WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:04.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And although Prime Minister Modi was the official guest of honor this Thursday night, 00:04.833 --> 00:09.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it was President Biden's son, Hunter, who also turned heads. He mingled in the crowd 00:11.833 --> 00:15.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% just days after news of his plea agreement with the DOJ set off a political firestorm. 00:17.100 --> 00:20.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and will admit 00:20.133 --> 00:25.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to illegally owning a gun. If a judge accepts the terms, Biden will likely avoid prison time. 00:26.933 --> 00:30.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But outraged House Republicans blasted that agreement and vowed to continue 00:32.300 --> 00:33.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% investigating the president and his family. 00:33.933 --> 00:38.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): It continues to show the two-tier 00:38.766 --> 00:43.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% system in America. If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal. 00:45.766 --> 00:48.766 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Now, this does nothing to our investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation. 00:49.966 --> 00:51.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But Attorney General Merrick 00:51.766 --> 00:55.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Garland has rejected accusations that Biden received any special treatment. 00:55.533 --> 00:57.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MERRICK GARLAND, Attorney General: 00:57.733 --> 01:02.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department by claiming 01:04.766 --> 01:08.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that we do not treat like cases alike. Nothing could be further from the truth. 01:08.433 --> 01:13.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This also comes as two IRâ S whistleblowers have alleged 01:13.066 --> 01:17.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that the investigation into Hunter Biden was repeatedly interfered with 01:17.333 --> 01:22.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to favor the president's son. So, a lot of political intrigue going on here right now. 01:24.400 --> 01:27.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Weijia, were you surprised that Hunter Biden was brought to this state dinner the same week that 01:30.466 --> 01:35.466 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% he had this plea deal announced that they didn't hide him away, he was welcomed with full fanfare? 01:38.000 --> 01:41.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% WEIJIA JIANG: No, I wasn't surprised. And, you know, the White House's response to this was that, 01:43.066 --> 01:45.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you know, this is still the son of a president. And I don't think that the 01:45.800 --> 01:50.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% strategy right now is to run away from it. I think they want to show that he is 01:52.400 --> 01:57.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% a real person, that he is, unlike some of his Republican counterparts, 01:59.066 --> 02:04.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who the Republicans have been trying to compare him to, he fesses up. He admits wrongdoing. 02:07.366 --> 02:12.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And there is a clear separation between the White House and the DOJ. At least that is what 02:14.166 --> 02:17.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Biden team is trying to portray. And so I think it made sense to me that they didn't 02:19.866 --> 02:24.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% want to hide him because they didn't want to have an appearance that he had done something 02:24.033 --> 02:28.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% even further wrong because they wanted to move on from this. They wanted to show that he is, 02:28.300 --> 02:32.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in fact, trying to rebuild his life after years of addiction, 02:32.866 --> 02:36.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% which is also something that they are very willing to talk about. 02:36.333 --> 02:41.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% MARY BRUCE: And I think also Joe Biden is in this position of having to respond to this personally 02:43.266 --> 02:46.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and politically. And I think Joe Biden, the father, is always going to take first bidding 02:49.400 --> 02:52.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% over Joe Biden, the politician. And when he looks back at this, this is incredibly painful for the 02:54.833 --> 02:58.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% president. And I think him showing to his son, to the world, come to dinner at the White House -- 02:59.333 --> 03:01.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You still have my embrace. 03:01.033 --> 03:03.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% MARY BRUCE: Exactly. It's not just sending a message to the world, 03:03.000 --> 03:06.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to his political opponents who are clearly going to do their best to try and keep this 03:06.833 --> 03:10.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the conversation. They think there's a lot here left to be investigated politically, 03:10.666 --> 03:15.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% even if criminally. The Republicans charges have not been substantiated at all by this agreement, 03:18.100 --> 03:21.