Said he has considered resigning as attorney general over President Trumps tweets interfering in Justice Department cases. It is not clear whether the attorney general is still considering that or simply trying to send a message to the president. If it is a message, its not getting through. Because on tuesday, the president declared himself the chief Law Enforcement officer of the country. And he spoke out again about the roger stone case. And he issued a flurry of pardons and commutations in political corruption cases. Lets begin with arlette saenz. She is live in las vegas where tonights debate will happen. Set the stage for us, arlette. Reporter well, alisyn, the new york billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be making his debut on the debate stage and his rivals have shown that they are ready to pounce. Already accusing him of trying to buy the election. Michael bloomberg on the debate stage for the first time tonight. But he wont be receiving a warm welcome from his democratic rivals. Anybody here worth 60 billion . You can run for president. Reporter bloomberg has spent over 400 million on ads across the country. But his team argues theres more to his campaign than money. Mike believes President Trump is a threat to the country. So he will spend whatever it takes to get donald trump out of office. Reporter the former new york city Mayor Holding mock debate sessions in recent days to prepare. Three candidates previewing their attacks on bloomberg at cnn town halls last night. I actually thought he should be on the debate stage, because i dont think you should just be able to buy your way to the presidency. But i do think its a bit obscene that we have somebody who, by the way, chose not to contest in iowa, in nevada, in South Carolina, in New Hampshire. He said, i dont have to do that. Im worth 60 billion. Do you think Michael Bloomberg is trying to buy the democratic nomination for president . Yes. What else do you call it when you dip into your endless reserves of millions and billions and dont go through the process of campaigning . Reporter Pete Buttigieg who leads the delegate count right now also taking aim at front runner Bernie Sanders. Were asking people to choose between a revolution and the billionaire. I just dont think thats speaking to where most of us are right now. Reporter sanders trying to disavow the tactics that some of his supporters have taken. There are people out there who want to divide the progressive movement. We can have a debate about the issues, but i do not believe in online bullying. End of discussion. Im Elizabeth Warren, im going the woman who is going to beat donald trump. Reporter Elizabeth Warren losing her voice on the campaign trail, but tweeting this. Apparently comparing bloomberg to trump. Writing, at least now primary voters can get a live demonstration of how we each take on an ego maniac billionaire. Joe biden is hoping for a strong finish in nevada after disappointing showings in iowa and New Hampshire. We choose unity over division. We choose we choose compassion over cruelty. And maybe most importantly, we choose truth over lies. Truth over lies. So folks, its time for us to get up. Reporter tonights debate will be one of the last chances these democrats have to leave their mark on nevada voters with those caucuses just three days away and Michael Bloomberg isnt competing here in nevada or South Carolina focusing instead on those super tuesday contests. Thank you very much. Joining us now, paul begala and andrew gillum. Andrew, i want to start with you. Two major things have happened since the last time democrats debated. Number one, Bernie Sanders is clearly the National Front runner now. Every poll is in agreement on that. And the second thing is, this will be the first debate where Michael Bloomberg is on stage with the other democrats and the first where hes been on any stage since 2009. When we were all younger. Well, and that couldnt be better for Bernie Sanders. Both of those things. Obviously its good to be the leader, but the bad part of being a front run ser that you become the lightning rod. Everybody attacks you. Guess what . Bernie has a lightning rod out there for himself and its Mike Bloomberg. Bernies going to win the debate. Period. Because first, he know what is hes saying and has a powerful message. More importantly tactically everybody is going to be attacking Mike Bloomberg whos not even on the ballot in nevada this saturday. So i think this matches up perfectly for bernie. He can attack bloomberg, im sure he will. His rivals will attack bloomberg diverting fire away from the front runner. That is a rare thing in a debate. Do you agree . Is that a fore gone conclusion . Is klobuchar and biden and buttigieg all definitely going to go after bloom boring . Or is sanders their new target . I think theyre going to have a bifurcated strategy here. There is no way you cannot go after Bernie Sanders who is our unquestioned front runner in this race. Youve got to put some dents in his armor. Youve got to make the case hes unelectable. Youve got to make the case what will happen to if you believe that. Thats not necessarily my shared belief. But i believe thats the argument many of the other candidates