special counsel david weiss and hunter biden's legal team is how hunter's legal cases go away. ing that the president's full and unconditional pardon warrants the dismissal dismissal of the indictments. weiss is taking issue with that saying that does not mean the grand jury's decision to charge him based on finding of probable cause should be wiped away as if it never occurred. weiss goes on to say there was not and never has been any evidence of vindictive and selective prosecution. that statement there is particularly striking, given that it contradicts the president's assertion that hunter was targeted for being his son. in response, hunter's laura, abbe lowell says the special counsel acknowledges that the majority of courts, when faced with such a decision, have chosen to dismiss an indictment, that special counsel's admission that this is a practice of the majority of courts, certainly provides legal support to mr. biden's claim that this dismissal is warranted. local ads a dismissal doesn't wipe away the indictment like it never happened. it just reflects that an indictm

in the latest action is our special counsel david weiss, city will fight president biden while pardoning a 700 biting, after he got hundred pleaded guilty in court, to all charges of evading $1.4 million in taxes in a filing tax returns and taking false deductions for a luxury lifestyle including for prostitutes and of the gun charge and is the right to fox news the senior national course monica rick and we love you see him here live coming to us from the white house rich with the update and what is happening out. >> and with the team for hunter biden is trying to do is to basically get this charges all dropped. rich: but they say look, the result i would happen here, it is important were not going to drop the charges and so that something is pulling out right now in the federal court system, just hours after this pardoning president biden isn't get angle a few hours after he issued the sweeping part of her son hunter, meanwhile here the white house an event today the national guard and the first lady jill biden was asked about that pardoning she said that of course i support department

if david weiss did want to pursue something against hunter biden that is only way court would weigh in about validity of this blanket pardon. >> todd: i think weiss is a linchpin. jim jordan said i'm interested to bring weiss before congress, they could bring in hunter biden before congress and because there is no the threat of incriminating himself because he can't be charged, he cannot claim the fifth. could this babackfire if hunters forced to testify? >> you are correct, he could not invoke the fifth or face risk of prosecution. if he did perjur himself, he is still open to proterribly being p prosecuted. there are questions people want to know about the finances. we don't have a lotz of answers and there will be interest in looking into that. >> todd: do you expect jim biden to be pardoned next? >> i would not be surprised and would not be surprised if joe doesn't try to issue a pardon for himself. i ges we'll see what happens. >> todd: we are just getting started, it will be wild. daniel penny, closing arguments set to resume today. defense saying danny acted when others didn't,

david, to that point, this could be a weiss -- david weiss cya move, too.o not be. >> really saying nothing. the fact is article 2 e section 2 gives the president the right to pardon. not the right to expunge. expungement is a judicial remedy. what he is say something accurate. i think agent happen is supply correct cya sort of that niewferg, maybe the offensive thing of all of this wasn't just at any time tried to take down. trump and he has a fine flower abbe lowell and maybe he was smart in putting off the stent because thee let particularly not a convicted felon in the case. the interesting academic surrounding it doesn't look guide. gary, you were brave in stepping forward, you and your colleague all that time ago and we prevent both of you don't. thank you very much. >> as a father. i don't know if a father would have done the same thing what i would have done differently. go ahead and pardon donald trump for all his charges? >> laura: that's nice where was joe manchin when we needed him to be a principled voice to call out the biden enrichment scam?

david weiss -- to dismissing his tax conviction. biden's illegal attacks on trump were political percents. concern prosecutions. "the new york times" says a disgraceful pardon. "the washington post," the hunter biden pardon undermines the 'em the accurates' defense of the justice system. and "the new york times" again, biden's pardon if for his son dishonors the office. already clouded, biden's legacy is now in freefall. president-elect trump, however, is rapidly taking charge of the government. he says there will be hell to pay if the hostages held by hamas are not freed before his inauguration on january 20th. if let's get to the markets. we are in record territory for stocks. a solid start to december. a little bit of red ink this morning. dow off 20, nasdaq off maybe 17. bitcoin has been holding around $95,000 but now it's dropped to 93,7. the 10-year treasury yield, 4.21 is 8%, dropping below 4.20. the 2-year, where's that? it is also below 4.20, 44.16. oil, $68, 69 a barrel. the price of gas down to an average -- look at that.