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% right? They're not bringing any criminal charges linked to Hunter Biden's business dealings. 03:21.633 --> 03:25.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But the President, I think, is responding first and foremost as a devoted father who has stood 03:25.533 --> 03:30.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% by his son through struggles with addiction and has always said that he supports him. So, 03:32.400 --> 03:34.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he's not distancing himself from Hunter Biden but he is distancing 03:34.366 --> 03:37.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% himself from this investigation so as not to fuel the political fire. 03:37.066 --> 03:39.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% CARL HULSE: I thought if you had written a movie script that had that 03:39.900 --> 03:44.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% state dinner with the president, the president's son, who just admitted to wrongdoing the two House 03:47.333 --> 03:51.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Republican leaders who are pursuing him, and the president, and the attorney general who is trying 03:53.300 --> 03:56.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to avoid the whole mess all at the same dinner, somebody would say that could never happen. 03:56.066 --> 04:01.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But the Republicans, no matter what Hunter Biden agreed to and admitted to, 04:03.066 --> 04:07.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Republicans were always going to say that this is a two-tiered justice system, 04:07.433 --> 04:12.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that Trump is being treated differently than Hunter Biden. And with these whistleblowers now, 04:14.266 --> 04:17.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they've finally made a little headway. This is really sort of the first time 04:17.033 --> 04:20.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that they've had seemed to have some credible -- we'll see how credible -- 04:20.366 --> 04:23.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: these are two whistleblowers who have come forward who 04:23.266 --> 04:27.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% have said that the investigation was hampered, that there were delays, 04:27.766 --> 04:32.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they slow walked it, they gave Biden's lawyers heads-up when they shouldn't have. 04:32.500 --> 04:37.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CARL HULSE: And that they finally have a little something to grab onto, 04:39.400 --> 04:41.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that there was some unequal treatment and that Hunter Biden wasn't treated 04:41.866 --> 04:46.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the way a normal person being investigated for tax fraud was. 04:46.233 --> 04:51.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% However, it's still about Hunter Biden. It's not Joe Biden. They're trying to 04:52.700 --> 04:56.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% drag Joe Biden in that, as you saw Lauren Boebert there say. 04:58.466 --> 05:03.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, there's this new transcript of -- I think it's a text message that he is 05:05.233 --> 05:07.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% supposedly have been talking about his father. Hunter Biden's lawyer came out 05:07.233 --> 05:11.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% today and said that Hunter Biden is speaking only for himself, no one else in the family. 05:11.733 --> 05:16.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, we'll see where they can go with this but it's obviously not going away. They're 05:18.700 --> 05:22.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% going to continue this all the way through the election but they still haven't really 05:24.266 --> 05:27.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% made the direct link to the president, but they're going to try very hard to do that. 05:27.433 --> 05:31.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Mary, this text message that Carl is talking about is a text message where 05:31.900 --> 05:36.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Hunter Biden is speaking to, we believe, a Chinese official. And he's basically saying, 05:36.700 --> 05:40.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I'm sitting next to my father. This was when Biden was no longer vice president 05:40.366 --> 05:44.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and was not president yet. But he's saying, I'm sitting next to my dad. 05:44.866 --> 05:48.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And if you don't do this deal with me, in essence, there's going to be hell to pay. 05:50.800 --> 05:54.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Do you think that that adds to the Republicans' case that there really is more here? 05:56.600 --> 05:59.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MARY BRUCE: They certainly are trying to make that point right. This is this alleged WhatsApp 05:59.433 --> 06:03.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% message between Hunter Biden and someone that he was doing business dealings with in China, 06:03.933 --> 06:07.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% frustrated obviously that they weren't moving ahead with some energy deal that 06:07.533 --> 06:12.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he was hoping that he would be able to close. And to Carl's point, Hunter Biden's lawyers, 06:14.466 --> 06:16.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the White House have all said the president knows nothing about this. There was no 06:16.566 --> 06:21.