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CNN International: Hunter Biden's Felony Gun Charges Trial Begins Today; Claudia Sheinbaum Projected to Win Mexico's Presidential Election; South African ANC Loses Majority After 30 Years; Push to Accept Ceasefire Deal; Parts of U.S. Brace for Excessive Heat, Storms this Week. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired June 03, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The son of the sitting president on trial. Hunter Biden's addiction and the purchase of a gun in October 2018 is at the heart of this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico will have its first female president. This is a historic moment. Despite the long lines and the enthusiasm that we saw all day long, it seems like a lot of people stayed home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to support my government in taking this deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this proposal is not accepted there will not be another one.
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewer joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Monday, June 3. It's 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Wilmington, Delaware, where once again the United States is preparing for a trial without precedent that could have huge political ramifications.
Just days after President Joe Biden told the country no-one is above the law, his own son will stand trial in the coming hours. Hunter Biden is accused of illegally buying and possessing a gun whilst abusing or being addicted to drugs. He's pleaded not guilty but has been open about his struggles with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction.
Prosecutors are expected to bring testimony from several of Biden's ex-partners, along with texts from his laptop and excerpts from his own memoir dealing with some of his experiences with drugs and alcohol.
Well late on Sunday night, the judge dealt Hunter Biden's legal team some setbacks, blocking a key piece of evidence on gun purchase forms and refusing to allow their expert witness on addiction to testify. Hunter Biden could face real jail time if convicted.
And the case has obvious political implications as well, as President Joe Biden seeks re-election in November. Katelyn Polantz looks at how we got here.
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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER (voice-over): The son of the sitting president on trial in another criminal case with big political implications.
HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: They ridiculed my struggle with addiction.
POLANTZ (voice-over): Hunter Biden's addiction and purchase of a gun in October 2018 is at the heart of this case. The Justice Department accusing him of lying on gun purchasing forms that required him to attest he wasn't addicted to drugs. A special counsel brought the case last year after a prior deal fell apart in dramatic fashion at his plea hearing.
MERRICK CARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm here today to announce the appointment of David Weiss as a special counsel.
POLANTZ (voice-over): On Monday, jury selection begins, potentially a challenging task in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Federal prosecutors plan to highlight a part of his memoir where he writes about struggling with drug addiction around the time he bought the gun.
H. BIDEN: I had returned that fall of 2018 after my most recent relapse in California with the hope of getting clean through a new therapy and reconciling with Hallie. Neither happened.
POLANTZ (voice-over): And they have evidence from the week of the gun purchase. Hunter Biden texting, he was waiting for a dealer and sleeping on a car smoking crack.
The trial also may feature testimony from the women in Hunter Biden's life, his ex wife, his brother's widow and a woman he pays child support to. Prosecutors say the women witnessed his drug addiction.
While Joe Biden continues to seek reelection. The president has avoided commenting directly on the prosecution of his son.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very proud of my son.
POLANTZ (voice-over): Yet the trial is likely to dredge up more Republican attacks on the Bidens, including about a laptop containing embarrassing messages and images that prosecutors have obtained.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): The Biden crime family sold out America and the American people have had enough.
POLANTZ (voice-over): Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings as part of an impeachment probe of President Biden that's come up short.
H. BIDEN: MAGA Republicans have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends.
POLANTZ (voice-over): After his trial on felony gun charges ends, Hunter Biden is set to face a second one in federal court in California on tax charges.
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FOSTER: Well, that was Katelyn Polantz reporting.
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Meanwhile, former U.S. President and now convicted felon Donald Trump says he'd be OK with serving prison time. This comes just days after he was found guilty of all 34 charges in his hush money criminal trial. But as he awaits sentencing on July the 11th, the Republican candidate for president warns a harsh punishment could be a big problem for his supporters.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge could decide to say, hey, house arrest or even jail.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm OK with it. I saw one of my lawyers the other day on television saying, oh, no, you don't want to do that to the president. I said, don't you know, beg for anything. You just the way it is.
I don't know that the public would stand it. You know, I don't I'm not sure the public would stand for it with a --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With a house arrest or --
TRUMP: I think, I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there's a breaking point.
