president biden just leaving white house, and did he say anything about the new tax charges against his son hunter? prosecutors are saying that he had the money to pay the taxes,

but chose instead to spend lavish amounts on escorts, pornography and cars. happening now, we are hearing the wrenching statements from the parents of children killed in a mass shooting. a sentencing hearing is under way. an important legal precedent could be set here. and the backlash over how the president of the university of pennsylvania answered a question about genocide, and now a major donor is threatening to withdraw millions of dollars as calls for her to resign intensify. i'm fredricka whitfield with john berman. kate and sara are off today, and this is cnn "news central." all right. president biden just left the white house a short time ago facing shouted questions about his son, hunter biden. we will get the video in, in just moment, and hunter is accused of a four-year tax

evasion scheme that he spent millions of dollars on drugs, escorts and exotic cars instead of paying his taxes. the president did not answer though any shouted questions, and we will wait to see if he addresses them at joint base andrews as he is waiting to depart for a campaign trip. the nine-part indictment is that hunter biden willfully did not pay his 2018, 2019, 2020 taxes on time despite access to fund, and the indictment has a list of his expenses of what he used the funds for, and payments to various women, and 200,000 for adult entertainment, and 71,000 for rehab, and ultimately a grand total of $4.9 billion. with us now, senior crime and justice reporter, katelyn polantz and jeremy land, and what are the details here in this indictment? >> yes, it is a long one.

it is where the prosecutors put together quite a bit of evidence, and not just what hunter biden was doing with the irs or not doing, not paying the taxes or filling out the forms correctly, and lying to them is the felony allegations here, and three felony channel, but they also put together the amount of money that he had, a than he had taken in as someone who had a lot of business ventures including overseas, and $7 million was the amount that he had, and he failed to pay 1.4 million to the irs. now, as they are explaining all of this in the tax charges, there is going to be a major case in california in federal court that hunter biden is going to contest likely and go to trial, but the prosecutors have a lot of meat on the bones about what they want to say happened in 2018. that is when hunter biden in his memoir talked about being a drug addict and where a lot of the expenses really became quite outlandish with a lamborghini

rental, and hotels and things that were doing when taken together are quite shocking, and when the prosecutors are saying that the felony charge here, and the thing that he did wrong in the year of 2018 that is so egregious is that he was saying to the irs, these are business deductions and business expenses, and in fact, they were not, and the prosecutors are saying they are personal expenses, and that you have to pay taxes on the money, and just to highlight how of in depth this is, one of the pieces, $27,000 is a business deduction that he wrote down, and the prosecutors say that it was spent online porn, and $27,000 online porn in 2018 from this business account that he paid it out of and that was 20% of all of the expenditures in that business account. >> wow on that. and now, again president biden heading from the white house to joint base andrews, and we will see if he is going to comment

there from joint base andrews, and we are seeing him leaving there, and again, he will be shouting question, and unpredictable with president biden if he is going to choose to answer them. and now, jeremy soland, the plea deal fell apart, and if you were his attorneys, how do you respond to these charges now? >> well, a couple of argument, and the initial one which you have already heard is that plea deal that already happened and transpired, and it did not ultimately go through, and there is an agreement that should hold. you can't turn around and charge him for a crime that he already started proceeding on with that plea deal in place. that is one of the initial argument, and lesser argument, though it is practical is to find him guilty of a crime if someone else had done it, they might have been able to work it out civilly or without prosecution, and sounds like a lot of person, and to an average person, it is, but we will see

these types of crimes charged for far greater amounts, and this is more from the political perspective and pressure coming from the public and so there are a number of issues at play here. >> again, live pictures at marine joint base indrews, and will he answer questions, and it seems is unlikely, but he can be unpredictable when answering questions about his family. and katelyn, while we are on the subject of president biden here, the u.s. house of representatives is on the verge of putting a vote to the floor to launch this impeachment inquiry under way, but it does not have the mandate of the full house anyway, and anything in the indictment, 56 pages at all, that in any way adjacent to joe biden. and hunter biden is not facing the impeachment inquiry here, but joe biden is. >> yes, joe biden is not in the

indictment, and this is about hunter biden and the business adventures, but james comer, the chair of the oversight committee who is trying to gain steam into this inquiry of joe biden has tried to make it about the foreign business of hunter biden, and he is calling for more investigation into the president, and not just his son, but what is interesting about the indictment is that it is not just about the taxes, but it is clearly looking to trace the payments coming into hunter biden from these business associates or clients that he and his other business partners had, and they are not bringing a foreign lobbying case or anything that would amount to what the house wants there to be, what the house republicans want, and some sort of indication of bribery or political malfeasance, and it is not there. >> so what does it tell you, counselor jeremy, and again, we are watching president biden get off of marine one here, and we will see if he answers any

