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Closing Arguments Underway In Hunter Biden Gun Trial; Trump To Have Pre-Sentencing Interview With Probation Official; Doctor Treating Rescued Israeli Hostages Tells CNN They Were Beaten Almost Daily While In Captivity; Israeli Police Release Video Of Rescue Operation Of Three Of The Four Hostages In Gaza. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 10, 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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[15:00:10]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Hunter Biden's lawyers just wrapped closing arguments in his federal gun trial. The prosecution is now offering their rebuttal and deliberations could start at any minute with Hunter Biden's fate in the jury's hands. We're live outside the courtroom.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A big meeting today for former President Trump ahead of his sentencing and his hush money felony conviction. Trump will meet with a probation official for a pre-sentencing interview.

And it could be the next big thing for Apple. The company just announced new artificial intelligence features for the iPhone.

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

SANCHEZ: We begin this hour with breaking news. Right now, prosecutors in the Hunter Biden trial are giving their rebuttal after defense attorneys wrapped up their closing arguments moments ago. Biden's team is trying to prevent the president's son from becoming a convicted felon and keep him out of jail. The defense telling jurors that the prosecution's case is built on suspicion and conjecture, and they accuse prosecutors of taking Biden's words out of context.

Now, Hunter Biden faces three felony counts of illegally purchasing and possessing a gun while abusing or being addicted to drugs. He's pleaded not guilty to all those charges. Once the prosecution makes its final points, then the case will be in the jury's hands to decide. Let's get you outside the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, right now with CNN's Paula Reid.

So Paula, take us through what's happening right now.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, prosecutors are back up for their rebuttal. This is the final word that the jury will hear from lawyers before they begin their deliberation. Now, earlier today, prosecutors got up and gave their closing arguments. And it's interesting, they started by pointing at some folks in the gallery.

I was in court earlier today, and I can tell you, this is the most crowded courtroom I have been in throughout this trial. The first row was so packed with the first lady, one of Hunter's sisters, you had his wife, so many people wanting to show their support that the Secret Service barely fit on the bench. And the prosecutors started their argument by pointing to the gallery and saying, those people don't matter.

It is clear that prosecutors might be concerned that the first lady being here most days and this enormous show of support for Hunter Biden could harm their case. Instead, they directly addressed one of the most challenging things that they need to prove here. And that is that Hunter Biden knowingly lied on that form when he purchased this gun. They argue that he knew that he was using and or addicted to drugs when he purchased this gun.

They also said, look, if he hadn't just been to rehab, maybe we could buy the idea that he didn't realize he had a problem. But they believe not only did he know he had a problem, they believe they have presented enough evidence to the jury to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was using illegal drugs during the time he owned this gun.

Then Abbe Lowell, Hunter's lead defense attorney, had a chance to get up and he used the comparison of a magician arguing to the jury that prosecutors were trying to perform some sort of trick, a sleight of hand, and pointed to the fact that they have presented no direct evidence of Hunter Biden using drugs while he owned this gun.

He went after specifically two of Hunter's former ex-girlfriends who testified during this trial. First, a woman that he met at a gentleman's club who took a lot of the photos that we saw throughout this trial of Hunter using drugs. And he pointed out, look, there are no photos from October 2018 when he owned this gun. He also went after Hunter Biden's former sister-in-law and former girlfriend or sister- in-law and former girlfriend, Hallie Biden, saying, look, she couldn't even get details about when she found the gun and alleged drug paraphernalia in Hunter's car. She couldn't get certain details right. So they closed their argument, reminding the jury that their client should not be improperly convicted here.

Now, Boris, the jury will probably get this case in the next hour or so, but that's towards the end of the court date. It's unlikely, though still possible, that we'll get a verdict today.

SANCHEZ: We will be watching for any news from those deliberations, potentially any notes that they might send to the judge. Paula Reid, thanks so much for the update. Brianna?

KEILAR: The first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime has his first ever meeting with a probation official. Today, former President Trump will meet with a New York City probation official for a pre-sentencing interview. This is an interview that will be virtual. Trump conferencing in from Mar-a-Lago. Trump attorney Todd Blanche will also be present. And it will be Trump's first meeting with a probation official since a jury convicted him of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

[15:05:01]

CNN National Correspondent, Brynn Gingras, is joining us now on this. Brynn, what type of questions will be asked of the former president in this interview?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. So this is very customary for these probation officers to conduct these interviews after someone has either pleaded guilty or is convicted in the case of the former president. And questions are really going to go into what's the former president's background, what's his work history, what's his family background, has he abused drugs or alcohol, a lot of questions like that. There might even be a question where he asks the former president what does he think his punishment should be, where, of course, the former president can say that he wants it to be lenient. Who knows?

