80461 at 800 or visit coventry direct.com i've learned thoughts on capitol hill and this cnn breaking you are in

the cnn newsroom. >> i wolf blitzer in washington, and we're following breaking news. israel now appears ready to formally publicly sign up to president biden announced ceasefire plan i'm for gaza. in a statement attributed only to a government official, but widely understood to be the prime minister's office says, israel won't end the war without reaching its objective. but it now says, and i'm quoting now the proposal presented enables this route to achieve those goals. and israel will indeed do so. and quote, our white house correspondent are left signs and standing by over at the white house are achieved national security correspondent, alex mark court is here with me in the cnn newsroom. alex pressure has been growing and growing on the israeli prime minister benjamin at tiny. but this appears to be a major breakthrough. it does appear to be significant or hearing more and more positive signs from both sides, from both hamas and israel. we have this new statement, albeit from

an anonymous israeli government official, as you say, widely believed to becoming from the prime minister's office that says that israel will not give up on its objectives, which include destroying hamas military and governing capabilities. but very importantly, it says that this proposal that president biden put forward a week-and-a-half ago, which he called an israeli proposal, by the way. does achieve these goals. and israeli willing indeed achieve those goals. so this does appear to be a softening of the position by israel. you're not hearing demands for the elimination, the complete eradication of hamas, which we've heard from netanyahu in the past and we did here earlier today from the secretary of state, antony blinken, who just left israel after several meetings, including one with the prime minister in which he said prime minister netanyahu reaffirmed his support for the plan. the biden laid out. let's listen to a little bit more of what he had to say i met with prime minister netanyahu last night and he reaffirmed his

commitment to the proposal i also had an opportunity to speak to defense minister gaumont and other senior israelis this morning and i think there's a strong consensus again behind moving forward with a proposal. but it really is down to one person at this point. we'll see what comes from them. and from him so them, there is hamas and the him is yahya sinwar, the head of hamas in gaza. >> and what blinken is saying very clearly is that for all the hamas negotiators, for everything they say this comes down to yahya sinwar, who is in gaza so he's believed to be in tunnels beneath gaza, perhaps surrounded by hostages. there's a remarkable new report in the wall street journal today, which has notes from yahya sinwar to the hamas interlocutors who have been taking having a role in these negotiations in which he talks about having the israeli is right where we want them and talking about the desk of these thousands if palestinian civilians saying that these are

necessary sacrifices. so some really cold blooded stuff. >> so the us is saying that the onus is on hamas and specifically on sinwar to respond to this deal, we've heard positive note noises coming out of hamas yesterday after un resolution was voted on they said that they are ready to engage with the mediators on what that resolution laid out for a permanent ceasefire. >> but wolfe, this really does seem to be this is on yahya sinwar to respond because now we're hearing these positive responses from the israelis, very positive indeed could be a huge, huge win for president biden as well. i want to bring in arlette saenz over at the white house for us. what are you here? bring over there. this could be a pretty big victory for president biden's efforts to achieve at least some sort of ceasefire or hostage release inside gaza. >> it could be wall had we're still waiting to hear if the white house has any reaction to this latest statement up from the israeli side. but of course, the devil will be in the details as israel has expressed, some openness to this proposal, which biden had actually said was additionally,

an israeli proposal. now, mediators have been waiting for hamas to respond a to the proposal that president biden had blade out about ten days ago, just over the weekend, national security adviser jake sullivan said that an enduring ceasefire higher is the only path forward for this war to end. and just to remind viewers about what exactly president biden has proposed. he proposed a three-part plan that would start with phase one, which would last for about six weeks, which would secure the release of some hostages, such as women elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for palestinian prisoners during that time, during those six weeks, hamas and israel would still need to negotiate to try to get to phase two, which would then secure the release of all other hostages. the hope in the end is that there would be a full ceasefire and then they can move into phase three, which would include reconstruction and also the return of those

hostages whose bodies remain, who have died, whose bodies remained in gaza. that reconstruction phase a likely would last several years, but it all comes as president biden has really spoken multiple times about how he believes this proposal that has been put forth is the way to end this war, and that it is time for this war to end. he has argued that israel has achieved much of its goals and trying to degrade hamas's ability to carry out another october 7 attack and so his team here at the white house has been working with the israelis trying to push this plan forward. as you heard alex mentioned and blinken met with netanyahu where he said he reaffirmed his commitment to this proposal. so we will see what more the white house has to say about this latest statement from the israelis today cnn's breaking news are there's major breaking news right now, the jury has reached a verdict in the federal gun case against hunter biden in wilmington, delaware. >> cnn's evan perez is

following these developments for he's joining us from just outside the courthouse, update our viewers right now. this sounds to be like here pretty quick, good decision by a member of the 12 members of the jury. what, two hours today when our yesterday total of about three hours. they've been deliberating and now, evan, i take it they've reached a verdict that's right well, if we now know from the from the courtroom that a verdict has been reached any minute now, we expect that hunter biden is going to be making his way back to the courthouse. he was here earlier this morning left after about 20 minutes. and when went to a we believe to a hotel nearby where the family members, he and the family members have been using a base while he waited for the jury to come back. so as you pointed out, they had about one hour of deliberations yesterday before they broke. and then two hours this morning. and now we now know that there is a verdict. we don't know what that verse predictors, but as a reminder, this is a case that is focused