the special counsel, david weiss doesn't think that andy?looked carefully at the prosecutions, where he was signasingled out favorable trea. no normal every day american who was looking at the gun case, for example, would have been prosecuted probably by late 2019 if not early 2020. the tax evidence, bret was overwhelming. anybody who had that kind of -- the breadth of that kind of offense would have been prosecuted for it. what was shocking in this case was how long they dragged their feet and i think that was very intentional and it goes to the business about the pardon going now all the way back to 2014 most important egregious happened when obama was president and biden was vice president. the justice department dragged their feet so that never became the main part of any prosecution against hunter. and now the pardon is obviously intended to discourage any investigation of that. >> bret: we have seen other presidents family members pardon of charles kushner who is now the nominee to be the ambassador of france. jared kushner's father. w

and the ukraine "angle" we will get to but to your point this can be david weiss eia move also, is it? article two transaction 2 gives the right to pardon but not expunge an expungement is judicial remedies to what he stated is accurate, but agent gary shapley is correct cia maneuvering and remember most offensive thing of all of this is that this was not just an innocent victim, than a pitiful character and tried to take down these agents and challenge the credibility of the agents inserted people over the laptop and so on. has a fine lawyer in abby and smart or well smart and putting off the sentence because sentence because theoretically, he is not even a convicted felon because no judgment entered in the case. so anyway the interesting academic surrounding it that doesn't look good to. >> laura: gary, you were brave to step forward, you and your colleague all that time ago, and we appreciate both of you tonight. thank you very much. >> as a father, i don't know the father would have done the same thing. what i would have done differently, why don't you go ahead and pardoned donald

byron, we'll follow this to see what david weiss can and cannot do. my hat's off to you, byron, your first instinct to look ahead and change the economy and the border and stopping the crime and going for them and change the justice system and people want to live safely and calmly without it. last word, sir. >> people clutching their pearls about the kash patel pick and any other trump picks and success is the honorary contribution. success for the american people and our country and here and abroad. larry: terrific stuff, panel. claudia, a great for byron donalds. one grade on the show. you always get a good grade. larry: thank you, roger marshall. we always appreciate what you're cooking up in the senate. president trump is vowing to use tariffs to protect king dollar. we'll talk about it with steve forbes and very own brian brenberg here on the set and remember, i've been away for a week, little vacay and couple nights of sleep. you can still catch kudlow monday through friday at 4:00 p.m. here on fabulous fox business and for some reason can't get

merrick garland appoints david weiss david weiss is a republican in delaware, a prosecutor there. and by the wa, once trump lost and biden came back, biden kept weiss on. so there's all kinds of indications that there's no unhappiness. how can trump be involved in this whatsoever? this is a problem that biden may not have liked. he might have been uncomfortable with it. i understand all that, but to say that this was political, i don't see it a lot of republicans blasting his move, a few democrats as well. i heard one republican say, you know, if i had a son that was in trouble, i would pardon him, too. but the fact that he lied is what upsets him. others are just calling it a complete abuse of power. your thoughts on that? you know, power. i'm not so sure. certainly it's a violation of norms. if we think about norms. okay, so, for example, president trump violated norms routinely in terms of having his son in law and daughter as part of his team. that's a good violation of firing james comey well before the ten year term was up as fbi director. so that's a case of norms. and i thi

his tax case to prove hunter was guilty the case had nothing to do with politics, special counsel david weissestigation against hunter filed a request to deny his dismissal, writing the government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of act of mercy that does not mean grand jury decision to charger him was based on on finding project cause should be wiped away as if it never occurred defendants claim charges result of some improper motive slefk prosecution there was nonnever has been evidence of vindictive or slefk progresses joining me former fbi assistant director chris swecker thank you so much for being here i want your take on all of causes we have been talking about this very broad -- situation here and the fact that this exon rates him from everything from 2014 to today, even crimes he has yet to be charged with those charges or recommendations of charges coming from oversight committee having to do with money laundering, influence peddling your reaction. >> 10 years of absoluteion the belief by many there is a two-tiered system of justice in this case 10 years

and some of those years, it encompasses the years that david weiss, is the so-called special counsel,hink he is, allowed the statute of limitations to run in the highest earning years that hunter biden had, and it certainly involved his father and his business dealings. they have done everything they can to try and cover up what they did. they have denied, they have lied. joe biden started out this presidency by saying, "i know nothing about my son's businesses," and he's ending his presidency by lying again and pardoning his son. the bottom line here is that they're afraid of something. they're afraid of the trump justice department weaponized and going after hunter for things david weiss did not indict him for. and only donald trump can speak to that issue. but let me just say a couple things, and i'll be very quick here. they knew that jail time was coming for hunter biden. he's convicted of two celanese. not one, two. if joe biden says there is no reasonable who would look at these facts and reach the same conclusion, he was singled out because of being his son, he was singled out

