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President Biden Pardons Son Hunter in Criminal Cases; Health Officials: Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 200 in Gaza; Syrian Rebels Push into Aleppo's Northern Countryside. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 02, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, saying that there were signs that his son was being selectively and unfairly prosecuted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biden taking a step that is going to be very controversial even with his own party to protect his son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a part of his legacy now, there's no doubt about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rebel group seemed to be having surprising success. The real picture of what's going on is still emerging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't travel unless you absolutely have to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People up here, when we get snow, everybody forgets how to drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like it when it's not like this, when I only have to shovel a couple inches at a time, that's what I like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Monday, December 2nd, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where U.S. President Joe Biden spent the Thanksgiving holiday with family before dropping a political bombshell on Sunday. He announced a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter.

FOSTER: If you think that sounds odd, you may be remembering this clip from just a few months ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With regard to the question regarding the family, I'm extremely proud of my son, Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is one of the greatest, most decent men I know.

And I am satisfied that I'm not going to do anything I said I'd abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Or maybe you're thinking of this moment from just a few weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His son, Hunter, is also up for being sentenced next month. Does the president have any intention of pardoning him?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Pretty clear. President Biden issued a statement shortly after the announcement explaining his reasoning. He said, in part: No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he was my son. -- and that's wrong.

MACFARLANE: So what specifically is this pardon covering? Well, Hunter Biden was convicted on three federal felony gun charges in June in a trial that exposed details of his drug abuse. He faced up to 25 years in prison for those crimes.

He also pleaded guilty to nine charges in a federal tax case in September.

FOSTER: Biden was due for sentencing in both cases later this month. He's the first immediate family member of a sitting U.S. president to be found guilty of a crime.

MACFARLANE: CNN's Evan Perez has more details on how the president reached this decision.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, saying that there were signs that his son was being selectively and unfairly prosecuted. Now, Hunter Biden was facing prospect of spending several years in prison after being convicted on gun charges in Delaware and on tax charges in Los Angeles. Now the president has repeatedly said that he would not pardon his son.

Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ABC NEWS: Let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?

BIDEN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?

BIDEN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have.

PEREZ: In a statement on Sunday night, the president said the charges in this case came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigating them to attack me and oppose my election.

He also goes on to say that: For my entire career, I have followed a simple principle -- just tell the American people the truth. They'll be fair minded. And here's the truth. I believe in the justice system. But as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it has led to a miscarriage of justice.

Now, Joe Biden took office in 2021, promising to restore faith in the justice system. And this statement on Sunday night indicates that he believes the justice system has failed to treat his son fairly. Now, Hunter Biden will be covered under this pardon for anything that happened between 2014 and 2024. So the question remains whether Republicans in Congress and whether the incoming Trump administration will find new reasons to investigate Hunter Biden and the Biden family, as they have said they repeatedly would do.

[04:05:03]

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Donald Trump's team has issued a statement on Hunter Biden's pardon, saying in part: The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system. That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do.

MACFARLANE: The president-elect himself called the move an abuse and miscarriage of justice. That's despite his own multiple convictions and the fact that Trump pardoned a member of his own extended family for federal crimes during his first term. Trump has even picked that man, Charles Kushner, to serve as U.S. ambassador to France.

FOSTER: Republicans and Democrats are now weighing in on both the immediate and the long-term ramifications of this pardon. Senate Republican Chuck Grassley posted to social media saying, quote, I'm shocked President Biden pardoned his son Hunter because he said many, many times he wouldn't. I believed him. Shame on me.

MACFARLANE: Well, outside of Washington, Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis added his thoughts on the president, saying, quote, I'm disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.

FOSTER: Senate Republican Josh Hawley weighing in as well, calling the president's move an outrageous abuse of the rule of law.

Bernarda Villalona is a criminal defense attorney and former New York prosecutor. She joins us from New York to discuss all of this.

Thank you so much for joining us, Bernarda. Chrissy and I discussing this earlier. On one level, it is seen as an abuse of power because only the president can do this. But at the same time, there is a history of this going back to Bill Clinton.

BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FORMER NEW YORK PROSECUTOR: Exactly. This is not an abuse of power. The president has the absolute power to grant a pardon. And let's not forget that President Biden, not only is he the U.S. president, but he's also the father. He is the father of Hunter Biden. And we have to remember that he is human.

And when we look at this, we're talking about two crimes and those crimes normally wouldn't have been prosecuted. When we look at the gun possession, not the gun possession, but the signing of that application that originally was going to end up as a non-prosecution agreement. So it wasn't supposed to go to trial to begin with.

If we remember that the plea broke down in front of the judge when a judge asked questions of both parties, and it seems that it wasn't clear as to what the agreement was. So we weren't going to end up with a trial to begin with.

MACFARLANE: Well, if that were the case and that we weren't going to end up with trials to begin with, and then I guess a likely jail time for Hunter Biden, why would President Biden have taken the political hit on this, you know, the risk to his legacy?

VILLALONA: Well, we have to think that President Biden at this point, he's not taking a political hit in the sense that he is not running for re-election. He is not running for political office. So, yes, people will speak of him.

The Democrats will speak about him. The Republicans, of course, will tarnish his name as well. And of course, convicted felon Donald Trump will continue to spout his lies and his negative thoughts of President Biden.

But he's not taking a political hit in the sense, again, he's not running for political office.

FOSTER: He's accused President Trump in the past of undermining the judicial system and its independence. Isn't he just doing exactly the same? Surely a judicial system is there to be left to its own devices as a branch of democracy.

And you can't have a president weighing in and saying it doesn't work because every other, you know, suspect could basically claim the same. VILLALONA: Yes, I do take issue as to President Biden stating that the judicial system doesn't work. Yes, I have my problems and issues with the judicial system. But for the president to say that the judicial system doesn't work and for him to selectively say, I'm going to pardon my son Hunter Biden, then what does that say for others that have been part of this criminal justice system?

What does that say for others that have been have issued with the criminal justice system and have been erroneously accused and convicted of a crime? So I do take issue with that. But I think the most important thing to remember as to what's the biggest gain of this pardon is that, remember, we have the convicted felon Donald Trump about to take office, and he has already said that he is going on a vengeance against those that have gone against them and primarily President Biden and especially as a target, Hunter Biden.

So this pardon that includes that 10 year period of January 2014 till December 31st of 2024, that's going to preclude the Justice Department and anyone else seeking a federal indictment against his son, Hunter Biden. So that is completely off the table. And it closes this saga on Hunter Biden.

[04:10:00]

MACFARLANE: Does it close the saga, though? I mean, is it likely or even possible that the Justice Department will reopen cases against Hunter Biden outside of the time frame of this pardon?

VILLALONA: They can try to reopen cases against Hunter Biden. The question is, do those cases exist prior to 2014? And also, we have to remember that aside from the DOJ trying to open any cases or investigations, there are still other factors that come into play.

There's still a judicial system in the sense that if you do decide to prosecute, there will be a trial, a trial where jurors will hear the evidence and both sides will also be heard. But that the prosecution will have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. So I find it highly unlikely that any type of investigation having to deal with Hunter Biden will go anywhere.

FOSTER: If a court had sentenced him to prison, was that an opportunity? Was that one of the options, by the way?

VILLALONA: Oh, absolutely. Hunter Biden did face jail time, both for the matters. But with this pardon, now both of these cases are going to be dismissed.

And Hunter Biden's attorneys already sent their letter to the judge asking for the cases to be dismissed.

FOSTER: The point of sending someone to jail is because they're a threat to society. And you've got a U.S. president saying, I'm going to allow someone who's potentially a threat to society remaining in society away from the fact that it's his son. That feels like it's a danger. You can see how some people take massive issue with that. VILLALONA: Yes, but in terms of these crimes that he was found, well, he was found guilty in terms of the Delaware gun case. But in terms of the California case, he actually pled guilty. None of those crimes were crimes of violence.

There's not a threat of any danger as to Hunter Biden. But we also have to remember that -- remember that both of these cases, they weren't going to end up with any jail time to begin with.