on three charges free, three federal felonies for lying on a form in order to by a firearm and possessing that firearm again, over 11 days, hunter biden owned this gun. he had it. he bought he bought in an october 12 of 20 2018 and the center of this case has been prosecution. the prosecution says that he knew he'd been struggling with drug addiction because he's written about it. they showed videos, they showed photos showed a text messages, everything indicating that he was struggling with drug addiction at this time. and that when he when he went to the gun store for here in delaware to buy the firearm that he filled out that fill that out forum saying that he was not a drug addict. so that has been the center of this case that the defense it has focused on this idea that his state of mind was not clear, that he may have believed he was not addicted to drugs because there was the process did not have any evidence in

october of 2018 that he was using. so that's been what this case has centered on over the last few days. oval whelming amount of evidence from the prosecution, really not much in dispute except for his state of mind really on those key days, those 11 days in october for of 2018, that's what the jury was faced with here. wolf evidence to walk us through what happens next. >> i assume they gather everyone inside the court and then the judge will get the verdict from the members of the jury, from the foreperson of the jury, and walk us through how that unfolds that's right. >> well, we have a little bit of time between the time that the jurors sent a word that they had reached a verdict. again the defendant had left the court. the court, which is kind of unusual. i mean, usually you have defendants sit here while they wait for for the jury. not every defendant, of course, has a secret service detail and a secret service protection. so it is possible

that's the reason why they decided that he was able to leave the courthouse for a little while. again, he left about after about 20 minutes here in the courthouse and then he's just right now on his way back in for the presentation of this verdict. now, what we expect is once the jurors come in they will be queried on whether the verdict is unanimous they really is only three counts that they have to go through and they have to so all agree on all of the elements for those three counts, he faces up to 25 years. if convicted, of course, a judge could also decide that she could she could sentence again, if there is a conviction that if there is a conviction, she could decide that the sentences for each of those counts would be served concurrently, which is maximum of ten years. again, all of those things, we don't know because the judge has not really we don't we haven't heard from the jury and we don't know what the judge will end up deciding between the

time of the jury verdict and if there is a conviction, we expect that there's gonna be some weeks before we get a sentencing. and of course, we'll remember that hunter biden also faces a separate case in los angeles for tax crimes alleged tax violations, and that right now is on the calendar for september, so he could be doing this all over again before a jury in southern california in a few months very quickly, evan, before i let you go a guilty verdict, obviously requires unanimous among the 12 jurors at acquittal also requires unanimity if it were to be a hung jury, there could be a hung jury, but given the fact that they've only been in deliberations for three hours. >> that's almost certainly not going to happen right now, the judge would make them go back and continue considering drawing on given that this is relatively quickly, only three hours an hour yesterday, two hours today, that they've been deliberating deliberating. so it's clearly going to be either guilty or acquitted, not

guilty either one of those needs to be unanimous, but they're moving very quickly, aren't they that's right. >> well, it has to be unanimous and look the fact that we haven't seen any notes from the jury, we haven't seen any questions asked by the jury is also kind of an interesting thing because this was a hard fadh case. it was a week of evidence from the prosecution 13 witnesses and all over a week over really something it was not very much in dispute. and so the idea that they have a verdict means that this jury believed that the evidence was clear. for one side or the other, one of the interesting things i add a conversation with some of the security officers in court today, and they said that they've seen some interesting things. i mean, obviously this this amount kind of evidence that we've seen that prosecutors pylon on hunter biden is overwhelming and so it would be a surprise if he was able to evade on all of this, but i

talked to a couple of court security officers who said they recently they've seen a couple of cases where video evidence, jurors were just tossed it out and said, not guilty. so we we we don't know until we hear from this jury was he will hear a fairly soon. i take it hi, evan. evan perez. thank you very, very much. i want to bring it up and ask those right now, a biographer of a president biden, evan, thank you so much for joining us. >> give us a little big picture right now how this has all this is the first time in american history, the son of a sitting american president has been tried. >> let's see what the, what the verdict is it's from the jury momentarily, but give us a big picture how this has impacted the president and his family as you said, well, if this really is unprecedented by any definition, the first time in american history that a justice department has charged the child of a sitting president with a criminal offence in this way. >> and in many ways is this case entered a completely different phase about a year

ago, it was in july of 2023 when a plea deal which seem to have been worked out, which might close the chapter on this very painful, difficult, destructive period in hunter biden's life could actually result in him avoiding trial. that plea deal collapsed in july. and as a result, you now see him here in court and as evan perez was saying, this has been weeks, a very difficult, overwhelming evidence brought by the prosecution of hunter biden's history of addiction and in many ways wolff, the most surprising thing has been the degree of turmoil that was happening off stage of public life in the biden family, dividing members of the family from one another. and i think there's just no question this has been a very painful period for the president and for the first lady, who after all, has been attending every day of this trial. so it's really hard to overstate how anxious

this moment is for the president and his family as they await what the news will be. >> yeah, very anxious indeed, evan standby attempt parlatore and our panel are here with us. what do you think they move very quickly? this jury, two hours of deliberations today, one hour yesterday, and now they've reached a verdict and it sounds like they didn't send out a single note. >> all right. >> either. so many questions through the joint, correct? correct. i mean, no clarification on jury instructions. >> nothing no request to hear any read backs. >> so i do generally speaking, when a jury comes back that quickly from my line of work, we don't feel good that it's most likely going to be a conviction it's possible you never know what a jury going to do, but no notes, that quickly, it's generally we can assume it's not a hung jury though. no, definitely not that you would have had several nodes coming out saying, judge, we're hopefully please hopelessly deadlocked what can we do? >> there's definitely a