. >> let me ask you about something you just said, which is that david weiss reneged, went back on the deal after somebody got a hold of him, someone got a hold of him, do you think it was congress, what do you think changed? >> i mean i'm not sure i said someone but yeah, congress went crazy on the guy. yeah, we had 4 to 5 briefs submitted by members of congress about a plea deal, congress isn't a party to a plea deal in federal court. what possible interest do they have in again, hunter biden has struggled and he has successfully overcome his struggles. and what possible issues do they have, political partisanship, that was kind of it. and so, yeah, i feel like mr. weiss gave into that, i don't think i was very quiet about it at the time. i think i filed an affidavit in court about his discussions with me, and it was deeply disappointing that that is the way that it went down. >> i remember you telling me on the air, the statement from david weiss was funny because of the investigation is ongoing and i asked you about that and you said, your understanding the investigation was not on

. >> martha: so he then became special counsel, david weiss after being u.s.ary shapley and joseph zeigler joining me. thank you for being here. gary, when you heard this news, or saw it cross your phone, that president biden after saying more than ten times he would never pardon hunter after he was convicted of the tax charges that you believed that he was likely guilty of, what was your reaction. >> hi, martha. thanks. i wasn't surprised at all. this was something that was expected. you can tell by the manoeuvring of the defense counsel this was on the horizon. and the thing that is surprising is that the president of the united states lied to the american people about what he he was going to do and calls in to question, other things that he may have been untrootful on right now. >> martha: one of the questions that is on a lot of people's minds, joseph is whether or not the president did this to protect himself and his own potential understanding of the taxes, the business enintitties. but here is what president biden said. no reasonable person who looks at

a preferential treatment that was the miscarriage of justice the house republicans reported on david weissthe special prosecutor looking in to hunter for so many years first as an attorney as a u.s. attorney and special prosecutor. this is their conclusion that the justice department of the statute of limitations on certain charges for hunter to lapse, prohibited line investigation from referring to asking president biden during witness interviews withheld evidence from investigators excluded the investigative team for beatings with defense counsel. it goes on and on to all the preferential treatment that hunter received. yes it was a miscarriage of justice but not because he was treated badly. >> he got treatment that nobody else would have gotten but not prosecutorial treatment and what he issued this pardon is about as credible as his repeated bows that he would not ever issue the pardon, i must say anybody who watched the sag unfold new that, the way that hunter biden approached the case the way his litigation tactics and strategy during the two cases showed that he knew he was getting

joyce vance, special counsel to david weiss, when the president had held over as the u.s. attorney in delaware he was a trump appointee, just to show that he was then the u.s. attorney not the special counsel, but merrick garland made him the special counsel on the hunter case, leaning overboard, the biden white house said at the time to make sure they had no fingerprints on this and were not trying to, you know, weigh it in any way or influence it in any way. that's one of the reasons why the pardon doesn't sit well even with some democrats, congressman goldman, a former prosecutor in new york and others. andrew weissmann was saying the activity of this indictment not how it evolved but the indictment itself, it's a case he had never seen -- the kind of case, the firearms case in particular, that he had never seen criminally prosecuted and wouldn't have happened if his name were not biden. >> i think andrew's assessment is the correct one. if this had been john smith he would not have been charged with being someone addicted to illegal drugs and possession of a firearm. i

respect the jury's verdict, that this is not a kangaroo court, that the prosecutors, including david weisswas appointed by president... former president from, they had to prove evidence, and so you can say it is selective prosecution, but no—one is saying that hunter biden did not commit these crimes. so what basically he is saying is he is echoing arguments that president trump has made that the charges against trump and trump associates are politically motivated. so both sides are kind of resorting to what they consider political lawfare against their opponents. so i think that biden, he did not want to face the next few years having his son languish in prison when he had the ultimate power to make those charges go away. so in his statement, he said that he was wiping away any charges, any crimes that his son had done to the first of december, so he could have committed a crime last week and he still would have been washed away. he still would have been washed awa . ~ u, he still would have been washed awa . ~ u, ., ., away. when it came to the tax char: es away. when it came to the tax

but, you know, byron, we'll follow this story to see what david weiss and cannot do.ll follow that. but i just think, byron, you know, my hat's off to you because your instinct in the first question i asked you was to look ahead, and i think that's the key point. let us look ahead. the country has given many trump basically a landslide -- mr. trump basically a landslide mandate to change, to change the economy, to change the border, to stop crime and so forth and to change the perversion of the justice system, byron, you know? people want to live safely and calmly without it. give you the last word, sir. >> for people who are clutching their pearls about kash patel and any other picks by donald trump, it's about fixing our nation first, second and third. president trump says it best, success will be our retribution. [laughter] there you go. >> success for the american -- larry: are there you go. >> success for the american people and both here and abroad. larry: claudia, i've got to give him one great on the show. you always get a good grade -- >> that's amazing. he n

