His sometime friend and longtime associate roger stone. Roger stone, the convicted felon convicted by a jury of lying to congress apparently on the president s behalf. Cnns sara murray has the details. President trump called roger stone earlier. What are you learning about the conversation . Reporter thats right. Roger stone had been waiting for and hoping for this phone call. He said hed been praying for it and essentially going to prison would be a death sentence for him. And finally as the president was leaving tonight he finally called roger stone, and here is how stone described that conversation. He said you understand i have the option, i have the authority to either grant a pardon or commute your sentence. He says you should understand that a pardon would be final, and that in accepting a pardon you are accepting guilt, and i would rather see you fight this out, which is why im commuting your sentence. Reporter now, both roger stone of course and donald trump believe that this was politically motivated, that thats the only reason he faced charges, but even attorney general bill barr has said this was a righteous prosecution. What is the white house saying about the commutation . Reporter the white house put out a lengthy statement. Well just read you a portion of it. This is from the press secretary saying at this time in light of the egregious facts and circumstances surrounding his unfair prosecution, arrest, and trial the president has determined to commute his sentence. Roger stone has already suffered greatly. He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger stone is now a free man. And anderson, i think what youre seeing here is what weve continued to see from this white house and this administration to sort of rewrite the narrative around the russia investigation and sort of make it seem like no one in the president s orbit actually did anything wrong and they were just targeted unfairly. And stone is still challenging his conviction in appeals court, right . Reporter he is. Hes gone after the judge that was overseeing his case. Hes gone after the jury, saying they were not unbiased towards him. And hes trying to essentially get that conviction overturned. The important thing to remember about the commutation, it means hes not going to be going to prison right now but hes still a convicted felon. I think thats what played out in this call with him and the president , the indication that stone is going to continue to fight to clear his name. Sara, thank you very much. Back to the pandemic racing across the country. During the president s visit to florida today he made mow reference to it. But cases topping 60,000 a day this week and hospitals in big states and small filling up. More now on all of it from cnns erica hill, who joins us now. Georgia was one of the first states to reopen but now theres some major changes happening there. Reporter the mayor of atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms putting in a new order. She says her city is going back to phase one. She says no gathering of any size is allowed on atlanta property. People need to wear masks in public. She had already mandated that but shes bringing the city back to phase one. They were in phase two because she says georgia reopened in a reckless manner and the city is now suffering the consequences. The governor pushing back, calling this plan back calling it confusing. And this is one of the states posting a new record today. A daily high for new cases in georgia, nearly 4,500. And this is one of the states, again, that opened early back in late april. Long lines for testing in florida as the numbers there continue to move in the wrong direction. The situation is truly concerning here in south florida. Reporter florida is now averaging more than 9,000 new cases a day. A staggering jump of more than 1,200 since the state began reopening two months ago. The president in hard hit Miamidade County today though not because the Positivity Rate there is nearly 30 . There seems to be this lack of understanding or awareness that we are in one of the most extraordinary Public Health crises that our nation has ever faced. Reporter the u. S. Is shattering new case records almost daily. West virginia now has the highest transmission rate in the country. The only bullet in the gun right now is this right here. This little mask. Reporter ten states seeing an increase in covid related deaths over the past week. Half of those posting their highest average for new cases since the pandemic began. I think the numbers are going to look worse as we go into next week. And we need to make sure that theres going to be plenty of hospital beds available in the houston area. Reporter its not just Hospital Capacity and icu beds. Personal protective equipment is once again in short supply in some areas. Weve had plenty of time to plan and take action, and it has yet to happen. Reporter as some states pause or roll back their reopening plans, many jobs are also on hold. The 600 weekly unemployment boost will run out at the end of july. But the needs of struggling families will not. Back to school looming, with some states just weeks away. I dont think theres anybody who can make an argument that this is especially risky for kids. We have to accept that and then figure out, you know, how you fashion policy around it. The viral loads in children are equivalent to that in adults. What does that mean . That means they can transmit the virus equally well to other people, whether or not they show symptoms. Reporter as districts work to find the right balance, the one constant in every decision, a virus that is here to stay. In our Current Situation