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New Israeli Statement Suggests Netanyahu Poised to Sign Up to U.S.-Backed Ceasefire Plan; Hunter Biden Convicted on All Counts in Federal Gun Case; Coast Guard Official Resign Over Sexual Assault Scandal. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 11, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're staying on top of our breaking news. The conviction of President Biden's son, Hunter, on federal gun charges. But we do want to update you on a developing story that we're also following, and that is that Hamas has now responded to the latest ceasefire proposal for Gaza. This is according to a joint statement issued moments ago from Qatar and Egypt.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Hamas response follows a government statement from Israel today where it appears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to formally agree to a ceasefire deal.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Jerusalem. So, Paula, where do things stand?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris and Brianna, starting with Hamas, they have said that they have given a response to this proposal to both Qatar and Egypt. These are the mediators in this whole process. And they have made comments on the proposal, so not a definitive acceptance at this point.

We've heard from Hamas saying that they have made these comments in the interest of the Palestinian people. The mediators themselves, Egypt and Qatar, say they will now take those comments into consideration, talk to the United States as well, also a key mediator, the other parties within this process, and move forward from there.

Now, from the Israeli side, as you say, there has been a government statement today, and they effectively said that they would agree to a ceasefire, but there has to be certain conditions met, and that would be getting all the hostages back, also making sure that Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future and degrading the Hamas government and military capabilities.

And so it's, again, not an acceptance of the proposal, which the Biden administration says is an Israeli proposal. And it does appear really at odds in some ways, at face value, to what the proposal suggests. This proposal says there would be a six-week ceasefire in phase one, and that would evolve in phase two to a permanent cessation of hostilities. So really, to sum up, I think what we have learned from today is that both sides have agreed in principle to something, but not to the proposal itself.

SANCHEZ: Paula Hancocks, live for us with an update from Jerusalem. Thank you so much.

We have still much more to cover on the Hunter Biden conviction. We'll get to it right after a quick break.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We want to share some images we got moments ago of President Biden on the tarmac, it appears, getting set to board Marine One as he heads to Wilmington, Delaware. CNN got news earlier in the day that the president would be leaving a speech he was giving on gun safety here in Washington, D.C. and heading directly to Wilmington where his son, Hunter, was convicted earlier in the day of three separate counts of breaking federal gun laws. A federal jury found the president's 54- year-old son violated several laws that were set up to prevent drug addicts from owning guns.

Prosecutors also laid out many intimate details about Hunter Biden's struggles with crack cocaine, which intensified after his older brother, Beau, died of cancer.

KEILAR: And joining us now is clinical interventionist and addiction specialist Jeff Jay. Jeff is also a recovering addict himself, and he co-wrote with his wife, Debra, "Love First, A Family's Guide to Intervention."

This was a through line of this case, Jeff, addiction. And the central question was whether Hunter Biden was an addict at the time that he signed a gun purchase form, saying that he was not.

[15:40:00]

Help us get a better sense of what it means to be an addict and also how these jurors, who some of them had experiences with addiction in their families, may have seen these issues.

JEFF JAY, CLINICAL INTERVENTIONIST AND ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Well, being an addict means that you have lost control of your use of substances, just bottom line. And once that happens, people tend to be quite dishonest. I know I was in my addiction many long years ago.

And so it's part of the dynamics of what goes on, and I'm sure that most jurors would understand that because most jurors, most people in the world know someone suffering from the disease of addiction. And it's something that, unfortunately, we've all become quite familiar with.

SANCHEZ: Yes, sadly. Jeff, there was a juror who spoke to CNN who said that he was surprised that Hunter's one-time romantic partner also fell into addiction while with Hunter. How common is that?

JAY: Well, it's quite common. We tend to do things that people around us are doing. There's really nothing unusual about that.

If my significant other got into pickleball, I might get into pickleball, too. It isn't a lot more complicated than that.

KEILAR: Yes, it's really interesting. I didn't think about it like that, I have to be honest. I wonder what you think about how the president is approaching it and how the family has been approaching this.

The statement that came out after the conviction, and it really tracks with what we've heard from the Bidens all along, which is that they're proud of Hunter Biden when it comes to his resiliency as he is in recovery. And you see the president heading immediately to Wilmington to his son after this verdict. What do you think about how the family is approaching this?

JAY: I loved how straightforward they were. They didn't really mince any words. They didn't beat around the bush. They were simply there for him. I think that like many families around the world, and especially in America, they've been through the ringer with a loved one who has an addiction problem and I guess is now in recovery. And so they're being very honest and present for him and standing by his side and going on the journey with him. I've got to admire that. I think anyone would.

