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Unexpected Pause in Hunter Biden's Federal Gun Trial; Naomi Biden's Emotional Testimony Alters Defense Strategy; President Biden Calls for Defense of Democracy in Normandy Speech; May Jobs Report Exceeds Expectations with 272,000 Jobs Added; Congress Members Recreate Daring D-Day Parachute Jump Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Defending Hunter Biden. Lawyers for the president's son are making the case for why he should be acquitted in his federal gun trial and first up they called his daughter to the stand. Plus standing up to Vladimir Putin President Biden delivering a forceful speech in Normandy one day after the anniversary of D-day suggesting the veterans who stormed that Beach would want the U.S. to defend Ukraine against the Kremlin's war machine.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And a tribute to the sacrifice of the veterans who helped defeat Nazi Germany. Ten members of Congress recreate the daring parachute jump over France. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: It's the top of the hour, and we lead with an unexpected, very unexpected pause in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial. It's adjourned for the day, and it will not pick up again until next week. This comes after Hunter Biden's daughter, Naomi, gave an emotional, hours-long testimony about her father's past drug addiction. Our own Paula Reid was inside court and reports that Naomi appeared very uncomfortable while on the stand, and when she left, she gave her dad a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and was seen trembling and wiping away tears as she exited the courtroom. We want to go to Paula Reid now, who's been tracking this closely. Paula. Why did court adjourn so quickly?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this is fascinating. As you said, I was in court all morning. I watched Naomi Biden and two other defense witnesses testify. We broke for lunch. We were expecting to come back and hear from Hunter's uncle, James Biden, and a few more witnesses. When the defense came back from lunch, they said they're no longer calling any of those witnesses. The only outstanding question for the defense is whether they will call the defendant, Hunter Biden, to the stand. The judge is now giving them a long weekend before deciding if they're going to do that, but it appears that after Naomi Biden's appearance on the stand, which did not exactly go, I think, how the defense expected it to go, they are switching up their strategy, and now they have what could make or break their case, this big decision about whether to put the defendant on the stand on Monday. BORIS: That is a major development, Paula. So, to clarify, does this mean we're likely not going to hear from James Biden at all, the president's brother?

REID: That's exactly right, Boris. They said they no longer are going to call him. They had some other witnesses, including a doctor they were going to put on the stand. James Biden is here. He's actually in court waiting to be called. They are changing up the strategy. They're no longer calling him. Of course, we're going to talk to our sources about what exactly happened during the lunch break. One of our colleagues actually commented that right behind me, actually, Hunter Biden and his wife just leaving court a moment ago. But there was a lot of shouting heard by some of our colleagues from the defense room where they do their lunch. And the defense officer actually had to open the door and say something to them, which quieted them down. But it's just unclear what happened during the lunch break that made them do this incredibly serious shift in strategy. I mean, when you have a witness here, you fully expect to call them. It wasn't just one witness. It was a few witnesses. Now they're no longer putting any of them on. I mean, this is a real turn in this trial.

BORIS: Yeah, Paula. And that detail about yelling in the defense room during lunch, that could be significant. Talk to us about Naomi Biden's testimony, because as you said, it didn't go. The way the defense perhaps anticipated.

REID: Well, first of all, let's think about, you know, Naomi Biden and her situation. She is an adult. She's a married woman. She's graduated law school. But this is an incredibly uncomfortable situation for anyone to be in. And she's, of course, talking about her father's addiction and what she observed. And at least two instances where she met with him in 2018. Anyone who knows someone whose parent is an addict, anyone who is the child of an addict. You can imagine how painful this is.

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And the jury was so attentive watching her every word as she testified about seeing her father in September 2018. She said she hadn't seen him in a while and he had been in rehab and reached out and said, look, I'll arrange a trip if you'll come out. And she went out there with her then boyfriend, now husband, Peter, and she testified that she was so proud of her father. She said he was as clear or as clean as he had been since her uncle, Hunter's brother, Beau, had died in 2015. And she said she was really proud to introduce him to her boyfriend. She then testified about seeing him again in October, October 19th. And that's significant because that is the period, that tight period where he owned the gun at the center of this question. And prosecutors alleged that he was using or addicted to drugs at that time.

