Investigation of hunter biden, a special counsel has been announced, signaling that a trial is now likely to fall into legal and political implications. Plus blunt words from a judge to Donald Trumps legal team, reminding the former president he cant intimidate witnesses and warning more inflammatory statements lieutenants require a quicker start to a trial. In hawaii, at least 55 killed, thousands displaced, as fires devastate maui. One official says the Historic Town of lahaina is all gone. This hour, a look at what some has lost to the hawaiians, and what they need most. All of this is coming in right to cnn news central. It is happening again. Another highprofile special counsel has now been appointed, this time its in the Hunter Biden Investigation. Today Attorney Garland announced he elevated david weiss to special counsel status. Hes been leading the yearslong investigation, and he recently requested he be given special counsel designation. The reaction in washington is pouring in, but first, paula reid has been tracking all of this. How did this map . According to the Justice Department, on tuesday david weiss, a trumpppointed u. S. Attorney whos overseen the Hunter Biden Investigation for years, requested this Special Designation. So the first question is, well, why now . Thre not providing an official explanation, but the r appears that talks between Hunter Bidens lawyers and the Justice Department had broken down. They went to a hearing where they thought they would solidify, and the judge pushed back, asking for additional briefing. It appears that this case is headed to trial. That may be the impetus here, but were still trying to figure this out. As special counsel, weiss will now be required to file a final report, and theyre committed to making that report with all of his findings, public. The other question will likely come from republicans. How does this Special Designation impact weiss ability to answer questions. At this point its unclear. We know previous Special Counsels have testified, but they have ohm testified after they submitted their final report. Sources also tell me the white house was not informed of this before the Attorney Generals announcement, and neither were Hunter Bidens attorneys. Were already hearing complains that weiss has been designated as special counsel. How unusual is it that, in this case weiss would be designated, given the fact he was already the u. S. Attorney and will remain as u. S. Attorney in delaware. Is this unusual, or would they usually find another person . This is unique. The trumpappointed u. S. Attorney had been handling it, hell remain that, and now he has at the designation. Lets take a listen to the Attorney General lay out how he sees this. I have concluded that it is in the Public Interest to appoint him as special counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that mr. Weiss has all that he needs to conduct an appropriate investigation, based only on the facts and the law. Its unclear that this will insulate the Justice Department from any more questions about this, but the question is whether this will insulate weissing from having to testify before lawmakers. It will be interesting to see where he takes the case not only because the plea deal has fallen apart, but now he has special power as special counsel. Lets go to the white house, arlette saenz, the white house didnt, they say, gets a headsup about this move. Have they offered a response at this point . Reporter brianna, the white house is sticking to the no comment strategy. When i reached out to them, they simply referred me back to the Justice Department, as well as Hunter Bidens personal representatives. Im told by a white house initial they did not receive any headsup before this announcement came. Theyre learning about this as we all did. But this all follows really this approach from the white house, trying to maintain the independence of the Justice Department. As you have seen in past administrations, they really have tried to stay and refrain from commenting in any manner. This appointment of a special counsel serves as another complicated moment in the issues surrounding hunter biden. From the white house we have learn that they love and support their son. Of course, they continue to have him here at the white house, often for Family Gatherings and other events, showing no indications that they are distancing themselves from their son amid these investigations. This is a very personal matter for the bidens, but its also becoming a more challenging legal and political issue for a President Biden as well. He has faced a sustained pressure and criticism from republicans relating to his son hunters business dealings. Theres been threats of an Impeachment Hearing Up in the house of representatives, so these are all issues the president will have to navigate, and no theres an investigation into his son enters a new phase. Arlette saenz, thank you so much for that. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. First off, i want your reaction, what do you make of this designation of david weiss now as special counsel in the Hunter Biden Case . I think all along the Justice Department said to Attorney Weiss if he requested the designation, that they would grant it, but i think it doesnt take away the flaws in the republicans arguments with regard to hunter biden. I had a chance to actually question the whistleblowers who came forward with allegations of wrongdoing and investigation of mr. Hunter biden. The problem with the fundamental allegations alleged wrongdoing t. Allegations of political bias dont seem to hold weight when, you know, mr. Trump was ultimately in charge of the Justice Department and its handling of this investigation. Do you have confidence that this designation is necessary . Um, i dont know if its necessary. I do know mr. Weiss has requested it, in light of what happened at this hearing recently, but it appears that mr. Weiss had quite a bit of latitude to pursue the investigation in a manner he saw fit. My republican colleagues somehow claims that Hunter Bidens actions reflect poorly on President Biden, and somehow this involves wrong defend doing by President Biden, but there isnt a sin till offa evidence that he did anything wrong a. I think mr. Weiss hasnt surfaced any evidence, that there is none. Do you think if this werent the president s son that this move would be made here . Thats a good point. Im not sure. I know my constituents arent asking about it. The other dade i heard that Richard Hudson said that nobody is talking about it back in his district because we dont this is not top of mind. It is top of mind for a lot of constituents. We know that. Maybe not yours, but there are many constituents out there who are paying attention to it, for sure. To that point, congressman sorry, go ahead. I think theres definitely some on the other side who care very much about it, but as mr. Hudson himself said, its just not one of their top priorities, the way that jobs, education and health care, other priorities are. I conduct a lot of town hall meetings. This did not come up. This is a big distraction right now. But this was something that might have gotten away quietly if the plea deal had been agreed to and carried out. So this promises this is going to stay in the spotlight