It doesn't - we don't know exactly what questions are going to be pertinent to this interview, but what we do know is that this is very customary again. And this is what is going to sort of make the report that's given to the judge in this case, Judge Juan Merchan. And it's just one aspect of what he will consider as part of the sentencing when that finally happens on July 11th.

Remember, the former president is facing anywhere from community service up to possibly four years in prison. So this is one aspect of it. We know also that the Trump team is going to hand in their recommendations for sentencing later this week. So certainly this is not unusual that this is happening, but certainly historic as it is happening to Donald Trump.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is. Brynn Gingras, thank you for that. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams.

Elliot, thanks for being with us.

So Donald Trump doesn't necessarily have to take part in this meeting today. Why is he doing it?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's in his interest if he has reasons to articulate why he thinks the sentence should be lower, that he can, and everyone has an opportunity to do so. So he can say what he means to his family and his community, why he thinks the sentence ought to be lowered. So it's in an interest of a defendant to do so.

SANCHEZ: Could it potentially hurt him if he starts talking about ...

WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: ... conspiracy and the ways that he feels that the Biden administration is going after him?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. This is not - so that - this pre-sentence meeting isn't necessarily something that works to the defendant's benefit, but a judge can consider a defendant's behavior against him if he's noncompliant, if he's combative, if he starts popping off.

In general, acceptance of responsibility is an important aspect of the sentencing process. The system wants defendants to be able to say, look, I'm convicted. I'm sorry I did it. And that can actually lower someone's sentence.

SANCHEZ: That's not at all what we've seen from ...

WILLIAMS: No.

SANCHEZ: ... Trump and his attorneys. In fact, they are vowing that they're going to appeal this and that they are going to win an appeal. What does a successful appeal look like?

WILLIAMS: Well, a successful appeal looks like a number of things. Number one, it could be overturning an entire conviction, right? So if there is some factual or legal defect in the decision to convict a person, the whole thing can be thrown out.

An appeals court could send the case back down for another trial, perhaps if there's some fixable error along the way or his sentence could be appealed. Now notice that he won't really appeal until after he's sentenced, and perhaps there's an error at the sentencing process and the appeals court can send the case back down after that.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

WILLIAMS: So any number of things can happen. There's - so we're not out of the legal proceedings on this one by any means, but ...

SANCHEZ: I know you love it when I ask you questions that are kind of impossible to answer ...

WILLIAMS: Yes, of course.

SANCHEZ: ... but I won't on that. I'll ask you questions that are impossible to answer about Hunter Biden.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Yes, because now ...

WILLIAMS: Which is because it hasn't happened yet (INAUDIBLE) ...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

WILLIAMS: .... I love it (INAUDIBLE).

SANCHEZ: So the prosecution is in the midst of its rebuttal right now. Soon enough, the judge is going to give the jury instructions, they're going to begin deliberations. Do you think the prosecution has proven their case?

WILLIAMS: I think that a jury could vote to convict here. A jury could also vote to acquit here and I'm not being cute with that answer, but there's plausible arguments both ways.

SANCHEZ: I see.

WILLIAMS: The prosecutors have established, number one, that there was drug use; number two that there's an acknowledgment of an individual having been addicted to drugs and used drugs over a period of time; and number three, that this individual possessed a firearm during that time.

Now, a jury could vote to convict both sort of the lying on the application to get the gun, but also the possession while addicted, right? Now, on the other hand, a jury could also say, wait a second, prosecutors, you didn't say or establish that this individual used or possessed these drugs during October 2018 and right - or that the defendant knowingly did so. He might have thought in his mind that he was clean, that he was fixing his life up and so on.

And so reasonably, a jury could come down in either direction here. It's just a question of what the jury chooses to believe and what how - what they thought of these witnesses in this very emotional trial.

SANCHEZ: Does it surprise you that he didn't testify because the Bidens are still pretty popular in Delaware? This is a jury that's made up of all folks from Delaware. Hunter has been described as extremely charming. Do you think that he could have made a compelling argument on the stand that would have persuaded the jury?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely, literally, mathematically certainty no.

[15:10:00]

Because no matter how popular or politically charismatic or charming an individual might be, you can't stand up to being cross-examined on very devastating facts. And once he takes the stand, once he were to take the stand, he would open himself up to statements he's made ...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

WILLIAMS: ... books he's written, photographs that he appears in that maybe could not come up were he not to have taken the stand. So it would be incredibly risky for him to have done so.

Now, again, charming and compelling, and these are emotionally very sensitive issues about addiction and so on, and it's very humanizing.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

WILLIAMS: But cross-examination is very risky. You very rarely see defendants take the stand on their own defense, and here would have been no different.

SANCHEZ: And early on, we got reporting that one juror got emotional hearing discussion of substance abuse in the way that it affected him.