are making. But the problem is that they cannot get away with tonight allowing Michael Bloomberg to go unscathed. The only if i had advice to give, if they take it it would be that sort of lay down in this argument around buying the election and what he can afford. Because i actually think that Everyday Americans will include if the man got out there and earned resources, why shouldnt he be able to spend it . Especially if our number one concern is competing with a president who himself has what might be unlimited sources to compete for the presidency. I think its much more Fertile Ground to go after what his record has been. Talk about stop and frisk. Talk about what his experience has been with women in the past. Some of those issues. Talk about what he thinks about red lining. But hes got three terms as mayor of Public Policy to dissect. And also god knows countless speeches and statements hes made that points to a political philosophy that i think is pretty vulnerable in a democratic primary. I would much prefer they go after that saying hes a rich guy that doesnt deserve to be here. I get the point, but im not sure thats whats going to be motivating and activating regular everyday voters hooer. So paul, when the other candidates do go after mayor bloomberg for not just the money but the other issues mayor gi gillum brought up there, how should he respond . Thats the challenge. Finally well see him without ads and aides. Hell be standing a i loan. I looked at the last debate he had in 2009. Where he debated the titan, the titanic talent of bill thompson. Hes a fine guy, but he was in the new york city controller. And bloomberg was unruffled. Thompson did exactly what andrew is advising against. He attacked bloombergs wealth. He attacked his record a little bit. I think andrew is right. It is the wrong thing to go after bloombergs wealth. They should be talking about him, his words on red lining which is discriminatory practice on africanamericans, stop and frisk, these outrageous comments about women. But they wont. They wont. You watch. Theyll go after his wealth. And he will say, look. If you want purist, its not me. But if you want the toughest, it is me. And i can take the fight to trump. Thats what all of them ought to be doing. Yeah. It plays directly into his strength. Right . Im talking to so many voters who were saying, you know, theyre kind of willing to look past some of these things because hes got the resources. He can go headtohead with trump. Listen. There are weaknesses to that line of thinking. And i think these candidates if they want to really pierce through, they ought to be piercing through what are the weaknesses in those arguments that okay maybe your wealth gets you a democratic primary. But these issue wills come back. We will be carpet bombed with your comments, with your statements. And it will have an impact on an election that is largely going to be decided in the margins. Especially in a state like mine like florida where, you know, our president ials have been decided by about one percentage point. If i could jump in here. Sorry to interrupt, but this is why its so important. At this stage of the race, candidates have become very selfreferential. Because theyre working their hearts out. I love politicians, but theyre thinking about themselves. And bloombergs wealth wounds them. It doesnt wound my mama. Right . They need to be talking about what bloomberg has said about stop and frisk. What hes said. This is why theyre going to fall for it. Theyre going to rise to it. How do you know that . Because i know politicians. Because i know these people. Theyre politicians and theyre great people and i love them all, but they cant resist when theyre wounded. By the way, if you make a Million Dollars a year, youll have 60 billion in 10,000 years. Thats how much money he has. All right. So andrew, paul doesnt have much faith in their strategy. Stylistically i want to ask you a question about bloomberg. Were told this is not the debate forum is not his forte. And in fact, he is not great at speaking off the cuff. This is what people who know him say he has been preparing for weeks. If he has just a passable performance, is that a win for him tonight . No. I think its got to be better than passable. He owes the American People a deeper explanation across the issues we talked about. Some of them very painful for certain communities. I hope they dont believe simply because there are some encouraging numbers amongst the africanamerican community, that black people have or brown people have suspended with their concerns around lets just take for instance stop and frisk. There isnt a black man my age in america who does not remember the first time they were pulled over. Mine was 24 years ago. I remember it was like yesterday. The experience was so traumatic i had to drive a few blocks later to pull over because i couldnt stop shaking. And so when you consider that over the course of his term as mayor, over 5 million of these, 900,000 in one month black and brown boys thrown up against the wall. When mothers hear that narrative, there has to be an explanation for why that is. And if theres an apology and there has been, you got to tell us where the growth moment