verdict this quick. it's probably conviction, but who knows, you think it's i think the prosecution had a very strong case. >> i i think that they did because of the rebuttal case. yeah. i thought that their case was circumstantial. best. i thought that abbe lowell did a phenomenal job with a defense attorney, yes. poking holes in the timeline to show that they could show before they could show after, but they couldn't show during but then the rebuttal case, they came out with text messages of him, texts in the dealer on the day a of the gun purchase, and i thought that that was pretty devastating. and so i can i don't know why they didn't put that on their case in chief because i think that was probably one of their strongest piece of evidence is far stronger than having the ex-wife testify about what he had done years before but i think that if i were a juror, that would be the key for me your opinion is shared by a lot of other lawyers as well right now, jamie, what do you think

okay. i will leave it to the lawyers to guess? we don't know, but certainly the speed of it. that's what it feels like. but we don't know. i do think that one of the, things that we talked about earlier is his history of addiction is very well known. and the fact that there was all of this evidence before this date evidenced after the debate. i know abbe lowell he is an excellent attorney he did the best with what he could and there is this vague period in the middle there about, you know what, what his status this was. but it did i did think the prosecution made a strong case. there's a very strong case. >> and they used his audio book and the members of the jury could actually hear him discussing his addiction to various illegal drugs and i

think that was probably a pretty powerful moment in the course of this trial as well. >> i mean, i think it probably was a wolf, but i'm taking a position. should someone who is addicted to any substance not have the constitution? all right to keep and bear arms regardless of the political differences. i want to take a higher ground here. this is a son of the sitting president of the united states of america. i can only imagine what types of threats he's getting on a austin basis he did not hold up for what you want. make sure you keep that thought. but got paula reid has just walked outside of the court. she's joining us right now from women content delaware. what's the latest year hearing? paula wolf, the jury has found hunter biden, the president, signed guilty on all three counts. in this case after three hours of deliberation count one is a false statement and the purchase of a firearm count two is false statement related to formation required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed

dealer. count three is possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user or addicted to a controlled substance. so he has been found guilty on all three counts. now, the jury here is comprised of six men and six women. it is a majority black jury this is day seven of this historic trial. this is the first time that the child of a sitting president has faced criminal prosecution. this is the first of two criminal trials that he will face after a plea deal that he negotiated fell apart now over the past is seven days, he is it's enjoyed enormous support from his family, including his stepmother, the first lady of the united states, who has been here for many days during this trial. other family members, friends of the family, clergy members. he said dozens of people here showing support for him. and it was notable yesterday, did at the beginning of the prosecutors closing argument, they pointed to the gallery where the first lady has been sitting and said those

people they don't matter, what matters here is the evidence and hear the jury believes believes that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that hunter biden was guilty of all three of these crimes. now, the most difficult challenge for prosecutors will was proving that hunter biden knowingly lied throughout the course of this process that he was aware of the fact that he was either using or addicted to drugs and they pointed yesterday to the fact that shortly before he purchased this gun, that he had been recently in rehab prosecutor said, look, if he hadn't just been to rehab, maybe we could buy the idea that he wasn't aware of the fact that he had a problem with substance abuse. but again, after for three hours of deliberation, a jury here in wilmington, delaware finding the president's son guilty on all three counts paula potentially faces when i'm maximum about 25 years in jail. >> if is that right recent counts here, you can read different. yeah, it looks sentencing is much more of an

art than it is a science that is the far upper range of the sentencing guidelines. but he is of course, a first-time offender. so we don't expect that he would get a sentence anywhere in mirror that, but that is the upper end and other sentencing guidelines are for these specific offenses. and also this is the second trial. the first of two trials that he will face. he will face a second trial in september later this year on tax related charges. now we have a new flurry of activity coming out of the court. i'm going to have our reporter just come over and tell us why now if they are learning, because obviously the most important thing was the verdict, who were also getting other information including color about his reaction. there was great hope within hunter biden's illegal camp that perhaps they would get a hung jury here in wilmington that people would believe that this was and unfair prosecution that nobody else who had a different name would face this case. it is objective lee speaking a very unique case. but here the jury believed that the prosecutors jurors prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt

major major development. >> hundred biden, guilty of all three counts. in this in this trial. that's been going on. and potentially right now, paul gives us a sense paula, will he be incarcerated awaiting sentencing are really be able to go home no, we don't expect that he will be detained pending sentencing. >> it's unclear how long it'll take for him to get a sentencing date that will likely be set today. and just like former president trump, but we've seen up in new york, there's a whole process. i had a sentencing, but as i said, he is another federal we'll trial in september, so it's unclear exactly when his sentencing date will be. who we fully expect that he will likely be out and about still a free, a free man, even though he is facing this conviction until his sentencing. and then i would expect that there will be a series of appeals, but there are questions about just how many resources he has remaining to fund his legal defense it is right now not working. his longtime friend and attorney kevin morris has been paying most of his legal bills, but

wolf, it's not just these criminal trials that he's facing. he and his lawyer there's are pursuing this very aggressive, litigious campaign against his tractors. they have a lot of civil lawsuits that are costing them money. but i fully expect he will appeal this verdict and ultimately the sentence, and he may he may make a brief statement after court. we'll see how he's feeling after this conviction i'm sure he's not feeling very good about being convicted. >> get on all three counts. guilty. all three counts or a pala standby. we'll get back to you. i know you're getting more information from inside the courtroom as well. it will we'll get back to you on that. jimmy gan got what do you think? >> okay. this is obviously a painful and and difficult moment for the whole biden family. no parent wants wants to see something like this happen. i think considering how quickly verdict came down, we saw the prosecution's case. it's not that surprising. i do