WILLIAMS: Yes. SANCHEZ: So this is the gun - the federal gun charge case in Delaware. He has a case in California about tax evasion. Could one result from the jury here potentially change the way that his team approaches that case in California?

WILLIAMS: Well, the big way is that if he's convicted here, he will have felony convictions. He will have a criminal record. So number one that affects him at sentencing, if he is convicted in the California trial. Number two, any - were he to have testified here, any statements he gave at trial could potentially have come up in the California case and give an evidence there as well.

So it was - once again, in his interest not to testify now ...

SANCHEZ: Good point.

WILLIAMS: -- because it becomes a statement on the record. But in terms of the approach, probably not on a day-to-day level. It's just more a function of what it would mean to him as a defendant with that conviction hanging over his head.

SANCHEZ: Generally, these two cases have a lot to do with the defendant's mindset at the time that these things took place, right? Whether he thought he was an addict when he purchased the weapon ...

WILLIAMS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: ... and filled out that form, whether he intentionally meant to skip paying taxes. As a former prosecutor, how difficult is it to prove a case like that?

WILLIAMS: Oh, it can be hard. It can be very hard. And it's not just these cases, Boris. The law, criminal law, is often about what's in someone's mind. And there's different mental states, whether it's willful, knowing. Those are different states that apply to different cases.

And absent statements from an individual, absent written remarks they can - whatever else, often prosecutors have to try to get in the defendant's head based on the evidence around this person and it can be tricky. And often convictions can get sunk on the basis of having proven that the thing happened, but you just couldn't prove that the guy knew that he was doing it ...

SANCHEZ: Right.

WILLIAMS: ... at the time that - that's often a common reason for a conviction not happening, someone not getting convicted.

SANCHEZ: Elliot Williams, appreciate the insight and looking into the crystal ball.

WILLIAMS: The crystal ball. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, man. Still to come, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East urging regional leaders to press Hamas to accept the proposed ceasefire and hostage deal that's currently on the table, that's currently being talked about at the United Nations Security Council.

Plus, far-right parties gaining significant ground in European parliamentary elections dealing a shocking defeat in some of the continent's biggest economies.

And later, Florida beachgoers told to exercise caution following a string of shark attacks. Those stories and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:17:44]

SANCHEZ: We're learning troubling new details about the treatment of the four Israeli hostages that were rescued on Saturday. A doctor in charge of medical treatment for the hostages tells CNN that they were beaten while in Hamas captivity in Gaza. That doctor describes the eight months in captivity as, quote, a harsh, harsh experience with a lot of abuse almost every day. CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Tel Aviv with the details.

Paula, what more can you tell us about what this doctor is revealing?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, I just spoke to Dr. Itai Pessach. He is leading the team that's really doing the medical treatment for these four hostages and he said that they did undergo daily, sometimes hourly, physical, mental and other abuse, saying that they were beaten. He also spoke about their medical condition, saying that even though outwardly they appeared to be in good condition, all four of them were malnourished. Also pointing out that the lack of protein in their diet meant that their muscles had started to waste and the fact that, of course, they were held in captivity, locked in apartments, not able to move around.

He also said that they had significant health issues at this point. There were days, he said, and times where there was no food and there were other times where there was food. But he also spoke about the psychological damage done to these four hostages. And he was also the doctor that was looking after the hostages that were released back in November of last year and he said the psychological trauma and difference between these two sets of hostages was significant.

The fact that these four had been in captivity for so much longer, talking about the fact that you start to lose hope and that is an extremely difficult psychological position to be in. And he also pointed out that that worries him about those that are still being held in Gaza, slowly losing hope that they will be released.

Now he said that they've only been with him now for 48 hours, just over that.

[15:20:03] He is not pushing them to talk about their captivity, but they are offering different stories about what happened while they were held in captivity. And he said it really does defy belief what these hostages had to go through. Boris?

SANCHEZ: And Paula, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel. We know he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier. He was set to meet with other Israeli officials, including one minister who resigned from the war cabinet, right?

HANCOCKS: Yes, Benny Gantz, he's expected to meet tomorrow.

Now, Benny Gantz was very supportive of this ceasefire and hostage proposal that the U.S. president has publicly acknowledged, saying that it is actually based on the Israeli proposal. But he also met with the Israeli prime minister today.

Now, the line we've heard from the Biden administration is that they are waiting for an official response from Hamas as to whether or not they're going to agree to this proposal, saying that Israel has already agreed to the proposal. It's not completely true, though. We know that Benjamin Netanyahu, in some of his public statements, has suggested otherwise.

So he would have met with the Israeli prime minister today, and certainly it would have been a case of trying to convince Netanyahu as well that this is the way to go forward. Now, we know that he did say to him that the world is behind this proposal, that there will be support for Benjamin Netanyahu if he goes ahead with this proposal.

