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GOP Lawmakers Slam Biden For Sweeping Pardon Of Son Hunter; Trump Threatens Some Countries With 100 Percent Tariffs If They Try To Create A New Currency; Closing Arguments In New York City Subway Chokehold Death Trial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 02, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:52]

KATE BOULDAN, CNN ANCHOR: The blowback over the Hunter Biden pardon has been swift. Republican lawmakers quick to criticize President Biden over this, and Democrats also -- some Democrats also speaking out about the bad precedent that they fear that this sets.

Incoming -- the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Chuck Grassley, weighing in with this, saying, "I'm shocked that President Biden pardoned his son Hunter because he said many, many times he wouldn't, and I believed him. Shame on me."

CNN's Lauren Fox tracking the reaction in Washington for us. And there's a lot that we've already heard and likely a lot more to come, Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Lawmakers expected back in Washington this evening. We can expect that a lot of Republicans are going to be lashing out after this news broke late last night. But there are a number of Republicans who are making the argument that Joe Biden had said one thing and then done another now.

There are also Republicans in the House who had worked on that impeachment probe -- someone like Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said if there was nothing to their probe why is Hunter Biden being pardoned now? Obviously, these were different issues.

But it's important to point out that the Republican backlash has been swift. Here's another Republican senator, Ron Johnson, who said, "Just confirming that under Democrat governance, there truly is a dual system of justice. One that protects Democrats and another weaponized against their political opponents."

But it's not just Republicans, Kate, that have criticized Biden. You are also hearing from a small number of Democrats, including Rep. Greg Stanton from Arizona saying, "I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong." He also goes on to say, "This wasn't a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers." Kate. BOLDUAN: Lauren, thank you so much for that -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now, CNN political commentator Karen Finney, and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings.

So Karen, you just heard Democrat Greg Stanton, Democratic governor of Colorado Jared Polis. There are Democrats saying they're not happy that President Biden made this decision.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, 2016 HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. Well, tough. The president went ahead and did what he thought was right for him and for -- and to protect his son. And I think there are going to be Democrats who from a political perspective are going to -- feel like they may have to say something but who probably on the inside understand why President Biden went ahead and did this.

And I've got to tell you -- you know, crowing from Republicans -- and I know my dear friend Scott will have plenty to say about this -- but we're talking about -- you know, Donald Trump is a convicted felon who literally had pardoned his daughter's father-in-law and just made him ambassador to France. So if we're going to talk about who is using what system in what fashion let's put it all on the table and let's be honest about the fact that Donald Trump doesn't really have a leg to stand on in this one.

BERMAN: So, Scott Jennings, what about that? Steve Bannon, Charles Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn -- and Charles Kushner not just pardoned by also apparently about to be nominated ambassador to France.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Joe Biden is leaving office making the strongest possible case for Donald Trump that anybody could possibly make it, and that's that our government and our justice system is of, by, and for the elites and nobody else.

He ran to banish Trumpism from our political system in this country and he has left it politically and now institutionally the strongest possible political force in this country. It is a complete and utter failure by the head of the Democratic Party and the President of the United States.

Never again do I want to hear oh, Donald Trump's a liar. You can't believe anything he says. Donald Trump will abuse his power. Donald Trump will only use the system to benefit himself and his family, and so on and so forth. Never again.

[07:35:08]

I have one question for Karen and that is why did he need an 11-year blanket pardon going back to 2014 when Joe Biden was the vice president? We are sitting on the biggest coverup of who knows what crimes, and Joe Biden amazingly knows exactly roughly when it started. He knows just about when it all started. He's leaving office in complete and total disgrace. He is a liar and

there is no other way to spin this today. This has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with the character of Joe Biden.

BERMAN: Let me -- let me give some context to what Scott is saying just there, Karen, before you address it. Because this pardon -- I don't not believe we have mentioned it -- not just granting clemency for the crimes for which Hunter Biden was convicted of -- illegally purchasing a gun and tax evasion -- but also a blanket pardon for any federal crimes that may have been committed basically between 2014 and 2024.

So what about that literal --

FINNEY: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- get out of jail free card for a 10-year period, Karen.

FINNEY: Well look, literally, the president recognizes that Republicans have been for years now trying to attack the president himself and go after his family. And when you have someone who literally ran their campaign on retribution -- on the idea of I will be your retribution getting back at his enemies.