SANCHEZ: I'm also curious, Jeff, about the sort of ebbs and flows in the process of recovery, because that was highlighted by Naomi Biden, Hunter's daughter, talking about the different states that her father was in through a period of time. I'm wondering how you see that playing out for someone who is struggling to eliminate these drugs from their life.

JAY: There is no cure for addiction. It's a chronic illness, so the most we can do is keep it in remission. That means that the person suffering from addiction has to work an ongoing program of recovery, typically going to meetings, getting a sponsor, home group, and actually working a program of recovery every day to keep their chronic illness in remission.

And when we stop doing that, the disease will come right back and kick us in the butt again.

KEILAR: I also wonder, the president has been asked if he would pardon his son. That's a political question, but I also think it's a question that is important for how a family approaches addiction. As families approach this, it's a fine line, right, between wanting to protect your loved one who is battling addiction and enabling that addiction, this idea of natural consequences following some behavior.

Can you talk to us a little bit about that and how families sometimes approach that in different ways?

JAY: Yes. Well, families will naturally try to protect their loved one, but as they come to learn more about addiction and recovery, they'll also come to understand that we don't want to get in the way of the natural consequences. Instead, we want to focus our efforts on using the love and concern among the family members and friends to help get the person into treatment, into recovery, and to join them on that recovery journey as well.

And so there's a lot families can do, but just getting in the way of consequences, paying off somebody's fine or rent or something like that or trying to cover for them is not helpful.

KEILAR: Jeff, it is so helpful to speak with you. Obviously, this is an issue that is brought up because of this trial and this conviction, but it's also an issue that I think so many benefit, so many will benefit from listening to a conversation about. Jeff Jay, thank you.

JAY: Thank you.

[15:45:00]

KEILAR: The Coast Guard Commandant now in the hot seat on Capitol Hill after a CNN investigation that blew the lid off the agency's cover-up of numerous sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy. What its top official is telling lawmakers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A Coast Guard Academy official resigned over the weekend claiming that she was directed by top leaders to lie to victims as part of a sexual assault cover-up.

SANCHEZ: That official, Shannon Norenberg, is speaking out exclusively to CNN. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins us now live. Sunlen, what are you hearing from this official who resigned, and what's going on in the Senate over this issue?

[15:50:04]

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, she is clearly angry. She feels very used and betrayed. Those are her words by the Coast Guard here.

She was the official that's in charge of the sexual assault prevention within the Coast Guard, and she basically says that she believes she was unwittingly pulled into this scheme of cover-up of these decades of sexual assault by the Coast Guard, and she's calling it out now and resigning from this position this week and speaking to CNN about it.

She describes how she was sent and dispatched on this apology tour to speak with these victims, and she was given talking points by the Coast Guard. The talking points told her to say that Congress was aware of this investigation, aware of what all these decades of abuse, misconduct, potentially hidden assaults, and during that time she informed these victims of that.

We now know that that's not the truth, and that was only uncovered because of CNN investigations team great reporting. That, in part, led her to resign when it was revealed, and here's what she said just this week to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON NORENBERG, FORMER HEAD OF SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION, COAST GUARD ACADEMY: They put me in a terrible position. How dare they do this to me? They had me standing up in front of cadets for 11 years talking about honor, respect, devotion to duty. Where is their -- where is their respect to any of us? I'm disgusted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now right now on Capitol Hill, the head of the Coast Guard, Admiral Linda Fagan, she's testifying now. She's been in front of Congress before in the last year since CNN has uncovered these hidden cases, but certainly there's growing frustration mounting against her. A lot of members have said that she's evaded questionings, and definitely Norenberg's own testimony, her resignation in protest, essentially certainly will be an area of questioning by the senators today.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly will, and something we'll pay such close attention to. Sunlen, thank you so much for that update, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Before we go, we want to give you a quick recap of the breaking news we've been tracking this afternoon -- a historic day. For the first time in American history, the son of a sitting president was found guilty in federal court.

A jury convicting Hunter Biden on three gun charges related to a gun that he bought back in 2018 while addicted to illegal drugs. In a statement, Hunter Biden says he is disappointed in the verdict, but grateful for his family's love and support.

[15:55:00]

KEILAR: President Biden also putting out a statement saying, as I said last week, I am the president, but I'm also a dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.

And the president is now traveling to Wilmington, Delaware, where he will be with his son. Hunter Biden facing up to 25 years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines when he is sentenced, likely in mid-October. The legal experts say his sentence will likely be far less severe as a first-time nonviolent offender.

And that's it for us today. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.