think it's notable that hunter biden trial and this conviction is an example of no one being above the rule of law, including the president's son. and stands in stark clark contrast to how former president trump behaved up in new york coming out every day calling the judge corrupt, saying it was ready grade witch hunt and i think it's also notable that president biden has said that he will not pardon his son yeah. >> yeah. honor. the verdict, whatever that evan azygos is still with us. the biden biographer, evan, give us your reaction to this guilty verdict for hunter biden? >> i'm thinking back wealth to the fact that joe biden for many, many years has talked about addiction in his family. i mean, many years ago as when he was asked why it is that he doesn't drink alcohol. he said there are too many alcoholics and my family which is in many

ways kind of running beneath the surface of this story. i mean, the fact is this is now a day in which joe biden's surviving son to use the term that he uses is going to be going to prison, or i should say, let me fix that has now been convicted and is now facing serious consequences. for the combination of his addiction and this period in his life, which was described in such a brutal detail over the course of the last, i think it's also important to mention as jamie mentioned that the president has been clear that he wasn't going to intervene in this case. he has been declining to talk about it. he has said he wouldn't pardon his son. i think that strikes a lot of people notable. it's something that he has held fast to in this process. and you can be sure this is reverberating right now. out through the biden family in a way that after all, a family that has seen its fair share of suffering over the years and is now preparing for another very difficult phase.

>> evan standby, paula reid is getting more information from inside the courtroom right now. paula gives update our viewers on the latest prominent. as i said earlier, a hunter has enjoyed a significant support from his family, family, friends, members of the clergy, and the first lady of the united states has been here who step mom has been here most days of this trial, but the verdict came very quickly between the time were alerted that it was ready in the time it was red and the first lady actually, she didn't get here in time to hear the verdict read. so that is inefficient that she was not here during the verdict, but she was here for many other yell pivotal moments of this trial. and i will note the president has said that he would not pardon his song, that he will respect the verdict. >> i will note look, legal nerd here, right. >> recovering lawyer or there's also the option to potentially commute any sentence while he may not pardon his son, but he would have the option to commute whatever sentence his son receives here for this trial. so if at the end of his term, as is his son is still serving

that sentence, he could potentially commute his sentence. so something important to remember, even though his father said at this point, he would not offer him a pardon, but he is received unwavering support from his stepmother throughout this trial. even while she has been a traveling abroad to europe, she is still come back and ben here front and center sitting in the front row, offerings support not only to her stepson, but to other members so the family, for example, their granddaughter had to testify, naomi biden, and when she and her husband walked in the courtroom that day for her to testify, the first lady immediately looked at naomi please. husband motion for him to come sit right next to her. so the first lady has been here throughout this trial offering support, again, not just to the defendant, her stepson, but also to other metals members of the family that have been part of this alright. >> paula reid, i know you continuing to get more information. are reporters are inside. they're bringing you that information will get back to you very soon. i want to go to well, are left sides are at the white house right now. it's been very quick. has there been any reaction at all from officials over there,

arleigh no reaction just yet wolf, but this certainly will be a painful moment for the biden family as their son only loving son, hunter biden has now found been found guilty on all three felony charges, as paula noted, first lady jill biden, arrived at the court just a few minutes after this verdict had been read. she has been on hand for five of the six days that this trial was underway, even going back and forth from wilmington to france for a officials and duties last week. but we're still waiting to hear how exactly president biden learned the news of this conviction. and if or when he will be calling his son. of course, the biden family is incredibly close and for the most all right. the statements that we have heard from the biden family around this trial is simply expressing their love and support for their son as he is facing these criminal charges. but all also stressing the fact that they are proud of him in the face of adversity after overcoming some of his struggles with addiction. now, as paul noted just last week,

president biden was specifically asked in an interview whether he would accept the results of this verdict or pardon his son. i want to play you a little clip of that moment. take a listen. >> let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is yes. and have you ruled out a pardon for your son? >> yes. >> you have now, president biden is at the white house right now a bit later today, he's expected to deliver a remarks at a gun violence prevention conference with everytown for gun safety. >> and so we will see whether we hear anything directly from president biden himself or this white house. but certainly this. cups caps off a years of a very tumultuous period for the biden family, as you heard, detailed in this court case, there were very personal testimonials that president hunters own words were played back in court recounting some of his struggles with addiction, some of the very tomorrow which was period in

their family history, you had the biden granddaughter, naomi biden, a testifying about her father as well. of course, first lady jill biden has been on hand for the majority of this trial, taking all of that in i had been told that there was no question for the first lady that she wanted to be there by hunter biden's sayyed as is this plot trial played out. and so we will see a little bit more later today, whether the president biden might be weighing in on this conviction of his only livingston all right. >> our lead will get back to you. you'll update our viewers as you get more information. thank you very much. paula reid is getting more for information she's over outside the courthouse in wilmington, delaware. what else are you learning? palmer well, if i'm reading notes from our colleagues who were inside the courthouse there are no cameras in there, so this is how we've been getting information. >> and this is some, some information about what happened after the verdict were told that hunter gave kisses and hugs to family committee members and friends who were in the courtroom. they describe it as being almost like a receiving line as he exited after the guilty verdict was

read. now this is similar to what we've seen those days. 100 goes out of his way during breaks two haul again to kiss people who are there to support him again, as members of his family, friends of the family, and also group of religious leaders who have showed up to show their support. they said that his friends and his longtime friend and lawyer who i mentioned before, kevin morris, he walked out with his it's arms crossed some of the supporters who have been there. it looked stunned as i said, i've been told that there was great optimism in hunter biden's camp about there maybe being a hung jury they were hoping that some of the jurors would view this as a politically motivated prosecution or something that it was just inherently unfair. and they were hoping that maybe they could get across to one juror and possibly get a hung jury, which is of course not what happened. now, as we reported earlier, the first lady, dr. jill biden, while she has been here for most days of the trial hey miss the verdict. it all happened very quickly. she was nearby, but she entered the courtroom seven minutes after the verdict was read,

