president's son is expected to show up in about 30 minutes for a deposition behind closed doors. now at the same time, republicans today around noon are expected to move closer toward opening an inquiry on impeachment into his father, the president. we'll find out together what we get. what is it, dana? it's wednesday. >> dana: i wasn't sure what the question is. >> bill: you lose track this time of year. >> dana: somebody walked through and said they thought it was thursday. a busy time of year and busy time on the hill. i'm dana perino. this is "america's newsroom." a pivotal day for hunter and joe biden. speaker johnson said his party is going where the evidence leads. >> the white house has gone carefully as the constitution requires of us, it is a very serious matter. right now they aren't turning over documents or key witnesses and we have to defend our subpoenas in court. to do that you need and impeachment inquiry vote from the full house. >> dana: byron donalds sits on a committee scheduled to depose hunter. well oh he hear from him but first let's get an update by david spunt on capitol hill. >> the subpoena calls for hunter biden to appear here in person at 9:30, a little less than 30 minutes from now on capitol hill for a closed door deposition. the definition of a deposition means he would be under oath. we don't know exactly if he will come or not. his attorney has been silent. however, capitol police and democrats and republicans are acting as if he will show up and they will be prepared. so this closed door deposition could take several hours, if indeed hunter biden shows up. a transcript would be released likely in the coming days. hunter's attorney said he doesn't trust transcripts from this republican-led oversight committee and accused them of leaking celektive sections. hunter wants to appear on camera in public at an open session, a session we perhaps can carry live to you on tv. james comer said he will do a public hearing but sometime in the future. if hunter does this today he will be limited in what he can say. he was just indicted not even a week ago on nine counts relating to his taxes in california. three are felonies. anything you say will you used against you in a court of law. anything he says to congress which is not a court of law could be used in real federal court in california and put him behind bars. the juxtaposition of hunter biden potentially sitting before congress hours before the house votes on a formal impeachment inquiry into his father, president biden. ist is possible that hunter is under some pressure to cooperate today so house republicans don't take out anger on an impeachment inquiry vote. house republicans say they will initiate contempt proceedings in the coming days if he doesn't show up. everybody here is under the posture he will show up. back to you. >> dana: at least we know he is in d.c. not that far from wherever he is to that building where you are. >> byron donalds is on the house oversight committee and will be in the room. two biggest questions at the moment, will he be there and will he answer questions? >> well, let's take the first one. if he is here this is the responsibility he has to respond to a subpoena. he is not bigger than anybody else. he is a person in our country subpoenaed by congress and a responsibility to show up. see if he does that. the second question does he say anything? that remains to be seen. he has to come and sit for deposition. i think if he decides not to say anything because of what is happening in the criminal matters it's legal and up to him. he has to make the determination. we believe there are clear pieces of information that he can speak to under oath that have nothing to do with his tax evasion charges in california or any other charges left field against him finally, i might add, by the department of justice. >> dana: he had some words about this. get your reaction to what he thinks is happening. >> what they are trying to do is, they are trying to kill me knowing that it will be a pain greater than my father could be able to handle. and so therefore destroying a presidency in that way. >> dana: how do you respond to that? >> oh, please. hunter biden is a joke, he has to stop this mess. ain't nobody trying to kill him. hunter, you were running across the globe shaking down foreign countries and companies using your daddy's name. laundering the money, not paying taxes, not paying your fair share. it's a joke, not to be taken seriously. this family has led a public corruption scheme for years using joe biden's office to do so. that's a pay for play scheme. congress has a responsibility to investigate that. >> bill: he is facing federal charges on firearms in delaware and last thursday he is facing three felonies and six misdemeanors filed in california. why would he come down and sit for an on the record interview with you and other republican colleagues there today? or if he does show, would you expect him to take the fifth? >> well let me clear up exactly what will happen in this room if he shows up. republican members will have an opportunity to -- republican legal team will question him. the democrat legal team will question him and it will ping-pong back and forth. he will have an opportunity to speak with democrat lawyers in the room as well. it won't just be republican lawyers. i am quite sure it will be democrat members who will have questions as well in that room. let's not act like it is just republicans ganging up on hunter biden. if he comes in and says nothing. that's his prerogative bust it will speak volumes the things he doesn't answer to. like i said, not all of our questions are around the fact that he evaded millions of dollars in taxes. >> dana: last night, sir, mike johnson was on with bret baier talking about the other biden issue on the hill today, moving forward with a formal inquiry vote. listen