it is very unlikely that we can eradicate or eliminate this virus. Youre also learning more about disparities in new york city. Reporter yes, thats right. So theres this fascinating information that came out of city md. These are some some of the urgent care offices people see around the city. Maybe in their cities as well. So they looked at Antibody Testing at a couple of the different offices, specifically one in corona, queens, a hard hit area in new york city. 68 of people coming in tested positive for antibodies, and you look at that number and this is mainly a working class neighborhood. A lot of people there had to continue working while people who could work from home did so. They put out other information from a city md office in a wealthier white section of brooklyn, just 13 of those people had antibodies. So what does it tell us . They say, listen, we cant tell you exactly what it means. It doesnt mean everybody who came into that clinic lives in that neighborhood, but it does give some insight into perhaps how certain neighborhoods may be better able to deal with another surge of the virus as it comes along. Fascinating. Erica hill, thanks so much. Just this moment another milestone, 6,390 new cases nationwide. The highest total yet. Joining us now is the mayor of miami, francis suarez. The mayor of atlanta has just reinstated a stay at home order going back to phase one for her city. You havent ruled out doing that in miami. Given the fact Miamidade County which is obviously the county your city is located in is now seeing a positive test rate of more than 25 . Is it time to shutdown, or whats the calculus that will go into that decision . Were definitely approaching that point. Obviously our icu capacity is down to 11 . Many of our hospitals dont have any more icu capacity. Our ventilators are at pretty much the alltime high, close to 197 which was our alltime high. We are having a little bit of good news, which is that it appears that the rate of growth has slowed a little bit. It was growing at a rate of 125 new cases per day. That number is down to about 60 new cases per day, which is about half the rate of growth which indicates some level of flattening. And that could be because we did order a mask in public rule about ten days ago. And thats when we started to see, you know, the slowing of the growth rate. Like i said and like you said, i will not rule out the possibility of a stay at home order. And thats something that were looking at depending on the data as we see it over the next few days. And the virus growth in florida, the surge in florida its sometimes topping more than 10,000 new cases in a single day. I mean, is there any other way to put it than this is out of control . I mean, is this something you think we have our hands around in florida . Theres no doubt that the growth is exponential. When you look at back in, you know, early april, late march, when we implemented the stay at home order, our Highwater Mark was 533 cases. For the state it was 1,300. When youre talking about 11,000 cases for the state, its almost a ten times multiplier. For Miamidade County its like a six times multiplier. Its no doubt theres an exponential growth, which is why one of the things i urged is for us to have a statewide mask in public rule, and we should probably have a National Mask in public rule as well. Do you know what percentage of people in miami i dont know if you have these figures but actually do wear the mask . We dont have those figures. What we do have is data that shows from the moment we implemented the mask in public rule to now. We have seen about a 50 reduction in the growth rate of the virus, which is good. And i think one of the things all the epidemiologists and all the experts from john hopkins also tells us is there needs to be a very Clear Communication strategy. You know, the clearer we are in terms of our communication, the more in sync we are in terms of our communication, that is the closest thing we have to a vaccine right now, which obviously we dont have a vaccine. So clearly communicating what the rules are, being on the same page is the best we can do for our residents right now. The mayor of the county made the call to shut down Indoor Dining and i think you said that decision was without justification. Why isnt it appropriate to err on the side of being cautious . Well, some of the Restaurant Owners felt the decision he made wasnt data driven. We have contact tracers right now that are in the process of getting us what we hope to be the information that we need to make very surgical decisions to decide whether to close certain segments of our economy or not. And understanding all these decisions that we make have a dramatic impact on thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people in our community. So, you know, when we make a decision we have to be able to justify it. We have to be able to explain it so that people will follow it. How many contact tracers do you have, are you able to utilize . We dont have anywhere near enough. I asked the governor this week for 500 more. We have about 300 that are working right now. And just to give you a sense on a given day, we have 2,000 new cases, were getting about 70 survey responses out of 2,000. About 450 that are being contacted. So thats a contact rate of about 17 . And its a survey answer rate of about 3. 