the special counsel david weiss is a trump appointed special counsel. we have been reporting extensively on what, if any -- you know, what the plans are, will that special counsel continue in a trump administration, are there other charges, could there be other attempts to go after the biden family, including hunter biden? and so, i think this decision was not as simple as, you know, ending -- could this potentially cause a greater political firestorm? and i think, ultimately, the president made the decision as a father, [ inaudible ] >> so, thanks so much for that insight, sarah, and great reporting. we are going to go now to msnbc legal analyst daniel. danny, this will obviously get hunter biden out of a court of law, but how is this pardon decision going to play in the court of public opinion? >> it is going to play poorly. and really, it is going to play poorly because of biden's statement, not because of the pardon. look, months and months ago, i said the president will harden hunter biden on his last day in office, and folks would say no, he said

the special counsel who prosecuted both cases against hunter biden, david weiss, said there was noneer has been evidence that the president's son was treated up fairly. what do you think of that? >> well, look. i'm not a fan of using pardons this way. but i do think what happened yesterday is the understandable act of a father to his sole surviving son and i do think it's the case that these types of crimes don't normally get jail time, it was the result of the extraordinary scrutiny put on hunter biden and the charges relate to a really difficult time in hunter biden's life, one in which he was addicted to drugs and i think the most important thing is that hunter biden accepted responsibility, he's been sober for over five year his statement yesterday makes it clear he's turned his life around and wants to dedicate his life to doing the right thing. so you know, people can criticize the pardon but i do think all of those things together make this the kind of pardon within the zone of what pardons are. at best they're act of mercy under our constitution and that's what i understood t

and if we look at the relevant players here david weiss he was nominated as u.s. attorney by donald trump with enthusiastic support of both of delaware's democratic u.s. u.s. senators. he was then kept in office by joe biden himself, joe biden's attorney general, merrick garland, is the one who named david weiss special counsel. and so i think to go back and second guess this and say it's such a miscarriage of justice that it requires a pardon. i think is completely out of step with reality well, and van i mean, i just am curious for your perspective because you have long time been a leader for criminal justice reform you've led groups, you've founded organizations that help people get pardons. >> so when you view this and what biden said in his decision to to pardon hunter biden, what do you make of it well, look, i'm not surprised and i'm willing to give biden a pass because he's his son is going to be sitting in federal prison while trump is pardoning insurrectionists and all kinds of stuff. >> at some point, this stuff just becomes very human. my criticism of

and the support hunter has received from his family and the david weiss, who is a special counsel prosecuting hunter biden, has now reacted. that's right. in a filing, he sort of firing back at some of the president's statements about the nature of the case here. weiss is trying to defend his work. he says that quote in announcing this pardon yesterday, president biden said his son was selectively and unfairly prosecuted. but weiss said there was, quote, none. and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case. they also accurately point out that two judges previously rejected hunter's claim that he was selectively prosecuted. this is significant because it's weiss's first statement since these pardons were announced. not surprising that he is trying to defend his case and the work of his team. yeah, certainly. >> paula reid, thank you for taking us through that for us president-elect donald trump for his part, is seizing on president biden's decision to pardon his son and he's trying to equate it to those convicted of crimes from the january 6th attack on the

david weiss, the attorney in question, okay, was originally appointed attorney for the state of delaware by trump. but he was carried on, kept on by biden. so here we have a situation where we've got a democratic attorney general making the appointment, the democratic president agreeing that prosecutors should continue in office when he takes office. where's where's the where's the smoking gun? okay. where's the smoking gun? let's talk about the timing, larry, because we have a new president coming in, coming in, which he says is a mandate. there are some controversial cabinet picks. there is this undercurrent of retribution, we shall say. do you think that played a role in the president making this decision? i don't know, i mean, i think, look, nobody ever wants to be in the position that president biden was in. he's president. he's a father. and i think he just saw the clock running out another few weeks before it's over. i just want to do this for my son. i don't think it was any more than that. i even believe, frankly, that when he said he wasn't going to pardon him, i think he reall