for quite some time as the president ial cycle is just ramping up. Politically speak, sir, as a democrat who clearly will be backing the bandy democratic president , are you wet weather about this dragging out and getting a lot of attention during the president ial election . No, i dont think so, only behalf this, which is that my republican colleagues want to somehow connect hunter biden to somehow the president himself committing wrongdoing. Again, not a scintilla of evidence has been brought forward, either in the house or otherwise, so this is going to be a big distraction. You have seen how democrats who were investigating Jared Kushner and the trump children, investigating their business dealings, which appeared to be stalled very much after the republicans took over the house. Should the democrats abide by their own principles in the case of hunter biden, even if the republicans are not . I think the house has the ability, the authority and they should be able to conduct Oversight Investigations with regard to the prosecution of anybody. Thats what theyre doing, but the manner in which theyre doing it is highly problematic. Remember, Jared Kushner was a member of the government the hunter biden is not. Again, theyre trying to attribute somehow wrongdoing to the president , and they cant produce even one piece of evidence to show that. Thats why this is a problematic investigation right now. We did hear from two obama officials who raised concerns about Hunter Bidens work, specifically his work in ukraine. So this has been an ethical issue for quite some time. Do you think democrats have not taken it seriously enough . No, they have taken it seriously, but mr. Weiss has been investigating it for five years. Hes investigated even those particular issues you talked about. I had a chance to look at some of this evidence in a scif as well. Unfortunate for they cannot produces any evidence of wrongdoing, much as they have tried up to this point. Congressman, we appreciate your time today. Thank you. Coming up, a dramatic hearing in d. C. Today in former President Trumps 2020 election interference case, which could set the tone. The judges warning to the former president , next. Good checkup . No, great checkup [laughs] nailed it again keep up the good work for great checkups, crest hayou covered because crest prohealth protects 100 of your mouth for 24 hours. Look, ma no cavities crest. This is Spring Semester at over 13,000 us school districts, which have become top targets for Ransomware Attacks. But theres never been a reported Ransomware Attack on a chromebook. Which is why thousands of schools like the fairfieldsuisun Unified School District switched to google tools for education. So they can focus on teaching and 22,000 students can focus on learning, knowing that their data is secure. when you shop wayfair, you get big deals for your home every day. So big, well have you saying. Am i a big deal . Yeah you are, because its a big deal, when you get a big deal. 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They tried to push it to next week. As we learn how the judge responded to some of the claims inside the courtroom, perhaps we can see why they wanted to put it off a bit longer. Kaitlyn polantz is outside the courthouse. It seemed today what the judge was saying was very clear. Reporter very clear. Let me start with some of her words, just Tanya Chutkaid the fact that , donald trump, is running a Political Campaign currently has to yield to E Administration of just if that means he cant say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how its going to have to be. So judge chutkan, she had some legal issues to determine today, which she did, about how evidence can be talked about or not talked about,s trump awaits trial, as had is team gets to go through evidence, but what shes saying from a bigger perspective is that this is the court of law. Its very importance for american democracy, the government, all of the things set up here in this court that this tay precedence over whatever else you are doing in your day job. She actually mentioned Donald Trumps day job, with not words, at one point. Though the lawyers are arguing that his speech could shot be curtailed because hes running for president , shes saying, no, i do have the legal right, and the courts have a reason there is a legal right to limit some of the First Amendment, some of the free speech you get. When youre a criminal defendant, you cant chill your trial. You cant intimidate witnesses, and you cant obstruct justice. In this circumstance, what she was looking at today related to evidence, she finds that there is quite a lot of law that allows her to place barriers around what donald trump is allowed to share, as he learns it, as theyre preparing for trial. This was quite a serious hearing today from judge chutkan. She did infuse it with a bit of humor. My colleagues in the courtroom have been reporting back that it was lighthearted at times. Yell parties, but she was very clear she will be scrutinizing what donald trump is saying very clearly between now and trial, and making sure hes abiding by the conditions hes released upon, that he doesnt cross any of the lines hes not supposed to cross and very careful not to talk to witnesses, not to share what hes learning if its deemed sensitive by the Justice Department, and doesnt do anything to chill the Justice System to do what it does best, which is to take people to trial and determine whether theyre guilty or not guilty. And were still waiting to see when the judge thinking it best for this trial to start. Thank you very much for that. Lets talk about this now. Legal and political implications. Well elliott, and david axelrod. I do think we should start with the legal limit. What is your reaction . A lot of what the judge said in court today isnt that controversial. Noting that a defendant might have First Amendment rights, but the rights dont empower that defendant to get in the way of thE Administration of justice. Its just not that controversy of a point. Everything is a bit controversial when youre dealing with the former president of the united states, but she was basically stating the law. Its interesting to see how she rules in the end. On the hunter biden development, special counsel, your reaction to that . Well, you know, look, its david weiss asked. I think if the Attorney General had said no, thehehehehehe poli even legal fallout would be far wo worse. This is a political issue, not as much a legal one. Thats your purview, david axelrod. I want to ask you about this. Of course, you have all of this going on with former President Trump, having been indicted multiple times now, but you also have this hanging over President Biden, which, by the way, we have to remember that when he is his handling of classified materials as Vice President , that is also subject to another special counsel. Now theres a special counsel being deciding eighted when it comes to hunter biden. What is the effect of this on the president in his run for reelection . Im sure this didnt land well in the white house. The republicans are sort of pointing to it for whataboutism. They have they are beating that horse to death, even though they have failed to make the connection between hunter biden and joe biden in the way