And she said when she saw him, he was as clean as he was in L.A. And, again, she was hopeful. But, Boris, on cross-examination by the prosecutors, things really took a turn. Naomi and defense attorneys appeared a little surprised when they presented a series of text messages between Hunter and Naomi during that New York trip, where Hunter appeared at times to be a little erratic, going dark for long periods of time while she was trying to arrange to give him his car back. She had borrowed it to move. And it did come across in the text messages that he was, again, being a little erratic, going M.I.A. for large portions. Texting her at 2 in the morning, details about a car pickup. While she didn't see or observe him doing drugs, it undercut sort of the picture that she had painted. The other thing is that she had testified when she borrowed his car that there was no drug, evidence of drug use, no drug paraphernalia.

And the prosecutors pointed to the fact that, ok, if on October 19th you didn't see any residue of drugs, you didn't see any drug paraphernalia, they pointed to the fact that on October 23rd, her aunt found the gun at the center of this case in that same car, but also said she, you know, found drug residue and drug paraphernalia. So, prosecutors pointed out, ok, if you didn't see it on October 19th, it must have been put on in there thereafter, which was not a great point for the defense because it suggests that perhaps he was using drugs. For us, it was a defense witness. That was why Naomi was on the stand to help her father. It's not clear if that is what was achieved during her time on the stand and likely accounts for why they're totally switching up now.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Soon after that, apparently, discord inside the defense room during lunch. And immediately after the defense puts this thing on pause, we'll have to wait and see what happens next. Paula Reid, live from outside the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. Thanks so much, Brianna.

KEILAR: On the world stage, President Biden is making a powerful call to defend democracy. Right now, the president is in France, where earlier he delivered a historic speech standing atop the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc in Normandy. Those are the same cliffs where hundreds of American rangers scaled to secure key positions against the Nazis. Their heroism was a key turning point for allied forces in World War II. And in his speech, the president called on Americans to honor the legacy of those soldiers by protecting democracy. Biden drew parallels. He compared tyrannical threats to democracy to threats that are looming today. And without naming names, Biden highlighted stark differences between himself and his political rival, former President Donald Trump. CNN's Melissa Bell is joining us now from Paris. Melissa, this was indeed a historic speech.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a historic speech in a historic location, as you say, the very spot where 80 years ago, American soldiers had proved their valor, their courage, and no doubt helped to change the course of European history. But it was also the spot, very symbolically, where 40 years ago, Ronald Reagan made an impassioned plea against isolationism. And, of course, in the planning of the speech, that would not have been lost on those organizing not just Joe Biden's return to Normandy, but what he was going to say. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: As we gather here today, it's not just to honor those who showed such remarkable bravery on that day, June 6, 1944. It's to listen to the echoes of their voices, to hear them, because they are summoning us, and they're summoning us now. They ask us, what will we do? They're not asking us to scale these cliffs, but they're asking us to stay true to what America stands for. They're not asking us to give or risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They're not asking us to do their job. They're asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up aggression abroad and at home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Throughout so much of what we've heard from President Biden over the course of the last couple of days, Brianna, there has been, without ever naming Donald Trump clearly, a domestic audience and domestic messages that the president is delivering here on European soil.

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There is beyond the American political landscape what's happening in Ukraine and the parallels that have been drawn between what happened in World War II and the need very much to stand steady against Russian aggression there, Brianna.

KEILAR: Melissa Bell, thank you for that report. And for more on this, we're joined by journalist and historian Garrett Graff. He is the author of many books, including most recently, When the Sea Came Alive, an oral history of D-Day, which is a beautiful book, Garrett, because especially at this time, as we're saying goodbye to the last of these veterans, this is the story in their own words. Tell us a little bit about what you learned about this specific location, Pointe du Hoc. And what these veterans said about it.