were told that hunter and his attorneys were huddled at this time and she she walked into the courtroom and that she did not did not move her her her her glance off of her stepson and his lawyers as they huddled, michael, you talking about next steps now it's unclear right now if hunter biden will issue a statement, if feel issue a written statement, i am i'm told now that we should expect that hunter biden will issue a written statement about this verdict. we do not expect him to speak. and at this point, it's unclear if anyone from the special counsel's office will address its reporters. but again, a historic moment here in wilmington, wolf historic indeed are paula will get back to you. i know you continuously getting more information from our reporters inside as well. so standby, we'll get back to you. want to get some more legal analysis, right now, joey jackson, who's joining us from new york. joey, what's your reaction? it was a pretty quick good decision by these 12 members of the jury. >> yes. welfare was good morning to you and that is because it was a pretty

straightforward case. obviously, the jury having to make three different decisions since number one, did you lie to a licensed firearm dealer? they concluding the jury that is yes. number two, did you lie on the form with respect to your addiction? the jury concluding? yes. and number three, as it relates to not only the lie and everything else, but the illegality of possession. they say yes, i did think wolf, if ever, there was a case regarding jury nullification that this would be yet what i mean is there are times when a jury may assess a case and because the case hits home with them, we know this was a jury that consisted of people who had experience family members, and others to the issue of addiction to the issue of alcoholism, not specifically related to this case here, but of course, just knowing what it does to people and how it makes people act and how it all is behavior. remember, critical to the defense was really talking about the issue of whether he was addicted at the time, talking about whether he was in denial with regard to having the mental state required to knowingly execute a form

falsely. and so i did thank perhaps if there was a case that would require jury nullification, a jury saying he's guilty, but we're gonna give them a pass. this may be the case. the jury did not do that the other thing well, if that's important is i think it gets very much a timing issue. now, we heard paula reid speak to the issue of a potential commutation. what does that mean? we know the president is ruled out a pardon excusing a completely the issue with commutation is if there is a sentence and pose, then what the president now president consider right? excusing that sentence and the timing i speak to is as follows. right now upon a conviction, it now goes to probation probation assesses it's called pretrial services at the federal level, what they do as we see the our first family or at least the his wife, that is joe biden's and excuse me, hunter biden's. and of course, his mom walking out of the courtroom at pretrial services. what they do is they prepare probation report, deep dive into hunter biden, his para history, what it is that he's done in his life met they

make a recommendation probation on sentence and saying defense council submits documentation of what the appropriate sentence should be, including letters of recommendation. the prosecutors do with the judge, then pronounces sentence. that's a few months away. so let's just say for example, wolf that he gets sentenced in october or september and then has given a date to report if right. because we know that this is a case where he doesn't half they go to prison, but if he sends a prison that's timing. last and final point. well, if we know he's facing the tax charges, of course, in september in california, that will be critical to timing also, you, joe biden wins the presidency and of course we're talking about a lot of assumptions. his son is convicted of that, then you face the similar time in question. and we'll he pardoned on that case. will he commute on that case? if the judge puts sentencing over, if there's a conviction. right. again, speculating at this point, if it's after the time that joe biden would potentially if he does not get re-elected leave office. i'm looking for all of those things. to see whether or not the president, current

president would have the ability to issue a commutation or pardon with respect to the other case, he gets reelected. nothing to see here. he doesn't it's a problem and that's why the timing component is credit very critical indeed, we were showing our viewers live pictures of hunter biden leaving the court and getting into a vehicle and leaving the areas are clearly he's not being detained right now awaiting sentencing. >> paula reid is still with us, joey, i'm going to get back to you. got some legal questions, but paula, i know you're getting more information. what are you learning yes. that's right again, this flow of information coming from our reporters inside the courthouse and learn that right now a hunter biden does not have a specific sentencing date set. now, usually sentencing happens about 120 days after a verdict. so it appears that depending on the timing of his los angeles trial, this sensing date would likely come before the november election. >> now, as i said before, the president has said he would not pardon his son who will respect to the outcome of this process.

>> he would technically we have the option to commute his son sentence depending on what it is but at this point, he said he would not offer a part in though i don't think he was asked specifically about computation's, but as of now, no the sentencing date, both for the president's son, while the upper range four sentences for this particular kind of crime, someone could face decades in prison. as i said before sensing is more of an art than it is a science. he's a first-time offender and it is not expected that he would face anywhere near that amount of prison time, as you can probably hear behind me there is at least one protester who has been here all day questionable about whether he should be shouting outside of federal courthouse when there was a jury deliberating earlier, but he has been here here, but we only see again about one protests are here. otherwise, it's a pretty calm seen. the first lady, hunter biden, i his attorneys, just left the courthouse and it looks like they will not be you back here for at least another 120 days a year. our chief legal affairs correspondent. so walk us through the president united states says he won't

pardon his son. he'll abide by whatever the verdict is. but there was no question to him about commuting the sentence. in other words let's say he gets a few years, potentially jail. the president could commute it, reduce that sentence. that's that would be his right as a president of the united states, right? it's a federal, federal trial yes. >> exactly. it's a federal trial, so state level offenses convictions, and sentences or outside the power of the president of the united states as part of why former president trump's conviction in new york was especially significant because it is outside the pardon power, either his future pardon power, that of any other president. but yes, with this case, president biden would have the option to pardon his son. he said he won't do that commuting his sentence would also be an option on the table. and certainly historic decision for the president of the year united states to decide if they want to use that power to absolve their child of whatever sentence that hunter biden ultimately receives. this point