I would imagine -- obviously, I haven't spoken to the president about this, but I would imagine the president took a look at this and said I want to make sure this is ironclad. That there is nothing that can be done to circumvent what I'm going to do to protect my son and to try to take the target off of his back -- final -- once and for all. So that's my reading of it.

But again, I think that the hypocrisy here is astounding. I mean, Donald Trump has said and done things -- you know, said things that he -- and done other things. And again, he's a convicted felon himself. He has used his power to benefit his friends, his wealthy allies.

In this instance we're talking about a man who decided to take care of his son after years of unrelenting attacks. I don't blame him.

BERMAN: Scott, did you have the same concerns --

JENNINGS: Listen --

BERMAN: -- over -- hang on -- a justice system for the elite, as you put it before, when it was Donald Trump pardoning Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Charlie Kushner? Same concern then?

JENNINGS: Listen, you guys can spend all day long trying to spin this. That this is Donald Trump's fault. That this has somehow caused by Donald Trump. Oh, he's appointing the wrong people. Oh, he did. Oh --

This is the worst possible thing a president could possibly do to his party and to the country to sit for a year and say I will not do this. I will not do this. The rule of law is sacred. We have to respect the justice system. Juries -- we have to respect juries. We have to respect the guardrails and the norms of our democracy.

These people are liars. Inflation is transitory. Afghanistan -- it's a success. The border is secure. Robert Hur is a liar. The videos are cheap fakes. Biden has a cold. He'll never drop out. Oh, I'll never pardon Hunter. It's all a lie. It is all a grift.

Every American, except the most partisan, brain-rotted people, are going to be outraged by this today. He is going to leave office -- you think 38-39 percent --

FINNEY: Scott?

JENNINGS: -- job approval is bad? Just you wait. Just you wait. He's disgraced --

FINNEY: Scott, don't --

JENNINGS: -- today -- outrageous.

FINNEY: You don't need to -- but Scott, you don't need to hurl names and say people like me are brain-rotted. Come on. That's a little beyond the pale even for you, Scott.

BERMAN: Listen, I --

FINNEY: We can disagree. We can disagree about this, but we don't have to call each other names.

JENNINGS: Stand up for yourself. You don't have to defend this. He's leaving office. You don't have to defend it. You don't have to die on this hill. You can say this is wrong because everybody knows that it is.

FINNEY: I'm fine with it, Scott. I am defending it.

BERMAN: Karen?

JENNINGS: Are you fine with the lying? Are you fine with him sitting --

FINNEY: I say good for (INAUDIBLE).

JENNINGS: -- before the election all year and lying to the American people? Are you fine with the lying about it?

FINNEY: I don't think that he was lying. I think he made a decision after the fact and decided this was the right thing for him and for his family, period, full stop.

JENNINGS: (INAUDIBLE).

FINNEY: Donald Trump decided that it --

JENNINGS: Do we not have the -- Joe Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre -- how many minutes of tape do we have of both of these people telling the American people this will not happen? It's -- I mean, we could play it all morning. It's a lie, and it's a lie to benefit his own family and that's all that it is.

[07:40:05]

FINNEY: That's fine, but let's just --

JENNINGS: And everybody who --

FINNEY: Wait. Let's just --

JENNINGS: -- went on TV and said oh, look how -- he's the modern George Washington.

FINNEY: Yeah.

JENNINGS: He's drained every ounce of credibility from every surrogate. If Karine Jean-Pierre had an ounce of self-respect she'd get off the plane in Africa today -- where they're going so he can avoid the press -- and resign. He's drained all of her credibility and everybody else who has defended this. It's draining, draining forever.

FINNEY: OK, Scott.

BERMAN: Well -- and Karen, to be fair, we did -- to Joe Biden, we did play that sound earlier. He did flat out say on multiple occasions, and the press secretary did, that he --

FINNEY: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- would not pardon Joe -- Hunter Biden.

FINNEY: He sure did. And I will tell you that he probably heard from a lot of people who said you know what, sir -- go ahead and do it. You should go ahead and protect your son because who knows what Trump and Trump's Department of Justice will do when they say that their number one goal is retribution? How could you not take the opportunity to say you know what, I'm going to -- this is one thing that I can do for my child. This is one thing I can do to help get the target off of his back.