But at this point, we do know also that Hamas has not given an official response. They gave an initial positive response to this three-stage deal, which is on the table at this point. But there is one man who has to agree with it, and that is Yahya Sinwar. He's the head of Hamas in Gaza, likely in a tunnel somewhere. And as of now, the official response just hasn't come, Boris?

SANCHEZ: Paula Hancocks live for us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much, Paula.

We're now seeing for the first time video of the moment three of those hostages were rescued by IDF forces. This is video released moments ago by Israeli police, a body cam video showing the harrowing moments as the soldiers entered a building with their guns. That's when they find the three of the four hostages cowering inside that building. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, really unbelievable. And for more on all of this, let's bring in CNN Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid. He's also the politics and foreign policy reporter for Axios. Tell us a little bit about this video that we're seeing, Barak.

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, I think you can see that it's quite a remarkable look on how such an operation takes place. I've never seen anything like this that you see from the, you know, from the cameras on the soldiers, how they enter this building through this olive grove, go into the building from the window, and then, you know, go into the room where the hostages are taken.

And there you can hear them saying in Hebrew, speak in Hebrew, speak in Hebrew, so that the hostages will understand that they're there to rescue them and that they're not Hamas or anybody else. And there's even this one anecdote in the video, you can see how one of the soldiers fist bumps one of the hostages. And it's really a remarkable thing.

KEILAR: No, it certainly is that moment where you first see the hostages.

I do want to talk to you a little bit about the efforts to come to a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, which is obviously seen as the way to release more hostages. And during his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the U.S. and other world leaders stand by the comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal that President Biden laid out so publicly.

Are you learning anything more about today's meeting here in the aftermath of this raid to get these hostages?

RAVID: So not yet. It just ended not very long ago. I don't have any details on what exactly happened other than the official readout, which is very, very general. But I think that, you know, there's one point that needs to be clear.

The hostage deal proposal that is on the table is an Israeli proposal. It was approved by consensus by the Israeli War Cabinet. It's Netanyahu's proposal. Whether he is distancing himself somewhat from it for, you know, domestic political reason is not going to change the fact that it's his proposal.

And therefore, if he says no, it means that he basically backed off from the proposal, which he did not until now.

[15:25:01]

Netanyahu did not back off from the proposal. It's still on the table. And there - this is why I think we're still waiting for Hamas. And it's going to get interesting if Hamas is going to do what everybody thinks it's going to do, meaning say yes, but. And then the ball will go back to Netanyahu's court. And then it will be the real decision moment when Netanyahu will have to decide whether he is jumping in to this deal or not.

KEILAR: Does he accept that, but whatever it is that comes back.

Blinken is also, Barak, and I know you're keeping such a close eye on this, expected to meet with Benny Gantz during this trip. Of course, Gantz just resigned from the War Cabinet in protest of Netanyahu's policies and his inability to obtain a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Has Gantz's resignation really, you know, done much? What's the aftermath been like?

RAVID: So I think what we know from the public opinion polls that were published just like an hour ago on three main television networks in Israel showed that Benny Gantz's move to leave the government happened for him too late, meaning the response from the Israeli public was that Gantz's number went down. And a lot of his voters went to his - to other opposition parties.

And in average, he lost four seats by - in the polls by withdrawing from the government. And those four seats did not go to Netanyahu. They went to two other of Netanyahu's political rivals. So for Benny Gantz, it is pretty clear that, you know, if he wanted to leave the government, he should have done it, you know, long before.

KEILAR: Yes, that's very interesting that you point that out. Over the weekend, of course, as we saw that hostage rescue that we just watched the video of, we now know, right, that the U.S. aided Israel in terms of mainly intel support, no boots on the ground. The U.S. has been very clear that even though there was a helicopter extraction near that pier that was built by the U.S. to deliver aid, that pier had nothing to do with the operation. What do you make of this sort of dance of tough rhetoric and negotiations, but obviously quite enduring military and intel coordination?

RAVID: I think that for Biden himself, for President Biden himself and his team, the issue of the hostages has become almost personal, not only because there are American hostages there, but because Biden, I think, dealt with this issue personally for hundreds of hours since October 7th. And when you go and ask families of hostages, that some of them are dual Israeli-U.S. nationals, they will tell you that they feel that Biden cares much more about them and about their family members who are held hostage than some members of the Israeli government. And this is something you hear from many, many hostage families.

And I think that when it comes to Biden, he wants to get the hostages out. And more than that - and you hear it from all of his team, that they want to get justice for October 7th and this means taking out Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas officials.

KEILAR: Barak Ravid, it's always great to have you and to get the real story on what's going on. Thank you so much for being with us.

RAVID: Thank you.

KEILAR: And still ahead, Siri is getting smarter. Apple is turning to artificial intelligence to power the iPhone, while some people say Apple is actually late to the AI game.

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