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Hunter Biden Unexpectedly Attend House Committee Contempt Hearing; Defense Secretary Austin Undergoes Prostatectomy To Treat Cancer; Rodgers Shirks Apology To Kimmel Over Epstein Claim. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 10, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: An unexpected appearance followed by a quick exit. But he did show up. The president's son, Hunter Biden, shocking the House Oversight Committee by showing up at his own contempt hearing just briefly. They were just starting debating if they should hold the president's son in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena last month. He sat in the front row for a few minutes before leaving just as abruptly as he arrived.

I want to bring in defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Shan Wu. We are looking at the video of Hunter Biden walking into that committee meeting. Shan, was this a good idea for Hunter Biden to show up even though he didn't testify or say anything but he was there?

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, I think it was a very clever legal move by his team. Obviously, has some good public relations and political optics to it as well. But he's showing up really muddies the legal waters some because he is there versus completely blown off a subpoena and just not showing up pulling like a Steve Bannon-type of maneuver.

And so, it makes it harder ultimately, for someone making a decision whether to prosecute him for contempt as to whether there's solid legal grounds for that. And that could either be DOJ or maybe, you know, Attorney General Garland will farm it out to the special prosecutor Weiss in that case. But definitely muddies the waters some because they have to take into consideration if he's tried to comply, if there's been these efforts at accommodation that usually happen, and there's a long history of his team being in touch with them. Hasn't been just radio silence.

SIDNER: Right.

WU: And now this adds to that muddied water.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you. Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina used some really harsh words. Rude, I think is probably the best way to describe how she went after him.

WU: Right. SIDNER: But then you had a response from Democratic Congressman Moskowitz who talked about the many people, her fellow Republicans who had subpoenas -- congressional subpoenas that they ignored. Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Ken McCarthy, I mean, the list is very long. How does someone square that?

There's the list, my friends, of Republicans who just did ignore the subpoenas, and they were not put in contempt of Congress. How do you square this when you see -- I mean, is this purely political at this point when you look at the differences here?

WU: Most of that is purely political because they're deciding whether or not they want to hold their own colleagues in contempt. And, of course, they have a little bit of, you know, cover their own butts because they're thinking all of this happens to them, maybe could happen to me sometime. And they don't want to do that.

On the prosecutorial end, I think if we look at the examples of Meadows and Scavino, I think it was -- those are instances where contempt was referred to DOJ. They didn't do it. And probably the off- ramp DOJ used is the fact that there had been negotiations. There had been an effort and accommodations.

Meadows, I think had turned over documents. So, it didn't look like a very cut-and-dried case. I think, unfortunately for Hunter Biden, Attorney General Garland has shown himself so worried I think about being criticized for favoring the president's son, that he might kind of lean in the other direction and lean towards adding contempt onto the basket of charges they've already put on Hunter Biden.

SIDNER: Because he is facing other charges.

WU: Right.

SIDNER: And that is definitely a legal battle there. I want to go just quickly to Moskowitz who has just been speaking to MSNBC. And I just want people to hear what he has to say after that really contentious hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Seeing how, you know, he came and did the press conference last time, I mean, you know that was a pretty aggressive strategy. So, my colleagues, quite frankly, across the aisle should have expected something based on -- based on that previous move by Hunter.

That being said, I think it was pretty smart for him to come and show the American people that there -- that my colleagues across the aisle actually don't want the truth to get out. They just want to continue to spin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:35:00] SIDNER: So, I think you're probably in agreeance with that. A smart move on Biden's part just by showing up. What does that show, for example, the DOJ? What does that show, for example, that the Congress members who were not expecting him?

WU: Well, I think for the Congress members first, it does put them in a politically awkward bind because it makes them very vulnerable to saying, you know, why are you afraid to have him testify in open court? There's good practical reason -- not open court. Open hearing.

There's good practical reasons not to just want to put him out there fresh with no private preparation because your time is limited. You don't know what he's going to say. It's hard to have good questions. But from an optics standpoint, you know, they look bad that way.

And legally, I still think it really muddies the water legally for DOJ because here's someone who's been in negotiations saying they're willing to be here. And it's more of the kind of time place and manner is not to Congress's suiting. So, normally, I think that would be a no-brainer, DOJ would not prosecute such a contempt.

But normal has not exactly been the standard when it comes to the Hunter Biden charges.

SIDNER: Yes. And we should note that his attorney after court -- Hunter Biden's attorney said that they had given five different offers to cooperate, and they were ignored. So, all of that will have to be taken into account if and when there was some decision from that congressional hearing. And then, of course, the DOJ.

