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Biden Makes the Case for Democracy in D-Day Speech; Ukraine Suffers Highest Number of Civilian Casualties in Nearly a Year; Hunter Biden's Gun Trial Adjourns for the Day; Blinken to Visit Middle East in Renewed Push for Ceasefire Deal. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:11]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Defending democracy in Normandy, President Biden draws parallels between World War II and Ukraine in a speech in France and personally promises Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. is not going to walk away from the country.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, Hunter Biden's gun trial adjourning for the day after his daughter, Naomi, testified about his struggle with addiction. What his defense attorneys are saying about the possibility of the President's son taking the stand.

And Netflix hitting back after a woman sues the company for $170 million, claiming that its hit series "Baby Reindeer" ruined her life.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

It's the top of the hour and we begin with a historic and high stakes speech from President Biden as he makes the case for freedom and the future of democracy. Today, Biden stood atop the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France, where 225 Rangers scaled cliffs to capture key Nazi-held positions and help turn the tide of World War II.

In his remarks, Biden drew parallels comparing tyrannical threats to democracy to threats looming today. And he spoke about how those Rangers in 1944 never quit and about how they put their mission and country over self.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We talk about democracy, American democracy. We often talk about the ideals of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. What we don't talk about is how hard it is. American democracy asked the hardest of things to believe that we're part of something bigger than ourselves. So democracy begins with each of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Today's speech capped off two days of D-Day commemorations in Normandy, where Biden met with other world leaders, including Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. CNN's Melissa Bell is joining us now live from Paris.

Melissa, what more can you tell us about Biden's message and also the stakes of the moment?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the stakes of the moment are very much what's happening in Ukraine for a start, and that potential turning point, given the advances of Russian troops, Brianna. And what we've seen are more pledges of support from France. Tonight, President Zelenskyy is having dinner with President Macron. Of course, more pledges from the United States, but mostly that message that we heard from President Biden, the thread through the last few days that when you look back what happened in Normandy, the very brave men who took part and turned the tide of history here on the European continent would have wanted one thing for Ukraine. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin's aggression here in Europe today? They stormed the beaches alongside their allies. Does anyone believe these rangers would want America to go alone today? They fought to vanquish a hateful ideology in the '30s and '40s. Does anyone doubt they wouldn't move heaven and earth to vanquish hateful ideologies of today? These rangers put mission and country above themselves. Does anyone believe they would exact any less from every American today?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: There was also, Brianna, during the bilateral between President Biden and President Zelenskyy here in Paris earlier today before he headed back to Normandy. An apology for the many months of delay in getting the latest round of aid to Kyiv, something he blamed on some of those more conservative elements of Congress. Brianna.

[15:05:01]

KEILAR: Melissa Bell live for us from Paris. Thank you for that report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: For more on President Biden's historic speech, we're joined by Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker.

Susan, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

In your column, you warned that President Biden's participation in the D-Day commemorations could have easily backfired on him. Why, in your view, was it a risk?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, look, I mean, first of all, let's be real. Joe Biden is almost certainly the last American president who will have been alive on June 6, 1944. He was just a, you know, young child at that time, born in the midst of the war. And this is a commemoration that's made, I think, extra poignant by the fact that there were something like 180 veterans in the Normandy operation who were still able to come.

Five years from now, there will be very few, if any, who are able to make it. This is one of those historic things that is about to pass from living memory. There's always the risk of, you know, being - having Biden up there at a time when his age is under scrutiny in the American presidential campaign. Does it just reinforce that he's, in a way, a relic of a different era, that he is very much, and his foreign policy views are very founded by that post-war international era that, in some ways, has come to an end.

But I think he's made some very strong speeches there connecting that history to how he sees the present challenges of today.

SANCHEZ: Sure. To that point, as he was arriving in France, the White House had to respond to that Wall Street Journal piece that was entitled, quote, "Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping." It evoked questions about his age.

How well do you think he did to counter that perception on this trip?

GLASSER: Yes. I mean, look, I thought these were very strong speeches by Biden. There is no question. You don't need some secret Republican sources, which is largely what that Wall Street Journal piece quoted, to tell you that Biden has visibly aged to a certain extent over the last four years. That's a very different question than the question of whether he is mentally up to the job.

I've done a lot of reporting on this, of course. We're constantly checking this, talking to our sources, people who are in the room with him. There's no evidence to suggest that he has mentally, in any way, diminished. I think that his public performances have underscored that. But he is running to be reelected to another four-year term, the end of which he would be 86 years old, so it's also very much a legitimate issue.

But again, it's the substance, I think, where Biden, you know, was on very strong territory in these speeches, drawing this contrast with Donald Trump as someone who is not only an isolationist, to a certain extent, in his views, but actually has - is an admirer of Vladimir Putin.

SANCHEZ: Yes. To that point, Susan, the White House in our reporting was very well aware of parallels to Ronald Reagan's 1984 address at the same site where President Biden spoke today. Reagan's, of course, was the 40th D-Day anniversary.