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% connection to the president, then former vice president who wasn't in office at the time. 06:23.033 --> 06:25.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This also was a time when Hunter Biden was heavily addicted to drugs, 06:25.233 --> 06:29.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% through his own admission. But I do think Republicans are certainly going 06:29.266 --> 06:33.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to try very hard to do whatever they can to keep this in the conversation. 06:35.400 --> 06:39.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What will be interesting to see is whether we learn any more from the Trump-appointed 06:41.500 --> 06:44.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% prosecutor, David Weiss, who I think there are many questions about. Obviously, he looked into 06:46.533 --> 06:49.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% all of these things. Did he know about this WhatsApp message? Was this something that he 06:49.166 --> 06:53.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% was looked at? Why didn't he bring any criminal charges linked to Hunter Biden's overseas business 06:53.500 --> 06:57.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% dealings? And the attorney general, Merrick Garland, was asked about this today and he said he 06:57.000 --> 07:02.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% would support David Weiss testifying at some point or commenting about this when it was appropriate. 07:03.933 --> 07:06.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, I do wonder if at some point we may get more transparency that may 07:06.533 --> 07:10.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% answer some Republicans' questions, just clear things up in an attempt just to hear it out loud. 07:10.600 --> 07:15.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CARL HULSE: And he had written a letter to Jim Jordan in Congress saying, 07:15.000 --> 07:20.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I had full discretion to make the decisions here. Now, there's some question whether that is true, 07:21.866 --> 07:26.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% but he put it in writing. So, there's a lot to disentangle here but I think the 07:29.433 --> 07:34.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Republicans are going to keep at it and they move slightly towards impeaching the president. 07:36.400 --> 07:39.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WEIJIA JIANG: Well, trying to connect the dots between Hunter and his father is one thing, 07:39.233 --> 07:43.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% but I think the other thing you're seeing here from Republicans is just really trying to chip 07:43.200 --> 07:48.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% away at President Biden's credibility, because he has already said so adamantly that he knew 07:50.800 --> 07:54.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% nothing about his son's business dealings and this particular text message would show otherwise after 07:56.733 --> 08:00.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% the president said he didn't know and then the White House officially said that the President 08:00.666 --> 08:05.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% didn't know. And so they're trying to paint this picture of he actually did know and lied about it. 08:05.533 --> 08:09.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Right. And there's still no evidence that Joe Biden was 08:09.333 --> 08:12.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sitting next to Hunter when that text was happening. We just don't know that. 08:12.333 --> 08:14.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And maybe that's another line of investigation. 08:14.366 --> 08:19.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The other argument that the Republicans keep making, which is that this is the 08:19.000 --> 08:24.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% weaponization of the DOJ, and that this is President Biden directing Merrick Garland 08:26.066 --> 08:29.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% and his DOJ to target his rivals, Donald Trump principally. Although we saw in your own paper, 08:32.333 --> 08:37.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Carl, that remarkable report showing how the DOJ under Merrick Garland was very reluctant 08:40.366 --> 08:45.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to open an investigation about January 6th and then-President Trump and any of his colleagues 08:48.100 --> 08:52.766 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% were involved in all of that. So, do you think that that level, that argument will continue? 08:52.766 --> 08:57.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% CARL HULSE: Yes, they will continue. But Merrick Garland is a very conservative person and a lot of 09:00.666 --> 09:05.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% people think he was way too reluctant to do several investigations and move too slowly. 09:07.600 --> 09:11.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But both sides are speaking to their base. The Republicans are just trying -- they need to 09:13.233 --> 09:17.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% keep their folks focused on Merrick Garland, that Donald Trump is being treated unfairly 09:19.533 --> 09:22.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% no matter what's going on in the courts. And so they're going to stick with that. 09:22.300 --> 09:24.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Mary, do you have a sense of what 09:26.600 --> 09:29.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% the next step in the investigation for the Republicans is? Is it more of this 09:29.933 --> 09:33.