Hunter Biden pleads guilty to federal tax charges | Special Report

>>> THIS IS A CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT. I'M NORAH O'DONNELL AND THERE IS BREAKING NEWS FROM LOS ANGELES. HUNTER BIDEN PLEADED GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN HIS FEDERAL TAX EVASION CASE. HE FACED NINE CHARGES, INCLUDING THREE FELONY AND SIX MISDEMEANOR COUNTS. THE CHARGES ARE RELATED TO HIS ALLEGED FAILURE TO PAY TAXES AND TAX EVASION FROM 2016 THROUGH 2019 WHEN HE WAS STRUGGLING WITH DRUG ADDICTION. THE PRESIDENT'S SON OLD NEARLY $1.5 MILLION IN UNPAID TAXES, WHICH WAS EVENTUALLY PAID BACK. TODAY'S SURPRISE DEVELOPMENTS COME MONTHS AFTER HUNTER BIDEN WAS CONVICTED OF LYING ON A 2018 FORM TO PURCHASE A GUN THAT HE OWNED FOR 11 DAYS. ADAM AND ERIKA ARE OUTSIDE THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN LOS ANGELES. ADAM, WALK US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED. >> IT WAS QUITE A DAY WITH TWISTS AND TURNS. WE STARTED WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT THIS WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY IN COURT. HUNTER BIDEN PLED NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES IN JURY SELECTION WAS SET TO BEGIN. COURT WAS CONVENED AND THE JUDGE STARTED TO LAY OUT SOME PROCEDURES FOR HOW IT WOULD GO, THEN HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY SAID THAT NONE WILL BE NECESSARY, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE OUR PLEA. THAT CHANGED A COUPLE OF TIMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND ULTIMATELY WHERE WE LANDED THIS AFTERNOON MOMENTS AGO WAS THAT HE WAS GOING TO PLEAD GUILTY. THE JUDGE HAS ACCEPTED THAT AND SENTENCING WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER. >> YOU ARE INSIDE ALL DAY. TELL ME ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED BEHIND THE SCENES AND HOW MUCH TIME IS HUNTER BIDEN FACING IN PRISON? >> Reporter: AS MENTIONED, IT WAS A SERIES OF TWISTS AND TURNS AND WE CAME IN ANTICIPATING JURY SELECTION TO GET UNDERWAY AS SCHEDULED WHEN MENTIONED THAT HE WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE HIS PLEA. WE REALIZED THAT IT WOULD BE AN ALFORD PLEA, WHICH WOULD BE SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN ENTERING A STANDARD GUILTY PLEA. AFTER THAT, CAME BACK AND WE ACTUALLY WANT TO ENTER AN OPEN PLEA. AS MENTIONED, THE JUDGE HAS ACCEPTED THAT THE OPEN PLEA FOR ALL NINE CHARGES AFTER 17 YEARS IN PRISON AND A MAXIMUM FINE OF UP TO $1.45 MILLION. SENTENCING WILL BE HELD IN DECEMBER, BUT HUNTER BIDEN WAS ATTENTIVE AND LOOKING AT HIS ATTORNEYS SHARPLY, ESPECIALLY WHEN A PROSECUTION WAS OPPOSING THIS PLEA ENTERING. THEY SAID THAT IT WOULD BE THE HEARING IN PARTICULAR AND IN JUSTICE AND THAT HUNTER BIDEN IS NOT INCIDENT INNOCENT. HE SHOULD NOT BE GRANTED ANY SPECIAL PRIVILEGES AND HE WAS SHARPLY FOCUSED ON PROSECUTORS WHEN THEY WERE MAKING ASSERTION ULTIMATELY ENTERING THE GUILTY PLEA AND HE STOOD UP ONCE DURING THE HEARING TO BE SWORN IN, THEN WHEN JUDGE WAS THE SIDING OVER ALL OF THESE PROCEEDINGS FROM THE BEGINNING ASKED HIM IF HE COMMITTED CRIMES THAT WERE ALLEGED WITH HUNTER BIDEN REMAINING SEATED AND THAT IS WHEN HE ENTERED THE GUILTY PLEA. THE JUDGE ACCEPTING THAT FLEET AND ESSENTIALLY WRAPPING UP A DAY OF TWISTS AND TURNS ANTICIPATING JURORS TO BE QUESTIONED ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CASE AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO SERVE, BUT INSTEAD ENDING WITH A GUILTY PLEA ENTERED AND A SENTENCINGS DATE FOR DECEMBER. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH BUT WE WANT TO BRING IN FORMER DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL TOM WHO IS WITH US. EXPLAIN THE LEGAL STRATEGY THAT HUNTER BIDEN'S TEAM USED TODAY. >> I THINK HIS LEGAL TEAM REACHED A NONCONTROVERSIAL CONCLUSION THAT THERE IS NO WAY HE WAS GOING TO WIN THE CASE AND THAT STANDING TRIAL WOULD BASICALLY PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON ALL OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT HE ENGAGED IN OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WHICH HAPPENED IN A POLITICALLY SENSITIVE TIME AND HIS FATHER IS NO LONGER A CANDIDATE, BUT I CAN SEE HOW THEY DIDN'T WANT THESE BEING AIRED, SO THEY DECIDED TO PLEAD GUILTY AND THEY ORIGINALLY TRIED TO NEGOTIATE AN ALFORD PLEA, WHICH IS RARE AND CONTROVERSIAL MANEUVER, THEN THEY CAME QUICKLY BACK TO THE JUDGE AND SAID HE WOULD ENTER AN OPEN PLEA, WHICH IS A NORMAL PLEA OF