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Biden to Give High-Stakes Speech; Hiring and Wages Picked up in May; Hunter Biden's Federal Trial Resumes Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, EVERY MOTHER COUNTS: Beast cancer. You know, there's so many things, which is why I think comprehensive, holistic care is what's required.

We enter the health care sort of world when we become moms usually, usually that's the time when we're going to have the most interface. More hospitalizations happen at that time than any other time in our lives.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I finally really got doctors when I became pregnant.

TURLINGTON BURNS: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: It was really time I saw doctor repeatedly.

TURLINGTON BURNS: And one thing that was called out in this report that I think is also really important is that a lot of the countries that are doing better have home visiting nurses. So we now know that 65 percent of the deaths that are happening that are related to pregnancy and childbirth are happening postpartum within the first year after baby is born. So the emphasis has been on prenatal care, which we can still do better at delivery.

And then mom is like, move on. Baby's here. Mom, you got through this. And then she's left on her own with little access to services, mental health. And then the paid leave piece is what comes into play there. You know, women are just unsupported.

It's a gender equity issue, I think, at the very root cause. And there's more attention to it, but it's not happening fast enough. And women are still dying.

BOLDUAN: Your organization is now what? We're almost 15 years in.

TURLINGTON BURNS: Almost 15 years.

BOLDUAN: And this is showing like the crisis is then, the crisis is now. Silver lining, though, there people like you who are putting voice to it and working all along the process to make it better. It's great to see you, Christy.

TURLINGTON BURNS: Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, President Biden is on his way back to Normandy for a crucial speech on democracy and freedom. This comes just hours after he announced a new, major aid package for Ukraine.

The president's son its back in a Delaware courtroom today. What the defense is hoping to hear from Hunter Biden's daughter and the president's brother too blunt potentially yesterday's dramatic testimony.

And, it's one last spin for America's longest running game show host. After more than four decades and over 8,000 episodes, "Wheel of Fortunes" Pat Sajak is saying farewell to viewers.

I'm Omar Jimenez, with Kate Bolduan. John Berman and Sara Sidner are out. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: President Biden right now making his way back to Normandy, France, where very soon he'll will be delivering a much-anticipated high-stakes speech on the battle for democracy abroad and at home, in his view. Biden will likely not say Donald Trump's - Donald - call out Donald Trump by name, but the risks that Biden believes his political rival poses will once again be front and center of his remarks.

Also front-and-center will be Vladimir Putin's Russia. Last hour Biden wrapped a meeting with Ukraine's president where Biden, on-camera with Zelenskyy, apologize to him for the delay of U.S. aid making it to Ukraine. Biden blamed Republicans and then said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We continued to say, the United States is standing with you. You are the bulwark against the aggression that's taking place. We have an obligation to be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kayla Tausche, traveling with the president once again this morning.

Kayla, set us up for what we could be hearing from the president very soon.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the president is going to be here at Pointe du Hoc, which is a very symbolic, poignant, emotional place in American history and really world history. This is where 225 U.S. Army Rangers scaled the cliffs to take out German artillery positions where they were positioned to be firing on Omaha and Utah Beaches, just as those allied forces were arriving on D-day. There's going to be at least one veteran from the U.S. Army here

present when the president makes his remarks, and that is going to be John Wardell. He arrived here in the days following D-day. And Present Biden is going to tell the story through the lens of Mr. Wardell and other current U.S. Army Rangers who will be present to talk about the example that was set in World War II and how the U.S. and the world owe it to those veterans and to those current service members to carry on that tradition of defending democracy worldwide.

Now, other themes are going to be the unbreakable alliance between NATO members. The potential rise of isolationism that President Biden is going to warn against. And, of course, implicitly, the rise of populism and the popularity of those positions among the base of Donald Trump, who is, of course, his opponent in this upcoming election.

In making this speech from this particular location, Biden is borrowing from the playbook of former President Ronald Reagan, who gave a very similar speech 40 years ago on D-day in 1984 and was in fairly similar straits to President Biden himself, up for re-election in a matter of months and facing waning support at home for U.S. intervention in conflicts overseas.

[09:05:06]

For Reagan, of course, it was the Cold War and the aggression of the Soviet Union. For President Biden, it is too hot wars, both in Ukraine, on the frontlines of Europe, as well as this situation between Israel and Hamas, where the administration is racing towards a ceasefire deal that has remained elusive. But President Biden is going to be delivering the message that democracy should and will prevail, people just need to believe it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Kayla Tausche, great to see you.

