abusers. >> today an emotional day for both hunter biden and his daughter, naomi biden when she took the stand. >> surveillance video used as evidence today allegedly shows how a throwing the gun in a trash can outside the local grocery store where it was found and turned over to police. >> sandra: closing arguments are underway. the jury could get the case as early as this afternoon. hello and welcome, everyone. i am sandra smith in new york. john, great to begin a brand-new week with you. >> john: another five days together. i'm john roberts in washington and this is "america reports." the prosecution now delivering closing argument after hunter biden's defense team rested their case without calling him to the stage. the defense said the president son did not knowingly live about his drug use when purchasing a handgun back in 2018. >> let's get straight to the fox news legal editor. carcarrie quebec. >> the prosecution opened with a bang. they pointed where the first lady was sitting where all of hunter biden's family was sitting to support him and they said this. the people sitting in this gallery are not evidence. they -- and then leo lies said you may have seen them on the news. you may have watched them react and the implication being those moments were emotional when they were crying, and then he said this. respectfully it does not matter. that's the tone they are setting. they are going through all the evidence, text messages, the book hunter biden wrote and the pictures and witness testimony all establishing that hunter biden was a drug user during the relevant period. i could tell you what struck me when leo weiss made that comment. i was also thinking about about how they are sitting there supporting their family member which of course makes sense, it is quite something when he think about the fact that hunter broke the law that this white house has currently really fought for in terms of stricter gun laws and gun safety and yet here they are. i'm curious about the reaction from the white house whether hunter biden is found acquitted or found guilty. what he's doing goes against what this white house has been advocating for in terms of guns and stricter laws. >> sandra: fox news legal analyst gregg jarrett. hunters defense appearing to be desperate. >> 's main defense is really quite desperate. he was so addicted that he was in denial about his addiction therefore he didn't knowingly lie. but under the law, being addled by drugs is not a defense. his real defense is a culmination of sympathy for our recovering addict and jury nullification, disregard -- the facts disregard the law. >> sandra: what are your thoughts on that, kerri. >> he's doing the best he can with the facts he has. because the evidence is so overwhelming about hunter's drug use, in his own words which is unusual in a case like this, to be able to present to the jury the sound of the defendant in his own words admitting to all kinds of drug use during the time period in which he purchased this gun which is of course against federal law. as far as desperation goes i don't know what else they would say instead of -- other than try to play to the jury's heartstrings. saying you've seen a lot of reaction, their sad things here but at the end of the day this is about evidence on the evidence is overwhelming. >> sandra: kerri, this new report from politico revealing how president biden's inner circle was so deeply involved, kerri, with the fast track of family's business dealings this is the headline and politico. "biden says he's not involved in his family's business dealings but his aides are telling another story." so if you look at this politico reporting showing interconnected ties between biden's aides and family businesses, tells a very specific story. what can you tell us about that? >> at first glance, it certainly appears inappropriate. but again what's the evidence and what exactly is the crime? just because aides had close involvement with someone's family doesn't necessarily indicate something criminal occurred. i'd want to know, do they have evidence that some of jill biden's family members did not register as foreign agents? or was there direct evidence that a foreign policy or to mr. policy decision, that he made during his tenure as vice president, if it was impacted by bribes or business dealings. they have to have evidence and they need to identify obvious crimes. >> sandra: kerri urbahn for us. thank you. we will bring you updates as they come in. >> john: it could be over soon. former president donald trump is set to take part in a virtual presentencing interview with probation officers tonight after his conviction on 34 felony carts of -- counts of falsifying business records. >> we don't know what time this will occur, the interview with the probation officer. former president trump does have a date with that officer today. it's a type of session required of any convicted defendant. as a convicted felon, the former president will be interviewed virtually. with his lawyer todd blanche to decide for ms. mar-a-lago to state. his privation officers in the manhattan criminal court where trump is found guilty and they will go over the case and trumps personal history. most defendants have to attend that type of meeting in person but judge juan merchan on granted an exemption. the report can also help trump. saying "the presentence report is a chance for the defendant's lawyer to say good things about the defendant. a counseling program, steady job, takes care of an ailing family member. the presentence interview is a chance for the defendant to try to make a good impression and explain why he or she deserves a lighter punishment. the trump campaign has responded saying in part "president trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless manhattan