5 , which is nowhere near adequate to have an adequate Contact Tracing program. I know cnn did an investigation into Contact Tracing in florida. They found that Health Authorities really just often fail to do it. Yeah, its not being done at the percentage that it should be done. In midjune they were telling us it was being done in the 90 and now were being told its being done in sort of 17 . The second part is its not just about Contact Tracing and making sure people isolate. Thats 50 of it. The other 50 is getting us that actionable data so when we do make a big decision like shutting down an industry or implementing a stay at home order, we can clearly justify it to our residents so that they comply. We dont want is mass noncompliance from our residents because we havent articulated clearly the reasons why were doing things. Mayor, i appreciate your time. Thank you, anderson. I want to get perspective now from an expert in the field that happens to be right in the thick of it. An epidemiologist and associate professor at the university of florida. Thanks for being with us. What do you make about what is going on in miami about the reopenings . Yeah, well, i think that mayor suarez is spoton as far as miami needed to take a step back in where they were. You know, they paused in their reopening, and they really have been strong in saying we need masks and we need to think about what people are doing. We need data on risks so that we know going forward, you know, if we need to shut things down, we have a reason for doing it, we can justify it. And also, can we identify places that are causing risks and making these cases circulate more. I dont understand, Governor Desantis had said there wasnt justification to not move forward in may and early june when restrictions in florida were lifted. It seemed to me, i mean, if you look at the White House Coronavirus task force guidelines, many states i dont think hardly any states had met those guidelines before moving forward into the next stages. Yeah, thats true. I mean, we moved quickly. I think there could have still been a possibility of opening up. But the thing was, that had to be very minor, very slow. And thats not what we did. I mean, open up one thing at a time and then give it the time to find out whether or not your cases are going to increase. Youre not going to see that in a week or two weeks. It can take probably a month or even a month and a half to see the effect of what youre doing in each stage. And so this should have been a monthslong or maybe even six months of opening up rather than what we did, which was really rapid. What i dont understand from a Public Health standpoint, and i guess this really comes from the white house down, but, you know, it seems like we were given a false choice. Which is, everything either reopens or its stay at home in complete lockdown, as opposed to as you said gradual reopening with real emphasis on social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing, all the things that science tells us actually works in slowing this virus. And because it was either either or, we didnt take the middle road, which seemed to be the one that would allow us to open, yes, more slowly but also keep social distancing. Yeah, i agree with that. I think one problem im seeing is i feel like we have science, we have data, we have things that we know, and thats what should be driving the policy as you indicate. But i think what were seeing is the reverse. Weve got people who just want to put policy in place and think that you can somehow mold science and data to do what you want, and thats just not the case. And we really have to think about where are we right now, how do we get ahead of this virus, because right now were well behind it. Were not leading, were trailing. Weve got to really think of the measures we need to do and do them early. We cant delay like we have been. We cant react. We have to be proactive. The idea the mayor is saying Contact Tracing, 17 of people are being contact i mean, thats ridiculous. Its really low. I think the problem is if you think about the level of cases in florida right now and then think about the fact these people may have, you know, on average three or so contacts and all of those have to be contacted as well, plus the time it takes, and unfortunately what were also seeing in some cases is just refusals to give information, to talk to department of health. And, you know, this is such a critical step in controlling this outbreak and for people to refuse, it really is discouraging to me that they would do that. I mean, they can just refuse and nothing happens . Well, at this point, you know, were we have not enough Contact Tracing. We dont have enough people to be able to do it, so, you know, when theyre calling, if theyre not getting a response or if they are, you know, meeting someone who is being resistant at this point you move on to the next person, right . Where is your value . Youve got to go talk to someone whos going to give you the information you need. I appreciate your expertise. Thanks for being with us. Thank you, anderson. Ahead, the first major american hot spot for coronavirus is still desperate for help from the Trump Administration as cases climb. Up next, my conversation with washington governor jay inslee. With the nation just reaching a new single day record for cases. And later, President Trump calls himself a very stable genius. Now he says he aced a test of his mental acuity, but you may just have to take his word for it. Yes until i realized something was missing. Me. You ok, sis . My symptoms kept me from being there for my sisters. Flight boarding for flight 2007 to chicago. 