Good evening, im laura coates. Thank you for joining me this friday evening. Tonight, donald trump is on some thin ice. In the first hearing with the judge in his third indictment, the one over Election Interference, she warned the former president about his rhetoric and his agreement, by the way, not to intimidate witnesses in order to stay a free man. But she also favored some of the arguments by his attorneys, for example, on whether evidence can be discussed publicly. More on that whole dramatic Courtroom Scene in just a moment. First, hunter biden. Hes likely going to trial. Attorney general Merrick Garland effectively appointed a Special Counsel in the guns and taxes investigation of the president s son. Youll recall there was a plea deal, and it also recently broke down. And weve talked about the questions surrounding how that could have happened. Even a judge that questioned the terms of the agreement with the doj. Before we get to all of that analysis, youre probably thinking, wait a second, laura, another Special Counsel . Yep. This would be the third all at once for the first time in history. I want to remind everyone for a second what the threshold is to get to a Special Counsel. Its not ruft mill, its not an every day or every administration thing. Among the grounds, number one, is it wid is it warranted . Is the investigation itself worthy enough to have something so deliberate and extreme . Is there a Conflict Of Interest, the second Point Of Inquiry . Also, does the public have a special interest in knowing, or something more . When those three criteria are all on a collision course, then meet, then you have the Special Counsel. But the real question that everyones asking is, why exactly did Merrick Garland decide to do this now . And maybe more importantly, since he was involved in the questionable Plea Agreement and offer that imploded, why did David Weiss Ask for this now . Huge question everyones asking at this moment in time. Cnns Political Correspondent sara murray, walk us through the Special Counsel now appointed to investigate hunter biden, and the name is the same. Sarah, how did it get to this point . It really is that spectacular implosion you were talking about of the hunter biden plea deal. Remember, he walked into court a few weeks ago ready to plead guilty to two Tax Misdemeanors and take a Diversion Program on a gun charge. But there was this disagreement over what kind of immunity hunter biden was actually getting as part of this deal. We learned that behind the scenes, that disagreement was not resolved between Hunter Bidens team and david weiss. And david weiss decided, look, were going to move ahead, we are going to go to trial. He went to attorney general Merrick Garland and sought this Special Counsel status so he can bring charges in other jurisdictions, washington, d. C. Or california, something he would have had to get partners to do as the u. S. Attorney in delaware. Of course that doesnt answer all the questions about why were in this Special Counsel situation. Merrick garland said today these are extraordinary circumstances, as they are when the sitting president s son is being investigated. But again, weve heard from whistleblowers who have questioned whether there was political favoritism in this case. A lot of what weve heard today from Merrick Garland and david weiss does not answer many of the questions about why it took to this Point For Weiss to be named a Special Counsel, and whether this is simply did bringing charges against hunter biden and moving to trial in different jurisdictions or whether theres more that david weiss wants to investigate. Sara murray, thank you so much. I want to bring in former federal prosecutors joseph more rare i dont and an cure ka dory. Oops glad both of you are here tonight. First of all, if you were hunter biden, youre looking at your attorneys and probably saying to yourself, what happened from the time that we thought we had a plea deal, everything signed, sealed, delivered, it was mine, to this point in time . And now youve got the Special Counsel. The wig question everyones asking is, why do you think this happened now . Is it appropriate, do you think, that Merrick Garland has appointed david weiss to really elevate him to that Special Counsel status . What do you think . I mean, i think it was the best of a bunch of bad options. Frankly, i used to cringe when the White House Press secretary would say that david weiss is independent. Because look, that might be very well the case, and i have no reason to say its not. But theres a simple way to indicate that independence, and thats designating him as a Special Counsel. One of the criteria you mentioned, is there a Conflict Of Interest . What more a Conflict Of Interest could you have than when the son of the president is being investigated . So i think it is long overdue. I think its a good move. I think it deflects a little bit of the criticism. Im not sure it really makes a difference at this point. Might just be form over substance. Weve all been prosecutors. The notion of independence, hold on, if youre a u. S. Attorney, arent you independent . Youre the head honcho, the buck stops there . But really, they are answering to the attorney