Shan Wu, thank you so much. I know you jumped on camera after seeing all that madness up there on Capitol Hill. We appreciate you.

WU: Good to see you.

SIDNER: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reveals he is being treated for prostate cancer. And why the White House push the Pentagon to say more?

Also, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers trying to grab attention once again. The latest on his fight with Jimmy Kimmel.

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[11:41:12]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just in. Administration officials tell CNN that senior White House officials pushed the Pentagon to release a statement on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's condition barely a day after learning about his hospitalization. Austin was hospitalized on New Year's Day after a rare complication from surgery to treat prostate cancer.

With us, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

BERMAN: Sanjay, walk us through the surgery that Austin had and the complications.

GUPTA: Yes. So, first of all, you know, he's 70 years old, and he was having routine screenings for prostate cancer. He didn't go in with some sort of problem and get this diagnosed. Routine screening in early December showed that he had evidence of prostate cancer. And the decision was made to have surgery.

And they decided to do that operation over the holidays, John, which a lot of people do so they can recover over the holiday. So, a few weeks later, he has surgery, on December 22.

Sounds like that goes fine. He was under general anesthesia. And as expected, he went home the next day, which is typical.

What happened next though, is where the story takes a bit of a turn. He started to have significant problems at home. Abdominal pain, hip pain, leg pain, and going back into the hospital on January 1.

At first, they diagnose this urinary tract infection but then realize there's something more serious. He goes to the intensive care unit. And they find that he has some fluid collections as well in his abdomen.

One thing about fluid in the abdomen, John, it's not supposed to be there. When it's there, it can cause your intestines to become paralyzed, which is what happened to him. And that warranted all this other treatment that he needed over the next several days.

Probably, a very uncomfortable few days for him. But it sounds like by January 5, he was sort of, you know, back to normal -- resuming normal duties they say.

BERMAN: How common is this for people who get prostate cancer surgery?

GUPTA: I would say it's a -- it's an -- these are known complications but pretty rare. You know, whenever we do an operation on someone bleeding and infection are always listed as possible risks. But when you look at prostatectomy, which is removal of the prostate, and look at how often these particular complications occur, one to two percent of the time, John.

BERMAN: What are doctors saying about the defense secretary's long- term recovery? How long it's going to take?

GUPTA: Well, you know, he's back to normal duty. So, my guess is over the next few days, he's probably going to be getting out of the hospital. But importantly, with regard to his cancer, it's a really good prognosis if you catch these cancers early, which it sounds like he did, and also maybe a bit counterintuitively.

But if an operation is performed, that usually is a sign that the cancer was not as aggressive. Because if it -- if it starts to spread outside, the prostate surgery is not usually the answer. So, the fact that they did an operation suggests that it was localized to the prostate.

It's now gone. So, the prognosis overall is excellent. But, John, one thing you know, we've talked about before. Prostate cancer, pretty common, you know, among men.

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. One in 41 men will die of prostate cancer. And it's much higher among black men for all sorts of different reasons from genetics to less screenings, but two times almost more likely to be diagnosed and more than two times more likely to die. So, these are important sorts of messages for people out there or reminders to get tested.

BERMAN: You mentioned the treatment at the surgery, in this case, can sometimes actually be a positive sign --

GUPTA: Right.

BERMAN: Because it means they think they can get at it. How common is surgery and have these guidelines changed?

GUPTA: Yes. So, it's not the only sort of path forward when someone is diagnosed. First of all, screenings aren't even recommended on people over the age of 70 because they say, look, if we find it at this point, the likelihood that it will be a problem in your life is much lower. But even for younger men, you know, unless you have a family history or something, it may -- it's not something that's necessarily often done.

[11:45:02]

You could watch this as well. So, we're just going to keep an eye on this cancer and see if it changes over time, something known as watchful waiting. And then there are other options like radiation to try and treat these. They opted for surgery, which again, to this earlier point, probably meant this was a very localized, easy-to- remove tumor.

BERMAN: All right. Again, this is something that all men of a certain age, they have these discussions with their doctors.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: Important information there, Sanjay. Thank you very much. Sara.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

SIDNER: And I just have to say, don't we love Sanjay Gupta? He is honestly the best.

BERMAN: He's all right.

SIDNER: Hey, John? Sanjay, when you come in next time, I will have a word with John so he can be on his best behavior. He will do it -- (INAUDIBLE)

Speaking of being on best behavior, coming up. New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers attempting to explain away his unfounded claims that Jimmy Kimmel was somehow associated with Jeffrey Epstein, which Kimmel slapped back. We'll bring you the very latest on what he had to say and the controversy there.