Also, by the way, this is politics. And again, when we're -- if we're going to go down and compare list to list it's -- you know, it's not going to look very good for Donald Trump either. And I just don't have a problem with Joe Biden doing this at all.

BERMAN: All right, Karen Finney --

FINNEY: Good for him.

BERMAN: Karen Finney --

FINNEY: And I know a lot of Democrats who agree with me.

BERMAN: Karen Finney, Scott Jennings, a discussion that I don't think is going away anytime soon, so I appreciate you both being part of it this morning -- Kate. BOLDUAN: Let's turn to this. Continuous glucose monitors have become a gamechanger for people living with diabetes, helping to better monitor sugar levels in the blood. Well now, these devices are more and more also being marketed as wellness tools for everyone -- even those without the disease.

CNN's Meg Tirrell wanted to find out what that means, how they work, and what we could learn. I have tons of questions. What have you learned, Meg?

MEG TIRRELL CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Kate, I wore one of those for about six weeks. I applied it to the back of my arm. It has a little wire on it that goes in like a needle and it constantly gives you feedback and what your glucose levels are after everything you eat.

And the idea is that for people without diabetes maybe you'll see unique insights about yourself. How do you respond to different foods? How do you respond to exercise, sleep, stress? Can you see that reflected in your glucose levels? And are there changes that you can make to improve your health?

So as you said, these devices have been available for people with type one diabetes where they've really been revolutionary. Before, people had to rely on just pricking their fingers to get information about how much insulin they needed to give to themselves.

This year they were cleared by the FDA for use without a prescription. They're available from companies like Dexcom and Abbott, and they cost about $89 out-of-pocket if you want to try one of these things and you don't use insulin and you don't have a prescription.

So I applied one of these back in September. I ended up wearing three different ones over a course of six weeks. Kate, I have to tell you the first thing I felt putting this on was anxiety. I didn't expect to feel that way. I was sort of just curious to see what would happen.

But then when I was faced with the glucose ramifications of the things I was eating I constantly started trying to game the system and keep my glucose as low as possible. I learned from multiple experts that is not really how you're supposed to be using these things. You should be eating the way you normally eat and see what then happens in response to your glucose.

You can see one day of my glucose readings there. I head Greek yogurt for breakfast. That has a lot of protein in it. I didn't have any real glucose reaction to that. But later in the day I had an apple. You can see there is that second sort of purple spike there. Just an apple alone sent my glucose up quite a bit. But as you can see it's within that normal range of 70 to 140 milligrams per deciliter.

And so I was sort of left wondering does that kind of spike matter? And what I found from talking with people across the spectrum from research to medicine is that there are a lot of opinions about this -- very strong opinions -- but not a lot of firm consensus on whether glucose spikes within that range are important for your health. One thing I did find though is I talked with our colleague Sanjay Gupta about this. He has tried a glucose monitor and he's seen big enough spikes that he's actually changed the way he eats.

So for some it could be really helpful. For me it caused a lot of anxiety and kind of apathy I have to say -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A whole lot -- a whole lot of feelings all wrapped up in one glucose monitor. It's really, really an interesting kind of exploration in your reporting.

Great to see you, Meg. Thanks so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, football the way it is meant to be played, in the ice and snow. I mean, honestly, this was something to look at.

Buffalo Bill veteran Coy Wire here with the highlights. I mean, Coy, you played in games like this.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh man, John, we used to put tape in our ear holes so the wind couldn't get in. We would wear doctor's latex gloves under our football gloves to keep the heat in.

We're talking freezing temperatures. Fans were paid and given warm meals to help shovel snow out of the stadium seats. Perfect football weather for the Bills.

[07:45:00]

Watch this. Receiver Matt Collins walked into the stadium barefoot, John.

The 49er California boys never stood a chance. They were like fish out of water. Receivers -- they didn't know how to get their footing. Linemen -- they were doing bellyflops because they didn't know to click those cleats together to get the snow out.

But James Cook and those Bills -- they were running like they had snowshoes on with afterburners. Cook had 107 yards and a touchdown.