questions. and actually, we will pause for a minute here. he is headed to nevada for campaign trip and also for an infrastructure event, and these are the places where the reporters and the reporters of the white house pool can get questions to the united states sometimes, and presidents including president biden choose to answer them. plenty of time s, they don't. >> mr. president -- mr. president! mr. president, your reaction -- >> all right. that is a hard pass from the president of the united states joe biden. a hard pass on answering questions. the reporter as far as we could tell didn't get to the question, but trying to get his attention

to ask a question, and president biden is choosing not to answer anything about his son hunter today. jeremy saland, and so, the tax evasion is far more serious than he would have plead guilty to which is felony tax evasion, and not paying the taxes, but the fact that there are other charges here, what do you read into that? >> well, they are sticking the four corners of the indictment are very clear, and much easier case to make out, and why extrapolate and make this effort to find other crimes when you have fairly easy and straight forward offenses in front of you, and the special counsel may or may not be getting pressure or feeling the pressure from the republican congress, but he is trying to solely indict or has indicted solely to proceed on the case against hunter. ultimately, when there is a trial, if there a trial, and his

father, meaning president biden is involved, they get that evidence that the house could use later on, but the four corners, he is trying to make it clean and easy, and why create more of a mess or make it more political, and stick to what we have. that is why the special counsel is handling it in this manner. >> jeremy saland and katelyn polantz, thank you, both. fred? >> and now, donald trump said that he would take the stand monday in the case against him, and his former attorney said that she tried to get him to not testify with the gag order against him, but he refused. so kara scannell is there at the courthouse, and so, how is this going to play out? >> well, fred, donald trump is expected to testify monday, and this is the second time on the witness stand in this case. the first time he was called by the state attorney general's office to answer questions as

they lined them up, this time it is his lawyers setting it up, and directing the questions to him, and allowing him to answer the questions in the way that he wants. so he'll have more control over the questions and the answers, and his lawyer did advise him not to testify, because of the gag order, but it is limited to stop trump from making any comments about at the judge's staff which has nothing to do with the underlying accusations of the case, but the last time that trump testified, he turned the opportunity of to witness stand into a campaign event, and using statements that he has used time and again, and criticizing the new york attorney general in the courtroom, and also criticizing judge who has ruled in the case that his financial statements are fraudulent, and sitting a few feet away from him, and making criticisms to the judge, and the judge at one time telling attorneys of trump to control the client, and if they didn't, he would. it was a little bit of bombastic

testimony, and though he did acknowledge that he had a role of the statement, and that he relied on the bank who had relied on the account and thes, and he said that he is not afraid to testify and clear up the matters, and monday, we will find out what those matters are. >> and kristen, how are trump and the team going to navigate the court appearances? especially as the election season intensifies or ramps up? >> yeah, fred. look, this is something they have to do, and it is more of the necessity than something they want to do, and we have seen trump appearing at the various court appearanceses, and a reminder that many of the times he has been in the courtroom, he has not had to be, and that is different the other trials that where he has to sit in the courtroom, and the way that he and his team are navigating this, and as kara said, turning it into a campaign event. and you can see donald trump

going to the cameras at every opportunity they have, and alerting the press when they will be in the courthouse, and messaging, and crossing line of the political and legal, and it sounds a lot of what you would hear him say when he is out there on the campaign trail. that is what they will continue to do, continuing as they believe at least one of the trials that he is facing is going to happen before the 2024 election. again, this is going to be a real balancing act, and one that they have not quite mastered, and they believe some of the dates will shift, but what they can do is to try to turn it into a campaign circus, and hijack the cases to get the most media attention they can. >> and so, kristen holtz, and kara scannell, thank you, ladies. john? >> all right. happening now, heartbreaking impact statements, and the survivors and the victims' families are sharing the pain they experienced since the deadly shooting at a high school two years ago, and the shooter is soon to be sentenced, and

there is important legal precedent here. and growing pressure on the president of penn state to resign as there is millions of dollars over the answer of her genocide answer, and whether she will survive the day. and woman is charged of trying to burn down martin luther king's birthplace. how tourists stopped her.

