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CNNW Erin July 4, 2024

A huge announcement from Attorney General Merrick Garland, Special Counsel is now investigating hunter biden, the president s son, after a potential plea deal collapsed. Plus, 59 people are now confirmed dead in the hawaii wildfires. It comes as residents start to return to lahaina to see the rubble where they used to live. One of them is my guest tonight. Lets go outfront. Good evening, im erin burnett. Outfront tonight, major developments on multiple legal fronts for both donald trump and joe biden. Trumps attorneys coming face to face with judge Tanya Chutkan for the first time today as the Attorney General spoke publicly, something he rarely does. Merrick garland announcing he is authorizing a Special Counsel to investigate bidens son hunter. And all of this comes as witnesses subpoenaed in the fulton county, georgia, investigation, can be told any minute they need to testify monday in front of a grand jury. Thats when the grand jury meets again and could indict if trump is indicted for the fourth time for his attempts to overturn the election in that state. I want to begin with what happened in a courtroom today and show you this picture. This is a drawing of the interaction between trump lawyer john lauro and judge Tanya Chutkan. You see lauros hands in the air, perhaps a reflection of his reaction to the stern warning that judge chutkan issued to the former president. Judge chutkan saying in court that the more trump makes, quote, inflammatory statements that could taint a jury pool, the greater the urgency will be that we proceed to trial quickly. This judge will soon set a trial date. Jack smith requested that it start on january 2nd. Trump made it clear he doesnt want any trials until after the election ten months later. So that happened. Then judge chutkan issued a protective order, barring trump from publicly disclosing sensitive information, three pages, including witness interviews that is turned over to his legal team. Now, the judge didnt give prosecutors everything that they wanted today in that ruling at all. She sided with trump on a few things too. But she did make it clear that trump has to be careful with what he says. Of course, jack smith, in seeking this order, cited Statements Trump has made in recent days like this social media post where he said, quote, if you go after me, im coming after you. And he put it in all caps. And, of course, trump has threatened the Special Counsel at Campaign Rallies and repeatedly slammed him and other prosecutors in posts like these that you see swarming by, all in just the past four days. But tonight trump appears perhaps to realize how serious this all is, since the judges hearing this morning, trump has not made a single such attack on social media. Obviously, well see how long that lasts. I want to get straight to Katelyn Polantz now. She is in washington to begin our coverage. The judge didnt go as far as prosecutors wanted in limiting trumps ability to talk about the case. But she was pretty straightforward. Reporter she was. And she set limitations today, both in her words and in her order. So in the order she did place an order on donald trump, saying, you cant share things that are sensitive in this case, evidence that you have never seen before that you will be getting as you and your team prepare for trial, things like what witnesses testified about in both the grand jury and then in recorded interviews that they did with investigators. So thats the crucial legal determination that she made. And she did side with trumps team a little bit on that. They wanted it to be only narrowed to what would be called sensitive materials. And she agreed with them on that. But she also was so clear in how she wanted to set the tone of this case at this point, erin, and how she is going to handle things from here the whole way to trial. Reminding donald trump that he is a criminal defendant, that its his day job right now by his choice to be a political candidate, and that there is the Justice System and theres politics, and when its in judge Tanya Chutkans courtroom, and she has a criminal defendant, even if his name is donald trump and hes the former president , its the Justice System that matters more, her direct quote was the fact that he is running a Political Campaign currently has to yield to the administration of justice. And so, erin, the things that she is considering right now that she as the judge overseeing this january 6th, 2020, case against donald trump has to do is she has to make sure theres a fair trial for trump, she has to make sure the jury pool isnt tainted. She is going to set . Limitations on free speech, and shes also going to make sure she doesnt violate any orders to obstruct justice or to intimidate witnesses not intimidate witnesses. These things, sometimes you dont know if its happening, witness intimidation, what actually causes that, and its that subjectivity that is at the heart of this. I want to bring ryan goodman into the conversation, former Special Counsel of the department of defense, of course now with just security blog. And the former chief assistant District Attorney of the manhattan d. A. s office. So thanks very much to all of you. The judge did express some criticism to the arguments made by prosecutors, some criticism. She did side with trump on at least a few things. But obviously theres still a protective order in place. But it wasnt just, okay, were just going to give jack smith what he wants. That is not