has been so we can be assured if were to trust you with our nomination, with the presidency and youre the chief policy officer as it relates to Public Policy around a criminal justice issue in this country, how do we ensure it doesnt happen again . And you put us on a better pathway to the future . Im not a never bloomberger, but he has to give much more compelling heart felt answers here. Voters can be looking for that. If he does that, i think he can help right his own course. But if he fails to, then i dont think an okay performance is going to be acceptable enough for him to be able to stop what appears to be a train moving amongst at least Bernie Sanders in this democratic nomination. It is notable there will not be a candidate of color on stage tonight to bring out these issues. You know, there were other candidates who could speak to them personally before and tonight there wont be. Not exactly. And john, to your point, i think that sometimes takes a little bit of the wind out of the argument. One person ive seen do it very well has been Elizabeth Warren. I think Bernie Sanders has been effective here. But they will have to be able to compel and tell a story around how these Public Policies really impacted the everyday lives of people. And if they can do that, then i think that they start to shred away at the attraction of bloomberg. And bloomberg can have a good answer, then maybe he stops some of the bleeding. Billions of dollars worth of knowledge right here from you two gentlemen. Ill take the billions instead though. Thanks for being with us this morning. It is not over in nevada tonight. Cnn will host two more town halls tomorrow. Joe biden 8 00 p. M. Eastern followed by Elizabeth Warren at 9 00 p. M. All right. So is President Trumps inability to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases going to be a breaking point for his attorney general . 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What about internet speeds that keep up with my gaming . Lets hook you up with the Fastest Internet from xfinity. What about wireless data options for the family . Of course, you can customize and save. Can you save me from this conversation . That we cant do, but come in and see what we can do. Were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. Ask. Shop. Discover. At your local xfinity store today. Developing overnight. A source telling cnn that attorney general bill barr has told people he considered resigning over President Trumps tweets interfering with Justice Department cases. President trump addressed barrs concerns yesterday after he granted clemency to a laundry list of highprofile white collar criminals. The attorney general is a man with incredible integrity. Just so you understand, i chose not to be involved. Im allowed to be totally involved. Im actually, i guess, the chief Law Enforcement officer of the country. But ive chosen not to be involved. All right. Joining us now with her thoughts, lisa monaco. Great to have you here. You worked for 15 years in the department of justice under democrats and republicans. I did. This is a very worrisome moment for the president the chief Law Enforcement officer . Im really glad you asked because i think people have been getting this wrong. The president is the chief Law Enforcement officer. Of course he is. Just like hes the commander in chief of the armed forces. Just like hes the chief diplomat. But the difference here is past president s have chosen to delegate those powers to their attorney general, to their secretary of defense, to their secretary of state. Why . Because the president occupies a unique role. He is both the head of our government and the head of his Political Party. That makes him a uniquely partisan political figure. And we historically have wanted our institutions of government to operate in ways that are indifferent from partisan shish. Thats really the difference here. We want people to have faith in how those institutions are run in nonpartisan ways. Particularly with regard to the Justice Department. Is the difference between can and should . And is the difference between laws and norms . That is what has been tested so fundamentally during the presiden presidency. He has clearly broken the norms that have governed how a president behaves. In reading what you have written to me, it strikes me that youre trying to make the case that what we are seeing now is just so fundamentally different that you decided you had to speak out. Its right. So usually you have me here talking about National Security issues. So this is different for me. And i did choo se to speak out. I wrote an article in just security. I chose to speak out because i grew up in the Justice Department. And were seeing the department tested in ways it hasnt been before. The part that wears really two hats in our system is both policy arm of the executive branch. It has to follow whatever president is in power, what their policies are. But importantly it is an independent investigator and prosecutor. And its that second function that has to be both actually fair in how the laws administered and perceived to be fair. In the last week, weve seen the resignation of a withdrawal from the stone case of four career prosecutors and the resignation all together from the department of one of those prosecutors. Thats an unprecedented thing to happen in my experience. And youve seen the attorney general reach in to affect the sentencing of an individual and overturn the career prosecutors recommendations. That has not happened before in my memory. So, you know, the issue here is both the appearance of political influence and any direct political influence that may be at issue. Youre in good company. 