to him here. >> we've shown great restraint. there are a lot of people who are frustrated this hasn't moved faster. i stand by every word i said in the video. a big distinction between what is happening now and what the demo democrats. they did not follow procedures i just described. we have three committees investigating this and following the truth where they lead. >> dana: do you expect the house republicans to be able to get enough votes to go forward with a formal inquiry today? >> i do. some conversation with members who were concerned about this vote a couple months ago i think the level of detail we've been able to bring through this investigation has allowed members to get comfortable with voting for an impeachment inquiry. let me be clear, this is about giving the house full investigative powers to finish our business. we've uncovered so much. i believe the votes are there today to make that inquiry happen and we'll proceed from there. >> bill: you only lose a couple, right? maybe one? >> we can only lose a couple at a time. >> bill: your majority is three seats. >> that's correct. i don't anticipate we'll lose. maybe one. that's how i anticipate this vote to go. >> bill: we'll see whether or not we see hunter biden very soon. thank you, byron donalds republican from florida on the hill. i thought the one answer was very interesting what he chooses to not answer. we'll find that out probably in the transcript that will be released. >> dana: this is back from september 1st . nbc news the white house anticipated this and ramped up war room to battle impeachment inquiry. aides studied the clinton white house 1998 response to impeachment as a model for a vigorous defense and making republicans pay a political price. he has sands trois is combative and good at his job. they have their work cut out on both sides. >> bill: will we hear from abbe lowell today, the attorney for hunter biden. to keep everything straight, hunter biden is one thing. impeachment inquiry into the sitting president is another matter. that will develop throughout the day. this is the best guidance we have from chad pergram. you heard byron donalds said they might lose one. maybe they lose one or two. that's in quotes now on the impeachment inquiry today. debate likely comes around mid to late afternoon. so maybe that's 3:00 to 5:00 eastern with a vote then to happen around 5:00 or 6:00 later tonight. it is all in flux at capitol hill often is. >> dana: they should take the vote before "the five" and we'll talk about it. >> bill: stand by. we have our cameras there and find out together what happens. u.n. did it again voting for a cease-fire by an overwhelming majority. but any mention of hamas or its vicious terror attacks, did that happen? not a chance at the u.n.ormer s mike pompeo is standing by. plus allegations of academic misconduct wronging harvard's president. >> bill: daily migrant encounters at the southern border surpassing 10,000 again. communities under siege. an s.o.s. out from the border. see whether or not washington hears that loud and clear. >> things are out of control. i wish president biden would just forget about build back better and put things back the way he found them. lets you take out an average of $70,000 to pay off your car loan pay off your credit cards and pay yourself cash. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪) hi, i'm michael, i've lost 70 pounds on golo. i spent thousands on other diets that didn't work. on golo, i spent a couple hundred bucks and got back down to my high school weight. you're not gonna believe this thing is possible but it is. generalized myasthenia gravis made my life a lot harder. but the picture started changing when i started on vyvgart. vyvgart is for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis who are anti-achr antibody positive . in a clinical trial, vyvgart significantly improved most participants' ability to do daily activities when added to their current gmg treatment. most participants taking vyvgart also had less muscle weakness. and your vyvgart treatment schedule is designed just for you. in a clinical study, the most common side effects included urinary and respiratory tract infections, and headache. vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. available as vyvgart for iv infusion and now as vyvgart hytrulo for subcutaneous injection. additional side effects for vyvgart hytrulo may include injection site reactions. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart. >> bill: here we go. inside capitol hill. we expect in about 14 minutes to see hunter biden and his lawyers get out of i don't know if it's that car. >> dana: our camera guys are on it. >> bill: they are. we'll find out together as we said a moment ago, what goes down on the hill. hunter flew from california to the east coast. we expect him to be there and we'll know in minutes. >> dana: 14 minutes. >> bill: that means you can't change the channel. >> dana: of course, who would? who wod anyway? >> bill: you have to keep watching. >> dana: you have to keep seeing this. the hill will leave town. they want to get back and they have a very busy morning in washington right now. you see the house financial services committee is holding a hearing on iran funding and terrorist financing. lawmakers are looking for information from the biden administration on the iranian regime's access to money around the world and how they use it to support terrorism. that is happening as well. >> i won't telegraph our punches. we'll do what we have to do to protect ourselves and national security interests including freedom of navigation for commercial vessels in the red sea. >> bill: a source of hot debate. defending the u.s. air defenses. just a short time ago, it has been report evidence that a u.s. navy destroyer in the red sea downed a drone coming from houthi controlled yemen. defense