what this was. What stood out to you in the judges words today . So i think the two things that stood out the most are that her order says that trump cannot speak at all about a category of materials called sensitive materials. And very importantly that its not just the grand jury materials but its all other witness interviews and the like. So if anybody ever hears trump speaking about some of the witnesses, that would probably mean hes crossed a red line. If it comes from the material that hes being handed now by the Justice Department. And the other one that she did say to him or to his attorneys, at least, if donald trump were to continue to make inflammatory statements that could taint the jury pool, then she will take that into consideration about when she has the trial. And she could change that, she could set the date, and then he could do something and he could change the date, right . Potentially. Or there are going to be other opportunities when his attorneys might say can we just extend the date further and shell be no. And next week they have to tell her when they want to have the trial. Tomorrow hes going to be in iowa. So can he engage in the level of selfcontrol to not say certain statements like that jack smith is a deranged maniac. Its broader than that, and i think thats key. And tonight he might in fact be getting some of this material. He himself might be somewhat inflamed. Hes been quiet since this morning on this. Theres no expectation that that will hold. But, nonetheless, it has, thus far. So you saw this today, karen, some of the court draws and what happened in that courtroom of the facetoface between trumps lawyers, mr. Lauro was there, and judge chutkan. What does this tell you about how she will make these decisions . Reporter i think judge chutkan today showed that shes fair judge who can keep control of her courtroom, who will keep control of the parties, and that shes the one in charge and shes going to set the rules. She also, i think, really established today that she is not just going to do everything the Government Asks for or that trump and his team ask for. She is looking at the law and at the evidence and at the rules. And she is Making Decisions that are, i think, really carefully surgically parsed out to both protect the rights of donald trump and the government. As ryan said, the most important thing for her is that she ensures that theres a fair and legitimate trial that happens, and nobody can taint the jury pool or get information out there that might not be admissible at trial. Dont forget this discovery is going to have information in it, some of it might not be admissible at trial. And so its important that the jury only sees what is admissible at trial and really focuses on that and not things they learned from donald trump. There is, of course i mean, as a part of all this, we have all been anyone in this country has seen coverage of this sort of nonstop for the past two years. So, any juror who isnt aware of any of this, thats interesting in and of itself. But, katelyn, as we await for the judge to rule on the start date of the trial, and, of course, trumps team has to file their formal requested date. Trump indicated it shouldnt be till after the election. Do you have any did you get any indication from the judge on where she is on this crucial issue today . Reporter so, she didnt reveal exactly when she wants the trial to be. Thats going to be happening very much likely at the next time she sees both of these parties at the end of august, erin. But she did say she wants to move this case along, and there are two things, erin, that are essentially a glean in this case that sort of hint at the idea that judge chutkan does want this to happen soon, that it should, and that the Justice Department wants it to happen before the election. One of the things is exactly what ryan and the others have been saying today, which is quite clearly that she is saying that if this becomes very inflammatory, if there is the threat of chilling the jury or chilling the witnesses here, that means that perhaps we should have this faster than what was initially planned or what you might want if you want to drag it out. And then the Justice Department in their filing, while trump has been saying it should be after the election because im a political candidate, the Justice Department had said that they want this trial to take place in january because not only is it a matter of public importance that should be settled by a jury where donald trump can go before them, but its not just any matter of public importance, its about a threat to overturn the 2020 election result. And, so, that substance of the case is part of the reason that the Justice Department is arguing it should happen soon, and clearly from their position should happen before the 2020 election. That is amazing that were going to put it in the hands of a jury of any individuals who actually would even want to be in that position. Just when you think about whats at stake here, at some level, its kind of shocking that were in a situation where youre going to have a jury do something that is of such importance. If hes not convicted, hes essentially going to say hes exonerated. It does come in the context, of course, as any minute we could hear that this group of individuals who have been subpoenaed by fani willis to appear she said she would give them at least 48 hours notice to appear before a grand jury. No one has gotten that yet as we know, as we understand it. 48 hours from tomorrow would be monday