d.a. case." this comes as manhattan district attorney alvin bragg says he will testify before the house judiciary committee before this case but will not do that until after trump is a sentence later next month. the republican-led panel wants to ask alvin bragg about the prosecution and if the biden justice department had any input or involvement in the charges. trump has attacked a prosecutor, a former biden doj official. the president claiming without any evidence that he somehow engineered this whole case against him. the white house has denied that. bragg has not commented but will likely do so when he appears at that hearing whenever it is held. we expect to hear from the former president in about an hour or so. he's addressing a christian group. he's not been shy about commenting about this case. we may hear more about this session with his probation officer when the former president speaks. >> john: if and when that alvin bragg testimony before congress happens, that will be must-see tv. eric, thank you. >> sandra: former president donald trump wrapping of four-day swing through battleground states. plus california. seeking support from deep-pocketed donors to service workers. alicia acuna is live in las vegas for us. trump also made an endorsement this weekend. >> hi, sandra. he did. there is drama brewing over the g.o.p. primary -- senate primary endorsement he made this weekend. primaries being held tomorrow. here's what happened. on sunday he threw his support behind leading candidate sam brown, a purple heart recipient injured in afghanistan. on truth social, trump called brown a "fearless american patriot." one of the other g.o.p. candidates, dr. jeff gunter, former ambassador to iceland under trump, has been busy on x, at one point posting "would you like to hear the inside baseball of what went down yesterday? the snakes are within." the snakes gunter seems to be referring to are senator mitch mcconnell and the national republicans editorial committee who gunter accuses of pressuring trump to endorse their preferred candidate. we reached out to the trump campaign on this one. the former president need a big news with this campaign promise. >> to those hotel workers and people who get tips coming or going to be very happy. when i get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips. >> the culinary union which represents 6,000 hospitality workers responded. belief is needed for to earners. nevada workers are smart enough to use the difference between wild solutions and campaign promises from a convicted felon. a trump campaign spokesperson clarified telling fox "president trump will ask congress to eliminate taxes on tips." biden has aggressively stepped up the irs going after workers. before arriving in nevada from california, the trump campaign counting up all that money that he received after three big dollar fund-raisers. $33.5 million. 32 alicia acuna, live in las vegas. something else about those workers who depend on those tips. when you see the minimum wage hikes happening that we've been reporting has shut down some really special places like your favorite taco spot in san diego. what happens is, the minimum wage goes up. we've seen some businesses close. if they can stay in business, often times they passed along to the consumer and prices go up. guess what happens to those wage tipped workers, their tips go down. it's a huge impact on the economy to all that. it's an interesting group to target. steve on the is enticing enough that the culinary workers union is really freaked out about it. just the idea. james freeman coming up to talk more about this in the hour. stay with us. meanwhile, israel's military going on endearing dangerous rescue of four hostages held by hamas. they are united with their families. how did the idf pull it off question are former israeli investor to the united states, michael oren is up next to break it all down. >> sandra: olympic outrage. williams basketball star caitlin clark snubbed from the u.s. team that will travel to paris this summer. is it a smart move to leave a generational talent like clark on the sidelines? 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[ bird squawks loudly ] to a pet shop. meg's moving company uses t-mobile. so she scaled down her fleet to save money. and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. >> sandra: reaction pouring in after israel's military conducted a bold rescue operation to free four hostages from hamas captivity. the three men and one woman said to be in good health that have been reunited with their families. former israeli ambassador to the u.s., michael oren, will join us with reaction. but first, trey yingst's live in tel aviv at this hour for us with more and secretary of state antony blinken arriving in israel to participate in israel-hamas cease-fire talks. what's the latest? >> hey, sandra. today u.s. secretary of state antony blinken landed in israel for meetings about a possible cease-fire with hamas. blinken spoke on the tarmac before taking off. blinken says israel is on board with the agreement and it's up to hamas to make a decision. >> the only party that's not accepted, the only party that's not said yes is hamas. that's who everyone is waiting on. that's who the palestinians in gaza are waiting on. >> his visit comes after a daring hostage rescue this week that brought four israelis home. new details are being reported by "the wall street journal" explaining that the mission almost failed, as is really special forces battled hamas gunmen in central gaza after securing the hostages, the israelis came under rpg and small arms fire in the streets of a refugee camp. for israelis, the successful mission was a moment of hope. for the palestinians it was a day of death and destruction. the hamas run health