2,000 now former doj officials and prosecutors have felt so strongly about this like you that they have spoken out. And im just curious what you think bill barr is doing. Its hard to read. Because he seems to have been comfortable with President Trump trumping his power. Then we get reporting that he has you know, he spoke out in that interview as we saw on abc. Then we get reporting that he has considered resigning. Well, look. It wouldnt be surprising if it has crossed his mind at this stage, because again, the department really has been under siege in a way it hasnt been before. I think hes got to ask himself really two questions. Have i lost the building . Right . Have i lost the confidence of the career men and women of the department . Some 100,000 strong who dont care and dont pledge to Political Party when they go to work in the morning. They go there to do justice. Not to win cases. To do Justice Without fear or favor. So hes got to ask himself, does he still have the confidence of those professionals that are the soul of the department . Then hes got to ask himself, can i run a department that is perceived to be fair . Because its only in that perception that you really have the confidence of the citizenry. And thats what the Justice Department needs to have to do its job. It is awfully convenient to have this story out there that he is considering or has considered resigning. Because it does offer this sense of concern to people. Oh, its like susan collins, right . Shes very concerned with the president s behavior. Hes letting people know it bothers him but he hasnt left just yet. And cnns reporting from last week is that he was either on the verge or have lost a significant part of the building. Thats why he did the interview with Pierre Thomas at abc. Because he needed to send a message to the employees who were basically in open revolt at that point. That interview, again, as a former career prosecutor and someone who also held politically pointed positions in the Justice Department, i think its really important that the political appointees have the backs of the career employees of the department. Theyre the one who is are supposed to be politically accountable. In that abc interview, what you saw was the attorney general talk about how his life is made more difficult by the president s tweets which i dont think is hard to imagine at all. That his life is being made more difficult by that. But what you didnt hear from him is a defense of those career prosecutors. And so i think thats something that the men and women of the Justice Department will be listening for. Interesting to get your perspective. Thanks for being here. So how does the Democratic Front runner Bernie Sanders plan to take on Michael Bloomberg as bloomberg is on that debate stage for the very first time tonight . 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Tonight will be the first democratic debate with former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg on stage. It will also be the first debate with senator Bernie Sanders as the Crystal ClearDemocratic Front runner. Joining me now is the National Press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Welcome to new day. Great to see you here. Thanks for being with us. Its my pleasure. I want to read a quote from harry reid. He spoke to josh green who well have on in a bit. Harry reid senator from nevada gave advice to other democrats on stage with Bernie Sanders. He said, quote, if bernie is the one that comes out ahead, well just have to see what happens. But people dont like what he does. Theyre going to have to start saying they dont like it rather than just pat him on the back. Basically what harry reid is saying is now is the time, maybe the last time for other candidates to take on Bernie Sanders. How do you respond to that . I think when it comes to what the people like, its pretty as you mentioned Crystal Clear that they like Bernie Sanders. Recent polls that just came out yesterday shows that Bernie Sanders is now leading with black voters. He is leading with latino voters. And hes leading with white voters. Which suggests that Bernie Sanders is, in fact, the candidate that can put together that broad multiracial coalition. That Rainbow Coalition thats really required to take down someone like donald trump. Moreover, hes ignited americans across class boundaries as well. We have the most working Class Campaign in this race. And when you look at our donor base, again, more individual contributions than any candidate in american history. That base is comprised of the people Bernie Sanders already demonstrated an ability to help. There is a number in the nfr marist poll which is 58 of americans in that poll, a poll that sanders did lead. 