And when we're talking about sentencing, on the other hand, I highly doubt that any of these judges were going to sentence Hunter Biden to anything significant of a jail sentence, given the crimes and also given that he accepted responsibility as to the California case and as to the drug case, that that drug case having to sign that form dealt with his addiction. He was at a time where he was addicted to drugs. So when they take into account that he has no criminal record, his addiction, that he accepted responsibility.

It's highly doubt that a judge would have sentenced him to jail to begin with.

MACFARLANE: Yes, I think Bernarda makes a good case there in the case of the gun control. I mean, that was him incorrectly filling in a form. So not necessarily a crime per se.

But obviously, we'll wait to see how the Trump administration view this when they come into office. For now, Bernarda Villalona, thank you so much for your thoughts.

FOSTER: There's just so many ways into it, isn't it? Like as a parent, you can look at it one way. As you know, as Bernarda pointed out, you know, this isn't a corruption of the system because the system is that the president's allowed to do it.

But at the same time, it feels dishonest because of what he said in the past and what he represents in many ways.

MACFARLANE: Yes, I think the idea that it could set a precedent for other presidents to follow in future is perhaps the biggest risk here. But in general, I mean, I feel like he is within it's within his remit to do this.

FOSTER: Yes, OK.

MACFARLANE: So that being the case, the debate goes on.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, rebel forces ramping up their offensive in Syria as Russia backs the Assad regime with a series of airstrikes. We'll have a live report for you.

MACFARLANE: Plus, protests in Georgia are spreading as people in the country react to the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union. That ahead.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: We're following some breaking news this hour. The Israeli military has confirmed the death of American Israeli soldier Omer Maxim Neutra during the Hamas-led attack in Israel on October 7th last year.

Nada Bashir is joining us here with the latest. What more do we know about the individual? He was actually captured on October 7th, right?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And we're just getting this confirmation this morning from the Israeli military. They say that he was killed during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7th and then captured and taken into the Gaza Strip.

We've been hearing from the hostage families forum, which has expressed its condolences to the family of Omer Neutra. He was a 21- year-old American Israeli soldier who had been stationed near the Gaza Strip on the day of the October 7th attacks. They said that the family was informed that he died and was killed on October 7th earlier this morning and has since, of course, been held captive since October 7th.

Of course, this is a huge moment of grief for many. We've been hearing from the Israeli foreign ministry who have expressed their condolences to the family members as well, again, confirming that he was killed on October 7th and subsequently kidnapped. But of course, this comes right after the weekend when we saw that video released of another Israeli-American hostage, Aidan Alexander, a video of him seemingly perhaps under duress pleading with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President-elect Donald Trump to do more to secure the release of hostages.

We've been hearing from the White House, which said that U.S. officials will continue to work to secure the immediate release of all remaining hostages.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, 200 Palestinians killed over the weekend.

BASHIR: That's right. We've been seeing yet more airstrikes across Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza. Five buildings housing some 200 people in northern Gaza were struck in two areas, Tel al-Zaatar and Beit Lahiya.

We've been hearing from the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. This is a hospital which is on a daily basis overrun with casualties. He has described the catastrophic nature of the situation really in northern Gaza.

He has said this is becoming a daily occurrence for northern Gaza. He has also said that no one has been able to stop the killing of innocent civilians. And what we're also seeing as well is, of course, the humanitarian situation just getting worse.

We've been hearing from the chief of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees. They've been now forced to stop or suspend aid crossings through the Kerem Shalom crossing. That's the main crossing from Israel into Gaza because of looting taking place. [04:20:00]

They say that the real dire humanitarian situation has compounded this issue within the Gaza Strip. And then we're hearing more about the shelter situation as well. We've been hearing from the World Health Organization.

They say a year ago, the vast majority of people were taking shelter in schools, in U.N. run buildings. Now, a year later, 90 percent of people in Gaza are sheltering in tents. And you can imagine in the winter months, that is extremely difficult.

So the fear is that people are now not only being killed as a result of the airstrikes and military operations on the ground, but also as a result of starvation and being cold in the winter.