Oh, before I let you go, I wanted to ask - I'm so sorry, I forgot - almost forgot, I wanted to ask you about Biden's meeting with President Zelenskyy. What more are you learning about it?

TAUSCHE: Yes, that ended just a few moments ago. And at the top of the meeting, President Biden announced a new aid package for Ukraine, $225 million that will include artillery, ammunition and new air defense systems. That is the sixth package that is the result of the tens of billions of dollars in additional funding that Congress green-lit back in April. But it took six months to get that funding. And President Biden, in that meeting, apologize to President Zelenskyy for any delays it caused on the battlefield.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have to apologize for the - the weeks of not knowing what was going to happen (ph) in terms of funding, and because we had trouble getting a - a bill that we had to pass that had the money in it. Some - some of our very conservative members who were holding it up. But we got it done finally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: This comes as western allies are trying to discuss new and long-term funding solutions for Ukraine as political and financial wherewithal around the world is growing thin.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Kayla. Thank you very much.

JIMENEZ: And with us now is presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

Thanks for taking the time. Good to see you.

I want to start with - look, I mean, it is a very critical time in Europe right now. I think there's no secret about that. Even - we even saw Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy embracing World War II veterans at one point yesterday.

Do you see any parallels to the climate in Europe now versus 40 years ago when - when Reagan spoken, and even going back into the late '30s as well?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, 40 years ago, when Ronald Reagan went over there, he gave these two remarkable speeches, one at Pointe du Hoc, where he talked about the U.S. Army Second Rangers, these highly trained special ops who climbed the 100 foot cliffs to decimate the 155 millimeter French blasting guns that were towering over the Pointe n pill boxes. And by wiping out those guns, those rangers saved a lot of lives at Omaha and Utah Beaches.

When Reagan came and he gave a speech of a lifetime, Peggy Noonan wrote it. He gave a second speech that Tony Dolan wrote on Omaha Beach. And these are kind of clarion calls to those two Reagan speeches for the - for democracy in Europe. Reagan spoke about the liberation of western Europe. But we now have to liberate eastern Europe. And lo and behold, not many years after his Normandy speeches in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. So, there's this feeling that those Reagans speeches, beyond being well-delivered and well-written, was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.

President Biden is hoping to capture some of the Reagan magic. And, yes, it's so symbolic that he's with Zelenskyy, who's standing up against Russia, against authoritarianism, against Putin as a symbol of what a brave Churchill-ian person of democracy does against a tyrant like Putin. And I thought it was very poignant that President Biden talked about, we were slow in our funding, because you either have to be all in of saving the Ukraine, or not in at all. And we've been trying to - pulling the plug in and out, in and out, instead of being direct. But most Americans would like to see the United States defend Zelenskyy and the brave people of the Ukraine. BOLDUAN: Doug, we're just - next to your picture, we're showing a shot of where President Biden is going to be giving his remarks and Pointe du Hoc. And when you look at just the - I'm going to say the majesty. I mean it - the - the - the setting on which President Biden is going to make this speech. It reminds me of just how presidents, present and past, often utilize these moments abroad, to give presidential - like term defining speeches to the world, and also speaking to domestic audiences.

[09:10:07]

What does a stage like this, a moment, a setting like this, afford a president that we - as we know, you know, talking about Reagan and beyond, and even I remember speeches from Obama when he was abroad that were huge moments for the president.

BRINKLEY: Well, it's a great question.

You know, when Ronald Reagan's trip in 1984 was planned by Mikie Deaver, we considered Deaver the kind of maestro of statecraft. And they sent advanced agents there, got the exact right visual, timed it, in those days, so the big speech would come in, in the U.S. at 7:00 a.m., which was trying to capture the "Good Morning, America," "Today" show audience. Reagan, in early 1984, had a 27 percent approval rating in foreign policy. After the speeches there at Normandy, Reagan went up to 50, 60 percent, and it stayed there for the rest of the election cycle. So, it does have an impact.

Why? What goes on here? Look at the film clip of Zelenskyy talking and holding and hugging an American hero of World War II and saying, you saved Europe. Those are very powerful moments. And Reagan's speech made anybody who had served in World War II feel proud about it. And Reagan had told everybody in America, you have a veteran, you have a hero, a - somebody who served in either World War II, Korea, Vietnam, in your community. Tell them to stand up. Tell them, thank you.