GARRETT GRAFF, JOURNALIST AND HISTORIAN: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. This is why this week feels so poignant to us, is it's not just the 80th anniversary of D-Day, but it's really the final passing of the greatest generation. Great Britain estimates now there are just six living D-Day veterans left. And this -- what I tried to do with this book was to tell the story of D-Day in the first person, in the voices of the people who participated in it. And when you read those accounts, the memories of people like the rangers who scaled Pointe du Hoc, you know, it's easy to get lost in the mythology of D- Day, to say this is this huge Herculean triumph of Western democracy. But when you hear the voices of the people who actually, you know, charged those cliffs that morning, you know, they're not feeling particularly courageous and brave that morning. You know, they're scared. They're lonely. They're sort of wondering if they have what it takes to perform in combat. They're wondering if they're going to let down their comrades and their friends. And that's, to me, one of the stories that really stands out of the rangers is what a tight unit that was. It was such an elite, well-trained team. This was the early start, of course, of the American Special Forces. And the rangers were sort of the elite of the elite. And the way that they bonded and the way that they tried to support each other that day, climbing those cliffs. And then, of course, the rest of the story is that they get to the top

of the cliffs and the German gun battery that they think that they're storming is gone. And they actually have to fan out across the German countryside. And it's Sergeant Len Lomell who finally finds in sort of a copse of woods back from the cliffs the German guns and is able to destroy them before they are able to fire down on Omaha Beach or Utah Beach. And so, these rangers who sort of do this audacious maneuver this morning, you know, get to the top and they're like, where are all the guns?

KEILAR: And they have to figure it out. And it's a number of people just doing the job they set out to do, watching others die doing it and hoping that they're going to be able to succeed. This commemoration has drawn so many parallels. We see President Biden doing it, others as well, between the war in Ukraine. And as someone who's spent so much time researching it, how do you see the parallels?

GRAFF: Yeah, I don't think we've ever seen a, um, major anniversary of D-Day where democracy felt as under threat and fraught as it does this year. And that's both a question in Europe where you have, you know, an active land war going on. And that's also, as President Biden made the point today, a battle here to fight at home. And I think, you know, one, Ronald Reagan, who sort of, with that speech at Pointe du Hoc in 1984, lifted D-Day from the history into legend. You know, what he said in one of his speeches was democracy is never more than one generation away from extinction. And as we mark this final passing of the greatest generation, I think President Biden wants to make this choice very stark about what our generation is going to do with the legacy they're leaving us.

KEILAR: And being a leading nation is also something that can't be taken for granted. There's this interesting moment in the book where you quote Churchill just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, anticipating the U.S. joining the war. And he says England would live. That's what it meant to him, right? Britain would live. The Commonwealth of Nations and the empire would live. Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder. I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful. This was the moment, right, where it's sort of the beginning, too, of the establishment of the world order that the U.S. has enjoyed now for decades.

GRAFF: Yeah. You know, when you look at those speeches yesterday, you know, Biden and King Charles and Macron, you know, we tell this really simple story of, like, the allies were a great partnership. We've always had this special relationship. And when you get into the history, that's not really true. You know, the first couple of years of this war, Britain is standing alone.

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Churchill feels that he is holding the line alone, you know, trying to pull Roosevelt against the isolationist politics of the U.S. in the 1930s. And it's really the first couple of years of this war, 1941, 1942, 1943, are the U.S. and Great Britain learning how to be allies, you know, learning how to cooperate. And I talk about, in the chapter of the book where we talk about the buildup, I call it the American invasion, because long before you have the Allied invasion of Europe, you have the American invasion of Great Britain, as we move 1.4 million personnel over there in '43 and '44, and what that culture clash meant for the militaries, for the government and society.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's, that is a beautiful story. In itself, which is in your book, When the Sea Came Alive, it is a gorgeous book, and it's just so important as these voices are no longer with us. So, Garrett, thank you so much for talking with us about it. We really, really, really appreciate it.