58 had an unfavorable view of socialism. How would you address that . The poll also demonstrates that Bernie Sanders has the highest Favorability Ratings of any candidate in this race. Yes. But has long been but if the issue is socialism, eventually donald trump says Bernie Sanders socialist, what does sanders say . I dont know if youve noticed, but people have been saying socialism about any number of Democratic Candidates for decades including barack obama. And most importantly Bernie Sanders has been describing himself as a democratic socialist for his entire career. If somebody is waiting for an anvil to drop and completely change peoples opinions of the most trusted politician in america, i think theyre going to be waiting a long time. People know who Bernie Sanders is. They trust him. Hes been fighting for their rights and has secured a 15 million minimum wage for tens of millions of americans. He is someone americans know where he stands. Unlike Michael Bloomberg who is completely unvetted. And in this last news cycle we see has an enormous amount of baggage to contend with. And not what we need going into a test with donald trump. In fact, i have heard you say that before. I know you are not a fact of Michael Bloomberg, but i have also heard senator sanders say what will be needed in the fall is unity. And senator sanders said he will support any democratic nominee. So i am wondering before we talk more about Michael Bloomberg, the negative things you have to say. In what ways do you think Michael Bloomberg will be better than donald trump as president . You know, im not in the business of advocating or being a spokesperson, but what i will say is that we will support the nominee. But this is a primary election. And its important for voters to recognize it in a premare election, its our opportunity to not be stuck with a candidate who is a hold your nose candidate or a lesser of two evils candidate. We saw what the consequences of that were in 2016. What we dont need is millions of americans staying home because they dont feel like theres a politician in this race that is speaking to their material interests. Would he be a better president in your mind . Again, im not the spokesperson for Michael Bloomberg. Im sure you can find someone to sing his praises. We have to keep our eyes on the prize. It would be a disaster for the country to be in a position when we dont have a candidate that has clear distinctions between themselves and the current occupant of the white house. I understand. This isnt a trick question. This is a question that other democrats have faced on the debate stage. And this is a question that has become important. Because the idea of of democratic voters. Ill give you one last chance to say do you think Michael Bloomberg would be a betterok we will start to find out the more robust answer to that question as Michael Bloomberg starts to get vetted for the first time on the debate stage. But lets run down factors to take into account. We have to take into account bloomberg has never supported a minimum wage raise. Hes someone who supported a racist stop and frisk policy that was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court. And you can very much expect donald trump to compare his own record on criminal justice issues, the Sexual Harassment complaints that hes experienced or have been targeted toward him, et cetera, et cetera down the line. Hes certainly going to make the case bloomberg isnt a better candidate than him. Again, i think its incumbent on us to make sure were not in that position. All right. And im sure that will come up on the debate stage tonight and Michael Bloomberg will have a chance to respond to each of those claims you made. I do want to bring up something that senator sanders said last night in the cnn town hall with anderson cooper. It had to do with his medical records. Listen to his. We have released, i think anderson, quite as much as any other candidate has. They think im not in good health, come out with me on the campaign trail. And ill let you introduce me to the three or four rallies a day we do. Just to be clear, you dont plan to release any more records . I dont think we will, no. I dont think we will release any more medical records. I have those three letters from the doctors that sanders was talking about. Theres nothing in them other than the doctors saying hes fit. He had a heart attack. He had a heart attack in the fall. Do you think the American People deserve to know more about his health Going Forward . I think that the American People deserve to know exactly as much every other candidate has released in this race currently and historically. And what youre seeing right now is reminiscent of some of the kind of smear, kind of skepticism campaigns that have been run against a lot of different candidates in the past. Questioning where theyre from, aspects of their lineage, et cetera, et cetera. Its telling given that none of the same concern is being demonstrated for Michael Bloomberg. And what were seeing is a kind of Smear Campaign from the liex of Jennifer Ruben is one thats beating the drum a lot. Republicans that if they were honest with themselves dont support him for the same reasons that millions of americans have. And has made a lot of enemies in the Health Insurance industry. And all of the Interest Groups whose interests are aligned against those of average americans. Thanks for coming on new day. We look forward to speaking to you again as the Campaign Season progresses. See you soon. Thank you for having me. While youve been speaking to her, we got breaking news. Theres another highlevel official who has been pushed out of the Trump Administration after the president was impeached. So we have the breaking details on who this is next. In one week. A lot will happen in your life. 