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If you cant afford your medicine, over time, you go noseblind to the odors in your home. background music but others smell this. upbeat music thats why febreze plug has two alternating scents and eliminate odors for 1200 hours. Breathe happy febreze. La la la la la. Our breaking news in the coronavirus. Moments ago we learned the u. S. Today set a new single day record for cases at more than 63,000. The state that saw americas first coronavirus cluster is tonight dealing with cases that isnt slowing down. Washington state is nearing 40,000 cases. More than 1,400 people have died there. And the governor overseeing the emergency is asking for federal help. He too is demanding to know when a National Response plan is coming. I spoke earlier with governor jay inslee. Governor, cases in Washington State are up. You said you dont want to shut things down again. Do your worry that this every state for themselves response from the federal government puts people at risk, additional people at additional risk . Well, listen, were doing some vigorous things here on testing and Contact Tracing. Our new mask requirements are one of the most aggressive in the country. We actually require businesses to deny service to people unless they do wear a mask. I think thats unique in the country. But it would be very helpful if we had a national policy, all the way up from ppe to testing kits to Contact Tracing to masking requirements. If we had National Policies it would help all of the states for many, many reasons, perhaps foremost of which is it would give us a National Mission statement that would unite us. And being unified in a time of great peril and a bit of a warfare situation, i do think that would be helpful to the nation. And we just have never had that kind of leadership from the white house, unfortunately. Are you able to enforce a policy of everyone has to wear a mask . How do you enforce that . Well, first off, we have had great voluntary compliance all the way through. Its one of the reasons weve been relatively successful. Washingtonians get science, so weve had huge majorities have adhered to our orders, and theyre continuing to increase the mask usage as well. One of the ways weve enforced it is that basically businesses are required to serve only those who do mask up now to protect their employees and their customers, and thats a legal requirement. They could lose their licenses or be fined if they do not. But we dont want to have to use those enforcement measures have so far have not. Weve had huge adherence, and im pleased to say theres some evidence, early evidence this is working. We have one hot spot in central washington, where were seeing a decline in cases following our very vigorous masking requirements. So theres some early signs this can work. Do you think there should be some sort of federal mandatory mask policy, whether its through businesses or some other way . I think that would be helpful for a variety of reasons. One, we know it works. The science is now quite compelling that it works. Two, these are universally accessible. Three, theyre very inexpensive. Four, theres no physical downside. And we know that when the nation has a National Mission, when kennedy said were going to the moon, it resonated with people. And if we had a leadership that asked americans to unite behind the National Mission, i do think that would help in peoples recognition that we are all in this together in the united states. Thats a National Mission, i think it would be helpful. Thats one of the things about this virus is, science tells us they know what actually works to reduce the chances of it spreading. As you said, its mask wearing, social distancing, all the things were all now familiar with. And that is the good news. The bad news is, you know, the cdc has put out guidelines of recommendations for how schools can reopen as safely as possible. The president , you know, yesterday said theyre too tough, theyre too expensive and impractical solutions, wants them to rewrite it. And the cdc seems to have caved and is coming up with Something Else coming out next week because the Vice President said, you know, these other ones also were too tough. Well, look, this is a familiar and very infuriating pattern of the president. He started this situation by denying the problem, and then he disengaged from it, and now hes using deceit about the current level of science. Denial, disengagement, and deceit is not a strategy for health and victory here. And this has been consistent in both republican and democratic governors that have repeatedly asked the president to step up and show leadership, and he simply has refused to face the difficult decisions. But we are soldiering on in the states. And im glad we have some leadership at the state level to try to make up for this. But this refusal to follow science in america, the country that did go to the moon and now cant go to the mask or at least the president might be the last person in america that gets this, that masks really work, is not the american way. But were going to keep fighting on in our state and i know other governors are as well. Governor, thank you for your time. You bet. Thank you. Mask up. Wash your hands. Mask up, wash your hands. Good advice. The president says he has taken a cognitive test and aced it. He said that doctors who gave it to him were surprised. More on that ahead. Now is the time for a new bath from bath fitter. Every bath fitter bath is installed quickly, safely, and beautifully, with a lifetime warranty. Go from old to new. From worn to wow. The beautiful bath youve always wanted, done right, installed by one expert technician, all in one day. 