutors needed her to say that she saw Hunter Biden doing drugs in a certain range of time around the purchase of the weapon in order to get a conviction?

KREIS: Well, I think if I were a juror, that's something that I would want to know. I mean, remember here that the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt.

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And so I think if jurors are looking for some kind of reasonable doubt, if they feel empathetic in some way to Hunter Biden, then maybe that that lack of a personal witnessing drug use could be incredibly important in their calculus during deliberations. But it certainly isn't, I think, necessary for their case to be made.

SANCHEZ: One thing the defense was trying to do during cross- examination of that former gun store employee that actually sold the weapon to Hunter Biden was ask him about how quickly he processed that sale. The defense, they're essentially trying to make it seem like Hunter Biden was rushed and didn't really know what he was filling out in that questionnaire that's central to the prosecution's argument. What do you think about that approach from Abbe Lowell and Hunter Biden's defense team?

KREIS: Yes, so there seems to be this kind of pincher movement that the defense is creating here as they're pushing back against the prosecution's case. On the one hand, they're saying that Hunter Biden was rushed in the process and was very quickly filling out this form. And in addition to that, they're suggesting that when Hunter Biden said on the ATF form that he was not a drug user or that he was not an addict that kind of in that rush process.

He basically said, well, I'm not using it right now. And in addition to that, he didn't consider himself an addict. And so in that both rush process and in that open question about what the questionnaire actually is asking right - that could be left up to, according to the defense's reasonable interpretation, that this kind of interactive effect should undermine the case that Hunter Biden was acting in a criminal way.

SANCHEZ: So we are expecting that the prosecution will soon wrap up their case. I'm wondering how you think the defense is going to move forward and whether you think they have an uphill battle in front of them.

KREIS: Well, I think it's really hard to say. I mean, of course, we've already seen the outlines of their defense being, you know, taking shape in cross-examination this morning. But I do think what seems to be the case here, and this, of course, has political ramifications too, is that, you know, these jurors are people and we live in a country that has an immense crisis with both mental health, but also with addiction and drug abuse and the like.

And so I suspect that the defense is going to attempt to tap into that kind of empathetic response or hope to elicit an empathetic response with themes of that nature, in addition to, you know, going with this line of argument that Hunter Biden was just kind of rushed along. And that his interpretations of the question are quite open or reasonable ones and not really built in with some kind of criminal intent.

SANCHEZ: Anthony Michael Kreis, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate the perspective.

KREIS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna?

KEILAR: For the first time since his conviction in his hush money trial about falsifying documents, former President Trump is stepping back on the campaign trail and he's expected to attend a town hall in Phoenix tonight as part of a swing out west. To discuss this further, we have CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is there in Phoenix, and we have CNN's Jeff Zeleny here in studio.

Okay. Kristen, to you first there. Give us a preview of what's going to happen here in a few hours. Is Trump expected to play up this conviction? He is, we should note, still under a gag order.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Brianna, we are told that he is not going to do that, that he's going to deliver brief remarks campaign style, very political based, talking about immigration. But I will give you the caveat that he has been talking about retribution and the case almost nonstop since that verdict came down, so whether or not he stays on script will remain to be seen.

But after he delivers those brief political remarks, then he is going to get questions from the audience. This is a town hall with Turning Points action. That is a conservative group led by Charlie Kirk, who is a close ally of both Trump and his son, Don Jr.

So we're not expecting any questions here to be the kind that trip Trump up. Everyone here that we have spoken to and seen is conservative and a Trump supporter. So this is a very friendly environment for him to be in.

Now, I do want to note a couple of things. One is that J.D. Vance, who we have reported is on the shortlist to become Donald Trump's vice president, he is being currently vetted, is traveling with him today. Doug Burgum, another potential VP candidate, is going to meet him for this West Coast swing. Because after this event in Arizona, he is going to California for a series of big dollar fundraisers across that state and in Las Vegas before another rally on Sunday.

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Now, again, the one thing I will point out is that while Donald Trump has been known, especially recently, to go off and to focus on his case, his team is stressing that they are shifting now into the political sphere and that it is time for him to be campaigning for president.