is unclear sure. what sentence you will get, and this is only the first of two federal cases. you'll be facing. the next one again in september that is related to tax charges that is going to go on much longer. closer to four to six weeks and likely that sentence will not come probably if he is convicted, if he is convicted until the following year. so again, it's going to be it's gonna be a difficult year for the biden family going forward given hunter biden's continued legal problems in the wake of this conviction. now, as you might be able to hear, there is some sort of confrontation happening here. i'm going to toss it back to you off are paula standby? >> we'll get back to you as well. excellent reporting from our paula reid, our chief legal affairs correspondent. thank you very much. kristen holmes is joining us right now. kristen, i know you're covering the trump campaign. you're getting reaction yes. >> so we did get a statement from the campaign which was then retracted because donald trump himself, we are told is going to weigh in on truth, social's so something that we are going to be watching very carefully here. obviously, no one of the campaign wants to

get ahead of the former president himself since he likes to weigh. and now one thing i will note is that this verdict is likely to take some of the wind out of their sales when it comes to talking about the justice department in general and how it is rigged, how donald trump's case itself was political persecution, particularly now that hunter biden was found guilty. now, that's not going to change anything that donald trump is likely to say. he will say that he was never going to get a fair trial and that hunter biden should have been charged with more crimes, et cetera, et cetera. this is just how donald trump paints almost everything as though he is the victim, but of course, we will wait ourselves to see what exactly donald trump says and weigh in. i will say one thing that is very interesting here, while donald trump has not seen synthetic at all about hunter biden's addiction issues. he himself has come from a family that had addiction issues and has talked openly about it. so interesting there that he has

one of the things we've talked about is how many americans find this case to be sympathetic in some ways, donald trump himself does not seem to be one of them important point as well kristen, thank you very much. >> are sure michael singleton is with us as well. kicked adding fills with us. what's your reaction? >> i think this case has some very serious constitutional issues here in 2023, the fifth circuit court of appeals and paula read the quote, anyone who is caught an unlawful user of or addicted to any control substance cannot legally possess a firearm to fifth circuit said, quote, you cannot ban a gun possession for a person who has a pattern of drug use and a base that based off of the 2022 decision from the supreme court, which said gun restrictions must be consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation as well. i think hunter biden's attorney is going to have a very solid case and in tim could jump in on this on appeals because the supreme court made it very clear that you have to look at historical contexts before

making these types of decisions. and so i think the question for many americans will be someone who's dealt with addiction, should they not have the ability to protect themselves? and i think most people would probably say yes. and here we are years later. hunter is still dealing with those things, but from our knowledge, he's not addicted anymore is in terms of being an active user. so shea not be able to protect himself being the first child of the president of the united states. our politics may differ here, a wolf, but constitutionally he should be able to keep and bear arms well, i think hearing his argument from sra michael's further evidence, the power six is not going to be clean for donald trump and for the republicans, in part because you have conservative folks who are advocating for gun ownership, who are saying that the substance of this case, as many legal experts have said, is then but also, you have somebody here who has been very vocal and eloquent about his struggles with addiction. in hunter. and i can tell you from the campaign in 2020 that moments where joe biden defended his son from attacks

by donald trump about his addiction and things that he had done while he was under the influence. >> joe biden would look at the cameron's. >> i love my son and everybody in this country can relate to having somebody in their family that they love struggling with addiction. and the challenge that that puts your family through. and i'll tell you those were the things that people remembered from the debates in 2020 were joe bye that was it was joe biden making that argument so the idea and then add onto that the point that was just made earlier that this really undermines the argument that trump's been making about joe biden weaponizing the justice system. so, i think the politics of this are not going to be as beneficial to trump and republicans. and maybe that's why the trump campaign struggling to get a statement because we're not quite sure what to say. >> what do you think all right. i'm not going to comment on the politics of it, but i will say that we're talking about something with up to 25 years in jail but potentially, but not exactly potentially. and that's not the reality of it, because the federal system, you have the statutory maximum, but then you have the us sentencing

guidelines. the sentencing guidelines are a very complicated set of mathematical calculations i just did a very brief calculation on this where it's a base level of fence 14, but then you take eight points off. if it was possessed for sporting or collection purposes and was not unlawfully discharged or otherwise unlawfully used. the sentencing guidelines range is going to recommend zero to six months in jail. so chances are hunter is going to get probation. and i think that the president is going it'd be very hard pressed to commute that sentence if he gets probation because we've he commutes it, then he also takes away his right to appeal and so i think it's a very pretty interesting thing where he is going to appeal. it's gonna be very fascinating to watch the appeal because it brings unlikely partners together because you're not only going to have hunter biden we're going to have the nra filing abacus briefs. and quite frankly, because it's an issue of drug

use and second amendment rights, you're going to have amicus briefs from the cannabis industry tree and a lot of other very unlikely bedfellows are gonna get together on this. i think it's something that he is almost certainly not going to be seen the inside of a jail cell. but it is going to have some very interesting ramifications going forward jamie, go ahead. yeah. i just wanted to say before dismissing the parties, the judge our reporters in the courtroom are reporting that the judge told a hunter biden's team that sentencing is usually set for 120 days after the verdict and i point that out because that would mean that sentencing would be in mid-october, right before election day. but to tim's point, if this is likely to be probation, i think that is going to have you know, it's going to lessen the political impact of you're not