all right. right now in pontiac, michigan, we have been watching the sentencing hearing for the teenaged gunman who killed four classmates in oxford high school. we have been hearing the emotional testimony of the parents and the siblingings of the children who were killed and the survivors of the 2021 attack. listen. >> the act of taking another human beings' life is not only exasperating, but selfish and unjust. i believe that once the individual crosses the boundary of humanism, and maliciously kills another person, that individual should meet the same fate. unfortunately, based on the laws that govern our land, this has been deemed inhumane, and that is largely frowned upon in larger society, so in lieu of execution, i feel strongly that the individual should never be allowed to walk among his peers again.

this is why, i'm going to ask you to lock this son of a [ bleep ] up for the rest of his pathetic life. because the blatant lack of human decency and life in general does not deserve a second chance. my son does not get a second chance, and neither should he. he has proven by carrying out the heinous, and unnecessary acts of violence that he should not be fit to join society that despices this exact behavior. his name should be condemned and recognized by the cowardly vile human law. >> i don't wish death upon you, because it would be too easy. i hope the thoughts consume you and replay over and over in your head. the thoughts won't stop. i am sure that you have heard that paraphrase before. i hope that the screams keep youp ayou

up at night. they cause you real hallucinations. they give you the attention that you seek, and the home will cause you suffocating guilt. it will come, i promise you. i am glad that you decided not be a coward to take your own life, i am glad that you decided to choose the life you chose. and what real suffering feels like, and that your significance is not above anyone else. i truly feel sorry for you, that you feel that this is a better life choice. >> what you remember when you are 14. can you even? it is a young age. i want you to think about everything that came after 14. everything that hana doesn't get to experience. she was not supposed to be shot and killed not even three days after starting her first day of high school, and she was to be growing old as we are, and experience the beauty of life and not the cruelty.

the least that can be done for hana is real life without parole there. is no justice to be enough. >> every day is a battle, to attempt to move forward, a struggle to get out of bed to go through the motions of everyday life while pretending that things are getting better. simple everyday sights and actions bring pain as i think of what it should have been with him with us. i think of the times as a family, and mourn the memories that will never be. i will not be thinking back fondly of the college and high school graduations. i won't walk her down the aisle as she begins journey of starting her own family. i am forever denied the chance to hold her or her future children in my arms.

>> hana and i were left in utter loneliness. i thought that i was dying. i kept repeating my mom's phone number to make sure that my brain was functioning. i was creating math problems in my head and solving them to make sure that i was not dying. i continued to yell for help. 15 minutes of laying there absolutely helpless. 15 minutes of lying in a my own blood. 15 minutes of hearing hana st. julianna's last sounds while stroking her hair and trying to encourage her. soon, the judge will decide the shooter's fate. if he gets life in prison without parole or if he is getting the opportunity to get out one day. i am joined by cnn legal analyst and criminal attorney joey jackson, and i mean, powerful statements. >> yes, yes.

>> ordinarily impact statements, do they make a difference in the sentencing or do you see that this one is very unique? >> yep, you know, so -- good morning, fredricka. it is very unique to have an instance like this that has affected so many. at the school, we talk about those issue, and we talk about them too much, but the victim impact statements are important as always, and yes, they do influence the judge, and why? because you have today, three real imperatives for today, the victims impact statement is that you want to talk about the victim and who they were, what their life meant and the value, and all they meant to so many, and the second thing is how you as a family have been impacted by the emptiness and the absence of the person who was taken far too soon, and the issue of accountability, and clearly, these victims are, they are just going through so much emotionally, and they want accountability, and i don't believe, fredricka, that is lost on the judge at all, and i do

think that it is going to move the needle with respect to what the judge is going to do. >> it has impacted the community, and not just the oxford community and the family members, but this is also a unique case because the first time that a u.s. school shooter has been charged with terrorism charges. so, you know, the gravity is very heavy here. what are some of the considerations that the judge is making in terms of whether it should be life with parole or without? >> so great questions, fredricka. in terms of the terrorism, the prosecutor has gone ahead to say to your point that it has affected all of us, and every child in school that day, and when you are looking at the judge's determination, three things to consider. when you are looking at the sentencing, you are looking at punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. so the judge has to fashion, what is the appropriate punishment in this particular case. when you are looking at the deterrence not only the deter

the individual, but others who might even consider or think about the acceptability of doing this, and what message do i want to send, and on the issue of rehabilitation, the judge wanted to consider the issue of the prehearing, and there was a prehearing, because he was 15 at the time he engaged in this horrific act, and the supreme court mandated life sentences for minors and where the judge had to determine that you are ir reco recon reconcilabley corrupt. >> and his parents have been in jail for a year facing charges in connection with this horrific shooting. the outcome of this case will impact their cases, how? >> well, fredricka, that is a great point, and also, the prosecutor has said that i have had enough, and so, i am not

only going to hold your son accountable, but also your son. so what we will see is a trial coming up for the parents in january of next year, and the issue is involuntary manslaughter, and that means that you didn't have to pull the trigger. were you careless, and on notice of your son's distress mentally, and did he not write to you that i am paranoid and hallucinating, and because you knew that, what steps if any did you take. and then to put a gun in his hands in those circumstance, and the prosecutor said, i am taking you to court, parents. they have tried to get out from under it, but the courts in michigan said, you are very much going to be standing trial, and it is up to the jury to determine if you are guilty. >> a lot of pain here. we will continue to monitor the impact statements coming from the victims' family member there in pontipontiac, michigan. thank you, joey.