a spokesperson for special council david weiss did not respond to comment. >>> meanwhile, trump has made another pick. this time it's kash patel for fbi director. democrats are deriding what they call his lack of experience and call for an uphill confirmation hearing. >> reporter: president-elect's pick of kash patel to lelead th fbi sparking mixed reaction. >> he represents the type of change that we need to see in the fbi. >> i will vote no. and i will organize not just my colleagues but the american public. >> reporter: patel says he'll return the agency to its rightful mission, protecting the american people. >> i am honored to be here in support of donald j. trump. >> reporter: despite holding several positions in the first trump administration, patel is facing criticism for a lack of experience as well as his controversial positions. >> we will go out and find the conspirators. i'd shut down the hoover building on day one and open it the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> reporter: mr. trump underscoring his disapproval for chris wray. >> apparently he has demonstrated too

a representative for special counsel david weiss did not respond to request for comment. and hunter biden's attorney declined to comment as well. meanwhile, president-elect trump has made another controversial pick for a high-profile role. this time, it's trump loyalist kash patel for fbi director. the choice is raising eyebrows in part because of controversial statements from patel. now democrats are also deriding what they call his lack of experience and promise an uphill confirmation hearing. frances? >> brie, thank you. >>> now to the syrian government, it's lost control of aleppo for the first time since the start of the country's 13-year-old war. after islamist rebel fighters advanced and captured most of the city over the weekend. let's turn to nbc's claudio lavanga for more. good morning, claudio. >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. the rebels launched that surprise attack on saturday, and they quickly took control of vast amounts of territory, especially in the north and northeast, northwest of syria, including the city of aleppo, which is syria's s

a representative for special counsel david weiss did not respond to request for comment. meanwhile, president-elect trump has made another controversial pick. this time it's kash patel for fbi director. democrats are deriding what they call his lack of experience and promise an uphill confirmation hearing. >>> there's more trouble brewing for another one of mr. trump's cabinet picks. he is tapped fox news host pete hegseth for defense secretary. e-mails have surfaced with accusations by hegseth's mother that her son mistreated women. we have the story. >> reporter: growing controversy surrounding donald trump's pick to lead the defense departme. pete hegseth, accused of routinely mistreating women for years by his own mother. in a 2018 e-mail to her son, obtained by the "new york times," penelope hegseth wrote, on behalf of all the women, and i know it's many, you have abused in some way, i say, get some help and take an honest look at yourself. penelope told the "new york times" on friday that her statements in the e-mail were not true, and she sent it out of anger and e

but for now, what this means is those charges that the that the special counsel, david weiss, has pursuedbiden, which are gun charges in delaware, as well as his tax charges in in los angeles, both of those get wiped away clean all right, evan perez, stay with us i want to go now to isaac dover, who is somebody who has covered joe biden, who has interviewed him and isaac. >> i just i first want to play a clip that we have of what biden said about potentially pardoning his son earlier this year, and then we'll come back to you. so let's play that clip 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 and so obviously, i think that's when he was running for reelection. >> and the political environment was very different for him. you, as someone who has covered him for years. walk us through kind of his thought process, how he thinks about these things. we know per our reporting, that this was happening over a lot of it over the weekend. but but tell us more about kind of how you t

>> we are going to look at david weiss. congress as a history of looking at special councils and getting a report from them and bringing them in for a hearing or deposition or maybe both. we're good, good to look at all that. i love what you said in your monologue. the biden presidency started with a lie and it ended with a lie and as you put it out there were all kinds of false things in between. october 2020 joe biden said and not debate the hunter biden laptop story according to 51 former intel officials is a russian information operation. i was a lie and he knew it at the time. then of course yesterday after saying he wouldn't pardon his son he turns around and does the very thing. lie at the start, lie the ending and a terrible four years in between. thank goodness president trump is going back to the white house >> sean: let me ask you, is this over? is this over for joe biden? is it over for his brother? is it over for other family members that were paid monies here or does this continue? does job i need to think abo

david weiss the prosecutor.biden is facing prison time by some accounts he was looking at three years in prison based on the tax and gun convictions, he and his lawyers walked away from a no jail time plea deal, and it didn't give them immunity from different kinds of conduct and he could still be prosecuted under a trump administration, so he went to trial and lost, and he pled guilty, and he was in a serious predicament which is probably one of the reasons that joe biden felt compelled to pardeden him and spare him from prison. people are concerned that what this does is it normalizes donald trump's world view that the doj is not on the level, that it's politicized, that it's not nonpartisan. that's the big concern. >> nbc's ken dilanian, thank you for your reporting. joyce vance, your thoughts on hunter biden being pardoned by his father? >>, so i hate to disagree with my friend ken dilanian, but the reality here is, if this was anyone other than joe biden's son, no one would object to a pardon on these facts