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You might recall the president has called himself a very stable genius. Last night he elaborated a bit. The question is, is what he said true . Cnns tom foreman tonight puts it to the test. I actually took one when i very recently when i was the radical left was saying, is he all there, is he all there, and i proved i was all there because i aced it. Reporter the president s boast of acing a cognitive test is laced with questions. Does he mean the one he took in 2018 at Walter Reed Medical Center, or something more recent . Perhaps during his surprise trip there last november . Critics remain skeptical of claims he was getting a physical and the white house is offering no proof for his latest assertion. I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors and they were very surprised. They said thats an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did. Reporter really . Not likely, according to medical experts who say such tests have just not that hard. I wasnt there but i doubt very much that astonishment was the reaction of the doctors. Reporter the montreal cognitive assessment, which we know trump took at least once lasts only ten minutes. You may be asked to name animals such as a lion, a rhino, a camel, draw lines between letters and numbers in an ascending order, and maybe even doing things like subtracting 7 sequentially, so 100, 93, 86, 79, you get the idea. Reporter acing such a test would do nothing to bolster trumps claims of being smarter than his foes. I know i have an iq better than all of them. I know that. I guarantee you my iq is much higher than theirs. Some of the pundits, believe me were much smarter than them. Iqwise, its not even a contest. Reporter why brag about it . Perhaps because his campaign is attacking 77yearold joe biden on that front. Biden is clearly diminished. All men and women are created you know the thing. Reporter and trump, just three years younger, has had some awkward moments lately, spurring questions about his mental and physical competence no matter what he says. Been very consistent. Im an extremely stable genius. Reporter whatever the reason for the boast, there is also this to consider. If the doctors were, as the president says, surprised he did so well, why . And what was he being tested for in the first place . Anderson . Tom foreman, thanks very much. I want to go to White House Correspondent jeremy diamond. Does the white house plan to release the results of this test . Im not sure why the president even brought this up. Reporter yeah, anderson, right now we dont even know which test the president is actually referring to. We know he took this montreal cognitive assessment back in 2018, and one official suggested to us that that was the test the president was referring to. But we also know he went to walter reed for the surprise visit just last fall. So the question is, did the president take another test here . Ultimately, though, anderson, this is a pretty simple, short tenminute test that tests memory and some simple mental faculty skills. And the thing that it says is that the president likely doesnt have any mild cognitive dysfunction. It doesnt really show anything else about the president s cognitive capabilities and yet we see the president here touting it. Do we know why hes bringing it up, his cognitive capabilities, unprompted . Reporter look, this is something that goes back a long time with the president. We know hes repeatedly referred to himself as a very stable genius, and the president has focused on trying to portray himself as someone of above average intelligence. That has only heightened in the wake of questions hes faced about his own cognitive function when weve seen him slurring words in public or having trouble walking as he recently did at that west point graduation. But beyond that, it also comes in the context of the president trying to swing this attack around on the former Vice President joe biden. And that is something weve seen from this president time and again going back to the 2016 campaign. Id like to call it the boomerang insult. He takes something hes facing or a question or vulnerability hes facing, and throws it against his opponent. It did it against Hillary Clinton in 2016, and now were seeing him use this very same tactic against joe biden. And it seems the president here raising this unprompted in part again to deflect from the questions he is facing and also to raise questions about his opponent, whos a few years older than him. Anderson . Jeremy, appreciate it. The president says he wants schools to reopen but says the cdc recommendations for doing that safely are too tough and expense. But a leading medical ethicist warns of possible nightmare scenarios. Well talk to him next. Go time with freedom unlimited, youre always earning. I shouldve purchased lighter weights t mobile has a plan built just for you. We want you to get the value and service you need to stay connected. Saving 50 vs. Other carriers with 2 unlimited lines for less than 30 each. We know that connection is more important than ever. And were here to help, when youre ready to switch. Call 1800tmobile or go to t mobile. Com 55. President trump once again today threatened to cut off federal funding to americas public schools. Its his way of forcing kids and teachers back to classrooms despite the fact the u. S. Continues to shatter numbers for coronavirus cases. As we did again just today. For some schools it could be just a month or so away. One of the president s closest advisers apparently doesnt worry too much about any of the risk. Just go back to school. We can do that. And, you know, you can social distance, you can get your temperature taken, you can be tested, you can have distancing. Come on, its not that hard. He leads the division of medical ethics here in new york. Art, you say caving to this sort of pressure from the federal government