john? and breaking news, six members of congress from pennsylvania calling for the president of the university of pennsylvania to resign after comments that she gave after answers she gave about genocide. will she survive the day in her job? in the last hour, the idf has responded to questions about images of large groups of detainees stripped down and blindfolded in gaza. israel says they are members of hamas or suspected members of hamas.

all right. this morning the israeli officials are saying that the number of hostages believed to be held in gaza is 137. the idf is responding to new images of israeli soldiers detaining dozens of men stripped down to their underwear. they are seen wearing blindfolds in back of military trucks. alex marquardt is in tel aviv, and what are the idf saying about these pictures? >> well, john, they are saying that these men either have ties or are suspected to having ties to hamas, and there were questions arose about who is in this group, and we have been given indications from the relatives and employers that there are several men pictured in the videos and pictures are men who have no ties, but

jonathan henriquez have said that there are dozens of palestinian men who have been stripped sitting on their knees on the road or in a truck at one point that are hamas militants or suspected of being hamas militants, and they have been stripped down to make sure they were not carrying any explosives, and we have heard from another idf spokesman who was not speaking to these images, but he said that specifically, when they clear the areas, they ask the men to come out and take them into custody, and they have admitted to arresting hundreds of people to essentially figure out who is hamas, and who is not or who has militant ties and who doesn't. john, we have heard from the editor-in-chief of a news organization called "new arab" and he identified the head of the gaza office in one of the images. cnn has spoken to one of the u.s., and a relative of two of

the people in the images, a brother and cousin, and the person that we spoke to saying that they are a shopkeeper and someone who is working in construction, and no ties to anything violent, and so this is clearly, you know, the israelis are detaining, and rounding people up in their efforts to determine who is hamas, and dismantle the militant organization, but there are criticisms not just from the human rights groups who have criticized this practice, but we have heard from the member of hamas in beirut today who said they were displaced palestinians, and they called it a reprehensible crime. >> alex marquardt in tel aviv, thank you for your reporting. fred? >> a woman who attempted to set fire to martin luther king's childhood home was stopped by tourists by tackling her to the ground. and a new jobs report is

beating expectation, and what it means for the fed and whether there could be another rate hike.

a 26-year-old woman is under arrest trying to set fire to the birth home of martin luther king. it is witnesses who stopped and held her until the police got there. the investigators say they watched her pour gasoline on the national landmark in atlanta. the woman facing multiple charges now. isabel rosales is outside of the

home now, and what happened exactly? >> hey, good morning, john. shocking and strange scene for a bunch of witnesses who saw this woman just up on the porch of this historical home, the birthplace to the civil rights icon martin luther king jr. where he spent the first 12 years of his life, and this woman just pouring gasoline continuously on that and the front door as well. we have new information from the national park service, because it is a federal site from the historical architects saying that there is good news here, that there is no permanent damage here to the home, and the priority is to let that strong stench of the gasoline to let it air out, and keep away anything that could spark a flame here. we are also told by the atlanta police department in an email this morning that the woman, this 26-year-old woman was originally taken to a local hospital for a mental health crisis evaluation, and then she was transported over to the

fulton county jail. we have a video from one of the witnesses where you can see one good samaritan pinning her down to the ground waiting for the police to arrive, and we are told by the apd that it is a bunch of strangers and people not from atlanta who put a stop to this woman, and two tourists from utah originally saw her dousing the house with the gasoline, and interrupted her and then two off-duty nypd officers who were the ones who chased her and pinned her there and waited for the officers to arrive. the fire chief here in atlanta saying that this was a mighty close call. listen. >> it could have been a matter of seconds before the house was engulfed in flames. it was really about the timing and the witnesses being at the right place at the right time. >> it didn't seem right to me, so i looked around to the side of the porch, and i heard splash, splash, and dumping of the can all over the porch, and i said, what are you doing? what are you doing, and she came

around the front to dumping gas here, and i said, this is important, and i pulled out my phone and started recording. >> reporter: and the king center put out a statement in part saying that fortunately the attempt was unsuccessful and thanks to the brave intervention of the brave samaritans and the quick response of law enforcement, and the prayers are with the individual who allegedly committed this criminal act. the woman 26 years old has been charged with attempted arson and interference with government property, and this is federal property, so it is opening the door to federal charge, but i also want to say, john, it is interesting here in the last couple of hours since the sun rose, we are seeing the tours still happening here, and despite this very, very close call that happened yesterday, folks are still coming here to learn about the life and legacy of this civil rights icon. >> and that is a wonderful thing, and good that people can be a part of the precious part of u.s. history.