general who is going to not dictate the day to day, but certainly the priorities of the department and going on. But theyre much more removed than an appointee. To his larger point, look, this would be as a Special Counsel, now you get to go outside your jurisdiction. Right . This is not just the delaware u. S. Attorney any longer. He can bring it other places. Theyve named already maybe california, maybe washington, d. C. What do you think . Yeah, you know, the papers they filed in court were surprisingly forward and candid about what happened, what they intend to do. They said in the tax case, plea deal fell apart, we intend to charge this case in california, same charges, maybe more. We think this case is going to trial. And that may not be the last that we hear from the Special Counsel. Right there, you know other issues have been floating around, and its really not clear still to this day whether this investigation is really over or not. Whether were at the last stage or whether theyre still looking at stuff. That was probably the judges moment, right . When this whole thing immoded . To say in the courtroom, you havent actually realized whether this is going to be a 360, conclude every investigation . That was part of the holdup. Listen to what Hunter Bidens attorneys had to say earlier on our airwaves about this idea of, i wonder if Something Else is coming into play. Listen. After five years of what has to be one of the most thorough investigations that office has ever done, started by a Republican Attorney general, given to a republican u. S. Attorney, using an experienced career set of prosecutors thought that the only charges that were appropriate would be two Misdemeanor Failure to file charges and a diverted gun charge for the 11 days that hunter possessed a gun. And that was after five years of a painstaking investigation. So whatever his title is and whatever happens next, were confident that should be the same conclusion. If its not, then something other than the facts and the law has come into play. I mean, hes more than intimating the potential impact of politics. Weve seen many people question hunter biden. The term Sweetheart Deal has come up so often, its almost become synonymous with the conversation. Do you think politics has come into play here in a significant way for his decision to elevate him . Look, abbe lowell is very well respected in the white collar community. Of course hes going to advocate for his qulint. But dont take my word for it. I mean, this looked lenient going into that Plea Agreement meeting. But the judge herself kicked it out. She asked the prosecutor, apparently on the spot, have you ever done anything like this before . The prosecutor had to admit, no, i havent. So i think they went too far. I think they should have been prepared to answer questions. They were clearly unprepared to answer. So you asked what do you think hunter biden, what was going through his head . Probably frustrated because clearly his ron artest and the prosecutors were not ready to answer the judges skeptical questions. Thats when she said, im not comfortable with this. It was a remarkable hearing. The issues that came up were predictable, right . And we are all familiar with Plea Hearings that fall apart. They dont ever, in my humble experience, fall apart on legal issues that the lawyers could have anticipated. Its usually because a defendant cant get around to aloecuting or whatever. Obviously politically charged given the nature of the defendant. I tend to still put a fair amount of faith into Merrick Garland to make these decisions without wanting to influence the National Political scene. I still sort of hold that precept position. I wrote a profile of him for politico earlier this year where i spend time talking to his colleagues and clerks and stuff. That stuck with me. You can make question his judgment. I think it has not been great, the way this has been handled over time. I dont think its really about helping joe biden as a political matter, though. The political cynics among us might say, bless your heart. Everyone stand by. Also in d. C. Today, a hearing over the Special Counsels request for a protective order. This is a different Special Counsel, by the way, now, in the trump Election Interference case. It was, well, called a mixed bag for team trump. Lets go to justice correspondent jessica schneider. Jessica, whats the latest . Yeah, laura, this. Ing a brothis isnt as broad protective order. This includes details about the grand jury process, also about search warrant, it also says when trump use views this information, he cant have his phone or any Recording Device when hes without his lawyer. Included in this discovery is 11. 6 million pages of documents. Even recordings of witness interviews. Trump cant share or post any of it. And the judge here said she will be watching, and she warned that if trump or his team talked too publicly about this case, shes going to be forced to move even more quickly to a trial to ensure a fair jury pool. And its a speedy timeline that trump and his Team Definitely dont want. Jessica, thank you. Thank you so much. Interesting, back at the table right now, the warning was, look, if you want to keep talking about about it, you think you cant get a fair trial, you cant to air it in the court of public opinion, were going to have the trial that much sooner. Be careful what you wish for, i might give you precisely what youre asking for. What did you think of that . Ive been a defense counsel, ive had difficult clients. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have a client like donald trump who just cannot be contained. Hes his worst enemy. I actually think the hearing was generally positive for him, i think the judge gave him a lot of latitude saying only highly sensitive topics you cant share. I think its going to be extremely difficult for him to control himself. Weve seen defendants awaiting trial who get their liberties revoked because they do things like say things that could be construed as intimidating conditionses or trying to taint a jury pool. Usually theyre not a former president running again for president. With this platform or the megaphone that hell have. On the other hand, lets flip that around, because maybe if youre his defense counsel, you want him talking, you want to muddy the waters, you want to be able to try to suggest this is political speech. What is a candidate to do besides criticize what he perceives might remove him from the campaign trail . Yeah, look, he is a singular defendant in this regard. His ability to speak in a mass way to all of america allows him to do a couple of things. Both advance his campaign along this theory. Of course, if he wins reelection, manages to get the nomination and beat joe biden, he can shut all of this down in office. It also allows him to speak to prospective jurors, which is not impactful necessarily in d. C. Where the composition of the voter pool is much more favorable to biden than trump as in florida, but i think thats part of whats going on. I thought what the judge did was quite clever. Ify if she suggested there would be a gag order coming or shed revoke or impose harsher conditions on him, that would have caused uproar. Instead she said, you know what, if shs are this is your issue, were going to accelerate the trial. Thats something i think will have some effect on him. Reverse judicial psychology. Kind of the mind games that are happening right now. Its interesting. Given the fact that this is the third indictment, and obviously one at the state level and two federal, but youve got to wonder how precise youd need to be to be able to connect the dots in such a way that the judge overseeing a particular case would say, ahha, youre talking about my case. That statement made on truth social, you must be talking about this one. You almost can imagine the Factfinding Mission playing out that way for a judge to have to say, this maybe otherwise vague statement that could apply to all of them applies to this case. I wonder if theyre going to figure out what to do next. Always a pleasure seeing you on a friday night. Im glad youre here. Im not going to butcher your name again, i promise you. Ahead, a Showdown Brewing tonight as republican rivals compete for votes at the Iowa State Fair. Well speak with two of the candidates. Why one candidate suggests, well, he might drop out even before the debate later this month. Live on the ground in hawaii where the devastation is only getting worse. I mean, look at what were seeing on the screen. The stories of survival, theyre chilling. Just getting our first glimpse at this town after hearing these nightmare stories. And it is worse than you can imagine. It looks like a world war ii set, like a bomb went off. She runs and plays like a puppy again. His 2s are perfect hes a brand new dog, all in ls than a year. When peoplswitch their dogs food from kibble to the farmers dog, they often say that it feels like magic. 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Chevy silverado has what it takes to do it all. With up to 13 camera views. And the z71 offroad package. You ok . Yeah. Any truck can help you make a living. This one helps you build a life. Chevy silverado. On the island of maui, historic patient dice, its now decimated. The mayor says the devastating wildfires have Burned Lahaina to the ground. At least 67 people are confirmed dead, and the loss of life is expected to grow. Its now the deadliest Natural Disaster in hawaii state history. Rescuers are frantically searching for survivors, and families, they are desperately waiting for news, any news, of missing loved ones. Loved ones like tim williams sr. , a 66yearold disabled veteran who has been missing since wednesday. He sent this photo to his family as he was fleeing the flames. It is the last time they heard from him. Cnns bill weir is in maui live. Bill, we are watching the devastation. You have surveyed some of the worsthit areas. How bad is this damage . And where does the Search And Rescue operation even stand . Reporter well, laura, this will rank as one of the worst disasters in american history, not just hawaiian history. People here are bracing for that Fatality Count to jump again here. And the damage to lahaina is just its as bad as you can imagine. Its as bad as paradise, california, the deadliest fire from a few years back. That was a mountain grunt. This is grass, this is invasive grassland that was