And it came during a moment where his approach to the Cold War was in doubt, not just in the United States, but internationally. It's obviously early. But do you think that comparison, that again, the White House is clearly aware of, fits the current moment?

GLASSER: Yes. I mean, look, every generation, every president uses a historic anniversary like the one we have this week, a D-Day - of D- Day - to make points about the present day. And, you know, for Reagan, that was a question of his approach to what he portrayed as a very good versus evil struggle with the Soviet Union, echoing World War II.

Biden sees echoes of World War II in our present-day conflict with one of our allies in World War II, Russia. And I think that he pretty skillfully draw upon that. I'll tell you, White House speechwriters, Democrat and Republican, they really look up to that Reagan speech, the Pointe du Hoc speech, and it's kind of legendary in a way.

And I think that, you know, for the Biden White House, this was a little bit of an homage to that fact, that it's a very powerful backdrop and setting for an American president.

SANCHEZ: Susan Glasser, appreciate the perspective. Thanks.

GLASSER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: During his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in France, President Biden apologized for a delay in military aid to Ukraine and unveiled a new $225 million aid package to help Ukraine rebuild its power grid.

[15:10:00]

Nearly half of Ukraine's available energy has been damaged or destroyed by Russian strikes. Those attacks are also taking a deadly toll on the country's residents. Ukraine just recorded its highest monthly number of civilian casualties in nearly a year. Most of those victims were in the populated Kharkiv region, where Russia recently opened up a new front.

The U.N. says that Ukraine suffered a 31 percent increase in civilian casualties in May compared to April. We have CNN's Fred Pleitgen joining us now on this.

Fred, President Biden is vowing to stand by Ukraine as the country is facing a critical point in this war.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he certainly is and I think that's something that's extremely important, of course, for the Ukrainians to hear. And I think also, quite frankly, the fact that the President went and apologized to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in that meeting that took place was also very important for the Ukrainians as well.

Because, of course, one of the things that they had been saying is those delays in military aid that went on for months were costing a lot of Ukrainian lives and, of course, making it more difficult for the Ukrainians on the front lines as well. And then you have the President coming out also with a new military assistance package for the Ukrainians that includes a lot of ammunition.

What happened in the time that the U.S. was not providing military aid is that the Ukrainians were running very low on artillery ammo, for instance. So there's been a backlog, so some of that is being alleviated by some of these weapons packages that are coming through now.

But one of the most important thing, and this is something that Zelenskyy also talked about in his meeting with the President for the Ukrainians, is air defense missiles. That's important for the Ukrainians to try and keep their cities safe. You were just mentioning the city of Kharkiv, which, of course, has been pummeled over the past month and a half since the Russians launched a big offensive in that area coming from Russian territory, which then again sparked the U.S. to allow the Ukrainians to use American-supplied weapons to hit the Russians on the Russian side of the border. So air defense is very important for them.

One of the big things that we have to keep an eye on, Brianna, is that the Russians have become a lot better at using their air force near the front lines and bombing Ukrainian positions. And that's also one of the reasons why the Ukrainian president keeps saying they need more air defense capabilities. That's also part of that military assistance package as well, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.

Still to come, Hunter Biden's attorneys have not yet decided if he'll testify in his federal gun trial. Why the defense appears to be changing their strategy?

Plus, a CNN exclusive, a CIA assessment on Benjamin Netanyahu's mindset concerning post-war Gaza and how it may be out of step with the Biden administration.

And then later, Japan's fertility rate plunges to a record low. And the local government is hoping an AI-powered dating app can turn that around. Those stories and much more ahead.

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[15:17:11]

KEILAR: A major change of plans, Hunter Biden's defense team reversing course in his federal gun trial. They now say that James Biden, Hunter's uncle, will not be called to testify nor will any other witnesses. And it's even more notable, given that James Biden was already in the courthouse ready to testify.

Hunter's defense team says they have not decided if Hunter himself will testify, and the judge has given them until Monday to make the decision. CNN's Paula Reid has been inside of court following all the action every day of the trial.

Paula, do we know why the defense changed strategies here?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it's not clear exactly what prompted this shift in strategy. They'll no longer call James Biden or some other witnesses that they intended to call. But now they have a long weekend to strategize and figure out if they're going to put the defendant, Hunter Biden, on the stand. But this decision came after an appearance by his daughter, Naomi Biden. She took the stand to testify for the defense. And during her testimony, she talked about two instances where she saw her father in 2018.

Now, the first was late summer, 2018. She said he reached out to her while he was in rehab, saying that he would arrange a trip for her to visit. And she took him up on it and brought her then-boyfriend, now- husband. And she said that when she met him in late summer 2018, he was as clean and as clear as she had seen him since his brother, Beau Biden, had died. And she testified that she was proud of him, and she was proud to introduce him to her boyfriend.

She also testified that she saw him again in October, specifically on October 19. And that's key, because, of course, the allegations here focus on the time period between October 12 to October 23. That is the time between when he purchased the gun at the center of this case to when it was discarded. And she said on the 19th, she saw him. She was returning a car that she had borrowed to help move and she said that she was hopeful that he was as clear and as clean as he was when she had seen him in California.