thank you so much. and beating expectation, and what this means for the economy.

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who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. new this morning, a new york man who filed to run for seat once held by ousted representative george santos was just found guilty of several charges stemming from the january 6th capitol riot. he allegedly entered the bidding through a broken window and was seen in a group of people physically confronting law enforcement officers. the justice department noted during the trial that the 49-year-old testified he had, quote, no idea that congress met inside the capitol building.

he went on to run for the empty seat. the special election for the seat will be held on february 13th. a new jobs report this morning shows strong jobs growth and a low unemployment rate, 199,000 new jobs added in november. that beat expectations. the unemployment rate itself fell to 3.7%, which historically speaking is very low. breaking just a few minutes ago, six members of congress from pennsylvania are now calling for resignation of the president of the university of pennsylvania. liz mcgill has faced scathing criticism since her congressional testimony where she failed to explicit ly say failing to prevent the genocide of jews would cause harassment. americans' attitudes toward climate change has improved. more than three-quarters of americans believe they bear at least some responsibility to reduce climate change. with us now is cnn's chief

climate correspondent bill weir. this is good news, isn't it? people are accepting some responsibility, which means they want to be proactive and help. >> yes. for context, you know, just the words climate change have been so politicized for most of these generations. misinformation fed by lobbies. that's the result of so many lawsuits around the country right now. so, to see these numbers is kind of surprising. nearly two-thirds of u.s. adults say they're worried, as you said. about half, more, want the federal government to do something about it. there's the worry one you talked about. you have 23% very, 35% somewhat. only 4% say it is the most important thing right now. so, those are somewhat lower. what's really interesting is when you ask what should the federal government do about this, do you support the president's vow to cut emissions in half by the end of this decade? 73%, broad majority of americans, say that is the right way to go. it breaks down by party. it's 95% of democrats are in

agreement of that, only 50% of republicans. but 76% of independents say we're on the right track to decarbonize the economy. >> that's encouraging. according to an energy researching consulting company, america is projected to produce the most crude oil in 2024 . 58% of americans say the government isn't doing enough to address that. >> this is an interesting one. if we look at the oil chart here, we don't talk about this a lot, but the biggest petro state in the world right now is the united states, producing way more as a percentage-wise of the global stock than russia or even saudi arabia right now. and that is costing joe biden sop points from his left, from climate youth activists, who want to see the end of drilling. so he only gets 43% approval rating for environmental policy. but there is that partisan

divide over exactly what to do about it and the energy going forward. >> we've leave it there for you. i'm taking away this is hopeful. >> it is. people don't talk about this enough. just starting the conversation, maybe we should see if our community is resilient enough. knowledge is power. >> thanks so much. for many, this time of year is about giving back. but cnn heroes and all-star tribute celebrates ten extraordinary people who put others first all year long. >> sunday on cnn -- >> we provide bilingual education forrer migrant and refugee children on the u.s.-mexico border. >> support the extraordinary people making a difference in our world. >> we are rebuilding the coral reefs here in the florida keys. >> we show that people in ghana will have access to health care.

>> i see a current need and pearn who cares for them dearly. >> trauma can be a pathway for growth. >> we install child friendly reading space in the barbershop. >> we all are connected because of the shared experience of having an incarcerated parent. ♪ the hero is in you ♪ >> there should be no homeless vets. period. none. >> i don't want to be defined as a victim of my circumstances. >> i want to make sure they get all the attention and love that they deserve. >> cnn heroes, an all-star tribute, sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. this is what we all need. always such a wonderful show. the "cnn heroes all-star tribute" airs sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. again, this is something you will absolutely want to watch. >> so inspiring. it makes us all feel good. i love we profile them all the time so you can really get to know them. then this is the big crescendo,

the awards night. it's so fun. >> thank you all for joining us. thank you, fred, so much for being here. "inside politics" is up next.

today on "inside politics," hunter biden indicted again. sex clubs, escorts, a rented