going to have this son of a president likely going to prison one other point i wanted to make, we've talked talked a lot about how some of these jurors had experienced in their families with addiction. i just want to say that may make you sympathetic it may also make your realistic about what someone's behavior is like when their attics just they came to this verdict very quickly flowers of deliberations today when our yesterday, three hours and they reached a unanimous decision, guilty on all three counts. >> yeah. >> i mean, look, it was i think it was pretty clear that the jury didn't have a lot of hesitation here, and i think jamie's point is right. i mean, you have x if you have experience in your family with addiction, sometimes that makes you sympathetic, sometimes that can make you clear-eyed and realistic and so i think that that was probably at play here. this was a case where the jury was obviously asked to consider that law is all juries are, but this is the kind of case that also has emotional resonance. and i think that that was probably significant for the jury to, but in thinking about

the politics of it, again, it's something that has emotional resonance that people connect to. and so i think it will be i certainly would not expect no surprise here. i would not expect the biden campaign to make this a centerpiece of their message, but but i do think for people who have this struggle in their family seeing this play out in this way, i think gives them a link to the biden family land a way that i think is powerful. >> paula reid is over at the courthouse in wilmington, delaware getting more information. what else you're learning, palmer to any of these accusations? >> yeah, i know there are a lot of questions about the protests stars that you could hear behind me in our last hit, we looked at the situation. >> there are two antibiotic protesters who had been here for most of the day. >> one has a whiteboard food out with writing anti-modern, writing. the other has a poster and he is using actually like a coffee cup as a megaphone and has been for most of the day some folks just walking down the street here wilmington at least two of them stopped to engage the protesters. so that

was the loud yelling that you heard for a period of time there aside from these four individuals that exchange their views loudly, it's pretty calm here. the assembled media is a force here, but the first lady, hunter biden his attorneys. they recently exited the courthouse, and otherwise it's pretty pretty peaceful here following this historic verdict polo standby, we're gonna get back to you soon. >> we going to continue to monitor the breaking news. hunter biden guilty on all three counts we're watching all this very closely. i want to get some more legal analysis right now, joining us former federal prosecutor please. adam sin and white-collar defense attorney seth berenzweig. elise, give me your reaction to this guilty verdict. all three counts yeah. >> i'm not surprised at all. i'm also not surprised at the speed in which the jury returned the verdict. as i've said before, the government really had a mountain of evidence in his okay. so to me it wasn't a could they bring his case? it was more of a

should they bring this case? i've heard a lot of the other panelists talking about how the defense really tried to appeal to the sympathy of the jury. that was a lot of their closing argument. of course, some of it was also on the requisite mens rea hey, the knowing element. did hunter biden appreciate that he was addicted at the time he filled out the forms and possessed the firearm, but a lot of the defense strategy was also built around the sympathy factor hoping for a hang, hoping for that nullification that did not happen here. the jury did is they were instructed they they took the facts, they applied it to the law, and they rendered a just verdict, which was guilty. so not surprised here, but i think there are real questions as to whether these cases should be brought and then to the other panelists point, i think there are serious constitutional questions within this case, which as a defense attorney would be one of the reasons i would have elected to go to trial to preserve those

appellate rights and have the supreme court way. and i think 100% we should expect to see will not 100%. i never say what hundred percent, but maybe died that 99% of short that the supreme court will ultimately take up this case because i think enlightened bruin, this statute does need to be interpreted by the high court. >> well, let me get thoughts from seth berenzweig, white-collar defense attorney. what do you think well, the weight of evidence was just overwhelming. >> so i'm not surprised either as well as the point that it was really just three hours of deliberation. and not only was the overall balance and weight of evidence overwhelming, but the prosecution did a very good job. coloring in on the october 2018 date of the signature of the form that really cuts to the heart of the issue in this case. so for example, just a couple of weeks before hunter biden sign the form, zoe kestan, his girlfriend from new york testified that she saw him doing drugs just shortly before

the form was signed, just a day or two after the form was tine hallie biden testified that she saw a text from hunter stating that he was waiting to meet his dealer mci, to get more drugs and there was another text that demonstrated that the following day it appeared that he was laying on top of his car in wilmington, delaware doing drugs. so on the one hand, i think the jury was a good jury pool. they really drew a good jury in this case because there was some sympathy based upon their family factors. but when you look at the weight and the coloring of the evidence from a timing perspective, it is something that really drives to a result that is not surprising. i'll just add one additional point with respect to the perspectives on appeal he agreed that the fifth circuit decision from last summer is something that will definitely get teed up on appeal. but let's also keep in mind that there's a significant issue with respect to the evidence, the defense tried to call an expert witness to testify with respect to

state of mind, how people who are addicts sometimes have a very difficult framework in terms of determining and appreciating whether or not their current users or attics when someone tries to offer expert witness testimony in a case like this, the court usually deems it to go to the wait rather than the admissibility of the evidence. it was surprising that that evidence was rejected. that will also be a very significant issue that goes upstairs on appeal. as this verdict gets appealed by the defense team all right. >> i want you to guys to stand by, seth berenzweig, elise adamson will continue our legal analysis of this historic moment first time in american history, a child of a sitting president, united states has not been convinced acted on three counts, guilty on all three counts. we're watching all of this very closely. let's go back to the white house. arlette saenz is getting more reaction over there. what are you learning? arlette? >> well, well, four, still waiting to hear whether president biden will react directly to this latest news. i