of 2021, joe biden's white house, the white house counsel asked the justice department to keep david weissnvestigation and they did so, i didn't talk with them about it, but they did it to avoid the appearance of impropriety. so that is where we are now, at the end of his term, we have pam bondi, as you mentioned, one of those individuals, the former florida attorney general who is going to be the nation's top law enforcement officer who is an election denier, that is even beyond the pale of the conservative, or beyond the actions of the conservative attorney general, william barr. if you are joe biden and you are looking at all of these pieces coming together, he did the right thing. and one last thing, i know we are tight on time, imagine if donald trump, if his justice department said they were going to investigate their own son, they would not have done what joe biden and his justice department did, donald trump would have burned down the justice department before they would have kept on an obama era attorney general. >> anthony coley , thank you very much for jumping in front of the c

special counsel david weiss filed a request to have the dismissal denied we are going to have fbi assistantal motors insulated stake in the michigan ev plan the automaker exiting with lg energy the latest move away from ev production the plan 2.6 billion facility first announced in 2022 would span over 30 football fields in lansing president-elect donald trump was to eliminate the $7500 tax credit for ed buyers consumers have not talked to ev's as the carmakers projected let's take a look at gm slightly lower let's stay with vehicles jaguar is rebranding continuing with the fully electric car concept the car comes in two colors miami pink were longer featuring the brand-new logos as a company tries to target a younger crowd, there it is. the company design bought says the brand is showing fearless creativity with the recent rebrand after receiving backlash for the controversial ad from last month which some called to woke. i think i called it weird. anyway there is this the dual resignation of intel ceo pat gelsinger as the lantus with the policy change in washington according to the wall s

>> judge jeanine: some of these years encompass the yearse i david weiss asd a so-called special counseld the statue of limitations to run in the highs during the years thatt hunter biden in the years soleld involving his father and his business dealings for look they have done everything they can t try to cover up what they did, they have denied, they have lied it, joe biden started out thised presidency by saying i knowno nothing about myth son's businesses, and he is ending his presidency by lying again and pardoning his son. the bottom line, they are afraid of something, the trump justice department being weapo n eyes andgs going afte dr hunt different things they did not indict him for peer and only donald trump couldn't speak to that blood we just say couple of things, i will be quick, they knew that jail time was coming for hunter biden. he is convicted is convicted of two felonies, not one but two,ay and ofs jill biden says it is o reasonable prosecutor, looking at these facts, reaching theh same conclusion, well if he was singled out because he was your son, why didn't you fire

huge fit, saying it was a sweetheart deal, which it was not, and that is what eventually led to david weiss being special counsel and these charges being brought. one last point. we now have a situation where president biden's political arch nemesis, if you will, donald trump, who wholly deserves the cases that were brought against him, is going to the white house and president biden some might be going to prison. i think it is absurd on its face. >> kimberly, when i was reading during the intro the quote from ankush khardori's column you're nodding in agreement. do you agree that if hunter biden's name were not biden he would not be facing those two court dates in december? >> yes. i think everything ankush said was absolutely right. he would not have been convicted in this way. if you were not hunter biden but at the same time, also if you are not hunter biden we would not be having this discussion about whether he should be granted some sort of clemency by the president. what i think the president should do is treat this request, if it is made, the same way that he treats other people, a

special counsel in charge of those prosecutions david weiss is responding to that in a court filing heays there never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case. brand-new pardon hunter and his attorneys argue the indictments against him, gun charges in delaware and tax charges should be di missed. they maintain because no judgment has been or will be entered in the case the appropriate resolution is to dismiss the indictment while noting it is due to a pardon. special counsel says that's nonsense. weiss says hunter is falsely claiming the charges against him were improperly motivated and no court agrieved with the defendant on these baseless came and no support-in-law or the practice of this district. the defendant's motiono dismiss the indictment should be denied. meanwhile, more democrats are criticizing the president's family pardon. >> i know a father wanting to protect his son. just from a human element we get that. i do think a lot of us feel like this was somewhat politically motivated but it sets a bad precedent. >> this is incredibly unhelpful w

. >> i do think it's important we look at the david weiss special counsel investigation of hunter biden that was -- how that investigation according to whistleblowers was so political then of course jack smith the other special counsel. >> the plan is for those probes so be carried out by congress and not the fbi. >> is it your exception though that kash patel will pursue investigations against your political enemies? >> no. i don't think so. >> that's key to patel's confirmation. >> it's a hard job tell the if the know but the law is the law. i would expect from him as i would poland that they would. could target them for politically motivated retribution. >> retribution would be through success. >> a key player in all the things that president-elect trump plans to do to fix the southern border will be his ambassador to mexico. and tonight, semafor is reporting that a top contender for that job is the former candidate for governor and senator for arizona kari lake. bret? >> peter doocy in west palm. thanks. up next latest white house for the turmoil in syria and what may come next and