morning. I wondered if it counted weekends or not. Youd think theyd want to get it done on friday before they went home. Weekend days count, and therefore everybodys going to be looking do any of those three individuals receive that letter or that notice that says come on in on monday. Or is it business days. Or did she decide to elect not to bring them in. But it looks like she will bring them in. So, do they get this notice saturday or sunday . Right. Because, of course, karen, she could have subpoenaed them to appear when she wants them to appear and then say, well, i dont need you. That doesnt mean shes not going to present and go on monday. Exactly. She could have a summary of the Special Grand Jury report. And that could be the evidence thats presented to the grand jury. She could have an investigator testify that summarizes the evidence. Or she could call live witnesses. So, its just unclear what shes going to do. But it does appear that something is happening this week. All right. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. And, next, the Justice Department drastically increasing its investigation into hunter biden. The Special Counsel now appointed with a very wide what could it mean for the president. And the Toll Climbing tonight in maui where residents of lahaina are now returning for the First Time Since the Deadly Wildfires decimated their town. Ill speak to a woman who barely escaped as the flames destroyed her home. Plus, shocking new video out of ukraine. The moment the Russian Rocket slammed into a hotel. How can you sleep on such a firm setting . Gab, mine is almost the same as yours. Almost is just another word for not as good as mine. Save 50 othe sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed. Plus, 36 month financing on select smart beds. Shop now only at sleep number. Get it with gurus. Cargurus. Theyre off from school, but not really home. Images and videos. Social media, finetuned to suck them in. And steal them away. Alone you cant stop it. Together we will. We have a plan. Join us. please dont go by harry casey, Richard Raymond finch ping please dont go please dont go please dont go please dont go dont goooooo dont go away please dont go with fastsigns, create striking custom visuals that inspire pride districtwide. Fastsigns. Make your statement. Tonight, President Bidens son hunter is now the subject of a Special Counsel investigation after talks with the Justice Department for a plea deal to resolve tax and gun charges, of course, fell colossally apart. That makes a trial likely there. And the Attorney General Merrick Garland came out today and did something he very rarely does, came out, spoke publicly, and made the announcement himself, announcing that the trumpappointed u. S. Attorney, who is already overseeing the Hunter Biden Probe himself asked to be given Special Counsel status. Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, i have concluded that it is in the Public Interest to appoint him as Special Counsel. Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law. Well, based on the facts and the law, but of course these are extraordinary circumstances. And the investigation is not just limited to hunter biden. As the Special Counsel oer states, in part, something that is sng to note. Quote, the Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the going investigation as well as any matters that arose from that investigation or may arise from the Special Counsels investigation. And that, of course, is what opens the door to the president and anywhere else any investigation leads. What does a Special Counsel here mean . Not just for hunter biden, who obviously has been under investigation for quite some time, but for President Biden as well. Well, erin, last month it appeared that this fiveyear investigation was heading to an end. And now with the appointment of a Special Counsel, it certainly means that its going to be continuing for quite some time, including into the president ial race. I mean, Merrick Garland today, as you said, he said that this investigation had reached a as he put it, a stage where a Special Counsel status was appropriate. Now, this was after their talks to try to repair the plea deal that the judge was not going to approve, had reached an impasse. Doj is not commenting on what garland meant when he said it reached a stage and what that means. But, as Special Counsel, weiss will have additional authorities, meaning hes the u. S. Attorney for delaware, but as Special Counsel, he could bring a charging decision, seat a grand jury anywhere in the u. S. We know that some areas of interest here are california and d. C. Because thats where hunter biden lives and that is where he would have paid his taxes where his accountant was. It also means he has a budget, he could hire people. Hes not under the day to day oversight of the Justice Department so he has a little bit more freedom. It also means more transparency. Because as Special Counsel, hes required to write a report about his charging decisions, what he chooses to prosecute and what he chooses not to prosecute. Merrick garland saying he will make as much of that report public. This will bleed into the president ial contest. President biden has called this a private matter, but his rivals and supporters of former President Trump are using this as political ammunition. Theres already some ads that are antibiden that are focusing on hunter biden. And the House Republicans today, they say they ar

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