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announcer: and now, "bbc news" >> hello. you're watching "the context" on "bbc news." >> hunter biden has been found guilty on all three of those felony counts. we're just getting that in. we have our reporter now. that's confirmed by bbc as well. >> this case was about the illegal choices the defendant made while in the throes of addiction. his choice to lie on a form and his choice to then possess that gun. >> once they read it count by count hunter biden was very subdued. looked guard a bit intently. he had his arms crossed. >> susan page twa bureau chief for u.s.a. today and joe walsh, former republican congressman

who ran for president in 2020 joining me. ♪ hunter biden, the son of the u.s. president has been found guilty of lying about his drug addiction when he bought a handgun in 2018. also tonight, the latest from the key summit in jordan on the israel-gaza war. u.s. secretary of state antoni blinken is in jordan and has announced an extra $4 money million in aid as the u.s. continues to push all sides toward a cease-fire deal. it's the first criminal prosecution of a child of a sitting u.s. president. in the last few hours, president joe biden's son hunter has been found guilty on all three counts in his gun trial crime. the jury found that hunter biden had lied about his drug use on a federal government form while buying a well in 2018.

mr. biden's defense team had argued that he was in recovery from addiction when he bought the well. we'll have the latest reaction from the courtroom in a moment. in the last hour, president biden has been speak at a gun control conferce in washington, d.c., which brings together survivors of gun vinals. volunteers as well as advocates. earlier joe biden issued this statement -- he said i am the president but i'm also a dad. jill and i love our son and we're so proud of the man he is today. so many families who've had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. as i also said last week, i will respect the outcome of this c case, as hunter considers an appeal.

here's special council david vice. >>hile there has been much testimony about the defendant's use of drug and alcohol, ultimately this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the united states, including hunter biden's fame. this case was about the illegal choices defendant made while in the free throws of addiction. his choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun and his choice to then possess the gun. it was these choices and the combination of drug and alcohol that made this. no one is above the law. >> bring us up to date. >> it's been a whirlwind of a day. the court opened at 9:00 a.m.

and by 11:00 a.m., just two hours later, the jury was once again reemerging, coming back into the courtroom and they had reached that had verdict. people in the courtroom listened as they read out a guilty verdict on all three felony charges. hunter biden, of course, was in the room and listening. fairly stoic, his reaction and once the jury left the room, he thanked his defense team, his lawyers and then he hugged his wife melissa. they were joined by jill biden, the first lady of the u.s. and off they went. it was a billionth surprising for many people how quickly the jury reached its verdict. just three hours. one how re monday, two hours of deliberation today. it was an historic verdict. the first time that the child of a sitting president has been convicted of a crime in federal court.

>> karl, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on the latest from the courtroom. richard painter is the former chief white house ethics lawyer in the george w. bush administration. now law professor at the university of minnesota. welcome to "the context," mr. painter. looking at the charges, what are the possible penalties that hunter biden could face when it comes to sentencing? >> this is probably a case that will end in probation. we've yet to see what the judge will do. this is a serious crime. this is a felony, to lie on a form to obtain a gun and the problem -- the broader problem we have in the united states is that gun laws such as this one are rarely enforced. we have these laws on the books but prosecutors are very reluctant to prosecute people for lying about drug use, alcohol use, domestic violence

and other term information when they purchase a gun. the national rifle association, the gun lobby has an enormous amount of influence in the united states so our laws are inadequate with respect to gun safety and the laws we have are rarely enforced and that's why, of course, hunter biden and his attorneys are claiming that this is somehow a special prosecution targeted at him. i have absolutely no sympathy for hunter biden or anyone who lies on a form to october a gun permit in the united states but we absolutely need to enforce our gun laws and not just have this be a one-off case brought against hunter biden and the irony is that a lot of the people inhe national rifle association and those who don't want to enforce any of these gun laws, they are backing donald trump for president and he is a convicted felon in new york for falsification of business records, also a very serious

crime and i remind everyone that hunter biden is not running for president of the utah. his father is. >> indeed. >> and that's really what this story is all about. >> it is but, of course, one of the questions which is straying into the politics, i might say is how this might impact his father's chances. we'll come to that programs in a second but i want to first of all ask you about his possible appeal. we heard from president biden alluding to the possibility of an appeal. >> he can appeal, just as donald trump can appeal the criminal conviction he has in new york. i thin that in both cases appeals are unlikely to succeed but there are also grounds to try to appeal a criminal conviction and hunter biden has ever right to do that. the broader issue in the political sphere ought to be are we serious about enforcing gun laws in the united states or are we just going to to be