i remind everyone august 11, 2023, merrick garland appointed special prosecutor david weiss. it was your d.o.j. that appointed the special counsel. >> bill: thanks to both of you. good stuff this morning. thanks for coming on. there is this from tom cotton late last night. most americans can sympathize with a father's decision to pardon his son even if they disagree. what they can't forgive is biden lying about it repeatedly before the election. senator cotton is coming up next hour. >> dana: interesting how many democrats like governor polis. they are in the leadership vacuum now and how do we lead this party and go in a different direction. could start there. >> bill: new york city, watch. we are getting close to the end. testimony from both sides has ended. closing arguments set to begin in about 45 minutes from now in the new york city subway choke hold trial. we'll take you there. also this today. >> i think mr. putin is a tyrant. i think dealing with him will be extremely difficult. i give president trump credit for saying that he wants to end this. >> dana: potential d

attorney david weiss to serve as special counsel for the ongoing investigation and prosecution's referenced and described in the united states v hunter biden. so if i's doj with his handpicked attorney general selectively prosecuted biden so? >> charles: looking at the executive brand of clemency here, this is where i think the real deal is. he has the period that begins january 1st, 2014, through december first, 2024. it's not the case he's been found guilty on, it's the cases he was never brought to trial on. the other things that we know or feel in our hearts are a lot more egregious, a lot more offensive, and maybe even primed against the united states. this is a preventive measure. you look at the folks that are going to be in these jobs in two months, they're going to go back and look at this on behalf of the american public. after all, the accusations of influence peddling is huge. this prevents hunter biden from, in my mind, true justice and it is a true travesty against everybody in this country, no matter what political party. >> kayleigh: it is a travesty. if you think about this

hunter's lawyers filing a motion to get the case dismissed completely, david weiss filing to have the a.m. hour on that par don't don't miss the interview. elon musk losing his bid to get his 2018, $56 billion pay package reinstated in a delaware courtroom. the judge rejecting a push for musk to reinstate the payout. the judge writing, quote, for the court to condone the practice of allowing defeated parties to create new facts, to revise judgments, lawsuits would become interm inable. musk responded, shareholders should control company votes, not judges. shares of tesla have risen more than 40% since president-elect trump won on november 5th. his portion of shares in tesla worth $150 billion. the stock is fractionally lower this morning. another migrant caravan comprised of at least 1500 people departing southern mexico on sunday in hopes of reaching and entering the united states before president-elect trump returns to the white house. the massive group contains migrants mostly from venezuela, cuba, haiti, colombia, guatemala and honduras, according to the new york post. last week t

of david weiss, the special -- who ended up being the special counsel on this case, he down january playedhe issues -- downplay all the issues, he let the statute of rimmations -- limitations run out, tried to give the special immunity deal. you had so many issues where the department of justice could have looked deeply into the biden family business and into this corruption can, things that president obama if's administration was aware of. so it's true that hunter biden was singled out, but if you or i were involved in sex trafficking or drug trafficking or taking bribes from communist officials or influence peddling -- howard: we'd probably be prosecuted. >> we would be prosecuted at a much higher degree than he was. howard: donald trump addressed this in an interview with "meet the press." let's see what the president-elect has to say. >> i hate to to go on shows like joe biden, i'm not to going to give my son a pardon. i will not under any circumstances give him a pardon. i watched this, and i always knew he was going to give him a pardon. howard: i have to say, i didn't, because i tho

. >> special counsel david weiss maintained a court filing that there is no evidence of vindictive orective prosecution in hunter's case. even as the white house claimed for years the president would not pardon his son. >> is there any possibility that the president would end up pardoning his son? speak out now. i just said no. i just answered. >> will you accept the verdict no matter what it is? >> yes. >> have you ruled out pardon for for your son? >> yes. >> is he going to ask donald trump to do that? >> i'm not going to go down a rabbit hole on this. i have been very clear. the president has been very clear when we asked this question. >> he is planning on targeting unfair. other democrats, says the president. colorado governor writes "i am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. this is a bad precedent could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. a jury convicted hunter and federal gun charges. he pleaded guilty to federal tax offenses in september. he was scheduled for sentencing this month. in both cases, the president's pardon me