officials say the warship responded with two ballistic missiles likely fired by the iran-backed measure. both missed a commercial oil tanker heading toward the suez canal. no one injured and no damage reported. watch that story, it goes by the day. >> dana: a new restlation that may go to the house floor today is calling for the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. to step down. they came under criticism after their testimony no congress last week. >> we expected this bipartisan resolution could be voted on by 5:00 p.m. today or after 5:00 p.m. today. it not only says the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. should resign but condemns anti-semitism on college campuses and condemns the testimony of all three university presidents last week for being evasive and dismissive when asked if calling for the genocide of jews violates university policies. >> it is all part of a dramatic rise in anti-semitism. these universities have not done a good job with addressing it. only because they were embarrassed in congress are they now saying okay, okay, we're going to address it. >> the resolution cites an anti-defamation league report finding 400 anti-semitic incidents on college campuses nationwide since october 7th. 12 times more than the same time last year. meantime harvard continues to stand by its president claudine gay amid allegations of plagiarism. the post says they found 27 incidents of potential plagiarism in gay's works published between 1993 and 2017. the post says harvard lawyers stonewalled them when questioned about the claims in october. former princeton university professor dr. carol swain claims gay plagiarized from her on two occasions. >> if she had been a white male or female she would you be gone by now. harvard doesn't get to redefine pledgeism. we know what it is. she violated that and needs to be held accountable >> harvard found a few inadequate citations but no research was conducted. >> dana: i don't know if everybody is afforded that leniency at harvard, especially as a student. >> any cease-fire right now would be temporary at best and dangerous at worst. dangerous to israelis subject to relentless attacks, and also dangerous to palestinians, who deserve the chance to build a better future for themselves free from hamas. >> dana: a lonely but strong voice in opposition at the united nations general assembly. they passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in gaza but makes no mention of hamas or terror attacks on october 7th. mike pompeo is joining us. if you could playing this for mr. secretary. i want you to listen to what he is saying if the u.n. really wants a cease-fire, he has a suggestion. >> if you want a real cease-fire, here is the right address. this is the phone number of hamas's office in gaza. you can all call. >> dana: i don't know if anyone is going to call but if they did, they would probably find out that hamas has no plans of stopping. >> dana and bill, good morning. hamas has no plans of stopping until they're eliminated. each of it must go. no doubt about it. israelis have this right. it wasn't surprising what happened at the united nations yesterday. they have been on the wrong side of the issues around israel for a long time. we've seen it. the u.n. utility is very, very limited. we saw what secretary general said as well at the outset. it sounded like he was trying to be you a -- i hope israelis will continue to stand strong. i've listened to president biden. he is talking about israeli indiscriminate bombing. that's wrong. nothing about what they've been is indiscriminate and how hardist is to work in prime minister netanyahu. that's music to the ears of iran and we need to stand strong with our dealings with israel. >> bill: netanyahu says this after hamas is eliminated in gaza if and when it happens. i will not israel repeat the oslo mistake going back to the 1990s. gaza will be neither hamas or fatah stan. the resolution was introduced by egypt. voting with the united states israel czech republican. she has been amazing the woman from prague. austria. we had guatemala, naru, micronesia, new againy and paraguay are with us and israel. think about the egyptian for a moment. weren't they the ones who cemented the rafah gate in the early days of the israeli invasion of gaza? weren't they the government that said no palestinians can leave gaza and come into the sinai? do we have that right? they cemented the gate? >> yes, you have the facts right. they have refused to take any of the refugees that want to get out of the way of the fighting that is taking place. hamas's attack in israel. it is worth noting, too, you talked earlier about the attacks on an american vessel in the red sea. that's egypt, right? it is just as real for the gulf arab states for israel and the rest of the world. this has to be taken on deterrence against iran has to be reestablished. the edge egypt --ist reduces risk to their own people and reduces risk throughout the entire region. >> dana: israelis started flooding the tunnels with sea water. former secretary of state mike pompeo, great to have you here. thank you. >> bill: talk soon, thanks. >> dana: thank you. >> bill: we're awaiting hunter biden expected on the hill in six minutes. he will face, we believe, a deposition on behalf of republicans and democrats and how it goes we'll all find out soon. how all this spills into the re-election campaign of his father, which is now facing warnings from a major democratic operative. can biden step up or step out? >> mr. president, you are the oldest president ever >> pretty good shape. >> some people ask whether you are fit for the job. and when you hear that, i wonder what you think. >> president biden: watch me. up. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. and, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with 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i would say not yet. i would say we do not know how this is all going to unfold but that's why we're watching and we'll find out whether or not byron donalds will get his wish and find out which questions hunter biden chooses not to answer. we're watching that door. i don't believe it was hunter biden there. president biden's dwindling re-election support. faces an impeachment vote we expect to happen later today. mark meredith will take us through that one today. mark, good morning. >> good morning. the white house has shrugged off much of the talk of impeachment saying it's about politics. that colonel can you lues may change depending what happens with the president's agenda and congressional action going on into the new year. the president insisted the polls show him losing in a hypothetical match-up to president trump or nikki haley are wrong. the saga of hunter biden is taking its toll. no issue is more likely to anger or sadden president biden than attacks on his son, hunter. according to people close to president who have seen his mood shift when it involves his son, hunter. ifist is issues like economy, border crime. 37% of people approving of the president's job performance. that's a record low. there are also reports that the biden/harris campaign is getting ready to rely more heavily on big democratic name, hunter biden who ran for the 2016 democratic presidential nomination. clinton had a fundraiser not too long ago and the biden/harris campaign will bring out her former press secretary as a top aide to vice president harris' shop. the biden/harris campaign will have to rely on democratic establishment groups to get them over the finish line. as we looked over the polling numbers they show him far under water. as we look at the live pictures here spotlight will be on what the first son may or may not have to say to lawmakers today. testimony happening behind closed doors. we have to see what they have to say afterwards. remember, hunter biden could still be called to testify publicly, dana and bill as we continue to look at live pictures coming from capitol hill as lawmakers and others get ready to show up. tough to see who is coming in and out of these vehicles right now. >> bill: perhaps as well, mark, as the door comes open. hang with us a moment here, dana, what do you think? >> dana: not sure. there are a lot of people getting out of that car. >> bill: that's four. okay. that's five, i do believe. >> dana: i don't know if they're coming from the same car. we'll see. >> bill: thank you for being patient to us to our audience at home. >> dana: let's bring in mark penn and bill mcgurn. president faces some dismal polling numbers. you had democratic operative named simon rosenberg, he tweeted this. dear biden world. please turn on the campaign 100% everywhere thank you. then he told "politico" we have to get going. the biden campaign is wise to turn on fully to get ready for the general election and give democrats across the country something to do. mark penn. this comes after democrats are saying they're worried the campaign is not fully staffed. not firing on all cylinders in the main states. what's the hold-up? >> i don't know. look, when you are president doing the job of president, usually is the best campaign, right? getting out there and doing stuff about inflation, crime, immigration. you know, communications is only going to go so far in this environment. a lot of people want to get the campaign going, there will be a state of the union. that state of the union generally is seen as the kickoff of the campaign and going to include the message. so i don't think it is a question of campaign organization, just getting going on the big issues. >> dana: bill do you think this has something to do with either the way biden is running the campaign. he has a campaign manager, she has never about run a presidential campaign but a super competent person. what do you think is happening? >> i think what he is saying, what simon is saying is that if joe biden wants to be reelected, he has to get in full campaign mode because a lot of people who would not -- a lot of democrats who would not want him on the ballot will nonetheless vote for him when there is campaign choice between democrats and republicans. and so we have to be busy. the big question is whether joe biden is up for that. i don't think so. i cannot see joe biden in presidential debates because i think he is diminished even from the last time he ran. so i don't know what is going to happen, what they want from him, i don't know he can deliver. >> dana: take me back to your experience with the clinton administration, mark. there was impeachment and a scandal. right now waiting for hunter biden to arrive to answer questions in a closed door deposition if he is going to arrive. we're waiting. he is pretty late. i don't know what's happening there. we'll find out if he decides not to show up at all. at the same time, the house is likely to pass a bill today that would allow for a formal inquiry. we'll see who is getting out of this car as one that just pulled up. i don't think that be will it. mark, please tell me the impeachment, help or hurt biden at this point? >> well, i don't think hunter biden not showing up will be very helpful. his lawyer said he wasn't going to show up so i would have been surprised if he did show up and cooperate. this really, i think, given the fact that republicans were prosecuted for not showing up, i think this is going to put the justice department in a vice here in terms of are they going to act or are they not going to act and what will happen here? it will also guarantee the passage of the impeachment inquiry that also was in doubt. so i think this is a very bad move on hunter biden's part. i think in the face of what's really going on here because you've got to minimize