ministry says nearly 300 people, mostly civilians were killed during the operation. videos from central gaza short hospital overflowing with injured and dead patients. as we continue to gather more information about the raid we are also following a major political development overnight. two members of the israeli war cabinet resigned from their positions in the emergency government overnight. sandra. >> sandra: trey yingst live in tel aviv for us. >> john: let's bring in michael oren, former israeli ambassador to the united states. mr. ambassador, great to see y you. it's unfortunate you are here because it is so hot in israel and everybody would like to see that situation calmed down. there's a report that nbc news is carrying that the united states may in the days ahead sort of glow around israel and negotiate directly with hamas. for the release of the american hostages being held. what do you think of that? does it undercut israel's efforts to get the hostages out? >> great to be with you. we are going to celebrate the release and freedom of any hostages. the joy that the release of these four hostages brought to israel and around the world. five americans remain in her end is hamas captivity. if they can be released by any means we will celebrate of course. we have to be very concerned that if the united states is going to negotiate separate with hamas, whether it's going to increase the price of the release of the rest of the hostages is crating a different category of hostages. those who have american passports. those who don't have american passports. it's very important and whatever comes about from this initiative that the united states continues to put ultimate pressure on hamas, on the qataris who support hamas, and to let the israeli defense forces to do their work. the hostages, the release would not have been -- would not have happened if not for israeli commandos. they came under furious fire. gunmen and hundreds of civilians who've been given guns. the people keeping these hostages prisoners, the family of a journalist, and a doctor. the whole division between civilians and combatants in gaza breaks down. let the idea do its work the best way we know, to release hostages by keeping pressure upon the terrorists. >> john: to show how intractable this problem is, the israeli commandos who stage this raid prepared in the same way that israeli commandos did 48 years ago for the raid. a palestinian hijacking operation. this has been going on for so long. when asked about this. benny gantz announced he's leaving the unity cabinet. netanyahu reached out to him on x saying unfortunately -- sorry, benny gantz said this. >> l that we are leaving the wartime cabinet today. with a heavy heart but with a whole heart. we present ourselves today to the battle for the fate of the state of israel for generations to come. >> john: netanyahu reached out to him on x saying israel is an existential war on several fronts. it's not time to abandon the campaign. it's time to join forces. my doors open to any zionist party ready to get on and ensuring the safety of our citizens." benny gantz had suggested that netanyahu is prolonging the war to try to stay in office. >> i don't see -- i'm not a spokesman for the government. i'm not in any official pos position. the prime minister is not the commander in chief. the prime minister has answer to a war cabinet that has to answer to a wider cabinet and then that cabinet has to answer to the people of israel. i strongly believe that if netanyahu were to go tomorrow we would have pretty much the same policies. probably more aggressive policies. in contrary to the impression he makes some people, netanyahu was very conflict averse. you could have israeli leaders who could be much more aggressive. i don't expect any change in policy here as a result of what benny gantz has done. probably make it more difficult to reach some type of compromise with the biden administration over that package that the president announced a week ago last friday. there are people in the immediate government. still has 64 seats. it will stay in government but it could make it more hard line on issues like reaching a cease-fire agreement. >> john: in terms of the agreement the president biden was promoting. here is what antony blinken said as he touched down in tel aviv today. >> do you want a cease-fire? >> press hamas to say yes. if you want to alleviate the terrible suffering of palestinians in gaza, press hamas to say yes. if you want to get all the hostages home, press hamas to say yes. if you want to put israelis and palestinians alike on the path more durable peace and security, press hamas to say yes. if you want to prevent this conflict from spreading, press hamas to say yes. >> john: a quick answer. press hamas to say yes to a cease-fire? it's still not unconditional surrender from hamas. it is press hamas for a cease-fire which would leave them in power. >> which is why i think the majority of israelis oppose it. i cannot be a permanent cease-fire that enables hamas to come out of the tunnels, declare victory, reconquer gaza and stage the next horrendous attack on the state of israel. >> john: ambassador, always great to spend time. thank you for dropping by. we look forward to having you stateside for a while. >> we had to wait all those months just to get the money. it's not who we are. it's not who america is. >> sandra: president biden keeping the white house busy, having to correct repeated mistakes. james freeman is up next on how the president's gaffes are becoming his greatest vulnerability. >> john: the search for loose change people misplace or throw away. guess how much it's worth. well, millions of dollars. ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? 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