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Another top official at the pentagon is on his way out the door. Cnn has just learned that the pentagons top policy official john rude has been asked to resign. Cnns chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto joins us with this scoop. Myself and Barbara Starr reporting this this morning. This is a senior official in the pentagon under secretary for policy. So involved in all of the Key Administration priorities. Countering china, russia, ukraine story notably. Ill get to that. South korea, north korea, afghanistan. Had differences with the administration, has been asked for resignation. But the clear message here is that hes being pushed out in part because of these differences. He came in under defense secretary mattis. You have someone who you might describe as a contrarian voice there who will no longer be present. There is a very specific episode dealing with ukraine that people can remember. Hours after the famous july 25th phone call between trump and zelensky where you had this alleged quid pro quo, he wrote esper and cnn reviewed these emails and said about this hold, the following. Placing a hold on Security Assistance at this time would jeopardize this unique window of opportunity and undermine our defense priorities with a key partner in the strategic competition with russia. So here a rude, one of those voices pushing back against the administration and therefore pushing back against the president on holding key aid to an ally at this time. Theres Something Else very significant that he was involved in. Two months before that july 25th phone call, on may 23rd, he signed a letter. Secretary rude signed a letter that certified that the department of defense and the state department had agreed that ukraine had effectively resolved for the moment their corruption problem. And deserved this money to fight russia. So he had signed off on this. Thats what got the ball rolling. And then the president decided, it appears, on his own, to ignore that advice. Two months before the call, and this keep in mind as you know, this undermined a Key Administration and trump argument here. That corruption was the issue. When in fact, the pentagon and rude signed off on this. Listen, theyre handling corruption. They need the aid. Bigger picture here, heads continue to roll. All right. Jim, thanks for being with us. Passengers on that quarantined cruise ship that tested negative for coronavirus, they are finally being allowed to get off the ship. It comes as the number of confirmed cases has gone up again. 79 new cases this morning. Infectious disease expert who visited the ship is scared by what he saw. Even more than he was with ebola or sars. When youre talking about sars and ebola, hes more concerned now, thats a high bar. Reporter and this is someone who for 20plus years has been on the front lines of some of the deadliest outbreaks around the world. He had a hunch something was wrong on the diamond princess cruise ship and was able to pull strings and get on board in an unofficial capacity. He says when he went on, he was shocked because the people running the show were from the department of health, the Health Minist ministry. He said there was not a single Infectious Disease specialist on board coordinating the operation. And he said, it was scary. Take a look. Inside princess diamond, i was so scared. Scared of getting covid19 because there was no way to tell where the virus is. Everybody was not careful about it. There was no single professional Infection Control person inside the ship. And there was nobody in charge of infection prevention. As a professional, the democrats were in charge of everything. Reporter we reached out to the japanese government which is basically dismissing everything he is saying. But, you know, there are more than a hundred Americans Still on that ship. They let 800 people walk off that ship today with letters from the government saying they pose zero risk of passing that infection back onto their communities. So they can go back to school, back to work, on the subaway, the bus. He said people walking off that ship, they could catch the virus just by brushing up against a surface. Thats how disturbed he is about what he saw. When he tried to raise that with officials on the ship, they kicked him off. My gosh. Will, this is hard. You have done so much reporting on people who have tried to sound the alarm and just keep getting in trouble for it. Thank you very much for this reporting this morning. Joining us now on the phone is one of the passengers who is still on board that ship, dr. Arnold hopland. His