MACFARLANE: And I think we've all seen in recent days those images of the tents on beaches with the sea coming in, the cold coming in and the fact that it's just going to get so much worse, isn't it, in the month or two to come.

BASHIR: And this is an area, of course, the coastal area where the Israeli military has pushed civilians to. So it's exactly nowhere else to go.

MACFARLANE: Nada, thank you.

Now, the White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group in Syria, says joint Russian and Syrian strikes on Sunday killed dozens of people, including women and children. The two militaries say they've been hitting rebel targets in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama after rebels launched a surprise offensive last week. Videos from Idlib show teams trying to rescue people trapped in the rubble.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, rebel forces are expanding their control in Syria. They claim to have made significant gains in the northern countryside of Aleppo, capturing several towns and villages.

MACFARLANE: Well, let's bring in Haid Haid, a consulting fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House. Thank you so much for joining us. I think the speed of the rebels' advance here really shocked a lot of people and exposed perhaps the fragility of Assad's hold over the country.

How was this rebel coalition able to make inroads so effectively and so quickly in recent days?

HAID HAID, CONSULTING FELLOW, MIDEAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you for having me. I think there are different factors that contributed to the speedy sort of gains that rebel forces have been able to achieve. One of them is related to the weakening of Assad's forces over the past years, lack of military as well as financial resources.

Assad also is not receiving as much support from his allies, mainly Russia and Iran. And that has been clear in the first few days of the attacks, where we did not see as many Russian airstrikes on rebel forces as we saw in previous sort of attacks. In addition to all of that, rebel forces have been able to improve their military skills, coordination, as well as the weaponries they have.

And they managed to then break through the regime defenses. And I think after that, everything sort of created a domino effect that led to the advancements that we have seen recently.

FOSTER: Who were they being backed by?

HAID: Well, this is something that I think is still debatable, because if you look at official statements that right now it seems that Turkey, which at least generally supports some of the rebel factions that have participated in the fight, they're saying that we are not part of the operation and we're not supporting it. Groups on the ground, they also indicate that Turkey did not support the operation, but did not oppose it either. So it seems that the decision was taken by rebel forces on the ground and they have made those advancements on their own.

MACFARLANE: We were hearing from our reporter, Ben Wedeman, in the last hour saying that after the initial shock of their advance, the regime and its supporters are now -- sorry, the supporters to the regime are now trying to bolster it. We know that Russia and Iran, their intervention in the Syria war back in 2015 was obviously very influential in helping Assad reclaim ground. But we know that currently those allies are engaged in wars elsewhere.

I mean, how vulnerable is Assad in this moment, given where the support lies for him?

HAID: Clearly very vulnerable, as we have seen in recent days, but I think that this is the real test right now is whether the regime allies will be able to mobilize enough forces to A, stop rebel forces from advancing and then B, recapture the areas they have lost in recent days.

[04:25:00]

So far, there are indications that at least Iraqi militias that are backed by Iran have been mobilizing their forces to Syria. It seems that Russia signaled that they might provide more support. But on the ground, we have not seen enough sort of evidence to show that they have been able to provide Assad with enough sort of support to tip the balance in his favor.

FOSTER: OK, Haid Haid, thank you very much for your analysis today.

MACFARLANE: Now, the prime minister of Guinea says there have been multiple casualties following a crowd crush at a football match.

FOSTER: One video from social media shows fans scrambling to flee the packed stadium, some scaling that wall. A local news report says fans and security officers clashed over decisions by the referee. That was followed by a crush as crowds tried to leave the stadium.

CNN hasn't been able to verify the report, though.

MACFARLANE: But we will have much more on our breaking news and the reactions to U.S. President Biden's decision to issue an unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter, on gun and tax crimes. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today.

U.S. President Joe Biden is going back on a promise he made when running for a second term. He's issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son. Hunter Biden was convicted on three federal gun charges in June and he faced up to 25 years in prison for those crimes.

Romania's ruling leftist social Democrats look set to win Sunday's parliamentary election. This is the second of three voting rounds to elect a new president and parliament. If early results hold, a pro- Western coalition would likely be able to form a government through the far right, though the far right would remain a substantial force.