And it started a wave around the country. And I think you're seeing Joe Biden doing that now, try to remind people of his love of the veterans of America, but also our armed forces.

BOLDUAN: Doug, it's always great to have you come on to kind of set the stage for these big moments. We really appreciate it.

BRINKLEY: Thank you, guys.

BOLDUAN: All right, so we do have some breaking news this morning we want to get to once again. U.S. job growth coming in hot in May, 272,000 jobs were added last month. Really blowing past expectations.

Rahel Solomon back with us.

Break down the report for us, Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so let's put that 272,000 in perspective, as you pointed out, Kate, right. So that's where we are. We were expecting something closer to right about this, right, 180,000. So, we sort of surpassed those Wall Street expectations almost by 100,000. Taking a look at the prior two months, these were actually revised slightly lower, but again, I mean, especially, what would this be, April, March, especially strong, right? So you see that their.

Unemployment, this comes from a different survey in the report. Same report. But this actually ticked up, passing 4 percent for the first time since January of 2022.

So, if you put this sort of - if you look at this broadly and if you put this in perspective, this is a very tight range. This is very low unemployment. And even with the tick up, it's still pretty low. And then looking at wages, now, if you're a worker and you're hoping for a raise, or if you are looking for a raise, you like to see this uptick, right? Because we actually saw, on a monthly basis, and an annual basis, wages pick back up more than Wall Street was expecting. Also more than we saw the month prior.

The reason why Wall Street probably doesn't like this, the reason why futures are actually lower on this report is because of the concern within the Fed that maybe higher wages could fuel into higher inflation. Of course, they are trying to tamp down inflation.

So, you put this in perspective, Kate and Omar, with this, sort of a picking back up, a heating back up of the labor market, and all this really means is that the labor market continues to show signs of strength, but also the Fed continues to show no signs of being in a rush to cut rates. That's also why Wall Street is not so excited about this report.

So, we know rate cuts are coming inevitably at some point, but a report like this means we'll likely have to wait a bit longer. We hear from the Fed next week. It will be really curious to hear what they have to say about this May jobs report.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and remember, for so long it was June was going to be the month where we were going to see the Fed cut rates. Clearly it seems -

SOLOMON: Virtually no one expects that now.

BOLDUAN: Exactly right.

Great to see you, Rahel. Thank you so much.

SOLOMON: You're welcome.

JIMENEZ: Appreciate it, Rahel.

Also, prosecutors say they have two more witnesses to call before they rest their case against Hunter Biden. Who is expected to testify today?

And, a CNN exclusive. What a CIA assessments suggests about Netanyahu's post-war plan for Gaza? And Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to former President Trump, is set to be arraigned today for his alleged role in the Arizona fake electors plot. We're going to have all that and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:58]

JIMENEZ: All right, moments ago, Hunter Biden arrived back in court as his federal gun trial resumes. Prosecutors have said they have two more witnesses to call before resting their case. It's really been a week of dramatic, deeply personal, and at times embarrassing testimony. None more so than from Hallie Biden. She is the widow of Beau Biden and also dated Hunter. She testified yesterday that she believes he was using drugs when he purchased the gun at the center of this case.

Today, Biden's defense attorney is hoping that testimony from key family members, the president's brother and granddaughter, will outweigh Hallie Biden's testimony. We will see.

Joining us now, CNN's Evan Perez.

Evan, so what can we expect today?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, court proceedings just got underway in this historic trial. And what we're expecting this morning is the prosecution is going to have their final two witnesses, a DEA agent and an FBI chemist. Part of what they're trying to do is to have the jury here about the drugs, that there was residue found on a pouch where the firearm was found back on October 23rd in 2018.

[09:20:10]

But really, you know, they're kind of just wrapping up what we heard from the star witness yesterday, Hallie Biden. As you pointed out, she - she was the one who was dating Hunter Biden in 2018 when he bought the gun in October 12th of 2018, and she's the first really - the first witness that the prosecution has offered that brings his drug use, or at least what she says was his drug use, close to the date when he bought the firearm, which is why we're here, right, that he lied on this forum, according to prosecutors, in order to buy that gun.