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FOSTER: Well, new polling reveals most Americans agree with the hush money verdict to CBS poll. CBS News/YouGov poll rather released on Sunday finds 57 percent of Americans think the jury reached the right decision. But the verdict hasn't made much of an impact on Americans views on the candidate.
In a new ABC/Ipsos poll, 31 percent viewed Trump favorably, with 32 percent saying the same about Biden. That's nearly the same as the pre-verdict survey.
Two other elections just completed, each historic in its own way. In a moment, we'll take you to South Africa, where the party that led the country out of apartheid has fallen from favor with the majority of voters. But first to Mexico, where preliminary results are in and Claudia
Sheinbaum is now projected to become the country's first ever woman president.
CNN'S Gustavo Valdes has the latest from Mexico City.
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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexico will have its first female president. Claudia Sheinbaum got at least 58 percent of the vote, according to the National Institute of Election, that early Monday reported their results. The margin of victory is somewhat surprising because even though polls prior to the election showed that she was the favorite to win on Sunday, the margin is even larger than what Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador got six years ago. So that shows the power the Morena party has gained in these past six years.
Most of the voters we talked to during the election day and even prior to that, they told us that they recognize the significance of having a woman. But that was not the main issue that drove him to the polls. They told us what they really want to see is how she is going to govern. They hope that she can step away from under the shadow of Lopez Obrador, who has been a friend and mentor. He was the one who named her a secretary of the environment in the year 2000 when he was the mayor of Mexico City.
And then six years ago, when he won the presidency, she was elected mayor of Mexico City. And they have been close allies ever since.
She has pledged to continue the policies of President Lopez Obrador. But that is yet to be seen how she's going to implement, especially the relationship with the United States, the neighbor and main partner of Mexico. So this is something that voters are going to be watching closely once she takes over in October.
But also their main concern is security. So they are going to want to see some changes after we had such a violent electoral process these past few months here in Mexico.
So she is the first female president of Mexico. She's also the first president of Jewish descent in Mexico, something that she perhaps doesn't talk much about. Her grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. They migrated fleeing the Nazi party. And her parents, according to a biography, were leftists. And she has said, quoted in that biography, that she used to talk politics in her house since she was a child. So this is the background of the woman who will lead Mexico for the next six years.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Mexico City.
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FOSTER: Earlier, Lila Abed of the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute detailed to CNN how Claudia Scheinbaum might break away from her predecessor.
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LILA ABED, ACTION DIRECTOR, WILSON CENTER'S MEXICO INSTITUTE: Looking at her political platform, there are three areas specifically that she outlines where we could see potential change. The first one is in the energy sector, where, you know, her scientific background and environmental engineering degree has pushed her to a state that she looks to for direct investment in clean and renewable energies in Mexico. Something that's very different from sort of the fossil fuels and dirty energy that AMLO has, you know, pushed forward during his administration.
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On the security front, there seems to be a potential change in terms of AMLO's Hugs Not Bullets strategy and what Claudia want to do in terms of strengthening intelligence and information gathering to combat transnational criminal organizations that have taken control of a vast area of Mexican territory.
And on the last point, there is a potential shift in foreign policy in regards to the relationship specifically with the United States, given that the issues of migration and migration security and commercial ties between both nations will be determined not only by Claudia Scheinbaum's success today, but also who will win the White House in November.
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FOSTER: The results of South Africa's elections are also in and the African National Congress has lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of Apartheid. The ANC won just 40 percent of the vote. Still, President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling the outcome a victory for democracy because the ballot was fair and it was free from violence.
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CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: We have held another successful election that has been free, fair, credible and peaceful. They're independent, yes.
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FOSTER: Senior international correspondent David McKenzie joins us now from Johannesburg. The question then is, David, what sort of government are we going to see in South Africa?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's on everyone's mind, Max, and I have to say that anyone who has a solid prediction on that will just be kind of drawing straws at this point, because we just don't know. This is uncharted territory. One thing that is certain is that the ANC faced its biggest drop in support in 30 years.
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MCKENZIE (voice-over): Sometimes change comes slowly.