GUILTY AND THE JUDGE ACCEPTED IT AND SENTENCING FOR HUNTER BIDEN IN DECEMBER. >> WHILE HE FACES A MAXIMUM OF 17 YEARS IN PRISON, WHAT DO YOU THINK COULD BE DECIDED BY THE JUDGE ON DECEMBER 16th? >> I DON'T SEE THE JUDGE IMPOSING ANYTHING ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 17 YEARS. I THINK THE JUDGE WILL IMPOSE SOMETHING FAR LESS AND IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, I WOULD THINK PROBABLY LESS THAN FIVE YEARS COME UP WITH THE LARGER POINT IS THAT THEY HAVE GOTTEN A PARDON IN HIS BACK POCKET OR A GOOD POSSIBILITY OF A PARDON FROM OUTGOING PRESIDENT BARDEN BIDEN WHO MADE THAT PLEDGE BEFORE HE WITHDREW AS A CANDIDATE. THE SENTENCING PROCEEDING IS OBVIOUSLY IMPORTANT, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE BIG QUESTION IS GOING TO BE WHETHER PRESIDENT BIDEN ON HIS LAST DAYS IN OFFICE PARDONS HIS SON. >> NO DOUBT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I WANT TO BRING IN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT WEIJIA JIANG. WHAT ABOUT WHAT TOM WAS SAYING THERE? WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL PARDON HIS ONLY SURVIVING SON FOR THESE CRIMES? >> Reporter: AS MENTIONED BEFORE, WHEN HUNTER BIDEN WAS CONVICTED OF A GUN FELONY CHARGE. VINCE THEN, PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS INSISTED MANY TIMES THAT HE WOULD NOT PARDON OR COMMUTE HUNTER BIDEN. WHEN WE FIRST LEARNED THAT HUNTER WAS PLANNING TO CHANGE HIS PLEA, THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY REITERATED BEEN SAID THAT THE PRESIDENT IS NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT ACTION, BUT OF COURSE HE STILL CAN UNTIL THE TRANSFER OF POWER. THEY SAY THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT HE WILL CONSIDER, BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT HAS SPOKEN AT LENGTH BEFORE ABOUT HIS FAITH AND COMMITMENT TO UPHOLDING THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. OF COURSE, THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR THE PRESIDENT AS A FATHER. EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE NOT HEARD FROM HIM SINCE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENT, HE HAS LONG SAID THAT DESPITE HUNTER BIDEN'S CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AND CONVICTION , HE IS STILL VERY PROUD AS A FATHER AND THAT HE SUPPORTS HUNTER BIDEN. IF HE DOES SPEAK, WE EXPECT TO HEAR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES. SOMETHING ELSE MENTIONED AGAIN IS THAT THIS ALLOWS PRESIDENT BIDEN TO AVOID THE POLITICAL AND PERSONAL DESTRUCTION THAT COULD HAVE UNFOLDED AS HE TRIES TO SHAPE HIS LEGACY IN THE LAST FEW DAYS -- MUST FEW MONTHS. >> WE ARE WATCHING PICTURES OF HUNTER BIDEN AND HIS WIFE LEAVING THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT WITH THIS GUILTY PLEA AND HE IS AVOIDING WHAT COULD BE A LENGTHY AND VERY MESSY TRIAL, WHICH NOT ONLY TALKS ABOUT HIS TAX EVASION CHARGES, BUT WHY HE WAS EVADING TAXES AT THE TIME. HE WAS DEALING WITH AN ADDICTION TO DROUGHTS AND ALCOHOL . HE WAS JUST ROCK PROSECUTORS ALLEGED DEDUCTIONS WHERE HE WAS USING MONEY TO PAY FOR CARS OF EXTRAVAGANT HOTELS. WITH THIS GUILTY PLEA, THE BIDEN LEGAL TEAM IS HOPING TO AVOID MORE OF THOSE DISCLOSURES. WEIJIA JIANG, HUNTER BIDEN IS VERY CLOSE WITH HIS FATHER IN THE FAMILY VISITS ONE ANOTHER REGULARLY. >> YES, THEY ARE INCREDIBLY CLOSE AND DURING THE LAST TRIAL FOR HUNTERS GUN CHARGES, THE FIRST LADY WAS ACTUALLY BY HIS SIDE EVERY DAY, EXCEPT FOR ONE THIRD. THIS IS A CLOSE KNIT FAMILY. AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS LAST MONTH IN OFFICE AS HE TRIES TO SHAPE HIS LEGACY, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO BE A DISTRACTION. NOW, THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD IN WHATEVER WAY THEY CAN. >> WEIJIA JIANG AT THE WHITE HOUSE, THANK YOU. ONCE AGAIN, PLEADING GUILTY ON ALL NINE COUNTS IN CALIFORNIA. THE 54-YEAR-OLD FACES UP TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON AND MORE THAN $1 MILLION IN FINES AND SENTENCING WILL BE DECEMBER 13th , WHICH IS NOTABLY AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION AND THE POSSIBILITY THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN COULD PARDON HIS SON STILL EXISTS. OUR COVERAGE WILL CONTINUE ON CBS NEWS 24/7 AND A FULL WRAP UP ON THE CBS EVENING NEWS. THIS HAS IN A SPECIAL REPORT. I'M NORAH O'DONNELL. >>> JUST TO RECAP WHAT YOU JUST HEARD, HUNTER BIDEN PLEADED GUILTY TO ALL NINE CHARGES IN FEDERAL