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% pulling at these threads or are there other things you think they're going to pursue? 09:33.033 --> 09:36.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% MARY BRUCE: I think they're going to pull at all the threads they can pull at, right? So, whether 09:36.133 --> 09:41.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% there is more to what was released in these transcripts, from these whistleblowers, I think 09:41.100 --> 09:44.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% they're going to look through everything that they can just simply to keep it in the conversation. 09:44.800 --> 09:48.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Because to Weijia's point, just because something may be, you know, 09:51.033 --> 09:54.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% inappropriate or amoral even, doesn't mean that it's criminal, certainly any kind of behavior. It 09:57.133 --> 09:59.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% also doesn't necessarily link it to the president. And, of course, Hunter Biden was not in the 09:59.200 --> 10:02.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% administration. He's not running for president, he's not on any ballot. But it doesn't matter, 10:02.566 --> 10:06.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I think, in a lot of ways when it comes to just the optics of it and trying to keep this alive in 10:06.600 --> 10:11.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% the conversation. Because as long as Donald Trump is having the legal challenges that he's having, 10:11.266 --> 10:14.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% if they can continue to talk about Hunter Biden and keep that conversation up, 10:14.933 --> 10:19.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think, politically, they feel that there is still a lot of opportunity here for them to 10:19.300 --> 10:22.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% keep up these political investigations certainly as we go towards November. 10:22.200 --> 10:26.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CARL HULSE: But remember that Kevin McCarthy got in trouble for talking about how Benghazi, 10:26.200 --> 10:30.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Benghazi investigation was a benefit because it served its goal of lowering 10:30.900 --> 10:35.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Hillary Clinton's poll numbers. So, Kevin McCarthy has some experience in this area. 10:35.600 --> 10:37.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MARY BRUCE: And on the flip side of that I think you're going to continue 10:37.400 --> 10:39.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to see the White House just try to distance themselves as much 10:39.666 --> 10:42.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as possible while also reiterating that the president has never discussed this 10:42.733 --> 10:45.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% investigation with Merrick Garland. They are doing everything they can to try and 10:45.800 --> 10:48.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% underscore the fact that they believe in the independence of the Justice Department. 10:48.966 --> 10:52.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But you have these two very different conversations going on where the 10:52.533 --> 10:57.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% president is doing everything he can to look presidential and just keep going on with the 10:57.066 --> 11:00.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% day job while all of this is playing out, to try and just make it look like 11:00.100 --> 11:03.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Republicans are being chaotic while he is governing and being presidential. 11:03.333 --> 11:07.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That's their strategy in tackling this and their campaign strategy writ large. 11:07.533 --> 11:12.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Weijia do you have a sense of inside the White House with the Bidens themselves, 11:14.533 --> 11:18.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% how this plea deal that Hunter took sits with them? Is it an exhalation? Is it a 11:20.066 --> 11:24.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% moment of relief? How are they seeing it, just in a few seconds we have left? 11:26.833 --> 11:29.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WEIJIA JIANG: I think that there are certainly reports that the president was relieved. And I 11:29.800 --> 11:34.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% think that, overall, the bottom line these are federal charges. And it is remarkable that a 11:36.800 --> 11:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% president's son is pleading guilty to them. But they, to Mary's earlier point, are not 11:43.466 --> 11:47.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% what the Republicans had wanted or expected to come out of this investigation. 11:47.366 --> 11:52.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And so I do think that there is relief because it shows in their mind that there is no there, there. 11:55.400 --> 11:59.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Of course, Republicans would say something very different and say that the DOJ is just covering 11:59.833 --> 12:04.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% there. But I think, to your question, yes, the White House can say there are no charges that -- 12:06.700 --> 12:09.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Excuse me. I'm sorry, we've got to suddenly wrap. Thank you so much. I 12:09.033 --> 12:12.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% want to thank everybody here for joining us tonight. Thank you so much for being here.