These snow games, John, always make you feel like a kid again. So how fitting it is that Josh Allen and Amari Cooper created a play that looked like it was drawn up on a playground. Allen passing to Cooper who pitches Allen the ball, and Allen goes in for the touchdown. Amari said he caught the ball and was wondering what are you doing there, Josh? There you go. One of the wildest touchdowns of the season.

Allen gets credit for a passing and receiving touchdown. A complete blowout -- 35-10. The 49ers fall to 5-7. They lost their star running back Christian McCaffrey to another injury as Buffalo clinches a playoff spot and their fifth-straight AFC title.

Josh Allen had quite the week. He got engaged and he became the first quarterback to score a rushing, passing, and receiving touchdown in the same game. Now, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence says he is home, and he is feeling better after suffering a concussion during yesterday's 23-20 loss to the Texans. Lawrence had to be carted off the field after that hit in the second quarter from linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.

As Lawrence lay there on the ground this huge brawl broke out between the teams. Al-Shaair was ejected for the hit along with Jags cornerback Jarrian Jones, one of the many teammates who rushed to stand up for their quarterback.

Finally, the consequences of the Michigan-Ohio State postgame brawl have been announced. The Big 10 fined the schools $100,000 each for their involvement in the melee following the Wolverines' stunning upset over the number two Buckeyes on Saturday. Police used pepper spray to break up the players who were punching and shoving. The conference says it considers this matter concluded and no other fines or suspensions will be handed out -- John.

BERMAN: Not cool. Not cool at all. Also not cool to hit on Trevor Lawrence.

WIRE: Right.

BERMAN: But the game in Buffalo very cool.

Coy Wire, thank you for that.

WIRE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: So just to be clear, cool, not cool, not cool. As a -- as a Michigan fan watching that play out with my daughters cheering on next to me, that was so disappointing to see that brawl. I mean, it was one brawl between Michigan and Ohio State, then it calmed down, and then they picked it back up. It's just disappointment all over the place.

BERMAN: No. Take the win and get off the field.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Well, and then Ohio State also --

BERMAN: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- was wrong as well.

All right, let's move on to this. Online shopping expected to break records today, Cyber Monday. Why are expectations so high this time around? We'll let you know.

And the holiday crowds are also breaking records at the box office.

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[07:52:27]

BOLDUAN: It is Monday, and a very special one. It is Cyber Monday, which means people are looking for deals and they're finding them. And we are also learning that online shoppers are expected to spend a record $13.2 billion online. If that projection holds this could be the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is tracking what this all means for all of us. I mean, sales -- they exploded even -- online sales even leading up to today. What are the trends that you're seeing here?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, today is expected to be the biggest shopping day in history, Cyber Monday.

BOLDUAN: It is.

YURKEVICH: But people are still looking for deals and we've actually seen that people waited until this past weekend to do their shopping. But look at that number, $13.2 billion projected this year. That is up from last year. But we're still seeing that sales growth year-to-year is average even though people --

BOLDUAN: OK.

YURKEVICH: -- are spending. It's because things are a little bit more --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

YURKEVICH: -- expensive.

But let's look at what we saw on Black Friday just a few days ago. We saw good spending there -- $10.8 billion, up $1 billion from the year before.

And we're seeing some trends also. People are now shopping on their phones, right? We used to see online shopping on desktop. People are on their phones now shopping.

We're also seeing a lot of people doing buy now, pay later.

BOLDUAN: Oh.

YURKEVICH: So this is like the modern day layaway. To date, this past month, $7.6 billion in buy now, pay later.

Some experts see concerns with this, right? Because essentially, you keep doing this on every gift you buy you're accruing debt. And right now Americans are holding about $1.1 trillion in debt. That is a record.

Also this season people might be thinking about tariffs a little bit -- what is to come. If you want to get some good deals to beat the tariffs. Phones, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, kitchen appliances, toys, and, of course, phones -- the majority made in China.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. But phones and vacuum cleaners. These are -- these could be --

YURKEVICH: Essentials.

BOLDUAN: I want to say definitely going to the category of essentials these days.

It's great to see you, Vanessa. Let's see what the end -- I'm very interested to see what the --

YURKEVICH: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- eventual total is after today. We'll find out -- John.