And what she told prosecutors is that on October 23rd, when she found the firearm inside his truck unlocked, she panicked and she wanted to make sure her kids its didn't find it. And she drove to a nearby supermarket, disposed of it. And then hours later, we see on the video that the prosecutors showed the jury yesterday, we see her dropping off the gun in a trash can and then coming back hours later, panicking, trying to find it, and she doesn't. So, that's the reason why we're here in this case.

Of course, you know, the fact is that the prosecution is going to wrap this afternoon and we expect that this case will probably go to the jury next week. JIMENEZ: All right. Evan Perez, really appreciate you bringing that down for us.

I want to talk more about this. Joining us now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

So, listening to Evan's reporting, you know, the prosecution says they're going to rest today. How would you assess that they have done so far?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, I - I'm one that believes - Omar, good to see you - that the case shouldn't have been brought, right? This is a case that I would argue, if I'm on the defense team, is about a public humiliation and shaming of a problem that is shared by so many people. And so to the issues in terms of the simplicity of the case, did you lie on a form? There's an open question as to that I would argue. Did he know, that is Hunter Biden, that he was addicted at the time? Was he deceiving himself? Did he have the mental state to actually deceive, right?

JIMENEZ: So, that's where you would start if you were defending him.

JACKSON: Without question.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes.

JACKSON: That's where I would start. The prosecution is saying, hey, we're not shaming addiction, we're saying that it's improper to lie. You can't lie on a form. You can't lie to a federal license dealer. And, of course, you can't possess an illegal gun. The alternative narrative is, did he know, right, or was he in denial, Hunter Biden, with respect to the problem. And there's some doubt around that issue, particularly when Hallie, right, who apparently he was with at the time, his brother's widow, Beau, former attorney of Delaware - excuse me, former attorney general of Delaware, right, he was with her at the time and she has some sense of what he was doing, but she didn't see him using, just had knowledge with respect to alleging that he was using at the time.

JIMENEZ: And one of the major questions whenever there's a notable defendant in a cases is, will the defendant actually testify. And, you know, obviously, there are likely some discussions going back and forth there. But what are - what - what are the legal factors that you would be weighing if you're on his team and trying to make that decision.

JACKSON: So, great question, Omar. Those are always game time decisions. And what do I mean. You always prepare your client for potential testimony, but you really don't want - and I don't like clients to testify. In this case, I really don't feel that way and I'll tell you why.

The reason that you may not have a client testify is because, look, if you've made headway in establishing reasonable doubt, establishing whether or not he knew he was lying on the form, establishing whether or not he was addicted at the time, establishing whether or not at this particular moment he wasn't using, but then he resumed, as many addicts do. You go up and down. Perhaps you leave it there because its reasonable doubt.

I think this case turns a lot on what we call, Omar, jury nullification. What does that mean? It means that a jury could say that potentially he did do this, but should we really be here? Should we be here for the fact that a person who had a gun for 11 days wasn't used with respect to any other violent crime, was certainly addicted at the time, was going through a really hard experience. We know that the jurors themselves have had experience as it relates to knowing someone who is addicted, so they could be somewhat empathetic. And does he now get on the stand and say, hey, I was going through a difficult time. At that specific moment I wasn't addicted. I did relapse. I was doing the best with my life. I wasn't intending to lie to anyone. I had the gun. It was in the truck. It wasn't used, et cetera. Maybe that resonates. That's a tough decision for the defense to make. But in this particular case, because of the jury nullification element, right, it potentially could be at play -

JIMENEZ: Humanize him a little bit more in front of that jury as well.

JACKSON: Absolutely. Yes.

JIMENEZ: Joey Jackson, really appreciate the time and perspective, as always.

JACKSON: Always.

JIMENEZ: We're, obviously, following a lot of news today, including, coming up, the CIA has a new assessment surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We're going to tell you why they believe he will defy U.S. pressure to set a post-war plan for Gaza.

[09:25:03]

Plus, Vanna White is bidding a fond farewell to her "Wheel of Fortune" co-host Pat Sajak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANNA WHITE: Eight thousand episodes went by like that. You're like a brother to me, and I consider you a true lifelong friend, who I will always adore. I love you, Pat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The date is set. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will come to the United States to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24th. All four Republican and Democratic congressional leaders signing on to that invitation, though their reaction to the date announcement, not so unanimous.

[09:29:59] And it also comes at a time when the U.S. and 16 other countries are applying new pressure to Israel and Hamas to move forward - forward with a ceasefire deal.

Overnight, President Biden said this.