impeachment. what you have to show is you are busy doing the job of the country and you are going to let impeachment work itself out, follow the processes but it is not going to go anywhere. what we always did is make it about the president doing his job, separate the two out. but never put yourself in a situation where you are not cooperating with authorities because americans don't like that. >> dana: something that might be understandable to a lot of people was reported in axios yesterday, bill mcgurn. president biden has got a real hunter trigger, they called it in the piece. saying the president feels guilty, sad and angry when his son is attacked. how will that affect his campaigning? >> i don't think it will help. you saw it in the last campaign in the debates joe biden was very untruthful. every time he was asked about his son. and he showed anger, he denied that, for example, hunter got any money from china. hunter did get money from china. he said he didn't know anything about it. i don't think anger is the best way to deal with that. and i agree with mark, this is a very dumb strategy as far as i can see, because remember, steve bannon was prosecuted because he didn't cooperate with congress. they are seeking this formal impeachment inquiry to enhance their subpoena power. if they don't prosecute hunter for not cooperating, i think it puts them in an awkward position. why are they protecting the president's son? >> dana: i noticed yesterday that byron york from "the washington examiner" said that what hunter biden is being accused of doing by the government, by avoiding taxes, mark is exactly what a lot of democrats say they want to catch up on. here we have hunter biden. let's listen. [shouted questions] >> now did you get into so much trouble? >> mr. biden does not have a statement to make. [ >> i'm here today to make sure that the house -- [inaudible] manipulated evidence and lies. and i'm here today to acknowledge that i've made -- [inaudible] for that i'm responsible. for that i'm accountable. for that i'm -- [inaudible]. i'm also here today to correct how the maga right has betrayed me for their political purposes. i am first and foremost the son, father, brother, and husband from a loving and supportive family. i'm proud to have earned degrees from georgetown university, yale law school. i'm proud of my legal career, business career. i'm proud of my time serving on different boards of directors and i have proud of my efforts with local business relationships. for six years maga republicans, including members of the house committees who are in a closed door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded privacy, attacked my wife, children, family and my friends. they've ridiculed my struggle with addiction. impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends. they have ridiculed my struggle with addiction. they have belittled my recovery and tried to dehumanize me all to damage and embarrass my father, who has devoted his entire public life to service. for six years, i have been the target of the unrelenting trump attack machine shouting where is hunter? well, here is my answer. i am here. let me state as clearly as i can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of burisma, not in my partnership with a chinese private businessman or my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist. during my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me. they literally saved my life. they helped me in ways i will never be able to repay and of course they would never expect me to. in the depths of my addiction i was extremely irresponsible with my finances. but to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. it is shameless. there is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen. james comer, jim jordan, jason smith, and their colleagues have distorted the facts by cherry picking lines from a bank statement, manipulating texts i sent, editing the testimony of my friends and former business partners, and misdating personal information that was stolen from me. there is no fairness odecency in what these republicans are doing. they have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life. so much so, that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people. no matter how many times it is debunked, they continue to insist that my father's support of ukraine against russia is the result of a non-existent bribe. they displayed naked photos of me during an oversight hearing. and they have taken the light of my dad's love, the light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness. they have no shame. these same committee chairmen have engaged in unprecedented political interference in what would have already been a five-year investigation of me. yet here i am, mr. chairmaman, taking up your offer when you said we can bring these people in for depositions or committee hearings, whichever they choose. well, i've chosen. i am here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee's legitimate questions. republicans do not want an open process where americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what i have to say. what are they afraid of? i'm here, i'm ready. >> are you ready -- [shouted questions] >> if your father was not involved -- >> bill: that's about what we'll get for the moment. there is somewhat of a sizeable walk from capitol hill to the rayburn house office building, which is where our cameras had been located and fixed on those doors, dana. two major lines here. my father was not involved in my business. quote, there is no evidence because it did not happen. >> dana: that's what i wrote. you and i picked up on the same thing. he also several times referred to maga republicans and maga extremists having impugned his character and invaded his privacy and led to lies that are believed by way too many people. i'm a little