wife tested positive for coronavirus so she is hospitalized right now. Their son dr. Ken hopland joins us from their hometown in tennessee on camera. Gentlemen, thank you, both, very much. Dr. Arnold, you are on the phone with us because you are still on board that ship. Tell us whats happening, what are the circumstances this morning, and how is your wife who is in a hospital the tokyo . Jeannie tested positive so she was taken to the hospital where they did a followup test. In one day they had the result back and it was negative. And her ct scan was negative. If she has two negative tests, she will be released into japan. The cdc will not allow her to return to the u. S. Now, the hospital has run out of test kits. I just learned that here about an hour ago. I when i saw the japanese plan for this quarantine on february 5th, the first day it was announced, i nearly panicked. Took me almost five days to get communication. Because once the quarantine was announced, of course the wifi and the phone systems were totally overwhelmed on the ship. Yes, but i know that when you found when you saw the plan for the quarantine, you were concerned. Immediately it was obvious that it couldnt work. Why . Why couldnt it work . Because well, there was they were going to quarantine 4,000 people in tight quarters, supervised by restaurant and Hotel Workers who had no medical training of any kind. And the crew were not quarantined. And so they would spread it amongst themselves which of course they did do. Our cabin steward was infected. And i saw that and i saw that before our first case happened. Then as it unfolded over five days, the first day there were ten cases. The next day, i think 30 some. The next day, 60. Then then had geometric increases. So clearly it was last night it was 79 new cases. The night before that, 80 new cases. So youre right. Theyre doing something that is not effective in terms of keeping it down. It could have been obviously seen by anyone that observed it. However, the u. S. Cdc handed off responsibility to the japanese instead of taking charge of the u. S. Citizens. And when i got in contact with cdc in the u. S. , they defended their action as saying these were just cases that were finding that its not spreading on board the ship. And it was patently clear that wasnt the case. And i think to this day they defend that because they have now confined me to another two weeks on the ship. And im sitting in a petri dish waiting to be infected. Oh, gosh. That must be so frustrating for you and well, when i get infected, ill be able to recover from the illness. Mild illness for most people. And ill get off the ship quicker if im infected. Oh, my gosh. That is a total catch 22. Yeah. Shes going to be released to the general public as soon as they get another test kit at the hospital. Theyve run out of test kits. Okay. Dr. Ken, i want to bring you in. Because you have been trying to navigate all of this for your parents from home in tennessee. Youre also a doctor and i know that you have been wildly frustrated with what you see as sort of the incompetence of this. And so just tell us what youve been going through. Youre right. Theres been a great deal of frustration. Like my father, when i heard of the quarantine, the obvious lack of true quarantine, it didnt make any sense. And so i was all in farch of quarantining everybody on that ship, but i realized that was the absolute wrong location. In a situation where there were american citizens at risk i literally two days after they were declared they were going to quarantine them, asked for the embassy to consider transferring all the americans to american soil to have a correct 14day or even possibly extended quarantine where it can be done correctly so when it was over, we would know those people were not an infection risk. Currently those leaving the ship, i do not believe they know that about them. Just because theyre negative today does not mean theyre not positive tomorrow. I cant imagine if we had 80 positive cases yesterday, what makes them not think theres going to be 30 positive cases tomorrow. Just look at the numbers, thats crazy. The people that they thought were the americans they took off the ship, that they thought were negative, they then tested right before putting on a plane, and 14 tested positive. So that does keep happening. But in our short time left, dr. Arnold, when are you getting off the ship . Youre currently not positive. What is your future there . I am reasonably certain, we have some heros in our congressman phil roe and dr. Cadillac with health and Human Services in the United States who arranged that first evacuation of negative tested folk, even though some tested positive as they left. And theyre currently in quarantine in the United States. There are 65, i believe, maybe 100 citizens, u. S. Citizens on board. And were being held on board. I think its not intentional, but were being held on board until we get infected and then well be taken to a hospital, and if we get a false positive, well get nout the public quickly. But the problem is, i think japan has released many, many, many infected people into japanese population, and theyre going to have an epidemic here in the next month. And the