RAMAPHOSA: Our people have spoken. Whether we like it or not, they have spoken.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Sometimes it comes fast. In just one election cycle, the ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, with a staggering drop in support. After three decades of dominance, the voters have spoken. The party that has defined South African politics losing its outright majority.
TK POOE, WITS SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE: I think it means that society has passed the ANC by. We've always been waiting for the moment. We just didn't know the appropriate vehicle.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Many South Africans were fed up with rampant corruption, huge unemployment and deep inequality. But the ANC collapse came in large part thanks to this man. Disgraced former ANC president Jacob Zuma.
In just a few months, his new uMkhonto weSizwe party, or MK, bled votes from the ANC, tapping into Zuma's loyal support in KwaZulu-Natal province. Zuma and his party have, without evidence, claimed there were irregularities at the polls, threatening trouble if results were announced.
MELANIE VERWOERD, POLITICAL ANALYST, FORMER ANC MP: Jacob Zuma is different. It's always dangerous to let ethnic and tribal tensions rise too much. I don't foresee it being an issue in the foreseeable future, but it is something that one always needs to watch.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): What to watch for next? Coalition politics. The ANC likely must choose to combine with pro-business democratic alliance or the leftist radical Economic Freedom Fighters. Perhaps even adding Zuma's MK. No one knows for sure.
FIKILE MBALULA, ANC SECRETARY-GENERAL: We call on all South Africans to resist the efforts of those forces who want to weaken our democracy, who want to undermine our electoral processes, and who want to disregard the will of the people.
JOHN STEENHUISEN, DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE LEADER: Coalitions can work. They work all over the world. It requires maturity. And yes, there are going to be choppy waters ahead for South Africa, but we'll navigate them.
MCKENZIE: Do you want to be part of a governing coalition?
STEENHUISEN: Of course. I mean, your whole point of being in politics is to get into government.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The results are deeply embarrassing for President Cyril Ramaphosa. He staked his reputation on reviving the ANC.
MCKENZIE: Is Cyril Ramaphosa under pressure now? POOE: Oh, no, he's beyond under pressure. I think he might need to start looking for a new job. He always styles himself as the next incumbent to President Nelson Mandela. Last recollection, President Nelson Mandela never lost an election.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): But Ramaphosa is well known as a skilled negotiator, a skill that will now become very handy indeed.
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MCKENZIE (on camera): And Max, the leadership of the ANC will be meeting on Tuesday. I'm sure those will be very challenging internal talks because there are significant factions within the ruling party of South Africa.
And then the question is, what do they do next? I don't think, as I said, anyone really knows how this is going to play out.
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There are wildly different scenarios in terms of the way that a coalition could govern and the policies that they would enforce. Ranging everything from kind of pro-business, pro-investment, steadying shift to a more radical option, which certainly the many unemployed people in this country might want to see because the last 30 years hasn't really given them the benefits of freedom that they had hoped, based on my conversations over the last few years.
So it's a big decision for the ANC and for the other parties. And a level of political maturity is needed, say, analysts that may not have always been there in South African politics. The next two weeks are going to be fascinating and critical -- Max.
FOSTER: Yes, David, in Johannesburg, thank you so much for that.
Still ahead, a major U.S. city's water crisis prompts a state of emergency declaration and an apology from its mayor.
Plus, excessive heat warnings and watches are in effect for parts of the U.S. this week. We'll show you which areas need to be on the lookout.
And later, a Japanese company spent millions on a state-of-the-art whaling ship. We'll tell you why.
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FOSTER: A grass fire in Northern California has burned through 14,000 acres. A grass fire in Northern California has burned through 14,000 acres. The Corral Fire started Saturday in a city near San Francisco.
California officials say it's now, sorry, 50 percent contained. Weather conditions have improved and made it easier for firefighters to make progress against the blaze but residents near the fire have been ordered to evacuate the area.
Parts of the U.S. are bracing for severe weather this week. A video from our affiliate KFDA in Northern Texas captured a tornado on the ground in the city of Silverton on Sunday. Other states are facing strong thunderstorm threats as well with parts of the Central U.S. on alert today. The heat is becoming an issue as well with 39 schools in the state of Pennsylvania turning to remote learning due to high temperatures.
Further west, people in central California will be under excessive heat warnings Wednesday and Thursday. Parts of Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico are also on alert with possible temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius.
The mayor of Atlanta has declared a state of emergency following a number of significant water main breaks, a major disruption for Georgia's capital which has impacted businesses, hospitals, entertainment venues and residents throughout the city. The mayor also apologized for the city's response. Our Rafael Romo is on the scene with the latest.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This water crisis paralyzed vast portions of one of America's largest cities over the weekend, disrupting the lives of thousands upon thousands of residents and forcing some of the top tourist attractions in the south to shut down.
Yet another water main break was confirmed Sunday afternoon near the Carter Center, but it was fixed by the water department in a matter of hours. City officials said Saturday night that one of two major water main breaks located just west of the downtown area was fixed, but they kept working Sunday on the second one gushing water throughout the weekend.
Also Sunday workers delivered a very large part of to this location, possibly the one the water commissioner had previously said they needed to fix the break.
AL WIGGINS JR. COMMISSIONER, CITY OF ATLANTA DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: We're waiting for a particular part to arrive. We expect for that part to arrive here soon. Once that part arrives, we think that this will be a routine repair and once the repair is completed, we'll be able to restore water services immediately.
ROMO (voice-over): Hours after apologizing to the city mayor, Andre Dickens declared a state of emergency to be able to access resources to deal with this water crisis. He also explained what the city has done to help those impacted by the water outage.
ANDRE DICKENS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA MAYOR: We have touched more than 30 senior communities, homeless shelters, hospitals and other centers across the city with vulnerable populations to deliver fresh drinking water and flushing water impacting about 10,500 people.
ROMO: We have also heard from Emory University Hospital Midtown, which announced has moved back to normal operations because water pressure returned to the hospital after several water main breaks in the area were repaired. The hospital also said ambulances have resumed normal service as well, although they will continue to provide bottled water to patients, visitors and staff because there's still a boil advisory in the city.
Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.
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FOSTER: A U.S. Congresswoman, Sheila Jackson Lee, announced on Sunday that she's been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Democratic representative from Texas revealed the news in a statement on social media. Lee said she had confidence in her doctor's treatment plan and she intends to remain in office while she fights the disease. Lee has represented her Texas district, which includes the city of Houston, since 1995.
Now still to come, the U.S. is waiting for Hamas to respond to a peace proposal they hope will end the conflict. A live report next.
Plus, North Korea says it's suspending its barrage of trash balloons against South Korea. But Seoul is threatening a response regardless.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here are today's top stories.
Claudia Sheinbaum is projected to become Mexico's first ever female president, based on preliminary results from Sunday's historic election. The former mayor of Mexico City is a member of the ruling Morena party. She's also a protege of the outgoing president.
Hunter Biden will become the first child of a sitting U.S. president to go on trial. He'll be in a Delaware courtroom later today to face felony gun charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 25 years in prison.
Days of heavy rain, causing deadly flooding across southern Germany. Thousands are being forced to flee their homes as the water cut off access to some areas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to visit the region in the coming hours.
The U.S. Secretary of State spoke with two Israeli ministers on Sunday. Antony Blinken assured Yoav Galant and Benny Gantz that the Israeli peace proposal announced by U.S. President Joe Biden would, quote, advance Israel's long-term security interests. Here's more from the U.S. national security spokesperson.
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JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR: Where we are right now is that proposal, an Israeli proposal, has been given to Hamas. It was done on Thursday night, our time. We're waiting for an official response from Hamas. We would note that publicly, Hamas officials came out and welcomed this proposal.
We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal, as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal, that Israel would say yes.
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FOSTER: Well, meanwhile, families of the hostages being held in Gaza gathered outside Benjamin Netanyahu's office, putting pressure on the Israeli prime minister to accept the new proposal and bring their loved ones home.
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SHAY DICKMANN, COUSIN HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA: I'm here to support my government in taking this deal, the deal that Netanyahu suggested, our prime minister, that will get all our people back home. We are all here in support for the return of all hostages.
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FOSTER: The two far-right Israeli ministers are threatening.