confused, bill, is he now going to go testify? >> bill: i believe so. >> dana: david spunt, if you could chime in here. he is 15 minutes late to give a statement and now walk over there or drive over to the rayburn building and start the deposition? >> you know, that's what we assume. honestly his moves have been totally unpredictable to see the least. we know now in this room behind me there are republicans and democrats sitting in the room waiting for hunter biden presumably watching what he just said live on air as he is supposedly to make his way into this building, rayburn, for his closed door deposition. now what he just did on camera is what republicans were hoping to not happen. they wanted to talk to him behind closed doors for a transcribed deposition under oath. what he just said was not under oath. it was a prepared statement. right now we're waiting here at the rayburn building to see if hunter biden shows up. we know he just left in an s.u.v. with the secret service detail which he is entitled to and his attorney. i hate i can't give you a definitive answer. we don't expect hunter biden to show up with the capital dome and speak today. remains to be seen what he does. major day on capitol hill. later these same members who want the talk to him will be on the house floor considering a resolution to open up an impeachment inquiry against his father. so it remains to be seen if he shows up. we're keeping a close eye on this hallway. >> bill: we'll get a transcribed interview at some point. when is the earliest we might see that? >> it depends on how long it is, i'm told. they can turn these transcripts fairly quickly here. it goes on five or six hours, may not be until friday or next week. it is possible it could be tomorrow. if he comes in and invokes his right to the fifth amendment and doesn't say much, i'm here and respect the process and why i'm showing up and can't say much because i'm under indictment. he was indicted in california last week on tax charges. anything he says here in congress, which is not a legal court of law or a real court of law, can be used against him in a real court of law whether it be delaware, on the gun charges or in california on the tax charges. >> bill: the reason we bring that up here now as we bring in mark penn and bill mcgurn to join us and dial up others in a moment here hunter biden said i'm here to answer any legitimate question. he called it an illegitimate investigation. if our viewers were with us at the top of the 9:00 hour byron donalds, who will be in this room, said what he chooses to not answer suggested to donalds it will be quite telling and i would imagine as we go forward once we see the transcript, whether it's today or the end of the week or next week, that republicans will hang on these questions that he chooses to not answer. >> dana: but it is possible, though, he could go in and not do the transcribed portion and say he could plead the fifth. >> bill: he could. >> dana: so he gave a public statement. >> bill: i didn't get the sense that he was willing to do that based on the statements he made at the top of his moment there. >> dana: he just left the capitol. >> bill: big mcgurn and mark penn join the conversation. bill mcgurn, why don't you start and tell us what you took away from what we just watched. >> dana: bill, your thoughts? >> yes, i took away that they are trying to try this case in public because they don't have much of a legal case. i thought the qualifiers were very interesting. you know, you said he said his father was not involved in his business. not really. he parsed that a little more carefully. he said not financially involved. that's moving from originally joe biden said he had no idea, never discussed it. those qualifiers are important. they are not in there by accident. so he is saying he is not financially involved. he said he is willing to answer legitimate questions. that means he will be the arbiter of what is legitimate. so the fact that we still don't know what he is going to do, whether he will appear at that deposition and take the fifth, which i think would be the smartest thing, we don't know. he is trying to manipulate public opinion by putting his narrative out there. >> bill: you are correct, bill. his actual quote was my father was not financially involved in business. so we'll make that clarification for the record here. and the reason that's important, dana, is because if you remember the bill clinton days when they put that deposition out there on camera, when he was interviewed and everybody sat there and said he sounded pretty good and we came out and heard from the lawyers and they had entirely different take on it and that changed our view of that case then. >> dana: i want to double-check, though. he said that three or four times and at one point i wrote down father was not involved but maybe he will try to say he was being a little more specific on that. mark penn, your thoughts on the strategy here, communications strategy to do a public statement, not answer any questions and now we're waiting to see if he shows up for this deposition. >> well look, i thought it was a strong and tough statement. you have to parse every word. it was legally -- lawyer was standing right next to him. i think the big question is what did he sell and did his father let him sell it? and those questions are questions that the american public really want answered. he is not a very popular figure. he did not acknowledge that he is under multiple indictments by the biden justice department. and he said he wasn't going to show. i don't expect him to show. and i will be surprised if he does show. i think it's a much wiser course. every trump child had to sit through multiple depositions. a routine part of our legal process. it is nothing particularly unusual. and if he doesn't show, i think it is going to as i said, i will it