about reopening schools for inperson instruction is an unregulated experiment. What do you mean by that . Well, anderson, sending our children back in the middle of a plague thats out of control, not knowing whether they will get sick or how infectious theyre going to be is really indefensible. Its a gigantic, if you will, experiment. We dont know. I have to add, when someone says its just easy, lets go back to school, i find that outrageous. You mean the child who has juvenile diabetes, the child who has asthma, they just go back, the School Without good ventilation, where kids are 36, 37 to a classroom and no social distancing . I mean, are we really going to sacrifice our kids blindly with no control and no safety, just saying go back . It is remarkable to me how the cdc which, you know, puts out these guidelines and the guidelines they released, by the way, were debated, delayed, finally kind of put online in the dead of night, ignored by virtually all the states and to reorder opening businesses. And now the guidelines for the schools, the president says theyre too tough and theyre too expensive, and theyre going to rewrite them. Does it worry you science seems to be capitulating at times to political pressure . Yeah, it does worry me a great deal. Im tempted to say cdc has got to hold the line here. It cant sacrifice kids in the name of political pressure to make things appear normal. Look, not only, anderson, are we in a plague out of control with covid, you send those kids back to school, remember we were just finishing the flu season when covid came last march, itll just be starting lets say in october, november. Most kids, if you look at the numbers, have not had their shots for measles and mumps. Theyre going to be able to spread those if they go back into school. Are we asking they all get vaccinated for sure before we send them back . Its a toxic stew that faces our children, and they can be bringing the plague or the epidemic, if you will, to their teachers, back into their homes, back to their grandparents. To say that its time to, you know, ignore the science, its just not fair to kids who cant themselves give consent to whats being done with them. Its interesting because i mean that is one of the arguments that, you know, a lot of people make. Look, you know, this isnt so bad for kids and the number obviously of kids who have died it just doesnt seem to harm kids that much. But what youre saying essentially is this is also an experiment on adults working in the school, as well as as well as the adults back home that the kids return to. Exactly. We know younger people at least dont get hospitalized and die at the same rate that elderly people do, but we also know that they can spread infection. Were not sure about the rate, but you get older teachers, older bus drivers, older janitors. If youre going back to a home where there are older grandparents that are helping out, what were seeing is going back to school is partly a slogan to go back to normal. There are plenty of people homeschooling. Some people can distance learn, you know, remotely. Why do they have to go back to school . And if youre not going to make the schools at least minimally safe in terms of ventilation and heat and making sure there arent too many kids per classroom, then what youre doing is basically treating kids as a tool in a political war. Kids dont deserve that. Its odd to me, you know, larry kudlow saying its not too hard to reopen schools. It is hard. Even in normal times its hard to reopen schools. Im not sure the last time he was in a public school, but, i mean, the challenges theyre facing. And just even making changes to infrastructure, you know, to the facilities costs money, money that a lot of schools dont have even if theyre getting special pandemic funds. And flint schools, philly schools, baltimore schools, some dont even have running water. You cant get a drink, you cant wash your hands. They had these problems before covid broke out. I dont think theyve been exactly fixed. There is this notion i think out there that we just fling the doors open, school is a happy place, everyone will be back at recess. Schools are a tough environment. Without fixing that, its really dangerous to just send everybody back. I appreciate it as always. Thanks very much, art. Thank you. Ahead, roger stones get out of free card before he went in. Courtesy of the man he helped put in office, donald trump. Our Michael Smerconish on whether itll make any difference to voters, next. Night. Convicted felon roger stone will not be setting foot in prison. I want to bring in cnn political commentator, Michael Smerconish and host of things i wish i knew before i started talking. I was talking to jeff toobin earlier. Both said the president is contempt. What is your reaction to this . My reaction is it probably wont move the needle. Under the press secretary, which says this is all part of a maligned mueller investigation, had there not been an investigation. Then, roger stone wouldnt have been facing charges. What i find significant, anderson, is that, nowhere in the statement that was put out by the white house tonight, is there any claim of innocence on the part of roger stone. Critics will say a corrupt president provided a safeguard for a corrupt friend. Speaking to the president , he said, quote, he knows i was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But i didnt. Okay. So he didnt flip on the president. But it does sort of raise questions of, now, the president is getting him out of prison time. Is this a reward for not flipping . It doesnt seem like thats how things are supposed to work in this country. If there was nothing which