the special counsel, david weiss is a trump-appointed special counsel. there has been no -- we have been recording extensively on what the plans are and will that special counsel continue in a trump administration? could there be other charges or other a temps to go after the biden family including hunter biden. this was not as simple as, could this potentially kasz a gritter political firestorm, and i thinkity matly the decision you see as a father. >> thanks so much for that insight, sarah, and great reporting. we will go now to hs nbc legal analyst danny cevallos. how is this pardon decision going to play in the court of public opinion? >> it's going to play poorly and really it's going to play poorly because of biden's statement not because of the pardon. look, months and months ago i said the president will pardon hunter by then on his last day in office and folks said no, he said he's not going do that. and to that i said yes, but it's his son. he'll commute a sentence and commuting say lesser form of the pardon where you essentially shorten somebo

david weiss takes issue with that and does not dispute that hunter received a pardon but he says a pardon doesn't absolve hunter of guilt and he is not a victim of selective prosecution. >> dana: we saw a quote from some of the senators. independent senator joe manchin is retiring and independent weighing in now. what he did say? >> he said the president should go one step further and pardon trump. >> as a father, i don't know a father would wouldn't have done the same differently. my recommendation why don't you pardon donald trump? for all his charges and make it -- it would have gone down a lot more balanced. i'm just saying, wipe them out. >> legacy, i don't know, it makes it difficult. >> the possibility of president biden pardoning president-elect trump highly unlikely. bill and dana, back to you. >> bill: so there is a million opinions on this and that's just in washington, d.c. you've got this from the "wall street journal." a couple views we get online. pardon me, dad, president tries to rewrite the facts about his son's prosecutions to justify breaking norms. then this from "the

held, the altar must be consecrated with a special ceremony and special rites it will also serve david weiss, this is video of that ceremony taken just a short time ago. the archbishop of paris was joined at the service by dozens of priests from across the french capital and more than 100 bishops from around the world. now this consecration comes a day after a lavish reopening ceremony for the centuries old gothic cathedral attended by dozens of world leaders and dignitaries. will cnn senior international correspondent melissa bell joins us now from paris with more. melissa, just remind us what happened to notre dame and when and why this is such a big moment for paris it was just over five years ago that april 2019. >> you'll remember the flames were seen first on social media and then very quickly on our cameras and the cameras of the world tearing through the roof of notre dame very quickly. emmanuel macron had said that it would be rebuilt within five years, and so with just a few months delay, it was at first we got our first glimpse last friday with that last construction site visit of

and they're both in david weiss walked away. >> and you hear just the surprise in people's voices and the way that they were just having to deal with something that they're not used to. another interesting aspect of the storm, it was that it put the san francisco downtown area under a tornado warning. and this is for the first time in recorded history. so people in downtown sf really not expecting this at all and have never dealt with something like this. now, after the storm, the national weather service said that there was no evidence of a tornado in downtown san francisco, but there were wind gusts of up to 80mph. so that also just damaging a lot of the trees and the power lines in some of the san francisco area. and so again, just something that people in that area are not used to. we also had this after a week of a tsunami warning. so just severe and rare weather in the bay area. fred. >> yeah, very frightening stuff for a lot of people. camila bernal thank you so much. let's go now to cnn meteorologist elisa raffa here in the cnn weather center. so you know what could cause some

it's true that the justice department technically prosecuted hunter, but the actual prosecutor, david weiss from the trump administration. merrick garland made him special counsel so he has a lot of authority to prosecute cases as he sees fit, but that gives some freedoms to president biden's concerns that his son is being unfairly targeted. the reality is that the one case he was charged with, those charges are rarely brought as stand alone charges. they usually are accompanied by something more serious and hunter paid back his back taxes and any fees or penalties. when a department doesn't bring those cases as well, but at the end of the day, chris, hunter biden was convicted in the crime case by a jury of his peers and he pled guilty in the tax case. so if he really thought he was the victim of selective prosecution, why didn't he try to continue to fight that report? some people will say if he knew his daddy could get him off, there wasn't any reason to go through the legal proceedings. >> well, jeremy, hunter biden, his pardon stands out for a lot of reasons. that he has not granted a

two people are injured, but they're both okay and they're both able to david weiss walked away, to be honest with you, i thought this could be the end of my life. >> it was that strong and those are some strong words right there from someone who experienced it firsthand. >> now, what was also interesting about this storm was that it put the downtown san francisco area under a tornado warning as well, and that was also the first time ever that that happened in the downtown area. now, the national weather service said that there was no evidence of a tornado in the downtown area after the fact. when they did that evaluation. but they do believe that the wind gusts there reached up to 80 miles an hour. so you also had some damage in the san francisco area when it came to downed trees and power lines and power outages. so a little bit of cleanup still going on there as well. and this comes about a week after the san francisco bay area experienced that tsunami warning. after that 7.0 earthquake off of the shore there in california. and so just severe and scary situations for the bay area ov