his son, hunter biden has only living sun has been convicted on all three federal gun charges ahead of the trial. president biden had released a statement simply expressing his sayyed as father, saying that he loved and supported his son hunter, noting his struggles with addiction. we saw first lady jill biden has been up in wilmington for much of the past week, even jetting back-and-forth between wilmington and france just at the end of last week to be there on hand for the trial. you could see her walking out of the courtroom, a hand in hand with her son, hunter biden. i had been told that there there's no question for the first lady she wanted to be there on scene at the trial to support her son. she arrived just a few minutes after the verdict had been read. the certainly will be a painful moment for the biden family as they really have been dealing with a lot of the fallout of hunter's addiction issues over the course of the past few years, you heard the very sorted detail as aired

reappeared in this court, a trial the first lady on hands or listening to those audio clips of hunter biden recounting his own struggles hearing her granddaughter, naomi biden, on the stand. so we will see how the biden family will react today. now, i will note that president biden remains here in washington and he is currently at the white house a bit later this afternoon, around 130. he's actually supposed to be speaking at an event for everytown for gun safety. he will be there uh, to tout some of the policies that his administration has put in place to try to curb gun violence in this country. so we will still wait to see whether the white house, whether president biden will react directly to this verdict. that has found a hunter biden. they're only living son a guilty, really copying off a very emotional and turbulent period for the biden family over the course of the past few years, i checked this morning, are let there there's also a scheduled what, 230 white house press briefing with press secretary karine

jean-pierre. is that right? >> yes, that is something that is currently on the books. so white house press secretary karine jean-pierre will be briefing the press at 2:30, and i will also note that president biden, just last week had been asked whether he would accept the results of this trial. he said in that interview with abc news that he would accept the results of the trial and also ruled out the possibility that he would pardon his son as paula has been noting, there's still the question of whether he might commute any eventual sentence. so we will see how the white house might respond to that question today. and other matters relating to a hunter biden how they believe this could play into the campaign going forward, but the biden biden's themselves that they do release a statement likely would be sticking to the love and support that they have offered a hunter before this case of when other trial both have arisen as they just tried to show that they are approaching this from a family perspective. >> family perspective obviously, very distraught family, right now thank you

very much. arlette saenz at the white house will of course, continue to monitor any white house reaction from the president or from other officials at the white house as the day continues, evan acidosis is still with us. the biden biographer evan, i know you've been thinking about all of the dramatic developments that have unfolded over the past what, 20 minutes or half an hour or so, give us your thoughts it's really if you step back for a second, wolffian, consider the pressures that are bearing down on this president. >> they're quite extraordinary. i mean, at a moment when you have an immensely divided electorate where you're running against the person who you beat in the last election of course, also tried to cling to that office. and now you have a family drama that is really like nothing that a president has ever contended with particularly at a time when they're dealing with this reelection campaign. so 120 days from now, we'll put it in october we're likely to find out more about the sentence

that hunter biden will face. and in the meantime, joe biden is going to be out in front of the public making decisions all the time about what he will and will not say about this case. he has been so far vigilant not to weigh in when this was five matter. but i think one of the things that is a question is how he will talk about addiction, whether that question is posed to him in the months ahead. now, there have been people in the addiction community that have said, we wonder if he will talk about addiction in the way that he is talked about cancer, which of course took the life of his son, beau biden there may be a way that this is a way for him to talk about his family, his life, the things that he has been through and yet not also talking about the federal case because he has been vigilant about saying that he would not pardon his son and in its own way has been signaling that nobody is above the law. and we

saw that today. >> and you've reported on president biden now for years, and you wrote an excellent biography of his life. give us your thoughts i've in how he's dealing with this, he lost beau biden, his older son, and now his younger son as potentially facing some jail time, even we don't know if that's going to happen, but convicted on these these three counts yeah. >> it's it's really a kind of agony that you don't often see frankly at the top of our political system, many of the people who get into these jobs have kind of insulated themselves or they've been fortunate for one fortunate job and family experience after another. i remember one of joe biden's closest advisers saying to me at one point, if you asked me who the luckiest person i know is, it's joe biden. if you asked me who the unlucky is person i know is it's joe biden and this biography, this extraordinary life, this public life of this family which began a half-century ago after all,

with the car accident that killed his late wife and his daughter injured his two sons you now fast forward all the way to today and this really dramatic and ultimately painful process continues. but joe biden's theory has always been the same, which is that you cannot ever take anything for granted, and that you have one option and you will hear him say this a lot. i'm sure in the weeks and months ahead, which is that when life knocks you down, you get up and that has been a sustaining concept for him politically personally during the covid, pandemic, he projected that idea to the american public. and i think it is been one of the ways that he doesn't ever say explicitly, but does connect him to americans who who are going through challenges and suffering of their own do you wanna give us your thoughts on how you think come, come, coming up at the democratic convention in chicago over the summer, how the president is, if he's going to even speak

about any of this publicly well, one thing we know, wealth is that he has throughout this process only held his son more tightly to the family. >> there has been obvious political pressure, people whispering, maybe it would be more convenient for the president not to have his son out front and center when he's facing these kinds of charges, but the families you has been no we are close to him and you saw that very much during the trial itself with jill biden attending other members of the family there. his daughter, naomi speaking up on his behalf. so what he says about the case, i wouldn't expect him to be saying much about the case itself. what you will expect. i do expect him to say is, as he said in a statement recently, have boundless love for my son even though i am also a president yep by week, dermis responsibilities, not only as president, but as a father as well, seven astronauts. >> thank you very, very much for your analysis. appreciate it very much. and to our