BERMAN: Um, did somebody say tariffs? This morning, President-elect Trump is threatening 100 percent tariffs on certain countries.

CNN's Matt Egan is here. Which countries, and why?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, he's threatening these tariffs on BRICS countries. That's the international group that was originally founded by Brazil, Russia, India, and China. It has since expanded to include South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

[07:55:00]

Now, this is all about the president-elect trying to defend threats to the U.S. dollar. I mean, John, there's really no shortage of problems that Trump thinks that tariffs could solve, right? Illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and now threats to the dollar.

It makes me wonder if I should think about tariffs to try to get my kids to clean up their toys. I don't know. They would probably just think I was negotiating with them.

But listen, a couple of things to remember here. The U.S. imports a lot from these countries, right? And if you put a 100 percent tariff, which is what the president-elect has threatened in this Truth Social post, that would make a lot of things more expensive.

For example, we import from China iPhones. We get a lot of sugar from Brazil. Spices from India. Fertilizer from Russia. Crude oil from Saudi Arabia.

So it is easy to see how perhaps this is just a negotiating tactic from the president-elect because if it weren't, it could cause prices to go much, much higher.

I talked to a number of experts over the weekend who were kind of perplexed by this threat. Christine McDaniel, a former George W. Bush trade official, told me it's confusing because there's no need. She said, "There is simply no currency out there in the world that can replace the dollar. It's not even close."

John.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Egan.

EGAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. I hope your kids respond well to the tariffs. EGAN: We'll see.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, first lady Jill Biden unveiling the annual holiday theme and decor for the White House this morning. The theme, "It's A Season of Peace and Light." The first lady and her team transforming the White House into a gilded winter wonderland. Here's some of the video coming in from just moments ago.

Word from the White House is it took more than 300 volunteers and staff over the weekend to deck the halls for the final time under the Trump -- Biden administration. This year's decor includes a forest of vintage ceramic Christmas trees in the library and a whimsical carousel, as it's described, decorated official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room.

The White House expects to welcome about 100,000 visitors to the White House this holiday season.

Dallas megachurch Bishop T.D. Jakes with an update now for his congregation after a health scare happened in the middle of him giving a sermon last week. In a video message Sunday, Jakes said that "Many of you don't realize that you're looking at a miracle."

It was a scary scene that played out a week earlier when he was seen, like, freezing while giving his sermon. His church had said he received immediate medical attention after that. And the 67-year-old bishop said he's recovering after undergoing surgery, but he has not revealed what cause the emergency.

The box office beat out the couch and turkey comas over Thanksgiving weekend resulting in monster turnout that we now know includes record- setting numbers. The biggest winner, Moana 2.

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Clip from Disney's "Moana 2."

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BOLDUAN: The adorable animated sequel now has the highest-grossing five-day opening, bringing in $221 million and setting a record for the largest Thanksgiving weekend haul in history.

It's not just Moana. If you add in "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" these three blockbusters brought in an estimated $420 million, blowing past previous Thanksgiving weekend records set in 2018 of just a little more than $315 million -- John.

BERMAN: I saw "Gladiator II." Maybe a little less adorable.

All right. This morning, closing arguments set to begin in the trial of Daniel Penny. He is accused of putting a man, Jordan Neely, in a fatal six-minute chokehold on a New York subway in 2023.

Gloria Pazmino live outside the courthouse. What are we expecting to hear today, Gloria?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well John, the fate of Daniel Penny will be in the jury's hands today as soon as closing arguments are over. The defense is expected to go first, followed by the prosecution. And this is a chance for both sides to once again reintroduce and reset their case to this jury.

The defense has focused on causation and justification. They have said that Daniel Penny was simply responding to a threat and that threat was Jordan Neely. That he was screaming on the subway car, threatening people, and that Daniel Penny simply stepped in to prevent him from hurting others.

On the other side is the prosecution. They have said that Daniel Penny disregarded Jordan Neely's life and acted recklessly by ignoring the risk of placing him in that six-minute chokehold. And their star witness was the city's medical examiner who found that Jordan Neely had died from compression to the neck.

The defense tried to counter that testimony by bringing in their own medical expert who said that Jordan Neely died from a complication of different factors. The fact that he was high on K2, that he suffered from psychotic schizophrenia, and the excitement of the struggle between Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny.