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Hunter Biden Offers to Change Plea in Tax Trial; Netanyahu Denies Cease-Fire Deal Close; Georgia School Shooting Investigation. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 05, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAILA FOHRMAN, STUDENT: I just kept my feet up and I prayed. And I closed my eyes and I tried to stay calm and -- but I was shaking. I was worried that they would hear me.

KAYLEE ABNER, STUDENT: And then everyone ducks behind the desk. And the teacher is, like, flipping tables and stuff and barricading the door. So I was just scared out of my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And a mother is sharing how she learned what was happening from her daughter. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TABITHA BOWLING, MOTHER: I was at work, and Ariel called me on the phone and told me: "Mom, there's a active shooting at school."

I told her to just run in the classroom and hide in the corner and just be quiet and just do whatever they tell her to do. And at that time, I heard five gunshots and then the phone went dead, so I didn't know if she was hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in Steve Moore right now, CNN law enforcement contributor, retired FBI special agent.

So, Steve, what are the next steps in this investigation?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you're going to have to find out everything that this suspect did in the last year or two, maybe even three, because there's two phases to this.

There's, number one, how did he accomplish what he did? And, number two, how did we miss what he did? How did we miss, even though we were targeted in on him at one point?

So they're going to go through all of his social media, everything he said, anybody he knows. They're going to kind of like write a biography on him for the next few weeks.

BLITZER: The suspect, as you correctly pointed out, was actually questioned last year about potential online threats to commit a school shooting, not just one, maybe more.

Why weren't officials able to take any action then?

MOORE: Well, because you're constrained by the legal principle of probable cause. Do you have probable cause to believe that this person is going to go forward and commit one of these shootings?

Or, even in this case, do you have probable cause to believe that he was the one who made the threat? I'm not going to argue back and forth because I don't know the whole -- the whole fact situation about when they went and met with him. But it seems to me that they had probable cause that he had made that threat.

And we're going to have to determine as a society here whether a threat -- now we're looking at a threat and saying, oh, he's a 13- year-old boy. Let's not ruin his whole life over something stupid. Well, we may have to, for the protection of our society, take these type of things much more seriously.

BLITZER: And are they going to be investigating the parents as well, if the parents were negligent, for example, in protecting this AR-15- style rifle that was supposedly involved?

MOORE: Yes, absolutely, especially in this case.

Because if that AR-15 belonged to the father, and that's kind of where the facts seem to be pointing, remember that the police came to the house and said he didn't have -- and the father said, he doesn't have access to these guns. Well, apparently, he

did. And then what you have got is not only negligence in the act of making the gun available to his son, but criminal activity in lying to the police about the availability of a gun that was later used in a murder.

BLITZER: As you know, the school rolled out some new technology only last week that allowed school officials to directly report to law enforcement that a shooting was unfolding. How big of a role did this play in preventing further casualties?

MOORE: Well, it -- the training they have done, the programs that they have done obviously had a big effect because, frankly, this -- as tragic and as horrible as this sounds, this is a lower death toll than we would sometimes expect with that kind of weapon and that much time.

So the first -- the class that he left from, they locked the door behind him. Before -- it was just a standard policy, so he couldn't come into that room. He went to another room, but we're seeing that, if you can delay or divert these shooters, then lives can be saved.

BLITZER: Which is so important.

All right, Steve Moore, thank you very much for your analysis.

And still ahead this hour: discouraging news for the families of the Hamas hostages, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a deal to free them -- quote -- "isn't even close."

I will speak with the parents of a 22-year-old who's been missing now for more than 330 days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:29]

BLITZER: This morning, we have some new details on the Israel-Hamas talks to try to broker a cease-fire deal and secure the release of Israeli hostages.

A senior U.S. administration official says an agreement is now 90 percent complete. The source tells CNN the remaining obstacles are the future role of Israeli troops in Gaza and the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Joining us now are the parents of 22-year-old Israeli-American Omer Neutra. He's the grandson of Holocaust survivors and was serving in the Israeli military when Hamas took him hostage back on October 7.

[11:40:07]

Orna and Ronen Neutra are joining us right now.

And you have shared with me before, to both of you. And our hearts go out to you, to all the parents, family members of these hostages being held by Hamas.

Just a short time ago, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, minced no words to reject those reports of a draft agreement possibly emerging and taking shape. Listen to what he said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's exactly inaccurate. There's a story, a narrative out there that there's a deal out there. In fact, while we agreed in July and -- in May and July and in August to a deal and to an American proposal, Hamas has consistently said no to every one of them. They don't agree to anything, not to the Philadelphi Corridor, not to the keys of exchanging hostages for jailed terrorists, not to anything.

So that's just a false narrative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Orna, what do you make of Prime Minister Netanyahu's very blunt assessment?

ORNA NEUTRA, MOTHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE OMER NEUTRA-ORNA: You know what, Wolf, it's just unacceptable to me even the way he's presenting this.

Yes, we're dealing with a terrorist organization. And they have been holding on to our kids for 11 months now. But I would expect from the prime minister to say -- instead of just dismissing whatever is on the table and blaming it on Hamas, to say that he is committed to making a deal that will work, and not just dismiss it lightheartedly like it -- like it is. It's just crass.

BLITZER: Clearly a difference of opinion between the Israeli prime minister and top officials here in the Biden administration.

Ronen, when we spoke last year, and I remember that conversation well -- it was on Thanksgiving Day -- it was the day before a weeklong cease-fire deal emerged and that freed some 13 hostages held by Hamas. You voiced optimism at the time that it was the start of a new process. Sadly, sadly, very sadly, it wasn't.

What is your level of optimism today?

RONEN NEUTRA, FATHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE OMER NEUTRA-ORNA: Listen, Wolf, we have to stay optimistic. There's no other way.

But we see how difficult it is. We were heartbroken with the news of Hersh Polin-Goldberg being murdered a few days back with other five Israelis. We know that the situation is dire. We know that our son is at risk of gunpoint any minute.

And 11 months in, we are calling on all the leaders, including the Biden administration. Do everything you can. Do your responsibility. It's urgent and our kids are dying there. And you have to do whatever you can to bring them back now, because there won't be too many more opportunities.

BLITZER: Ronen, let me follow up. The prime minister, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is totally adamant that he won't compromise on his demand to keep Israeli troops along that Southern Gaza border with Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

He says it's essential to block the flow of smuggled weapons and ammunition into Gaza that would wind up in the hands of Hamas and potentially could wind up killing more Israelis. Do you feel the prime minister is doing enough to prioritize bringing Omer and the other hostages home?

R. NEUTRA: Listen, we are doing a deal with the devil, the worst terrorist organization in the world.

But let me ask this question. For 20 years, close to 20 years, Prime Minister Netanyahu was in charge in making sure that this border is protected and flow of ammunition is not coming in. Where was he? Where was the army? And now that we are there, do you really think that a few soldiers being there is going to make sure that the tunnels are not being operated underneath them?

I don't buy that. We look at it as a political excuse. We know there's got to be a deal with the devil. Do the deal, bring the hostages and later on do what you need to make sure that Israel is secure, not on the back of my child.

BLITZER: All right. Orna, we have seen several days of very angry protests across all of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Israelis protesting over the government's failure to hammer out a hostage deal to bring those remaining hostages home.

Does that give you any hope to see these demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere?

O. NEUTRA: Israel is a democracy. And what you're seeing is the outrage of the Israeli people, of the hostage families and of all Israeli society really coming out and saying, you need to do more. It's not enough. It's been 11 months. People are dying.

[11:45:00]

We had six young people that were able to survive the horrible conditions of their captivity, only to be murdered last week. And it's just devastating. And what we're seeing in the streets is the outcry of the Israeli people that are demanding that our own people come home, I -- come home, that all the hostages come home.

Without them coming home, Israeli society will not be able to recover.