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[11:50:33]

BOLDUAN: Other stories "ON OUR RADAR" this hour. It was one of the largest Houthi attacks over the Red Sea in recent months. U.S. Central Command says the Navy shot down 21 Houthi drones and missiles over the Red Sea Tuesday, launched from Yemen. And now, Secretary of State Tony Blinken has a new warning today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've made clear -- we've been clear with more than 20 other countries that if this continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. We've also repeatedly tried to make clear to Iran as other countries have as well, that the support that they're providing the Houthis including for these actions needs to stop. It's not in their interest to see the conflict escalated. And we're not the only ones who sent that message to Iran.

BOLDUAN (voiceover): Blinken is currently on his fourth trip to the region since the October 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel. Blinken remains focused on keeping that war from expanding to become a bigger regional conflict.

Alexey Navalny, in court for the first time since being transferred to a Siberian penal colony. You see a picture of it here. Navalny is the chief critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Of course, he went missing for two weeks last month, reappearing thousands of miles from the jail he had long been held in. And during this court appearance, he spoke via video. The hearing comes after Navalny gave insight yesterday also on social media into life at the remote penal colony. Dripping with sarcasm, he posted about his "educational" work there and joked about the morning walks that he gets to enjoy for -- he's forced to take when it's negative 13 degrees outside.

A man who was rescued after being trapped for six days in his wrecked truck has just been reunited with the people who saved his life. These are new photos that have been released of Matt Reum from Indiana meeting with the first responders and two fishermen who found him. Reum almost died in that truck, surviving on only rainwater until the fishermen came upon him.

He did have to have one leg amputated due to the injuries he suffered. But still, he says he is beyond happy, Sara.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SIDNER: Survival is everything. All right, even though he is under threat of being sued, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not apologizing to Jimmy Kimmel after baselessly painting that the late-night host was somehow associated with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The Jets star was back on the Pat McAfee show Tuesday after making that claim. But rather than try to clear the air, Rodgers instead insisted he was not accusing Kimmel of being a pedophile. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON RODGERS, QUARTERBACK, NEW YORK JETS: As long as he understands what I actually said, and -- that I'm not accusing him of being on a list. I'm not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence -- concrete evidence. It's just ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, what was he trying to say? I don't know. Kimmel addressed the growing feud saying he would accept an apology from Rodgers but doesn't expect the injured quarterback to offer up one. That was Pat McAfee, by the way. Because apparently, I haven't been watching enough there on that show. But you all know him.

Joining me now with more on this is Axios senior media reporter and CNN media analyst Sara Fischer. Aaron Rodgers hot water is - I don't know, the lightest of terms here because Jimmy is really angry about this, and he should be.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. And as a Jets fan, I think there are a lot of fans who are annoyed about this. You know, you recruit such a high-profile star. You want to do big things for your team.

Not only is he injured, but now he's running his mouth accusing people of things that there's no proof of. And it's not a good look for the team. It's not a good look for the NFL. It's not a good look for ESPN.

I mean having him on air accusing an ABC star, remember Disney owns both ABC and ESPN, of doing something like this. It just makes everyone look bad. No one looks good in this, Sara.

SIDNER: Why hasn't ESPN said anything? Because they've been silent on this. And like you said, ESPN, ABC, they -- same company?

FISCHER: Well, I think one of the reasons is that they're paying Pat McAfee a lot of money to license his show. And the reason they did it is because they want ESPN to be in the zeitgeist. Remember, this is a pretty old cable network.

They're competing events against companies like Barstool and Bleacher Report that are new and hit and internet friendly. And so, when they licensed his show, the deal was, we're not going to mess with the content.

[11:55:01]

And so, for them to come out and make a statement, they just, I'm assuming you don't want to put Pat McAfee in a place where he is unhappy with his parents or his parent -- you know, parent owner, the people licensing the show. Of course, the challenge of that, Sara, is that that puts it's in -- you know, other talent in a really precarious position, right?

If you're Jimmy Kimmel, you're looking at your parent company and you're saying why aren't you here to defend me? So, they're going to have to walk a really fine line. And I -- right now, I don't know that silence is doing it. We'll see if that comes out in the next few days.

SIDNER: The other thing is defamation lawsuits can be really expensive. Sara Fischer, thank you so much for coming on and explaining all that to us. Appreciate you.

BERMAN: Yes, paying McAfee $85 million for that show on ESPN.

SIDNER: Yes. (INAUDIBLE)

BERMAN: So, 85 million reasons, you know, to handle this carefully, shall I say?

BOLDUAN: Wow.

BERMAN: All right, thank you all for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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