prosecuting hunter biden? we need to have law and order in this country and enforcing our gun haul for everybody is absolutely critical and second, we need to remember that hunter biden is not a candidate for president. his father is and a lot of families have had problems with drug addiction, criminal conduct but those are not the families running for president of the united states. we should not have anyone who's a convicted fen running for any political office in our country. >> thank you for your thought. susan page, washington bureau chief for u.s.a. today and joe walsh, former republican presidential candidate. richard there alluded to the politics around this. reminding us, of course, that he's not a candidate. hunter biden is not running

foroffs but susan, how much is this going to play into the election campaign? >> well, i think it's never a good thing when your son is convicted on felony charges, especially involving guns which is an issue that's very important to democratic voters as well as many americans generally. on the other hand the politics of this is a little complicated because on the one hand democrats are saying since this verdict that i'm demonstrates that joe biden the president is not manipulatin the justice department. is not weaponizing against his enemies. he didn't even intervene to save his son. the question of weaponnization is one that donald trump has made in his trial. the equivalence city to say well, hunter biden was

convicted. donald trump was convicted well, so was hunter biden. >> do you think this will be a political talking point as the months get closer to the presidential election? >> absolutely because it will be an issue for donald trump and every republican who goes with trump. i agree th everything susan said. but first of all, it is difficult for joe biden. it is a serious crime and hunter is going to pay a price but politically, what did joe biden say today? he came out and uttered words that dald trump is totally incapable of uttering. i will respect the verdict and i will continue to respect the

justice pros. that's the antithesis of what donald trump has said. he continues to attack our justice system. kudos to joe biden. >> one of the things i was struck by is that a juror has already spoken to the media. susan, how common is this? i've seen in a few occasions when i worked in the u.s. and lived there, occasionally jurors would speak out after a trial and one has spoken out to an american outlet maintaining that no politics came into play when it came to their deliberations. politics was not even spoken about but when t the juror was asked whether biden should go to trial, he replied no. what do you make of that? >> jurors sometimes speak after

a trial. that's not a huge surprise. the juror just chose not to release his name. that's probably a good idea given the heatedness of our politics here these days. i think there are a lot of people who think the prosecution made their case. hunter biden lied when he signed the form and, he wasn't using drugs. there seemed to be a lot of evidence from his family that yes, he was using drugs at that time although he's now in recovery. but this is not a crime that traditionally leads to jail time, especially for a first offend and a gun that was not used in a violent crime. >> joe, what's your take? >> i agree with susan. i'd be really surprised if he were sentenced to jail. again, wch the republicans and watch trump. their entire theme this year is that the justice system is being weaponized to go after donald

trump. this clearly blunts that. >> quickly, joe. because you use to be a talk show host. what are the kind of headlines they're reporting on today and what are the talk show hosts saying on this subject? >> it's so fascinating because the right wing actually -- where i come from, right wing media in america is presenting this as some conspiracy like this was a minor offense and the only reason the justice department went after biden on this and convicted him on this is to hide the greater financial crimes that hunter biden along with his dad committed, which there's zero proof of, so that's really the talking points on the right today, that this is a distraction from the more serious crimes that hunter and his dad committed. >> fascinating stuff. joe and susan, we'll be back with you to talk about more of the day's news but for now, around the world and across the

u.k., this is "bbc news." ♪

>> a senior ha hamas official has confirmed to the bbc that the movement had submitted its final response to the cease-fire initiative to the mediators. he said hamas still required a commitment from an israeli cease-fire and a withdrawal from gaza. along with other issues. antoni blinken said if the latest cease-fire fails, it would be down to the leader of hamas. he's been advocating for a cease-fire deal by president biden. he met with prime minister netanyahu today and met with many of the leaders.

speaking a short while ago, ant any blinken said that mr. netanyahu had reaffirmed his commitment to a gaza cease-fire proposal during their meeting in jerusalem and he also announced further aid to help those in gaza graft, and food i'm announcing an additional -- 404 million in new aid to palestinians initial to the funds the united states has prilledded since 2021. it is crucial to speed up the inspection of trucks and reduce back logs. to provide greater clarity on and shorten the list of predicted goods. to increase visas for aid workers and to process them more quickly. >> joining me to discuss all of this is laura bloomen fed. a middle east analyst and a former senior policy advisor of the state department's

israel-palestinian negotiating team. i understand you worked under john kerry when he was secretary of state? >> that's right and we use to say go big or go home. we went big and failed and went home and there was a war. let's hope for a bigger outcome. >> if you were still working in that department, advising mr. blinken, what would you say? this is his eighth visit to the region since the war began and there's still not a concrete cease-fire they've agreed to. >> netanyahu has been saying from the beginning that we will achieve total victory so obviously that's just a matter of wordsmithing. i would say to him, you need to give netanyahu the feeling that he's now achieved that deterrence, which is what it's all about. i've interviewed all of these