KEILAR: And why Phoenix, Kristen?

HOLMES: Phoenix is, look, we're in a battleground state. He actually hasn't been to Arizona at all this year. He had two, perhaps three. One of them they said was never scheduled, but we had it on our schedule, events to Arizona that were later canceled. And this is a state that he desperately needs. There's also another reason for it, Turning Point is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Turning Point is a big part of Donald Trump's ground game campaign. They are an outside group. Because of the recent ruling, the FEC lifting up the communications allowing the campaign to coordinate with outside groups. Turning Point is expected to spend over a hundred million in an attempt to get Donald Trump elected, brought back to the White House. And a lot of that focus is going to be here in Arizona.

KEILAR: It certainly is. All right. Kristen, thank you so much, live for us from Arizona.

And Jeff, how does the Trump campaign think that he's a convicted felon is going to play when it comes to his support with voters?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORREPONDENT: Well, at least in the short-term, over the last several days, it's helped in terms of raising money. They've raised an extraordinary amount of money, some $53 million in the immediate day and hours after the conviction.

The longer term is a little bit less clear.

When you talk to advisers for the former president, they don't want him to dwell on this. They want him to continue to make this election a referendum on the Biden administration, Biden policies there in Phoenix, perhaps, the border policies. But we have all covered Donald Trump for a long time. He often talks about what he wants to talk about, what he thinks works for him.

So kind of the bigger question is how much this becomes about him and his convictions. So we will see how much the felon moniker helps. But in a room like that where Kristen is, it absolutely rallies the base.

I was in Wisconsin earlier this week talking to Trump supporters. They stand behind him. They're even more charged up because of this. The independent voters, perhaps, less so.

KEILAR: Yes. We imagine he's going to say a lot about the border, especially with the president's big announcement this week. It's such a big issue in Arizona and other border states. What are we expecting, do you think?

ZELENY: I mean, it's a local issue. The border issue, of course, is a very personal issue. It's viewed in many different ways by business owners, by others. So it's not as cut-and-dried as we often think it is here in Washington. There's a lot of frustration that no one has gotten anything accomplished in terms of immigration reform, et cetera.

But the Biden administration, the campaign, the President obviously making that executive order this week to try and show that he is also trying to do something on the border. We've seen some results, but again, that is an open question how it plays long-term.

KEILAR: Yes. They're frustrated with Washington. They're frustrated with politicians.

ZELENY: And who can blame them?

KEILAR: Kind of all of them.

ZELENY: Because it's been so long since any real serious discussions on immigration have happened.

KEILAR: That's right. You can't really blame them.

Jeff, thank you so much. We do appreciate it.

And ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, remembering D-Day, we are live from Normandy, France, where dozens of world leaders and veterans gathered to mark the anniversary of the day that changed the course of history. And new calls to close a Wisconsin prison after nine people, including the warden of the prison, are charged with neglecting inmates, leading to at least two deaths.

Those stories and many more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Today, the world commemorates the historic invasion by U.S. and allied troops that changed the course of World War II, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. On this day in 1944, 10s of thousands of Americans were among the coalition of Allied forces that stormed the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. And their successful landing that day marked a major turning point that led to Germany's defeat the following year.

In Normandy, President Biden and other world leaders gathered to honor the service and sacrifices those troops made on D-Day. Earlier, he met with some of the last remaining U.S. veterans who were actually there in Normandy on D-Day. And, later, he attended a somber ceremony that included a flyover.

The President also delivered remarks stressing the importance of defending democracy.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II, since these beaches were stormed in 1944. Now we have to ask ourselves, will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist? Will we stand for freedom? Will we defend democracy? Will we stand together?

My answer is yes and only can be yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Friends, Melissa Bell joins us now live from the region, and it appears that she's riding in a jeep. Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this is one of the jeeps, American jeeps, that proved so pivotal in allowing the Allies to reconquer this part of France.