to flip, then, presumably, he wouldnt be in this predicament. I see exactly what you are saying. As you pointed out, it was roger stone who really got the 2016 campaign off the ground, and then was either fire od or quit. I never bought into that so they came up with a very convenient relationship. But roger has always been in the background during the course of the campaign and the administration. Yeah. It was interesting. I mean, i remember, you no, when he was fired. Stone said he quit. But, even then, you had the sense, in talking to him, that he was still, you know, in touch with the president and still kind of working informally. Doubt. Ive interviewed him. Ive known roger a long time and i remember interviewing him during the course of the firing period. You know, the cooling off. And he always seemed to have insight that could only have come from having the president s ear. Youve got a special airing tomorrow night on cnn at 10 00 chronicling your long career in poll f politics and broadcasting. I want to play a clip. I met Ronald Reagan as a newly minted 18yearold. I worked in the George Herbert walker Bush Administration when i was 29. I once had a sevenhour dinner with fidel castro at his house. I got to take former pakistani president to vote with me, at my suburban philadelphia polling place. You can watch it on youtube. It didnt go so well. The variety of stuff is is amazing. Im shocked led zeppelin doesnt take orders from you. And a sevenhour dinner from fidel castro. I have heard about those. Yikes. Whos left on your list to interview . Ive had fun along the way. And tomorrow night, im privileged to have the forum for an hour. Its a night for me to be able to reminisce. But there is a serious message. There is a message i want to deliver tomorrow night about the partisan gridlock, what came to create this era. I really look forward to it. Always fascinating. Michael sme Michael Smerconish, thank you so much. Join michael tomorrow for an entertaining and poignant look at his fascinating career. Tomorrow night, 10 00 p. M. Eastern, right here, on cnn. Up next, we remember the victims of the pandemic, including an emt and a barbecue restaurant owner. vo verizon knows how to build unlimited right. Start with americas most awarded network. Give people more plans to mix and match at a price built for everyone. With 700 off our best phones when you switch. Because everyone deserves the best. This is unlimited built right. [ chuckles ] so, what are some Key Takeaways from this commercial . Did any of you hear the bundle your home and auto part . I like that, just not when it comes out of her mouth. Yeah, as a mother, i wouldnt want my kids to see that. Good mom. To see wait. Im sorry. What . Dont kids see enough violence as it is . Ive seen violence. Maybe we turn the word bundle into a character, like mr. Bundles. Top o the bundle to you. [ laughter ] bundle, bundle, bundle. My kids would love that. Yeah. Want to take some time tonight, as we try to do every night, to remember some of the lives lost during this pandemic. Gail worked for the department for more than 30 years. The police chief in phoenix said she was his partner and friend. Both, as a Police Officer and as a person. Gail was a Foster Parent for special Needs Children and a longtime member of her church. Her sister said she touched the lives of many and demonstrated love, in the purest form. She was 56 years old. Scott geiger was an emt in new jersey. He received his emt certification when he was just 17 years old. Imagine that. From then on, he dedicated his life to helping others, and all the people he helped. His colleagues say he tended to thousands of patients in his long career. Called him a hero. Say he is sorely missed. Considered the unofficial mayor, he fed everyone from struggling students to Chicago Bulls to former president barack obama. Heck, he was known not just for his food but generosity and commitment to his community. He mentored kids in the area and hecky stayed open during the pandemic, feeding as many people as they could. He took part in evans campaign, you can see him here with a logo. No mask, no sauce. Hecky powell. News continues. Want to turn things over now to don lemon and cnn tonight. Don. I second that, anderson. Thank you very much. A busy night for you. A busy night for me as well. This is cnn tonight, i am don lemon. It is friday night. America is in the grip of a pandemic that has killed more than 134,000 of our citizens. And that is, rightly, where our focus will stay tonight. On those people who have died. And the crisis that is facing our country. But we do have some breaking news. President trump commuting the prison sentence of roger stone. Roger stone is the infamous political dirty trickster and longtime trump crony who was days away from reporting to a federal prison in georgia. Convicted of perjury, witness tampering, obstruction. But stones crimes were all in the service of the president , during the course of the russia investigation. So tonight, the president s friend, a felon, seven times over, gets his payback. He just had to wait it out. Roger stone, like this president , is no victim. They both just like to play one on tv. You know what they say. Birds of a feather flock together. It is all part of a pattern of the kind of friday night news dumps that we have seen from this administration over and over and over, again. Designed to divert the rule of law. We could all see this coming, a mile away. The white house continues to use the levers of power and the might of the Justice Department to protect the president and his cronies. And punish anybody who speaks out or tries to reign him in. And