R. NEUTRA: And, Wolf, I want to say the names of the American citizens that are being held in captivity in Gaza.

With our son Omer, there is Edan, Sagui, and Keith that are considered alive, and we have Itay, Gadi, and Judi that are considered to be held as bodies in Gaza. All seven of them must come home.

BLITZER: And tell us a little bit about Omer, your son, who's being held over there.

O. NEUTRA: You know, Omer is a great kid. He's very social. He's a kid that does the right thing. He's an all-American kid. He grew up -- he was born in New York City. He grew up on Long Island. He loves athletics. He loves the NFL, the NBA.

He was the captain of three sports teams in high school. He was a leader in his youth group. Like you mentioned, Wolf, we have a very big family in Israel. Both of his grandparents are Holocaust survivors who moved to Israel.

And after spending some time in Israel on a gap, Omer felt that, before he came back to college here in the United States, he needed to serve himself. So that's the kind of kid that he is. He's just a regular kid, but he's also a kid that will do the right thing. And we need to do everything to bring him back.

BLITZER: And we hope he will be back soon and be back with you, with both of you.

Orna and Ronen Neutra, thank you so much for being with us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the hostage families and all the hostages. Let's hope they get back to Israel and get back soon. And we will be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:30]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: All right, there's breaking news coming into CNN right now.

Hunter Biden is offering to plead to avoid a trial in his federal tax evasion case out in California.

CNN's Evan Perez is joining us live outside the courthouse in Los Angeles.

Evan, tell us about what's going on.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, court just gone under way about 15 minutes ago here in downtown Los Angeles.

And Hunter Biden's attorneys have stood up in court and said that he's offering to resolve this case, avoid going to trial. The trial is supposed to start with jury selection today, Wolf. But he's offering to enter a plea, what's known as can Alford plea, where he maintains his innocence, but essentially puts himself at the mercy of the court and accept whatever sentence, whatever punishment the judge in this case deals out.

And so we don't know, obviously, how this will happen or where -- how this will turn out in court right now. Generally, the Justice Department has a policy against Alford pleas. They would insist that Hunter Biden needs to plead guilty to all of these charges.

Just a reminder, he's failing -- he's facing three felony counts for tax evasion and six misdemeanor counts for failing to pay -- failing to file and pay his taxes. This is for the years 2016, 2017, 2018. We saw Hunter Biden arrive in court just a little while ago.

And, certainly, the expectation was that at least before this trial got under way, Wolf, that there would be some kind of discussion of a plausible plea agreement. It appears there have been no such negotiations, at least not recently.

And Hunter Biden instead is offering in court today to enter this Alford plea, again, where he maintains that he is innocent, but that he acknowledges the government has enough evidence to convict him and accept whatever punishment the judge sentences him to.

So we don't know, again, how this will turn out today. We expect that the government will object to this arrangement and we will see whether -- what Judge Mark Scarsi says in response to Hunter's offer -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Because, usually, as you know, Evan -- and we have covered a lot of these kinds of cases over the years -- when there's a plea agreement, the suspect pleads guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence from the prosecution that goes before a judge, and almost always the judge accepts that plea agreement, offering some sort of reduced sentence and no sentence sometimes in exchange for a guilty plea that avoids a full-scale trial.

But this is very, very different.

PEREZ: Right.

This is a highly unusual move by the defendant, in this case Hunter Biden. I mean, he is trying to essentially bypass the government and ask the judge to accept this plea. In state court, sometimes, they have this, the no contest, or nolo contendere, type of plea.

In federal court, what's -- this is called an Alford plea. And, again, the Justice Department is -- has a policy against accepting these types of plea agreements or this kind of plea. They would contend that Hunter Biden needs to plead guilty to all of these charges and then accept whatever punishment the judge decides.

And so it's a very unusual move to try to do this. So, you remember, Wolf, that there was a plea agreement last year which fell apart in federal court in Delaware, where Hunter Biden was convicted earlier this year on gun charges -- Wolf.

[11:55:08]

BLITZER: Evan Perez in Los Angeles for us.

We will stay on top of the story, to be sure. Thank you very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I will be back later tonight, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" starts right after a very short break.