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This is Arromanches, so we're just like a block away from the beach and one of the first parts of France that would have been taken by the Allied soldiers as they made their way inch by inch beyond enemy lines. Again, with the help of these vehicles that we spent our day in, not just the amphibious vehicles, but these sorts of jeeps that would have allowed them to transport the weapons, the equipment they needed to get further and further into France.

I think it's important to remember, as we consider what we just heard from President Biden, that there's very solemn commemorative events that were held up at the cemeteries, which are full of the graves of American soldiers who that day gave everything, their lives, for the freedom of this continent. To remember that this was a part of the world, France, that had been occupied by Nazi Germany for four years.

The German positions were extremely entrenched. The formidable ambition of Operation Overlord has been at the heart of everything we've heard today. This was a fight against the odds, to take back a land that had been occupied for so long that it was difficult to imagine that it might work, and yet the remarkable bravery of the first few soldiers who set foot on the beaches themselves, and all of those who were involved, the parachutists further behind enemy lines that allowed the Allied forces to cut off German communication lines, German resupply lines. And in the end succeed in the most extraordinary military campaign that Europe has known. As improbable as it seemed, it worked, and, of course, changed the course not just of Europe, but of the world over the course of the last 80 years.

So this is what all these people out here have been celebrating today. You can see the entire town has been decked out, 80th anniversary everywhere in the 6th of June is everywhere and what these people and all their vehicles have come out to mark to celebrate is that, the participation of 12 Allied nations in what must have seemed in 1944 nothing short of an act of folly, as they tried from the ocean to try and re-conquer lands that were as solidly held as they were. And yet, what historians will tell you now, is that if they hadn't succeeded, if the Germans hadn't folded as quickly as they had, and they'd been pushed back, the CS (ph) probabilities would have suggested that they might be, it would have taken the Allies years to attempt this sort of thing again.

And so, Europe would have remained occupied, the Nazis would have remained in power, with all that meant just not for the Jewish population of Europe, but for the ability of Europeans to live freely.

So, what we heard today, Boris, were remarkably moving words, not just from the American president, but also from a number of world leaders here today, to say that what was done here 80 years ago needs to be remembered by everyone, and celebrated, and marked in order that we can remember that that freedom that was conquered at such great expense 80 years ago is something that we continue to fight for today.

And hence, the presence of President Zelensky on that extraordinary beach commemoration we saw on Omaha earlier today, not just the Allied nations and their leaders present, but the leader of Ukraine as well. An important reminder that that fight continues 80 years on, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And we actually saw President Zelensky exchange a moment with a U.S. veteran that was quite touching. They were sort of referring to each other as heroes, deflecting credit, and really just sharing a genuine moment.

I'm wondering, Melissa, what you've heard from those veterans that were there on D-Day, now 80 years later, returning to Normandy.

BELL: One of the most poignant things about these commemorative events this year, Boris, is the (INAUDIBLE) of these events.

SANCHEZ: Looks like we're having some technical difficulties there with Melissa Bell's shot. We'll try to get back to her if we get that sorted out.

Melissa, thank you so much.

Still ahead, there's new CNN reporting on Sen. Tim Scott and his multimillion-dollar plan to woo more voters of color to the GOP.

Plus, the cheeky response from South Korean activists after hundreds of bags of trash and filth floated across the border sent from North Korea. Their response just moments away.

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SANCHEZ: The nation's only black Republican senator, Tim Scott, is launching a multimillion-dollar effort to draw more black and Latino voters to the GOP.

KEILAR: That's right. A source familiar with the $14 million recruitment plan says this was not a directive from the Trump campaign. Recent polls of battleground states show Trump is making headway with male voters of color compared to his 2020 showing. We have CNN national politics correspondent Eva McKend here with the story.

All right. This is kind of interesting, Eva, right? He's doing this on his own. You know, he's apparently in the running for being vice president, maybe this sort of sweetens the pot?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, Brianna, he did not state that as his motivation ...

KEILAR: Too funny.

MCKEND: ... when he met with me and some other reporters this week to detail this plan. But listen, this does give him a platform to illustrate how he would perform as Trump's top surrogate if he ultimately is selected as the running mate.

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It is an ambitious effort. They are promising to spend $14 million on voter ...