leaders, including netanyahu. he told me his big brother raised him and he taught him t to -- many things, to read plateau but he also taught him how to street fight. he said he who delivers the first blow winnings. on october 7 that fist blow was delivered and mlb network has been clearly trying to play catch-up. if he feels like he hasn't won, it's going to be an arm wrestle behind closed doors and he'll have to use the one word that everyone understands, which is weapons. if there's an understanding that netanyahu won't have that supply of weapons from the united states, he'll fall in line as he has in the past. >> do you think he will? we saw earlier in the week benny

gandz quitting the war cabinet and on the other hand hostage families are saying there's not enough being done to secure the release of their loved ones. there's a lot of pressure he faces at home let alone from the u.s. >> absolutely and it's all public pressure, which i think is a big mistake. as secretary madelene albright said, negotiations need darkness. they need d daress to succeed. like mushrooms. i think what happens behind closed door is going to be much more important. which is why you don't see netanyahu say publicly that he embraces the cease-fire. in a way, no answer is better. e problem is, even with hamas that just recently said they are favorable toward the cease-fire proposal are saying i'd like clarification of the word cease-fire. i want to understand what you

mean by that and the problem is there's no trust, which is the currency of any diplomacy as secretary kissinger said. they want something in writing and want the americans to back it up. they want it in writing. >> let's bring our panel in but do stay with us, laura. susan, we were just reporting there that hamas said it has submitted its response to a proposed gaza cease-fire. a senior official telling the bbc it still requires an israeli commitment to a permanent cease-fire. it seems like we've been here before. movement on one side and then the other and there's still no agreement. >> an enormous frustration over the biden administration. generally the biggest obstacle of jetting israel to accept some

compromises. presiden biden has said that israel endorses the peace plan that the u.n. security council endorsed yesterday but netanyahu hasn't said that publicly and when the secretary of state blinken was trying to put pressure on the leader of hamas, he was also trying to put pressure on net net to agree to some of these measures that get you a temporary cease-fire, negotiation, the release of hostages and then talks that hopefully would lead to a permanent cease-fire. >> why isn't mr. netanyahu coming out and saying i support this proposal from the u.s.? why are the u.s. speaking on his behalf? >> look, there are obvious reasons from the right wing of his coalition but it's also important to think about it from the palestinian point of view. as one israeli negotiator told me, the best way to kill any proposal, anything that israel wants is to say that they endorse it and the that includes

the day after plan. we've come down pretty hard on the israelis for not producing something but the first thing that would happen, yes, we want the p.a. to come in with tanks, would be the p.a. to reject it. anything they want, their opposition doesn't want. the only way to go is through the fog. by just have to agree to go that direction. >> joe, let's bring you in. that is still a big challenge. wh happens after a permanent cease-fire is announced? what is the end game when it comes to gaza and who once gaza? >> right, i think that's the problem here and in whole notion of a permanent cease-fire is what nhl network and israel rightly should be wrestling with and truthfully it's what biden and america the should be wrestling with. why this constant frustration one sided always with israel? for the last eight months,

israel has stepped up to this plate way more than hamas has. hamas has had the power by just snapping their fingers and surrendering and releasing all their hostages to end this nip second. nhl network and israel -- it's not just netanyahu. israel has made clear the will be no permanent cease-fire until hamas has seized capability of being power or being in control and they'll never have the ability to do what they did before. israel has to know that before they agree to any sort of cease-fire. >> laura, how can that be possible? there are demands on both sides and as joe expressed, those of the kind of sentiments of the israeli side. there are sentiments of the hamas side as well. what do you see as someone who watches this region closely where the compromise might be? >> look, the truth is that there can never be a permanent cease-fire because the two sides are at permanent war.

from the northwestern point of view, which is how i look at things, i think there's a little bit of a plan b forming which could help increase pressure. there's a little bit of a with you or without you kind of approach on this visit, i think, by the americans. netanyahu has said we will fight hamas with you or without you, world, we stand alone and i hear a little bit in terms of the eyes putting out the message that our plan with called rain, our security pact, we're almost there, and by the way, we're floating a plan now to negotiate directly with hamas. so i think is american is saying we're putting forward our goals, it could make the two parties say, in train is moving out. if america movers on would them, they could motivate them. >> remember, there's a humanitarian crisis in gaza as well and tens of thousands have

been killed already. palestinians and also many more are displaced. briefly, a final thought on that. >> well, i think we're almost at the point -- when you say that i'm thinking of shakespeare and thinking that the biden administration is almost to the point where they're saying a plague on both your houses and the curtain goat goes down and there's the scene of destruction. we saw that at the end of the inton administration where he gave a big speech called the clintonen parameterles and said guys, here's how i see a reasonable way forward. good luck. we're not there yet but almost. >> thank you very much for sharing your insights on that. we'll say goodbye to laura but i'll be back with susan and joe after a short break. you're watching "the context" here on "bbc news."

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