GRAFF: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: And ahead, call it a mixed bag, the May jobs report smashing expectations, but will that make it harder for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates? We're going to dig into the numbers. Plus, members of Congress commemorating D-Day with their own parachute jump, over Normandy. We have Congressman Michael Waltz, who did that jump. He's going to join us. And can we buy a tissue? Pat Sajak's last spin on Wheel of Fortune airing just hours from now.

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SANCHEZ: The U.S. economy just had another blockbuster month of job growth. 272,000 jobs were added in May. Blowing past expectations. CNN's Matt Egan joins us now. Matt, we're kind of in a pattern here where we talk about how great the jobs reports are, but then it kind of highlights the fight that the Fed has continuously had with inflation, right?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Boris. I mean, the jobs market is relentless. Just when it looked like things were slowing down, we find out today that hiring unexpectedly accelerated in May. 272,000 jobs added. that is a strong number in any environment. It crushed expectations and it's looking more and more like that slowdown in April was really just a blip. Clearly there is still a lot of demand out there for workers. Wages rose sharply, notably increasing more than prices did. And really there was across the board strength when you look at the sectors. There were 68,000 jobs added in healthcare alone, another 43,000 jobs in government, 42,000 in leisure and hospitality. Now, all of this is good news for workers. One thing to keep an eye on is the household survey. Part of the jobs report was weaker. That's why the unemployment rate ticked up going from 3.9 percent to 4 percent. Now that's the highest level since January of 2022, but it's not high. This is still a historically low number, a lot lower than people had anticipated given the pandemic. How much the Fed is trying to slow the economy down. I think Bank of America economists summed it up best. They said, quote, the economy may be cooling, but it is not cool. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Matt Egan, thanks so much for that. Let's bring in CNN economics and political commentator Catherine Rampell for the big picture on this. Catherine, your takeaways from this report. CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a job market that just won't quit. As you were just discussing with Matt, month after month, we seem to get surprised. We're going to be surprised by how strong the numbers are and that was certainly the case in the payroll jobs numbers that you all just talked about. But there was a lot of good stuff elsewhere in the report, too. For example, you had the labor force participation rate for prime age workers, which is workers in their prime working years, age 25 to 54, at its highest level since 2002. You had the prime age labor force participation rate for women at its highest level ever. So, women are doing quite well, the share of women who have jobs in that prime working age group, again, at the highest level on record. So, there's a lot of good stuff in here. As you discussed, it's sort of a double- edged sword in that if the job market is hotter than the Fed wants, that might mean that those interest rate cuts that a lot of consumers are looking for get pushed back a little bit.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, because investors initially were speculating about a potential cut in June, then that moved to September, and now the chatter is December. Do you see it happening potentially before the end of the year?

RAMPELL: I think we'll have to wait and see what the numbers look like in the months ahead. But it is interesting that pretty much every time we get a jobs report, and for that matter, a lot of the inflation prints as well, those expectations get pushed back and pushed back and pushed back. In contrast, of course, with what we've seen in the last couple of years, we've seen in some of our peer countries, the European Central Bank recently cut its interest rates because it's more worried about softening than we are. But here in the United States, even the Fed itself has pushed back some of those forecasts.

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So, you know, if you have a mortgage or a car payment, or for that matter, you have a balance that you're carrying month to month for your credit card, yeah, it would be great for you if interest rate cuts came sooner. But as long as the economy continues to be as strong as it is, and potentially, you know, at risk of overheating again, which is really what the Fed is worried about, about inflation re- accelerating, you may have to hold off a little longer.

SANCHEZ: Catherine Rampell, always appreciate the analysis. Thanks for joining us.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, a tribute to the soldiers of D-Day. Ten members of Congress recreating a daring parachute jump over the beaches of France. We're going to speak with Congressman Mike Waltz. Who made the jump when we come back.

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