But on cross-examination, prosecutors did present some text messages that she exchanged with her father when he was visiting New York that showed they did have some difficulty meeting up. He would go dark for periods of time, was texting her at 2 AM. But she repeatedly testified she never saw any evidence of drugs, drug paraphernalia, or any evidence that he was using during this critical time.

So there was a lunch break after she stepped down from the stand, and then they made this shift. But I also want to give Naomi Biden some credit here. I mean, everyone who is the child of an addict or knows the child of an addict can empathize with how difficult this would have been for her. I mean, this is an incredibly difficult thing. And she walked into the courtroom with her husband, and immediately the first lady turned around in motion to her husband to come sit right next to her in the front row, because the first two rows of the courtroom are filled with Biden family members and friends.

KEILAR: Yes, it must have been so tough.

And Paula, we have some earlier reporting about a commotion in the defense room. What more do you know about this?

[15:20:04]

REID: Yes. Look, it's a very chaotic scene up there on the fourth floor. There was some suggestion that there were a loud, you know, loud voices coming from the defense room during the lunch break. But I'm told there was actually just laughter. They were congratulating a young associate who did cross-examination, which is a big deal in a historic trial like this.

There's a lot of people in that little room. So even though it sounded loud, I'm told there was nothing significant going on there, just some congratulatory words to someone doing a cross-examination in what will likely be the biggest case of their career.

KEILAR: Yes. Paula Reid, live for us from Wilmington. Thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss more with former federal prosecutor, Renato Mariotti.

Renato, thanks so much for being with us this afternoon.

So there's this commotion that is being described as celebration in the defense room shortly after a difficult cross-examination that, as we reported, kind of undercut some of the defense's argument. And then soon after that commotion, again, reportedly a celebration, the defense says, never mind, we're not going to ask the witnesses that we had planned to ask to testify to testify. We don't really know what we're going to do next. What does that sound like to you?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think the defense, you know, was - they always, you do this in every trial. I've been, not only was I a federal prosecutor, but I've been a criminal defense attorney for many years. I never show my cards to the prosecutors. I suggest I'm going to call many different witnesses.

And what their goal was here was to put on a witness who is going to essentially tell a story that would generate potential reasonable doubt without having to put their client on the stand. I think the commotion was they feel like they've done that with Naomi Biden. They presumably think that she was credible or sympathetic. They feel like they have a juror or two who's on their side or at least that's what their belief is. And that they got this story out there, which was that even though he had been an addict many other times during this very brief period, when he came out of rehab, he was clean and therefore he had a reason for him - you know, not to check or to check the form to indicate that he was not addicted to a controlled substance at that time.

SANCHEZ: So there was a tense exchange during cross-examination where she was asked questions about text messages that she exchanged with her dad, where he was kind of erratic in his responses. And the way that the reporting was described was that her reaction, it seemed to have caught her off guard and she wound up being - Renato, are you there?

MARIOTTI: I am here. I'm back, yes.

SANCHEZ: Okay, great. Yes, yes, yes - so she had to answer some difficult questions during cross about these text messages that reportedly it kind of caught her off guard. But you think that despite that, the defense should feel strongly that her testimony made the jury more sympathetic to Hunter?

MARIOTTI: Well, I think it's hard not to. I mean, you heard from your own reporter who had some sympathy, right, for the fact that she was the daughter of an addict. Now, obviously, their sympathy for that witness does not necessarily translate into a vote for acquittal for the defendant here, okay? Obviously, the prosecution is going to make the point that, of course, she's saying what she needs to say to help her father.

She's a daughter. She's a good daughter. They're not going to attack her. They're just going to say, of course, she's saying what she needs to say here to help her father. But we know the truth that they're going to point to those text messages you mentioned, Boris, and they're going to make that argument.

The defense is going to say, don't you have some doubt here, you've heard this testimony that he was very clear, and lucid and clean during this period of time. That's enough to have reasonable doubt to know that in his mind, when he was filling out the form or checking the box, that he may - was not knowingly or willfully making a false statement.

That's essentially the fault line of this entire trial. It's a very straightforward matter. I think the defense is just pleased that they accomplished this without having to put Hunter Biden on the stand because he, of course, would be subject to very withering cross- examination. So I think they're going to take the weekend to pretend to consider to do that, make the prosecution have to potentially work on their cross-examination, and then they're going to say on Monday that they're not going to call him.

SANCHEZ: All right. We'll look forward to seeing what happens next.

Renato Mariotti, thanks so much for being with us.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: When we come back, why a new CIA assessment finds that Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to defy U.S. pressure to set a post-war plan for Gaza.

[15:25:06]

We'll be back in just a moment.

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[15:29:46]

KEILAR: Secretary of State Tony Blinken is headed back to the Middle East, hoping to get Hamas to agree to Israel's latest ceasefire proposal. But as the Biden administration calls for an end to the war, a new CIA assessment reviewed by CNN finds Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to defy U.S. pressure for a post-war plan in Gaza.