infection rate, this is such an Infectious Disease. The average infected person infects four more people. And thats the geometric. It could sweep through the entirety of the United States with just this one Airline Flight into the United States with 14 infected folk quarantined. And thats what would have happened, had we not contacted dr. Cadillac of health and Human Services and phil roe made that contact possible. We appreciate you guys calling out people who are not doing it right and people who you think are doing it right. And so dr. Arnold hopland, you are not just people, passengers. Youre also doctors. And so you know more about this than a lot of passengers on board. Were wishing you the best and well stay in touch with you to figure out when you can get off that ship and when your wife can get out of the hospital. I did meet with the Infectious Disease docs that came on board and they were in agreement, too. Thank you both very much. Well stay in touch with you. Wow. What an ordeal. Youre just in this cycle and never know if youll be able to get off, unless you get infected, and hes almost hoping for that. So it was all about corruption, right . Well, President Trumps clemency spree is throwing that all into doubt. We have a reality check next. So strong. You power through chronic migraine, 15 or more headache or migraine days a month. One tough mother. Youre bad enough for botox®. Botox® has been preventing headaches and migraines before they even start for almost 10 years, and is the 1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. Botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. Effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a lifethreatening condition. 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Making wrinkles look so last week. Rapid wrinkle repair® pair with retinol oil for 2 times the wrinkle fighting power. Neutrogena® its an honor to tell you that [ applause ] thank you. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. I love you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Quitting smoking is freaking hard. St, like quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So, try making it smaller. And youll be surprised at how easily starting small. Can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette remember how some republicans insisted President Trumps call to ukraine was not about the bidens at all but instead about his passion for fighting corruption . Well, the president just pardoned a bunch of convicted felons who were convicted of corruption. Corruption. The pregnant pause there. You came up with it. John avlon with a reality check. So you remember when republicans said that donald trump really cared about corruption . Yes, i do. I think hes concerned about corruption. Theres a corruption issue there, and, of course, the president honed in on that. The president raised the issue of corruption. He talked about corruption all over the world. That was fun. And also complete nonsense. Because the president just used his pardoning power to commute the sentence of former illinois governor Rod Blagojevich who was convicted of trying to sell Barack Obamas senate seat. Ive got this thing, and its [ bleep ] golden. And im just not giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. Trump suggested this call was nothing out of the ordinary for politicians. He was charged with a variety of corruption charges including holding 8 million in funds to a state Childrens Hospital in hopes of getting a 50,000 campaign hospital. He was impeached before being sentenced to 14 years in prison. Gop lawmakers from illinois warned trump not to do this. The Illinois House republican leader said this yesterday. I saw a governor who was rogue on steroids. He was a person that was not didnt care about the state of illinois. Cared about his own ambition. Why should he get special treatment . Its wrong and sends a bad message to people in this country. But he was a contestant on the apprentice and his wife appeared on fox news asking for a pardon. The same day he pardoned frequent fox news guest bernard ke rik who was sentenced for tax fraud and lying on white house forms and the top procurement officer for bush who was obstructed of bribery. And Edward Debartolo jr. Who failed to pay in a gambling case. Its notable that most of frumps brands of clemency have gone to wellconnected offenders who had not filed petitions with the Pardon Office or did not meet its requirements. According to analysis by the washington post. So to recap, the crimes that trump pardoned include corruption, obstruction of justice, perjury, tax fraud, wire fraud and bribery. These are many of the same offenses that trump associatesd. He has a right to pardon himself but well just have to take trump at his word that he hasnt thought about pardoning roger stone. A president may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen at some future date that will establish a monarchy and destroy the republic. They called an emergency meeting to discuss interventions in sensitively political cases including roger stone. Were watching the president abuse his pardoning powers and laying the groundwork for the pardoning of more political cronies by defining