will rev up the battle lines here on the impeachment inquiry. i don't think that's the way to resolve this. the best way to resolve it get the questions answered, show that -- what the truth is behind your statements that your father was not involved. >> dana: one thing i would point out is that senator chris murphy, a democrat from connecticut over the weekend called most of the recent charges against hunter biden legally justified. and i just wonder about again ask you, mark penn, about the communication strategy. if you have democrats under some really tough re-election scenarios, i don't know if chris murphy is up or not. probably doesn't have a tough race. many democrats, everybody will be asked if they think that what hunter did was okay. and how are they going to answer that? i don't know if this is the right -- as you are saying is it the right communications strategy for the overall campaign? >> well look, the right communication strategy is to say the president did his job as vice presisionestly and fairly and his son did some things that are wrong that are going to be adjudicated. whether or not he did things that were wrong. you want to move the son's issues as far away from the administration as possible. the more you deny they exist, when everybody knows you received money and he received substantial money. doesn't appear to have paid his taxes at that time. you know, without acknowledging that in some way, you defy -- >> bill: hang on one second, mark, i apologize. david spunt is watching the door, okay? this is the email he just sent out. no sign of him, meaning hunter, obviously at rayburn. and then david spunt reports appears in all caps he is skipping the deposition. james comer and others are not happy. i'm told that comer will speak to the pool camera at some point. so that may be the next development, gentlemen, we may have taken a completely different turn just like that. stand by. we'll report it when it happens. we'll move through it together slowly and we'll get it right as we go. byron york now joins us. what is your take at this hour? >> well, i did not hear him say that he was going to testify in a deposition. he said he was ready to testify in a public hearing. that has been the crux of the fight between the committee and hunter biden. so there is a reason for this. in a deposition, both sides usually give their lawyers an hour to question the witness. in a public hearing, you have to have each member of the committee get five minutes to question the witness and it leads to a lot of showboating, a lot of politicking and it is not very informative. so the chairman says we always start with a private deposition, which is transcribed, and then after that we have a public hearing. hunter biden says no, i won't do the deposition, i will only do the public hearing. and the chairman is saying listen, you don't get to decide. i think one interesting thing here about this whole hunter biden show that we've seen this morning is that it is a good idea to at least show up even if you are not going to talk. in congress, if you are subpoenaed to testify and you tell the members of congress to forget about it, you are not showing up, they get really mad. if you show up and say well, because of the fifth amendment i can't answer your questions but here i am, here is my body right in front of you, then they have less reason to go after you for contempt of congress. >> dana: and you have the situation where the justice department is also involved here. not on this hearing necessarily, but they are the ones who brought the charges and they are the ones who added more charges last week, byron. >> yeah, these are two separate tracks. the charges that they added were tax evasion charges, which hunter biden actually got off kind of easy because they let the statute of limitations pass on some of the more egregious tax evasion in 2014 and 2015. too long ago to be prosecuted. then there is the gun case as well. it is important to remember the justice department and the house republicans are not two completely separate tracks here. the justice department is going to prosecute this tax charge and they are going to stay a million miles away from joe biden. not gonna get close. the house republican investigation is all about joe biden. that's what james comer said when he started the investigation in january. he said this is a joe biden investigation, not a hunter biden investigation. those are two completely different tracks and hunter biden has no choice but to deal with the justice department. he is trying to stone wall congress. >> bill: it looks like david spunt's reporting is right so far. >> dana: it doesn't take that long to get there. >> bill: if it were your intent to show up in front of this committee, even if you were to take the fifth, you would probably show up on time. >> dana: right? >> bill: and that press conference started 14, 15 minutes late. maybe the folks at home that might not seem like a big deal. when you deal with these kind of schedules on matters of such high import, you are there when they tell you to be there. or request that you are there. so byron, i think are we off into the great unknown now? >> well, we could be if he doesn't show up at all. as i was saying before it gets members of congress really mad and they could pursue contempt charges against him. the only problem there is the house can get all excited and find him in contempt of congress and then -- but the problem is the justice department has to enforce that. now during the january 6th committee investigation, we saw the justice department get really serious about contempt of congress. so when a couple of witnesses like steve bannon wouldn't show up or talk or produce anything, they were cited for contempt of congress and the justice department prosecuted them. here i don't think the biden justice department would be ry